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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…

Les Paul
Birth of a Guitar Icon
Fifty years ago, Gibson’s new Les Paul Model was quickly becoming one of the company’s most popular guitars, and (though…

Kevin Keaton’s 1958 Esquire
Swamp Thing
June 10, 2020, was a summer night like most in the life of Kevin Keaton, a postal mail carrier and…

Joe Satriani
Capturing the Energy
Joe Satriani’s new album, What Happens Next, is a terrific back-to-basics effort with Satch in a trio format. Enlisting Red…

Brian Setzer
Sparking Another Rockabilly Riot
Three decades, umpteen records, and several stellar bands into his career, and Brian Setzer still makes rockabilly sound fresh and…

DGN Blaster
Jerry in a Box
DGN Guitars’ Dan Neafsey is known mostly for his guitar craftsmanship, notably the Kalos and Terrapin models inspired by Jerry…

Gibson 1958-’60 Les Paul Standard
A ’Burst by Any Other Name…
One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twelve. That’s the number of Les Paul Standards Gibson produced between 1958 and 1960. Amongst guitar…
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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

Guthrie Govan
Aristocratic Guitar
Guthrie Govan is at times more stunt pilot than conventional guitarist – his superhero skills mean he can play almost…

Tony Rombola
Gothic Blues
Godsmack guitarist Tony Rombola is moonlighting once again, on the third album by Apocalypse Blues Revival with fellow Godsmack member/drummer…

Bryson Willoughby
Mojo Thunder’s Collective Consciousness
Kentucky’s favorite alternative Southern rockers, Mojo Thunder, extrapolate fresh ideas from disparate genres to produce an album as passionate as…

Dudley Taft
Life At Full Speed
A songwriting blues-rocker in the purist sense, Dudley Taft is succeeding in an era when nothing comes easy for his…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Matching Mojo
During the “guitar boom” of the 1960s, one method of getting a band noticed was to equip it with matching…
Selmer Modele Jazz and Stimer M.10 Amp
Electricfying Early Jazz
In the 1930s, the quest for volume was the Holy Grail of guitar construction, as guitarists sought instruments to slice…

Mel Bay D’Aquisto
Teacher’s Aid
Melbourne “Mel” Bay (1913-1997) began his musical career at the age of 13 in his hometown of Bunker, Missouri. Largely…

Vega Model 120
Viewed from our contemporary perspective, it’s difficult to fully appreciate how different the music scene in general – and the…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Fishman Broken Record
Acoustic Looper
Part of Fishman’s line of AFX Mini Acoustic pedals, the Broken Record is a looper/sampler for players who like to…

Crucial Audio WahVelope
Tube Funk
Crucial Audio makes high-end tube pedals and studio gear at its shop in southern Delaware. Its latest, the WahVelope, is…

DryBell Unit67
Balkan Boost
DryBell Musical Electronic Laboratory has been kicking out great pedals for a few year, with clients like Mike Landau, John…

Best In Tone
The Marshall DSL40CR
In the minds of guitarists, the Marshall name verges on mythic – from Bluesbreakers to plexis, they hold a special…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

JHS Charlie Brown Overdrive
Beautiful Noise
While few guitarists get the opportunity to plug into every vintage Marshall amp and hear their distinguishing tonal characteristics, most…

Positive Grid Spark Go
Ready, Set…
Following the success of its highly portable Spark and Spark Mini practice amps, Positive Grid went really small with the…
PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow
Multi-Functional Gem
While most guitarists are familiar with PRS (and some dream every day of adding one of the company’s Private Stock…

Carr Bel-Ray 1×12
Brit-Based Invasion
Carr Amplifiers are renowned for their build quality and vintage-inspired tones. Not one to rest on his laurels, founder Steve…













































