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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…

Bukka White – Jitterbug Swing
Tom Feldmann teaches the riff from Bukka White’s classic Jitterbug Swing. www.tomfeldmann.com Guitar info: Flammang Guitars Model P30-S, Red spruce…

Cedric Burnside
Be Trying
One of 35 grandchildren of the late R.L. Burnside, Cedric grew up in the rundown Holly Springs, Mississippi, home that…
Providence Silky Drive and Stampede DT
Japanese Silk (and Stomp)
Providence Silky Drive and Stampede DT Price: $394 (Silky Drive); $249 (Stampede DT) Info: www.providence-ltd.com. From the Land of the…

Sue Foley’s Acoustic Blues
Sue’s Classic(al) jam in E Sue Foley improvises some blues with her flamenco guitar made by Francisco Navarro Garcia, in…

Orange OR80 Combo
Sunshine State
Created when amps were huge and men were men – or at least had roadies to carry the gear –…

Mark Sampson
Back Cat
Epitome of the restless designer/tinkerer, Mark Sampson has co-founded four guitar-amplifier companies, two of which – Matchless and Bad Cat…
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PRS Swamp Ash Special
Narrow(field) Win
The bolt-on Swamp Ash Special has been around for nearly three decades, but PRS just retooled the U.S.-built version and dropped it at NAMM. There are significant upgrades. While earlier…
ARTISTS

Jim Singleton
Clarksdale Collaboration
A connoisseur of vintage gear, VG readers may know Jim Singleton as the main man at Jim’s Guitars, in Pennsylvania.…

Alex Hall
Pandemic Re-Think
Six Strings, the debut EP by 26-year-old Alex Hall, establishes the Georgia native as one of the new generation of…

Adrian Vandenberg
MK II
If you played rock guitar in the ’80s, you likely paid attention when Vandenberg videos/songs played on MTV or the…

Josh Smith
Swingin’ Hard
Josh Smith has been very busy. When he’s not on tour or sharing production duties with Joe Bonamassa for artists…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Gibson’s 17″ Pre-War Electrics
ES-300 of 1940-’43
Among musicians and collectors, Gibson’s pre-World-War-II ES-300 may be less popular today than the ES-250, but in terms of sheer…

Kay Jazz Special and Value Leader
Kay entered the electric bass market in the mid 1950s with the K162, which later morphed into the similar K5965…

David Hamburger: masterful playing, 00-18 deep dive
David Hamburger and his ’56 00-18 Singer/songwriter David Hamburger is also an impressive fingerstyle player who knows a great guitar…

Weymann Model 890 Jimmie Rodgers Special
Hey Hey, Tell ’Em About US
Jimmie Rodgers has been called many things; while active from 1927-’33 he was billed as “the Singing Brakeman” and ”America’s…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Jim Dunlop BG95 and EVH95 Signature Cry Baby Wahs
Voodoo Chasin’
Wah users needn’t settle for stock tonal options like those heard on the “Theme From Shaft” or “Voodoo Child (Slight…

Ellis Guitars TX3
“T” For Texas
Houston is the closest major U.S. port to the tropical hardwoods of South and Central America, so it makes…

Walrus Audio Eons Five-State Fuzz
Hot on the heels of its Ages Five-State Overdrive and Eras Five-State Distortion, Walrus Audio has unleashed the Eons Five-State…

PRS SE NF3
Expanded Options
The latest result of PRS Guitars “reverse-engineering”/ reconsidering its own instruments, the SE NF3 is the first PRS to be…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Lookout Highway
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And an Archtop Mystery

In Memoriam: Rusty Russell
Rusty Russell, a Nashville-based guitarist, songwriter, photographer, and writer who accompanied notable country and jazz musicians in studios and on…

Black Cat’s D&S and N-Fuzz
Two Faces of Fuzz
Located in south-central Connecticut, Black Cat blends an ear for vintage tones with an eye toward modern function and bulletproof…

Gibson’s Mastertone Banjos
This Gibson RB-3 five-string from 1925 is a rare piece, as is any five-string banjo from the era dominated by…

Gibson Grenada Five-string
The Gibson Granada five-string banjo is primarily known for being played by Earl Scruggs, who had an enormous impact on…









































