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2026 February Issue on Spotify
This month, we feature Tinsley Wllis, Jimmy Aaughan, Duke Levine, Joshua Hedley, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Pink Floyd, Coyote Motel, Julian Lage, Jocelyn Gould, and more! Spotify is free or available…
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Rock ’n Roll Fantasy Camp Celebrates 30 Years of Changing Lives Through Music
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: For 30 years, Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp has done something no one thought possible — bringing everyday musicians into rehearsal rooms, studios, and onto stages with…
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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…
Beyond the Parlor
Part One: The Guitar in Non-Anglo America
Ed. Note: In this series, Tim Brookes attacks the common argument that the guitar in 19th-century America was small, quiet,…
The Real Story of Martin’s 14-Fret Orchestra Models
OM Irony
Martin Orchestra Model (OM) guitars made prior to World War II are some of the finest ever made for fingerpicking.…
Festive Frets
Suggested Listening for Your “Guitholidays”
Listen to VG’s “Festive Frets Holiday Play List” on Spotify! From the two-string refrain that kicks off Bobby Helms’ “Jingle…
Colby Dual Tone Booster 50
Double Versatile
Colby DTB50 Price: $3,800 (head); $750 (cabinet) Contact: www.colbyamps.com From 1978 through 2010, Mitch Colby helped Marshall become a preeminent…
Electro-Harmonix Soul Food, Nano Big Muff
Add OD, To Taste
Price: Soul Food, $89.25 (list), $62.81 (street); Nano Big Muff, $95.64 (list), $69.80 (street) Info: www.ehx.com Guitarists have an insatiable…
Fender Player Jazz Bass Fretless
No Frets, No Sweat
The fretless has long been mysterious territory for bassists dazzled by the sonic achievements of Jaco Pastorius, Pino Palladino, and…
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Classics: Jeremy Graf’s 1961 Fender Stratocaster
A lifelong vintage-guitar nut who has had “a million guitars,” Jeremy Graf’s all-time favorite is this 1961 Stratocaster. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Graf was just seven when, for reasons…
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ARTISTS
In Memoriam: Tony “T.S. McPhee
Groundhogs leader Tony “T.S.” McPhee ranked with the greatest British blues guitarists, whether solo acoustic or ensemble electric, slide or…
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Blues From the Backroads
Stepping into the spotlight to play the blues with the classic bands that backed Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, most…
Pop ’N Hiss: Robin Trower’s Twice Removed from Yesterday
Think Again
The solo career of guitar icon Robin Trower took off like a rocket in the early ’70s after he left…
North Mississippi Allstars’ Luther Dickinson
Smooth Sounds from a Vibratone Luther Dickinson sat with his new Vibratone V2 (being built with friend Chris Roberts) to…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Round-Up Range
Rolling on a Post-Pandemic Project
Five years ago, I started making a Tele-style guitar inspired by the Gretsch Roundup. When Covid hit, I was up…
Martin 0-28K
The exotic figuration of Hawaiian koa wood on this Martin 0-28K from 1923 has a visual appeal that matched the…
Classics: Tommy Castro’s ’66 Fender Stratocaster
Tommy Castro has never been much for sitting with a guitar teacher, preferring instead to rely on good ol’ time…
The D’Angelico Excel Mandolin
The 1,164 archtop guitars made by John D’Angelico have brought him great renown as the finest individual archtop guitar builder…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Classic Character
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Synth Evo
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Musical, Minimalist
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Big Bottom
Gretsch Malcolm Young “Red Beast” Signature Jet
Let There Be Rock
Forty-odd years beyond when AC/DC first hit American airwaves, the band still inspires multitudes of guitarists with intoxicating riffs, mesmerizing…
Radial Headload Guitar Amp Load Box
Taming a Shrew
As low-power amps gain in popularity, one wonders what will happen to all the 50- and 100-watt amps starting to…
Andrews Spectraverb 16
No Limits
Taking inspiration from Fender’s classic AB763 Deluxe Reverb, the hand-wired Andrews Spectraverb 16 uses a pair of JJ 6V6 power…
MXR Dyna Comp Mini
A Classic, Compressed
In the ’70s, the original MXR Dyna Comp found its way onto a plethora of now-classic vinyl sides and was…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Shoulders Of A Legend
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The Artist’s Way
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Life At Full Speed
Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 2
The Black Bison Leads the Herd
In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled…
Hilary Gardner’s jazz/country connection
Classic sounds on “Silver on the Sage” Hilary Gardner and her band are devout fans of classic cowboy (and other…
Slim Harpo and Martin Hawkins
Mick Jagger admonished the world back in 1968, “What’s the point in listening to us doing ‘I’m A King Bee’…
BluGuitar Amp1
Tiny Tube Terror
The trend toward the miniaturization of guitar gear shows no signs of slowing. Thanks to modern technology, guitarists are fitting…
