
Aaron Moreland
Growing up in a small Kansas town, 38-year-old Aaron Moreland took up guitar at 15, and his first garage band played classic-rock throwbacks like “Tush” and “China Grove,” occasionally getting more contemporary with R.E.M. and the Black Crowes. By 2001, when he met singer/harpist Dustin Arbuckle at an open mic, he’d immersed himself in acoustic […]
The Soul of John Black
I want to bring The Soul Of John Black a little bit closer to the root – me singing and playing acoustic guitar, and a couple of girls singing like the Staple Singers,” explains John Bigham. “I want to break it down and get to the joyful noise.” Bigham’s act, The Soul Of John Black, […]
Fretprints: Fenton Robinson
In the encyclopedia of American music, there oughta be a picture of Fenton Robinson next to “unsung blues hero.” Drop his name, though, and most fans are unfamiliar – until you say “Texas Flood.” Self-respecting listeners might respond by lauding the title track of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s 1983 debut album, which inescapably draws a timeline […]
Fender’s Musicmaster and Duo‑Sonic
Often forgotten, the diminutive student-grade duo went from concept to reality in short order to capitalize on teenagers taking up guitar to play along with “Rock Around the Clock.”
Guyatone LG-160T
Like plants, Japanese guitars have an almost secret life of which few people outside are aware. While many Americans in the ’60s were seeing fairly low-end commodity guitars at the neighborhood Western Auto, there was actually a thriving and fairly innovative domestic guitar scene that produced some cool and relatively decent guitars, including this Guyatone […]
David Bromberg
David Bromberg likes to quote the great fiddler Johnny Gimble, who once famously said, “There’s only two kinds of music – ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and the blues.” Suitably, Bromberg has devoted much of his life to playing the blues in its myriad forms. The multi-instrumental maestro boasts a lengthy resumé, including playing at the side […]
Ray Edenton
Ray Edenton, acknowledged rhythm-guitar master of Nashville’s A-Team, died September 21 at his home in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. He was 95, and retired in 1991, after over 15,000 sessions. “There was Ray playin’ rhythm, and there was everybody else,” said fellow A-Team guitarist and former Mercury Records Nashville producer Jerry Kennedy. “I hated to do a […]
Andy Summers
Best known for his innovative guitar playing in the Police, veteran English guitarist Andy Summers was into other genres of music long before he flexed his versatility in the ’80s heyday of the innovative platinum-selling band. • Summers grew up in Dorset county, on the Southern coast of England, and his interest in playing guitar […]
Jim Peterik
Veteran guitarist/songwriter/vocalist/keyboard player/producer Jim Peterik’s career has taken yet another intriguing turn in its long and ever-active history. The Chicago-area musician first sprang to prominence over three decades ago as the vocalist/guitarist for one-hit-wonder combo the Ides of March (“Vehicle”), and went on to further success in the ’80s with the original lineup of Survivor. […]
Strymon Sunset Dual Overdrive
Taste in overdrives is so subjective. A player might luck into a stellar $50 mini pedal or feel the absolute need for a $2,500 Klon. The only possible category killer would be a single stompbox that could generate convincing re-creations of time-honored overdrives and offer the adaptability to customize. Well, guess what? The Sunset from […]
S’Alright (Or Left)
Even before they started jamming together on old Gibson acoustics in the mid ’70s, Jimmy Duncan and Bill Townsend, co-founders of the lefty-dedicated Southpaw Guitars, were avid fans of music. Longtime friends who spent their days working as carpenters in Houston, they caught dozens of live acts at venues ranging from the Astrodome and Summit […]
Check This Action: The Swinging Steel of Bobby Black
Few instruments are as synonymous with a genre as pedal steel and country music. But for a seemingly conservative style as country, steel guitarists are some of the most-sophisticated, adventurous musicians on the planet – from Buddy Emmons to Buddy Charleton to Paul Franklin and beyond. The “mystery instrument,” as Bobby Black calls it, evolved […]
Leslie West
Leslie West is renowned for his iconic tone and revered as a forefather of classic rock. A true survivor, he’s adjusting after a life-saving leg amputation, but forging ahead and inspired to continue making music. West filled us in with a rundown of the tracks on his aptly titled latest release, Still Climbing. “I started […]
LsL Instruments’ Soledad
Based out of Santa Clarita, California, LsL Instruments was founded by Lance and Lisa Lerman in 2008 after many years in the furniture-manufacturing business as well as guitar building. Today, the crew at LsL utilizes a mix of CNC machining and handwork to produce a variety of electric guitars and basses, as well as most […]
Magnatone Varsity
Magnatone Varsity Price: $1,699 (list); $1,799 (as tested) Contact: www.magnatoneusa.com Magnatone earned a cult of admirers in the mid 20th century. Buddy Holly and Lonnie Mack used the company’s amps, and Neil Young still has a 280 Stereo model in his live rig. The company went out of business in the ’70s, but the beloved […]
Valco ‘Thunder stick’
Put your gut money on a dark horse every so often, and you might find the rest of the regurgitating bandwagon world awash in your taillights. Every sublime guitar collection needs an old juke joint under-the-radar flamethrower, and the “Thunderstick” delivers the aforementioned wallop with enough kick to blow the scrotus maximus off a charging […]
The Fender Master Series
Dan Smith had an idea – a solidbody guitar with routed chambers that would provide unique resonant tonal characteristics. And he knew the shape he wanted. In the early ’80s, Fender became interested in building instruments that would be viewed as high-quality alternatives to Gibson. Not copies, but highly playable guitars with versatile electronics and […]