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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…
Orange County Guitar Show 2017
[caption id="attachment_26910" align="alignright" width="1112"] Joe Bonamassa's Special Fender Strat Exhibit at the Orange County Guitar Show[/caption] [caption id="attachment_26919" align="alignright" width="300"]…
Brimstone Audio Crossover Distortion XD-1
Bi-Amping in a Box
Brimstone Audio Crossover Distortion XD-1 Price: $299.95 Info: www.Brimstoneaudio.com. Brimstone Audio is a relatively new company that hit the ground…
Oddfellow Napoleon Boost
Little Dictator
Oddfellow Napoleon Boost Price: $119.99 (list) Contact: www.oddfellowfx.com Overdrive is one of the guitarist’s great joys. Unlike flat-out distortion, overdrive…
Greg Howe
A New Wheelhouse
Greg Howe is a globe-trotting, guitar-clinic-teaching, concert-performing fusion monster. He’s known for taking risks and pushing his playing into fresh…
Henry Garza
From Tragedy to Revelation
Los Lonely Boys’ new album, Revelation, draws from several influences while retaining the band’s Texas/Mexican identity. Collaborating with a group…
Naia Izumi
Intuitive Artistry
It’s difficult to pigeonhole the music of Naia Izumi, a singer/songwriter who’s also one of the most uncanny guitarists around.…
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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
The (Way) Back Beat: A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody
Fretted cheesecake advertising through the years, Part Two
Last month, we began looking at some of the more entertaining fretted instrument advertising of the 20th century, in what…
Joe Stump
Professor Shred
Some musicians use grandiose nicknames like “the doctor” (Dr. John) or “the professor” (Rush’s Neil Peart) – but Boston shredder…
Fretprints: Fenton Robinson
Unsung Blues Icon
In the encyclopedia of American music, there oughta be a picture of Fenton Robinson next to “unsung blues hero.” Drop…
Paul Quinn
Ramming It
As one of the leading bands of the early-’80s New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement, Saxon is responsible for…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
The West Avalon R
Too Funky
1971 West Avalon R • Preamp tubes: two 12AX7, two 12AT7 • Output tubes: two EL34 • Rectifier: solid-state •…
Guild’s S-100/S-200 “Kickstand” Models
Much like several other well-known manufacturers, Guild has, through the years, changed ownership, locations, and identities. Guild was founded in…
Gretsch 6119 Tennessean
Chet Atkins was the most important endorser ever employed by the Gretsch company. When introduced in the 1950s, models bearing…
A.J.’s 1950 Fender Broadcaster
$10 at a time
In 1950, A.J. Custer traded his triple-neck steel for a white-guard Broadcaster. Total cost was around $300, which he paid…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Henriksen’s The Bud
This One’s For You
In theory, a big guitar amp should sound larger than a smaller one. Then there’s Henriksen’s The Bud. Based on…
Lace Cybercaster LS
Modern Mixer
The mere name of Don Lace’s Cybercaster may set calloused fingertips to head-scratching. After all, “cyber” connotes cutting-edge, futuristic. How…
David Allen Fat ’59 Tele Pickups
Sparkle and Twang
At their best, Tele pickups deliver unparalleled twang – versatile and fat. Conversely, poor T-style pickups are flat and screechy…
FOMOfx Virtual Jeff Pro
Whammy For All
On most guitars, installing a traditional vibrato is a task ranging from difficult to impossible. And even done right, mechanical…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Various Artists
Homegrown Heroes
Subtitled “1950s & 1960s Oddball Labels,” these three boxed sets collect nuggets from dozens of independent record labels that popped…
Classics: August 2022
Billy Soutar’s custom-order 1936 Gibson L-7
While scanning an Elderly Instruments ad in Vintage Guitar one day in early 2009, Billy Soutar spotted the description of…
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…
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…
