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Taylor® Guitars Kicks Off 2026 With Two Major Launches – The Next Generation Of Its Flagship Grand Auditorium Guitars And New Gold Label Square-Shoulder Dreadnoughts
Taylor upgrades its most iconic models, adding “Next Generation” features to its Grand Auditorium body shape while expanding its recently introduced Gold Label Collection with traditional, square-shoulder dreadnoughts EL CAJON,…
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Thomas Custom Guitars
Rarities from the Pacific Northwest
Certain makes and models of electric guitars are rightfully prized for their elegant physical designs and superior craftsmanship. Even better are those also revered for their playability and particularly rich…
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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…

Phil “Big Dez” Fernandez
Blues Is Everywhere
6’2″/300-pound Phil “Big Dez” Fernandez is an international emissary of the blues. The French-born son of a Bosnian mother and…

Bob Moore
1932-2021
Bob Moore, a charter member of Nashville’s “A-Team” of session musicians and Nashville’s most recorded upright and electric bassist, died…

Mark Tremonti
Rock Star, Amp Snob!
Many of the people we today consider “guitar heroes” – Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to name a…

Valco FX Five-0
Garage Band
The Valco FX Five-0 was conceived as “Dick Dale in a box.” Offering overdrive, reverb, and tremolo – each with…

ToneTron’s Billy-Rocker
Best Amp You've Never Heard of
ToneTron’s Billy-Rocker Price: $1,200 Info: www.tonetroamps.com. On a quiet residential street in Minneapolis lives a mad scientist. Erstwhile rockabilly guitarist…

John Jorgenson
Stringed-Instrument Ecstasy
The title of John Jorgenson’s new three-CD boxed set, Divertuoso, combines two words – “diverse” and “virtuoso” – to aptly…
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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…
ARTISTS

Hilton Valentine
1943-2021
“The first song I learned on guitar was ‘House of the Rising Sun’ by the Animals.” The statement could have…

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…

Add Some of Dickie Betts’ Style to Your Playing
Add Some of Dickie Betts’ Style to Your Playing Hey there! Just wanted to share that mandolinist Andrew Hendryx and…

Philip Sayce
Proactive Perseverance
Philip Sayce is a living, breathing, godmonster beast on the Stratocaster. But his chops, tone, feel, and great songs don’t…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Gibson Firebirds
Say the words “custom color” to a collector or enthusiast and most will think of “Fender.” But Gibson had its…

Sound City L/B 120 Mark IV
Preamp tubes: three ECC83 (12AX7), one ECC81 (12AT7, in the phase inverter) Output tubes: six EL34 Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Normal…

Fall Philly 2014
[caption id="attachment_19277" align="alignleft" width="300"] We are here at the Philly show checking out all the killer guitars! Here's a '54…
Cry, Baby!
The Story of the Vox Wah
Beyond being crowned “Album of the Century” by Time magazine, Marley and the Wailers’ 1977 LP Exodus is a wah-wah…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!

Electro-Harmonix Synth9
Downright Synth-Ful
For 40 years, guitar synthesizers have come and gone, but the Electro-Harmonix Synth9 looks to be a game-changer for several…

ToneSpeak 12″ Line
Speaking of Tone…
New to the musical-instrument side of speaker building, but far from neophyte, Misco introduced its ToneSpeak guitar speakers in 2021…

Gomez Amplification “G” Reverb
Wet, Hot, or Blue
As amp builders go, Dario G. Gomez is about as fresh as they come. Though he has been repairing tube…
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…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Revisiting Room 335
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Plus, a Pro’s List of Repair Glues
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Rising Tides

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…

Jabrille “Jimmy James” Williams
Old Soul, Fresh Sounds
Seattle’s Jabrille “Jimmy James” Williams is a rare find in the guitar universe. At a time when music influences run…

Fretprints: Hiram Bullock
Dangerously Funky Fusioneer
In the sonic constellation orbiting jazz-rock, Hiram Bullock traveled a separate trajectory. His work on “Angela,” the theme for “Taxi,”…

Jane Getter
Jazz-Rock Premonitions
Jane Getter’s Anomalia is a mostly instrumental album that traverses the hypnotic seas of jazz-rock, with lyrics. A fusion of…












































