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Trending Now
Steve Khan is an internationally acclaimed guitarist with a career spanning more than 50 years. Japan’s Jazz Life proclaimed him one of the 22 greatest jazz guitarists and Musico Pro’s Antonio Gandia praised him as “the voice of the guitar in Latin Jazz.” He has been making waves as a solo artist since 1977, collaborated […]
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After rolling out several “amp-in-a-box” pedals last year, Universal Audio is back with a fresh line of stompboxes to help guitarists groove. The Max Preamp/Dual Compressor gives models of famous compressors, with three compressor circuits – the classic DynaComp pedal capable of squashed, chicken-pickin’ sonorities, and two studio favorites, the LA-2A and FET 1176, which […]
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At the start of the new millennium, Playboy asked various musicians to list their favorite songs of the 20th century. Richard Thompson took the assignment further, beginning with “Sumer Is Icumen In,” dating from 13th-century England. Unfortunately, the magazine didn’t print his selections, but he launched a tour and live album titled 1,000 Years Of […]
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VG Approved Gear
The Supro Hampton
Island Unto Itself
Supro’s vintage Ozark guitar is famed as Jimi Hendrix’s first axe. According to legend, his father bought him an off-white ’57 Model 1560S in 1959 from Seattle’s Myers Music for $89. It doesn’t get much more illustrious than that. Fast-forward half a century and change, and the resurrected Supro company – highly regarded for its […]
Artists
Alexander Dumble 1944-2022
Recalling an Eccentric Genius
Howard Alexander Dumble, iconic amp designer and builder, passed away January 16, 2022, after suffering a stroke. He was 77 and had been dealing with heart issues including Atrial fibrillation (A-fib). The son of an engineer, Dumble grew up in Bakersfield, California, and was 12 years old when he started making transistor radios he’d sell […]
VG Approved Gear
Gibson 1928 L-1 Blues Tribute
Blues Time Machine
Gibson 1928 L-1 Blues Tribute Price: $4,255 retail; $3,299 street Info: www.gibson.com. The Gibson L-1 boasts the kind of intriguing history that makes it a legend. In the late 1920s, it was the company’s low-end model. But Mississippi Delta blues man Robert Johnson happened upon one: two surviving photographs show him holding an L-1, though […]
Classic Instruments
100 Years of Boston’s MFA
Playable Exhibits
Musical instruments – guitars – present an interesting philosophical dichotomy. On one hand, they’re utilitarian objects whose very purpose – arguably their only purpose – is to create art, to play music. On the other hand, musical instruments can be, and very often are, beautiful works of art in themselves. Play them or display them. […]
Artists
Jack Petruzzelli
Fab Sideman For Osborne, Wainwright, Smith
“The first time the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan, I was in my mother’s womb,” says Jack Petruzzelli. “That was February ’64, but then when they appeared the second time I was out of the womb.” What could be more appropriate for the guitarist/keyboardist of the Fab Faux, the spot-on Beatles tribute band featuring Jimmy […]
Artists
Sam Kiszka
Ethereal Energy
Guitar rock in 2023 doesn’t get bigger or ballsier than Greta Van Fleet. A veritable steamroller since “Highway Tune” launched in 2017, the band’s second EP, From The Fires, won the Grammy for Best Rock Album and 2021’s The Battle at Garden’s Gate clobbered Billboard, reaching #1 Rock Album, #1 Hard Rock Album, #1 Vinyl […]
Overdrive
The Ibanez Black Eagle
Time Keeps On Slippin’
Sure, it oozes coolness. But ornate instruments are sometimes about more than aesthetics, and this one represents a turning point in the history of Japanese guitars.
Classic Instruments
Martin 5-18
The Martin style 5-18 is the smallest guitar in Martin catalogs; at the lower bout, it measures 11.25″, while at the upper bout it is 8.25″. And its body is just 16″ in length, with a scale of 21.4″. In 1930s catalogs, the style 5-18 and the less expensive matching size 5-17 were listed with […]
Artists
Adrian Smith
Different Scales
Guitarists usually spend years learning their scales, but Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith enjoys scales of the aquatic kind. In his new memoir, Monsters of River and Rock, Smith details his love of fishing as a way to relax between mammoth Maiden gigs. VG talked to him about both kinds of scales. Where did you get […]
Artists
Andy Powell
The Wishbone Forges on
Wishbone Ash guitarist Andy Powell isn’t caught in a time warp. True, he’s the sole remaining member of the English foursome that proffered a twin-lead guitar sound that took the band to acclaim in the early 1970s, but under the aegis of Powell (VG June/July ’92, April ’98), Wishbone Ash has toured incessantly and released […]
Artists
Yates McKendree
Blues Emotion
Yates McKendree hasn’t yet turned 22, but he has already digested a lifetime’s worth of American roots music. The proof is in his debut album, Buchanan Lane, which is named for the street where he makes his home in Franklin, Tennessee. A 13-song collection, it reflects varied musical influences including blues icons like B.B. King […]
Music
Dio
A Decade of Dio: 1983-1993
There’s his music, his style, and his metal-culture influence. But above all, Ronnie James Dio is responsible for creating one indelible symbol – the flashing of the goat horns. Rhino has now released this box set of Dio’s first six albums covering 1983 to ’93. And in honor of this event, fans everywhere must join […]
Artists
Howard Leese
Heart-less But Guitar Laden
Guitarist/ producer/ entrepreneur Howard Leese has come a long way since his early days with Heart in the 1970s. He was onboard when the band’s first hit single, “Barracuda,” swam up the charts, and was an integral member as they earned platinum record awards and sold-out concerts worldwide. And he was there when Heart enjoyed […]
VG Approved Gear
Fuchs Blackjack-21 II Combo
Hit Me!
Fuchs Blackjack-21 II Combo Price: $1,750 Info: www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com Andy Fuchs is an authority in the world of guitar amps. One of his great accomplishments has been to closely replicate and refine certain legendary boutique-amp tones. With the Blackjack-21 II, Fuchs Audio Technology makes more accessible what the company has already put within reach of boutique […]
Music
Jeff Beck
Loud Hailer
Since the late ’90s, Jeff Beck has been fusing equal parts blues, jazz-rock, and heavy-duty electronica; this time he’s added spoken-word sections and vocals over the big, throbbing grooves, thanks to singer Rosie Bones and co-guitarist Carmen Vandenberg. Carmen is a young Brit player, and her bluesy leads and elegant chords nicely complement Jeff’s raw, […]
Artists
Elliot Easton
Shifting Gears Again
Not long after he released an instrumental album with an aggregation known as the Tiki Gods, veteran southpaw guitarist Elliot Easton abruptly put the project into stasis when an opportunity arose to make music with fellow veteran musicians. The new band is known as the Empty Hearts, and includes Wally Palmar (Romantics) on guitar and […]
Classic Instruments
Dobro Model 27
Brother Oswald's Dobro - Country Music History Maker
The melodic, evocative warbling of a resonator guitar has for decades been a fixture in country music, and knowledgeable fans will tell you there’s one primary individual to thank for it – Pete “Bashful Brother Oswald” Kirby. Kirby was born in Sevierville, Tennessee, in 1911. His introduction to the resonator occurred circa 1929, thanks to […]