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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…

Ronnie Earl
Redemption, Reconciliation, and Reinvention
Ronnie Earl is one of the most prolific blues guitarists working today. And though his solo career now spans almost…

The Fender “High-Powered” Twin
1958-’59 Fender Twin Preamp tubes: one 12AY7, two 12AX7 Output tubes: four 5881 (6L6 equivalents), fixed bias Rectifier: GZ34 (5AR4)…

Rodney Crowell
Same Roots, New Branches
Rodney Crowell arrived in Nashville in 1972, bent on finding a niche for himself in the country music he’d loved…

Julian Lage
A Guitar Wizard Comes of Age
People having been raving about Julian Lage since he was a young guitar prodigy almost 20 years ago – he…

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…

Billy Bauer
Jazz Guitar’s Hidden Giant
Billy Bauer’s career was so steeped in tradition that he is often thought of as one of the first jazz…
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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
Heavy Hitters Rock Crown Guitar Fest
Want a surreal experience? Try looking up from your oatmeal to see Robben Ford and Pat Metheny strolling past your…

Pop ’N Hiss: Vanilla Fudge’s Near The Beginning
Proto-Prog Tour De Force
Rock fans recall the New York quartet Vanilla Fudge for its dramatic reworkings of pop hits; the band melded classical…

David Hamburger
Top-Tier Tutorial
Whoever said, “Those who can’t do, teach” has never heard David Hamburger. Among his two dozen instructional books and videos,…

Mark Bosch
New York State of Mind
As the longtime lead guitarist for Garland Jeffreys and Ian Hunter, Mark Bosch’s resumé reads like a who’s who of…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Hornby Skewes Zonk Machines
Fuzz Bonk
In 1965, fuzz was the “it” sound. Guitarists had recorded with fuzz before, of course, but after Keith Richards plugged…

’66 Epiphone Casino
In the Epiphone line of the 1960s, the Casino occupied middle ground. In appearance as well as electronics it ranked…

1986 Dumble Overdrive Special
The exalted amps of Alexander Dumble have been legendary since he began building in the late ’60s, and have become…

The Fender Showman
The Showman
In addition to several significant shifts in style and presentation, for Fender, the transition of the late 1950s into the…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

The String Sling
Trapper Keeper
Almost all of us have a guitar – maybe even two – we like a bit more than “the other…

Awesome Musical Instruments T3 Pickup Switch Upgrade
Wicked Switch
Awesome Musical Instruments T3 Pickup Switch Upgrade Price: $149.99 (black or white three-ply); $164.99 (white pearloid); $169.99 (brown tortoiseshell) Info:…

Matchless DC-30
Preamp Tubes: One EF86, three 12AX7s (one for PI) Output Tubes: Four EL84s in class A, cathode-bias. Rectifier: GZ34 Controls:…

So-Cal Steel
Asher Guitars & Lap Steels Ben Harper Signature Model
If Nashville is the pedal-steel capital, surely Southern California is a lap steel hotspot. David Lindley and Ben Harper, along…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Earl Slick
Zig Zag Back to the Top
Earl Slick landed his dream gig back in 1974, when a friend referred him for a gig with David Bowie,…

The Carvin LB70
Höfner Hybrid
When a Carvin instrument has been featured in this space over the years, it was a either a doubleneck or…

Have Guitar Will Travel 091 – Kenny Vaughan
In Episode 91 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, host James Patrick Regan circles back with Kenny Vaughan, guitarist in Marty…
Eastman AR905SCE Uptown Deluxe
Classy Jazz Box
Eastman AR905SCE Uptown Deluxe Price: $3,650 retail Contact: www.eastmanguitars.com Over the past few years the negative stigma attached to guitars…












































