• Tommy Castro

    Classic Instruments

    Tommy Castro

    Circling Back

    In a career spanning four decades, Tommy Castro has crafted a commendable catalog and built a devout following with his soul-infused music, informed by the blues, R&B, pop, and rock and delivered with conviction. Beloved for his guitar work and vocal style, he has carved his own niche. Born and raised in San Jose, California,…

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The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson

Classic P-90 tones! The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson shows us a bit of “I Can Still Remember When,” from the group’s album, “Echoes and Other Songs: The Rise And… Subsequent…

The Strat in Transition

Leap Forward, Step Back

Believing the long-term survival of his company hinged on creating the world’s best electric guitar, in 1953, Leo Fender set out to improve on his own Telecaster before Gibson or…

The Vox Saturn IV

In the mid 1960s, England’s Vox company was in the right place at the right time. Buoyed by frontline British Invasion endorsers such as the Beatles and American bands such…

Gibson Trini Lopez

In the early 1960s, as Les Paul was leaving Gibson’s artist roster, the company recruited three of the most respected jazz guitarists to put their signatures on new “artist” model…

Fender Coronado XII Wildwood

Instrument Profile

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Yea, baby! Okay, to be honest, there’s no real evidence that this 1967 Fender Coronado XII Wildwood was ever associated with sex or rock…

Tech 21 Trademark 60

Incredible sound at a nice price

In the past six years we’ve focused mostly on used gear, but occasionally included new stuff that works so well it’s impossible to ignore. This month’s entree, the Trademark 60,…

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…

Forty Quid of Klunk

Tales of the Harmony Bass

Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh, Klunk! It’s not the most artful musical introduction, but it was effective. And by the time a screaming Hammond organ slides in over the pounding bass-and-drums, most listeners are…

Five Classic Amps

Five Classic Amps

A Tone-Spotter’s Arsenal To Cover It All

When it comes to classic guitar tones – whether it’s blues through a Dumble, country through a Fender, rock through a Marshall, or jazz through a Roland – every player…

Two Legendary Les Paul Deluxes

Southern Gold

In the late 1960s, Gibson reintroduced the single-cutaway Les Paul based on its classic ’50s model. But, a new version called the Deluxe proved the most popular Les Paul of…

Pieces of a Prototype

Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar

  If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. …

Rickenbacker 325

A Pop Icon and His Beloved Axe

Details In 1962, the Ac’cent Vibrato replaced the original Rick’s standard Kauffman unit, which was derived from a nearly 30-year-old design – and notorious for taking the guitar out of…

Danelectro Guitars

The Return of Danelectro

0ne of the more recent buzzes in the guitar community has centered around the phenomenal success of products bearing the Danelectro brand name. The introduction of effects pedals at the…

Chris Butler’s Vox Mark VI: Waitress Server

Melding garage rock with glam, punk emerged in the early ’70s, set on stirring society’s pot. From New York to London, Dallas to Detroit, youthful contempt spurred the creation of…

Audiovox and Serenader Amps

An Interview with Bud Tutmarc

Introduction With this month’s feature story on the Audiovox bass (page 80), plus a comparison between Audiovox pickup (page 81) and early Dobro pickups, it seems appropriate to also dedicate…

Gibson Reissue ’58 Flying V

The Phantom V

A number of years ago I purchased a reissue/limited edition Gibson Flying V constructed in the 1958/59 configuration (strings through the body type). Upon inspection, I took note of the…

D’Angelico Excel Plectrum Guitar

Superb Build, Sound Worthy of a Listen

John D’Angelico is widely regarded as one of the finest archtop guitar builders who ever lived. From 1932, when he started making guitars on his own, until his death in…

Gibson Humbucker

Crunchy, Clean Dirt

Gibson and Fender may be the longstanding heavyweight rivals of the electric guitar game, but they have one very important thing in common: they revolutionized the guitar industry. Fender took…

Gibson Style O

Gibson Style O Artist The priority Gibson put on mandolins in its early years was reflected in the company’s original name – Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co., Ltd. And the fact…

Gizmotron

Most Bizarre Guitar Effect of All Time?

Led Zeppelin’s final studio album, 1979’s In Through The Out Door, opens with an eerie, otherworldly drone that weaves and winds its way before segueing into the searing Stratocaster riffs…

1962 Gretsch Country Gentleman Custom

Atkins Oddity

By the early 1960s, the Fred Gretsch Company was riding high with an array of eye-catching electric guitars highlighted with models endorsed by Chet Atkins. At the top were the…

Jim Marshall

Father of the Mighty Marshall Stack

When it comes to guitar amplifiers, two names stand tall beyond the others: Leo Fender and Jim Marshall. Even “civilians” recognize these names. Two names, from two different countries, with…

Classics: July 2022

Jack Jones Doubleneck

In November of 1954, 16-year-old Jack Jones walked into a Seattle pawn shop and noticed a strange doubleneck guitar. “It was like a magnet – I knew it was meant…

Diamond Rio’s Jimmy Olander

Sworn Gunslinger

Grand Ole Opry member, CMA, ACM, and Grammy winner Jimmy Olander is one of the most-admired players in country music. As co-founder of Diamond Rio, his dedication has always been…

The BBE Soul Vibe

Taking Soul to New Levels

The original Shin-Ei Uni-vibe became hugely famous after Jimi Hendrix used it with Band of Gypsys (and at Woodstock). Later practitioners like Frank Marino and especially Robin Trower used the…

Pop ’N Hiss: Taste

Breakout Blues

The ’60s may have been the most musically significant decade in the history of popular music, but very few countries were represented then or in the years that followed. Fronted…

The National Silvo Electric Hawaiian

One of the most innovative companies of the pre-World-War-II era, National found out quickly that innovation was a double-edged sword. Just as their resonator guitars of the late 1920s made…

The BBE Soul Vibe

Taking Soul to New Levels

The original Shin-Ei Uni-vibe became hugely famous after Jimi Hendrix used it with Band of Gypsys (and at Woodstock). Later practitioners like Frank Marino and especially Robin Trower used the…

A.J.’s 1950 Fender Broadcaster

$10 at a time

In 1950, A.J. Custer traded his triple-neck steel for a white-guard Broadcaster. Total cost was around $300, which he paid in $10 installments over three years. Fifty years later, we…

Rick Vito’s Tale Of Two Grails

Find of a Lifetime

Whether it was by watching “Bandstand” on TV or learning the licks of Duane Eddy, Chuck Berry, or the Ventures, Philadelphia native Rick Vito’s inspirations are all legendary. And as…