• 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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Chris Thomas King

Bluesman For The New Millennium

Me, My Guitar And The Blues is the uncompromising new release from acclaimed guitarist, bluesman Chris Thomas King. The album echoes inspired, atmospheric, authentic Delta/Bayou blues journeys from King as…

Robin Trower

Conquering Hero

As frustrating as the Covid pandemic has been for keeping artists off the road the past two-plus years, for many, it provided the luxury of time to work on new…

Wolf Hoffmann

Mean Business

Traditional heavy metal is still a thriving beast thanks to bands like Accept, whose latest studio album, Too Mean to Die, is full of rugged songs with wicked guitars commanded…

Kenny Neal

Back in the Game

Photo courtesy Kenny Neal. Recent times have been tough for veteran bluesman Kenny Neal. After recently contracting Hepatitis C and undergoing treatment, for the first time in 30 years he…

Fretprints: Yngwie Malmsteen

Alcatrazz and the Birth of Bach and Roll

Los Angeles, 1983. The rock community was a land devastated by the bombast of L.A. metal – Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Mötley Crue, Ratt, and their minions. Nothing, however,…

Brian Tatler

Still Evil

Though Diamond Head never achieved the same worldwide commercial success enjoyed by some of its fellow New Wave of British Heavy Metal compadres (namely Iron Maiden and Def Leppard), their…

Chuck Berry Greg Martin

God gave us rock n’ roll and Chuck Berry was one of His messengers

Vintage Guitar magazine Presents Greg Martin's Head Shop

This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online articles where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on influential albums and other musical moments. We have lost the…

Stephen Ulrich

One-Man Band

New York-based guitarist Stephen Ulrich is known for the suspenseful “crime jazz” and surf-rock tones of his instrumental trio, Big Lazy, but he has a side career writing soundtrack music.…

Ron Bosse

Unison Groove

While Boston-based guitarist Ron Bosse was inspired to begin his six-string journey while listening to classic rock, he became a jazz player and has been active for decades. “The first…

Slash

Life is Grand After Guns N' Roses

Bursting onto the rock scene in 1987, Guns N’ Roses overthrew the shred and pop kings who’d previously ruled the decade. The group’s contrasting blues-based style revitalized classic rock and…

Kim Simmonds

1947-2022

The British blues movement of the late ’60s lost one of its original proponents and practitioners when Savoy Brown lead guitarist Kim Simmonds died December 13, following a year-and-a-half bout…

Wally Stocker

A Baby Grows Up

After decades away from the music scene, guitarist Wally Stocker is back on his feet again and back where he belongs, playing lead guitar with a new lineup in The…

Exquisite fingerstyle from Will Ackerman

Trademark Melodies from an Icon Will Ackerman and his Steve Klein guitar show us a piece of the lovely “I Had To Go There” from his new album, “Positano Songs.”…

Fretprints: Fenton Robinson

Unsung Blues Icon

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…

Seth Lee Jones

Pedal Pusher

Thanks to giants like Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, and Sonny Landreth, we’re living in a golden age of bottleneck guitar, with exceptional young sliders arriving regularly. Tulsa guitarist and builder…

Harvey Valdes

Switched-On Bach

Ever since Andrés Segovia elevated the nylon-string guitar to a serious classical instrument a century ago, players have been performing the music of J.S. Bach – the gold standard of classical-guitar…

Mike Stern

Mixed Sources

Mike Stern made his name playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Jaco Pastorius, Miles Davis, and others, carving a notable solo career while constantly seeking to broaden his musical voice.…

Les Claypool

Child’s Play

The words “concept album” conjure images of long-haired, cape-wearing prog musicians from the ’70s. On their ninth studio album, The Desaturating Seven, Primus satisfies part of that equation, but with…

Dave Gonzalez

Western Soul Brother

For a guitarist with fans and admirers around the world, Dave Gonzalez is one humble man. “I’m still trying to figure it out,” he says of his playing. It’s a…

Ellen Harper

Music is the Family Business

“Ben likes to joke that this album had a lifetime of pre-production,” Ellen Harper says of Childhood Home, her collaboration with her Grammy-winning son. A spare rhythm section, Ben’s Weissenborn…

Myles Goodwyn

1948-2023

Myles Goodwyn, co-founder, creative force, and guitarist/frontman in April Wine, died December 3. He was 75 and while no cause of death has been reported, for years he lived with…

Kim Simmonds

1947-2022

The British blues movement of the late ’60s lost one of its original proponents and practitioners when Savoy Brown lead guitarist Kim Simmonds died December 13, following a year-and-a-half bout…

Dale Watson

Dale Watson

Honky-Tonk Hammerin’

Dale Watson remembers well a conversation he once had with Leo Fender. “Leo gave me a guitar, and it was so shiny and new, I said, ‘Well, I just hate…

Slash

Vintage "Contraband" and Velvet Revolver

There once was a time when pointy headstocks, locking vibratos, and refrigerator-sized effects racks were the norm. Fast players with flashy gadgets ruled the world – until, that is, an…

Mitch Easter

The Let's Active Leader's Solo Debut

Photo courtesy Mitch Easter. When “Southern rock” became synonymous with jangly power-pop instead of Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers, Mitch Easter was a pivotal figure. The Winston-Salem native formed the…

Ethan Brosh

Ethan Brosh

Living The Dream

In case you were wondering, shred is not dead, and Ethan Brosh is determined to keep it that way. The Israeli-born Berklee grad is a young man with an old…

Nalle Colt

Keeping Old-School Alive

Vintage Trouble has emerged as one of the hardest working bands on the music scene. Laced with an ultra-cool visual style and a soulful vision, singer Ty Taylor and guitarist…

Ron Asheton

Revisits the fun house

what more must be said about the Stooges and guitarist Ron Asheton’s role in crafting the molten landscapes of their albums, The Stooges (1969), Funhouse (1970), and Raw Power (1973)?

Austin legend Jon Dee Graham plays “This Old Guitar”

From the Continental Club to You! Jon Dee Graham’s parts Strat has been his stage and studio mainstay for more than four decades. Assembled by Mark Younger-Smith with a ’64…

Johnny Rivers

A conversation with..

There are perhaps a handful of guitar riffs so distinctive they become indelibly associated with an artist. For Johnny Rivers, the opening of “Secret Agent Man,” which he wrote with…