Founded by a jazz guitarist as jazz-box builder, the Guild company also built a solid reputation with its ’50s acoustic guitars. The brand’s profile as an acoustic builder was certainly given a you-can’t-put-a-price-on-that bit of exposure when Richie Havens hammered on a D-40 in front of 400,000 people at Woodstock! Another unforgettable Guild gig was …

Pigtronix Envelope Phaser II Price: $249 (street). Contact: Phone (631) 331-7447; Pigtronix.com. Pigtronix effects are known not only for their tones, but their sophistication. So it’s no surpise that the Envelope Phaser II has a potentially daunting array of control knobs and switches, some with familiar names (Sensitivity, Depth, Speed), others less common (Resonance, Staccato, …

Metal-bodied guitars built by the National String Instrument Company before World War II represent a giant leap in guitar design and technology. When they debuted in 1926, they were startling in both appearance and sound; there was simply nothing else like them. Throughout the ’20s, the guitar gained popularity with rising prominence of radio artists …

Ed. Note: In part two of his series on the guitar in 19-century America, Tim Brookes addresses the common belief that the guitar was strictly a ladies’ parlor instrument by finding guitars being made – and played – by men. “Over the last century,” began a recent guitar history, parroting conventional wisdom, “the guitar has evolved from a …

The Gretsch company rose to the upper echelon of guitar manufacturers in the 1950s with the introduction of a diverse and dynamic array of electric models. Arguably the most identifiable guitar design of that time was the Chet Atkins Hollowbody model 6120, with its distinctive orange-stained finish, “G-brand” body, and decidedly Western aesthetic.  Recently, a …

Sunday, February 9, 1964, was the day that forever changed music and pop culture. “The Ed Sullivan Show” was one of the most popular television programs in the United States and at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, The Beatles made their live debut on American national television before an estimated 73 million people. This single …

Vintage Guitar is teaming with Collings Guitars and Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop to present an exclusive eight-part series on beginner fingerpicking. Hosted by VG Online contributor Tom Feldmann, it will teach the Mississippi John Hurt classic “C.C. Rider” and Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Mojo Hand” at a pace easily followed by anyone! › › In the final …

John Lee Hooker was the bridge between country blues and electric blues, something elegantly captured during a 53-year career. The son of sharecroppers, he melded field hollers, Delta blues, talking blues, and what became called Mississippi “hill country” blues into the electric postwar era with records like “Boogie Chillun” and “Sally Mae” from 1949. Those …

Leon Rhodes 1932-2017 We are saddened to hear of the passing of guitar legend Leon Rhodes, one of the most-beloved players from the golden age of country music. Leon emerged in the early ’60s with Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours, his jazzy style usually played on a semi- or hollowbody thinline that helped create a distinctive …

Fifty years ago, Gibson’s new Les Paul Model was quickly becoming one of the company’s most popular guitars, and (though there was no way of knowing it at the time) was on its way to achieving mythical status in the realm of the electric solidbody. With the recent observation of the model’s golden anniversary, Vintage …

In his 2003 book, American Basses, author Jim Roberts noted that for all of Peavey’s innovative offerings in the 1990s, “…the company hadn’t forgotten their regular customers,” specifically citing the company’s mid-’90s Forum as a “good old meat-and-potatoes bass.” The Forum series did indeed exemplify the builder’s efforts to adhere to founder Hartley Peavey’s mantra …

When Robben Ford approaches traditional blues, he takes ownership, transporting it to new places. This latest five-song EP is no different, as he wields Willie Dixon’s “Crazy For My Baby” and injects his unique sense of swing, phrasing, and harmonic color. He’s backed here by Wes Little and Nick D’Virgilio on drums, Brian Allen and …

Nate Najar plays accessible jazz on a classical guitar and applies classical technique to match. This album showcases the music veteran playing a variety of tunes that range from Chopin’s “Prelude in E Minor (op.28 no.4),” Chick Corea’s “500 Miles High” and “Chick’s Tune,” as well as Jobim’s “Insensatez (How Insensitive)” and “O Morro Não …

Joe Moss is the archetypical blues “road dog,” regularly rolling out of his home base of Chicago to wail for crowds in venues ranging from clubs to festivals around the world. His live sound is created with a mix of custom guitars made by Kurt Wilson, along with a Gibson ’58 reissue Les Paul, a …

Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett’s new album brings together musicians from all over the world in the spirit of unity, multiculturalism, and diversity. The project joins singers from Palestine and Israel, along with the sounds of Iraq, India, Peru, and the U.S. Hackett’s eclecticism – and his belief that the world needs to come together …

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 …

People having been raving about Julian Lage since he was a young guitar prodigy almost 20 years ago – he even jammed onstage with Carlos Santana at the tender age of eight. Over the past half-decade, the 26-year-old has become a brilliant guitarist who’s taste and depth bely his youth. Lage’s latest recording, World’s Fair, …