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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…

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…

Dennis Dunaway
Earwigs, Alice, and Beyond
Lungs burning, sweat soaking their shaggy hair in the Arizona sun as miles passed beneath their feet, Dennis Dunaway and…

Tech 21’s Fly Rig Brit and Cali
Little Monsters
In this age of shrinking guitar rigs, Tech 21’s Fly Rig pedals show just how guitar-related technology is getting smaller…

Cory Wong
Emperor Of The North
Cory Wong’s latest solo album, Striped, is a jubilant record and his eighth this year. Defying the temperature of the…

2023 April Issue on Spotify
This month we feature Marty Stuart, Steve Vai, Sunny War, Merle Travis Bio, Kansas’ Leftoverture, Gary Moore, Big Bill Broonzy,…

Scott Metzger
Spontaneous Composition
“We started as three side men scheduled to back a singer who was a no-show at this bar in Brooklyn,”…
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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

Mark O’Connor
Virtuoso Comeback
Some musicians are multi-instrumentalists, but Mark O’Connor is something else – a multi-virtuoso. Regarded as a master on guitar, violin,…

Mike Keneally
Uncommon Knowledge
For 35 years, Mike Keneally has been a go-to sideman for icons like Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani,…

Phil Collen
Diamond Mine
Few groups radiate the sheer joy of being a famous, hard-working rock band than Def Leppard. The Rock and Roll…

Anne McCue
Comes Into Her Own
As impressive as 2004’s Roll was, the eclectic Koala Motel (on Messenger Records) represents a major step up in Anne…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Electra MPC
Standard X340
One of the more successful Japanese-made guitar brands of the 1970s was Electra, the brand name used for electric guitars…

Stromberg Master 400
The Stromberg Master 400, measuring a gigantic 19″, is considered by many to be the ultimate orchestral rhythm guitar. The…

Two Tickets to the Top
Keeley Electronics’ Katana and Flexi 4×2
Any gearhead who’s been paying attention the last seven years knows the name Robert Keeley. Since 2001, he and his…

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…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Electro-Harmonix Epitome, Tone Tattoo
Tone to the Third Squared
The Electro-Harmonix Epitome, Tone Tattoo Price: $491.84 list (Epitome) and $292.35 list (Tone Tattoo) Info: www.ehx.com The concept is smart…

Avante Gryphon
Game Changer?
Avante Gryphon Price: $1,495 (street) Info: www.veilletteguitars.com People bandy about the term “game changer” so often these days it barely…

Aclam Guitar’s The Woman Tone Overdrive
Creamy Tribute
On November 26, 1968, Cream performed its last show, at Royal Albert Hall, and Eric Clapton left the band as…

The Rivolta Combinata Bass VII
Euro Flash
Rivolta’s Combinata VII bass takes ideas from Rickenbacker, Höfner, and various European builders lost to history and wraps them into…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Guild F-512
Iconic ’70s 12-String
Today, players typically equate the 12-string acoustic with Taylor and Martin. For its part, though, Guild’s F-512 remains one of…

Kenny Sultan
Left-Coast Blues Machine
Kenny Sultan is a best-selling author of music books and instructional videos covering blues guitar, and is the guitarist in…

The Fender “High-Powered” Twin
1958-’59 Fender Twin Preamp tubes: one 12AY7, two 12AX7 Output tubes: four 5881 (6L6 equivalents), fixed bias Rectifier: GZ34 (5AR4)…

Julian Lage
Jazz Memoir
The latest from Julian Lage contains mesmerizing originals featuring Bill Frisell’s supple artistry and Lage’s potent six-string imagery. View With…










































