-
MusicNomad is running a fun Valentine’s Day challenge for guitar players — and it’s a good one.
Has Your Guitar Been KISSed? 💋🎸 This Valentine’s Day, MusicNomad is asking one big question: Has your guitar been KISSed? Show your guitar some love with a KEEP IT SIMPLE,…
-
“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from…
-
Pieces of a Prototype
Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. …

PRS SE NF3
Expanded Options
The latest result of PRS Guitars “reverse-engineering”/ reconsidering its own instruments, the SE NF3 is the first PRS to be…

The Uncanny Approach of Walter Strauss
Fingerstylist melds melodies, polyrhythms, and visceral picking on “Fabara” Walter Strauss shows his extraordinary technique with help from his Sexauer…

Pop ’N Hiss: Prince’s 1999
Music, Sex, and The New World Order
1981, the world was enveloped in the Cold War, with its nuclear weapons, Reaganomics, and uncertainty. Prince Rogers Nelson had…

Out-Stratting the Strat
The Story of the G&L S-500
It would be an understatement to say that Leo Fender, with the help of George Fullerton, was prolific in the…

Dusty Hill
1949-2021
It didn’t take long for testimonials to pour in to VG following the death of ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill.…

Ernie Ball’s Music Man Cutlass/Stingray
Talkin’ Tonewoods
For many builders of solidbody guitars, the challenge is to improve on a handful of pioneering designs from the 1950s…
-
VG Q&A: Harmony History
And an Archtop Mystery
I recently received two guitars as gifts and am trying to learn more about them. The first is a Harmony I believe is from the early ’70s. Its serial number…
ARTISTS

Pop ’N Hiss: Taste
Breakout Blues
The ’60s may have been the most musically significant decade in the history of popular music, but very few countries…

Chuck Loeb
“Most Wanted” For Melody
From its terrific melodies to the meat-and-potatoes playing that makes him a mainstay of smooth jazz radio, guitarist Chuck Loeb’s…

John 5
In the Hands
On his latest album, John 5 stays true to himself as he dips into his famous bag of Tele tricks…

Dave Specter, Swimming in ’verb!
Twangy Texas blues via Chicago Dave Specter (no relation to Phil!) uses his reissue Jazzmaster plugged into a ’65 Vibrolux…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Koch Studiotone
No-Sweat Double-Duty
Koch Amplifier’s 20-watt Studiotone uses an all-tube circuit powered by a matched pair of Ruby EL84 tubes producing 20 watts…

Freddie Green
Artistry in Rhythm
Fellow musicians called him “Pep” or “Pepperhead.” He was also known as “Mr. Rhythm,” and he could drive a band…

Hilary Gardner returns with a fresh take on a holiday classic!
Hilary Gardner returns! Ready to set the tone for your holidays, Hilary Gardner and her band return for a fantastic…

Webster-Chicago RMA 375 Model 166-1
Grammy Winner
Modified or repurposed amps generally don’t fit into our monthly discussion here, but some are representative enough of a certain…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
-
Live Wire
-
Narrow(field) Win
-
Take Flight

John Page Classic Aqua Burst AJ
Classy & Sassy
The John Page Classic Aqua Burst AJ is another hip offering from the former Fender Custom Shop honcho and co-founder,…

Oxford Guitar Supply
Fine Finish
One factor keeping many people from working on their guitars is the availability of tools and materials to make those…

Roland’s JC-22 Jazz Chorus
More Than Just Chime
The original Roland Jazz Chorus doesn’t get the kind of love that American and British amps in the rock and…

Retro and Wonderful
The EHX Mainframe Bit Crusher
The Mainframe Bit Crusher is a nasty little pedal that warps, mangles, distorts and produces lo-fi digital sounds and trippy…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
-
Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
-
Remembering a Heavy Hero

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Steve “Frog” Forgey
Season 03 Episode 04 In Episode 3.4 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Steve “Frog” Forgey…

EHX Tortion JFET Overdrive
EHX Tortion JFET Overdrive Price: $198.67 (list)/$179 (street) Contact: www.ehx.com Having teenage metal-shredders at home makes one appreciate that a…

Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO
Archtop Ruler
In the early 1950s, the grand old luthiers like Epiphone and Gibson couldn’t believe there would ever be a market…

Ian Crichton
“We’re A Real Band”
Having weathered fame and changing musical trends, guitarist Ian Crichton has carved an indelible niche as the guitarist in Saga,…












































