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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…
What’s So Special About Guitar Picks
You may have one in your pocket. They only cost about 25 cents. But if you have always used one…
David Crosby
If I Could Only Remember My Name 50th Anniversary Edition
Upon its 1971 release, Crosby’s free-spirited debut was thoroughly bashed by critics – today, it’s a revered piece of Laurel…
Penco A-15-JD
The 1970s is often called “the Copy Era” for the dominating presence and spectacular success of Japanese “copies” of popular…
Calexico
El Mirador
Calexico has long crisscrossed the border between American (blues, country, rock and roll) and Latin-American sounds, but the band’s latest…
Kay’s K161 Thin Twin
Post-war Blues Box
In his day, Jimmy Reed was a huge influence on everyone from Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield to the Rolling…
Magnatone Varsity
Less is More, Plus
Magnatone Varsity Price: $1,699 (list); $1,799 (as tested) Contact: www.magnatoneusa.com Magnatone earned a cult of admirers in the mid 20th…
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Reverend Sensei H90
Live Wire
So you want a Gibson-style solidbody that can cover humbucker-powered rock, yet also twangier/glassier tones using a P-90 pickup. Check. You also want to grab high frets via double-cutaway and…
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ARTISTS
Pop ’N Hiss: Wishbone Ash’s Argus
Twin-Lead Loadstone
Founded in 1969, Wishbone Ash attained fast fame in the U.K. with its meshing of intricate twin-lead-guitar passages and harmony…
Jim Campilongo
“I’m a Guitar Player”
It’s been two years since Jim Campilongo put out a solo record, but on the new Dream Dictionary, his patented…
R.C. Allen
1934-2014
R.C. Allen, a noted luthier who built archtops for local and regional players of note and was a fixture at…
Jonny Lang
Signs of the Blues
Since bursting on the scene in the ’90s while still a teenager, Jonny Lang has stayed true to his vision,…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Hilary Gardner’s jazz/country connection
Classic sounds on “Silver on the Sage” Hilary Gardner and her band are devout fans of classic cowboy (and other…
Three Small Tweeds
Fender Princeton, Deluxe, and Tremolux
From 1954 through ’59, the Fender Electric Instrument Mfg. Co. built guitar amplifiers with controls mounted atop using “chickenhead” knobs…
Ray Benson’s Gibson ES-355
Anyone with a taste for real country music – in particular, Western swing – will recognize this guitar. Even though…
Fender’s Mid-’50s Precision Bass
The "In-Between" Version
In the world of electric basses, the 1952 Fender Precision is the one that started it all. While it’s true…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Friedman IR-X Dual Channel Preamp
Stack in the Box
Most guitar-electronics companies make a direct-recording preamp, many promising to provide ultimate distortion and overdrive via impulse responses (IR) or…
Ball Amps 1950s GE TV
Turn Up The Television
Randall Ball crafts vintage amps like no others. At his workshop in Kearneysville, West Virginia, he translates tried-and-true schematics into…
PRS Swamp Ash Special
Narrow(field) Win
The bolt-on Swamp Ash Special has been around for nearly three decades, but PRS just retooled the U.S.-built version and…
The Fractal VP4
Pedal Power
Famous for amp and cabinet models made to replace an amp for direct recording or plugging right into a PA,…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Consentrik Quartet
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Lookout Highway
Wayne Nelson
Little River Anchor
Bassist/vocalist Wayne Nelson has decades of experience with the Little River Band and was the first American to join the…
Music Man HD-130 Reverb
Intended to be the masterpiece of a titan in guitar-amp design, Music Man amps of the mid/late ’70s are all…
Realistic Entertainer-34
As prolific as the Radio Shack chain was in the ’60s, it’s surprising we don’t see more vintage Realistic guitar…
Midge Ure
The Unexpected Retrospective
While guitarist Midge Ure was a member of Visage and was briefly in an early version of Thin Lizzy, he’s…
