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Seymour Duncan Announces the Slash 3.0 Pickup Set
SANTA BARBARA, January 13th, 2026 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of guitar and bass pickups, effects pedals, and pedal amps, is proud to announce that the Slash 3.0 Pickup…
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Thomas Custom Guitars
Rarities from the Pacific Northwest
Certain makes and models of electric guitars are rightfully prized for their elegant physical designs and superior craftsmanship. Even better are those also revered for their playability and particularly rich…
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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…

Hilton Valentine
1943-2021
“The first song I learned on guitar was ‘House of the Rising Sun’ by the Animals.” The statement could have…

Ampeg’s Jet Reverb Prototype
Ampeg is frequently credited for being not only one of the first makers to put reverb in its amplifiers, but…

Yasmin Williams
Urban Driftwood
Acoustic fingerstylist Yasmin Williams takes ambidextrous musicianship to new and adventurous places on her second album. Urban Driftwood finds Williams…

John McLaughlin
50 Years in Fusion
The name John McLaughlin is synonymous with jazz-rock fusion, the genre he helped invent and sustain for the past 50…

John Tropea
A Life in the Studios
John Tropea has spent much of his life in a studio, playing guitar, helping make hit records for people with…

Have Guitar Will Travel 068 – Sammy Ash
Episode 68 of “Have Guitar Will Travel” features guitarist, collector, and entrepreneur Sammy Ash, who grew up in his grandparents…
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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…
ARTISTS

Tom Principato
Potomac Picker
A fixture in the Washington, D.C. area for more than two decades, twangmeister Tom Principato and his band crank out…

Nalle Colt
Keeping Old-School Alive
Vintage Trouble has emerged as one of the hardest working bands on the music scene. Laced with an ultra-cool visual…

The (Way) Back Beat: A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody
Fretted cheesecake advertising through the years, Part 3: The 1960s
Fretted-instrument advertising in the 20th century relied heavily on “glamor” or “cheesecake.” Electric instruments and accessories, in particular, are still…

Joe Stump
Professor Shred
Some musicians use grandiose nicknames like “the doctor” (Dr. John) or “the professor” (Rush’s Neil Peart) – but Boston shredder…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

1963 Fender 6G7-A Bandmaster
Last of the Oxbloods
Those who love vintage amplifiers are often fascinated by little anomalies that present themselves in an otherwise period-correct specimen, and…

Buddy Holly’s ’58 Magnatone 280
1958 Magnatone Custom 280
When guitarists talk tremolo or vibrato, you can bet the magnificent Magnatone amps will find their way into the conversation.…

St. Moritz Stereo
The notion of a stereo guitar became almost implicit when guitars started having two pickups. But it didn’t become a…

30 Most Valuable Guitars
To mark VG’s 30th anniversary, we dig into the 30 most-valuable production guitars.
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
Iconix Pickups Black Mass
Michigan Metal
Michigan may have given us the automobile production line, but Troy-based Iconix Pickups is the antithesis of an assembly line…

Jon Kammerer Guitars’ Pegasus
This Horse Has Wings
Jon Kammerer Guitars’ Pegasus Price: $2,300 (list) Contact: www.jonkammerercustoms.com Anyone who has ever plugged an acoustic guitar into an amp…

Effectrode Blackbird Vacuum Tube Preamp
Uncaged
In a nutshell, the Effectrode Blackbird is a tube amp’s entire preamp section in a floor unit. And just why…

Charis Acoustic SJ
Spirit in the Wood
Charis Acoustic SJ Price: $4,800 (base); $7,100 (as reviewed) Info: www.charisacoustic.com. The spiritual aspects of music perhaps originate with the…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Revisiting Room 335
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Plus, a Pro’s List of Repair Glues
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Rising Tides

Lost Planet Airmen
Back from the Ozone
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were true country-rock and Americana pioneers. Their unique, uncompromising brew of rockabilly, R&B,…

The Fender Blender
Extreme Fuzz
When Robin Trower segued from his wah-driven blues-rock riffing into the slowed, deep-blues groove of the second half of his…

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Rare, Bluesy, and Beyond
A surprisingly large contingent of people in high school or college in 1965 will tell you that less than two…

Popa Chubby
Live and Dangerous
Like all great rock and roll, Popa Chubby’s new double album, Live at G. Bluey’s Juke Joint NYC, invokes a…










































