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Magnatone and Slash announce the Lil’ Viper
ST. LOUIS, MO – January 22, 2026 – Magnatone is thrilled to announce the Lil’ Viper – the latest member of the Slash Collection. It’s a lightweight amp designed to…
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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…
DryBell’s The Engine
British Splendor
Customers like John Mayer and Mike Landau have helped put DryBell Musical Laboratory effects on some of the world’s biggest…
Check This Action: Animals Let Loose
As a kid, I dug The Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, Manfred Mann, and pretty much the whole British Invasion. But,…
Robert Lockwood, Jr.
1915-2006
With the death of Robert Lockwood, Jr., the blues world lost one of the few direct links to Robert Johnson…
Trainwreck Express “Nancy”
World’s most desirable amplifier? Aside from any “standard” vintage amps that have been elevated through their associations with major artists,…
First to Sunburst
The Origin of a Famous Finish
Faced with anemic sales of its Les Paul Model in 1958, Gibson spiffed-up its goldtop with a sunburst finish in…
Custom-Color Stratocasters
The Stratocaster was born in 1954. A solidbody with three pickups, contoured back and top, vibrato, and bolt-on neck, it…
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Rik Emmett
Ten Telecaster Tales
At the risk of starting a brawl, Rik Emmett’s guitar work was arguably too good for Triumph. As evidence, his latest project centers on a custom-built Loucin that inspired both…
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ARTISTS
Paul Gilbert
The Joy of Destruction
We’ve all been there; cruising along in the car, minding our business, soaking in cool guitar tunes when another driver…
Trevor Rabin
Return with Rio
The first vocal album in 34 years from the former Yes guitarist (there was a killer instrumental CD in 2012…
Fretprints: Billy Duffy
Personality of The Cult
Co-founder of The Cult, Billy Duffy was Britain’s last ’80s guitar hero, with an attitude and sound that embodied the…
Return of the Trashmen
Bird Is Still The Word
Surf’s up – again! Thanks to the prodding of guitarist/impresario Deke Dickerson, The Trashmen recently recorded their first album in…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Rick Derringer
Explore The Possibilities
Rick Derringer and his compadres in the McCoys smashed their way into the pantheon of rock and roll in the…
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…
1964 Fender Bassman
1964 Fender 6G6-B Bassman Preamp tubes: four 7025 (12AX7 types) Output tubes: two 5881 (a more-rugged 6L6 type), fixed-bias Rectifier:…
The Roland Space Echo
Perfect Slap-Back
When Brian Setzer kickstarted the Stray Cats into action in 1979, his gear lineup was a hodgepodge of orthodox rockabilly…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Guild A-20 Marley
Get Up, Stand Up
When it comes to famous Bobs in rock, Dylan is first to mind. But just behind him is another songwriting…
Fender Player II Series Telecaster
Twang Banger
As the world’s first mass-production solidbody electric guitar fast approaches its 75th birthday, Fender continues to offer variations on the…
Prestige Heritage Premier P90 FM NAT
Liberating the P-90
Approach longtime players with a (yet another) single-cut/single-coil solidbody, and you may find it tough to get their attention. But,…
Effectrode Blackbird Vacuum Tube Preamp
Uncaged
In a nutshell, the Effectrode Blackbird is a tube amp’s entire preamp section in a floor unit. And just why…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Black Light/White Noise
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All I Got and Gone
Pepper Keenan
Down with CoC
It’s difficult enough to be a member of one metal band, let alone two. But Pepper Keenan is pulling double-duty…
Iron Maiden
Nights of the Dead, Legacy of the Beast
From the 2019 tour, this two-CD live set from Mexico captures the British metalers in top form, four decades after…
Adrian Legg
The Wizard of Strings
Aside from witty asides on social issues, natural disasters, and Renaissance history, Adrian Legg’s formidable fingerstyle and deep musicality remain…
Danelectro ’59 Resonator
Book This Dano
While guitar enthusiasts expend a lot of brain power waxing poetic about tonewoods, for many VG readers of a certain…
