If Mudhoney mined the irreverent punk yang of the “grunge” sound that began seeping from the Pacific Northwest in the late ’80s, Soundgarden dredged its sludgy proto-metal yin – through a somewhat inauspicious start. Unhappy with the production of their 1988 debut LP Ultramega OK, Soundgarden sought corrective measures but soon were waylaid by their …

Comparisons between Blackberry Smoke and earlier Southern-rock bands may be inevitable, but the Atlanta-based quintet takes such observations in stride. “That’s way better than being compared to the Bay City Rollers,” wisecracked vocalist/guitarist Charlie Starr, who recently went on the record with VG along with bassist Richard Turner. “The musical freedom those bands enjoyed is …

Overture JS-Session Price: $ 1,499. Info: overtureguitars.com When designing a new guitar, builders often face a quandary. Some go to extremes to be original, while others tend to “re-create” the same ol’ thing. The Overture Guitars JS-Session is a departure; not a simple reissue or copy, instead, its body contours and edges give it a …

Taylor 814ce Price: $129.95 (list) Info: www.b-blender.com Why aren’t we guitarists ever happy to have our guitars sound like guitars? We wanted to emulate a trumpet’s blare, so we invented the wah pedal. We had to have an organ’s warbling vibrato, so we cobbled together bizarre tremolo effects and rotating-speaker systems. And we wanted a …

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PRS SE 245 Single Cut Price: $650 (street). Info: prsguitars.com Pick up the PRS SE 245 and turn it around a few times. After blinking repeatedly at its finish, you may have trouble believing this is a mid-priced guitar. A single-cutaway from the company’s Korean-built SE line, its intent, of course, is to provide entry-level/intermediate …

3rd Power Solo Dream/Switchback amps Price: $1,859 list/$1,149 street (EXL-1); $1,999 list/$1,409 street (EX-SS) Info: www.dangelicoguitars.com. Images of John D’Angelico crafting masterpieces in his Little Italy shop haunt guitar enthusiasts to this day, implying an era of lost glory. Happily, D’Angelico guitars, long inaccessible to average guitarists, are being revived and reinterpreted in a manner …

Back home in Bali, Indonesia, guitarist Dewa Budjana is noted for his work with the pop band Gigi, but recently, he has also been collaborating with noted Western drummers and bassists on a series of instrumental jazz and fusion albums. A fan of John McLaughlin’s work in Mahavishnu Orchestra, Budjana’s first electric guitar was an …

In the early days of reverb, no one was thinking about surf music; they were striving instead to replicate the warm, resonant, live sound of a concert hall. So, when Supro launched its two reverb-unit models in 1961, not only did the company’s catalog promise “The Magic of Concert Hall Sound,” the pledge was prominent …

With a career spanning 45 years, Allan Holdsworth’s blistering, bop-fueled legato radically altered our approach to electric guitar, and he’s now the recipient of this 12-CD retrospective (for those in the cheap seats, check out the two-CD version, Eidolon). Listen to “Checking Out” from 1982’s I.O.U. album and you already know he’s moving into new …

In 1961, Gibson replaced its Les Paul series with a new line of lightweight, ultrathin, all mahogany, double-cutaway solidbodies the SG (for solid guitar). Developed under the aegis of Ted McCarty and introduced as the “new Les Paul,” the SG heralded new directions and a new marketing emphasis for Gibson; trends exemplified only two years …

Fender’s first Spanish-style guitar was a lesson in functional simplicity with its solid body, single pickup, and bolt-on neck. And it didn’t receive a welcome fit for the legend it would become.

One of the most original-sounding guitarists to emerge from the post-punk/new wave movement of the late ’70s was Gang of Four’s Andy Gill. While he didn’t take many solos, his slashing, funky playing on classic albums like Entertainment! stood out – and inspired acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Gill produced that band’s debut …

If Nashville is the pedal-steel capital, surely Southern California is a lap steel hotspot. David Lindley and Ben Harper, along with luthier Bill Asher, have taken what some consider an archaic design and put it fully into the public ear. Harper cut his steel teeth on the Weissenborn, and the Asher Ben Harper Model is …

“I never thought this would happen to us all these years later,” marvels Sonics guitarist Larry Parypa on the reception the band is getting on its current tour. On what should’ve been be a slow Thursday night at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, the band played to a packed house of patrons young enough …

Spiritual beliefs and the power of music have helped Mark Farner deal with life’s inevitable highs and lows. The singer/songwriter/guitarist achieved astonishing success fronting Grand Funk Railroad in the ’70s; best-selling albums, sold-out tours, and giant hits like “I’m Your Captain”/“Closer to Home,” “We’re an American Band,” “The Loco-Motion,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” and “Bad …

Carvin PB4 Price: $1,899 (list/base); $869 (street/base) Info: www.carvinguitars.com. Trends come and trends go, but tradition stands the test of time. And while Carvin’s designs stand quite well on their own, thank you, face it: There are those other more “familiar-shaped objects” out there that players naturally gravitate toward. Carvin’s PB basses are intended to …