Swedish disciples of pre-World War II blues Erik Jacobs, Erik Nilsson, and Pontus Ohlsson, hauled a bunch of gear up to a remote cabin and got down to business. The result is an album so full of genuine love for the genre, it’s impossible to dismiss. Sure, the band consists of three young Swedish guys …

Roland’s Blues Cube Artist Price: $1,169 (list)/$899 (street) Contact: www.rolandus.com Roland has reinvented and relaunched its Blues Cube combos with a series featuring Roland’s exclusive Tube Logic design that carefully emulates the preamp and poweramp tube responses of classic tube amps. One of these, the Blues Cube Artist, features a classic old-school appearance – cream-colored …

From the late 1920s through the early ’40s, Gibson produced instruments under a variety of brand names for retailers like Montgomery Ward and mail-order houses like Tonk Brothers. While the majority of these were budget models with less ornamentation than their Gibson-branded counterparts, and none were given Gibson’s adjustable truss rod, the instruments sold so …

Until 1928 the largest and loudest guitar in C. F. Martin’s catalog was their 12-fret 000-sized guitar. Until the OM premiered in 1929, the 12-fret body was also the standard shape for all Martin flattops. The late Charles Sawtelle, guitarist in the Colorado bluegrass band Hot Rize, was an avid vintage guitar collector. One of …

Allan Holdsworth Awarded in 2017 Holdsworth’s liquid style was first noticed in Tempest and then a succession of ’70s fusion-oriented bands like Gong, Soft Machine, Tony Williams New Lifetime, and Jean-Luc Ponty. Whispers of his genius exploded at the end of the decade, when he joined two hugely influential bands – U.K. and Bruford. Find …

Her overnight success was decades in the making, but a video gone viral of a jaw-dropping slide guitar performance at the 2014 North Atlantic Blues Festival has helped bring Joanna Connor to the world. With nearly a half a million views, the performance displays scholarly blues virtuosity and crowd-pleasing pyrotechnics. In recent years, she has …

Former Racer X guitarist Bruce Bouillet overcame carpal tunnel syndrome to return to his first love – shredding. Now, he’s back with a third solo album The Order Of Control, a hard-hitting concept record with big ideas, fat tones, and impressive production. Before carpal tunnel forced him to stop playing, Bouillet played on albums by …

Leo Fender once famously said, “A guitar is just a hammer.” If you haven’t yet found a hammer that fits like it should, this may be it. After U2 guitarist The Edge signed on to Fender’s board of directors in 2014, everyone expected a signature guitar was forthcoming – and that it would likely be …

When Zakk Wylde was asked to record a new DVD/CD package, he decided to give his Black Label Society fans something different – Unblackened, a live acoustic/electric performance featuring Wylde on guitar and piano, with BLS bandmates bassist John Deservio, guitarist Nick Catanese, drummer Chad Szeliga, keyboardist Derek Sherinian, and vocalist Greg Locascio. The package …

Vibesware Guitar Resonator GR-Junior II Price: $175 (list, depending on exchange rate) Contact: www.vibesware.com In the beginning, there was the E Bow, a handheld device that used a powered magnet to create infinite sustain and feedback. Then came “sustainer” pickups, which were mounted internally on a solidbody – also cool, but you lost your neck …

Progressive-rock icons Yes are still going strong after more than 40 years of recording and performing. Throughout their reign as one of the most influential rock bands of all time, having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, they’ve endured personnel changes as well as stylistic changes. The current incarnation includes Benoit David on vocals, …

The Steepwater Band, based in Chicago, has been a trio for most of its career, purveying guitar-based Americana. Guitarist Jeff Massey, bassist Tod Bowers, and drummer Joseph Winters recently added guitarist Eric Saylors, and the change has worked well. “Eric was playing in an Indianapolis-based band called the Healing Sixes, and on occasion we would …

Traveler AG-105EQ Price: $499.99 (street) Info: www.travelerguitar.com When it comes to “travel guitars,” players are often forced to sacrifice size for portability and even functionality. Unlike many travel instruments that are simply miniaturized six-stringers, the Traveler AG-105EQ is a useful and playable instrument featuring a full-sized fretboard and a body that’s just two inches smaller …

Amidst the torrent of modern-country anthems praising pickup trucks, beer, bros, and sweet things in tight jeans gushing out of Nashville these days, there’s an undercurrent of stellar music that’s also making waves. Listen hard to the radio and you might even hear it. Jason Isbell’s latest solo shot ranks with his best. His songwriting …

Enter to win a signed lithograph and a copy of each of the recent Cars re-issues on vinyl! The Cars were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, honoring the legendary band’s incredible musical legacy and enormous commercial success. Rhino is celebrating with the expanded editions for Shake It Up and …

Truly a deserving name in the early era of the “boutique” amp scene, Jim Kelley is also an extremely under-recognized one. After working at Music Man amplifiers and other jobs in electronics in the 1970s, Kelley formed Active Guitar Electronics in Tustin, California, in 1978 and began building tube amps under his own name in …

In 1961, Gibson introduced the double-cutaway Les Paul to replace the original version, which had been endorsed by guitarist Les Paul since being developed in 1952. Redesigned in response to falling market demand in the face of competition from Fender’s lighter, curvier, more-contoured Stratocaster, the guitar was re-named SG (for “solid guitar”) during the 1963 …