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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…

Andy Brown Quartet and Brian Bromberg
Two of the Best in Jazz
Not every jazz guitarist who plays solo can also blow in a group context, and vice versa. Some adept at…

Dale Watson
Keep On Truckin’
The seeds of the latest album from Dale Watson were sown in 1998, when he released The Truckin’ Sessions .…

Hound Dog Taylor, Son Seals, and Others
“I’m A Woman” sings Koko Taylor in her face-smacking distaff take on Bo Diddley’s “I’m A Man” to open this…

Have Guitar Will Travel – Featuring 002 Bryan Kehoe
Bryan Kehoe went to school with Les Claypool and played with Exodus. He later joined M.I.R.V. and toured the world…

Harmonic Design’s VP-90
Tone with Intent
Harmonic Design’s VP-90 Price: $100 Contact: www.harmonicdesign.net Harmonic Design must be doing something right. Specializing in replacement pickups, they boast…

MXR Custom Shop Sub Machine Octave Fuzz
Lowdown And Nasty
Rising from the smoke and flames of the MXR Custom Shop is the pedal of which every fuzz freak dreams.…
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John Sykes 1959-2024
Remembering a Heavy Hero
The guitar universe was rocked by John Sykes’ death from cancer, December 21 at age 65. Forty years ago, the British guitarist rocked with high-volume bands like Thin Lizzy and…
ARTISTS

David Ryan Harris
Songs For Other People
David Ryan Harris gets his greatest exposure singing and playing guitar around the world with John Mayer, but he’s been…

Ernie Isley
Burning Desire
Contrary to what longtime fans may have heard, Ernie Isley didn’t take guitar lessons from Jimi Hendrix. Though Ernie hung…

Mike Matthews
The Special Effect at Electro-Harmonix
As a child of four, Mike Matthews’ mother taught him how to play classical-style piano. Formal lessons followed; the child…

Pop ’N Hiss: Grand Funk Railroad’s Live Album
Pulverizing Performance
Brutish power chords and shrieking guitar lines abetted by pounding percussion, overdriven bass riffs, and wailing vocals – at the…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
1942 Martin D-45
The Martin D-45, offered from 1933 through 1942, is well-known as the Holy Grail of acoustic guitars. While players and…

Boggs’ Quad
Four-neck Fender From a Friend
Noted in musical history as one of the players who pushed the steel guitar beyond Hawaiian music to more-complex chording…

Lyon and Healy
So what is it? Its original black-finished spruce top is simply ladder-braced from within, but its back and sides feature…

“Boogie Mod” Dual Showman
What do you do when the humble blackface Bandmaster you acquired sight-unseen turns out to harbor one of rock’s hottest…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Synth Evo
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Musical, Minimalist
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Big Bottom
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Live Wire
Majik Box Paul Gilbert Fuzz Universe Custom
“Scarifying” OD
Majik Box Paul Gilbert Fuzz Universe Custom Price: $329.99 retail Contact: www.majikboxusa.com Since Dave Simpson and Rob Nishida joined forces…

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

JHS’ SuperBolt and Morning Glory Pedals
Zep in a Box
Started with a quick repair to a Boss pedal in Josh Scott’s Mississippi apartment, JHS has evolved into a well-regarded…

GJ2 Arete 5-Star
Monster of Rock
Bergen Guitars ST and TL Price: $3,999 Info: www.gj2guitars.com. Grover Jackson is a name forever associated with classic metal and…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Life At Full Speed
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Bass Mechanic
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One-Man Orchestra

Jeff Senn and Crazy Aces
Dealing Out Twang
When you build guitars for a living, you might unwind with another hobby – say, beer-can collecting or crochet. Not…

1971 Dumble Special 16 #0001
Prehistoric Beast
1971 Dumble Special 16 • Preamp tubes: three 12AX7 • Output tubes: eight 6L6GC (most likely) • Rectifier: solid-state •…

Ask Zac: Deep Dive on the Wide Range
Plus, Joey Molland’s Stratotone
I have collected several Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups from the early ’70s, and I’m curious about how to check…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Doubleneck Redux
A Return to Glory for “Jerry”
In 1977, I was doing guitar repair in Big Rapids, Michigan, and my services included picking up and delivering repair…









































