Jazz guitarist Jorge Garcia brings many flavors to his musical table. Here, his ’77 Ibanez Artist helps him exhibit a bit of “Dedicated To You,” the tasty title track from his latest album. Read our review in the August issue. Read Now!
Jazz guitarist Jorge Garcia brings many flavors to his musical table. Here, his ’77 Ibanez Artist helps him exhibit a bit of “Dedicated To You,” the tasty title track from his latest album. Read our review in the August issue. Read Now!
Eight decades ago, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer revealed the story of Paul H. Tutmarc debuting his latest invention – a solidbody electric bass. The 1935 article includes a photograph showing the suave gentleman demonstrating the instrument (to a young woman), roughly the size of a cello, and includes Tutmarc’s story of carving it from white pine. […]
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It’s difficult to pigeonhole the music of Naia Izumi, a singer/songwriter who’s also one of the most uncanny guitarists around. “I make music I’m not hearing,” says Naia, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 16. On his new album, A Residency in the Los Angeles Area, he uses two-handed tapping, chiming chords, whammy-bar […]
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Train guitarist Luis Carlos Maldonado’s musical upbringing and skill on the fretboard has earned him cherry gigs with artists like John Waite, UFO, and Glenn Hughes. He hails from the SG school of melodic-rock swagger, yet it’s his way around a melody that made him invaluable in great bands. He’s a prolific solo artist and […]
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Mark Sebastian’s new album, The Real Story, is a paean to his musical roots in the Big Apple. “About a year ago, I realized I had almost an album’s worth of new songs, and wanted to record them,” he said. “I’d been playing the Living Room, here in New York City, (and) my vocal and […]
Nashville legend Jerry Kennedy has won Grammy awards and owned numerous collectible instruments. And if Guinness World Records tracked such things, he’d likely own the mark for most years passed between having a guitar stolen, then returned. As a youngster in Shreveport, Louisiana, Kennedy showed promising musical ability early on, under the tutelage of bassist […]
Punk legend Joe Strummer might not be the first name that comes to mind when the subject turns to “acoustic guitars.” But in fact, all-night hootenannies hosted by the former Clash frontman at the Glastonbury Festival became the stuff of myth. Thus, the inspiration for this small-body acoustic/electric. The Campfire’s outward appearances certainly befit punk’s […]
Most people remember Bill Nelson as the front man/guitar hero in the English band Be Bop Deluxe. Since folding that outfit 35 years ago, he has led a fertile solo career, releasing dozens of solo albums ranging from guitar rock to pop electronica. His latest, Blip!, showcases his hot playing with lush pop. Who were […]
Before they were called Booker T. & The MGs, the first song the house band for Memphis’ Stax label cut on their own was the instrumental “Green Onions” – which went to number one on the R&B chart and number three on Pop in 1963. Since then, Tele man Steve Cropper has become perhaps the […]
Five years ago, keyboardist Keith Emerson sadly ended his life, but a half-decade later, his work still resonates through the music of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the Nice, and other collaborations. Keith also introduced a generation of rockers to classical music, pioneered electronic keyboards, and was a founding father of prog. In the spring of […]
After spending nearly a decade with harp ace Jason Ricci, guitarist Shawn Starski has stepped out with a self-titled album that establishes him as a triple threat, not simply a guitar ace. It’s a position he’s not altogether comfortable with, mostly because, prior to composing its songs, Starski had never written lyrics. “I wrote a […]
The Paul Hartmann Custom Manhattan Price: $3,895 as tested Contact: www.phguitars.com Luthier Paul Hartmann’s Custom Manhattan is a classic semi-hollowbody, but one that displays a growing industry trend – replacing the traditional thin, laminated top with solid figured maple. The results are stunning in several respects. Upon opening the case, one can’t be faulted for […]
Enter for a chance to win a Super Deluxe Edition box set of Eric Clapton’s Nothing But the Blues, a package valued at more than $200! Eric Clapton’s lifelong passion for the blues burns brightly in Nothing But The Blues. The soundtrack features more than an hour of previously unreleased live performances recorded in 1994 during […]
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 […]
The Vox AC30 grabbed most of the headlines for years, but many tonehounds have come to appreciate the sweet, juicy glories of the smaller AC15, particularly in the wake of contemporary attitudes about smaller amps’ abilities to hit the sonic sweet spot at more ear- and mic-friendly volumes. Designed by Dick Denney in 1957, the […]
By the Readers and Staff of Vintage Guitar Vintage Guitar marked 25 years of publication with a year full of cool features that relied on feedback from readers who visit VintageGuitar.com. This month, we offer the results of a poll to determine what readers believe to be the 50 coolest guitar-driven songs of the 1970s. […]
The Gibson Granada five-string banjo is primarily known for being played by Earl Scruggs, who had an enormous impact on the sound and style of bluegrass music after joining Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in late 1945. The Granada was first issued in 1925 with a ball-bearing style tone ring and two-piece flange. Though it […]
When you combine some of the finest musicians from the Louisiana area in one band, there will be extreme funkiness. So it’s no surprise that the New Orleans Suspects’ third full-length album is saturated with New Orleans grooves, southern accents, good time music, and superior musicianship. The band consists of bassist Reggie Scanlan (Professor Longhair, […]
The Stratocaster was born in 1954. A solidbody with three pickups, contoured back and top, vibrato, and bolt-on neck, it was different. And it changed the way people looked at, thought of, heard, and played guitar. With the exception of opera and classical music, it has played a considerable role in modern music. Over the […]
Gretsch’s 1955 White Falcon was the pink Cadillac of guitars – quite possibly the most outlandish guitar ever produced. The latest Vintage Select Edition Falcon is all that and more. Unveiled at the 1954 NAMM show, the White Falcon was billed as “The Guitar of the Future.” Indeed, it was a dream instrument even then; […]
The Dean Ween Group’s debut showcases all the genre-hopping shenanigans that became the stock in trade of Ween’s first band – the prolific and eponymously named indie weirdos Ween. While it’s busy serving up Dean Ween’s eclectic songwriting, The Deaner Album is also pushing his guitar chops to the fore. After all, there’s a pair […]
