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Magnatone and Slash announce the Lil’ Viper
ST. LOUIS, MO – January 22, 2026 – Magnatone is thrilled to announce the Lil’ Viper – the latest member of the Slash Collection. It’s a lightweight amp designed to…
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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 Blues Will Set You Free
We’ve all heard of blues in bars, but what about blues behind bars? That’s what Paul Oscher had in mind…
Ecco-Fonic
John Adomono was an American guitar hero of the Cold War years. JFK named him his favorite guitarist, and Adomono…
The Birth of Newman Guitars
Newman Guitars was established in Austin, TX in 1977 by Ted Newman Jones. Ted was a pioneer of design…
The Charvel Model 4
Certain guitar brands develop a mystique among aficionados – sometimes it’s even deserved! Somewhere on this continuum lie Charvel USA…
D’Angelico New Yorker
Top of the Line from a Master Builder
Having earned its place in the VG Hall of Fame as one of the finest guitars in the history of…
Bob Dylan
Judas!
Breaking out of the box and kicking down barriers seems the first item on the daily to-do list for many…
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Rik Emmett
Ten Telecaster Tales
At the risk of starting a brawl, Rik Emmett’s guitar work was arguably too good for Triumph. As evidence, his latest project centers on a custom-built Loucin that inspired both…
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ARTISTS
Steinar Karlsen
Nordic Surf Slinger
Scandinavia is no stranger to good “instro” music. The past 60 years have produced guitar-fueled legends like the Spotnicks (Sweden),…
Tommy Shaw and James “J.Y.” Young on “The Mission”
Mars, Pluto… And Styx
Styx’s 2017 album, The Mission, revived the band’s concept album in its chronicling of a flight to Mars, and represents…
Brad Paisley
Two Vital Guitars From the Collection of a Modern Superpicker
Brad Paisley’s 2011 book, Diary of a Player: How My Musical Heroes Made a Guitar Man Out of Me, is…
Jules Leyhe says “Start Your Engines”
Greasy, dirty slide on this VG exclusive Jules Leyhe takes his ’61-reissue SG for a slidin’ spin through “Start Your…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Fender’s 6G9 Tremolux
Preamp tubes: two 7025, two 12AX7 Output tubes: two 6BQ5/EL84 Rectifier: GZ34 Controls: Bright channel: Volume, Treble, Bass; Normal channel:…
Yamaha Image
Some years back, an insurance company promoted itself as “the quiet company.” While they probably wouldn’t like to hear it,…
The Sammick Viper
Some guitars hit the market at the perfect time to becom e classics – think Les Paul and Stratocaster. Some…
National Bel-Air
The idea of Gibson providing guitar parts to another prominent guitar maker is laughable today, but in the 1940s and…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Fender Micro Mustang
Fender’s Micro Mustang is a pocket-sized contraption offering 12 amplifier models including classic Fender, “British,” and “American,” along with 12…
Chaos Audio Stratus Multi FX Pedal
Smart, Swift Stomp
Imagine a world where all of your pedals work together so seamlessly that you can quickly and easily experiment with…
EHX’s Bad Stone Phase Shifter, C9 Organ Machine, and Pitch Fork Polyphonic Pitch Shifter
Pedal Heaven
When it comes to stompboxes, there are the standard go-to effects that every guitarist, whether a gigging musician or a…
The Chase Bliss Clean
Posh Squash
With is Clean compressor, Chase Bliss set out to create a pedal that would duplicate the vivid interactivity of a…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Black Light/White Noise
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All I Got and Gone
Kurdt Vanderhoof
These Go to XI
When it comes to thrash metal, the “Big 4” – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax – get credit for popularizing…
Dweezil Zappa
Solo Sounds
To properly perform the music composed by his father, Frank, Dweezil Zappa had to revamp his playing style. The fruits…
Big Bill Broonzy
Live In Amsterdam, 1953
Perhaps because he died just prior to the Folk Boom and a few years before the Blues Revival, Bill Broonzy…
Pop ’N Hiss: Joe Satriani’s Surfing With The Alien
Spacey Hang Ten
The ’80s were teeming with music ranging from pop-metal to new wave, thrash metal, blues revivals, and the New Romantic…
