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Classic Instruments
Jon Butcher’s psychedelia mastery
Jon Butcher tales his Olympic White ’63 Strat for a rip on “Jam,” a track from his new album, “Nuthin’ but Soul.” The disc is an homage to sounds of Motown, Stax, James Brown, and Sly Stone highlighted by Butcher’s mastery of Hendrix-style psychedelia. It was recorded using a ’63 Princeton, a Vibrolux, and a…
Rossmeisl Guitars
Father and Son Operation
The story of Roger Rossmeisl’s career in the guitar industry had its roots with his father, Wenzel. Wenzel was born around 1900, Roger in 1927 in northern Germany, near the…
G.L. Stiles Solidbody
Every once in awhile, a guitar comes out of left field. In the case of this solidbody electric labeled “Lee Stiles,” the throw came from West Virginia by way of…
Metropolitan Tanglewood
A Rare Modern Map
Many guitar aficionados are aware of the instruments proffered by Houston’s Alamo Music. The Texas manufacturer has created unique low-end (sonically, that is) items, some as regular production basses, others…
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The Electra Endorser
Flame-top guitars were fairly common during the 1970s “copy era,” but few reached the levels of figure we often see on modern high-end guitars. Then came the Electra Endorser X935CS, which set new standards for psychedelic woodgrain. “But it’s not a ’70s guitar,” you object. No, but arguably, the Endorser CS – which was only…
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Webb Wilder’s take on “Beautiful Delilah”
“Hillbilly Speedball” sample Since the mid ’80s, Webb Wilder has cranked out consistently fine roots-rock. His latest is “Hillbilly Speedball,” and here he grabs his ’61 Gibson ES-330TD plugged into a narrow-panel Fender Vibrolux to play a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Beautiful Delilah.” He’s joined by George Bradfute (on a ’50s Epiphone upright) and Bob…
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Jorge Garcia’s FM Anthems, in Jazz
Fresh takes on revered classics Joge Garcia’s “Still Crossing” is a collection of stellar instrumental performances of familiar tunes like “Kashmir,” “Little Wing,” and a classical spin through Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” Here, though, he shows us the title track, which is the only original tune. His ’87 Fender D’Aquisto is plugged into a…
1965 Gibson Thunderbird
Cardinal Red Rarity
Looking to finally make a real dent in Fender’s solidbody bass market, in the mid ’60s Gibson launched a line of electric guitars and basses that emulate Fender’s latest designs.
Steve Evans’ Guitars & Cars Passion Project
Pretty Pairs
Steve Evans was just 12 years old in 1968, when he began to appreciate the sleek bodies of electric guitars in the brochures he collected through the mail – gazing…
Tech 21 Trademark 60
Incredible sound at a nice price
In the past six years we’ve focused mostly on used gear, but occasionally included new stuff that works so well it’s impossible to ignore. This month’s entree, the Trademark 60,…
1949 Bigsby Tenor
By the advent of the solidbody electric guitar in the 1950s, tenor guitarists were a dying breed. Consequently, electric tenors are relatively rare, and a tenor guitar made by solidbody…
Ibanez MC500 Musician
Ibanez MC500 Musician. Ahhh, the late 1970s… While many vintage guitar enthusiasts disdain the guitars from the “Me Decade” in favor of undeniably cool classics from the 1950s and ’60s,…
Jeff “Skunk” Baxter
License To Thrill
To a generation of music fans, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was one of the most recognizable guitarists of the early ’70s. On TV shows like “Midnight Special” and “American Bandstand,” he…
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Dan’s Guitar RX: Doubleneck Redux, Part 2
Full House: Transcendent Jazz Masterpiece
In the November issue, we started to refurbish a doubleneck mandolin/guitar I made for Jerry Schafer in 1977. It needed a new wiring harness, tuners, binding repair, new frets, and a good setup. With teammates Ceil Thompson and Gene Imbody sharing the load, we continued the work. 1) Gene – our go-to guy for tough…
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The Guitars of Gary Rossington
A Legend’s Legacy
When the time came for Gary Rossington’s family to decide what to do with his guitars and amps after his passing in March of 2023, daughters Mary and Annie along with his wife, Dale, looked for advice from his lifelong friend and bandmate, Rickey Medlocke. The stash was considerable – 71 guitars including his famous…
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Wes Beech
Life in The Plasmatics
From the moment he met Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams, things for Wes Beech were never really “normal.” Walking into the basement of their loft for an audition, Beech didn’t know he was about to become part of a stage-storming, car-smashing, guitar-chainsawing artistic statement called the Plasmatics. The product of Swenson’s high-functioning mind (if…
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Classics: Mike Semrad’s ’57 Gibson Les Paul Custom
Mike Semrad’s musical roots run deep in his hometown of Fremont, Nebraska – at least as far back as his great-grandmother, who sang at the city’s opera house. But his first glimpse into the true power of music happened in high school, when one night in 1962, overachieving pep-band director Bob Olson stirred things up…
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Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker
Basement Jams & Blown Speakers
1966 Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker Combo The days when a kid would break out the soldering iron and take on a serious electronics project just for fun are largely behind us. Back in the ’60s, though, that’s how many an aspiring musician acquired his own precious guitar amplifier, as was the case with this Heathkit TA-16…
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D.K. Harrell and His ’76 ES-335
B.B. King of the Blues Award winner plays “Liquor Stores and Legs” Winner of the B.B. King of the Blues Award, here D.K. Harrell and his ’76 Gibson ES-355, Christal, are going straight to his Lab Series L-5 for a stripped-down run through “Liquor Stores and Legs.” If you like uptown shuffles, relatable lyrics, and…
Gibson Les Paul Special 3/4
Gibson’s double-cutaway Les Paul Special 3/4 from 1959 is one of the rarest Les Pauls from the “golden era.” It’s also one of the more unusual in that it may…
1962 Gretsch Country Gentleman Custom
Atkins Oddity
By the early 1960s, the Fred Gretsch Company was riding high with an array of eye-catching electric guitars highlighted with models endorsed by Chet Atkins. At the top were the…
Hilary Gardner returns with a fresh take on a holiday classic!
Hilary Gardner returns! Ready to set the tone for your holidays, Hilary Gardner and her band return for a fantastic take on the classic Elvis hit “Blue Christmas” (written by Billy…
Classics: Harold “Sonny” Wright’s 1965 Gibson J-45
Growing up 10 miles from Earl Scruggs’ birthplace in North Carolina with a music-loving father and two older sisters who could impress on the piano, it makes sense that Harold…
BBE DI-1000 and DI-100X Direct Boxes
Electronic Icing for Your Tone
Have you ever wished your guitar sound just had a little more zing? A little more kick to your electric, or shine to your acoustic tone? If so, listen up.…
United They Stood, Part 2
Ghosts of Jersey City
In the history of guitars, the tale of United Guitar Corporation is a ghost story – little documented and lost in partially self-imposed obscurity. Operating from 1939 into the late…
National Westwood and Glenwood
'60s alt-materials make short run
Westwood 75 While the mantra for 21st century “alternative material” guitars focuses on carbon fiber (i.e. Rainsong acoustics) and wood/glass/carbon fiber/epoxy composites (i.e. Ken Parker’s Fly line), electric guitars made…
Dan Fogelberg’s Gretsch White Penguin
Dan Fogelberg’s success as a singer and songwriter far overshadows his reputation as a musician, but the man whose tenor voice and sentimental songs ruled the Adult Contemporary charts in…
Epiphone by Gibson Firebird 500
Race on
Gibson will forever be celebrated for its heritage of innovation, including guitars that didn’t look like the common perception of guitars. And for all the influence some of its unusual…
Peavey RJ-IV
Peavey RJ-IV bass, serial number 04938996. Photo: Bill Ingalls Jr. Instrument courtesy of Naffaz Skota. Americans by the millions “know” Randy Jackson. But not many realize that his gig as…
Classics: May 2022
“Wild” Jimmy Spruill’s ’66 Fender Jaguar
Wilbert Harrison’s 1959 version of Leiber and Stoller’s “Kansas City” shares space at the summit of all-time blues/pop classics, its guitar part ably handled by New York City session ace…
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 Mike McGuire and Al Carness, the three likely didn’t envision…
Gibson Style U
Harp Guitar
Gibson Style U. Courtesy Gruhn Guitars. This Gibson Style U harp guitar, made in 1906 or ’07, represents the top level of the Gibson lineup in the company’s first quarter-century,…
1939 Gibson Super 400 Premier
The Gibson Super 400 debuted in 1935 as the first production-model 18″ archtop guitar with f-shaped sound holes; 30 years prior, the company’s Style O was the same size and…
Brennen Leigh’s Heart-Tugging Honky-Tonk
Shades of Norman Blake and Dolly Parton A student of the “Carter Scratch” guitar technique – melody on the low strings, rhythm on the high – Brennen Leigh plays and…
Gibson Guitars
The Experimental '70s
That guitar collectors are a conservative lot has always struck me as curious. You’d think that the instrument which “killed fascists,” in the immortal Woody Guthrie’s phrase, would inspire a…
Mosrite Stereo 350
Remember that line from the old song, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all…”? In some ways, it’s a summation of the life of Semie…
Cole Eclipse Pro Special
Straight-from-the-catalog instruments are fun – and reassuring – because you know exactly what you’ve got. But there’s another kind of thrill – and satisfaction – when you find something that’s…
Gibson F-5 1923
1923 Gibson F-5. Gibson F-5 mandolins signed by Lloyd Loar from mid 1922 to 1924 are considered the Holy Grail by most American mandolin players. Within that group of grails,…
Epiphone’s Zephyr Emperor Regent
1955 Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent. Instrument courtesy of Lloyd Chiate. Photo: Billy Mitchell, courtesy George Gruhn. Epiphone’s Zephyr Emperor Regent of the early 1950s represents not only the most deluxe…
Freddie King’s Gibson ES-345 Keeps on Playin’
Family Ties
Watching her baby boy become rapt whenever his grandma played country blues on her guitar, Ella May King had a notion… So, as soon as his tiny hands could fret…
