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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…
Gibson GA-80T Vari-Tone
In the late ’50s and early ’60s, Gibson was apparently convinced the Vari-Tone switch was the way of the future,…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Rock-And-Roll High School(er)
Building a From-Scratch Class Project, the Conclusion
In my November ’22 column, Ceil Thompson’s class-project guitar was nearing completion – the lacquer coats were applied and, after…

Leslie West
Hangin' With Unusual Suspects
In deciding who to hit up to play on his new album, Unusual Suspects, Leslie West put a lot of…
ZZ Top
The First 20 Years, Un-Remixed
Usually, the hook with boxed reissues is that they include previously unreleased songs, alternate takes, live material, and maybe some…

Chris Cain
Tales to Tell
Armed with a new deal with Alligator Records and producer Kid Andersen (of Rick Estrin & The Night Cats), Chris…

George Benson
Breezin’ With The Boss of Jazz Guitar
Grammy winner and music legend George Benson has lived a guitarist’s dream. Bridging the gap between pop and jazz helped…
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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
Johnny Marr
Brit Gets a Git
When pop-music fans in the U.K. talk about guitar heroes, they tend to put more stake in the way a…

Nuno Bettencourt
Extreme Versatility
When Extreme reunited for its fifth album, 2008’s Saudades de Rock, it seemed a foregone conclusion the band was back…

Larry Carlton
Farewell, Mr. 335
As music becomes more unfamiliar and the past becomes a long reflection in the rear-view, veteran guitarists are increasingly mindful…

Johnny Moeller and Mike Keller
Two for T(-Birds)
Every fan of blues music is familiar with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Founded in 1974 by two guys who would go…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Gibson ES-5
Instrument Profile
Gibson, like all American guitarmakers, had to shut down electric guitar production for three years during World War II. But…

Alvino Rey’s “Mini” Gibsons
Alvino Rey’s 1936 Gibson mini guitar. From its beginnings, Gibson has built custom orders and unique instruments for specific artists,…
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…

The Story of Nudie’s Mosrite Mandolin
In the mid 1970s, Kosmo and Kathy Cominos collected knives, jukeboxes, wristwatches, etc… But their favorite finds were celebrity-associated musical…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Republic’s Classic Concert Ukulele
Dainty Device
National launched its first ukulele in 1927, combining a brass-bodied, nickel-plated uke with the sweet-sounding amplification of a resonator cone.…

Arteffect Bonnie Wah
Cry No More!
Israel-based Arteffect’s new Bonnie wah pedal is an accurate re-creation of the highly soughtafter vintage Vox Clyde McCoy wah. The…

Teye Guitars Gypsy Queen
The Art of Tone
For Austin-based Teye Guitars, taking guitar construction to new artistic heights has been a basic tenet since their inception. Mastermind…

Guild Standard Series Acoustics
Legacy, Cont’d?
Founded by a jazz guitarist as jazz-box builder, the Guild company also built a solid reputation with its ’50s acoustic…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Dan Fogelberg’s Gretsch White Penguin
Dan Fogelberg’s success as a singer and songwriter far overshadows his reputation as a musician, but the man whose tenor…

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…

Top 50 Guitar Songs of the ’70s
By the Readers and Staff of Vintage Guitar Vintage Guitar marked 25 years of publication with a year full of…

Echopark Clarence
Wayback Machine
Gabriel Currie’s Echopark Guitars have been played around the world by some of the music industry’s heaviest hitters. His is…













































