• Thomas Custom Guitars

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    Thomas Custom Guitars

    Rarities from the Pacific Northwest

    Certain makes and models of electric guitars are rightfully prized for their elegant physical designs and superior craftsmanship. Even better are those also revered for their playability and particularly rich tonal qualities. Thomas guitars, on the other hand, are usually noted for their odd (sometimes controversial) shapes and zany features. Built by the late guitarist/machinist/luthier/and

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Bobby Womack

Bobby Womack

1944-2014

Guitarist, soul singer, and songwriter Bobby Womack passed away June 27. He was 70 and had suffered from diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. Womack’s career spanned more than 50 years. His…

Coco Montoya

Skins to Strings

Photo: Frank Vig. Coco Montoya’s voyage to headlining blues-rock guitarist wasn’t exactly the same road most artists of this nature have taken. Montoya was a drummer through his teens and…

Danny Gatton

Ten years past, and still dropping jaws

Photo: Ebet Roberts. Ten years have passed since Danny Gatton killed himself at his rural Maryland home. The reasons remain shrouded in mystery, yet his legacy is more visible than…

“Big” Al Anderson

Nashville by way of Connecticut

Ask people what they know about “Big Al” Anderson and you’ll probably hear very different responses. Rockers will say that for 22 years he was the Tele-driving force behind New…

Jim Singleton

Jim Singleton

Clarksdale Collaboration

A connoisseur of vintage gear, VG readers may know Jim Singleton as the main man at Jim’s Guitars, in Pennsylvania. His drool-worthy displays at guitar shows are habitually filled with…

Greg Martin John Sebastian’s ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard Vintage Guitar magazine Feature Image

John Sebastian’s ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard

Vintage Guitar magazine Presents Greg Martin's Head Shop

This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online features where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on influential albums and other musical moments. On November 30, 1966,…

David Lindley

String Theory

If David Lindley played just one of the stringed instruments in his arsenal, and concentrated on just one of the styles he has mastered and/or mutated, he would doubtless be…

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…

Bobby Eli

Philly-Soul Pioneer

With this year marking the 50th anniversary of Philadelphia International Records, the spotlight is on the songwriting team of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. Founded in 1971, PIR was the…

Wayne Nelson

Wayne Nelson

Little River Anchor

Bassist/vocalist Wayne Nelson has decades of experience with the Little River Band and was the first American to join the band (in 1980). He’s seen numerous changes in personnel, including…

One Unforgettable ’60s-Oddity Magnatone

Monster Mash

Drew Moniot and his band, The Sequins, were on top of the world, playing Gibson SGs through endorsement-deal amp stacks as 16-year-olds in 1967. Among their many favorite memories was…

Fretprints: Steve Khan

Khan-sequential Guitar

Steve Khan is an internationally acclaimed guitarist with a career spanning more than 50 years. Japan’s Jazz Life proclaimed him one of the 22 greatest jazz guitarists and Musico Pro’s…

Jeff Berlin

Bass Master Homage to Jack Bruce In the December issue, bass master Jeff Berlin recalls the first time he heard Cream (“Spoonful” and Crossroads”), and why it was so impactful.…

Damon Johnson

Cooper to Country

Photo: Stephen Jensen. Damon Johnson is a working man’s player, honed on the chops of Skynyrd and Zeppelin. His technique and influence spawned the early-’90s rock band Brother Cane, which…

Nick Moss

Backbone Shiver

On Get Your Back Into It!, guitarist Nick Moss and harmonica savant Dennis Gruenling combine blues, swing, and rock and roll into an infectious blend of foot-stomping groove, sweat, and…

Honkytonk Homage

Guitars Venerate Bakersfield Landmark

Country-music fans familiar with the history of Bakersfield, California, know of Trout’s nightclub. The last of the venues that gave birth to the “Bakersfield sound” epitomized by the twang of…

Mundell Lowe

Jazz All Around

Mundell Lowe is arguably the most successful jazz guitarist of his era. He routinely performed with such luminaries as Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughn,…

In Memoriam: Len Chandler

Len Chandler, a Greenwich Village “folky” in the mid ’60s with Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Pete Seeger, The New Lost City Ramblers, and others, died at his home in…

Scott Metzger

Scott Metzger

Spontaneous Composition

“We started as three side men scheduled to back a singer who was a no-show at this bar in Brooklyn,” said Scott Metzger, recalling the origins of the trio Wolf!.…

Have Guitar Will Travel 101 – Keola Beamer

In episode 101 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine! Host James Patrick Regan speaks with slack key guitarist Keola Beamer, the two of them cover Keola’s…

Eric Gales

Eric Gales

Makin’ Good

The wild and crazy life of Eric Gales has been well documented, but through it all, his guiding light has been a passion for music. From humble beginnings as a…

Ana Popovic

Blues Jazz & Soul

Ana Popovic brings to her music an inspiring drive and work ethic. Super-appreciative of her fans, she recently released three albums’ worth of material at the same time; Trilogy features…

Jol Dantzig

Back to Hands-On at Hamer

Jol Dantzig with a Hamer Monaco III. Photos courtesy Jol Dantzig. When the Hamer Standard first appeared in an unassuming black-and-white ad in a guitar magazine in the mid 1970s,…

John 5

Return of the Tele Terror

Photo: Neil Zlozower. Best known as the scary-looking guitarist for metalmen like Rob Zombie, Rob Halford, and Marilyn Manson, John 5 is also regarded as a country twanger and namesake…

Tony Levin

Stick Craft

Between the Sting/Peter Gabriel tour, a revitalized King Crimson, and a new album and tour with Stick Men, Tony Levin is busier than ever. Early 2016 saw him using a…

Robert Cray

Live… at Last!

You’d think a guy who has been making great records since the early 1980s, puts on a great live show, and is respected by his peers would have released a…

Status Quo’s Francis Rossi

On Guitars, Music, and Elusive Success

“I’m only as good now as I should have been when I was 25,” laughs Francis Rossi, the 64-year-old lead guitarist, singer, and co-composer in Status Quo. “That’s why I…

John Notto

Dirty Deeds

The “Is rock dead?” debate rears its head every few years. But with the emergence of new bands like Dirty Honey, good ol’ rip-roaring rock and roll is still very…

Paul Gilbert

One-Man Electrical Jam

Paul Gilbert’s 16th solo album, Werewolves of Portland, is an ambitious DIY project where he plays all the instruments. From The Beatles to Pat Travers to Brian May, Gilbert’s fretboard…

Pop ’N Hiss: Bruford’s Allan Holdsworth

Landmark Fusion of One of a Kind

Jazz-rock fusion was vastly popular in the mid 1970s, but began to run out of steam as the “smooth jazz” of Spyro Gyra and Chuck Mangione simply became more lucrative.…