VG will equip readers with the knowledge and skill to achieve professional-sounding home recordings. We guide you through the setup of a home studio – a starting point to this brave new world.

When you check out an amp like the Fender Mustang II, you may wonder if the term “practice amp” still applies anymore. Once upon a time, a practice amp was a small solid-stater with few EQ controls and perhaps basic reverb and overdrive effects. The Mustang II, however, comes with a full array of amp …

From 1984 through 2015, Phil Campbell was the guitarist in Motörhead, and for the last 20 years of the band’s existence was its sole guitarist, appearing on classic releases such as Orgasmatron, 1916, and Bastards, among others. With the 2015 passing of Lemmy Kilmister, the band came to an abrupt end. Instead of retiring, Campbell …

In 1833, C.F. Martin, Sr. and his family arrived in New York City. A trained luthier, Martin had studied under Johann Stauffer in Vienna and for more than five years ran a music store on Hudson Street. But his family hated living in the city, and running a business kept him from his dream of …

Blame it on a guitar. For Low’s Alan Sparhawk, the inspiration behind the band’s latest album, Ones and Sixes, came in part thanks to a new six-string. He had been playing a series of Les Pauls, but recently found a ’60s Danelectro Convertible with one of the famed lipstick-tube pickups mounted in the sound hole. …

In the 1950s, America’s fascination with the automobile was running at a fever pitch. The booming economy of the country’s post-war years pushed the car from a purpose-built means of transportation to the center of family and social life. As a result, automakers started to offer their wares in ever-better dress. Beyond plush interiors and …

The Grateful Dead just may be more popular now that the band is actually dead and gone. Their musical industrial complex keeps a steady stream of live recordings coming – and with some 30 years of shows to mine, there’s no end in sight. And no deadheads are complaining. Still, the five-LP/four-CD boxed set Before …

When he joined Atlanta Rhythm Section in early 1972, J.R. Cobb and Barry Bailey had more in common than simply being the band’s co-guitarists. Like Bailey (VG, December ’16), Cobb had been playing in bands since the early ’60s. Furthermore, he had performed in a hit-making aggregation. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he grew up in …

From 1954 through ’59, the Fender Electric Instrument Mfg. Co. built guitar amplifiers with controls mounted atop using “chickenhead” knobs that go to 12, and covered with “the finest airplane luggage linen.” This line represents the company’s classic “tweed era,” and from the diminutive Champ to the mighty Twin, it remained virtually unchanged throughout the …

Say the words “custom color” to a collector or enthusiast and most will think of “Fender.” But Gibson had its own multicolored baby – the Firebird. Born in 1963 and put to rest in ’69, the Firebird was Gibson’s third full-line attempt at the solidbody market. While it did not do as well as the …

Dr. Jenny Boyd is founder and director of Spring Workshops, “organizing psychotherapeutic groups for people in need of personal development.” She is also the “Jennifer” who inspired Donovan’s “Jennifer Juniper.” Like her sister Pattie, Jenny became a model in swinging-’60s London. Pattie married and divorced both Beatle George Harrison and Eric Clapton; Jenny married and …

Ray Cummins demonstrates Chet Atkins fingerstyle tune “Good Old Summertime” In his first exclusive video tutorial for VG Online, Ray Cummins demonstrates a few jazz-chord substitutions along with some pull-offs in the melody to the Chet Atkins fingerstyle tune “Good Old Summertime.” Grab your semi-hollow, set the amp clean, and enjoy! Keep up with Ray …

When it comes to identifying guitars, basses, amps, and effects, nobody knows it all. Anyone save for the true specialist, whose interest is focused on a particular model, make, or era, knows there’s an impossible mountain of detail concerning materials, specs, and luthiery techniques for the thousands of vintage models. By itself, the heralded triad …

Explore the G blues scale with acclaimed mandolinist Andrew Hendryx. Originally appeared on a Facebook Live Lesson on Sunday, April 5th, 2020. Keep up with Andrew HERE!

Ana Popovic was but a toddler when she started to absorb major musical mojo through her father’s love of the blues, classic rock, and most importantly, thanks to the rec-room jams he would stage with buddies. By the time she was 14, the Serbia-born-and-raised Popovic was taking private lessons on classical guitar, but, “After a …

Think old-school Zombies crossed with new-thing Arctic Monkeys: the result may just be the Routes. The guitar-bass-drum trio is part classic Brit invasion rockers with period-perfect gear, part hypnotic proto psychedelia – yet with a harder-core modern edge to their sound. Guitarman Chris Jack fronts the band, armed with an arsenal of Selmer amps and …

The Milbert Amplifiers GAGA D-60 Price: $2,950 list Info: www.milbert.com/gaga Gear reviews, whether describing guitars or amps, often speak to the versatility of the equipment in question. While some gear tabbed as “versatile” may be capable of several tasks when in the right hands, few pieces can be reasonably expected to be jacks of all …