Cliff Goodwin was catapulted into the big time on a decade-long stint with Joe Cocker that began in the late ’70s and during which he relied heavily on an early-’70s Gibson ES-335. After growing up playing a Kapa Continental, a Silvertone Twin Twelve, and a Vox Super Beatle, Goodwin acquired a ’67 Gibson ES-335 – …

EHX Tortion JFET Overdrive Price: $198.67 (list)/$179 (street) Contact: www.ehx.com Having teenage metal-shredders at home makes one appreciate that a little overdrive can go a long, long way. Note to sons – not all songs benefit from being played “at 11.” In the real world, bandmates expect you to sit back in the mix from …

This five-disc retrospective captures the essence of what is one of America’s best, if not best-known, bands from the past half century. To describe NRBQ to someone who has never heard them is a chore. You can say they’re quirky, charming, interesting, or unique, but that doesn’t get to the root of things. And, amazingly, …

Aside from witty asides on social issues, natural disasters, and Renaissance history, Adrian Legg’s formidable fingerstyle and deep musicality remain his calling card. His latest album, Dead Bankers, continues the bedazzlement. On “Marco’s Bounce,” you put a piece of foam under the strings to create a percussive effect. I owe the foam trick to [Brazilian …

In the story of the Fender amp – after the tweedy pre-Army Elvis and before the black-face Deluxe British blues invasion – there appeared the blond, as Leo Fender transitioned his line cosmetically and sonically from righteous crunch to a sophisticated high-fidelity tone suitable for Camelot after midnight – warm and aggressive but in a …

Although by most estimates he produced fewer than 100 Trainwreck amps, Ken Fischer – tech, designer, and amp-maker – will be remembered as one of the most authoritative and intuitive tube-amp gurus ever to have touched soldering iron to circuit. Born in Bayonne, New Jersey, in 1945, Fischer died at his home in Colonia on …

Blackstar’s Artist 15 is a British amp with an American accent. Though designed and built around good ol’ American-flavored 6L6 tubes, its sonic qualities feature that glorious jangly, chimey sound of classic British Class A amps. Best of all, the amp’s unique ISF control lets the user dial between the two voices – or set …

So what is it? Its original black-finished spruce top is simply ladder-braced from within, but its back and sides feature Brazilian rosewood with dramatic bookmatched figure. Its unbound 18-fret fingerboard –also of rosewood – sports only a few small, round dots for position makers, yet intricate multicolored wood purfling graces much of the rest of …

Echopark Guitars is the brainchild of Gabriel Currie, who opened the establishment in 2006, after many years of working as a builder and repairman. Currie’s first offerings were electric instruments that have found their way into the hands of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford from Aerosmith, as well as Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers. But …

Released in the summer of 1969, Stand Up was Tull’s first album with guitarist Martin Barre and showed them honing their blend of proto-hard rock and heavy blues, psychedelic, and folk-rock ideas, the latter heard in “Back To The Family.” This two-CD reissue includes a remix by producer Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), famed for his …

The Gibson Super 400 debuted in 1935 as the first production-model 18″ archtop guitar with f-shaped sound holes; 30 years prior, the company’s Style O was the same size and same shape, but had an oval sound hole. Throughout the swing/big-band era beginning in the mid ’30s, the Super 400 was the epitome of an …

Ruby Dee, guitarman Jorge Harada, and crew serve up 200-proof rockabilly. Their brand of music is not Stray Cats glitz or Reverend Horton Heat psychobilly; instead, this is traditional rockabilly – a little bit country, a little bit R&B and the blues, all finger-snapping good. Based – not surprisingly – from Austin, Texas, the band …

Call it a “Gypsy jazz wall of sound.” John Jorgenson’s new album, Istiqbal Gathering, features the master guitarist backed by the full Orchestra Nashville – strings, woodwinds, brass, even percussion. The result would make Django Reinhardt himself envious. For Jorgenson, it all came naturally. “Recording solo guitar with a full orchestra is very different than …

Adding to its line of compact DI/multi-effects units for traveling guitarists, Tech 21’s Acoustic Fly Rig is more than a collection of tone sweeteners – it contains a gig bag worth of functionality specific to the needs of acoustic performers. Opening the black tin packaging, it’s immediately striking how miniaturized this pedal is. The chassis …

Epiphone Jack Casady Signature Bass Price: $699 (street) Info: www.epiphone.com. Rock-and-roll bassists of the ’60s like Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, and Duck Dunn brought something to the game that succeeding generations continue to chase. On the West Coast, Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna bassist Jack Casady was known for melodic flights thumped out …

Teije Wijnterp has been around. Born in the Netherlands, he studied flamenco guitar in Spain before relocating to Austin and eventually joining Joe Ely’s band. Through his years as a pro musician, Teye (as he is commonly known) kept a running “bitch list” of problems that frustrated him with guitars he could buy. When it …

Rivera Shaman Series Pedals Price: $299 each (street) Info: www.rivera.com. With roots stretching to the late ’70s, SoCal-based Rivera Amplification is best known for their handbuilt-in-the-U.S.A. tube amps. Not to be overlooked, however, are the firm’s pedal offerings, specifically their Shaman series of effects boxes. With the exception of the Acoustic Chorus Shaman, all were …