• 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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Eli “Paperboy” Reed

“Always” Music

September 1, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

Guitarist/producer Eli “Paperboy” Reed understands the emotional thread between blues, gospel, R&B, and country music. He has created his own…

Noah Zacharin

Simple Pleasures

October 17, 2024 · Pete Prown

While some regard folk guitar as a relatively simple style, Noah Zacharin is a seriously agile fingerpicker. Also a fine…

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Joe Bonamassa

Driving

February 2, 2015 · Oscar Jordan

Joe Bonamassa’s latest record, Driving Towards The Daylight, is a return to the blues. After two successful studio albums with…

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…

Richie Kotzen

Better Days Coming

July 26, 2023 · Greg Prato

Richie Kotzen is one of today’s busiest rock guitarists. In addition to being a long-time solo artist (and possessing an…

Star Board: Rudy Jaramillo

Star Board: Rudy Jaramillo

April 28, 2016 · Ward Meeker

Rudy Jaramillo is quick to mention that his effects setup is very simple. “I go into my 1) Boss tuner,…

  • Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings

    Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings

    Double-bound for Glory

    George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacher founded Electro String in 1931 to manufacture what everyone would soon call “Rickenbacker” guitars. Success came early and their lap steels set standards of quality,…

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ARTISTS

Steve Kimock flashes back to Zero

December 29, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Amazing improv on “End of World Blues” We review the reissued 1992 album “Naught Again” by Zero, a band that…

MARK DUTTON

Mark Dutton

A.K.A. “Muddy”: Vintage Vibes, Retro Grooves

January 24, 2017 · Johnny Zapp

Mark “Muddy” Dutton is one cool cat with an impressive resumé and an affinity for the budget-friendly basses of yesterday.…

Michael Johnny Walker

Michael Johnny Walker

Vintage Attitude Required

July 5, 2016 · Johnny Zapp

The term “vintage” isn’t always literal when it comes to gear, but it certainly can be used to describe attitude.…

Don Latarski

Electrifying

November 13, 2023 · Pete Prown

Don Latarski is well-known in the Pacific Northwest as a player, author, teacher, and composer. His acoustic playing is revered,…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Jay Geils

Blues and Archtops

July 6, 2023 · Tom Guerra

If you grew up listening to music in the ’70s, you probably associate the name J. Geils with a five-piece…

Jersey Boys

Horray For Hollywood

The Guitars and Amps of Jersey Boys

May 9, 2016 · Jim Elyea

Movies made in the 1950s and ’60s that included rock-and-roll music acts typically showed them performing in segments using their…

The Gretsch 6120 Tenor

December 2, 2014 · George Gruhn

This 1958 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 four-string tenor guitar is a very rare variation of the model. Gretsch built other…

Paul Bigsby’s Myrtlewood Guitars

April 30, 2024 · Deke Dickerson

= Few things are as satisfying as a guitar with a good story to tell. Some vintage guitars might be…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Fender Acoustic Pro and Acoustic SFX

Curved Air

March 2, 2017 · Pete Prown

Fender has been making acoustic guitar amps for decades – now they’re reinventing the genre, and their designers deserve a…

Vox’s AC10C1

Vox’s AC10C1

Blast of the Past

July 6, 2016 · Michael Dregni

Few amps give such an instant jolt of history as a Vox. The golden nameplate, that distinctive crisscross speaker fabric,…

Fuchs Audio Technology Full House-50 Combo

The Art of the Deal

December 27, 2017 · Pete Prown

The Fuchs Full House-50 1×12 is a compact amp that strives to deliver a range of tones in a small…

Kiesel Solo S6

Spank ’N Twang

May 3, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

Buying a guitar made by Kiesel starts with a visit to the company’s website, where you’ll find a bevy of…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Aldo Nova

Fully Engaged

February 7, 2023 · Bret Adams

I did a lot of disappearing acts in my career. And when I disappear, I disappear,” Aldo Nova says with…

Gibson’s Depression-Era Exports

February 2, 2016 · L.B. Fred

Many aren’t aware that some of the archtop guitars Gibson produced during the Depression were marketed under different brand names,…

Beck, Bogert & Appice

Live In Japan 1973, Live In London 1974

June 18, 2024 · Pete Prown

After one underwhelming studio album, Beck, Bogert & Appice – a power trio with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine…

Louie Shelton

Gold Coast Gigmeister

March 22, 2019 · Rusty Russell

On August 16, 1966, the Beatle-esque guitar riff that opens “Last Train To Clarksville” crackled out of radios across America…

2022 May Issue on Spotify

May 5, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

This month we feature Steve Vai, Edgar Winter, Joe Satriani, Del McCoury, Gregg Wright, Sam Williams, John Mayall, Eric Clapton,…

Zeppelin Design Labs Cortado MkIII

May 10, 2022 · Julian Burtell

Zeppelin Design Labs Cortado MkIII contact microphone can record everything from acoustic guitars to a train bridge with a frequency…

Danelectro Viscount

January 11, 2016 · Dave Hunter

1961 Danelectro Viscount Preamp tubes: two 12AX7, one 6AU6 Output tubes: two 6V6GT Rectifier: 6X5 Controls: Volume, Tone, Vibrato Strength,…

Marshall JCM800 2203

Marshall JCM800 2203

May 2, 2016 · Dave Hunter

Preamp tubes: three ECC83. Output tubes: four 6550. Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Pre-Amp Volume, Master Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Presence. Speakers:…

Chris Spedding

Chris Spedding

Convergence of Legends and Friends

March 23, 2016 · Willie G. Moseley

The career of guitarist Chris Spedding has spanned more than four decades and included a commendable solo career, a stint…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Mending Chuck Panozzo’s 1960 ES-125

Thinline Revival

January 11, 2023 · Dan Erlewine

Like you, I got a kick out of the February “Classics” feature on Chuck Panozzo being reunited with his Gibson…

Charlie Ballantine

Midwest Expressive

May 21, 2019 · Pete Prown

Befitting a guitarist from America’s heartland, Charlie Ballantine’s mixes jazz, folk-rock, surf/instro, blues, pop, and country into a simmering pot…

The Gibson ES-5

Instrument Profile

June 10, 2020 · George Gruhn

Gibson, like all American guitarmakers, had to shut down electric guitar production for three years during World War II. But…

Skunk Baxter

Speed of Heat

May 2, 2023 · Pete Prown

In no apparent hurry, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter just released his first solo album – at age 73. The guitar flash…

Leslie West

Leslie West

Still Climbing!

September 7, 2014 · Lisa Sharken

Leslie West is renowned for his iconic tone and revered as a forefather of classic rock. A true survivor, he’s…

Santana IV

January 27, 2017 · Dan Forte

Describing Carlos Santana’s guitar playing, Greg Rolie, the Santana band’s original keyboardist, declares, “It’s real music; it’s not just a…

Gibson J-35

Gibson J-35

July 5, 2016 · George Gruhn

Dreadnought guitars originated as early as 1916 with instruments made by Martin and distributed by Ditson, followed in 1931 with…

Fishman Broken Record

Acoustic Looper

May 13, 2024 · Pete Prown

Part of Fishman’s line of AFX Mini Acoustic pedals, the Broken Record is a looper/sampler for players who like to…

John Osborne

Feelin’ Fearless

October 25, 2024 · Ward Meeker

 Brothers Osborne play a distinctive version of 21-century country music. Rising above trendy themes and sounds like tailgate anthems and…

Blooming, In Progress

Larkin Poe

September 8, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

Released in January of 2025, Larkin Poe’s Bloom has Rebecca and Megan Lovell weaving powerful philosophies into strong songwriting and…

Tonk Brothers/Washburn 5241

January 23, 2017 · George Gruhn

From the late 1920s through the early ’40s, Gibson produced instruments under a variety of brand names for retailers like…

Dio

August 30, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

There’s his music, his style, and his metal-culture influence. But above all, Ronnie James Dio is responsible for creating one…

Dave Stewart

Six-Strings, Studios, and Songs

March 8, 2016 · Ward Meeker

Guitarists often cite instruments as sources of inspiration. For musician, songwriter, and producer Dave Stewart, it wasn’t a ’57 Strat…

Roman Bulakhov’s Radical Stew

January 3, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Ukrainian guitarist fuses…. everything Inspired by Pat Metheny, Greg Howe, Guthrie Govan and others, guitarist Roman Bulakhov fuses rock, funk,…

Tony Gilkyson: Country-Rocker, Punk

January 24, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Tasty licks On A Vintage Kay An alumnus of country-rock’s Lone Justice and punk-rockers X, Tony Gilkyson plugged his vintage…

Michael Schenker

Rocking Reunion

April 15, 2019 · Greg Prato

Michael Schenker has been part of many live releases over the years, and one of the most intriguing is his…

Bill Frisell

Music Is

July 5, 2018 · John Heidt

Bill Frisell is a musical treasure who has proven himself in so many musical situations he’s impossible to categorize. His…

John McLaughlin

The Montreux Years

January 17, 2023 · Pete Prown

This retrospective from the Swiss jazz festival spans 28 years, covering miles of jazz-rock territory. In 1984, McLaughlin formed a…

Harp Legend Charlie Musselwhite

May 30, 2025 · Vintage Guitar

Stringin’ on “Blue Lounge” Harp legend Charlie Musselwhite has recorded and performed with a stunning array of guitarists in his…

Shane Fontayne

Cool Under Pressure

March 31, 2023 · Pete Prown

Shane Fontayne has held down the guitar hot seat for top artists including Bruce Springsteen, Ian Hunter, Sting, Joe Cocker,…