Classic Instruments
Ditson’s Style 11 and the Birth of the Dreadnought
In the early 20th century, any shopper who walked into the Charles H. Ditson & Company music stores in New York, Philadelphia, or Boston...
Classic Instruments
Vega Director Model A-60
A worthy vintage combo in all regards, there’s sad irony in the fact the Director Model A-60 is representative of the downward trajectory of...
Classic Instruments
William Peale, Jr. Gibson Super 400
The iconic “singing cowboy” was created by Hollywood actors like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, and others. Many used fancy, customized guitars, often...
Classic Instruments
First-Rate Second Fiddles
No two ways about it, as his career hit stride, Jimi Hendrix was a Strat guy. Not famously loyal to any particular guitar going...
Classic Instruments
Gretsch 6130 Round-up
The romantic concept of the “Old West” – an enduring element of American pop culture – was spurred by pulp novels before John Ford...
Classic Instruments
Mel Bay D’Aquisto
Melbourne “Mel” Bay (1913-1997) began his musical career at the age of 13 in his hometown of Bunker, Missouri. Largely self-taught, as a teen...
Classic Instruments
Park 45
When is a Marshall not a Marshall? When it’s a Park, of course! Though it might not scream “classic rock tone” for the guitarist...
Classic Instruments
Rosalie Allen’s SJ-200
On the pages featuring the Super Jumbo 200, Gibson’s 1940 catalog trumpeted, “This king of the flat-top guitars was especially created for professional entertainers...
Classic Instruments
The Supro 1600R Supreme and 600 Reverb
Supro amps from the late 1950s and early ’60s are some of the most stylish of the era, and boast circuits that generated classic...
Classic Instruments
Greg Lake’s Zemaitis Doubleneck
With progressive-rock juggernaut Emerson, Lake & Palmer, bassist/vocalist Greg Lake (1947-2016) played more than one instrument made by the renowned British luthier Tony Zemaitis.
Known...
