• Albert King’s THC Flying V

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    Albert King’s THC Flying V

    Coterie Complete

    Robert Johnson has been a fixture in the vintage-guitar community for more than a half-century. As a player and music producer, he has collected an assortment of instruments and music memorabilia, particularly related to his home town of Memphis. One of his guitars recently became part of a recording project that began at the renowned…

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Jules Leyhe says “Start Your Engines”

Greasy, dirty slide on this VG exclusive Jules Leyhe takes his ’61-reissue SG for a slidin’ spin through “Start Your Engines.” He’s running through a Ceriatone Centura pedal into a…

Charly Baty

Feelin' Good All Over

You really have to love a guy who smiles as much as Charly Baty does as he snakes his way across the stage, spurring his jump blues band, Little Charly…

Dom Martin

More Than a Feeling

From the first fingerpicked notes of “Hello in There,” a gentle, inviting 98-second acoustic instrumental that opens Dom Martin’s Buried in The Hail, it’s clear the Belfast bluesman’s musical vision…

Reflecting on Steve Cropper: A Playlist

Steve Cropper was just 20 years old when his band, the Mar-Keys, began backing singers in the studios of Stax Records. They also scored a million-selling #1 hit with the…

Doc Watson

1923-2012

Over a career spanning 52 years, the passage of time only enhanced Doc Watson’s stature. His virtuosity and musical range, merged with an abiding sense of tradition, entertained, amazed, and…

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Buzz Feiten

Unsung Hero

An unsung hero, accomplished inventor, and builder possessing priceless musical knowledge, Buzz Feiten’s list of session credits could fill a phone book – from Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King to…

Danny Gatton

Finishing the Business

For most musicians, the road to success is like skipping stones: often arbitrary and elusive, just as the prize beckons within reach. However, when the subject being scrutinized avoids the…

Mick Ralphs

Good Company

In 1972, one of Britain’s best bands, Mott The Hoople, still hadn’t made any impact on the charts. Its record company, Island Records, was getting impatient. Then, a future rock…

Michael Schenker

Temple Of Rock

Michael Schenker has had the kind of stormy past that could give Keith Richards a run for his money. He will forever be tied to iconic bands such as The…

How Ron Wood’s New Barbarians Saved the Stones

Ear-to-Ear Violence

Today, the Rolling Stones continue to perform live, more than 50 years since their first gig. But few realize how an unsung side project formed and funded by Ron Wood…

Louis Stewart

Irish Jazz Giant

Next to Jameson whiskey, Louis Stewart remains Ireland’s leading export – and his playing can be just as intoxicating. The consummate creative jazz artist, his soft-toned archtop sound reflected the…

Marshall JMP50 “Plexi”

Kids wanna rock? Plug into your plexi and bow to the mighty crunch. Marshall amps of the company’s first 10 years are interesting for having thrown up classics of different…

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…

Muireann Bradley, Old Soul

Vintage Blues, Vintage L-50 Direct from Ireland, 17-year-old Muireann Bradley indulges us (and tugs at our Led Zep heartstrings) with a rendition of Memphis Minnie’s “When the Levee Breaks.” She’s…

Ty Tabor

Digging Deep

King’s X guitarist Ty Tabor’s latest solo album is a guitar-centric meditation on mindfulness and the complexities of existence. With a break from touring, he had time to whip out…

Have Guitar Will Travel 072 – Shannon Lauren Callihan

Episode 72 of “Have Guitar Will Travel” features host James Patrick Regan speaking with young R&B singer/songwriter Shannon Lauren Callihan, who grew up in Kentucky but moved to Nashville to…

Dave Amato

Speedwagon Six-Stringer

Joining an established rock act like REO Speedwagon might be the dream of many a Vintage Guitar reader, but such was exactly what occurred for guitarist Dave Amato in 1989.…

Pop ’N Hiss: Lou Reed

Definitive Riffs- Lou Reed’s Rock ’N Roll Animal and Live

Eccentric and enigmatic, composer/singer Lou Reed gained notoriety in the mid-’60s while fronting the NYC band Velvet Underground. Not particularly talented musicians, the group reached audiences by creating songs with…

John Sebastian

Lost Treasures From the Early '70s

Photo: Catherine Sebastian. “Musical style has such a short shelf life. In that year and a half, I lost vital time.” The timeframe John Sebastian is speaking of is the…

Fretprints: Metallica’s Master of Puppets

Genre Giant

In 1984, Kerrang magazine coined the buzzword “thrash,” signaling the arrival of an unprecedented heaviness in rock music – not only in volume and aggression, but precision, velocity, complexity, and…

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Carol Kaye

Think "Extensive"

Contrary to what some aspiring bass players might think, the world’s most recorded electric bassist isn’t some modern-day L.A. dude purveying “NAMM chops” (to quote John Pattitucci) aplenty with the…

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…

Tinsley Ellis

On luck, the road, and The Hard Way

Tinsley Ellis is a road warrior, and he knows it. “I paid some dues early, and now it’s paying off,” he says. “I have friends in all 50 states and…

Jim Campilongo

Back to the Country

A misconception of his own making led to Jim Campilongo’s latest effort with the band Honeyfingers. “I enjoy my trio and its evolution, but it has gotten less and less…

Richard Tozzoli: Underscore Overlord

Shark Week” Les Pauls, Flying V, et al Richard Tozzoli walks us through a guitar overdub session for Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week ’24,”  featuring drummer Omar Hakim and the Budapest Orchest*ra. Recorded…

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…

Steve Rosen

Chasing EVH Memories

From 1977 through 2003, music journalist Steve Rosen formed and fostered a personal and professional relationship with guitar legend Edward Van Halen. In the mid ’80s, Van Halen signed a…

Fretprints: Jeff Beck

The JBG: Birth of Heavy Metal?

The proverbial chicken-or-egg conundrum has an equivalent in the spirited debate over the Jeff Beck Group versus Led Zeppelin as progenitors of heavy metal. There’s a bit of truth in…

Derek St. Holmes

Nuge Redux

Singer/guitarist Derek St. Holmes’ relationship with guitarist Ted Nugent has had its ups and downs. The two have been associated since the mid ’70s and collaborated on numerous albums and…

Robert Quine

Prime Time

His name rhymes with “wine” and it’s not as well-known as others, but Ohio-born guitarist Robert Quine played a crucial role in the New York punk scene of the 1970s;…