•  Joey Molland

    Classic Instruments

     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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  • Gibson EDS-1275 and EMS-1235

    Gibson EDS-1275 and EMS-1235

    It’s hard not to associate doubleneck electric guitars with images of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page or fusion guru Mahavishnu John McLaughlin in the ’70s; however, the fact is that by the time the Big Js were stopping shows with these multi-headed beasts, they were already relics of the past. Doubleneck Spanish guitars got their first…

  • Michael Bloomfield’s ’63 Telecaster

    Michael Bloomfield’s ’63 Telecaster

    This Guitar Killed Folk!

    A silver-spoon teen who loved sneaking into Chicago’s southside blues clubs, Michael Bloomfield reveled in absorbing all he could from the many legendary players he saw perform in the city’s famed joints. The de facto lessons served Bloomfield well as he went on to contribute to the works of many famed performers while forging his…

Thomm Jutz plays “Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies”

November 27, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Flatpicked English folk with an Appalachian touch Sparse and haunting, Thomm Jutz and his ’48 Martin D-18 share a solo…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 10

Saga of The Lost Supersounds

February 21, 2018 · Peter Stuart Kohman

In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled…

Webster-Chicago RMA 375 Model 166-1

Grammy Winner

July 18, 2019 · Dave Hunter

Modified or repurposed amps generally don’t fit into our monthly discussion here, but some are representative enough of a certain…

Yamaha Image

December 26, 2013 · Michael Wright

Some years back, an insurance company promoted itself as “the quiet company.” While they probably wouldn’t like to hear it,…


Ampeg VT-22

Ampeg VT-22

Preamp tubes: four 7025 (12AX7 types) Output tubes: two 5881 (a more-rugged 6L6 type), fixed-bias Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Bass Instrument channel: Volume, Treble, Bass; Normal channel: Volume, Treble, Bass; shared:…

The Epiphone Devon Tremolo EA-35T Combo

Tonally TransAtlantic

After giving the upstart Fender a run for its money in the amplifier department throughout the 1950s, Gibson segued into something that looked like surrender; by the early ’60s, its…

Six-Strings, 60 Years Ago

A Likely First

Had he survived to this day, Elvis Presley – cultural icon extraordinaire – would be 80 years old. The man who would rise from very modest means to become arguably…

Three Larsons

At first glance, these three guitars appear to be a straightforward collection of different sizes of the same model. A comparable set of three Martins would be a 0-40, 00-40…

Gibson ES-300 Prototype

Les Paul and the First Gibson ES-300

When a guitar junkie hears the words “soapbar” and “P-90,” the mental image is usually that of a cream-colored rectangle seated deep in a sea of metallic gold, accentuating the…

  • Dan’s Guitar RX: A 1955 Gibson Touch-up

    Dan’s Guitar RX: A 1955 Gibson Touch-up

    Team Effort.

     To keep work flowing in my shop, repairs often become a group effort. Recently, Gene Imbody, T.K. Kelly, Paul Schmittauer, and I worked to repair a beautiful ’55 Les Paul Special and GA-30 amp belonging to Jake Curtis, who inherited the set from his grandfather, Vernon Benschoter. They’re both in very good condition, and Jake…

  • McKinley James’ Blues

    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…

St. Moritz Stereo

December 9, 2021 · Michael Wright

The notion of a stereo guitar became almost implicit when guitars started having two pickups. But it didn’t become a…

Gibson’s GA-8 Discoverer

Sonic Satellite

May 4, 2022 · Dave Hunter

By the end of the 1950s, “space” was the name of the game, and any forward-thrusting gear that hoped to…

Ro-Pat-In’s First Electric Spanish

Granddaddy to the Stars!

January 10, 2023 · Lynn Wheelwright

The story of George Beauchamp’s invention of what would become the first commercially successful electric guitar is shrouded in the…

Robin Basses

Robin Basses

A Photo Retrospective

November 29, 2016 · Willie G. Moseley

Alamo Music Products holds a unique place in the history of electric guitars and basses. The Houston-based company began its…


Rickenbacker Transonic Home Feature Image

Rickenbacker Transonic

Rickenbacker Transonic TS100 Topology: Solid State Output: 100 watts RMS Controls: Volume, Treble, Bass controls and Hollow, Mellow and Pierce switches on each channel; Tremolo Speed and Depth, Reverb, and…

A Guide to Vintage Dobros

John Dopyera left National in 1929 to begin work on a secret project – a single-cone resonator guitar he believed superior to the Triolian. His instrument became synonymous with resonator…

A Master’s Pallet

George Fullerton’s Fender Jazzmaster

A Master's Pallet

This Jazzmaster is an interesting example of what went on behind the scenes at the Fender factory with the research and development of body shapes and materials, and during the…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Rick Hogue

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Rick Hogue Season 01 Episode 09 In Episode 9 of VG’s “Buy That Guitar” podcast, host Ram Tuli is joined by Rick Hogue…

Fender Mustang

Truly Transitional

Despite its short scale, the Mustang has a potent sound, and as a result it was used by many notable players. Fender’s short-scale Mustang Bass, introduced in 1966, was a…

The Fender “Korinacaster”

Double-Cut Kuriosity

There’s irony in the fact that Leo Fender, creator of the first solidbody electric guitar to be mass-produced, wasn’t the adventurous sort. Rather, history tells us he was a pragmatic,…

  • Rocky Athas’ Texas ’Tude!

    Rocky Athas’ Texas ’Tude!

    Genuine Lone Star Jams Dallas guy Rocky Athas built a career playing blues in the vain of T-Bone and SRV, but his new album, “Livin’ My Best Life,” is more Houston/BFG-flavored. Here, he and his ’69 Gibson Les Paul Custom (running through an Ibanez TS-10 and a Fender Reverb tank going to a vintage Lab…

  • Gibson’s Crest Models

    Gibson’s Crest Models

    Gibson has produced two guitars bearing the “Crest” name. While both designs date to the 1960s, they’re very different instruments. The first incarnation was a single-cutaway with design ties to the L-5CT, while the second looked more like a fancy ES-335 with a shortened neck. In almost every way – size, construction materials, appointments, and…

1986 Dumble Overdrive Special

1986 Dumble Overdrive Special

July 5, 2016 · Dave Hunter

The exalted amps of Alexander Dumble have been legendary since he began building in the late ’60s, and have become…

Jussi Jaakonaho’s beguiling “Beauty Box”

May 30, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Masterful Tapestry Soak it in as Jussi Jaakonaho and his 1970 Gibson SG Standard jam on ”Beauty Box” through a…

Jim Lauderdale’s honkey-tonk toe-dip

January 31, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Singer/Songwriter’s Stylistic Twist Jim Lauderdale paid a visit to one of his favorite Nashville hangs and grabbed a gorgeous 1940…

The Ovation Adamas II

October 10, 2023 · Michael Wright

What do you get when you cross a helicopter with a Martin dreadnought? Easy answer – Ovation guitars, perhaps the…