In Detail: Gibson’s 1954-’58 Les Paul Junior
In 1952, Gibson’s Les Paul model guitar was brand spanking new. But it wasn’t cutting-edge. True, it was the company’s first solidbody electric guitar,...
Dan’s Guitar RX: A New Tool Makes Luthiery Easier
I recently discovered a sturdy pedestal stand that holds a guitar by its neck and makes repair, builds, and setup jobs better, safer, and...
Classics: August 2021
John Wiley couldn’t have known it then, but when his parents rewarded two years of applying himself to guitar lessons by giving him a...
The Rickenbacker B14A
For most guitarists today, glimpsing a vintage Rickenbacker combo elicits a response like, “Wait... Rickenbacker made amps?” But remember, the brand evolved out of...
A Hero’s Gretsch 6117
In the 1960s, the astronauts were bigger cultural icons than the Beatles.
And no, that’s not the Colorado-based surf band that hit with songs like...
Dad’s Day 2021
Marty Ashby’s very musical family has been playing together since he was a little kid. Here’s a shot of them in 1969; dad Jim...
Tokai Talbo
For aficionados of copy guitars - replicas of mostly American classics that give U.S. manufacturers apoplectic fits - perhaps no company is more respected...
Classics: July 2021
Warren Garstecki is a collector who keys on vintage Gibsons with interesting histories, like the HG-22.
Introduced in 1929, the “Hawaiian Gibson” was offered in...
The Birth of the Gretsch Duo Jet
In 1950, Leo Fender introduced the Broadcaster. The first solidbody electric Spanish guitar to bear his soon-to-be-famous name, its thin profile, light weight, and...
The Marshall Major
Any player who shows up these days with a 200-watt guitar amp will elicit a hearty, “Are you out of your mind?” But when...