• 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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Peavey Delta Blues 115 Tweed

Livin’ Large

April 24, 2019 · Pete Prown

Most of us have been so conditioned to accept 12″ guitar speakers that we forget there are good options. While…

The DGN Custom Guitars Paragon Standard

In Search of Perfection

August 7, 2013 · Pete Prown

DGN custom guitars paragon standard Price: $3,000 (base) Contact: DGNcustomguitars.com. For the past few years, luthier Dan Neafsey has been making…

EarthQuaker Devices Ledges

’Verb Voyage

September 17, 2024 · Pete Prown

Billed as a Tri-Dimensional Reverberation Machine, the Earthquaker Ledges boasts a user-friendly interface with no menus or deep MIDI commands…

Kentucky Colonels

1966

May 13, 2024 · Pete Prown

Clarence White is best known as the B-bendin’ Telecaster pioneer with the Byrds – and his tragic 1973 death. But…

Joni Mitchell

Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971)

July 13, 2022 · Pete Prown

A year ago, Mitchell unearthed a batch of rare ’60s recordings called Archives – Vol. 1 and, boxed separately, remasters…

Fender American Vintage II 1954 Precision Bass

Ageless Anchor

August 4, 2024 · Michael Shirek

It wasn’t literally the first electric bass, but Fender’s Precision was the genesis of the instrument the world knows today.…

  • Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    Take Flight

    Arriving a little more than 10 years after the original Skylark, Carr Amplifiers’ new Skylark Special adds versatility and enhanced tonal depths to squeeze a lot more into this diminutive…

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ARTISTS

Roman Bulakhov

Ukrainian Trailblazer

August 6, 2024 · Pete Prown

If there’s a 21st-century guitar style, Roman Bulakhov is a prime example, particularly how he fuses rock, funk, jazz, hip-hop…

Billy Sheehan

Talas Time Travel

June 29, 2023 · Bret Adams

Billy Sheehan earned notoriety and commercial success in the ’80s and ’90s as a member of David Lee Roth’s post-Van…

Luther Dickinson

Luther Dickinson

Acoustic Odyssey

December 9, 2013 · Oscar Jordan

When Luther Dickinson isn’t writing and performing with the North Mississippi Allstars or on the road with The Black Crowes,…

First Guitar of Rock and Roll

Scotty Moore’s Gibson ES-295

June 10, 2022 · Michael Dregni

Like a hound dog hit by lightning, the first notes of rock and roll blasted out of radios across the…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Collings SoCo Deluxe

November 23, 2020 · Phil Feser

Whether you’re a fan of the flat-top or simply appreciate a good archtop, chances are you’re familiar with Collings Guitars.…

The Rogue VB-100 Violin Bass

Fab As It Looks?

April 29, 2020 · Pete Prown

The Rogue VB-100 Series II is an homage to the venerable Höfner 500/1 semi-hollowbody. Popularly known as the “Beatle bass,”…

D.K. Harrell and His ’76 ES-335

October 29, 2025 · Vintage Guitar

B.B. King of the Blues Award winner plays “Liquor Stores and Legs” Winner of the B.B. King of the Blues…

Gibson’s 17″ Pre-War Electrics

ES-300 of 1940-’43

December 1, 2014 · Andre R. Duchossoir

Among musicians and collectors, Gibson’s pre-World-War-II ES-300 may be less popular today than the ES-250, but in terms of sheer…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Mooer’s Slow Engine Volume Swell

Bring It Up

March 15, 2019 · Pete Prown

Long out of production, the Boss Slow Gear was one of the coolest pedals of the ’80s, duplicating the sound…

The Vox AC30C2X and AC15C1

Brit-Rock Mojo in a Box

August 20, 2013 · Pete Prown

Fully appointed in classic Vox dress, the famed British amp maker’s new AC30C2X and AC15C1 both sport enough of that…

Gretsch Roots Collection: Jim Dandy Flat-top, Dixie 6 Guitar-Banjo

Back to the Country

December 15, 2014 · Dennis Pernu

Gretsch Roots Collection: Jim Dandy Flat-top, Dixie 6 Guitar-Banjo Price: $239 retail (Jim Dandy Flat Top) and $499 retail (Dixie…

Roland V-Studio 20

The Roland V-Studio 20

January 13, 2014 · Pete Prown

Roland V-Studio 20 Price: $300 (street) Info: www.rolandus.com. Home digital recording has come a long way in the last 20…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

VG Q&A: Parlor Mystery

Plus, a Pro’s List of Repair Glues

January 2, 2026 · Dan Erlewine

My neighbor has an old parlor guitar that he asked me to clean up after years in storage. Inside the…

Teye Guitars’ Master Series Knights Templar

Knight Time

April 23, 2019 · Chip Wilson

Guitar fanatics find inspiration from different players. And if Woody swapping licks and practicing “the ancient art of weaving” with…

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…

Reverend Billy Corgan

Smashing Sounds

January 9, 2023 · Pete Prown

Reverend’s new twist on its Billy Corgan Signature guitar updates several features but remains a stylish retro-meets-modern solidbody. The most…

Fender Princeton feature

The Fender Princeton

January 27, 2011 · Dave Hunter

1962 6G2 Fender Princeton Preamp tubes: One 7025, one 12AX7 Output tubes: two 6V6GT in fixed bias Rectifier: 5Y3 Controls:…

Dave Jenkins

Cruisin’ Again

May 20, 2021 · John Heidt

Anyone who listened to Top 40 radio in the late ’70s and early ’80s is familiar with Pablo Cruise. The…

The ‘‘Blackburst’’

The ‘‘Blackburst’’

Les Paul Standard of a Different Shade

January 12, 2016 · Ward Meeker

Among experienced (and often jaded) veteran guitar collectors, precious few things create an adrenaline rush – strange one-offs, oddball brands that never quite blossomed,…

Setting Up Effects

Certain Guidelines Apply to a Signal Chain, But Your Ears Are the Ultimate Judge

June 2, 2015 · Lisa Sharken

One question frequently asked by guitar players is how to set up effects and arrange them in a 
proper signal…

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…

Have Guitar Will Travel – 024 Featuring Barry Grezbik

April 9, 2020 · James Patrick Regan

In Ep. 24 of  “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan visits with luthier Barry Grezbik, of Grez Guitars.…

Fargen Olde 800 MKII, Sonic Edge J&J Overdrive

Decades of Tone

May 9, 2016 · Zac Childs

The Fargen Olde 800 MKII Price: $1,949 Info: www.fargenamps.com. For 10 years, Ben Fargen has established a reputation for building…

Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristle ST

Big Time

October 8, 2025 · Rich Maloof

Greg Koch is arguably the Roy Buchanan of our time, wrestling squawks ’n squeals, burning blues and some absolutely haywire…

Willie J. Campbell

Be Cool

August 12, 2024 · Dan Forte

In the months before his passing in December ’22, blues bassist Willie Campbell (James Harman Band, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Mannish Boys)…

 Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai

Bass Convergence

November 7, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

Recorded at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on their 2024 U.S. tour, G3 Reunion Live reunites the virtuosos who…

Ibanez Tube Screamer

March 8, 2014 · Michael Dregni

From the first notes of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Texas Flood,” you can hear it loud and clear; that snarly tone…

The Bad Cat Era 30

Retro-Great

December 5, 2025 · Dave Hunter

So often has the phrase “Mark Sampson era” been applied to pre-2000 Matchless amps or early examples of the Bad…

Orangewood Guitars’ Echo 12 Live

Fresh-Squeezed Jangle

May 10, 2022 · Bob Dragich

Twelve-string sales ebb and flow in part with the popularity of a song featuring one. Orangewood Guitars aims to change…

Tagore Grey

British Steel

February 3, 2022 · Pete Prown

If you’ve been starving for good old-fashioned hard rock, the Treatment has your number. The British band has been building…

The SeaGlass Route6jr

Boutique Nobility

April 25, 2016 · Anders Fransson

Roger Mello of SeaGlass Guitars officially opened shop in 2011. Today, he offers four electric models; his Route6jr maintains the…

Boss SDE-3 Dual Digital Delay

Double Echo

November 14, 2025 · Pete Prown

Based on the famed Roland SDE-3000 rack unit, Boss’ SDE-3 combines some classic delay sounds of the 1980s, updated with…

Eastwood’s Classic 6 TA PHo

Phish Food

July 28, 2023 · Pete Prown

If you’ve seen Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio onstage, you may have noticed an unusual archtop in his mitts – a…

Harvey Valdes does Bach – Electrified!

July 12, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Artist Plugs in to Tackle Work of a Master Harvey Valdes shows us how he does J.S. Bach’s “BMV 999…

Aldo Nova’s 2022 “Paradise”

June 13, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Rock legend’s thunderous return Forty years after “Fantasy,” Canadian rock legend Aldo Nova has returned with two new projects. One…

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…

2Frontiers’ Authentic Appalachian Sounds

September 23, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Exclusive run at “Long Dead Man” When you’re in the mood for old-timey Appalachian music done very well, grab “New…

EHX Cock Fight and Key9

Pedalin’ To The Past

July 5, 2018 · Pete Prown

When it comes to sweet retro tones, the wizards at Electro-Harmonix (EHX) have been busy again, turning out a fresh…

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Teye Super Coyote

Zemaitis Redux

June 10, 2016 · Michael Dregni

Teije Wijnterp has been around. Born in the Netherlands, he studied flamenco guitar in Spain before relocating to Austin and…

Analog Man Bi-Comprossor

Analog Man Bi-Comprossor

Fresh-Squeezed Sounds

October 24, 2014 · Oscar Jordan

Analog Man Bi-Comprossor Price: $275 Info: www.analogman.com Mike Piera, a.k.a. Analog Man, is known for creating pedals with a vintage…

Steve Vai

Taming The Hydra

November 7, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

After finishing a sold-out tour with Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson for the G3 Reunion concerts, Steve Vai joined Adrian…