•  Joey Molland

    Classic Instruments

     Joey Molland

    The word “underrated” is belabored in music journalism, but Joey Molland was just that. As co-guitarist in Badfinger, he was part of a quartet signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records, yielding glorious AM hits like “Come and Get It,” “Day After Day,” and “No Matter What.” The foursome fell into obscurity and tragedy a few

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  • Gibson EDS-1275 and EMS-1235

    Gibson EDS-1275 and EMS-1235

    It’s hard not to associate doubleneck electric guitars with images of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page or fusion guru Mahavishnu John McLaughlin in the ’70s; however, the fact is that by the time the Big Js were stopping shows with these multi-headed beasts, they were already relics of the past. Doubleneck Spanish guitars got their first…

  • Michael Bloomfield’s ’63 Telecaster

    Michael Bloomfield’s ’63 Telecaster

    This Guitar Killed Folk!

    A silver-spoon teen who loved sneaking into Chicago’s southside blues clubs, Michael Bloomfield reveled in absorbing all he could from the many legendary players he saw perform in the city’s famed joints. The de facto lessons served Bloomfield well as he went on to contribute to the works of many famed performers while forging his…

Chordal Colorations

Iconic Axes of Different Hues

October 3, 2015 · Michael Dregni

Though their colors are complementary, Brian May’s Red Special and Brian Setzer’s ’59 Gretsch 6120 couldn’t be more different in…

National-Dobro Model C

December 21, 2021 · Dave Hunter

We’ve seen some pristine vintage pieces in these pages over the years, but as far as time-capsule amps go, when…

Michael Bloomfield’s ’63 Telecaster

Michael Bloomfield’s ’63 Telecaster

This Guitar Killed Folk!

January 22, 2025 · Ward Meeker

A silver-spoon teen who loved sneaking into Chicago’s southside blues clubs, Michael Bloomfield reveled in absorbing all he could from…

Sonny James's Epiphone Excellente

Epiphone Excellente

Sonny James' Epiphone Excellente

November 19, 2002 · Walter Carter

The Epiphone Excellente was the fanciest flat-top Gibson made in the 1960s, and to some ears it was Gibson’s best.…


Premier Twin 12

Sometimes it takes just the slightest aesthetic twist to get an amp nut all worked up. This 1960 Premier Twin 12 is a case in point; over the years, Premier…

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Fender Custom Colors in the 1960s

Misty Lakes, Foamy Shores

In the 1950s, America’s fascination with the automobile was running at a fever pitch. The booming economy of the country’s post-war years pushed the car from a purpose-built means of…

Teisco Del Rey Basses

’60s Egalitarianism from Japan

Teisco Del Rey basses from the 1960s are exemplary of the Japanese-made instruments that swept into the American market like a tsunami during the “guitar boom” – and were the…

Jim Campilongo & Steve Cardenas

Mutual Musical Idiosyncrasies

Steve Cardenas and Jim Campilongo have been playing guitar together for a long time, though the constellations only recently aligned so they could record. Captured on three nights in September…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Steve “Frog” Forgey

Season 03 Episode 04 In Episode 3.4 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Steve “Frog” Forgey of Elderly Instruments. Forgey has been at Elderly Instruments since…

  • Dan’s Guitar RX: A 1955 Gibson Touch-up

    Dan’s Guitar RX: A 1955 Gibson Touch-up

    Team Effort.

     To keep work flowing in my shop, repairs often become a group effort. Recently, Gene Imbody, T.K. Kelly, Paul Schmittauer, and I worked to repair a beautiful ’55 Les Paul Special and GA-30 amp belonging to Jake Curtis, who inherited the set from his grandfather, Vernon Benschoter. They’re both in very good condition, and Jake…

  • McKinley James’ Blues

    McKinley James’ Blues

     Family Barn Jam! With his ’82 Gibson 335 running into a Headstrong Corduroy (20-watt/6V6) amp, McKinley James shares a taste of his new album, “Working Class Blues,” with this run at “Call Me Lonesome.” In the October issue, he tells us how the album was made in the family barn with the only backing…

Classics: February 2022

Chuck Panozzo’s Gibson ES-125

October 6, 2022 · Ward Meeker

For nearly five decades, Chuck Panozzo has been the bassist in Styx, enjoying the ride as it went from playing…

The Norma EG 470-2 Deluxe

June 25, 2020 · Michael Wright

Everyone of a certain age – and no doubt some younger folks – remembers the sage career advice given young…

The Fender Master Series

April 16, 2018 · Gary Koehler

Dan Smith had an idea – a solidbody guitar with routed chambers that would provide unique resonant tonal characteristics. And…

The Supro 1600R Supreme and 600 Reverb

Toneful Twosome

March 27, 2019 · Dave Hunter

Supro amps from the late 1950s and early ’60s are some of the most stylish of the era, and boast…


'62 Les Paul Rarity

’62 Les Paul Rarity

In its early years, the Gibson Les Paul Custom evolved through several body-style and spec changes and was the earliest Gibson solidbody to have a Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop tailpiece;…

Classics – March 2021

Scarce and beautiful, Gibson’s Flying V was an ahead-of-its-time marketing failure when introduced in 1958. Made of exotic limba (a mahogany cousin from Africa trademarked in the U.S. as “Korina”)…

Fender Precision Bass

The Fender Precision Bass, introduced in 1951, was arguably more revolutionary and more influential on popular music than the Telecaster or Stratocaster. As the first commercially successful electric bass, it…

Building a Studio

The Art of Home Recording

VG will equip readers with the knowledge and skill to achieve professional-sounding home recordings. We guide you through the setup of a home studio – a starting point to this…

1968 Fender Vibrolux Reverb

Silver Serenade

Amplifier collectors swarm to models with descriptors like “first year” and “golden age,” but other types can be far more interesting; a transitional model or amp from a short-lived evolutionary…

Classics: April 2023

Kim Simmons’ 1973 Gibson Les Paul

For Gio da Silva and several million others in Generation X, the mid ’90s were an exciting time. Young adults when music was experiencing a blues revival spirit-guided by Stevie…

  • Rocky Athas’ Texas ’Tude!

    Rocky Athas’ Texas ’Tude!

    Genuine Lone Star Jams Dallas guy Rocky Athas built a career playing blues in the vain of T-Bone and SRV, but his new album, “Livin’ My Best Life,” is more Houston/BFG-flavored. Here, he and his ’69 Gibson Les Paul Custom (running through an Ibanez TS-10 and a Fender Reverb tank going to a vintage Lab…

  • Gibson’s Crest Models

    Gibson’s Crest Models

    Gibson has produced two guitars bearing the “Crest” name. While both designs date to the 1960s, they’re very different instruments. The first incarnation was a single-cutaway with design ties to the L-5CT, while the second looked more like a fancy ES-335 with a shortened neck. In almost every way – size, construction materials, appointments, and…

Tom Petty and Mike Campbell

Guitars at Heart for 30 Years

July 14, 2020 · Ward Meeker

Remember the first time you strummed a D chord or fumbled your way oh-so-slowly through “Walk Don’t Run”? Chances are…

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Epiphone Zephyr De Luxe Regent and Zephyr Amplifier

June 12, 2014 · L.B. Fred

The Zephyr De Luxe Regent was Epiphone’s second-from-the-top electric guitar produced from the late 1940s through the mid ’50s. The…

The Roland Space Echo

Perfect Slap-Back

September 4, 2015 · Michael Dregni

When Brian Setzer kickstarted the Stray Cats into action in 1979, his gear lineup was a hodgepodge of orthodox rockabilly…

The Epiphone Devon Tremolo EA-35T Combo

Tonally TransAtlantic

January 25, 2022 · Dave Hunter

After giving the upstart Fender a run for its money in the amplifier department throughout the 1950s, Gibson segued into…