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Taylor® Guitars Kicks Off 2026 With Two Major Launches – The Next Generation Of Its Flagship Grand Auditorium Guitars And New Gold Label Square-Shoulder Dreadnoughts
Taylor upgrades its most iconic models, adding “Next Generation” features to its Grand Auditorium body shape while expanding its recently introduced Gold Label Collection with traditional, square-shoulder dreadnoughts EL CAJON,…
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Thomas Custom Guitars
Rarities from the Pacific Northwest
Certain makes and models of electric guitars are rightfully prized for their elegant physical designs and superior craftsmanship. Even better are those also revered for their playability and particularly rich…
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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…

Jussi Jaakonaho
Sunburst Finnish
There’s a vibrant instro-guitar scene in Finland and among its chief architects is Jussi Jaakonaho. Well known as a producer…

Mack Atomsmasher DB-40
Super Dynamics
What do you get when you have a rockin’ pair of 12AX7 tubes and a pair of EL34 power tubes?…

Brian Ray
From Blues to Beatles
Brian Ray spent the last 11 years playing guitar as Paul McCartney’s side man. While such duty would be a…

Thomas Nordegg
Indispensible
At certain large-scale rock shows, there’s often a white-haired gentleman running onstage to hand guitars to artists like Steve Vai,…

Mike Baggetta Brings the Morricone Sauce!
New Album Explores Styles with Keltner, Watt Check out Mike Baggetta and his Iris AB (serial number 46) playing the…

Siegmund Missing Link
Rounding Out the Board
Looking like a Sputnik-era satellite, the Missing Link from Siegmund Guitars and Amplifiers may be the perfect way to –…
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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…
ARTISTS

Andrew Synowiec’s Ebullient Tonefest
Uplifting Instrumental Rock! Check out Andrew Synowiec and his Heritage Custom Core H-150 P90 ripping through a chunk of “Lead…

Steve Morse
Already busy touring and recording with Deep Purple, axe virtuoso Steve Morse has added another dish to the menu –…

GA-20 blends R&B, Blues, Hendrix, and much more
VG Exclusive “Dry Run” GA-20 blends influences from Hendrix to the guitar Kings to East Coast Family cassettes. Here, Matt…

Classics: February 2024
Sean Slade’s 1964 SG Junior
They might not seem to have a ton in common aside from first names. J Mascis, Dinosaur Jr.’s co-founder and…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Classics: July 2022
Jack Jones Doubleneck
In November of 1954, 16-year-old Jack Jones walked into a Seattle pawn shop and noticed a strange doubleneck guitar. “It…

The Martin 3K
The continuing appeal of Hawaiian music through the past 100 years is based in part on the music itself, which…
Recording King Ray Whitley
As a maker of high-quality instruments, Gibson was hit hard by the onset of the Depression in the 1930s. Company…

An Odd Gibson EH-150
10 Strings, Lap-Style
Lap-steel guitars were the first commercially available electrics – ancestors of the guitars we plug in today, regardless of their…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
Taylor Baritone-8
Crazy Eight
The Taylor Baritone-8 Price: $3,998 list; $3,200 street Info: www.taylorguitars.com Some guitarists are happy with conventional guitars and basses. Others,…

Prestige Guitars DC Coupe Custom T Hybrid
“Tele” Twist
The first Telecasters were so good that today they’re made almost exactly as they were 70 years ago. Working just…

Gretsch Malcolm Young “Red Beast” Signature Jet
Let There Be Rock
Forty-odd years beyond when AC/DC first hit American airwaves, the band still inspires multitudes of guitarists with intoxicating riffs, mesmerizing…

Gurus Amps’ SexydriveMkII
Bellissimo!
Chalk up another score for Italian innovation. Chicco Bellini and his company, Gurus Amps, are among the top dogs in…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Revisiting Room 335
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Plus, a Pro’s List of Repair Glues
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Rising Tides

Ray Cummins – I’ll See You In My Dreams
Ray Cummins Plays the 1956 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 prototype “Dark Eyes” VG ace online tutor Ray Cummins uses the…

The Wampler Catacombs
Shimmer Box
In the pedal market, the category of reverbs and delays is straight fire these days. Wampler has jumped in with…

The Fractal VP4
Pedal Power
Famous for amp and cabinet models made to replace an amp for direct recording or plugging right into a PA,…

Delisle Island Carney/Drifter Amp-in-Case Combo
Econo Classic Reimagined
Delisle Island Carney/Drifter Amp-in-Case Combo Price: $4,000 (list) Contact: www.island-instruments.com A half-century ago, before Marshalls were stacked and ’Bursts dangled…














































