• Thomas Custom Guitars

    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

    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…

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Holy Cripes!

The Story of Jerry Garcia’s Last Guitars

December 29, 2015 · Steve Armato and James D. McCallister

Steve Cripe left a unique legacy in the annals of music history. He was not a guitar player, not a…

J Mascis

Heavy Steps : Dinosaur Jr. Journey

January 27, 2022 · Ward Meeker

Fans recognize the first three albums by Dinosaur Jr. – Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me, and Bug – as…

The Metallica Blacklist Album

Various artists

September 12, 2022 · Pete Prown

Conquering the charts 30 years ago with their “black album,” Metallica has become the global ambassador for heavy metal –…

Fender American Vintage II ’57 Stratocaster

Period Piece

October 11, 2023 · Pete Prown

Sure, we all drool over Fender Custom Shop axes, but those instruments are sometimes out of wallet’s reach. Coming to…

Eastwood’s Airline Bighorn

Goin’ “Old-Store”

August 23, 2013 · Phil Feser

Most everyone has seen a department-store-catalog guitar (or two!) from the ’60s or ’70s. With their funky, cool body shapes…

Have Guitar Will Travel – 031 Featuring John Notto

July 21, 2020 · James Patrick Regan

The latest episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel” has host James Patrick Regan speaking with guitarist John Notto from Dirty…

  • Super PickupGiveaway 2025

    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…

    Read more >>

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ARTISTS

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Tony Nagy

August 12, 2025 · Ram W. Tuli

Season 03 Episode 05 In Episode 3.5 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Tony Nagy, manager…

Julian Lage

Jazz Memoir

September 1, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

The latest from Julian Lage contains mesmerizing originals featuring Bill Frisell’s supple artistry and Lage’s potent six-string imagery. View With…

Jeff Berlin

Flashback to Jack

July 26, 2023 · Pete Prown

Fusion bassist Jeff Berlin’s new album, Jack Songs, is an all-star tribute to Jack Bruce, the trailblazing virtuoso and frontman…

Paul Quinn

Relentless Persistence

May 8, 2014 · Oscar Jordan

For Paul Quinn, music begins and ends with the blues. The soft-spoken guitarist began playing by listening to British blues…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Carson Creation

One Very Personal Stratocaster

May 9, 2023 · Willie G. Moseley

An itinerant Western-music guitarist who befriended Leo Fender and other employees at his up-and-coming company in the early ’50s, Bill…

Ram Tuli Crunches Numbers for The Guide

Strats and Data

June 11, 2024 · Ward Meeker

Combine a knack for numbers with a love of old guitars and you get… well, you might get any of…

Rocky Athas’ Texas ’Tude!

September 26, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Genuine Lone Star Jams Dallas guy Rocky Athas built a career playing blues in the vain of T-Bone and SRV,…

Pieces of a Prototype

Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar

November 24, 2020 · Willie G. Moseley

  If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Prestige Guitars DC Coupe Custom T Hybrid

“Tele” Twist

April 19, 2024 · Bob Dragich

The first Telecasters were so good that today they’re made almost exactly as they were 70 years ago. Working just…

Retro Guitar MelodyBurner

Retro Guitar MelodyBurner

Bite and Bark

October 20, 2015 · Michael Dregni

Retro Guitar MelodyBurner Price: $999 (options available) Info: www.melodyburner.com In the realm of hot-rodded cars, there’s a cool genre known…

Tim Bogert’s Modified Fender

One Fudged Bass

August 22, 2013 · Willie G. Moseley

When Vanilla Fudge helped pioneer the progressive-rock movement in the latter half of the ’60s, bassist Tim Bogert played more…

Crucial Audio’ Die Götterdämmerung Germanium Fuzz/Ring Modulator

Ring Tones

April 26, 2019 · Pete Prown

Named by Flaming Lips guitarist Steven Drozd after composer Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera, Crucial Audio’s lavishly named Die Götterdämmerung…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

In Memoriam: Lasse Wellander

February 9, 2024 · Ward Meeker

Lasse Wellander, longtime guitarist in ABBA and a renowned studio and solo musician, died April 7. He was 70 and…

McElroy OM Model

OM, Gee!

March 4, 2015 · Pete Prown

McElroy OM Model Price: $7,500 (base; $8,500 as reviewed) Info: www.mcelroyguitars.com. Brent McElroy is a Seattle luthier specializing in high-quality…

Weymann Model 848

Mail-Order Rara Avis

October 8, 2019 · George Gruhn

From 1864 through the 1940s, H.A. Weymann and Son, Inc. made, imported, and sold marching band, orchestral, percussion, and other…

Ralph Towner, John Abercrombie Quartet, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Dewa Budjana

Fusion Heros

February 27, 2017 · Pete Prown

The ECM label is renowned for its brand of atmospheric jazz-fusion highlighted by gorgeous audio quality. Two of its guitar…

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…

Yamaha’s Revstar RSP20CR

Mod Rocker

July 5, 2018 · Oscar Jordan

Having spent the last 120 years perfecting righteous guitar tones, Yamaha has set out to increase their coolness quotient. 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.…

Les Paul

Birth of a Guitar Icon

February 27, 2004 · Gil Hembree

Fifty years ago, Gibson’s new Les Paul Model was quickly becoming one of the company’s most popular guitars, and (though…

Spacey T

Spacey T

Eclectic Journeyman

June 21, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

Tracey Singleton, better known as Spacey T, is a post-Hendrix guitar wizard with an eclectic soul and chops to match.…

Andy Peake – Roots Without Boundaries

December 30, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Andy Peake – Roots Without Boundaries Andy Peake is a drummer/percussionist with a long list of accomplished-guitarist friends. For proof,…

3Below

Live in Mérida

November 7, 2025 · Pete Prown

The members of 3Below mostly play in the bass clef. You may know names like fretless master Michael Manring (Michael…

Have Guitar Will Travel 058 – Marc Ribler

October 6, 2021 · Doug Yellow Bird

“Have Guitar Will Travel” host James Patrick Regan welcomes guitarist/songwriter/producer Marc Ribler, music director for Little Steven and the Disciples…

Producer Dave Cobb Draws Artists of All Ilks

Music-City tune Charmer

December 7, 2022 · Ward Meeker

Grandson of a Pentecostal minister, as a kid, Dave Cobb attended church every day, weaving old-time hymnal music into his…

Gibson Blond j-35 Photo: Kelsey Vaughn, courtesy George Gruhn. Vintage Guitar magazine Home Feature

Gibson’s “blond” J-35

January 17, 2016 · George Gruhn

In the world of vintage guitars, people tend to use the words “blond” and “natural” interchangeably to describe a finish…

Guild Polara Kim Thayil

Get Your Grunge

June 26, 2024 · Bob Cianci

With Soundgarden, guitarist Kim Thayil helped define the grunge movement. His unusual weapon of choice was the Guild S-100 Polara,…

Pop ’N Hiss: Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies

On The Money

February 4, 2024 · Bret Adams

Alice Cooper was on a steady upward trajectory when Billion Dollar Babies topped the Billboard chart for one week in…

Crazy Tube Circuits Stardust, Splash MKII, and Pin Up Fuzz

Pure Sanity

August 13, 2014 · Phil Feser

Crazy Tube Circuits Stardust, Splash MKII, and Pin Up Fuzz Price: $290 (splash MKll); $260 (Pin Up Fuzz); $235 (Stardust)…

Eliza Gilkyson plays “At the Foot of the Mountain”

April 7, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Superlative Western balladry from songwriter/activist Songwriter/activist Eliza Gilkyson and multi-instrumentalist/producer Don Richmond sat for this exclusive (and exquisite) rendition of…

First Guitar of Rock and Roll

Scotty Moore’s Gibson ES-295

June 10, 2022 · Michael Dregni

Like a hound dog hit by lightning, the first notes of rock and roll blasted out of radios across the…

Molly Miller – top-flight instrumental rock, jazz, and twang

August 30, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Trio rips on “2 West” Instrumental guitar music is having a moment. Offering a stellar example, Molly Miller and her…

Kelly Mulhollan

Divine Inspiration

May 15, 2016 · Michael Dregni

Arkansas farmer Ed Stilley was plowing his fields in 1979 when he was struck down by a heart attack; lying…

Gretsch’s G6128T-CLFG Cliff Gallup Signature Duo Jet

Tip Of The (Blue) Cap

March 15, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Hot dog! Gretsch has long dreamed of issuing a Cliff Gallup signature guitar, but the stars never quite aligned –…

Danelectro ’84

Love Struck

May 30, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

The Danelectro name first surfaced on amplifiers in the late 1940s, then later on guitars made with Masonite bodies and…

Ted Newman Jones’ West-Texas Guitars

Melodious Coterie

June 10, 2022 · Ward Meeker

Boxcars Among the vast papers, drawings, photographs, and tapes at Texas Tech’s Crossroads of Music Archive is a guitar beloved…

Epiphone Riviera

August 28, 2022 · George Gruhn and Walter Carter

The Epiphone Riviera helped reinvent Epiphone in the 1960s as a modern guitar company whose instruments sported such contemporary features…

Jerry Kennedy

A-Team Guitarist, A-List Producer

August 17, 2024 · Rich Kienzle

Jerry Glenn Kennedy, a 13-year-old who recorded for RCA Victor as “Jerry Glenn,” got the shock of his young life…

2025 May Issue on Spotify

May 2, 2025 · Vintage Guitar

This month, we feature The Dobbie Brothers, Popa Chubby, Joey Molland, Carlos Alomar, Cream, David Bowie, Rush, Norman Harris, Greg…

Ritchie Blackmore

Machine Head at 45: Tone Secrets of Deep Purple’s Masterwork

April 22, 2019 · Pete Prown

In any conversation about the dawn of hard rock and metal, several bands rise up –  Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath,…

Stroger lays it down on “Bob’s Back in Town”

July 22, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Chicago Blues Mainstay and His Legendary Bass Enjoy as Chicago mainstay bassist Bob Stroger uses his 1960 Jazz Bass (with…