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Classic Instruments
The Electra Endorser
Flame-top guitars were fairly common during the 1970s “copy era,” but few reached the levels of figure we often see on modern high-end guitars. Then came the Electra Endorser X935CS, which set new standards for psychedelic woodgrain. “But it’s not a ’70s guitar,” you object. No, but arguably, the Endorser CS – which was only…
Barney Kessel’s ES-350 Rides Again
Return Of An Icon
Bruce Forman acquired Barney Kessel’s beloved Gibson ES-350 in mid 2021. In prep for recording Reunion!, he made the guitar his exclusive daily player. “All it needed was a little…
La Baye 2X4
1967, the Summer of Love. Everything still seemed possible, and anything went. No more war, racial and gender equality, Fresh Cream, the Beatles best record ever, the Jimi Hendrix Experience.…
Mark Lettieri’s funky finesse
Virtuoso take on “Greenspace” Stepping out from his band, Snarky Puppy, Mark Lettieri exhibits the finesse, funk, and fury that make him such a great player. Here, he jams on…
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Webb Wilder’s take on “Beautiful Delilah”
“Hillbilly Speedball” sample Since the mid ’80s, Webb Wilder has cranked out consistently fine roots-rock. His latest is “Hillbilly Speedball,” and here he grabs his ’61 Gibson ES-330TD plugged into a narrow-panel Fender Vibrolux to play a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Beautiful Delilah.” He’s joined by George Bradfute (on a ’50s Epiphone upright) and Bob…
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Jorge Garcia’s FM Anthems, in Jazz
Fresh takes on revered classics Joge Garcia’s “Still Crossing” is a collection of stellar instrumental performances of familiar tunes like “Kashmir,” “Little Wing,” and a classical spin through Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” Here, though, he shows us the title track, which is the only original tune. His ’87 Fender D’Aquisto is plugged into a…
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Dan’s Guitar RX: Doubleneck Redux, Part 2
Full House: Transcendent Jazz Masterpiece
In the November issue, we started to refurbish a doubleneck mandolin/guitar I made for Jerry Schafer in 1977. It needed a new wiring harness, tuners, binding repair, new frets, and a good setup. With teammates Ceil Thompson and Gene Imbody sharing the load, we continued the work. 1) Gene – our go-to guy for tough…
Nat Talks Strings!
The Strings of Power Hey there! Nate Westgor from Willie’s American Guitars dives into the world of guitar strings, discussing the differences between flat tops, half rounds, and flatwound strings.…
Gibson’s K-4 Mandocello
Gibson K-4 Mandocello photo: Kelsey Vaughn. Instrument courtesy of Walter Carter. Gibson was founded as a mandolin builder in 1902, and from the outset it promoted a standardized, wide-ranging family…
Kevin Keaton’s 1958 Esquire
Swamp Thing
June 10, 2020, was a summer night like most in the life of Kevin Keaton, a postal mail carrier and guitarist who gigs in an acoustic duo and an AC/DC…
1843 Martin & Coupa
Retail Rarity
In 1833, C.F. Martin, Sr. and his family arrived in New York City. A trained luthier, Martin had studied under Johann Stauffer in Vienna and for more than five years…
Fender’s 1957 Precision Bass
When an instrument maintains the same basic design and profile for more than a half-century, it’s safe to say that in terms of design and execution, it was “done right.”…
G&L Legacy
One Heckuva Guitar
I enjoy covering sleeper gear in this column. During the past 11 years, we’ve looked at bargains like the Gibson L-6S, Seagull S-6+, Martin D-1 and the Peavey Bandit, to…
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The Guitars of Gary Rossington
A Legend’s Legacy
When the time came for Gary Rossington’s family to decide what to do with his guitars and amps after his passing in March of 2023, daughters Mary and Annie along with his wife, Dale, looked for advice from his lifelong friend and bandmate, Rickey Medlocke. The stash was considerable – 71 guitars including his famous…
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Wes Beech
Life in The Plasmatics
From the moment he met Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams, things for Wes Beech were never really “normal.” Walking into the basement of their loft for an audition, Beech didn’t know he was about to become part of a stage-storming, car-smashing, guitar-chainsawing artistic statement called the Plasmatics. The product of Swenson’s high-functioning mind (if…
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Classics: Mike Semrad’s ’57 Gibson Les Paul Custom
Mike Semrad’s musical roots run deep in his hometown of Fremont, Nebraska – at least as far back as his great-grandmother, who sang at the city’s opera house. But his first glimpse into the true power of music happened in high school, when one night in 1962, overachieving pep-band director Bob Olson stirred things up…
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Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker
Basement Jams & Blown Speakers
1966 Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker Combo The days when a kid would break out the soldering iron and take on a serious electronics project just for fun are largely behind us. Back in the ’60s, though, that’s how many an aspiring musician acquired his own precious guitar amplifier, as was the case with this Heathkit TA-16…
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D.K. Harrell and His ’76 ES-335
B.B. King of the Blues Award winner plays “Liquor Stores and Legs” Winner of the B.B. King of the Blues Award, here D.K. Harrell and his ’76 Gibson ES-355, Christal, are going straight to his Lab Series L-5 for a stripped-down run through “Liquor Stores and Legs.” If you like uptown shuffles, relatable lyrics, and…
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Blues guitarist Charlie Apicella’s “Booze and Blues” and “Just Like a Woman”
Honoring B.B., Rainey Being V.P. of the North Jersey Blues Society isn’t the only thing that separates Charlie Apicella from the typical blues player. A devotee of B.B. King (and others), he pays homage on a new album, “Iron City: Live in NYC,” by plugging two of his favorite guitars into the ’65 Guild Thunder…
Alternative ’60s Club Classics
Amps Beyond the Everyday
The “club amp” has been a perpetual best-seller since the dawn of guitar amplification, and several big-name ’60s models are among the all-time classics. But what if you’re looking for…
The Story of Jay Gower
Startup in Music City
In Nashville today, there are enough professional luthiers to meet the need for guitar repairs, modifications, and custom builds. In the 1950s, though, musicians typically returned broken instruments to the…
Veleno Guitars
Shiny Metal (Rare) Birds
Throughout the years luthiers have built guitars out of a lot of exotic materials, from Torres’ paper mache acoustics to Danelectro’s masonite to Dan Armstrong’s lucite guitars to Steinberger’s all-graphite…
Gretsch 6130 Round-up
Head ‘em out!
The romantic concept of the “Old West” – an enduring element of American pop culture – was spurred by pulp novels before John Ford introduced the world to My Darling…
Webb Wilder’s take on “Beautiful Delilah”
“Hillbilly Speedball” sample Since the mid ’80s, Webb Wilder has cranked out consistently fine roots-rock. His latest is “Hillbilly Speedball,” and here he grabs his ’61 Gibson ES-330TD plugged into…
Rickenbacker Electric 12-Strings
Double-Bound for Glory
George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacher founded Electro String in 1931 to manufacture what everyone would soon call “Rickenbacker” guitars. Success with musicians came early. Rick steels were the measure of…
Peavey T-20
The Next Step
Introduced in 1982, Peavey’s T-20 was different from other basses in the Peavey lineup, the two-pickup T-40, and the single-pickup T-45. The T-40 (“Bass Space” October ’06) and its six-string…
Guild F-512
Iconic ’70s 12-String
Today, players typically equate the 12-string acoustic with Taylor and Martin. For its part, though, Guild’s F-512 remains one of the most revered, and this particular one veers off-spec with…
Alamo Guitars
Remember the Alamo, Part 1
Mention the Alamo and most of us conjure up a rich variety of images. Whether it’s Davy Crockett (Fess Parker, maybe John Wayne) swinging his flintlock rifle as General Santa…
Classics: December 2022
Reid Farrell’s Fender Tele
In 1964, high-school freshman Reid Farrell bought a Fiesta Red ’59 Telecaster with help from his guitar teacher, John Andrews. The price? $125, in its original hard case. A couple…
Martin 0-28K
The exotic figuration of Hawaiian koa wood on this Martin 0-28K from 1923 has a visual appeal that matched the exotic sound of Hawaiian music in the 1920s, and koa…
Gibson Johnny Smith
In 1961, Gibson’s Johnny Smith model not only associated Gibson with one of the most popular guitar stylists of the day, it also brought high-quality amplification and high-quality acoustic sound…
Ditson’s Style 11 and the Birth of the Dreadnought
Martin’s Big Step
In the early 20th century, any shopper who walked into the Charles H. Ditson & Company music stores in New York, Philadelphia, or Boston could have bought a guitar, bowl-back…
30 Most Valuable Guitars
To mark VG’s 30th anniversary, we dig into the 30 most-valuable production guitars.
Gibson 1953 GA-40 Les Paul Model
Brown Sound
Gibson landing Les Paul’s name on the headstock of its debut solidbody electric in 1952 was the biggest guitar-star endorsement of its time. And, as was the way, an amp…
Eastwood EEB-1 and EUB-1 Basses
Horizontal Vibe
Eastwood’s EEB-1 and the EUB-1 take their design inspiration from Ampeg’s quirky mid-’60s Horizontal Bass series, the brainchild of Dennis Kager, an amp technician and guitar specialist who worked for…
Mark Sampson: Matchess
Man
The garage behind Mark Sampson’s Southern California home is a Batcave for vintage tube amp lovers. Dark, dusty storage areas are crammed with ancient tan-colored Vox AC-10 “TV” models from…
L-5 to Super 400
The Story of Gibson’s Big Archtops
The archtop guitar is a uniquely American instrument which can be traced directly to the creative genius of one person – Orville Gibson. In the mid 1890s, the man who…
“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Kevin Borden
“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Kevin Borden Season 01 Episode 04 In Episode 4 of “Buy That Guitar,” presented by Vintage Guitar magazine, host Ram Tuli is joined…
Sue Foley
Femme Flamenco
In a time when pop-music performers rely heavily on post-recording fix-ups and pre-recorded tracks onstage, it’s refreshing – even admirable – when someone takes the “honest road.” Singer/guitarist Sue Foley…
Maestro Rover R0-1
The UFO of Rotating Speakers
To record “Little Wing,” Jimi Hendrix plugged his Stratocaster into his usual amplifier, then did the unthinkable; he ran guitar signal into an organ speaker – a Leslie rotating-speaker cabinet.…
