-
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…
Musicvox Spaceranger Guitar and Bass HT
Shagadelic
Musicvox Spaceranger Guitar and Bass HT Price: $799 (guitar); $899 (bass) Info: www.musicvox.com. Popularized in film and television, Musicvox Spacerangers…

EHX Tortion JFET Overdrive
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…

Chris Duarte
Not Mowin’ the Lawn
It’s been seven years since Texas blues rocker Chris Duarte issued a new album, but his 15th studio effort, Ain’t…

Anthony Phillips
Progressive 12-String Master
Ant Phillips was a founding member of Genesis and, along with guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford, created the signature 12-string acoustic sound…

Fishman’s Fluence Greg Koch Gristle-Tone P90
A Quiet Place
With the miracle of micro-electronics, you can pack a massive amount of tone into a tight space. Case in point:…

Seth Lover
Humbuckers and Other Lover innovations
The history of the musical instrument business is full of stories, from the drab to the miraculous. Some bean counters…
-
Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings
Double-bound for Glory
George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacher founded Electro String in 1931 to manufacture what everyone would soon call “Rickenbacker” guitars. Success came early and their lap steels set standards of quality,…
ARTISTS

Pop ’N Hiss: Joe Satriani’s Surfing With The Alien
Spacey Hang Ten
The ’80s were teeming with music ranging from pop-metal to new wave, thrash metal, blues revivals, and the New Romantic…

Fretprints: Stevie Ray Vaughan
Texas Flood
Stevie Ray Vaughan was unknown when he premiered at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival. Born and bred in Dallas, he’d…

Belfast Bluesman Dom Martin
Gallagher, Buchanan Inspiration! Dom Martin grew up listening to blues-guitar legends including his Irish countryman Rory Gallagher, and has created…

Midge Ure
The Unexpected Retrospective
While guitarist Midge Ure was a member of Visage and was briefly in an early version of Thin Lizzy, he’s…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Gibson GA-CB Custom Built
Gibson GA-CB Preamp tubes: three 6SJ7, two SQ7, two Sj5 Output tubes: two 6L6 Rectifier: 5T4 Controls: Microphone Gain, Instrument…

GA-20’s Matt Stubbs and Pat Faherty
FlashBack Sounds, Forward Steps
Musical gateways opened by Jimi Hendrix and the Doors led Matt Stubbs to become a disciple of Johnny “Guitar” Watson,…

Jeff Hanna
Decades of Dirt
One’s taste in music usually starts in the home, where immersion can fuel the subconscious. Jeff Hanna’s parents loved Ella…

Sound City L/B 120 Mark IV
Preamp tubes: three ECC83 (12AX7), one ECC81 (12AT7, in the phase inverter) Output tubes: six EL34 Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Normal…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
-
Live Wire
-
Narrow(field) Win
-
Take Flight

Mesa Boogie’s Badlander 50 Combo
Rarin’ Recto
When Mesa Boogie introduced its Dual Rectifier amps in the early ’90s, they cemented a place in rock-and-roll history. Over…

Gurus Amps’ SexydriveMkII
Bellissimo!
Chalk up another score for Italian innovation. Chicco Bellini and his company, Gurus Amps, are among the top dogs in…

Ibanez AF95
Jazzed UP
In 2021, Ibanez re-tooled its hollowbody line to devise big surprises like the Japanese-made AF95, a full-bodied archtop with a…

ToneVille Amplifiers Broadway
Red-Carpet Ready
ToneVille Amplifiers Broadway Price: $2,295 Contact: www.tonevilleamps.com What is it that drives boutique amp builders to expend gallons of skull…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
-
More Personal
-
Rare Pioneer
Eric Johnson
Getting Up Close With Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson’s latest release, Up Close, is his most lively studio project to date. With a looser vibe and the…

2023 April Issue on Spotify
This month we feature Marty Stuart, Steve Vai, Sunny War, Merle Travis Bio, Kansas’ Leftoverture, Gary Moore, Big Bill Broonzy,…

The Rogue VB-100 Violin Bass
Fab As It Looks?
The Rogue VB-100 Series II is an homage to the venerable Höfner 500/1 semi-hollowbody. Popularly known as the “Beatle bass,”…

Marshall Super Tremolo Model 1961
The often-told story of Marshall’s birth as a re-creation of the tweed Fender Bassman rarely includes mention of this rendition…











































