Andy Wood

Sonic Identity

June 25, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

Andy Wood is the living embodiment of the modern working guitarist. Straddling the galaxies of country music and shred, he…

VG Q&A: ’71 Mahogany Precision?

Plus, a ’60s Conrad 12-String and Converting a ’65 ES-345TD-SV to Mono

June 5, 2025 · George Gruhn

I have a Fender Precision Bass with a 1971 neck date and serial number 296XXX, and I’ve always suspected the…

Dave Edmunds

Dave Edmunds

Full Solo Circle

July 8, 2016 · Willie G. Moseley

The career of Welsh guitarist Dave Edmunds has included hits and collaborations with other notable musicians, including Rockpile, with bassist…

Thomm Jutz plays “Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies”

November 27, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Flatpicked English folk with an Appalachian touch Sparse and haunting, Thomm Jutz and his ’48 Martin D-18 share a solo…

Maestro Fuzz-Tone

December 8, 2015 · Michael Dregni

Fuzz. It’s the sound of fury, aggravation, indignation, and – considering the history of the most famous fuzzbox of all…

George Benson

Breezin’ With The Boss of Jazz Guitar

August 26, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

Grammy winner and music legend George Benson has lived a guitarist’s dream. Bridging the gap between pop and jazz helped…

  • Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    Take Flight

    Arriving a little more than 10 years after the original Skylark, Carr Amplifiers’ new Skylark Special adds versatility and enhanced tonal depths to squeeze a lot more into this diminutive…

    Read more >>

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ARTISTS

Fearless Guitar Heroes

Metallica’s Hammett and Hetfield Stage Legendary Solidbodies

July 10, 2019 · Ward Meeker

Metallica emerged as the antithesis to corporate rock and the “hair metal” that dominated L.A.’s Sunset Strip in the ’80s.…

Toronzo’s Tasty Blues!

September 27, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Chicago Blues Master plays “Something To Do, Man” More than “just” a great blues player, Toronzo Cannon is an outspoken…

Jake Shimabukuro Plays the Beatles “Something”

February 22, 2022 · Doug Yellow Bird

Silky-Smooth Shimabukuro Jake Shimabukuro’s playing is a silky delight on this run through the Beatles “Something.” That’s his Kamaka tenor…

Joe Satriani

Capturing the Energy

July 9, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

Joe Satriani’s new album, What Happens Next, is a terrific back-to-basics effort with Satch in a trio format. Enlisting Red…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Hosts “Storied Strings” Exhibit

Guitars In Art

August 10, 2023 · Ward Meeker

Dr. Leo Mazow’s vision for the new “Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art” exhibition at the Virginia Museum of…

Gibson J-185

The Gibson J-185

November 20, 2015 · George Gruhn

The J-185 is regarded by many players and collectors as the finest-sounding Gibson flat-top made after World War II. The…

Silver Lining

Gibson and the Master Models

December 26, 2017 · George Gruhn

Recognized today as visionary, when introduced in 1922, Gibson’s Master Model L-5 and F-5 were expensive to produce and lacked…

Easy Pickins

The Fine Art of Pick Collecting

May 9, 2018 · Chris Hewitt

You collect guitar picks? Is this a joke? Umm, no…and in a world where books are dedicated to the collectibility…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Fishman Loudbox Mini

Little Big Man

August 10, 2023 · Pete Prown

The Fishman Loudbox Mini is just what its name says – a small amp that delivers the company’s renowned audio…

Reverend Mike Watt Wattplower

July 3, 2019 · Phil Feser

During four years of back and forth, Reverend Guitars and legendary punk-rock bassist Mike Watt (Minutemen, Firehose, Stooges), developed a…

Big Knob Pedals

Big Knob Pedals

What’s in a Name?

February 18, 2016 · Bob Dragich

Big Knob Pedals Price: Tube 808, $139; Echo Flex, $149; Vibe Tone, $159; Octavius, $129 (all list) Contact: www.bigknobpedals.com Gary…

Koll Super Glide Almighty

Grady’s Choice

October 14, 2019 · Pete Prown

What do you get when you cross a Jazzmaster, Les Paul, Gretsch Duo Jet, ES-335, and Tele? You just might…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Breedlove Pursuit Exotic S Concert Amber 12-String CE

Tonal Transcendence

October 12, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

In 1990, Steve Henderson and Larry Breedlove quit their day jobs at Taylor Guitars and moved to Oregon, where they…

Ivan Pongracic and Jeremy DeHart

Atlantis Rising

September 9, 2024 · Pete Prown

Lords of Atlantis is something a surf supergroup, comprised of members from The Madeira, Aqualads, Insect Surfers, and The Manakooras…

Have Guitar Will Travel – 039 Featuring Lyle Workman

December 1, 2020 · Art Department

In Episode 39 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist/composer Lyle Workman, whose new solo…

Friedman IR-X Dual Channel Preamp

Stack in the Box

September 17, 2024 · Pete Prown

Most guitar-electronics companies make a direct-recording preamp, many promising to provide ultimate distortion and overdrive via impulse responses (IR) or…

Envious Omissions

A Custom-Order Gretsch 6196

November 9, 2017 · Preston Gratiot

Gretsch aficionados know the adage – “Clubs have holes and a Gentleman don’t!” With this guitar, though, somebody messed with…

VG Q&A: ’71 Mahogany Precision?

Plus, a ’60s Conrad 12-String and Converting a ’65 ES-345TD-SV to Mono

June 5, 2025 · George Gruhn

I have a Fender Precision Bass with a 1971 neck date and serial number 296XXX, and I’ve always suspected the…

Guy Pratt

Rickenbackers and a Resistance

January 3, 2024 · Willie G. Moseley

Guy Pratt has been the bass player for Pink Floyd since signing on for the tour to support 1987’s A…

Joe Robinson

Eyes on the Prize

October 4, 2023 · Bob Dragich

Bouncing on a trampoline in the yard of the home his father built outside Temagog, Australia, nine-year-old Joe Robinson gleefully…

The “Last” Trainwreck?

May 8, 2015 · Dave Hunter

Ken Fischer’s prolonged illness and subsequent death at the age of 61 remains one of the great tragedies of the…

DryBell Module 4

Compress Yourself

August 28, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

  Inspired by the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer, Drybell Musical Electronic Laboratory’s Module 4 Compressor adds several highly usable features.…

Gibson Barney Kessel Custom Prototype Vintage guitar magazine

Gibson’s Experimental Kessel Prototype

Gibson Barney Kessel Custom model

May 18, 2016 · George Gruhn

This is a guitar which for all practical purposes appears to be a Gibson Barney Kessel Custom model, but the…

David Ryan Harris

Songs For Other People

April 24, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

David Ryan Harris gets his greatest exposure singing and playing guitar around the world with John Mayer, but he’s been…

Have Guitar Will Travel 140 – Iain Matthews

December 13, 2024 · James Patrick Regan

In episode 140 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with singer-songwriter…

Fryette Valvulator GP/DI Amp

Totally Tubular

April 19, 2019 · Pete Prown

Guitarists are often trying to get more convincing tube tones on their home and studio recordings, but finding authentic valve…

Mesa/Boogie Drive Pedals

Four on the Floor

December 19, 2014 · Phil Feser

Mesa/Boogie Drive Pedals Price: $179 (Tone-Burst, Grid Slammer and Flux-Drive); $199 (Throttle Box) Info: www.mesaboogie.com. Long a stalwart in the…

Vox’s AC10C1

Vox’s AC10C1

Blast of the Past

July 6, 2016 · Michael Dregni

Few amps give such an instant jolt of history as a Vox. The golden nameplate, that distinctive crisscross speaker fabric,…

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

It was 50 years ago today…

Vintage Guitar magazine Presents Greg Martin's Head Shop

June 1, 2017 · Greg Martin

This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online articles where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on…

Sean Watkins

The Fire Returns

January 3, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

Nickel Creek’s new album, Celebrants, is the trio’s first in nine years. Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins, and…

Al Di Meola

Still Elegant

October 8, 2019 · Pete Prown

For close to 45 years, Al Di Meola’s career has brimmed with guitar virtuosity, taking him from red-hot fusion to…

Manny Charlton

Dog Days

June 10, 2022 · Bret Adams

“I always say it’s the song, the performance, and then the production.” Nazareth guitarist/producer Manny Charlton believes those three things,…

Harmony Comet

Michigan Meteor

June 21, 2022 · Bob Cianci

Whoever coined the phrase “Everything old is new again” knew what they were talking about. The resurrected Harmony brand, associated…

Susan Santos’ Blues-Rock Riffage

July 31, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Solo take on “Have Mercy” Susan Santos grabbed her LsL T Bone, plugged into a Bugera V5 Infinium amp, and…

James Trussart SteelCaster

Rust Never Sleeps

October 3, 2019 · Michael Dregni

James Trussart’s guitars exist on a plane of their own. With their peerless styling, the builder’s guitars-as-art are nonetheless fully…

Mesa/Boogie Drive Pedals

Four on the Floor

December 19, 2014 · Phil Feser

Mesa/Boogie Drive Pedals Price: $179 (Tone-Burst, Grid Slammer and Flux-Drive); $199 (Throttle Box) Info: www.mesaboogie.com. Long a stalwart in the…

Ruyter Suys

Ruyter Suys

Loud and Proud

January 21, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

Nashville Pussy is fronted by the husband-and-wife team of Blaine Cartwright and Ruyter Suys. Its new album, Up The Dosage,…

Mark Erlewine’s 40 Years with Willie Nelson’s Trigger

Wooden Wonder

April 26, 2019 · Ward Meeker

For a decade, Willie Nelson chased fame as a performer in the Nashville mold of the ’60s – hair coifed,…

Marshall’s DSL1C

Small Stack

June 21, 2022 · Bob Dragich

For those who love classic British tone, nothing beats the sound of a Marshall stack cranked to 10. Unfortunately, unless…

Santa Cruz HT/13 Happy Traum

Fingerstyle Dream

August 11, 2022 · Michael Shirek

In a career spanning more than 60 years, Happy Traum has been a fixture of the American folk scene, from…

Southern Boogie from Chickasaw Mudd Puppies

August 30, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Band jams on acoustic “Flatcar” take “The South is a complex and nuanced place,” says Ben Reynolds of his native…