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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 Siegmund Doppler Vibe
The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get
Siegmund Doppler Vibe Price: $495 Info: www.siegmundguitars.com. It’s been said that Buddy Guy was the first guitarist to put his…

The Gibson Les Paul Special
Gibson’s Les Paul Special was the last of the original Les Paul “family” of guitars introduced, and it was the…

Willie Nelson
Soon after arriving in Nashville in 1960, Willie Nelson signed a songwriting contract with Pamper Music, co-owned by Ray Price,…

Terry Dolan
44 Years Later
The market is flooded with previously unreleased albums and reissue CDs containing alternate takes. It must be simple to get…

The Replacements
Tim: Let It Bleed Edition
The Mats once released a live cassette entitled The Sh*t Hits the Fans, but when it comes to deluxe editions,…

Bob Devos
Update on the Organ Trio
Bob Devos says the idea for his new record, Shifting Sands, was pretty basic. “I wanted to record something that…
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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
50 Years Ago Today
The Beatles Conquer America
Sunday, February 9, 1964, was the day that forever changed music and pop culture. “The Ed Sullivan Show” was one…

Travis Tritt
Studio Snap-Back
It’s not often a superstar performer willfully steps away from creating new music for a decade. For country singer/songwriter/guitarist Travis…

Philip Sayce
Scorched-Earth Tones
Philip Sayce’s album Scorched Earth Volume 1 was a live recording from 2016 that displayed the kind of blistering blues-rock…

Eric Clapton
A Return To The Crossroads: Slowhand Meets Mr. Johnson
In many ways, 2004 marks a return to the crossroads for Eric Clapton. With his latest disc, Me And Mr.…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The (Way) Back Beat: Top O’ The Line, For Only $150!
The Immortal Danelectro Guitarlin
Having looked at the most expensive electric guitars offered in 1960s – over 50 years ago. Traditional makers – Gibson,…

Jeff Plankenhorn’s “Alone At Sea”
Tasty slide on a square-neck Oahu Singer/songwriter Jeff Plankenhorn’s music is a rootsy mix that embraces blues and pop while…

The (Way) Back Beat: A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody
Fretted cheesecake advertising through the years, Part One
There are many ways for an advertiser to attract attention, and in the history of 19th- and 20th-century print hucksterisim…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 6
1964: Nu-Sonics and Transistor Trials
In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Wylde Audio Odin Grail Genesis Bullseye
Berserker Broadax
Zakk Wylde emerged from New Jersey in the late ’80s to give Ozzy Osbourne’s music a style and attitude unlike…

The Supro Hampton
Island Unto Itself
Supro’s vintage Ozark guitar is famed as Jimi Hendrix’s first axe. According to legend, his father bought him an off-white…

Earthquaker Devices Special Cranker
True Grit
Plenty of stompbox fans remember the single-knob simplicity of Earthquaker Devices’ Speaker Cranker Overdrive. Kicking it up a notch, the…

Tech 21 Steve Harris SH1 Signature SansAmp
Tone of the Beast
Tech 21’s Steve Harris SH1 Signature Sans Amp celebrates the tone of metal icon Harris, Iron Maiden’s bassist, songwriter, and…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

The Story of Melobar
Stand-Up Steel
Born in Northern California in 1920, Walt Smith took piano lessons and became a child prodigy on several instruments before…

Gibson Wall-Board Guitar
Out of the Woods, Off the Wall
In the world of “guitarcheology,” it’s well-documented that the truly interesting stuff – prototypes, one-offs, custom instruments – usually surface…

Carl Filipiak
Knack for Jimi
After 20 years of play-ing and recording his blistering fusion of jazz and rock, Carl Filipiak’s latest record, I Got…

Neil Giraldo
Guitarist, Producer, Partner
Quiz time, guitarheads. What was the second video played on MTV? If you guessed “You Better Run” by Pat Benatar,…













































