-
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…
John Pisano
The Godfather of Jazz Guitar
He’s a straight-ahead jazz guitarist who wrote a smash-hit pop song that’s still yielding handsome royalties. In addition, he has…
Check This Action: Folk-Music Meccas
Though I was only six or seven, I experienced the Folk Boom of the late 1950s and early ’60s via…
The Sammick Viper
Some guitars hit the market at the perfect time to becom e classics – think Les Paul and Stratocaster. Some…
Check This Action: Time Capsules & Travelogs
At the start of the new millennium, Playboy asked various musicians to list their favorite songs of the 20th century.…
Ibanez AF95
Jazzed UP
In 2021, Ibanez re-tooled its hollowbody line to devise big surprises like the Japanese-made AF95, a full-bodied archtop with a…
Kid Ramos’ Revelation!
West Coast legend melds blues with gospel Check out Kid Ramos using a ’56 Harmony H62 running through a vintage…
-
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,…
NOW AVAILABLE!
CURRENT ISSUE
Join 25,700+ subscribers & be notified when new articles & more becomes available!
ARTISTS
Frank DiBussolo
Jazz Master
Frank DiBussolo is an eight-time Grammy nominee who has been a featured soloist in the bands of Buddy Rich, Dizzy…
Jonathan Wilson
Charlotte to Cali
Jonathan Wilson is having a very good year. His Gentle Spirit CD (Bella Union), a hippie-soul drenched 80 minutes of…
Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton
Alt-Blues Summit
Blues is a language of many dialects, and when regionalisms collide, sparks fly. So it has been since Texas six-stringer…
Noah Zacharin
Simple Pleasures
While some regard folk guitar as a relatively simple style, Noah Zacharin is a seriously agile fingerpicker. Also a fine…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
The Fender Showman
The Showman
In addition to several significant shifts in style and presentation, for Fender, the transition of the late 1950s into the…
The Valley Arts Custom Pro Bass
Keeping the Arts Alive
In 1969, when a North Hollywood guitar teacher named Duke Miller teamed up to start a music store with students…
United Guitar Corporation
United They Stood…. A Jersey City Tale
The history of the United Guitar Corporation, which unfolded in Jersey City, just over the river from the glitter of…
Hornby Skewes Zonk Machines
Fuzz Bonk
In 1965, fuzz was the “it” sound. Guitarists had recorded with fuzz before, of course, but after Keith Richards plugged…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
-
Live Wire
-
Narrow(field) Win
-
Take Flight
Blackstar Amped 2
Satisfying Sounds
Blackstar’s entry to the growing market of “all in one” compact amplifier/effects units claims to offer a high degree of…
Harden Engineering BluesBird
Bird Can Sing
If you’re wondering about builder Bill Harden’s inspiration in creating the BluesBird, think Coodercaster – a customized Frankenstein’s monster of…
Blackstar HT Club 40
Monster of Rock
Blackstar HT Club 40 Price: $699.99 (list) Contact: www.blackstaramps.com Standalone combo amplifiers that cover broad sonic terrain are popular with…
Awesome Musical Instruments T3 Pickup Switch Upgrade
Wicked Switch
Awesome Musical Instruments T3 Pickup Switch Upgrade Price: $149.99 (black or white three-ply); $164.99 (white pearloid); $169.99 (brown tortoiseshell) Info:…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
-
More Personal
-
Rare Pioneer
Tommy Emmanuel Straight Blazin’!
Fingerpicking mastery on “Son of a Gun Whoa…. Check out Tommy Emmanuel backstage at the Grand Ole Opry with his…
Black Sabbath
Vol. 4 Super Deluxe
Sabbaholic Must-Have In May of 1972, Black Sabbath retreated to Los Angeles to record its fourth album, along with a…
EMG T-52 Set
EMG pickups have been around since 1976, offering a diverse line of active pickups used in just about every genre…
Steve Vai
Inviolate
After decades of technical shred-dom, Vai returns to his musical mindset prior to David Lee Roth, composing soundtrack-scaled material that…
