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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…
Closer to My Home
Mark Farner
Grand Funk Railroad, the hard-rock “people’s band,” earned little critical respect. But there’s no denying GFR’s massive influence – led…
George Fullerton’s Fender Jazzmaster
A Master's Pallet
This Jazzmaster is an interesting example of what went on behind the scenes at the Fender factory with the research…
Vinnie Moore’s Pandemic Musical Inspiration
Instrumental Whiz Adds Vocalists Neoclassical/metal guitarist Vinnie Moore’s latest music features vocals for the first time. Here, though, he sticks…
Prodigal Sunburst
Joe Walsh Reunites with a ’59 Les Paul Standard
A master of delivering crystal-clear musical messages with an off-kilter wit, whether talking, singing, picking, or sliding on guitar, everything…
Ibanez Artcore Expressionist AM93QM
Semi-Hollow Magic
There comes a time in a guitarist’s life when one becomes hollowbody curious, and semi-hollow guitars are often the gateway…
Buddy Guy
Keeping the Blues Alive and Definitely Kicking
It was February 21, 2012. As part of the White House’s music series, “Red, White & Blues” featured a cavalcade…
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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,…
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ARTISTS
Mark Sampson
Back Cat
Epitome of the restless designer/tinkerer, Mark Sampson has co-founded four guitar-amplifier companies, two of which – Matchless and Bad Cat…
Fretprints: Steve Khan
Khan-sequential Guitar
Steve Khan is an internationally acclaimed guitarist with a career spanning more than 50 years. Japan’s Jazz Life proclaimed him…
Jonathan Wilson
Charlotte to Cali
Jonathan Wilson is having a very good year. His Gentle Spirit CD (Bella Union), a hippie-soul drenched 80 minutes of…
Farewell to a Venture
Nokie Edwards 1935-2018
Nole Floyd “Nokie” Edwards, former lead guitarist and bassist with The Ventures, passed away March 12 from complications related to…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Classics: October 2021
Ibanez IC200 Iceman
Pete Prown’s obsession with the Ibanez Iceman began when the company’s 1978 guitar catalog landed atop dealer display cases; the…
Guild Aristocrat M-75
Guild didn’t intro-duce a true solidbody electric guitar until 1963, but the Aristocrat of 1954 gave the appearance that Guild…
Memphissippi Sounds’ Yella P asks “Who’s Gonna Ride”
’59 Stratotone at the Memphis Slim House While Memphissippi Sounds’ Yella P and his ’59 Harmony Stratotone were visiting the…
The “Okie Dokie Stomp” Esquire
Gate’s Swing
As a high-school student and emerging guitarist in Houston in the early ’60s, John Andrews couldn’t get a club gig…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
The Chase Bliss Clean
Posh Squash
With is Clean compressor, Chase Bliss set out to create a pedal that would duplicate the vivid interactivity of a…
Six-String Kicks
Wood from Famed Bowling Alley Set to Sing
Few things scratch America’s cumulative itch for nostalgia like Route 66 – the famed wagon-trail-cum-highway that offered passage to those…
Maestro Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay
Return to the Space(y) Age
Maestro’s Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay, from the company’s Original Collection effects series, may have a retro-chic aesthetic, but they…
The Paul Hartmann Custom Manhattan
Not Your Granddaddy’s Semi-Hollow
The Paul Hartmann Custom Manhattan Price: $3,895 as tested Contact: www.phguitars.com Luthier Paul Hartmann’s Custom Manhattan is a classic semi-hollowbody,…
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Rocky Mountain Slides Company Firecracker Aluminum Slides
Slick Slide
Rocky Mountain Slides Company’s new “Firecracker Aluminum Slides” may look like other guitar slides but it is internally flared in…
Mark St. John
The Lost Kiss Interview
With the release of Kiss’ recent live album, Off The Soundboard: Poughkeepsie, New York, 1984, fans hear one of precious…
New Lease on Life
The Sound of Rock Gets a Brush-Up
If restoring dusty, neglected old tube amps built more than half a century ago isn’t challenging enough, restoring amps with…
Michael Staertow
Gramm Backer
You may not recognize the name, but Michael Staertow has been playing some of classic rock’s most memorable riffs for…
