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2025 December 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 Burrell, Eric Johanson, Gary Moore, and more! Spotify is free…
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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…
Eugene Edwards
Outlaw Twang, Rockabilly Swagger
Country music icon Dwight Yoakam employs one of the hardest-working bands on the road today. A quintet including Yoakam, they’re…
Blackstar Limited Edition JJN-20R MkII
Rockin' Blues Power
If you don’t know about Jared James Nichols, you likely will soon. One of the hottest up-and-coming blues/rock players on…
Robben Ford
The Space Between the Notes
When it comes to blues, Robben Ford has always been inspired by the most profound practitioners of the form and…
Vintage Tones, ’07 Style
HAO Musical’s Rust Driver and Sole Pressure
For nearly 20 years, Japanese electronics distributor J.E.S. International has been providing gearheads in its country with guitars, amps, and…
Damon Fowler Brings the Blues
Slow and Tasty on “Taxman” Damon Fowler has shared stages with Dickey Betts and Butch Trucks, so it makes sense…
The G&L El Toro
At the beginning of 1983, Leo Fender was just more than three years into his last guitar-manufacturing venture when he…
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Paul Johnson
The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company
This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s…
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ARTISTS
James Williamson & Deniz Tek
Stooge meets a Birdman
The words “proto punk” arouse recollections of furiously strummed guitars and amps cranked to 10. For many, its sound and…
Fretprints: Kim Thayil
The Grungy Flowering of Soundgarden
In 1991, a movement emerged from Seattle that shook the musical world to its core. Seemingly overnight, a cadre of…
Duane Betts
Father to Son
It’s understandable if you detect a certain Southern-rock flare in the music of singer/guitarist Duane Betts. After all, his father…
Toronzo Cannon
Blues The Chicago Way
“I’m not trying to be a starving artist at 48 years old,” says blues man Toronzo Cannon when asked if…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
The Vox Saturn IV
In the mid 1960s, England’s Vox company was in the right place at the right time. Buoyed by frontline British…
Bruce and Butter
It would be an understatement to say that REO Speedwagon bassist Bruce Hall and his 1965 Fender Jazz Bass, dubbed…
“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Willie G. Moseley
Season 03 Episode 01 In Episode 3.1 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by longtime VG contributor…
National Style O
Industrial Art
National. The name is patriotic! And what else but American inventiveness could have brought about a metal-bodied guitar? The answer…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
Teye Apache
Sound, Feel, Mojo
One of three stunning L-series models (along with its brothers, the El Toro and Cleopatra) introduced by guitar builder Teye,…
Fender PM-2
Sitting-Room Savoir Faire
Once wildly popular among everyone from drawing-room dilettantes to road-hardened bluesmen shuffling the dusty byways, parlor-sized guitars fell out of…
Laney L50 Head and L412 Cab
Classic British Tone
Laney L50H/L412 Price: $1,990 (head); $1,499 (cab) Info: laney.co.uk. Lyndon Laney is no stranger to fans of the iconic British…
Strymon Zuma
Power Station
Are you tripping over a spiderweb of effects power cords? Have a pedalboard that requires an advanced degree in electrical…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Plus, a Pro’s List of Repair Glues
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Rising Tides
Chris Duarte
Not Mowin’ the Lawn
It’s been seven years since Texas blues rocker Chris Duarte issued a new album, but his 15th studio effort, Ain’t…
Out-Stratting the Strat
The Story of the G&L S-500
It would be an understatement to say that Leo Fender, with the help of George Fullerton, was prolific in the…
Samantha Fish
Blues Belle Stretches Out
In 2012, Samantha Fish’s Runaway was named Best Artist Debut at the Blues Music Awards. Known for her energetic blues-rock…
New Orleans Guitar Company Model 8
Sonic Mojo
New Orleans Guitar Company Model 8 Price: $2,999 Contact: neworleansguitar.com For over a decade, the New Orleans Guitar Company has…
