• The story of the Martin F-50

    Classic Instruments

    The story of the Martin F-50

    Our friend Nate Westgor from Willie’s American Guitars shares the story of Martin’s first step into the booming 1960s electric guitar market. Enjoy, and have a wonderful holiday season from all of us at Vintage Guitar!

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Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 2

The Black Bison Leads the Herd

In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled the first three installments for a special edition of VG…

Echoplex EP-2 Feature Home Page Vintage Guitar magazine

Echoplex EP-2

Sam Phillips didn’t invent tape echo with his mid-’50s recordings of Elvis, but he just as well may have. So influential, so inspirational were those songs – with their warm,…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 3

Backbone Instruments 1962-’64

In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled the first three installments for a special edition of VG…

Duane Eddy

Of DeArmonds and Details

(Ed. Note: Duane Eddy was featured in the June ’95 issue of VG, following the release of his Twang Thang box-set anthology, which included 40 songs he helped re-master and…

Gibson’s Style O Artist Guitar and K-4 Mandocello

Gibson’s Style O Artist Guitar and K-4 Mandocello

Two For the Scroll

The mandolin originated in the Middle East as a bowl-back instrument. Crusaders brought it back to Europe and early Italian builders evolved the design, giving it four paired strings tuned…

The Micro-Frets Saga

Genius in MD

Had fate been just a notch kinder, Ralph Jones might today be a ’60s counterculture icon alongside Bob Dylan, Muhammad Ali, and Steve McQueen. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But at the very…

Gibson Blond j-35 Photo: Kelsey Vaughn, courtesy George Gruhn. Vintage Guitar magazine Home Feature

Gibson’s “blond” J-35

In the world of vintage guitars, people tend to use the words “blond” and “natural” interchangeably to describe a finish with no stain or pigment. However, in some cases, blond…

Jim Marshall

Father of the Mighty Marshall Stack

When it comes to guitar amplifiers, two names stand tall beyond the others: Leo Fender and Jim Marshall. Even “civilians” recognize these names. Two names, from two different countries, with…

Standel 400S

In the early days of the American electric guitar/amplifier industry, Standel was known for building high-quality amplifiers used by the likes of Merle Travis and Joe Maphis. In fact, a…

Fender California Stratocaster

Have you priced ’57 or ’62 reissue Strats recently? The pride of the Fender line ran about $750 when it was introduced in 1982, but today you’d be hard-pressed to…

All That Glitters

Gibson’s Copper Iridescent Les Pauls

Like large celestial bodies, some guitar collectors have a gravity that draws objects to them. In 2016, rare custom-color Les Pauls began entering Joe Bonamassa’s orbit. Brought to Gruhn Guitars,…

Fender Harvard

Given the current craze for semi-small “home” and “recording” amps, Fender’s 5F10 Harvard of 1955-’60 could be the ideal tweed amp, yet, in its day, it fell between two stools…

Harp Legend Charlie Musselwhite

Stringin’ on “Blue Lounge” Harp legend Charlie Musselwhite has recorded and performed with a stunning array of guitarists in his band – Harvey Mandel, Luther Tucker, Robben Ford, Junior Watson,…

Tyler Morris – 1963 Fender Stratocaster

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Gibson Mark 53

1978 Gibson Mark 53. Photo: Michael Wright. Part of the fallout from the guitar boom of the 1960s was an increased academic interest in guitars that manifested itself in the…

Mastertone Guitar-Banjo

While five-string banjos are far more popular today than any other style, during the height of the Dixieland Era of the 1920s, when Gibson introduced its famous Mastertone banjos, four-string…

Ibanez Overdrives

Versatile tones from the TS line's progenitors

Before Ibanez made the fabled Tubescreamer, the company released two overdrive pedals designed to enhance sustain and distortion at lower volume. The first was simply called Overdrive, the second was…

Andy Peake – Roots Without Boundaries

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Star Stomps

Famous Sounds Abound in New Book

Stompboxes inspire their own special mania. While the allure of guitars is obvious with their colorful, curvaceous looks, effects are (usually) basic boxes covered in a toad’s load of warty…

Alvino Rey’s 1936 Gibson mini guitar Vintage Guitar magazine Home Main Big

Alvino Rey’s “Mini” Gibsons

Alvino Rey’s 1936 Gibson mini guitar. From its beginnings, Gibson has built custom orders and unique instruments for specific artists, sometimes by request, other times to lure a potential endorser.…

Beyond the Parlor

Beyond the Parlor

Part One: The Guitar in Non-Anglo America

Ed. Note: In this series, Tim Brookes attacks the common argument that the guitar in 19th-century America was small, quiet, and suitable only for young middle-class ladies playing in parlors. Part…

The Gretsch 6120 Tenor

This 1958 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 four-string tenor guitar is a very rare variation of the model. Gretsch built other tenors, including the Duo Jet, archtop acoustic, and archtop electric…

Ken Fischer

1945-2006

Although by most estimates he produced fewer than 100 Trainwreck amps, Ken Fischer – tech, designer, and amp-maker – will be remembered as one of the most authoritative and intuitive…

Tom Petersson’s Gretsch 12-string Basses

Tricked-Out Trio

Cheap Trick fans are aware of his contribution to the band’s songs, but few know he actually invented the 12-string electric bass and has been using one since 1977 to…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Mending Chuck Panozzo’s 1960 ES-125

Thinline Revival

Like you, I got a kick out of the February “Classics” feature on Chuck Panozzo being reunited with his Gibson ES-125TC, which had suffered water damage and was literally coming…

Paul Reed Smith Guitars

The World of Paul Reed Smith

Just after we entered the small, crowded office, the door burst open and an intruder blurted out, “Excuse me. Check this out. Is it right?” The company’s R&D chief handed…

Univox Guitars

Merson/Unicord Part 1

Ca. 1974 or ’75 Univox Hi Flyer Mosrite copy with the later Univox see- through humbuckers. While most think of the history of American guitars in terms of American manufacturers,…

The Micro-Frets Saga

Genius in MD

Had fate been just a notch kinder, Ralph Jones might today be a ’60s counterculture icon alongside Bob Dylan, Muhammad Ali, and Steve McQueen. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But at the very…

The Birth of Newman Guitars

  Newman Guitars was established in Austin, TX in 1977 by Ted Newman Jones. Ted was a pioneer of design and began working for Keith Richards exclusively in late 1971.…

Danelectro Viscount

1961 Danelectro Viscount Preamp tubes: two 12AX7, one 6AU6 Output tubes: two 6V6GT Rectifier: 6X5 Controls: Volume, Tone, Vibrato Strength, Vibrato Speed Output: 12 watts RMS Amp nuts of yesteryear…