-
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…
Festive Frets
Suggested Listening for Your “Guitholidays”
Listen to VG’s “Festive Frets Holiday Play List” on Spotify! From the two-string refrain that kicks off Bobby Helms’ “Jingle…
Christmas 1968
Vintage Guitar magazine Presents Greg Martin's Head Shop
This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online articles where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on…
1905 Gibson F-2
In the opinion of most American mandolinists, Gibson brought mandolin design to a level of perfection in 1922, with the…
PRS Swamp Ash Special SE
Bolt-On Beauty
Known historically for its set-neck guitars, PRS has produced a number of killer bolt-ons, like the CE and Silver Sky.…
Thinkin’ Thin
Heroes of the Semi-Hollow
The semi-hollowbody electric guitar is one of the most revered axes in the plugged-in universe, offering the playability of a…
Joanne Shaw Taylor
Passion and Soul
British blues-rock guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor is leaving her mark on the classics. With The Blues Album, Taylor’s husky vocals…
-
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,…
NOW AVAILABLE!
CURRENT ISSUE
Join 25,700+ subscribers & be notified when new articles & more becomes available!
ARTISTS
Outlaws
Rising Tides
By the mid ’70s, Southern rock emerged as one of the most-exciting and successful genres in pop music, thanks to…
Brian Tarquin
Music, Books, and Bookings
Brian Tarquin is thriving in “steady as ya’ go” mode. Since his VG interview in February ’15, he has released…
Nick Moss
Backbone Shiver
On Get Your Back Into It!, guitarist Nick Moss and harmonica savant Dennis Gruenling combine blues, swing, and rock and…
Steve Cropper
An MGs/Rascals Soul Summit
Before they were called Booker T. & The MGs, the first song the house band for Memphis’ Stax label cut…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Simon Adahl’s 1958 Höfner 162
Missing Link
He may not be part of anthropological history like Dutch paleontologist Eugene Dubois, but Simon Adahl did have to dig…
The Birth of the Gretsch Duo Jet
Gretsch Gets With It!
In 1950, Leo Fender introduced the Broadcaster. The first solidbody electric Spanish guitar to bear his soon-to-be-famous name, its thin…
Six-String Kicks
Wood from Famed Bowling Alley Set to Sing
Few things scratch America’s cumulative itch for nostalgia like Route 66 – the famed wagon-trail-cum-highway that offered passage to those…
Martin Style 000-28K
During the 1920s and ’30s, Martin made a considerable number of guitars with bodies constructed of Hawaiian Koa wood. The…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
-
Live Wire
-
Narrow(field) Win
-
Take Flight
Demeter FZO-1 Fuzzy Octavulator
Fuzz Flavors
James Demeter has a long history in the amp and effects biz. His project-boxed/Dymo-labeled Tremulator pedal pre-dates the ’90s boutique…
Carr Impala
Big-Block Tone
Carr Impala Price: $2,490 (retail, in black); $2,640 (two-tone) Info: www.carramps.com. While the new Carr Impala amplifier gets its name…
Universal Audio Ruby, Woodrow & Dream
Model Of Perfection
With digital recording more popular than ever, audio designers are working to capture guitar tone directly, without miking an amp.…
Oddfellow Caveman Drive
Tone Evolution
Oddfellow Caveman Drive Price: $174.99 (list) Info: www.oddfellowfx.com. Handmade in California, the Oddfellow Caveman Drive is a boutique pedal whose…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
-
More Personal
-
Rare Pioneer
Godin’s A4 and A5 Ultra SA
Brave New Basses
Godin A4/A5 Ultra SA Price: $1,395 (A4 Ultra SA fretted); $1,645 (A5 Ultra SA fretless) Info: godinguitars.com. For years, Godin…
Classics: December 2021
1967 Rickenbacker 360/12
Live-music fans who roamed South Florida from the early ’80s until the mid 2000s might recognize Craig Ball’s ’67 Rickenbacker…
Furry Lewis’ 1968 Gibson B-25N
Heart In Hand
Born in the heart of Mississippi’s fabled Delta region – from where Robert Johnson emerged and a blues-music form was…
Bobby Black
Steel Before and After Commander Cody
When he got the invitation, Bobby Black wasn’t sure. The pedal-steel virtuoso, a 20-plus-year veteran of San Francisco’s music scene,…
