2022 July Issue on Spotify

June 30, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

This month we feature Andy, Summers, Joe Walsh, Jack Day Trio, Grand Funk Railroad, Bill Haley’s Comets, Robin Trower, Popa…

David Bromberg

Swearing On The Blues

November 1, 2016 · Michael Dregni

David Bromberg likes to quote the great fiddler Johnny Gimble, who once famously said, “There’s only two kinds of music…

Gibson Goldtops

Molten Mojo, Head-To-Head Vintage Versus Reissue

May 28, 2022 · Nathaniel Riverhorse Nakadate

In the good ol’ days of 1952, jazzmeister Les Paul strutted to the center of the world’s stage and proudly…

Lonnie Mack

Strike Like Lightning

April 24, 2024 · Sean McDevitt

Lonnie Mack hadn’t released an album in eight years when this comeback effort arrived in January of 1985. His first…

Don’t Call it Fusion: Julien Kasper’s “Upon a Green Hill”

February 29, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Beck (et al) Connection! The music made by Julien Kasper is connected to Miles, Beck, Hendrix, Mahavishnu, and Scofield, but…

Jorge Harada

Whole Lotta Rockabilly

March 11, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Call it twang with attitude. Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers’ new album, Little Black Heart, is a heady mix of…

  • 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

Nick Moss – clean and tasty on “Scratch N Sniff”

October 27, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Instro-rock, fully greased Get ready to have your funtime socks knocked off, ‘cuz this exclusive Nick Moss run through “Scratch…

Jay Jay French

Twisted Tales

October 3, 2022 · Bret Adams

There are music-business survivors, and then there’s Jay Jay French. Twisted Sister’s founder/co-lead guitarist/manager has led a life of wild…

Tim Lerch

Tim Lerch

Tele Jazz Master

February 15, 2016 · Pete Prown

If you watch any of Tim Lerch’s videos online, his virtuosity is immediately apparent. What may throw you is his…

Dan Wilson

Akron’s Finest

April 28, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

On Things Eternal, jazz-guitar wizard Dan Wilson fuses post-bop, spirituality, and the songs of Stevie Wonder into a satisfying musical…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Kalamazoo KG-1

April 21, 2010 · Michael Wright

Collectible value in guitars can be defined any number of ways, and not just by having a popular brand name…

Daion Headhunter HH-555

April 30, 2010 · Michael Wright

The trajectory of the Japanese guitar industry in many ways has mirrored that of the United States, though in a…

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…

The Fender Stratocaster

Aiming High

July 5, 2017 · Richard R. Smith

In 1953, Leo Fender started planning a new standard guitar – the Stratocaster. His partner, Don Randall, who headed Fender…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

EHX Slammi Plus, Hot Wax

Grease Fire

October 14, 2019 · Pete Prown

EHX’s Slammi Plus and Hot Wax pedals are not for the faint of heart. Housed in heavy-duty plastic, the Whammy-shaped…

Taylor T5z-12 Classic DLX

12-String Tech

October 28, 2024 · Pete Prown

Taylor’s acclaimed merging of acoustic and electric guitars continues to evolve with the T5z-12, a thinline 12-string with five-way pickup…

Fishman Loudbox Mini

Little Big Man

July 28, 2023 · Pete Prown

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

DigiTech iStomp

Morph For Less

October 22, 2015 · Rich Maloof

DigiTech iStomp Price: $149.95 Info: www.digitech.com/istomp If you’re the type of gearhead who turns heel and runs from DSP effects,…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Stephane Wrembel

Django New Orleans

March 20, 2024 · Pete Prown

The concept is simple enough: a mashup of Django Reinhardt’s gypsy swing with the buoyant sounds of Louis Armstrong and…

Cory Wong

Emperor Of The North

October 11, 2021 · Oscar Jordan

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

Valco El Grande

Valco El Grande

February 16, 2016 · Dave Hunter

Preamp tube: one 6SL7 Output tube: one 6V6GT Rectifier: 5Y3 Controls: Volume, Tone Speaker: 8″ Rola speaker Output: 5 watts…

Charlie Ballantine

Midwest Expressive

May 21, 2019 · Pete Prown

Befitting a guitarist from America’s heartland, Charlie Ballantine’s mixes jazz, folk-rock, surf/instro, blues, pop, and country into a simmering pot…

Steve Cropper

An MGs/Rascals Soul Summit

March 25, 2010 · Dan Forte

Before they were called Booker T. & The MGs, the first song the house band for Memphis’ Stax label cut…

Billy F Gibbons

Hardware

May 10, 2022 · Dennis Pernu

The ZZ Top guitarist once again stretches his Texas legs on this, his third solo LP. While most of Hardware’s…

Gretsch Country Gentleman

August 28, 2014 · Jim Hilmar

Consider American guitar manufacturers that have been in business during the last 100 years and the different instruments they’ve produced.…

Breedlove Organic Performer Pro Concert Aged Toner CE

Natural Beauty

October 11, 2023 · Pete Prown

With climate change on the minds of so many, guitar builders have started to offer more instruments that are good…

Yamaha SA-15

May 27, 2025 · Michael Wright

Our perception of Japanese guitars has evolved slowly. At one point, they were cheap toys, at other times imperfect copies,…

The (Way) Back Beat: A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody

Fretted cheesecake advertising through the years, Part Two

April 5, 2024 · Peter Stuart Kohman

Last month, we began looking at some of the more entertaining fretted instrument advertising of the 20th century, in what…

Have Guitar Will Travel 075 – Sam Weber

May 12, 2022 · James Patrick Regan

On Ep 75 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan interviews singer/songwriter Sam Weber who grew up in…

Sonny Burgess

1929-2017

May 9, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Sonny Burgess, one of the last of the great Sun Records stars, died August 18. He was 88 and had…

Home Feature Image

Cast Engineering Texas Flood OD

Bring On The SRV

June 9, 2016 · Rich Maloof

Tube Screamers, those famed overdrives from Ibanez, have been screaming off the shelves ever since guitarists first learned the little…

Snowy White

Snowy White

One Man, One Guitar

March 11, 2016 · Donald Wiedman

Snowy White, one of the finest blues and rock musicians to come out of the U.K., built a career on…

Life in the Fast Lane

Mick Wall

June 19, 2024 · Bret Adams

Despite personality conflicts and substances galore, The Eagles created impeccably crafted music. Mick Wall’s book explains how Glenn Frey, Don…

Classics: December 2023

Cliff Antone’s 1952 Fender Precision

August 15, 2024 · Ward Meeker

Texas is known for music, especially Austin, which in the mid ’70s became a hotbed thanks to clubs like Armadillo…

Del Casher

“Papa of the Wah-Wah” Marks Its 50 Years

April 26, 2019 · Dave Hunter

The wah pedal is one of the most widely used effects in popular music, employed by artists playing rock, blues,…

Have Guitar Will Travel – 022 Featuring Adam Lester

January 28, 2020 · James Patrick Regan

“Have Guitar Will Travel” host James Patrick Regan speaks to Adam Lester, guitarist in the Peter Frampton Band, discussing everything…

Eric Krasno

Always

October 27, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

On his fourth full-length solo record, two-time Grammy winner Krasno continues to explore the subdivisions of blues, soul, funk, and…

Mark Elf

Mark Elf

After the Storm

October 30, 2015 · John Heidt

The latest album from guitarist Mark Elf shot to the top of the jazz charts, but the route to success…

Nalle Colt

Keeping Old-School Alive

May 11, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

Vintage Trouble has emerged as one of the hardest working bands on the music scene. Laced with an ultra-cool visual…

Gretsch G5260 Electromatic Jet Baritone

From Surf to Cinema

March 8, 2023 · Michael Shirek

In the days before seven- and eight-string guitars, the easiest way to go low was to grab a baritone guitar.…

McElroy OM Model

OM, Gee!

March 4, 2015 · Pete Prown

McElroy OM Model Price: $7,500 (base; $8,500 as reviewed) Info: www.mcelroyguitars.com. Brent McElroy is a Seattle luthier specializing in high-quality…

Vintage Guitar magazine Tom Feldmann demonstrates one of Lightnin’ Hopkins trademark riffs

Lightnin’ Hopkins trademark riff

August 28, 2016 · Tom Feldmann

Vintage Guitar magazine presents Tom Feldmann Lightnin’ Hopkins trademark riff Tom demonstrates one of Lightnin’ Hopkins trademark riffs on his…

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

662

June 8, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram’s second album shows the 22-year-old prodigy in bloom with a flourishing musical maturity and compassionate world view.…

Metal Pedals JH-3

Metal Pedals JH-3

Swiss-Army Distortion

July 31, 2015 · Chip Wilson

Metal Pedals JH-3 Price: $235 (list) Contact: www.metalpedals.com Like a Swiss Army knife, the multifunction Metal Pedals JH-3 Johnny Hiland…

Magnatone Twilighter

Magnatone Twilighter

King of Vibrato

January 9, 2014 · Michael Dregni

Magnatone Twilighter Price: $2,249 (12″ combo, list) Info: www.magnatoneusa.com. Magnatone is dead, long live Magnatone! The original Magnatone amp company…

Tyler Amp Works’ HM-18 Combo

Jersey Original

April 26, 2019 · Anders Fransson

New Jersey has a history as home of some iconic amplifiers, and Tyler Amp Works in Westfield is a father-son…

Awesome Musical Instruments T3 Pickup Switch Upgrade

Wicked Switch

December 22, 2014 · Phil Feser

Awesome Musical Instruments T3 Pickup Switch Upgrade Price: $149.99 (black or white three-ply); $164.99 (white pearloid); $169.99 (brown tortoiseshell) Info:…