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The story of the Martin F-50
Our friend Nate Westgor from Willie’s American Guitars shares the story of Martin’s first step into the booming 1960s electric guitar market. Enjoy, and have a wonderful holiday season from…
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Timm Kummer
Season 03 Episode 08 In Episode 3.9 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Timm Kummer, a legendary figure in the world of collectible guitars with a…
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Reeves Gabrels’ Newest Reverend Spacehawk
For his gig with The Cure, Reeves Gabrels needed a guitar that could cover a lot of sonic territory. The folks at Reverend helped him create the Spacehawk; the latest…
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Joe Satriani
The hardest-working guitarist in show business, Joe Satriani recently wrapped up a successful Van Halen tour, a G3 Reunion tour, a live album, a residency in Las Vegas with Sammy…
NEWSWIRE
ARTISTS

Ellen Harper
Music is the Family Business
“Ben likes to joke that this album had a lifetime of pre-production,” Ellen Harper says of Childhood Home, her collaboration…

Rich Robinson and Marc Ford Of The Magpie Salute
Wiser Time
Musical chemistry is a special, sometimes flammable rapport between two musicians. It’s a rare thing – highly sought, difficult to…

Michael Schenker
Golden Guitar Jubilee
Incredibly, it’s been 50 years since Michael Schenker recorded his first guitar bit on a studio album – the Scorpions’…
Tommy Emmanuel
Advocate of the Atkins Legacy
Photo: Brian Blauser Experiencing a Tommy Emmanuel performance is one of those “You-shoulda-been-there” musical epiphanies. Emmanuel strides onstage with his…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
The Acoustic
Black Widow
In the late ’60s, when Domino guitars were fading away, tube amplifiers were out of vogue. Old technology, man! Cool…
Fender Telecaster, Part II
Go Tele It On the Mountain, Part II
Given the simplicity of its design, it’s truly remarkable how much staying power the revolutionary Telecaster has exhibited in the…
O’Hagan Guitars
Jaws Invades the Upper Mississippi
By the shores of Gitche Gumee, Minnehaha gives a little yelp of surprise. There, just behind Mary Tyler Moore, cutting…
Dickerson Standard Lap Steel
Though today they are viewed as little more than curious relics of a lost era, during the Great Depression, “mother…
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
Setting Up Effects
Certain Guidelines Apply to a Signal Chain, But Your Ears Are the Ultimate Judge
One question frequently asked by guitar players is how to set up effects and arrange them in a proper signal…

Maestro Ranger Overdrive and Invader Distortion
Evil Twins
Maestro’s new all-analog overdrive and distortion pedals are like evil twins – two black-sheep siblings that differ in concept but…

Supro’s Dual-Tone 1624T, Coronado 1690T
1964 All Over Again
Supro’s Dual-Tone 1624T, Coronado 1690T Price: $1,595 (Dual-Tone[LEFT]); $1,795 (Coronado) Contact: www.suprousa.com If there was a time machine handy to…

Zemaitis’ CS Guitars
Super Models
Artist. Iconoclast. Guitar builder to the stars. Tony Zemaitis was all that and more. Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards swear…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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 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…
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Paul Johnson
The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company
This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s pioneers of surf music. Suspend reality and dig how the “trio” expertly articulates layers of acoustic guitar. Across decades, Johnson has embraced folk-rock, psychedelia, and…

































