Mustangs of the West

Down at the Palomino

January 9, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

Los Angeles’ all-female country quintet has a new record featuring 12 super-cool songs. Produced by Kirk Pasich and Colin Devlin,…

George Barnes

Country Jazz

May 25, 2017 · Rich Kienzle

When Chet Atkins arrived in Chicago for his first RCA recording session in August 1947, he was astounded to meet…

Vox/Thomas Organ V-14 Super Beatle

Solid Sound

September 20, 2023 · Dave Hunter

After producing some of the most-iconic guitar amplifiers of the early 1960s, Vox leaned unwittingly into a failing technology –…

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.…

Molly Martin

Molly Martin

D-35 Savior

January 6, 2016 · Kathleen Johnson

Sometimes, it’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. Such was the case with singer/songwriter Molly Martin. As the summer…

Gretsch Roots Collection: Jim Dandy Flat-top, Dixie 6 Guitar-Banjo

Back to the Country

December 15, 2014 · Dennis Pernu

Gretsch Roots Collection: Jim Dandy Flat-top, Dixie 6 Guitar-Banjo Price: $239 retail (Jim Dandy Flat Top) and $499 retail (Dixie…

  • Rik Emmett

    Rik Emmett

    Canadian Custom

    Rik Emmett is a master of many guitar styles and other artistic endeavors. As co-lead vocalist/guitarist in the hard-rock trio Triumph from 1975 to ’88, he experienced life as a…

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ARTISTS

Shane Theriot

Out of the House

April 25, 2019 · John Heidt

Shane Theriot’s new album, Still Motion, is more stripped-down funky “jazz trio” than the lush soul he helps create as…

Micki Free

Feel and Tone

November 3, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

  He was the real-life team member on the infamous Charlie Murphy/Prince basketball game parodied on “Chappelle’s Show,” but Grammy…

David Bromberg

Testifying for 
the Blues

April 16, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Jerry Jeff Walker said it best. Describing David Bromberg’s contribution to Walker’s trademark 1968 song, “Mr. Bojangles,” he said simply…

The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson

December 2, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Classic P-90 tones! The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson shows us a bit of “I Can Still Remember When,” from the…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Burke Guitar

The Axe that Time Forgot

April 13, 2021 · Ward Meeker

For more than 60 years, aluminum has been used as a component in guitar construction. Exactly whose idea it was…

Peavey’s Razer, Mystic, and Foundation

Peavey’s Razer, Mystic, and Foundation

Contrasting Chronologies

March 11, 2016 · Willie G. Moseley

Just a handful of years after Peavey turned the world of electric guitar upside-down with its T-60 guitar and T-40…

Rickenbacker 375F

Seven Siblings

October 4, 2017 · Peter Stuart Kohman

Every guitar company has had its odd ducks, its failures, its forgotten models. While some are consigned to the scrapheap…

One of Two of a Kind

Gibson’s L-3 Ganus Brothers Special

July 9, 2018 · George Gruhn

Making custom instruments has always been problematic for companies designed to manufacture in quantity. Though it had an unenforced policy…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Reddick Voyager CS

Mods Made Easy

May 13, 2024 · Rich Maloof

Exploring creative designs at his shop in Georgia, luthier Ian Reddick aimed to solve a common problem – how to…

LsL Instruments’ Soledad

T-Bone with a Side of Sustain

March 31, 2017 · Phil Feser

Based out of Santa Clarita, California, LsL Instruments was founded by Lance and Lisa Lerman in 2008 after many years…

Rockn Stompn Sequential Power Strip

“Good” Power!

March 1, 2017 · Chip Wilson

Power. Juice. Electricity. The brilliance of Ben Franklin, James Watt, and Nikola Tesla helped harness, if not tame, this vital…

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…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

GRETSCHRANCHER-HOME-MAIN-BIG

Gretsch Rancher

October 24, 2013 · Russ Sutherland

“A spectacular model in real he-man outdoor Western finish with powerful appeal for Hill-billy and Cowboy bands.” This is how…

The Sebastian ‘Burst

Inspirational Icon

February 9, 2022 · Willie G. Moseley

The mere mention of a Gibson Les Paul Standard made between 1958 and 1960 commands attention. But one like this,…

Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter

Tremolo Transformed

December 27, 2017 · Rich Maloof

Tremolo is a simple effect: the amplitude, or volume, of an incoming signal is raised and lowered in pulsating waves.…

Eli Cook

All Over the Map

July 18, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

Eli Cook’s seventh album, High-Dollar Gospel, is an Americana-style showcase of sounds, instrumentation, and varied tunings played on an interesting…

Guthrie Govan

Aristocratic Guitar

May 2, 2022 · Pete Prown

Guthrie Govan is at times more stunt pilot than conventional guitarist – his superhero skills mean he can play almost…

The Fender “Korinacaster”

Double-Cut Kuriosity

October 5, 2015 · Ward Meeker

There’s irony in the fact that Leo Fender, creator of the first solidbody electric guitar to be mass-produced, wasn’t the…

The Eastman SB55

Little Devil

May 6, 2022 · Michael Dregni

When re-creating a classic, it’s all too easy to feel hidebound to the original – especially if it’s an icon.…

Prince

Rhapsody In Purple

April 20, 2017 · Oscar Jordan

A year after his death, VG remembers Prince, a musical revolutionary, whose emergence was jarring, even for the most youthful…

Boggs' Quad

Boggs’ Quad

Four-neck Fender From a Friend

May 3, 2016 · Ward Meeker

Noted in musical history as one of the players who pushed the steel guitar beyond Hawaiian music to more-complex chording…

Have Guitar Will Travel 081 – G. Love

September 2, 2022 · James Patrick Regan

Host James Patrick Regan welcomes singer, rapper, and musician G. Love to episode 82 of “Have Guitar Will Travel.” They…

Fixing Tuner Holes in a Rare Gibson

Replacement Plague

October 14, 2021 · Dan Erlewine

I’ve worked on plenty of old Gibsons, but guitars like this 1939 J-55 are rare. It’s only the second one…

Soundgarden

May 2, 2017 · Dennis Pernu

If Mudhoney mined the irreverent punk yang of the “grunge” sound that began seeping from the Pacific Northwest in the…

Jock Bartley

The Return of Firefall

November 26, 2021 · Pete Prown

If you listened to pop radio in the late ’70s, it was hard to miss Firefall, whose soft-rock hits were…

John Mayer

Sob Rock

July 13, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

John Mayer’s latest is a somber ode to the soft-rockin’ ’80s – think Henley and Hornsby. But don’t start eye-rolling…

Oxford Guitar Supply

Fine Finish

May 8, 2025 · Joe Bigley

One factor keeping many people from working on their guitars is the availability of tools and materials to make those…

Fretprints: Fran Beecher

Rock-and-Roll Guitar Begins

March 9, 2023 · Wolf Marshall

The ripples that anticipated a rock-and-roll tsunami were in motion in the 1940s, when pop, “race records,” and country converged…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Installing an Acoustic Pickup System

Un-Unplugged

November 10, 2022 · Dan Erlewine

For years, one of the most common jobs I’ve been asked to do is put a pickup in an acoustic…

Steve Rosen

Chasing EVH Memories

March 16, 2024 · Bret Adams

From 1977 through 2003, music journalist Steve Rosen formed and fostered a personal and professional relationship with guitar legend Edward…

Andy Timmons

Back to the Bread ’N Butter

March 15, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

After a decade pushing his craft to new creative realms, Dallas-based guitarist Andy Timmons is once again purveying original instrumental…

Lance Lopez

Hard-Time Music

August 8, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

Several years after being liberated from Supersonic Blues Machine, Lance Lopez is back and better than ever. Wielding hard lessons…

Iconix Pickups Black Mass

Michigan Metal

July 9, 2018 · Chip Wilson

Michigan may have given us the automobile production line, but Troy-based Iconix Pickups is the antithesis of an assembly line…

Luker Chameleon Combo

The Luker Chameleon Combo

True to Its Colors

September 2, 2015 · Bob Dragich

The Luker Chameleon Combo Price: $1,850 (list) Contact: www.lukeramps.com Considering the state of modern vacuum tubes, a surprising number of…

Check This Action: Everybody Gone Surfing?

June 8, 2022 · Dan Forte

My favorite quote about the demise of surf music is not the oft-repeated Hendrix line in “Third Stone From The…

DaShawn Hickman

Glorious Gospel

April 27, 2023 · Pete Prown

Sacred steel is that unique vein of gospel music highlighting pedal-steel guitar and delivering a powerful sound that can shake…

Epiphone Rivoli

March 17, 2010 · Willie G. Moseley

Former Gibson president Ted McCarty (1909-2001) is credited for his leadership of the company when it peaked in terms of…

Standard in Custom

Schecter’s Custom Shop Marks 35 Years

July 6, 2015 · Ward Meeker

Riding high after 35 years with an array of original instruments, an impressive artist roster that started early with Pete…

McKinley James

Payin’ Dues in Rhythm & Blues

May 30, 2025 · Pete Prown

If you listen to early electric blues and R&B records, you’ll often notice the original sessions were cut without a…

Cimarron Guitars’ Model P

From the Parlor to the Stage

September 24, 2013 · Sean OBryan Smith

Cimarron Guitars has being making custom instruments since 1978 in the dry, mild climate of southwest Colorado. The company’s Model…

Steve Dawson

Deeper Roots

April 3, 2024 · Pete Prown

Calling Steve Dawson a “roots” artist seems a disservice to a musician so eclectic and wildly talented. On Eyes Closed,…