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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…

The Carr Skylark
Desert-Island Amp
The Carr Skylark Price: $2,390 (list) Contact: www.carramps.com If you could own only a single guitar amp – horror of…

Martin D-13E Ziricote
Contemporary Cannon
From the time the first self-branded models shipped from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, in the early 1930s, the Martin dreadnought has been…
Ruppert Acouswitch and Basswitch IQ DIs
Switching Up
Ruppert Acouswitch and Basswitch IQ DIs Price: $600 each with gigbag Info: www.rmi.lu. Part DI, part preamp, and part A/B…

Albert Cummings
Genre-Free
Albert Cummings’ new album, Ten, carries a simple title while serving as an easy way to count discography entries, but…
Justin Hayward
Prolificity and Perceptions
In addition to touring and recording with the legendary English band, Moody Blues lead guitarist/vocalist Hayward released his most recent…

Oz Noy & Andrew Synowiec
Musical Combustion
New from Oz Noy and Andrew Synowiec is a guitar team-up highlighting hot licks, high energy, and strong songwriting. The…
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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…
ARTISTS

Leslie West
Still Climbing!
Leslie West is renowned for his iconic tone and revered as a forefather of classic rock. A true survivor, he’s…

History of a Mystery
Kurt Hendrick and His Enigmatic Axes
One of the most-enigmatic brands in the history of American guitars was a line of funky solidbody electrics created by…

Brian Tatler
Still Evil
Though Diamond Head never achieved the same worldwide commercial success enjoyed by some of its fellow New Wave of British…

Leo Lyons
Fifty Years After
More than a half-century ago, Ten Years After sat at the vanguard of British FM rock, blending blues boogies with…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

A Guide to Vintage Dobros
John Dopyera left National in 1929 to begin work on a secret project – a single-cone resonator guitar he believed…

Jeff Plankenhorn’s “Alone At Sea”
Tasty slide on a square-neck Oahu Singer/songwriter Jeff Plankenhorn’s music is a rootsy mix that embraces blues and pop while…

“Unicorn”: Ca. 1910 Rafael Casana
This extremely rare guitar has been dubbed the “Unicorn” by virtue of the fact that for all his fame, it…

Robin’s ’80s Import Basses
While the Robin guitar brand’s reverse “imported then domestic” chronology has been documented in this space, the basses shown here…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Immix Eleven V-Series 30 Amp/Cab
Lights! Sound! Action!
Immix Eleven V-Series 30 Amp/Cab Price: Amp $1,995 (list); cabinet $895 (list) Contact: www.immix11.com Remember the first time you encountered…

Keeley Engineering Compressor Pro
Game Changer
Keeley Engineering Compressor Pro Price: $299 (list) Contact: www.robertkeeley.com Studio-quality dynamic control at your feet is a luxury that guitarists…

PRS Silver Sky
Stratospheric
Paul Reed Smith has for years experimented with Leo-inspired concepts, and his newest guitar, conceived in collaboration with rocker John…

Budda’s Baby Budda Amp Head
Big-Boy Tone
Budda Amplification staked its claim in 1995 with the Twinmaster boutique amplifier. Its hand-wired construction and user-friendly tones were hits…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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And an Archtop Mystery
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Supergroup Alpha

Fretprints: Paul Simon
Postmodern Troubadour: The Simon & Garfunkel Years
Troubadours – poet/musicians active in Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries, played a defining role in Western civilization. The…

Babicz Octave Blue Flame
Flaming Glory
When a vintage-minded guitarist recollects cracking open the case of a big ol’ hollowbody and catching a glimpse of flame,…

Eastwood EEB-1 and EUB-1 Basses
Horizontal Vibe
Eastwood’s EEB-1 and the EUB-1 take their design inspiration from Ampeg’s quirky mid-’60s Horizontal Bass series, the brainchild of Dennis…

Roy Smeck’s Gibson L-5
One For the “Wizard”
Player endorsements are part of the tradition of guitarmaking going back to its earliest use for public performance. LeRoy G.A.…








































