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Magnatone and Slash announce the Lil’ Viper
ST. LOUIS, MO – January 22, 2026 – Magnatone is thrilled to announce the Lil’ Viper – the latest member of the Slash Collection. It’s a lightweight amp designed 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…

PRS Fiore
Tone Poet
If you’ve seen guitar wizard Mark Lettieri (VG, November ’22) at work, you know how expressive he is. Whether laying…

Henretta Engineering Pedals
Good Things, Small Packages
Henretta Engineering Pedals Prices: Green Zapper, Bluebird, and Purple Octopus, $125 each; Chord Blaster, $140 Info: www.henrettaengineering.com. Bigger is not…

Fretprints: Paul Simon
Postmodern Troubadour: The Simon & Garfunkel Years
Troubadours – poet/musicians active in Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries, played a defining role in Western civilization. The…

John Notto
L.A. Burner
Dirty Honey is one of the most-exciting bands to emerge in the past few years. The Los Angeles quartet stands…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Rock-And-Roll High School(er)
Building a From-Scratch Class Project, the Conclusion
In my November ’22 column, Ceil Thompson’s class-project guitar was nearing completion – the lacquer coats were applied and, after…

Keeley Hydra Stereo Reverb & Tremolo
The Life Aquatic
Stompbox wizard Robert Keeley’s latest creation packs a boatload of deep-sea diver sounds in one small package. The Hydra Stereo…
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Rush
Rush 50
The goal of any anthology is to capture the broad scope of an artist’s career. Rush 50 is a strong attempt, starting with their first singles (previously unreleased) all the…
ARTISTS
Lee Ritenour
Lee's Six-String Theory
Lee Ritenour’s career accomplishments are the stuff of greatness. With thousands of classic recording sessions and more than 40 albums…

J.D. Simo
Playing for Elvis
Psych-blues guitar maestro J.D. Simo was the wizard behind the guitar work heard on Elvis, the new Baz Luhrmann film…
Johnny Marr
Brit Gets a Git
When pop-music fans in the U.K. talk about guitar heroes, they tend to put more stake in the way a…

Scott Sharrard
Destined for the Gig
Anyone who has seen the Gregg Allman Band in person or caught its new CD/DVD, Back to Macon, Ga, knows…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Gibson EB-2
Kalamazoo’s Biggest Bass Innovation?
In the mid 1950s, Gibson president Ted McCarty was paying close attention to two new instruments impacting the musical-instruments market…

First ’Burst
In May of 1958, a worker at the Gibson factory pulled two Les Paul guitars – serial numbers 8 3087…

Weymann Model 848
Mail-Order Rara Avis
From 1864 through the 1940s, H.A. Weymann and Son, Inc. made, imported, and sold marching band, orchestral, percussion, and other…

Matching Mojo
During the “guitar boom” of the 1960s, one method of getting a band noticed was to equip it with matching…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

JangleBox Acousticomp
Sweet Woodiness
Compression and sustain are the icing on most guitarist’s tonal palette. While many use such effects in service of electric…

The Soldano
Super Lead Overdrive
One of the leaders of what we might call the second wave of high-end high-gain tube amps, Soldano has been…

Jam Pedals’ LucyDreamer Supreme
Crunchilicious
Like so many boutique gear companies, Jam Pedals has established a distinct sonic stamp. Its effects have an uncompromising retro…
Ibanez Artcore AF105NT
Class Axe
Ibanez has always had two distinct personalities – first as a purveyor of shreddy solidbodies for the hard rock/metal crowd,…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Double-bound for Glory
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Black Light/White Noise

R.L. Burnside – Poor Black Mattie
Tom Feldmann demonstrates how to play the signature lick from R.L. Burnside’s classic “Poor Black Mattie.” Tom is playing a…

Matching Mojo
During the “guitar boom” of the 1960s, one method of getting a band noticed was to equip it with matching…

Bad Cat Black Cat 1×12 Combo
Roarin’ Back
When Bad Cat Amplifiers trimmed its line to just four models with modern circuits, some wondered if they’d capture the…

Martin D-13E Ziricote
Contemporary Cannon
From the time the first self-branded models shipped from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, in the early 1930s, the Martin dreadnought has been…












































