-
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…
-
Dan Hawkins
Toast of the Town
When The Darkness roared out of England with its 2003 debut Permission to Land and the hit “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” the music world was slapped across…
NOW AVAILABLE!
CURRENT ISSUE
Join 25,700+ subscribers & be notified when new articles & more becomes available!
NEWSWIRE
ARTISTS
Tim Lerch
Tele Jazz Master
If you watch any of Tim Lerch’s videos online, his virtuosity is immediately apparent. What may throw you is his…
Stephen Bruton
In the Spirt of the Ft. Worth Tradition
You’ve likely heard Stephen Bruton without knowing who he is. He has backed up luminaries like Kris Kristofferson and Bonnie…
Lance Lopez
Hard-Time Music
Several years after being liberated from Supersonic Blues Machine, Lance Lopez is back and better than ever. Wielding hard lessons…
Robert Lockwood, Jr.
1915-2006
With the death of Robert Lockwood, Jr., the blues world lost one of the few direct links to Robert Johnson…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Gibson Post-WWII
Amps
Introduction In its first 40 years of corporate rule, Orville Gibson’s lutherie developed into a manufacturing giant, expanding to meet…
Dallas Shaftesbury 30
We mine the rich seam of obscure vintage American tube amps on a regular basis here in the pages of…
PRS Basses
Subjective Funk & Cool
The Paul Reed Smith bass was introduced at the January ’96 NAMM show. Set-neck and bolt-on (CE model) models were…
Fender Deluxe Reverb
Vintage Guitar magazine Hall of Fame 2011 Instrument
In the June ’07 issue of VG, amp profiler extraordinaire Dave Hunter said of the Fender Deluxe Reverb, “If guitarists…
APPROVED GEAR
-
Lively Drives
-
Posh Squash
-
Chet Powered!
T-Rex Replicator
Daily Echo
Among the arcana of tone, few things inspire as much devotion – even obsession – as echo. The Holy Grail…
Danelectro Dano Minis
More tasty treats
Danelectro has been busy churning out yet another set of pedals that are inex-pensive and quite small. A good thing,…
Ibanez RGA8
In the Deep End
Ibanez RGA-8 Price: $1,102.21 (approx. $800 street). Info: ibanez.com In the annals of cool, weird, and unusual guitars, they’re nothing…
GluBoost MasterGlu, Fill N’ Finish, MasterTint, and Gludry Accelerator
Stick-To-It-Iveness
There exists a subculture of guitarists who build, customize, or resurrect their own instruments, or help friends with theirs. GluBoost’s…
-
Tommy Castro
Circling Back
In a career spanning four decades, Tommy Castro has crafted a commendable catalog and built a devout following with his soul-infused music, informed by the blues, R&B, pop, and rock and delivered with conviction. Beloved for his guitar work and vocal style, he has carved his own niche. Born and raised in San Jose, California,…
-
Classics: Tommy Castro’s ’66 Fender Stratocaster
Tommy Castro has never been much for sitting with a guitar teacher, preferring instead to rely on good ol’ time in the saddle to hone his craft. But this 1966 Stratocaster has taught him a couple lessons. The guitar entered Castro’s universe in the hands of San Francisco music legend John Newton – known on…
-
Classics: Arena-Rock Alternative Amps
Mad Maxed
As rock started hitting the big time in the mid ’60s, it became clear to guitar-amplifier manufacturers that 100 watts or more was the way to go. The best approach to big power, however, would follow several paths. The stories of the high-powered amps introduced by Fender, Marshall, and Vox through the ’60s have been…
-
Vivi-Tone “Skeleton
A Master’s Magnificent Misfire
The eternal question “Who invented the electric guitar?” has no single answer. By the late 1920s, many players, tinkerers, and inventors were exploring ways to get more volume from fretted instruments. Steel-string flat-tops from Martin, f-hole archtops from Gibson, and metal-bodied resonators from National were louder than their predecessors, but ran up against physical limits.…
-
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 per customer, any double entries will be automatically disqualified. See previous winners!! *ELIGIBILITY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.One entry per…
