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Classic Instruments
Classics: Norman Harris
Rare Pioneer
As a teenager who just wanted to play music, Norm Harris lived with the reality that he and his band weren’t going to be millionaires anytime soon. So he did what musicians do – side-hustled. But when most were manning the counter at a music shop or serving tables, Harris was up at the crack
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Yamaha SA-15
Our perception of Japanese guitars has evolved slowly. At one point, they were cheap toys, at other times imperfect copies, then startling innovations. Perspective encircles the truth. So, how should we perceive the Yamaha SA-15? Japan became interested in guitars in the early 1920s, as some musicians there began to perform what we’d today call…
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Greg Koch: Gristly “Blues”
Greg Koch: Gristly “Blues” Greg Koch fearlessly wrings the sort of vibrato that only a Tele will tolerate from his ’53 to play this exclusive version of Freddie King’s “The Stumble” flavored with a bit of delay and running into his Tone King Royalist. Inspired by fan requests, it’s just one of the tracks culled…
The Fender Blender
Extreme Fuzz
When Robin Trower segued from his wah-driven blues-rock riffing into the slowed, deep-blues groove of the second half of his…
The Fender Master Series
Dan Smith had an idea – a solidbody guitar with routed chambers that would provide unique resonant tonal characteristics. And…
National Style O
Although it has never been the favorite guitar of Hawaiian players, National’s Style O, with its shining metal body and…
Fender Precision Bass Elite II
On a Tangent In Its Time
Precision Bass has been offered in a myriad of models in its 50 years of existense, including a number of…
Whooooo Wal You?
John Entwistle’s fretless ’78 Wal
Wal began building electric basses in the early 1970s as a collaboration between Englishmen Pete Stevens and Ian Waller. Their efforts evolved into a company known as Electric Wood, and…
Six-String Kicks
Wood from Famed Bowling Alley Set to Sing
Few things scratch America’s cumulative itch for nostalgia like Route 66 – the famed wagon-trail-cum-highway that offered passage to those migrating west from Chicago in the mid 19th century, then…
Tinsley Ellis’ new dimension
Unplugged, and Worth the Wait! A prominent blues artist since the late ’80s, Tinsley Ellis grabbed the ’37 National Style O heard on several tracks from his new album, “Naked…
Bell 30 RV Stereo-Reverb Combo
Accordion to Plan
1961 Bell 30 RV Stereo-Reverb • Preamp tubes: three 6EU7, one 7199, one 12AU7, one 12AX7 • Output tubes: four 6BQ5 (a.k.a. EL84) • Rectifier: solidstate • Controls: Ch1: Volume,…
Maestro Rover R0-1
The UFO of Rotating Speakers
To record “Little Wing,” Jimi Hendrix plugged his Stratocaster into his usual amplifier, then did the unthinkable; he ran guitar signal into an organ speaker – a Leslie rotating-speaker cabinet.…
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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 Hayes and Jay W. Johnson) just for VG followers! Accompanied again by Justin Poindexter and Sasha Papernik, this time they’re joined by Jen Hodge on…
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The (Way) Back Beat: Top O’ The Line, For Only $150!
The Immortal Danelectro Guitarlin
Having looked at the most expensive electric guitars offered in 1960s – over 50 years ago. Traditional makers – Gibson, Guild, and Gretsch – concentrated on flashy amplified archtops that retailed up into the $700 to $800 range – beautiful instruments, but not representative of where the electric guitar was going. More forward-looking makers offered…
Dad’s Day 2021
VG’s Annual Salute to Fathers Who Inspire
Marty Ashby’s very musical family has been playing together since he was a little kid. Here’s a shot of them…
Fender Precision Bass
The “Final” Configuration
The Fender Precision Bass was the first commercially successful solidbody electric bass. Played somewhat like a guitar and sporting a…
Dobro Model 27
Brother Oswald's Dobro – Country Music History Maker
The melodic, evocative warbling of a resonator guitar has for decades been a fixture in country music, and knowledgeable fans…
Classics: September 2022
Danny Gatton’s ES-295
Glenn Holley was just five years old when he became infatuated with the sound of rockabilly music thanks to Elvis…
Fender Super Reverbs from 1963 and ’68
First and Last
Among the many distinct eras of vintage-amp production, Fender’s so-called “blackface” models are legendary. Made from late 1963 until ’67, they’re loved for the elegant black control panel and their…
Ted Nugent’s 1962 Gibson Byrdland
Anyone who’s ever caught Ted Nugent on tour has seen this instrument, and during the Summer of 2003 it was intended to be the only guitar used by the Motor…
Quest for Volume
Django Reinhardt's Selmer #503
Revolutionary jazz demanded a revolutionary jazz guitar. In the summer of 1935, just as his Quintette du Hot Club de France was starting to make waves, Django first began using…
Revisiting The Jazzmaster
While volumes have been written about its more-famous sibling, the Stratocaster, surprisingly little attention is paid to the Jazzmaster – Fender’s top-of-the-line guitar when it was introduced in 1958. Then,…
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…
The Original ES-150
How Gisbson Won The ES War
The story of the ES-150, Gibson’s first commercially successful electric guitar, has been told many times, and its association with legendary jazz pioneer Charlie Christian is a staple of the…
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Classics: Jeremy Graf’s 1961 Fender Stratocaster
A lifelong vintage-guitar nut who has had “a million guitars,” Jeremy Graf’s all-time favorite is this 1961 Stratocaster. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Graf was just seven when, for reasons he doesn’t remember, he asked for an Elvis Presley record. His mother obliged and brought home Elvis’ Golden Records, a compilation of ’50s hits. “That
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Rising Rockers
Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
In an era when the sub-20-watt combo is arguably the most popular guitar-amp format, it’s worth remembering that several classics of the category emanate from the ’50s. And just as interesting as the well-worn favorites, several lesser-known alternatives were also born in the decade of rock and roll. In the December ’24 issue, we examined
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Classics: Marc Schoenberger’s Rickenbacker Combo 600
Marc Schoenberger was part of the early-’70s vanguard on the Southern California guitar scene – not as a gigging musician, but among the crowd that raced the 101 freeway to check out old guitars every time a new issue of the Recycler hit the streets. He’d also been repairing guitars for friends and local shops
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The Supro Thunderbolt S6420
Lightning Strikes
Despite their catalog-grade status, Supro amps have been used by several noteworthy guitarists. For many, the sturdy Thunderbolt is the preferred workhorse. It’s been a long time since Supro amps were any kind of secret find or hidden gem; players have long recognized the eccentric splendors of certain mid-sized examples, with their thumping tremolo and
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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, performance, and tone. On the other hand, the company’s electric bass viols and violins excited segments of the industry but never sold well. Same for
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Joey Molland
The word “underrated” is belabored in music journalism, but Joey Molland was just that. As co-guitarist in Badfinger, he was part of a quartet signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records, yielding glorious AM hits like “Come and Get It,” “Day After Day,” and “No Matter What.” The foursome fell into obscurity and tragedy a few
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McKinley James’ Blues
Family Barn Jam! With his ’82 Gibson 335 running into a Headstrong Corduroy (20-watt/6V6) amp, McKinley James shares a taste of his new album, “Working Class Blues,” with this run at “Call Me Lonesome.” In the October issue, he tells us how the album was made in the family barn with the only backing…
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Jim Campilongo & Steve Cardenas
Mutual Musical Idiosyncrasies
Steve Cardenas and Jim Campilongo have been playing guitar together for a long time, though the constellations only recently aligned so they could record. Captured on three nights in September of 2022, New Year showcases harmonic personalities merging through atmosphere, reverb, and ancient acoustic guitars. It’s also a meditation on the beauty and strength of…
The Marshall Major
Force Commander
Any player who shows up these days with a 200-watt guitar amp will elicit a hearty, “Are you out of…
Marty Friedman’s Melodic Grandeur
Vintage Strat, new style on “Illumination” A devout Jackson user with a longstanding signature model, Fender Strat that’s also heard…
Matching Mojo
During the “guitar boom” of the 1960s, one method of getting a band noticed was to equip it with matching…
Jerry Kennedy
A-Team Guitarist, A-List Producer
Jerry Glenn Kennedy, a 13-year-old who recorded for RCA Victor as “Jerry Glenn,” got the shock of his young life…
