Jon Kammerer Customs Tone Pod Scorpius Deluxe

Comfort and Joy

September 11, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

For 25 years, Jon Kammerer has been on an evolving pursuit to design a comfortable guitar with superior tone and…

Jazz Trio

Fender’s Geddy Lee Jazz Bass and Ibanez’s Black Eagle Reissue Take On an Icon

March 2, 2017 · Ward Meeker

Though it got most of the looks in the family, Fender’s Jazz Bass is nonetheless the tag-along younger brother to…

Blues Guitars On A Budget

A New Breed of L-Style

February 3, 2015 · Chip Wilson

Picture the archetypal 1930s blues man, photographed with a studio backdrop, jaunty hat, knowing leer…. What else do you see?…

Pink Floyd in North America 1966-1983

Glenn Povey

December 3, 2023 · Pete Prown

David Gilmour playing a rare Stratocaster doubleneck? You’ll see that 1972 photo and others in this reference book documenting Floyd’s…

Keeley Electronics Compressor Mini

The Tighten-Up

November 9, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

One entry in Keeley’s next-gen pedals, the Compressor Mini is an automatic “Manhattan-style” compression. The tiny tool’s secret is an…

The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson

December 2, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Classic P-90 tones! The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson shows us a bit of “I Can Still Remember When,” from the…

  • Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    Take Flight

    Arriving a little more than 10 years after the original Skylark, Carr Amplifiers’ new Skylark Special adds versatility and enhanced tonal depths to squeeze a lot more into this diminutive…

    Read more >>

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ARTISTS

Ralph Towner

Fifty Years and Counting

April 29, 2024 · Pete Prown

As a young musician, Ralph Towner wrote “Icarus,” a revolutionary jazz piece that became a crossover hit for the Paul…

Bobby “Blue” Bland

The Guitarists of Blues’ Crown Prince

October 16, 2015 · Dan Forte

On June 23 of last year, the blues lost one of its greatest singers with the death of Bobby “Blue”…

Javier Batiz

January 14, 2026 · Willie G. Moseley

Mexican guitarist Javier Batiz, a teacher and inspiration to Carlos Santana and other musicians, passed away December 14 at his…

Vinnie Moore’s Pandemic Musical Inspiration

February 24, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Instrumental Whiz Adds Vocalists Neoclassical/metal guitarist Vinnie Moore’s latest music features vocals for the first time. Here, though, he sticks…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Double Neck Triple Neck Vintage guitar magazine Home main

Doublenecks, Triplenecks…

And the California Weird Factor

March 25, 2016 · Deke Dickerson

If you mention doubleneck or multi-neck guitars to your average guitar player, the first thing they’ll likely think of is…

Classics: May 2022

“Wild” Jimmy Spruill’s ’66 Fender Jaguar

January 9, 2023 · Ward Meeker

Wilbert Harrison’s 1959 version of Leiber and Stoller’s “Kansas City” shares space at the summit of all-time blues/pop classics, its…

Five Classic Amps

Five Classic Amps

A Tone-Spotter’s Arsenal To Cover It All

March 31, 2016 · Dave Hunter

When it comes to classic guitar tones – whether it’s blues through a Dumble, country through a Fender, rock through…

Prodigal Sunburst

Joe Walsh Reunites with a ’59 Les Paul Standard

March 9, 2023 · Ward Meeker

A master of delivering crystal-clear musical messages with an off-kilter wit, whether talking, singing, picking, or sliding on guitar, everything…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

EHX Slammi Plus, Hot Wax

Grease Fire

October 14, 2019 · Pete Prown

EHX’s Slammi Plus and Hot Wax pedals are not for the faint of heart. Housed in heavy-duty plastic, the Whammy-shaped…

MXR Custom Shop Sub Machine Octave Fuzz

Lowdown And Nasty

January 25, 2017 · Pete Prown

Rising from the smoke and flames of the MXR Custom Shop is the pedal of which every fuzz freak dreams.…

The Pettyjohn Crush Compressor

Big Squeeze

October 3, 2019 · Pete Prown

Compressors can be a real mystery to guitarists who don’t understand the concept. Recording engineers bandy about words like “hard-knee”…

Tech 21’s Fly Rig Brit and Cali

Little Monsters

March 15, 2019 · Pete Prown

In this age of shrinking guitar rigs, Tech 21’s Fly Rig pedals show just how guitar-related technology is getting smaller…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Tomer Cohen

From Israel to NYC

December 14, 2023 · Pete Prown

Twenty-five-year-old Tomer Cohen plays jazz with the earthy feel heard in improvisations by Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, and early Pat…

Chaos Audio Stratus Multi FX Pedal

Smart, Swift Stomp

December 23, 2023 · Charlie Wilkins

Imagine a world where all of your pedals work together so seamlessly that you can quickly and easily experiment with…

Jack Bruce

Jack Bruce

Surging Septuagenarian

December 6, 2014 · Willie G. Moseley

Bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, who turned 71 in May, recently released Silver Rails, his first solo album in a decade, with…

Fretprints: Kim Thayil

The Grungy Flowering of Soundgarden

December 6, 2021 · Wolf Marshall

In 1991, a movement emerged from Seattle that shook the musical world to its core. Seemingly overnight, a cadre of…

Ray Edenton

1926-2022

July 27, 2023 · Rich Kienzle

Ray Edenton, acknowledged rhythm-guitar master of Nashville’s A-Team, died September 21 at his home in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. He was 95,…

Music Man Game Changer

Twelve Tons of Tone

March 24, 2014 · Tom Guerra

Music Man Game Changer Price: $2,275 (street) Contact: www.gamechanger.music-man.com Since the introduction of the electric guitar, builders have sought ways…

Philip Sayce

Scorched-Earth Tones

May 9, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

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

GJM Guitars Tenoroc

Designed To Rock

January 18, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

Road-warrior guitarists with years of gigs under their belt who later design guitars have an advantage over builders without that…

Bogner Oxford Fuzz

Highly Educational

May 30, 2019 · Phil Feser

Teaming with Rupert Neve, Bogner Amplification has developed a line of pedals based on its renowned amp channels. One result,…

The Universal Audio Astra Modulation Machine

Stately Shimmer

May 10, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

Famous for well-regarded interfaces, plug-ins, and vintage-gear emulations, Universal Audio has entered the pedal business with the Astra Modulation Machine,…

Les Claypool

Child’s Play

September 20, 2019 · Greg Prato

The words “concept album” conjure images of long-haired, cape-wearing prog musicians from the ’70s. On their ninth studio album, The…

Dwight Yoakam

Brighter Days

October 9, 2025 · Rich Kienzle

Nearly 40 years ago, as audiences wearied of frothy ’80s country-pop, Dwight Yoakam was in the vanguard of country’s New…

Roy Smeck’s Gibson L-5

One For the “Wizard”

March 1, 2023 · George Gruhn

Player endorsements are part of the tradition of guitarmaking going back to its earliest use for public performance. LeRoy G.A.…

VG Q&A: ’71 Mahogany Precision?

Plus, a ’60s Conrad 12-String and Converting a ’65 ES-345TD-SV to Mono

June 5, 2025 · George Gruhn

I have a Fender Precision Bass with a 1971 neck date and serial number 296XXX, and I’ve always suspected the…

Relic Guitars The Hague T-Style

Relic Guitars The Hague T-Style

Aged to Perfection

November 29, 2016 · Pete Prown

Relic Guitars The Hague is a Dutch builder that produces, obviously, relic’d guitars. Mostly using the archetypal Strat and Tele…

Mike Morgan’s New Twist on Blues

December 12, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Texas Native Does “Aiight”’ Texas blues singer/songwriter Mike Morgan does a solo take on “Aiight,” from his new album, “The…

Kentucky Colonels

1966

May 13, 2024 · Pete Prown

Clarence White is best known as the B-bendin’ Telecaster pioneer with the Byrds – and his tragic 1973 death. But…

The (Way) Back Beat: A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody

Fretted cheesecake advertising through the years, Part 3: The 1960s

April 5, 2024 · Peter Stuart Kohman

Fretted-instrument advertising in the 20th century relied heavily on “glamor” or “cheesecake.” Electric instruments and accessories, in particular, are still…

Excelsior Americana

March 7, 2014 · Dave Hunter

If you play any breed of twang, country, roots-rock or, well, “Americana,” could there possibly be a better amp than…

Martin 00-42 Special

June 30, 2020 · George Gruhn

It has all the appoint-ments of a Martin 00-45, particularly the abalone pearl trim around all the borders of the…

Mud Ride: A Messy Trip Through The Grunge Explosion

Steve Turner with Adem Tepedelen

April 24, 2024 · Dennis Pernu

Mudhoney never really cashed in on the early-’90s grunge sweepstakes. In fact, its members have largely eschewed the G word.…

Gibson 1953 GA-40 Les Paul Model

Brown Sound

March 31, 2025 · Dave Hunter

Gibson landing Les Paul’s name on the headstock of its debut solidbody electric in 1952 was the biggest guitar-star endorsement…

Robin’s ’80s Import Basses

April 15, 2016 · Willie G. Moseley

While the Robin guitar brand’s reverse “imported then domestic” chronology has been documented in this space, the basses shown here…

Positive Grid’s Experience Hendrix For Spark & BIAS FX 2

Get Experienced

December 8, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

In the pantheon of guitar gods, few are studied to the degree of Hendrix. And, given the warp speed at…

The Beach Boys

Great Vibrations

October 4, 2016 · Michael Dregni

It’s ironic – and tragic – that Brian Wilson leads off his long-awaited memoir explaining the voices he hears in…

Classics: April 2023

Kim Simmons’ 1973 Gibson Les Paul

December 16, 2023 · Ward Meeker

For Gio da Silva and several million others in Generation X, the mid ’90s were an exciting time. Young adults…

Dallas Rangemaster

The Dallas Rangemaster

January 26, 2015 · Michael Dregni

Eric Clapton christened it “woman tone.” On the famed 1966 “Beano” album, John Mayall’s Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, the…

GIBSON-F2-2-HOME-MAIN-BIG

1905 Gibson F-2

February 26, 2016 · George Gruhn

In the opinion of most American mandolinists, Gibson brought mandolin design to a level of perfection in 1922, with the…

Supro Super 1606 and Reverb 1605R

Little Amps That Could

July 10, 2019 · Michael Dregni

In guitardom, players far too often believe there is nothing more sonically pleasing than a tall stack. Yet, plenty of…