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Super PickupGiveaway 2025
Win Big! 11 Sets! 11 Winners! Win a set of pickups from one of these sponsors: Deadline is March 15, 2026. Complete the survey below to enter giveaway. One entry…

The Dr. Z CAZ-45
Prescription Filled
When word got out in early 2020 that Mike Zaite and Alan Phillips (founder of Carol-Ann Amplifiers) were collaborating on…

Rickenbacker 375F
Seven Siblings
Every guitar company has had its odd ducks, its failures, its forgotten models. While some are consigned to the scrapheap…

Rickenbacker 4005
California’s Rickenbacker guitar company has a tradition of things a bit differently. One of the earliest electric guitars was their…
The Xaviere XV-JT90 and XV-585
Planks for Pennies
Xaviere is a company that imports its guitars from China, sets them up in its Massachusetts shop, then sells direct.…

Gibson’s 1966-’70 Flying V
In Detail
Body is two-piece mahogany. Pickguard mounts to body with 13 screws. Pickups are patent-number humbuckers with chrome-plated covers. Tune-O-Matic bridge…

Tom Feldmann
Delta Blues DeLuxe
Tom Feldmann burst out of Minneapolis with an authentic take on acoustic blues unlike anything heard in years. Gifted with…
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Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings
Double-bound for Glory
George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacher founded Electro String in 1931 to manufacture what everyone would soon call “Rickenbacker” guitars. Success came early and their lap steels set standards of quality,…
ARTISTS

Steve Howe
Yes: In The Present
Progressive-rock icons Yes are still going strong after more than 40 years of recording and performing. Throughout their reign as…

Guy King
Finding Joy
Israeli-born guitarist/singer Guy King has become a triple-threat musician since moving to Chicago. The playing, singing, and songwriting on his…

Mick Ralphs
Good Company
In 1972, one of Britain’s best bands, Mott The Hoople, still hadn’t made any impact on the charts. Its record…

Pop ’N Hiss: Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak
Fight Or Fall
At the dawn of 1976, Thin Lizzy was in trouble. Neither of the quartet’s previous two studio albums, Nightlife and…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Guild’s S-100/S-200 “Kickstand” Models
Much like several other well-known manufacturers, Guild has, through the years, changed ownership, locations, and identities. Guild was founded in…

The Sebastian ‘Burst
Inspirational Icon
The mere mention of a Gibson Les Paul Standard made between 1958 and 1960 commands attention. But one like this,…

Charlie Starr: Open-Tuning Magic on “Azalea”
Blackberry Smoke frontman on a vintage Gibson Enjoy a bit of the supremely tasty “Azalea,” played by Charlie Starr and…

The ’66 Vox UL 730
Beatle Juice
Despite the massive lust for early “copper-panel” Vox AC30 and AC15 amplifiers, one JMI-made line is far rarer – the…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Iconix Pickups Black Mass
Michigan Metal
Michigan may have given us the automobile production line, but Troy-based Iconix Pickups is the antithesis of an assembly line…

Killer Guitar Components Killer Trem Bridge
Bridging the Gap
In the mid 1950s, Leo Fender and his crew spent countless hours on the design and manufacture of their revolutionary…

Carr Bel-Ray 1×12
Brit-Based Invasion
Carr Amplifiers are renowned for their build quality and vintage-inspired tones. Not one to rest on his laurels, founder Steve…

Vibesware Guitar Resonator GR-Junior II
Sustain For Days
Vibesware Guitar Resonator GR-Junior II Price: $175 (list, depending on exchange rate) Contact: www.vibesware.com In the beginning, there was the…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Jon Kammerer Guitars’ Pegasus
This Horse Has Wings
Jon Kammerer Guitars’ Pegasus Price: $2,300 (list) Contact: www.jonkammerercustoms.com Anyone who has ever plugged an acoustic guitar into an amp…

Jim Heath
A Reverend By Any Other Name
Jim Heath is better known to most folks as psychobilly guitar fiend The Reverend Horton Heat. But on his latest release,…

Danelectro Baby Sitar
Paint It Sunburst
Legend has it that during a break in the filming of Help!, George Harrison picked up a sitar left behind…

Jammy Instruments’ Jammy G
Digital Six
Digital, MIDI, and synth guitars have been around for decades. One newer entry in the field is the Jammy G,…












































