Classic Instruments
The Sammick Viper
Some guitars hit the market at the perfect time to becom e classics – think Les Paul and Stratocaster. Some experience brief popularity, then...
Classic Instruments
The Burke Guitar
For more than 60 years, aluminum has been used as a component in guitar construction. Exactly whose idea it was originally has never been...
Classic Instruments
The Murph 12-String
Here’s a story that has “Hollywood blockbuster” written all over it. It’s got so many cinematic staples, you can almost hear “Oscar” murmured in...
Classic Instruments
MXR Custom Shop GT-OD Overdrive
From its early days with the script-logo Distortion + to the modern Zack Wlyde overdrive, MXR has been a mainstay in the overdrive/distortion pedal...
Classic Instruments
Two Tickets to the Top
Any gearhead who’s been paying attention the last seven years knows the name Robert Keeley. Since 2001, he and his staff at Keeley Electronics...
Classic Instruments
Fixing a faulty pickup selector lever
When I use the pickup selector lever switch on my Fender Strato-caster, one of the pickups cuts out. What could be the problem?
There could...
Classic Instruments
Alive! Guitar Revived
Gifted to Peter Frampton after a 1970 Humble Pie concert at Fillmore West in San Francisco, for years, this ’54 Les Paul Custom made...
Classic Instruments
The Original ES-150
The story of the ES-150, Gibson’s first commercially successful electric guitar, has been told many times, and its association with legendary jazz pioneer Charlie...
Classic Instruments
Pieces of a Prototype
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood...
Classic Instruments
Rickenbacker 481
It’s hard to imagine an instrument other than guitar that has undergone more innovation through its modern history. Perhaps we do an injustice to...