• 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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G&L Fallout

Form Follows Function

June 12, 2014 · Phil Feser

G&L Fallout Price: $1,400 (retail) Info: www.glguitars.com. From automobiles to kitchen appliances to, of course, electric guitars, designers have gotten…

Wayne Kramer

Renaissance Man

January 5, 2018 · Johnny Zapp

Wayne Kramer has earned his stripes as an American music icon. Whether abusing his signature Strat, scoring a film, or…

Janne Haavisto

Finnish Instro Auteur

April 25, 2019 · Pete Prown

There’s a long history of instro and surf-rock from Scandinavia, perhaps none deeper than that of Janne Haavisto, formerly with…

Joe Bonamassa

Royal Tea

December 9, 2021 · Oscar Jordan

It’s no secret that Joe Bonamassa has a Jones for British blues-rock. Royal Tea is Exhibit A, as it was…

Epiphone Crestwood

’60s Un-Gibson Solidbody

July 14, 2017 · Eric C. Shoaf

Gibson’s acquisition of Epiphone in 1957 presented a tremendous challenge to guitar designers and marketers at the company. One challenge…

Ace Frehley

The Space Man’s Cover Plan

May 9, 2017 · Greg Prato

Few guitarists in hard rock have proven as influential as Ace Frehley; just about any guitarist interviewed after the mid…

  • 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

Walter Trout

Walter Trout

Battling Back

August 24, 2015 · Willie G. Moseley

In his decades of playing, Walter Trout has served as lead guitarist for John Mayall and Canned Heat, and forged…

Chris Cain

Tales to Tell

June 10, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

Armed with a new deal with Alligator Records and producer Kid Andersen (of Rick Estrin & The Night Cats), Chris…

Orianthi Lights It Up

December 7, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

New Music, Signature J-200 With her still-newish signature Gibson J-200, Orianthi strums and sings a chill version of the hard-rocking…

Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings

Double-bound for Glory

January 27, 2026 · Richard R. Smith

George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacher founded Electro String in 1931 to manufacture what everyone would soon call “Rickenbacker” guitars. Success…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Domino Californian Rebel

Instrument Profile

February 18, 2010 · Michael Wright

California. The Left Coast. It was probably home to North America’s earliest inhabitants, as emigrants from Asia crossed the Bering…

Vega Model 120

April 4, 2017 · Dave Hunter

Viewed from our contemporary perspective, it’s difficult to fully appreciate how different the music scene in general – and the…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 3

Backbone Instruments 1962-’64

January 31, 2018 · Peter Stuart Kohman

In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled…

VG Q&A: Odd Dots

Import fretboard markers, and Kay’s Model 1961

April 8, 2024 · Michael Wright

In the mid ’60s, why did some Japanese electric-guitar manufacturers put the marker on the 10th fret rather than the…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Harden Muddy Waters

Mojo Working

August 13, 2025 · Pete Prown

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

Peekamoose Model 3

Modern Retro

August 9, 2016 · Pete Prown

There’s no shortage of cool, retro-looking solidbodies on the market today, from the big guys as well as the increasing…

Jam Pedals’ LucyDreamer Supreme

Crunchilicious

October 14, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

Like so many boutique gear companies, Jam Pedals has established a distinct sonic stamp. Its effects have an uncompromising retro…

Guitar Tone Company’s Bloody Finger

Rugged Facelift

December 27, 2017 · Oscar Jordan

While honing his ears at Greene Street Recording Studio in New York, David Harrington was inspired to build studio-quality stompboxes.…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Chris Shiflett

Lost at Sea

December 6, 2024 · Rich Kienzle

Rock icons have made forays into country since the Everly Brothers paved the way in the ’50s, followed by Duane…

T-Rex Replicator

Daily Echo

May 30, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Among the arcana of tone, few things inspire as much devotion – even obsession – as echo. The Holy Grail…

Stéphane Wrembel

Djamming!

May 2, 2017 · Michael Dregni

There’s plenty of Gypsy jazz guitarists who can play more notes at faster tempos than Django Reinhardt, but few can…

Sean Watkins

The Fire Returns

January 3, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

Nickel Creek’s new album, Celebrants, is the trio’s first in nine years. Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins, and…

Harvey Mandel and Dennis Coffey

Two Instrumental Masters

January 27, 2017 · Dan Forte

If it’s possible to be both unsung and an icon, then guitarists Dennis Coffey and Harvey Mandel would fit the…

Rich robinson Main

Rich Robinson

Back on the Wing

November 3, 2015 · Ward Meeker

Rich Robinson. All photos by Neil Zlozower. Emerging as grunge began casting a metaphorical pall over the pop music landscape…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 7

1965: Summer Of The Hollowbodies

February 14, 2018 · Peter Stuart Kohman

The Way Back Beat survey of instruments designed by James Ormston Burns continues with the final products developed by his…

Jim Lauderdale & The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys

The Long and Lones-ome Letting Go

October 29, 2024 · R.K. Watkins

Bluegrass became part of Lauderdale’s oeuvre decades ago through his collaborations with Ralph Stanley and Roland White. East Tennessee’s Grammy-nominated…

Ca. 1960 Custom Mosrite/Gretsch

A Bakersfield/Brooklyn Cowboy

October 2, 2024 · Peter Stuart Kohman

In the history of vintage guitars, Gretsch and Mosrite are sometimes linked, and often associated with ’50s hot-country pickers and…

Steve Wariner

The C.G.P. Connection

May 14, 2012 · Willie G. Moseley

Steve Wariner is among the handful of guitarists designated as a certified guitar player (C.G.P.) by Chet Atkins. The last…

EMG T-52 Set

July 22, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

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

Bill Nelson

Brit-Guitar Deluxe

April 14, 2020 · Pete Prown

Bill Nelson is one of the unsung heroes of British rock guitar. From his ’70s work with Be Bop Deluxe…

Last In Line

May 15, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

This album reunites Mark 1 of the late Ronnie James Dio’s solo band, including Vinny Appice, the late Jimmy Bain,…

Supro Huntington

July 3, 2019 · Ward Meeker

Looking supremely ’60s-like with its gorgeous, vintage-y cherry-red finish, petite body, and fancy-topped pickups, the Supro Huntington is inviting as…

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…

The Return of Jerry Kennedy’s 00-18

Seventy Years Gone

August 10, 2022 · Willie G. Moseley

Nashville legend Jerry Kennedy has won Grammy awards and owned numerous collectible instruments. And if Guinness World Records tracked such…

Punk-Rock Pioneer Ivan Julian

July 17, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

NYC Luminary Goes Avant-Garde! Ivan Julian does an experimental take on “Misty” before going into the solo from “Love Is…

MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO

Michael Angelo Batio

The Fine Art of Face Melting

May 17, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

Michael Angelo Batio is one of the most prodigious guitarists on Earth. Since his stint with the rock band Holland…

LYON_HEALY-HOME-MAIN-BIG

Lyon and Healy

April 8, 2016 · R.J. Klimpert

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

Nancy Wilson

Fire in the Heart

December 8, 2014 · Will Kelly

In the early ’70s, women didn’t play rock guitar. Nor did they front bands. Nancy Wilson was an exception. Few…

Tim Fitzgerald comps on a Wes solo

January 26, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Jazz star interprets the work of a legend Tim Fitzgerald and his ’81 Gibson ES-175 go old-school with this display…

Andy Wood

Sonic Identity

June 25, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

Andy Wood is the living embodiment of the modern working guitarist. Straddling the galaxies of country music and shred, he…

Tommy Shaw and James Young

Styx’s Crowning Achievement

April 1, 2022 · Bret Adams

“One thing I like about how Styx does progressive stuff is we try and make it friendly progressive, not math,”…

Pop ’N Hiss: Albert King’s Born Under a Bad Sign and Live Wire/Blues Power

Power, Indeed

October 29, 2025 · Dan Forte

In February of 1968, Albert King stepped onto the stage of San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium for the first time. With…

Crazy Tube Circuits SPT

Greece Is The Word

January 8, 2018 · Chip Wilson

The modal mellowness of Apollo’s lyre or the perky chirp of the bouzouki might come to mind when one thinks…

Carl Verheyen

Carl Verheyen

On <em>Mustang Run</em> and Making a CD that Lasts

February 19, 0201 · Bob Dragich

Fresh off a 42-show/13-country European tour with his own band, Supertramp guitarist and L.A. studio ace Carl Verheyen has just…

B.B. King

In France

November 7, 2025 · Dan Forte

By 1977, when this French live album was recorded at the Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival, the “King of the Blues”…

Jim Lauderdale

Hope

July 22, 2022 · Rich Kienzle

Inspired by the pandemic, veteran singer/songwriter Lauderdale stresses resiliency and renewal on these 13 originals, enhanced along the way by…

Tom Feldmann, R.L. Burnside, Poor Black Mattie, acoustic Lesson

R.L. Burnside – Poor Black Mattie

May 8, 2016 · Tom Feldmann

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