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Taylor® Guitars Kicks Off 2026 With Two Major Launches – The Next Generation Of Its Flagship Grand Auditorium Guitars And New Gold Label Square-Shoulder Dreadnoughts
Taylor upgrades its most iconic models, adding “Next Generation” features to its Grand Auditorium body shape while expanding its recently introduced Gold Label Collection with traditional, square-shoulder dreadnoughts EL CAJON,…
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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
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…
Park 75
Park 75 Preamp tubes: three ECC83 (12AX7 equivalents) Output tubes: two KT88 Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Volume II, Volume I, Treble,…

Hangin’ with Kid and Lisa “Little Baby” Andersen
Smooth, Funky Blues With Soul Kid Andersen worked with Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin Bishop before scoring his current gig with…

Fretprints: Jimi Hendrix
The Creation of Are You Experienced?
It was a bio-pic fantasy. The scene: Outside a London venue where Jimi Hendrix is performing for the first time.…

Billy Strings
Me/and/Dad
Grammy-winning flatpicking wizard Billy Strings was everywhere in 2022. Rightly seen as part of the vanguard of a new generation…

Steve Dawson
Steve Dawson shines as a session player and producer supporting other artists’ work. But when he hides away in his…

EMG T-52 Set
EMG pickups have been around since 1976, offering a diverse line of active pickups used in just about every genre…
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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…
ARTISTS

Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
The Chicago resident has been exciting blues audiences worldwide for decades. But he built his reputation working the local club…

Bruce Kulick
B-A-C-K to KKB
Most associate the name, face, and licks of Bruce Kulick with his 12-year stint in the non-masked Kiss. A busy…

Robin Trower
20 Albums In
On his 20th album, Something’s About to Change, Strat stalwart Robin Trower once again dives into the blues for a…

Bex Marshall and her ’63 Hummingbird
Family History Straight from the “Classics” feature in the August issue, here’s Bex Marshall playing the ’63 Gibson Hummingbird bought…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Les Paul Becomes The SG
Double Time
It may be difficult to imagine now, but Gibson’s original Les Paul was only a modest success. Introduced in 1952,…

The Burke Guitar
The Axe that Time Forgot
For more than 60 years, aluminum has been used as a component in guitar construction. Exactly whose idea it was…

Dan’s Guitar RX: A 1955 Gibson Touch-up
Team Effort.
To keep work flowing in my shop, repairs often become a group effort. Recently, Gene Imbody, T.K. Kelly, Paul Schmittauer,…

The Clark Gainster
Trick Your Tweed
Before he got into the effects pedal biz, Michael Clark had a reputation for building killer tweed-inspired amps. In 2001…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!

Fender’s 60th Anniversary Jazz Bass
Golden-Era Glory
Though it looks to be straight from a ’60s catalog, Fender’s 60th Anniversary Jazz Bass isn’t a true reissue. Rather,…

Harden Muddy Waters
Mojo Working
Harden Engineering is a small Chicago shop that specializes in hand-made instruments in a variety of shapes and sizes and…

Victoria Silver Sonic
Sonic Intoxication
For nearly 20 years, Victoria Amplifier Company has been making head-turning retro-styled amps. Mark Baier and his crew recently introduced…

Collings CJ-45 T
Golden Child
Every now and then, you pick up a guitar and realize you’re holding magic in your hands. Welcome to the…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Revisiting Room 335
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Plus, a Pro’s List of Repair Glues
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Rising Tides

Lipe Guitars Maestro
Whole Lotta Mahogany
Lipe Maestro Price: $4,900 Contact: lipeguitars.com; phone (818) 352-6212 Mike Lipe has a wall of gold records. Why? Not because…

Reverend’s Rick Vito Signature Soul Shaker
Built For Speed
Blues-/roots-rocker Rick Vito knows what he wants from a guitar, and the Reverend Soul Shaker is proof. An art deco-inspired…

EHX’s Bad Stone Phase Shifter, C9 Organ Machine, and Pitch Fork Polyphonic Pitch Shifter
Pedal Heaven
When it comes to stompboxes, there are the standard go-to effects that every guitarist, whether a gigging musician or a…

Svi Sound’s Overdrive OverZoid oz01
Full Steam
SviSound’a Overdrive OverZoid oz01 Price: $165 (list) Contact: www.svisound.com Tonally and aesthetically, SviSound’s Overdrive OverZoid is a study in good…












































