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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…
2021 July Issue on Spotify
This This month we feature Blackberry Smoke, Mark O’Connor, Steve Cropper, Ian Crichton, Jane Getter, Jesse Aycock, Ally Venable, Al…
The Selmer Zodiac 50
The Zodiac Twin Fifty
An amp maker at the very heart of the British guitar boom of the late ’50s and early ’60s, Selmer…
Mark Lettieri
Baritone Funk
Snarky Puppy’s Empire Central was recorded in front of a live audience and pays homage to the city of Dallas.…
Rickenbacker 345
Rickenbacker guitars have a look, feel, and sound that is remarkably distinct from those made by any other manufacturers. In…
First ’Burst
In May of 1958, a worker at the Gibson factory pulled two Les Paul guitars – serial numbers 8 3087…
Fender Acoustic Pro and Acoustic SFX
Curved Air
Fender has been making acoustic guitar amps for decades – now they’re reinventing the genre, and their designers deserve a…
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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
Elliot Easton
Driving Classic Cars
The Cars transcended the new-wave movement of the late ’70s by creating a never-duplicated sound. The band’s self-titled debut album…
Stéphane Wrembel
Roll Over, Django
Talk Gypsy jazz with most devotees and they’ll quote you chapter and verse on Django Reinhardt. Talk with acclaimed Gypsy…
Eric Gales
Reinvigorated Blues
Over the years, there have been instances when one renowned blues-rock guitarist or another found sobriety in the nick of…
Les Paul Remembered
When news of the passing of Les Paul spread through the guitar community August 13, 2009, reaction was swift and…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Bird Golden Eagle 4/25
Soaring In Birdland
Many of the oddballs, also-rans, and otherwise unusual creations we see in the amp world fall into the “B-list” category…
Fixing a faulty pickup selector lever
And a few oddball pickups from the Duncan archives
When I use the pickup selector lever switch on my Fender Strato-caster, one of the pickups cuts out. What could…
New Lease on Life
The Sound of Rock Gets a Brush-Up
If restoring dusty, neglected old tube amps built more than half a century ago isn’t challenging enough, restoring amps with…
The Ray Butts EchoSonic
If you want to talk star-user ratio, the Ray Butts EchoSonic is near the top of the heap. Most accounts…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Retro and Wonderful
The EHX Mainframe Bit Crusher
The Mainframe Bit Crusher is a nasty little pedal that warps, mangles, distorts and produces lo-fi digital sounds and trippy…
Ernie Ball MVP Volume/Gain Expression Pedal
Total Control
Ernie Ball’s MVP Volume/Gain Expression Pedal Price: $179 (list); $129.99 (street) Info: www.ernieball.com. Just when you thought you were done…
ValveTrain 205
Five Watts, Just So
Rick Gessner is a tweed amp enthusiast who has more than made a splash since entering the fray in 2005.…
Boss AC-22LX
Acoustic Air
On the surface, Boss’ AC-22LX is a 10-watt acoustic-electric guitar amp with two channels. But, dig in, and goodies are…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Thurston Moore
Rock N Roll Consciousness
There’s always been a push/pull relationship between the worlds of hippie-inspired jam bands and punk-inspired indie rock. While the latter…
Death By Audio’s Deep Animation
The Other Side
If you thought envelope filters died out after Jerry Garcia passed into the great beyond, think again. Submitted as proof…
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Live in Maui
This 1970 performance was contrived for Rainbow Bridge, a hippie movie that flopped. The gig itself was faintly ridiculous, as…
The Reverend Koch Gristle 90
Pop The Hood
What happens when you mix a classic design with the creativity of twang ace Greg Koch? You get the Reverend…
