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Super PickupGiveaway 2025
Win Big! 11 Sets! 11 Winners! Win a set of pickups from one of these sponsors: Deadline is March 15, 2026. Complete the survey below to enter giveaway. One entry…
Dave Gant’s Amp Collection
Key Collection: Nashville pro Dave Gant fosters an impressive gathering of amps
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Dan Hawkins
Toast of the Town
When The Darkness roared out of England with its 2003 debut Permission to Land and the hit “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” the music world was slapped across…
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NEWSWIRE
ARTISTS
Fretprints: Tony Rice
Newgrass Fusion Master
The world lost one of its most innovative and defining guitar voices on December 25, 2020. Bluegrass maestro Tony Rice…
The Magical Philosophy Of Slide
Time, Touch, and Reverence
In ancient Africa, when early man first dragged a flat rock across a string tied to a stick, he couldn’t…
David Hamburger
Top-Tier Tutorial
Whoever said, “Those who can’t do, teach” has never heard David Hamburger. Among his two dozen instructional books and videos,…
Micki Free
Feel and Tone
He was the real-life team member on the infamous Charlie Murphy/Prince basketball game parodied on “Chappelle’s Show,” but Grammy…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Alan Greenwood
Season 02 Episode 1 VG’s “Buy That Guitar” podcast opens its second season with host Ram Tuli joined by Alan…
The Fender Master Series
Dan Smith had an idea – a solidbody guitar with routed chambers that would provide unique resonant tonal characteristics. And…
1934 Martin D-28
12-Fret D-28
1934 Martin D-28 photo courtesy Daniel Salvo. The Martin D-28 was first issued in 1931. And all dreadnought Martins made…
Dan’s Guitar RX: Installing an Acoustic Pickup System
Un-Unplugged
For years, one of the most common jobs I’ve been asked to do is put a pickup in an acoustic…
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
ValveTrain PowerTrain Studio 20
Tube Savior
We’ve all watched the guitar amp deconstruct before our eyes, as pedals, preamps, and power amps all shrink – and…
Boss SDE-3 Dual Digital Delay
Double Echo
Based on the famed Roland SDE-3000 rack unit, Boss’ SDE-3 combines some classic delay sounds of the 1980s, updated with…
Washburn Paul Stanley PS2012 Time Traveler
Dressed to Kill
Washburn Paul Stanley PS2012 Time Traveler Price: $8,665.33 (retail) Info: www.washburn.com . Inspired by Kiss co-founder Paul Stanley’s appreciation for…
Prestige Heritage Premier P90 FM NAT
Liberating the P-90
Approach longtime players with a (yet another) single-cut/single-coil solidbody, and you may find it tough to get their attention. But,…
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Tommy Castro
Circling Back
In a career spanning four decades, Tommy Castro has crafted a commendable catalog and built a devout following with his soul-infused music, informed by the blues, R&B, pop, and rock and delivered with conviction. Beloved for his guitar work and vocal style, he has carved his own niche. Born and raised in San Jose, California,…
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Classics: Tommy Castro’s ’66 Fender Stratocaster
Tommy Castro has never been much for sitting with a guitar teacher, preferring instead to rely on good ol’ time in the saddle to hone his craft. But this 1966 Stratocaster has taught him a couple lessons. The guitar entered Castro’s universe in the hands of San Francisco music legend John Newton – known on…
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Classics: Arena-Rock Alternative Amps
Mad Maxed
As rock started hitting the big time in the mid ’60s, it became clear to guitar-amplifier manufacturers that 100 watts or more was the way to go. The best approach to big power, however, would follow several paths. The stories of the high-powered amps introduced by Fender, Marshall, and Vox through the ’60s have been…
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Vivi-Tone “Skeleton
A Master’s Magnificent Misfire
The eternal question “Who invented the electric guitar?” has no single answer. By the late 1920s, many players, tinkerers, and inventors were exploring ways to get more volume from fretted instruments. Steel-string flat-tops from Martin, f-hole archtops from Gibson, and metal-bodied resonators from National were louder than their predecessors, but ran up against physical limits.…
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Super PickupGiveaway 2025
Win Big! 11 Sets! 11 Winners! Win a set of pickups from one of these sponsors: Deadline is March 15, 2026. Complete the survey below to enter giveaway. One entry per customer, any double entries will be automatically disqualified. See previous winners!! *ELIGIBILITY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.One entry per…
