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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…

Classics: Harold “Sonny” Wright’s 1965 Gibson J-45
Growing up 10 miles from Earl Scruggs’ birthplace in North Carolina with a music-loving father and two older sisters who…

Ellis Guitars TX3
“T” For Texas
Houston is the closest major U.S. port to the tropical hardwoods of South and Central America, so it makes…

The Steepwater Band
More Players, More Music
The Steepwater Band, based in Chicago, has been a trio for most of its career, purveying guitar-based Americana. Guitarist Jeff…

Larry Mitchell
“Great Time To Be a Guitar Player”
Larry Mitchell’s guitar-centered “Ah ha!” moments run the gamut from Roy Clark, Van Halen, Prince, and Elvis. With a string…

George Ducas: Modern Honky-Tonkin’
Taste of “Long Way From Home” Singer/songwriter George Ducas is a Nashville traditionalist influenced by Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and…

The PRS Studio
Bird Watcher
The new Studio model is the culmination of many decades of work from the design minds at PRS, as they…
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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,…
ARTISTS

Instro-Meister Eric Penna
Blues Switch-Up in Trabants Eric Penna’s main gig is playing bass for the garage/surf band Insect Surfers, but he side-hustles…

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

Phil “Big Dez” Fernandez
Blues Is Everywhere
6’2″/300-pound Phil “Big Dez” Fernandez is an international emissary of the blues. The French-born son of a Bosnian mother and…

John Hart
Mainline Florida
Inspiration can come from a lot of places. For jazz guitarist John Hart, a visit to a familiar place provided…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Tyler Morris and a 1953 Gibson Les Paul model
Tyler Morris and a 1953 Gibson Les Paul model Tyler Morris showcases his 1953 Gibson Les Paul goldtop and GA-70…

Vox Symphonic Bass
Fender Bender
Despite the way collectors and dealers freely apply the term “lawsuit guitars,” documented examples are few. One time it did…

Chris Butler’s Vox Mark VI: Waitress Server
Melding garage rock with glam, punk emerged in the early ’70s, set on stirring society’s pot. From New York to…

Selmer/RSA Truvoice TV10
Shock and Awe
If the British market needed a couple of decades to decide what form the guitar amplifier would ultimately take, we…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Republic’s Classic Concert Ukulele
Dainty Device
National launched its first ukulele in 1927, combining a brass-bodied, nickel-plated uke with the sweet-sounding amplification of a resonator cone.…

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…

EHX String9
Orchestral Stomp
The EHX String9 String Ensemble lets guitar players create electronic-string sounds, in full polyphony and without requiring a special pickup…
Bergen Guitars ST and TL
Messing with Perfection
Bergen Guitars ST and TL Price: $2,195 (ST, base)/$2,595 (as tested); $1,895 (TL, base)/$2,295 (as tested) Info: www.bergenguitars.com. If your…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Joanna Connor
Still Rising
Joanna Connor’s new album is a killer batch of tunes with a live feel infused by the spirit of Chicago’s…

Line 6 M5 Stompbox modeler
100 Sounds, One Box
Line 6 M5 Stompbox modeler Price: $279.99 (retail) Info: line6.com Have you ever thought, “Maaaan, I wish I had that…
Black River Delta
Swedish disciples of pre-World War II blues Erik Jacobs, Erik Nilsson, and Pontus Ohlsson, hauled a bunch of gear up…

Orangewood Guitars’ Echo 12 Live
Fresh-Squeezed Jangle
Twelve-string sales ebb and flow in part with the popularity of a song featuring one. Orangewood Guitars aims to change…












































