Each year, Vintage Guitar magazine honors those who inspired and awed us as guitar players, fans, and listeners by inducting great players, innovators, and instruments to the VG Hall of Fame. We also choose Album of the Year and Player of the Year in rock, country, blues, and jazz. The Deadline is December 6th, 2021. Submit your Nominations Now!
This month we feature Night Ranger’s Brad Gillis, Eric Bibb, Rick Vito, K.K. Downing, Bobby Eli, Guy King, Pasquale Grasso, Kenny Brown, Foghat, Wishbone Ash, Yngwie Malmsteen, Los Lobos, Brian Setzer, Duke Robillard, Lindsey Buckingham, John Mayer, Foghat, and many others! Spotify is free, or available without ads via paid subscription. Go to www.spotify.com and […]
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In episode 61 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with world-renowed guitarist Tim Sparks, a National Fingerstyle champion, performer, and online instructor. Tim talks about growing up in North Carolina, where he studied under Segovia protégée Jesus Silva and developed a love of Eastern European music. They dig into the state […]
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If you listened to pop radio in the late ’70s, it was hard to miss Firefall, whose soft-rock hits were plastered all over AM airwaves, notably “You Are the Woman,” “Just Remember I Love You,” and “Strange Way.” Firefall is back with Comet, their first album in 25 years. Featuring original lead guitarist Jock Bartley, […]
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“It was born at the junction of form and function,” country guitar ace Bill Kirchen sings in “Hammer Of The Honky Tonk Gods.” And though he was referring to the Fender Telecaster, H.P. Newquist made it clear in his speech on the opening night of the exhibit “Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked The World – […]
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Born June 12, 1949, British bassist and front man John Wetton died of colon cancer on January 31 at the age of 67. In a career lasting more than four and a half decades, Wetton achieved many musical peaks, including chart success with Asia and fronting King Crimson during its most innovative period. In addition, […]
One of the hottest guitarists to emerge from the mid-’70s fusion scene was Ray Gomez, who first became known through his virtuosic performance on Stanley Clarke’s landmark School Days album. We talked with Ray as he was preparing to release his new album, Honor. You’ve been working on your new album Honor for the […]
Named by Flaming Lips guitarist Steven Drozd after composer Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera, Crucial Audio’s lavishly named Die Götterdämmerung Germanium Fuzz/Ring Modulator is a wild, wicked pedal. (Note the double pun of germanium and Ring Modulator.) Built in Delaware by pedalsmith Steve Kollander, this box, as its name suggests, features two effects in one […]
Fargen Pete Anderson Tumbleweed Price: $299 (list) Info: www.fargenamps.com. Pete Anderson is a touring roots and country guitarist probably best known for his work with Dwight Yoakam during the latter’s tenure atop the country charts in the ’80s and ’90s. His deft Telecaster playing and conservative production techniques turned Nashville on its ear and helped […]
In his prime, Howard Roberts played more than 900 studio dates annually and recorded the hippest guitar records of the era. His legion of fans still revere his incalculable influence and musical legacy. Vesta Roberts, who grew up in a family of lumberjacks, gave birth to Howard just three weeks before the Wall Street Crash […]
Already road-proven overdrive stompboxes, the Wampler Tumnus and Paisley Drive have received a makeover for 2018. But, is there is anything new to gain? The original Tumnus was intended as a Klon-type “transparent overdrive” pedal, but at a manageable price (a ’90s Klon Centaur can set you back $2,000). The new Tumnus Deluxe adds a […]
Giffin Vikta Price: $2,295 Contact: premierbuildersguild.com. Roger Giffin is a guitarmaker to the stars, having built for Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle, Mark Knopfler, Andy Summers, David Gilmour, and many others. He also ran the Gibson Custom Shop in California for many years before striking out on his own. Now producing his own […]
In the 15 years since his debut album, Welcome, Doyle Bramhall, II has been in great demand. Along with a decade working with Eric Clapton in the studio and onstage, he’s has collaborated with a lengthy list of artists including Elton John, Roger Waters, Sheryl Crow, and on the Tedeschi-Trucks Band’s last three albums. This […]
Vintage Trouble has emerged as one of the hardest working bands on the music scene. Laced with an ultra-cool visual style and a soulful vision, singer Ty Taylor and guitarist Nalle Colt bring together groove, sweat, and sex. Their debut album, The Bomb Shelter Sessions , mixes ’60s rock-and-roll with the spirit of Otis Redding, […]
Demeter Mighty Minnie Pedalboard Amplifier Price: $899.99 Info: www.demeteramps.com Years ago, backstage after a concert, slide-guitar virtuoso Sonny Landreth mentioned to renowned amp designer James Demeter that it would be nice to be able to do fly-in dates without having to rely on an amp backline of unknown quality or bringing along his irreplaceable Dumble, […]
As any fan of Drivin ’N Cryin can attest, Kevn Kinney at his creative best surrenders little to the greatest singer/songwriters in pop – his message is delivered in succinct, pointed turns of phrase transmitted by a voice like no other and accompanied by riffs that sink deeper than a treble hook. Drivin ’N Cryin […]
Popa Chubby is back on the road again, preaching the gospel to blues fans around the world. His new album, Universal Breakdown Blues, is a rollercoaster through the many facets of blues and rock. His stamp on tradition brings new life to the genre with a combination of tongue-in-cheek humor and mean guitar. Chubby plays […]
This may well be the most desirable Fender Stratocaster on the face of the planet. And it happens to be a beat-up mongrel assembled from parts taken from three 1950s guitars. Nevertheless, Eric Clapton’s “Blackie” is one of the most recognized celebrity-associated instruments in the history of the electric guitar, and it served Slowhand’s needs […]
Steve Cripe left a unique legacy in the annals of music history. He was not a guitar player, not a songwriter. In fact, you may not even know his name. But the guitar builder became part of the fabric that makes up the story of the Grateful Dead when he built guitars for the legendary […]
National launched its first ukulele in 1927, combining a brass-bodied, nickel-plated uke with the sweet-sounding amplification of a resonator cone. Plenty of vintage-uke fans see those rare National (and subsequent Dobro) ukes as the embodiment of the Hawaiian music craze of the early 20th century and the coinciding blossoming age of guitar inventions. With today’s […]
This Jazzmaster is an interesting example of what went on behind the scenes at the Fender factory with the research and development of body shapes and materials, and during the pre-production phase for new models in the late 1950s and early ’60s. After having great success with the Esquire, Telecaster, and Stratocaster, in 1958, Fender […]
Despite spending three-quarters of his life as a professional musician, singing and playing blistering lead guitar in various groups, until very recently Mark Knoll hadn’t done a record full of original recordings. The reason, he says, is pretty simple. “I’m a procrastinator! I’ve wanted to do an all-original record for years. I’ve had the opportunity […]
