Classic Instruments

Photos by John Vicory Eight decades ago, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer revealed the story of Paul H. Tutmarc debuting his latest invention – a solidbody electric...

“Art for art’s sake.” The expression is common. But how often is it practiced? In a basement studio on Chicago’s North Side, Carl Johnson epitomized...

Alexander Dumble’s creations were already established as legendary when we probed our first example in this space back in early 2011. Since that time,...

When he wasn’t crafting Mosrites, Semie Moseley could often be found on the road, providing music for evangelists. It makes sense that his aspirations and beliefs were manifested in these instruments.

This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online articles where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on influential albums and other...

Intended to be the masterpiece of a titan in guitar-amp design, Music Man amps of the mid/late ’70s are all too easily mistaken for...

Often forgotten, the diminutive student-grade duo went from concept to reality in short order to capitalize on teenagers taking up guitar to play along with “Rock Around the Clock.”

Modern guitars are typically sold with a hard case. But that wasn’t always so. Here, we look at the history of the relationship between cases, guitars, and those who’ve bought them.

Making custom instruments has always been problematic for companies designed to manufacture in quantity. Though it had an unenforced policy against one-off projects, this guitar illustrates how the company did just that and demonstrates the struggle between accounting and public relations.

As the ’50s drew to a close, Gibson was locked in a heated battle with Fender for a share of the high-end electric-guitar market. But when it came to the six-string bass, the staid company from Kalamazoo managed a definite one-up.