Guardians of Grandeur
“A lot of people think I go in with an open checkbook, but that’s not the case; we’re very strategic.”
– Jerry Fraize
When Peter...
Sun Rises Again
January, 1950: 27-year-old Sam Phillips opens Memphis Recording Service, soon to become famous as Sun Studio and launching rock and roll with the 1951...
Gibson’s Style O Artist Guitar and K-4 Mandocello
The mandolin originated in the Middle East as a bowl-back instrument. Crusaders brought it back to Europe and early Italian builders evolved the design,...
Premier Twin 12
Sometimes it takes just the slightest aesthetic twist to get an amp nut all worked up. This 1960 Premier Twin 12 is a case...
Perfect Curves
Sixty years down the road since its creation, the Fender Stratocaster is the default image of the electric guitar for nearly all the human...
Vintage Instruments and the Ban on Ivory Trade
A presidential executive order issued February 11 proposes a wide ban on trade in ivory has widespread implications for trade in vintage musical instruments...
Gibson’s Depression-Era Exports
Many aren't aware that some of the archtop guitars Gibson produced during the Depression were marketed under different brand names, including Kalamazoo, Recording King,...
Gibson Kalamazoo Award
In 1978, Gibson craftsman Wilbur Fuller produced the company's first hand-carved, tuned-by-ear custom guitar. The instrument, which in a blind sound-off with some of...
Fender 5E7 Bandmaster
Preamp tubes: one 12AY7, two 12AX7
Output tubes: two 6L6s, fixed biased
Rectifier: 5U4G tube
Controls: Volume, Volume, Treble, Bass, Presence
Output: 28 watts RMS +/-
Speaker: three 10"...
Gibson’s First Reissue Les Pauls
Strings and Things Les Paul
Many articles have been written about how guitarists and dealers in the mid/late 1970s and early ’80s were asking Gibson...