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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…
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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
Top 50 Guitar Songs of the ’80s
By the Readers and Staff of Vintage Guitar Based on input from Vintage Guitar magazine staff and readers, this feature…
Happy Traum
Folk Guru: 1936-2024
On July 17, folk music lost one of its guiding lights with the death of Happy Traum at age 86.…
Phil Campbell
Motöring Ahead
From 1984 through 2015, Phil Campbell was the guitarist in Motörhead, and for the last 20 years of the band’s…
Buzz and Frank Rogers
Wood, Wire, and DNA: A Dad’s Day Talk With
Fathers and music – two of the most influential things in the lives of most guitarists. No matter if their…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Star Board: Elliot Easton
Elliot Easton’s “Pedalboard” Though Elliot Easton enjoys his loaded full-size Pedaltrain board, his new band, The Empty Hearts (with Clem…
The D’Angelico Excel Mandolin
The 1,164 archtop guitars made by John D’Angelico have brought him great renown as the finest individual archtop guitar builder…
Wandré Modele Karak
We all recognize that guitars are art, but rarely has the instrument been as consciously approached from this perspective by…
Basses from Bakersfield
The history of guitar manufacturing in the Bakersfield area of California includes names like Mosrite, Hallmark, and Standel. One of…
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
Mack Atomsmasher DB-40
Super Dynamics
What do you get when you have a rockin’ pair of 12AX7 tubes and a pair of EL34 power tubes?…
Phantom Reissue 1964 PH12
Ghost of Vintage Past
From the Hollies to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, from Robert Junior Lockwood to the Stones, the electric 12-string has a prominent…
Blackstar Fly 3
Best In Show… And More
While listening to AC/DC’s Back in Black on a small, audiophile-grade table radio, Blackstar Amplification CEO Ian Robinson had an…
Ernie Ball MVP Volume/Gain Expression Pedal
Total Control
Ernie Ball’s MVP Volume/Gain Expression Pedal Price: $179 (list); $129.99 (street) Info: www.ernieball.com. Just when you thought you were done…
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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…
