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Pete Prown
The Grateful Dead & The Doors
A Tale of Two Cities
The Grateful Dead profoundly shaped the trippy San Francisco sound of 1967, while to the south, the Doors crafted a harder-edged approach to psychedelia in Los Angeles. Both bands released their debut albums exactly 50 years ago, and each platter has been reissued in grand style. By the release of their first LP in early
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Pete Prown
PRS Guitars’ McCarty
Ted Talkin’
In the late 1980s, Ted McCarty, the man who served as president of Gibson during the company’s “golden age,” became a special consultant to Paul Reed Smith, sharing insight on how to build superior guitars. One fruitful byproduct of this collaboration was the McCarty model guitar, which PRS Guitars introduced about 20 years ago. To
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Pete Prown
Musicvox Space Cadet USB 30″ Custom
Short-Scale Slugger
Don’t be confused by the USB in this four-string’s name – there’s no computer-cable hookup. Instead, USB stands for “ultimate short-scale bass” and, indeed, this Musicvox Space Cadet sports a 30″ neck scale in the same ballpark as the Hofner 500/1 or Gibson EB-0 basses of the ’60s. Why go for a short-scale thud staff?
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Pete Prown
IK Multimedia iRig HD
Pocket Rocket
Ain’t technology grand? With a device like the iRig HD, you can plug your guitar into an iPhone, iPad, or a computer and rock out with shockingly good sounds. The device itself is stone-simple to use and comes with the appropriate cables for phone, tablet, or USB connectivity. Just register the iRig online and download
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Pete Prown
Fender Acoustic Pro and Acoustic SFX
Curved Air
Fender has been making acoustic guitar amps for decades – now they’re reinventing the genre, and their designers deserve a round of applause both for the visual makeover and the sound quality. Unlike standard guitar amps, the Acoustic Pro and Acoustic SFX draw their appeal from mid-century Scandinavian design, featuring curving, blonde-laminate cabinets that cradle
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Pete Prown
Steinar Karlsen
Nordic Surf Slinger
Scandinavia is no stranger to good “instro” music. The past 60 years have produced guitar-fueled legends like the Spotnicks (Sweden), Jørgen Ingmann (Denmark), and Laika & the Cosmonauts (Finland). Hailing from Norway is Steinar Karlsen, a fine player who instinctively understands the guitar music of the early ’60s. On his new album, Tur, Karlsen covers
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Pete Prown
Nicolas Meier
Jeff Beck Sideman Steps Out
If you’ve been to a Jeff Beck concert in the past few years, you may have said to yourself, “Who’s that other guy onstage?” It happens to be Nicolas Meier, a Swiss virtuoso who for more than a decade has also led his own groups, such as the world-metal group Seven7. A monster picker, Meier
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Pete Prown
Carr Amplifiers’ Lincoln
Hot Rod
Carr Amplifiers has a fine reputation for high-quality, boutique tube combos with tons of vintage style and panache. Their gear offers point-to-point wiring, tasty tone circuits, high-grade components, and dove-tailed cabinetry, all the things tube connoisseurs crave. The Lincoln is their latest offering, a swank-looking 1×12 combo based on a mint 1964 Vox AC10 that
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Pete Prown
Rush
Grab your hankies, Rush fans – this DVD doc captures moments from the trio’s R40 farewell tour, along with reminiscences on their four-decade career. There are interviews with Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and Neil Peart, all mixed with vintage photos and hilarious stories galore. (Can you imagine the members of Rush and Thin Lizzy having
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Pete Prown
Ralph Towner, John Abercrombie Quartet, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Dewa Budjana
Fusion Heros
The ECM label is renowned for its brand of atmospheric jazz-fusion highlighted by gorgeous audio quality. Two of its guitar masters – Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie – have released new albums. An acoustic specialist, Towner’s new disc is all-solo guitar, either classical or 12-string, and delivers his brand of intoxicating fingerstyle improvisation. “Dolomitti Dance”
