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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…
RnR Hall of Famer Richie Furay and his gorgeous ’53 Gibson J-200!
Buffalo Springfield/Poco Founder Covers a Country Favorite Richie Furay and his ’53 SJ-200 share a glimpse of their bucolic space…
Vahdah Olcott-Bickford and the Martin Style 00-44G
Special Signature
Of the nearly 200 artists who have been granted a “signature” Martin guitar, only one was given their own style…
Fretprints: Jimi Hendrix
The Creation of Are You Experienced?
It was a bio-pic fantasy. The scene: Outside a London venue where Jimi Hendrix is performing for the first time.…
J.D. Simo
Mind Control
The topic is psychedelic blues, and J.D. Simo is the man with the brown acid. Hypnotic wah, talking hollowbody guitars,…
Gemma Ray
Gemma Ray might rock the neo-’50s look, but she’s no Wanda Jackson wannabe; her songs and guitar work are not…
Lucinda Williams
Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You: A Memoir & Stories From A Rock N Roll Heart
Turning 70 is a time for reflection, and Lucinda Williams offers two takes. Her poetic autobiography recounts her troubled, peripatetic…
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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,…
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ARTISTS
Robert Cray
Four Nights Of 40 Years
Five-time Grammy winner Robert Cray has always played serious blues. But, early on, he sidestepped a genre that would descend…
Andy Summers
Fresh Harmonics
Guitarist in the megastar band the Police, author, photographer, and solo artist Andy Summers can never be accused of having…
Fearless Guitar Heroes
Metallica’s Hammett and Hetfield Stage Legendary Solidbodies
Metallica emerged as the antithesis to corporate rock and the “hair metal” that dominated L.A.’s Sunset Strip in the ’80s.…
Johnny Moeller and Mike Keller
Two for T(-Birds)
Every fan of blues music is familiar with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Founded in 1974 by two guys who would go…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Pandemic Peak?
The Guitar Market’s “Covid Surge”
In the September ’20 issue, VG surveyed guitar dealers to learn how they’d been impacted by the early weeks of…
Alvino Rey’s “Mini” Gibsons
Alvino Rey’s 1936 Gibson mini guitar. From its beginnings, Gibson has built custom orders and unique instruments for specific artists,…
Recording Electric Guitars
The Art of Home Recording
The process might seem simple – stick mic in front of amp, press "Record." Truth is, though, that even just…
Watkins Rapier 33
If you were an American teenager in the late 1950s or early ’60s, and you wanted to play the new…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Gibson’s 1941 SJ-100
Second Coming
Gibson 1941 SJ-100 Price: $3,868 (list)/$2,999 (street) Info: www.gibson.com Sporting a unique “stair step” headstock, the first Gibson SJ-100s began…
Coppersound Kingpin Clipper and Iris Optical Compressor
Royal Restraint
With the growing popularity of small-footprint effects, Coppersound’s Kingpin Germanium Clipper and Iris Optical Compressor nicely fit the bill –…
Tim Bogert’s Modified Fender
One Fudged Bass
When Vanilla Fudge helped pioneer the progressive-rock movement in the latter half of the ’60s, bassist Tim Bogert played more…
Cort Z44
Single-Cut Shuffle
Cort Z44 Price: $569 list/under $400 street Contact: cortguitars.com Just about everywhere you look these days, manufacturers are devising new…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Marshall 2100 Lead & Bass
Rock Breaker
Adescendant of the legendary “Bluesbreaker” combo that helped launch the cranked-Marshall sound into the annals of rock, the 2100 combo…
Carlos Santana
Musical Outreach
Carlos Santana’s creative drive is obsessive, restless – and relentless. For his latest album, Blessings and Miracles, he pooled the…
Excelsior Americana
If you play any breed of twang, country, roots-rock or, well, “Americana,” could there possibly be a better amp than…
Steve Vai
Rock-Star DNA
Recorded in 1991, Steve Vai’s Gash is an homage to his rock-and-roll past. It’s also a passion project celebrating the…
