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Austin legend Jon Dee Graham plays “This Old Guitar”

Jon Dee Graham’s parts Strat has been his stage and studio mainstay for more than four decades. Assembled by Mark Younger-Smith with a ’64 neck, ’63 pickups, and a Custom Shop reissue body finished in Shoreline Gold that lends testimony to the years and miles. Here, he plays it through a 30-watt Carr, jamming on the lick and lead from “This Old Guitar,” a track from his latest album, “Only Dead For A Little While.” Catch our review in the April issue. Read Now!


Premiere of Seth Lee Jones’ new 110 video!

Filmed at one of our favorite local dive bars, Tin Dog, this is “110.” I played my main guitar, a battle scarred Tele style I built from scratch in 2006. It’s a one piece ash body, one piece birdseye maple neck with single carbon fiber neck reinforcement. The neck is non adjustable and has no radius, it’s dead flat like a classical. The bender unit is a modified Hipshot palm lever unit. It’s loaded with mcnelly pickups, stagger swagger neck and dual blade bridge. It’s tuned open D with a String Joy custom set .017,.017., .026, .032, 0 42., .053 nickel. Keep up with Seth on Instagram!


Austin legend Jon Dee Graham plays “This Old Guitar”

Jon Dee Graham’s parts Strat has been his stage and studio mainstay for more than four decades. Assembled by Mark Younger-Smith with a ’64 neck, ’63 pickups, and a Custom Shop reissue body finished in Shoreline Gold that lends testimony to the years and miles. Here, he plays it through a 30-watt Carr, jamming on the lick and lead from “This Old Guitar,” a track from his latest album, “Only Dead For A Little While.” Catch our review in the April issue. Read Now!


Premiere of Seth Lee Jones’ new 110 video!

Filmed at one of our favorite local dive bars, Tin Dog, this is “110.” I played my main guitar, a battle scarred Tele style I built from scratch in 2006. It’s a one piece ash body, one piece birdseye maple neck with single carbon fiber neck reinforcement. The neck is non adjustable and has no radius, it’s dead flat like a classical. The bender unit is a modified Hipshot palm lever unit. It’s loaded with mcnelly pickups, stagger swagger neck and dual blade bridge. It’s tuned open D with a String Joy custom set .017,.017., .026, .032, 0 42., .053 nickel. Keep up with Seth on Instagram!


Dominic Miller

Team Player, Solo Turn

A longtime member of Sting’s band, Dominic Miller is the quintessential team player, even on his own solo albums. His latest release is Vagabond, a melding of jazz, world music, and pop produced by studio icon Manfred Eicher. The enchanting music is led by Miller’s acoustic guitar, yet he never overplays. Rather, he lets other […]

For 40 years, guitar synthesizers have come and gone, but the Electro-Harmonix Synth9 looks to be a game-changer for several reasons. First, you don’t need an external pickup to make it work. Rather, the Synth9 is a traditional guitar pedal – just plug it into your chain and get stomping. Second, the box is completely […]

FireBelly Amplifiers’ Tweed 1955SE, PR3512SE

FireBelly Amplifiers’ Tweed 1955SE, PR3512SE

Tale Of Two Princetons

FireBelly Amplifiers’ Tweed 1955SE, PR3512SE Price: $949 (Tweed 1955SE); $1,595 (PR3512SE) Contact: www.firebellyamps.com The quest for vintage tone continues, and while budgetary concerns might keep many guitarists from owning the real deal, the demand has created a market for affordable hand-built amplifiers with old-school sounds and specs. The father-and-son team of Steven and Scott Cohen […]

Steve Vai

Inviolate

After decades of technical shred-dom, Vai returns to his musical mindset prior to David Lee Roth, composing soundtrack-scaled material that is powerful and dramatic. “Teeth of the Hydra” is a showpiece for a new triple-neck Ibanez – listen for the wild harp and bass drones recorded live on the instrument. Listen for Whammy Pedal madness […]

30 Most Valuable Guitars

To mark VG’s 30th anniversary, we dig into the 30 most-valuable production guitars.

Paul Nelson

Main Man to the Blues Man

Paul Nelson is not only Johnny Winter’s second guitarist, but the blues icon’s musical director, producer, songwriter, and – many say – life saver. Fans who have recently seen Winter will attest to Nelson’s guitar prowess and ability to complement Winter. The resulting fireworks provide some of the best shows of Winter’s long career. The […]

Gretchen Menn

Abandon All Hope
Magnum Opus

Gretchen Menn stands alone. One might argue that she’s the female counterpart to Steve Morse. Both are aviators, both play ungodly guitar, and both are ersed in the European traditions of the Classical period. This was the era that spawned composers Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Salieri, and so on. Both Menn and Morse are also big […]

Ally Venable

Heart of Texas

On her fourth album, Ally Venable serves up a heaping helping of poignant songs wrapped in Texas-style blues-rock. Ballsy wah work, gutsy bottleneck slide, and special guests make her new album, Heart Of Fire, her strongest to date. There’s a bit of country in her delivery, but it all comes from the heart as Venable […]

Prestige Heritage Premier P90 FM NAT

Liberating the P-90

Approach longtime players with a (yet another) single-cut/single-coil solidbody, and you may find it tough to get their attention. But, the Prestige Heritage Premier P90 does just that. Founded in 2003, Prestige Guitars now offers 14 electric and acoustic models with four variations of each. The company makes about 1,200 guitars a year, and after […]

The Norma EG 470-2 Deluxe

Everyone of a certain age – and no doubt some younger folks – remembers the sage career advice given young Benjamin Braddock in the classic film The Graduate: “Plastics.” In 1967, such wisdom was humorous because young people knew business was full of “plastic people” in suits. So, it’s especially ironic that someone of a […]

Carl Bradychok and Don Leady

It Feels So Right and Poppy Toppy Gone
Roots Rock Generations

Those once considered the young guns of roots rock (Deke Dickerson, Dave Biller, Joel Paterson) are now “middle-aged.” So it’s encouraging to know that there’s a new generation of roots revivalists coming up – and at least one oldster still setting stages on fire. Michigan’s Carl Bradychok, 25, cut his first rockabilly album at 13 […]

Keeley Electronics Dark Side

Floyd Explorer

In the multi-verse of effects, Robert Keeley’s gizmos are a thing of beauty – particularly those that provide multiple sounds. Guitarists hankering for fuzz, delay, and modulation will dig the Dark Side, which mimics the sounds of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. The fuzz is based on a 1977 op-amp analog fuzz with a 24-bit DSP […]

Wayne Kramer

Renaissance Man

Wayne Kramer has earned his stripes as an American music icon. Whether abusing his signature Strat, scoring a film, or using music to help turn around troubled lives, Kramer is as relevant as ever. For his latest offering, the legend took up progressive jazz. “I did the score for a documentary on The Narcotic Farm, […]

Positive Grid’s Bias Head

Tone-Tweaker’s Dream

Designed to be a dream machine for players who just love to “experiment” with tone, the Positive Grid Bias Head is stand-alone that interfaces with software to create fresh presets that can be downloaded. But it’s actually more because it can record other amps, tweak them on a computer, and save them as presets. With […]

Wata

Mega-Decibel Fuzz

Anyone who digs fuzzed-out hard rock with amps pushed to their limit should add Boris to their play list. Hailing from Tokyo, the group has been fed and guided by meaty riffs and searing solos from guitarist Wata since its 1992 inception, with recordings such as Akuma no Uta (The Devil’s Song), Pink, and Altar, […]

Richie Furay

Back in the Country

Richie Furay’s new album, In the Country, began with an invitation from a friend, Val Garay. Revered for his work producing Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Kim Carnes, James Taylor, and the Motels, Garay produced Furay’s 1979 solo album, I Still Have Dreams. “We hadn’t worked together since,” Furay explains. “So, when he said, ‘Hey, you […]

SCOTTY MOORE's GIBSON ES-295 Vinatge guitar Magazine

Scotty Moore’s Gibson ES-295

First Guitar of Rock and Roll

Like a hound dog hit by lightning, the first notes of rock and roll blasted out of radios across the country in July of 1954, courtesy of Elvis Presley’s supercharged-hillbilly singing on “That’s All Right” and “Blue Moon Of Kentucky,” backed by Scotty Moore’s guitar. It was the twang heard ’round the world. That guitar […]

Anne McCue

Comes Into Her Own

As impressive as 2004’s Roll was, the eclectic Koala Motel (on Messenger Records) represents a major step up in Anne McCue’s playing and especially songwriting. Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale, John Doe, and Heart’s Nancy Wilson all cameo, but McCue is clearly in command. The Australian, who’s made L.A. her home the past seven years, grew […]

dunlop slash Way Vintage Guitar magazine

MXR Slash Octave Fuzz SF01/Slash Cry Baby Classic SC-95

Slash ’N Burn

MXR SF01 Slash Octave Fuzz Price: $129 (street) Contact: www.jimdunlop.com Slash Cry Baby Classic SC95 Wah Price: $129 (street) Contact: www.jimdunlop.com MXR’s new Slash Octave Fuzz pedal employs three fuzz “flavors” – Sub-Octave, Fuzz, and Octave Up – that offer a palette of distinctive, utilizable sounds. The pedal, built with analog circuitry, true-bypass switching, and […]

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