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MusicNomad is running a fun Valentine’s Day challenge for guitar players — and it’s a good one.
Has Your Guitar Been KISSed? 💋🎸 This Valentine’s Day, MusicNomad is asking one big question: Has your guitar been KISSed? Show your guitar some love with a KEEP IT SIMPLE,…
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from…
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Pieces of a Prototype
Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. …

George Gruhn
How a Zoologist Became a Guitar animal
If you bumped into a bearded, corduroy-jacketed George Gruhn in a Nashville coffee shop, you might think you’d stumbled upon…

KayKraft Style A
Almost any guitar can be viewed in terms of a confluence of influences that produced it, from the company history…

Paco de Lucía
The Montreux Years
“He didn’t read music – but I have never met a musician with such an impeccable ear,” says John McLaughlin…

Jamie Kime
Lord Of The Jam
Jamie Kime’s first solo record, Alleys, displays a mix of lush guitar tones, poignant soundscapes, and evocative panoramas. We recently…

Blues Icon John Mayall
Check This Action
Few living blues artists could merit a package of 35 CDs. But what makes John Mayall: The First Generation most…

Steve Earle
Hillbilly Highway
When Epic Records dropped Steve Earle in ’85 after a series of fiery but commercially unsuccessful recordings, Nashville was in…
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VG Q&A: Harmony History
And an Archtop Mystery
I recently received two guitars as gifts and am trying to learn more about them. The first is a Harmony I believe is from the early ’70s. Its serial number…
ARTISTS

Greg Koch: Gristly “Blues”
Greg Koch: Gristly “Blues” Greg Koch fearlessly wrings the sort of vibrato that only a Tele will tolerate from his…

Gypsy jazz master Christophe Astolfi plays “La Valsajo”
Traditionalist offers standout new album Christophe Astolfi offers an exclusive rendition of Jo Privat’s “La Valsajo” using a guitar made…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Willie G. Moseley
Season 03 Episode 01 In Episode 3.1 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by longtime VG contributor…

Steve Cropper
Homage to Lowman Pauling
All but forgotten today, with his low-slung guitar, stylish rhythm licks, and tasty leads, Lowman Pauling was one of the…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The City of Guitars
Git-Shopping in Paris
On your way to Paris for a romantic getaway? Wanting to see the sights in the City of Light? Then…

Dallas Shaftesbury 30
We mine the rich seam of obscure vintage American tube amps on a regular basis here in the pages of…

Eric Clapton’s “Blackie”
This may well be the most desirable Fender Stratocaster on the face of the planet. And it happens to be…

The ViVi-Tone Aggrandizer
• Preamp tubes: 6C5, 6F5 • Output tubes: two 6B5 • Rectifier: 80 • Controls: Volume, on/off switch • Speaker:…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Interstellar Audio Machines Octonaut Hyperdrive
Next-Level Drive
Interstellar Audio Machines advertised its original Octonaut Hyperdrive as, “The only overdrive you’ll ever need.” Well… The new version offers…

Gretsch Richard Fortus G6636T-RF Falcon
Flying Fingers
Through the decades, the Gretsch White Falcon has been spied in the hands of everyone from top Nashville session cats…

Republic 207 Tricone
Brass Ring
Resonator guitars appear to inspire a particular kind of affliction among players. And it’s a difficult addiction to maintain, given…

JHS 3 Series
Budget Boutique
JHS’ seven new 3 Series pedals strip away cosmetics and frills. History has told us that simple pedal designs can…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
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Remembering a Heavy Hero

Valco FX Five-0
Garage Band
The Valco FX Five-0 was conceived as “Dick Dale in a box.” Offering overdrive, reverb, and tremolo – each with…

Howard Leese
Heart-less But Guitar Laden
Guitarist/ producer/ entrepreneur Howard Leese has come a long way since his early days with Heart in the 1970s. He…

Mick Mars
Different Flavors, Different Way
Guitarist Mick Mars’ long-discussed solo album is finally done. The Other Side of Mars is crushing modern metal with gothic…

Nickel Creek
Celebrants
Returning for their first album in nine years, Nickel Creek is back in all its forward-thinking, postmodern-bluegrass glory, led by…














































