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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…
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967
Imagine a Jimi Hendrix Experience concert where the audience actually disliked the band. That’s the scenario here, a secretly recorded…
Vintage Instruments and the Ban on Ivory Trade
A presidential executive order issued February 11 proposes a wide ban on trade in ivory has widespread implications for trade…
2025 August Issue on Spotify
This month, we feature Rick Derringer, Kid Ramos, Booker T and The M.G.’s, Steve Stevens, Phil Manzanera, Doug Aldrich, Kenny…
Greg Martin plays “Shotgun Effie”
Fresh Headhunters riff Greg Martin co-founder and lead guitarist in Kentucky Headhunters, shows us the opening riff to “Shotgun Effie” from…
2024 December Issue on Spotify
This month we feature George Benson, The Outlaws, Warren Haynes, Blu DeTiger , Jessie Ed Davis, Khalif Wailin’ Walter, Taste,…
Khalif Wailin’ Walter
DIY Blues
Blues guitarist Khalif Wailin’ Walter now makes his home in Essen, Germany, but the sound that emanates from his fretboard…
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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,…
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ARTISTS
Arliss McMinn and the California Playboys
The "Fenderized" Teens
“What started in California?” you ask. The list includes a broad range of inventions, fads, pop culture, and social movements.…
Shane Theriot
Diggin’ Daryl’s
What does it take to be the lead guitarist and musical director for one of pop’s most celebrated duos, transitioning…
Cliff Goodwin, Solo
Joe Cocker alum plays “Leap of Faith,” Cliff Goodwin was Joe Cocker’s guitarist for a decade and has also backed…
Blues Icon John Mayall
Check This Action
Few living blues artists could merit a package of 35 CDs. But what makes John Mayall: The First Generation most…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Jerry Kennedy
A-Team Guitarist, A-List Producer
Jerry Glenn Kennedy, a 13-year-old who recorded for RCA Victor as “Jerry Glenn,” got the shock of his young life…
Wolf Strat
A Legend’s Guitar, Discovered
After possessing it for several years, curiosity finally got the best of the owner of this 1963 Stratocaster. He had…
Nick Moss – clean and tasty on “Scratch N Sniff”
Instro-rock, fully greased Get ready to have your funtime socks knocked off, ‘cuz this exclusive Nick Moss run through “Scratch…
Music Man HD-130 Reverb
Intended to be the masterpiece of a titan in guitar-amp design, Music Man amps of the mid/late ’70s are all…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Marchione Guitars’ 16″ Archtop
The Golden Mean
In 1922, Gibson introduced Lloyd Loar’s L-5, lauded as the first modern archtop. Luthiers have been “advancing” the design ever…
Tim Bogert’s Modified Fender
One Fudged Bass
When Vanilla Fudge helped pioneer the progressive-rock movement in the latter half of the ’60s, bassist Tim Bogert played more…
Crucial Audio’ Die Götterdämmerung Germanium Fuzz/Ring Modulator
Ring Tones
Named by Flaming Lips guitarist Steven Drozd after composer Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera, Crucial Audio’s lavishly named Die Götterdämmerung…
Fender’s 70th Anniversary Esquire
One-Pickup Wonder
In the past, Fender has paid homage to its history with precise replicas of certain classics. The company’s 70th Anniversary…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Vox AC50
Vox AC50 Preamp tubes: one ECC82 (12AU7), three ECC83 (12AX7) Output tubes: two EL34s, fixed-biased Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Volume, Treble…
Ralph Towner
Fifty Years and Counting
As a young musician, Ralph Towner wrote “Icarus,” a revolutionary jazz piece that became a crossover hit for the Paul…
Railhammer Billy Corgan Z-One Humcutters
Clear Crunch
In the quest for tone, the secret is a combination of pickups, wood, construction, and the magic in a player’s…
Melissa Carper and Sad Daddy
With her bass making a dependable, rhythmic anchor, Melissa Carper sings like a bird soaring “where the wind blows high…
