• Super PickupGiveaway 2025

    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…

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Fender’s Player Plus Meteora HH

Familiar Face

March 30, 2023 · Pete Prown

Billed as “futuristic and familiar,” Fender’s Meteora design first arrived as part of the Parallel Universe line – mashups of…

Unsung: The Story of Marlo Henderson

July 22, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

The creation of great music is almost always a collaborative effort. From session players to engineers, producers, arrangers, and marketing…

Check This Action: Back Aboard

May 1, 2023 · Dan Forte

Despite (or because of) the huge Folk Boom of the late ’50s and early ’60s, these days “folk” is almost…

The G&L El Toro

April 26, 2016 · Willie G. Moseley

At the beginning of 1983, Leo Fender was just more than three years into his last guitar-manufacturing venture when he…

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…

Fender Twin & Deluxe

Fender’s ’57 Twin Amp and ’57 Deluxe – Tweed for Two

September 16, 2013 · Phil Feser

Fender “tweed” guitar amplifiers – the Twin, Deluxe, Bassman, Champ, etc., from the 1950s – are the most sought after…

  • Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings

    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,…

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ARTISTS

Dave Stryker

Dave Stryker

Fits To a T

July 5, 2016 · John Heidt

The latest project from jazz guitarist Dave Stryker, Messin’ With Mister T, is a tribute to late saxophonist Stanley Turrentine,…

Dan Wilson’s celebration of jazz legends

September 28, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Homage with Superb Musicality On his latest album, “Things Eternal,” jazz wizard Dan Wilson fuses post-bop, spirituality, and the songs…

Rod Abernethy

Fuzz: Carolina Acoustic Connections

January 26, 2022 · Willie G. Moseley

A fixture on the North Carolina music scene, guitarist/songwriter Rod Abernethy has accumulated many memories, including the purchase of his…

Toy Caldwell Jim Summaria, http://www.jimsummariaphoto.com

Toy Caldwell

Marine and Marshall Tucker Guitarist Toy Caldwell

November 10, 2016 · Willie G. Moseley

One of the earliest VG interviews Willie G. Moseley did with a veteran “Southern rock” musician was a conversation with…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Real Story of Martin’s 14-Fret Orchestra Models

OM Irony

July 9, 2019 · George Gruhn

Martin Orchestra Model (OM) guitars made prior to World War II are some of the finest ever made for fingerpicking.…

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…

Roy Smeck’s Gibson L-5

One For the “Wizard”

March 1, 2023 · George Gruhn

Player endorsements are part of the tradition of guitarmaking going back to its earliest use for public performance. LeRoy G.A.…

The Cost of Protection

100 Years of Instrument Cases

July 10, 2018 · George Gruhn

Modern guitars are typically sold with a hard case. But that wasn’t always so. Here, we look at the history…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Dusky Electronics Toasted Overdrive

Let It Burn

March 13, 2023 · Bob Cianci

Dusky Electronics’ new Toasted Overdrive is an upgrade of the company’s two-stage MOSFET amp in a box; builder Chris Rossi…

McGregor Cozmic Fuzzball

Sweet & Gnarly

November 9, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

The culmination of a quest to build the perfect transparent overdrive, Garth Heslop’s Cozmic Fuzzball is the third pedal in…

Vox MV50 AC

The Little Amp That Could

April 26, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Ready to step onstage but your amp won’t sing? Traveling, but don’t want to lug a lot of gear? Need…

Sturdy and “Purdy”

Dashboards Pedalboards

January 9, 2015 · Tom Guerra

Founded in 2010 by guitarist Ashley Dasher and based on his vision of the ideal touring pedalboard, Dashboards offers well-crafted,…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Gibson’s Experimental Archtop

April 6, 2023 · George Gruhn and Walter Carter

Orville Gibson invented the carved-top guitar in the 1890s. The Gibson company refined the design with the addition of f-holes…

Classics: December 2021

1967 Rickenbacker 360/12

August 11, 2022 · Ward Meeker

Live-music fans who roamed South Florida from the early ’80s until the mid 2000s might recognize Craig Ball’s ’67 Rickenbacker…

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…

Jeff Beck

He Can’t Help It… He Just Keeps Getting Better

February 26, 2014 · Dan Forte

In 1985, speaking of the ’83 Action Research into Muscle Distrophy (A.R.M.S.) Tour that united Yardbirds alumni Jeff Beck, Jimmy…

Andy Powell

The Wishbone Forges on

December 1, 2005 · Willie G. Moseley

Wishbone Ash guitarist Andy Powell isn’t caught in a time warp. True, he’s the sole remaining member of the English…

Alan Gogoll

Harmonic Convergence

December 8, 2025 · Pete Prown

Hailing from the Australian island state of Tasmania, Alan Gogoll is reshaping acoustic guitar before our eyes. Sure, you’ve heard…

The Pigtronix Envelope Phaser 2

Sophisti-Phaser

October 29, 2013 · Zac Childs

Pigtronix Envelope Phaser II Price: $249 (street). Contact: Phone (631) 331-7447; Pigtronix.com. Pigtronix effects are known not only for their…

Epiphone USA Coronet

Simple Screamer

May 30, 2025 · Bob Cianci

Single-pickup guitars are flat-out cool: think Leslie West, Keith Richards, Johnny Thunders, Steve Marriott, Johnny Marr, and Jimi Hendrix. Once…

Fretprints: Dave Grohl

Beyond Grunge

February 8, 2023 · Wolf Marshall

“Alternative rock” – more descriptor than genre – was a reaction to hair bands, technical excess, and pop-metal formulae. It…

Rick Vito – Cadillac Man

July 25, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Rick Vito – Cadillac Man Make sure to check out Rick Vito’s latest album “Cadillac Man” available now at Blue…

Gibson Humbucker

Crunchy, Clean Dirt

January 20, 2023 · Gil Hembree

Gibson and Fender may be the longstanding heavyweight rivals of the electric guitar game, but they have one very important…

Carr Skylark

The Carr Skylark

Desert-Island Amp

May 2, 2015 · Michael Dregni

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

Home Feature Image

25 Most Valuable Amplifiers

May 24, 2015 · Dave Hunter

Text by Dave Hunter Data compiled by Alan Greenwood and Gil Hembree Vintage Guitar is marking 25 years of publication…

Brian Tatler

Still Evil

February 27, 2018 · Greg Prato

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

DiMarzio’s Black Angel Pickup

Got a Sweet…

July 13, 2016 · Pete Prown

Back in the old days, adding a pickup to an acoustic guitar was a major operation that required a luthier’s…

Nancy Wilson

One Heart

April 28, 2022 · Bret Adams

The Covid-19 pandemic halted much of our lives, but there was a silver lining. Many musicians who couldn’t tour or…

John Sykes 1959-2024

Remembering a Heavy Hero

January 28, 2026 · Pete Prown

The guitar universe was rocked by John Sykes’ death from cancer, December 21 at age 65. Forty years ago, the…

Various Artists

Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan and Dominic Miller

June 27, 2017 · Pete Prown

Bill Frisell is a living jazz icon, famed for his ethereal tone and snaking post-bop lines. Here, he partners with…

João Erbetta: Eclectic instrumentalist

October 30, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Five-guitar run on “Bubbles” João Erbetta’s all-instrumental album, “Los Angeles,” is eclectic and quirky. Here, the guitarist/banjoist/bassist/keyboardist/steel-guitarist plays five guitars…

Gomez Amplification “G” Reverb

Wet, Hot, or Blue

April 6, 2010 · Phil Feser

As amp builders go, Dario G. Gomez is about as fresh as they come. Though he has been repairing tube…

Booker White’s 1933 National Duolian

Hard Traveled

May 30, 2017 · Michael Dregni

“Hard Rock.” That’s the name used by Mississippi blues man Booker White to christen his 1933 National Duolian. And Hard…

The Rickenbacker 4000

March 21, 2016 · Willie G. Moseley

The model 4000 was not only Rickenbacker’s first foray into the electric-bass market, it was decidedly different from Fender’s Precision…

Jimi Hendrix Experience

Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967

October 8, 2024 · Pete Prown

 Imagine a Jimi Hendrix Experience concert where the audience actually disliked the band. That’s the scenario here, a secretly recorded…

Built to Survive

Gibson and Montgomery Ward in the Great Depression

April 21, 2017 · George Gruhn

In our nation’s darkest economic times, one of its most-revered guitar manufacturers was treading headlong toward extinction before an unlikely…

Strymon Zuma

Power Station

July 3, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Are you tripping over a spiderweb of effects power cords? Have a pedalboard that requires an advanced degree in electrical…

Marty Stuart

A Country-Music Odyssey

December 16, 2023 · Dan Forte

Marty Stuart’s life is the stuff of movies. Just nine years old when he started singing and playing guitar in…

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…

The Supro “Model 24”

July 25, 2014 · Dave Hunter

Okay, Zep police, sound the alarm and prepare to loose the hounds – we are finally about to lift the…

Status Quo’s Francis Rossi

On Guitars, Music, and Elusive Success

October 13, 2015 · Elliot Stephen Cohen

“I’m only as good now as I should have been when I was 25,” laughs Francis Rossi, the 64-year-old lead…