First Guitar of Rock and Roll
Like a hound dog hit by lightning, the first notes of rock and roll blasted out of radios across the country in July of...
Fender’s Tweed-to Tolex Transition
Through its 75 years, Fender has been responsible for myriad leaps forward in the history of guitar-amplifier design and manufacture. Arguably the most dramatic...
Dan’s Guitar RX: Restoring a Vintage Jazz Bass
The owner of a ’62 Jazz Bass recently sent it to my shop for repair and renovation. He’d bought it new when he was...
Gibson Goldtops
In the good ol' days of 1952, jazzmeister Les Paul strutted to the center of the world's stage and proudly whipped out his golden...
2021 Readers’ Choice Awards
Each year, Vintage Guitar asks fans to select Readers’ Choice winners for Player of the Year in four categories, along with Album of the...
The First “Mary Kaye” Stratocaster
The Fender "Mary Kaye" Stratocaster. A term guitar aficionados have come to associate with a ’50s Strat with blond finish with gold-plated hardware...
Although Mary...
Classics: September 2021
Kevin Ludwig first became aware of Fenton Robinson in 1975, when he heard Boz Scaggs’ version of “Somebody Loan Me a Dime,” which spurred...
1976 Hagstrom Jimmy
In the world of archtop guitarmaking, the legendary luthier James L. D'Aquisto (1935-'95) is considered one of the greats. A jazz guitarist, D'Aquisto was...
Gibson’s GA-8 Discoverer
By the end of the 1950s, “space” was the name of the game, and any forward-thrusting gear that hoped to grab a share of...
The Modulus Graphite Flight 6 Monocoque
In guitar history, irony is almost always the result of circumstances. The market changes overnight or someone makes a mistake that proves successful, etc....