• The story of the Martin F-50

    Classic Instruments

    The story of the Martin F-50

    Our friend Nate Westgor from Willie’s American Guitars shares the story of Martin’s first step into the booming 1960s electric guitar market. Enjoy, and have a wonderful holiday season from all of us at Vintage Guitar!

    Read more >>

Teisco Guitars, Part I

Rock 'n' Roll Dreams, Part I

Few non-American guitar brands have meant so much to so many American guitar buffs as Teisco guitars. Indeed, through their mid-’60s connection with the Sears and Roebuck company, many a…

Hornby Skewes Zonk Machines

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 into a Maestro Fuzz-Tone on “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,”…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Installing an Acoustic Pickup System

Un-Unplugged

For years, one of the most common jobs I’ve been asked to do is put a pickup in an acoustic guitar. Compared to most of my work, it’s pretty basic,…

Hornby Skewes Zonk Machines

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 into a Maestro Fuzz-Tone on “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,”…

The 1966 Murph Squire II-T

So-Cal Attention Getter

Despite what many enthusiasts believe, there has been only one really significant “lawsuit” that defined a class of guitars – Norlin v. Elger, 1977 – but there have been plenty…

Kangaroo Amp Covers

Anti-Aging for Amps

Kangaroo Amp Covers Once upon a time, Steve Purcell, proprietor of Kangaroo Amp Covers, grew weary of being the forgetful type. As a gigging guitarist, he never had a problem…

Home Feature Image

Kustom’s The Bag

A New Dimension in Electro-Thoracity

When Steppenwolf’s John Kay took the stage, it was easy to believe he was performing a suitably ’60s ceremony celebrating the wine god Bacchus, thanks to what looked like a…

Schecter Yngwie Malmsteen

1986 Schecter Yngwie Malmsteen For most of the 1970s I didn’t listen to or play electric guitar music of any kind, only acoustic music. I did, on occasion, read about…

Martin 00-18

They were days, before Kent State, when everywhere you looked, kids sat under trees, singin’ songs and swappin’ licks. Fresh-faced young girls with names like “Star” painted flowers on their cheeks and…

The Gibson ES-5

Instrument Profile

Gibson, like all American guitarmakers, had to shut down electric guitar production for three years during World War II. But when production resumed in 1946, Gibson made up for the…

Andy Peake – Roots Without Boundaries

Andy Peake – Roots Without Boundaries Andy Peake is a drummer/percussionist with a long list of accomplished-guitarist friends. For proof, take a listen to his new album, “Pocket Change.” Here,…

Gibson Mastertone GB-3

While five-string banjos are far more popular today than any other style, during the height of the Dixieland Era of the 1920s, when Gibson introduced its famous Mastertone banjos, four-string…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Rock-And-Roll High School(er)

Building a From-Scratch Class Project, the Conclusion

In my November ’22 column, Ceil Thompson’s class-project guitar was nearing completion – the lacquer coats were applied and, after it cured for two weeks, she was ready for final…

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…

Wolf Marshall

Jazz-Lore Generator

Wolf Marshall was absorbing music before he could walk or talk. Born to a mother who was a concert pianist, he napped beneath the instrument as she practiced pieces by…

Gibson’s Budget Redux

The SB Series Guitars and Basses

As the 1960s rolled into the ’70s, Gibson had established itself in the electric-bass market with front-line instruments such as the solidbody EB-0/EB-3 and Thunderbirds, as well as the semi-hollow…

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:…

Gibson’s 1966-’70 Flying V

In Detail

Body is two-piece mahogany. Pickguard mounts to body with 13 screws. Pickups are patent-number humbuckers with chrome-plated covers. Tune-O-Matic bridge with Gibson’s basic spring vibrato (a.k.a. Vibrola) tailpiece. Control pots…

Westone Genesis

1987 Westone XA6520TBU Genesis. Photo: Bill Ingalls Jr. Instrument courtesy of Rudy Abbott. The relationship between Japanese instrument builders and domestic distributors was critical in the evolution of guitar sales…

Greg Lake’s 
Zemaitis Doubleneck

Twice as Heavy

With progressive-rock juggernaut Emerson, Lake & Palmer, bassist/vocalist Greg Lake (1947-2016) played more than one instrument made by the renowned British luthier Tony Zemaitis. Known for their fancy tops of…

Epiphone U.S. Map

The idea of making “presentation- grade” guitars – special instruments meant as much for marketing as for rich customers – probably goes back to the beginnings of guitarmaking. Certainly by…

GRETSCHRANCHER-HOME-MAIN-BIG

Gretsch Rancher

“A spectacular model in real he-man outdoor Western finish with powerful appeal for Hill-billy and Cowboy bands.” This is how Gretsch first introduced the Rancher Jumbo – offspring of the 1940s…

The Fender Bass V

Innovation in the Opposite Direction

Like any other group of gearheads, bassists love to rap with peers about their stuff. One classic debate compares five-string electric basses to standard four-string instruments. The bottom line in…

Maestro GA-45T

AMP-O-RAMA

Until just a couple years ago, Fender really was the only major name in collectible vintage American-made tube guitar amplifiers. Sure, Magnatone, Standel, Danelectro/Silvertone, Supro and the other Valco-made amps…

Mossman Guitars

Triumph over Tragedy

The story of Mossman guitars is one of both tragedy and triumph. Often forgotten in the rejuvenated interest with acoustic guitars of the 1990s, Mossmans are best known for their…

Dano Redux

A Look at Everyone's First Electric Guitar

In his book, Neptune Bound: The Ultimate Danelectro Guide, author Doug Tulloch charts the adventures of Nat Daniel as he rode the electric guitar boom of the 1950s and ’60s…

Gretsch 7680 Super Axe

Most of us are – or should be – aware of the enormous contributions of the late Chet Atkins, the Country Gentleman, to American popular music, from his complex fingerpicking…

Q&A With George Gruhn: Formica Pickguard on an Early Les Paul?

And Not-So-Strange Variations on an ’87 LP Standard

I’ve just completed restoring a very early Les Paul that was horribly damaged and poorly repaired, then painted black! I’m about to put it together, and am wondering if what…

Martin F-9 Archtop

While the Martin Guitar Company is today best known for its flat-top steel-string guitars, from 1931 through 1942 the company produced a significant number of archtop guitars designed to appeal…

Classics: Steve Kimock 1968 Goldstop

It was a moment when the angels did sing. Wanting to chat with his de facto big brother, one fateful day in the summer of 1969, 12-year-old Stevie Kimock walked…