Certain makes and models of electric guitars are rightfully prized for their elegant physical designs and superior craftsmanship. Even better are those also revered for their playability and particularly rich tonal qualities. Thomas guitars, on the other hand, are usually noted for their odd (sometimes controversial) shapes and zany features. Built by the late guitarist/machinist/luthier/and

B.K. Vaught recently walked into my shop with a vintage Strat that had been modified and refinished. While its changes represented a bit of American history, the guitar deserved to be restored. B.K. got it in the spring of 2022, while helping sort the estate of an uncle who had passed away. Among his belongings…

Although popular music of the 1920s featured the tenor banjo as the preferred rhythm instrument, the guitar’s popularity rose steadily through the decade, and by the ’30s, it had overtaken the banjo. As had been the case with tenor banjos, mandolins, and classical/minstrel banjos in earlier eras, the best-selling fretted instrument attracted the most attention…

’60s Un-Gibson Solidbody
Gibson’s acquisition of Epiphone in 1957 presented a tremendous challenge to guitar designers and marketers at the company. One challenge…

Mad Maxed
As rock started hitting the big time in the mid ’60s, it became clear to guitar-amplifier manufacturers that 100 watts…

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

High-/Low-Tech
In guitar history, irony is almost always the result of circumstances. The market changes overnight or someone makes a mistake…

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…

Ready to Ramble
In 1961, Gibson introduced the double-cutaway Les Paul to replace the original version, which had been endorsed by guitarist Les Paul since being developed in 1952. Redesigned in response to…

Lower-End Innovator
It’s been a long time comin’… Like his longtime bandmate, Rick Nielsen, Cheap Trick bassist/songwriter Tom Petersson collects classic stringed instruments. Now a resident of Nashville, Petersson still plays the…

Merit Badge
Watkins amps never landed big stars, or at least didn’t hold on to the endorsements of guitarists once they became big stars. Various Beatles shared a small late-’50s Westminster from…

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…

They might not seem to have a ton in common aside from first names. J Mascis, Dinosaur Jr.’s co-founder and guitarist developed a style equal parts guitar heroics and left-side-of-the-dial insouciance. In Uncle Tupelo, Jay Farrar helped popularize the alt-country movement by merging influences from Doug Sahm to The Stooges. But that might be where…

When is a Marshall not a Marshall? When it’s a Narb, of course. Long a fascinating footnote to the company’s history, this alternative brand arose as something of a bet between colleagues. For all the undeniable classics produced by Jim Marshall and his right-hand men Ken Bran and Dudley Craven, it seems the company’s marketing…

It has all the appoint-ments of a Martin 00-45, particularly the abalone pearl trim around all the borders of the…

On November 5th, Phoenix, Arizona’s Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) celebrated the opening of their newest exhibition, “Dragons and Vines: Inlaid…

10 Strings, Lap-Style
Lap-steel guitars were the first commercially available electrics – ancestors of the guitars we plug in today, regardless of their…

Plus, Precision Bass rests and an odd Galliano
I’ve never read why Jimi Hendrix played and set up a right-hand Strat to play left-handed. Surely, he could’ve found…

Axe That Time Forgot
For more than 70 years, aluminum has been a component in guitar construction. Exactly whose idea it was originally has never been a cut-and-dried matter of fact, but it has…

Season 03 Episode 05 In Episode 3.5 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Tony Nagy, manager of the repair shop at Gruhn Guitars. Vintage instruments, prized…

Return Of An Icon
Bruce Forman acquired Barney Kessel’s beloved Gibson ES-350 in mid 2021. In prep for recording Reunion!, he made the guitar his exclusive daily player. “All it needed was a little…

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…

TV Star
The permutations of early Vox models remain endlessly fascinating to vintage-amp enthusiasts, and few get us as worked up as a rare transitional version of the hallowed AC15. The “TV-front”…

Last of the Oxbloods
Those who love vintage amplifiers are often fascinated by little anomalies that present themselves in an otherwise period-correct specimen, and when that amp is a mint-condition sweetheart from the golden…
My neighbor has an old parlor guitar that he asked me to clean up after years in storage. Inside the sound hole it reads “The American No. 5” and there is no other identifying script. The bridge is a pyramid-type. We’re curious about its age and manufacturer; I’m guessing Lyon and Healy from the 1920s.
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!
It’s not often a guitar can be said to have been inspired by a TV show, but that is the case with this 1982 Veillette-Citron Shark, which came about as a result of the success of the program “Welcome Back Kotter.” Well, in a pretty roundabout way, that is! Veillette-Citron guitars were the product of
In a career spanning four decades, Tommy Castro has crafted a commendable catalog and built a devout following with his soul-infused music, informed by the blues, R&B, pop, and rock and delivered with conviction. Beloved for his guitar work and vocal style, he has carved his own niche. Born and raised in San Jose, California,
Tommy Castro has never been much for sitting with a guitar teacher, preferring instead to rely on good ol’ time in the saddle to hone his craft. But this 1966 Stratocaster has taught him a couple lessons. The guitar entered Castro’s universe in the hands of San Francisco music legend John Newton – known on
As rock started hitting the big time in the mid ’60s, it became clear to guitar-amplifier manufacturers that 100 watts or more was the way to go. The best approach to big power, however, would follow several paths. The stories of the high-powered amps introduced by Fender, Marshall, and Vox through the ’60s have been

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Howie Statland Season 01 Episode 10 In Episode 10 of VG’s “Buy That Guitar” podcast, host Ram Tuli is joined by Howie Statland of Rivington Guitars, New York City. They discuss famous players and the effect they have on the value of collectible instruments. Guitarists are often influenced…

Smooth, Funky Blues With Soul Kid Andersen worked with Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin Bishop before scoring his current gig with Rick Estrin & the Nightcats. One of the best blues guitarists around, here, he’s joined by his wife, Lisa, and bandmate Endre Tarczy to play “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” from his latest album, “Spirits.” Kid…

Following the Line
Long overlooked and relegated to an obscure corner of the collectible market, Sigma by Martin guitars have recently gained popularity…

What good was selling a newfangled electric guitar back at the dawn of the revolution if you didn’t have an…
Dan Fogelberg’s success as a singer and songwriter far overshadows his reputation as a musician, but the man whose tenor…

Blond Ambition
1961 Fender 6G6(A) Bassman • Preamp tubes: four 7025 (12AX7) • Output tubes: two 5881 (6L6GC) • Rectifier: GZ34 tube…