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Pete Prown
Pop ’N Hiss: Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson’s Ah Via Musicom
There were innovative Stratocaster records before Ah Via Musicom, but Eric Johnson’s 1990 opus changed the rules of the game – this was not your father’s funky quack-toned Fender. After the positive reception for 1986’s Tones, Johnson had gathered feedback and pondered his next move. “One thing people told me is that they wanted to…
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Pete Prown
Cordoba 15CFM
Hawai’i Not?
The ukulele phenomenon shows no signs of slowing, with models ranging from well under $100 on up to thousands. The Cordoba 15CFM is on the budget end. The 15CFM has a 15.125″ scale with flamed mahogany top and headstock veneer befitting its “Concert Flamed Mahogany” designation, along with laminated mahogany back and sides. Details include…
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Pete Prown
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Live in Maui
This 1970 performance was contrived for Rainbow Bridge, a hippie movie that flopped. The gig itself was faintly ridiculous, as a hundred or so fans trudged up Hawaii’s dormant Haleakalä volcano. There, the Experience played in such high winds that Mitch Mitchell had to later re-record his drums in a studio. Yet – and it’s…
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Pete Prown
Iron Maiden
Nights of the Dead, Legacy of the Beast
From the 2019 tour, this two-CD live set from Mexico captures the British metalers in top form, four decades after their debut. Guitarmen Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers unleash torrents of power chords and licks on their trademark Strats-with-humbuckers atop Steve Harris’ churning bass. Frontman Bruce Dickinson can still dazzle with his vocal…
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Pete Prown
Guild Aristocrat HH
High Roller
Since its arrival in 1954, the chambered Guild Aristocrat and it’s later solid cousin, the Bluesbird, have offered an alternative to the single-cutaway Les Paul and Gretsch Duo-Jet. Decades later, Guild’s modern HH model offers a twin-humbucker, carved-top axe with upscale looks and special features. Chambered with all-mahogany construction and a traditional 24.75″ neck scale,…
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Pete Prown
Garage Guru
The Epiphone Crestwood
The original Epiphone Crestwood was built at Gibson’s Kalamazoo factory, alongside Les Pauls and other ’50s classics. A double-cut solid-body, it appeared a full three years before that other double-cut legend, the Les Paul SG. Epiphone’s new version of the Crestwood is a cool tweak of the original brought to modern specs, but retaining an…
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Pete Prown
Eastman MD515
The Mando-lorian
Guitarists can expand their instrumental range in several ways, from bass to banjo and even the diminutive mandolin, where guitar-like shredding and strumming (the famed “bluegrass chop”) are the norm. A worthy example is the Eastman MD515, which offers fine workmanship at wallet-friendly prices. This model is an F-style, referring to that venerable Gibson body…
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Pete Prown
Jock Bartley
The Return of Firefall
If you listened to pop radio in the late ’70s, it was hard to miss Firefall, whose soft-rock hits were plastered all over AM airwaves, notably “You Are the Woman,” “Just Remember I Love You,” and “Strange Way.” Firefall is back with Comet, their first album in 25 years. Featuring original lead guitarist Jock Bartley,…
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Pete Prown
Adrian Smith
Different Scales
Guitarists usually spend years learning their scales, but Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith enjoys scales of the aquatic kind. In his new memoir, Monsters of River and Rock, Smith details his love of fishing as a way to relax between mammoth Maiden gigs. VG talked to him about both kinds of scales. Where did you get…
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Pete Prown
Gwenifer Raymond
Fierce Fingerstyle
Expect the unexpected from Gwenifer Raymond. Born in Wales, England, she was inspired by underground bands like the Pixies and Nirvana, while her deft fingerpicking style was shaped by Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Roscoe Holcomb, and John Fahey. Just as surprising, Raymond has a Ph.D. in astrophysics and works in video-game production. Her new…
