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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…

Godin A6 Ultra Baritone
Sub Sandwich
The basic premise of a baritone is that it allows guitar players to occasionally twang genuine bass notes – not…

Billy Flynn
True Chicago Blues
The phrase “electric blues” is a catch-all for many genres, but for aficionados it refers to a highly specific idiom…

Gary Rossington
1951-2023
As a boy, Gary Rossington would grab a broom and mime in front of a mirror whenever an Elvis Presley…

Fender Player II Series Telecaster
Twang Banger
As the world’s first mass-production solidbody electric guitar fast approaches its 75th birthday, Fender continues to offer variations on the…

The KW Cabs ST-220T SSB
Who Woodn’t?
Like you, Kurt Wyberanec knows that good extension cabinets, like acoustic guitars, serve their player as resonant sound chambers. Those…

Top 100 Guitarists
30 Years, 30 Favorites
To help mark its 30th year of publication, VG asked readers to submit a list of their five favorite guitarists…
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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

Eric Johnson
Rescued Relics
For nearly 50 years, Eric Johnson has been a revered guitarist/multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist whose music expands far beyond the…

Nick Perri
Constant Creator
The elements of life that mold a person are constant and ever-evolving. Influence is all about perspective. Philadelphia-born Nick Perri…

Sarah Borges’ plays “Wasting My Time”
Roots-rocker’s solo, essential take Sarah Borges grabbed her Stonetree Custom Roscoe Special for this take on “Wasting My Time,” from…

Paco de Lucia
1947-2014
Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia died February 26 after suffering a heart attack in Cancun, Mexico. He was 66.…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Fender’s Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic
Little Brothers
Often forgotten amongst Fender’s many classics, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic were conceived to capitalize on teenagers taking up the guitar…

Fender’s Tweed-to Tolex Transition
Best Face Forward
Through its 75 years, Fender has been responsible for myriad leaps forward in the history of guitar-amplifier design and manufacture.…

Valco El Grande
Preamp tube: one 6SL7 Output tube: one 6V6GT Rectifier: 5Y3 Controls: Volume, Tone Speaker: 8″ Rola speaker Output: 5 watts…
Dan’s Guitar RX: Building a From-Scratch Class Project
Rock-And-Roll High School(er)
Students at Federal Hocking High School here in Athens County, Ohio, are given the opportunity to propose internships in work that…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

The MXR Custom Badass ’78 Distortion
Company Hot Rod
Dunlop Custom Badass ’78 Distortion Price: $79 Info: jimdunlop.com Custom Badass is a new division of MXR that offers the…

Carvin PB4
Classic Looks, Modern Function
Carvin PB4 Price: $1,899 (list/base); $869 (street/base) Info: www.carvinguitars.com. Trends come and trends go, but tradition stands the test of…

Stomp Under Foot Ram’s Head
Piece of the Pi
Matt Pasquerella has a reputation as a pi connoisseur… no, not the eating kind, the fuzzy kind. The creator of…
Carr Impala
Big-Block Tone
Carr Impala Price: $2,490 (retail, in black); $2,640 (two-tone) Info: www.carramps.com. While the new Carr Impala amplifier gets its name…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Fretprints: Harvey Mandel
Infinitely Eclectic
Harvey Mandel is a regular on the list of “guitarists’ guitarists,” yet is woefully unknown to the public. With an…
Kenny Burrell
Playing It, Meaning It, Living It
Few can claim the title of living legend. Kenny Burrell is just such a person. In fact he’s more –…

Phil DeGruy
Laughin’ Matters
Phil deGruy is the rare jazz artist who’s also a bona fide entertainer – and a funny one, at that.…

Don Latarski
Electrifying
Don Latarski is well-known in the Pacific Northwest as a player, author, teacher, and composer. His acoustic playing is revered,…










































