• Classics: Norman Harris

    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

    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…

  • Greg Koch: Gristly “Blues”

    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…

Gibson’s 1966-’70 Flying V

In Detail

July 1, 2020 · Ward Meeker

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…

Gospel Guitars

Semie Moseley’s Venerated Brand

February 28, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

When he wasn’t crafting Mosrites, Semie Moseley could often be found on the road, providing music for evangelists. It makes…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 7

1965: Summer Of The Hollowbodies

February 14, 2018 · Peter Stuart Kohman

The Way Back Beat survey of instruments designed by James Ormston Burns continues with the final products developed by his…

Classics: April 2023

Kim Simmons’ 1973 Gibson Les Paul

December 16, 2023 · Ward Meeker

For Gio da Silva and several million others in Generation X, the mid ’90s were an exciting time. Young adults…


Molly Miller – top-flight instrumental rock, jazz, and twang

Trio rips on “2 West” Instrumental guitar music is having a moment. Offering a stellar example, Molly Miller and her trio show us “2 West,” filmed during soundcheck on their…

Selmer Truvoice

Selectortone Automatic

Selmer Truvoice Selectortone Automatic, ca. 1961 Preamp tubes: one ECC83, two EF86 Output tubes: two EL34, cathode-bias Rectifier: GZ34 Controls: Channel I: Volume, Tone. Channel 2: Volume, Tone, six pushbutton…

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.

Last ’Burst?

Single-Cut Saga From the End of an Era

Certain instruments are nearly as famous as the heroes who play them – we know them as Blackie, Lucille, Greeny, Number One. And don’t forget E.C.’s colorful Crash Strats. But…

Prodigal Sunburst

Joe Walsh Reunites with a ’59 Les Paul Standard

A master of delivering crystal-clear musical messages with an off-kilter wit, whether talking, singing, picking, or sliding on guitar, everything Joe Walsh does brings an undeniable charisma. For decades, Walsh…

  • Hilary Gardner returns with a fresh take on a holiday classic!

    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…

  • The (Way) Back Beat: Top O’ The Line, For Only $150!

    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…

Maestro Fuzz-Tone

December 8, 2015 · Michael Dregni

Fuzz. It’s the sound of fury, aggravation, indignation, and – considering the history of the most famous fuzzbox of all…

Ted Nugent 1962 Gibson Byrdland

Ted Nugent’s 1962 Gibson Byrdland

November 12, 2015 · Willie G. Moseley

Anyone who’s ever caught Ted Nugent on tour has seen this instrument, and during the Summer of 2003 it was…

Custom Kraft Red Fury

August 12, 2014 · Michael Wright

Most guitar aficionados are comfortable with the notion of guitar brands being made by the company of the same name.…

The Fender Showman

The Showman

September 23, 2013 · Dave Hunter

In addition to several significant shifts in style and presentation, for Fender, the transition of the late 1950s into the…


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Gretsch’s “Golden” Tenors

In the 1950s and early ’60s, the electric guitar was establishing itself as a key part of the new voice of popular music. Amplification provided its volume, and innovative artists…

Classics: November 2021

Gibson Les Paul Personal

Billy Soutar loves the vibe of his 1969 Les Paul Personal and matching LP-12 amp. While the guitar’s mahogany body, Les Paul Custom touches, three-piece quartersawn neck, and Fretless Wonder…

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…

John Pizzarelli Swings On A Vintage D’angelico

Jazz Ace on an Heirloom Guitar For this exclusive rendition of “Just In Time,” swing ace John Pizzarelli grabbed the D’Angelico Model B that was played by his late (and…

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…

The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson

Classic P-90 tones! The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson shows us a bit of “I Can Still Remember When,” from the group’s album, “Echoes and Other Songs: The Rise And… Subsequent…

  • 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…

  • Jim Campilongo & Steve Cardenas

    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…

Tonk Brothers/Washburn 5241

January 23, 2017 · George Gruhn

From the late 1920s through the early ’40s, Gibson produced instruments under a variety of brand names for retailers like…

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La Baye 2X4

May 25, 2016 · Michael Wright

1967, the Summer of Love. Everything still seemed possible, and anything went. No more war, racial and gender equality, Fresh…

Vox AC100

Scream Machine

December 9, 2021 · Dave Hunter

The history of Vox amplifiers’ evolution through the early/mid-’60s directly tracks with The Beatles’ increasing needs to be heard over…

Classics: Norman Harris

Rare Pioneer

January 30, 2026 · Ward Meeker

As a teenager who just wanted to play music, Norm Harris lived with the reality that he and his band…