• Classics: Norman Harris

    Classic Instruments

    Classics: Norman Harris

    Rare Pioneer

    As a teenager who just wanted to play music, Norm Harris lived with the reality that he and his band weren’t going to be millionaires anytime soon. So he did what musicians do – side-hustled. But when most were manning the counter at a music shop or serving tables, Harris was up at the crack

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  • Yamaha SA-15

    Yamaha SA-15

    Our perception of Japanese guitars has evolved slowly. At one point, they were cheap toys, at other times imperfect copies, then startling innovations. Perspective encircles the truth. So, how should we perceive the Yamaha SA-15? Japan became interested in guitars in the early 1920s, as some musicians there began to perform what we’d today call…

  • Greg Koch: Gristly “Blues”

    Greg Koch: Gristly “Blues”

    Greg Koch: Gristly “Blues” Greg Koch fearlessly wrings the sort of vibrato that only a Tele will tolerate from his ’53 to play this exclusive version of Freddie King’s “The Stumble” flavored with a bit of delay and running into his Tone King Royalist. Inspired by fan requests, it’s just one of the tracks culled…

All That Glitters

Gibson’s Copper Iridescent Les Pauls

October 24, 2023 · Ward Meeker

Like large celestial bodies, some guitar collectors have a gravity that draws objects to them. In 2016, rare custom-color Les…

Forty Quid of Klunk

Tales of the Harmony Bass

January 6, 2014 · Peter Stuart Kohman

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…

Dumble Overdrive Special OD150 WR

March 6, 2019 · Dave Hunter

Alexander Dumble’s creations were already established as legendary when we probed our first example in this space back in May…

 The Guitars of Gary Rossington 

A Legend’s Legacy

October 30, 2025 · Ward Meeker

When the time came for Gary Rossington’s family to decide what to do with his guitars and amps after his…


“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Binky Philips

Season 03 Episode 01 In Episode 3.2 of “Buy That Guitar,” presented by Vintage Guitar magazine, host Ram Tuli engages with Binky Philips, a notable New York-based rock musician, guitarist,…

Standard in Custom

Schecter’s Custom Shop Marks 35 Years

Riding high after 35 years with an array of original instruments, an impressive artist roster that started early with Pete Townshend and Mark Knopfler, and a line of high-gain amplifiers,…

Martin 000-30

When a guitar maker introduces an innovative new feature at the same time an appealing, existing feature is being discontinued, the result can be a rare configuration of specifications. Although…

The “Conversion” Les Paul

The “Conversion” Les Paul

Myth, Magic – and Mojo!

One of the more intriguing topics in guitardom is the Gibson Les Paul “conversion.” What is it? Most of the time, it’s a reference to Les Pauls made from 1952…

Martin 000-18HS

The Martin 000-18HS

According to Martin company records and research by late Martin Historian Mike Longworth, Cable Piano Company, in Atlanta, special-ordered at least three Martin 000-18HS guitars in 1937. Two others have…

  • Hilary Gardner returns with a fresh take on a holiday classic!

    Hilary Gardner returns with a fresh take on a holiday classic!

    Hilary Gardner returns! Ready to set the tone for your holidays, Hilary Gardner and her band return for a fantastic take on the classic Elvis hit “Blue Christmas” (written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson) just for VG followers! Accompanied again by Justin Poindexter and Sasha Papernik, this time they’re joined by Jen Hodge on…

  • The (Way) Back Beat: Top O’ The Line, For Only $150!

    The (Way) Back Beat: Top O’ The Line, For Only $150!

    The Immortal Danelectro Guitarlin

    Having looked at the most expensive electric guitars offered in 1960s – over 50 years ago. Traditional makers – Gibson, Guild, and Gretsch – concentrated on flashy amplified archtops that retailed up into the $700 to $800 range – beautiful instruments, but not representative of where the electric guitar was going. More forward-looking makers offered…

Phil Manzanera’s “Magdalena”

August 25, 2025 · Vintage Guitar

Roxy Music legend solo instrumental Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera used his beloved ’64 Gibson Firebird VII to create this…

22 Classic Modulation Effects

Mod Squad

March 27, 2017 · Michael Dregni

We celebrate devices that have altered the pitch, intensity, frequency, phase, and other characteristics in the sound, feel, and influence…

Gibson J-35

Gibson J-35

July 5, 2016 · George Gruhn

Dreadnought guitars originated as early as 1916 with instruments made by Martin and distributed by Ditson, followed in 1931 with…

2021 Readers’ Choice Awards

May 24, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Each year, Vintage Guitar asks fans to select Readers’ Choice winners for Player of the Year in four categories, along…


Supro S6651

Supro S6651 Big Star

Don’t we guitarists just love gear that looks like it was salvaged from our mom’s kitchen circa 1961? Give us something in high-gloss pastel, with Formica styling, gas-cooker knobs, plenty…

How Ron Wood’s New Barbarians Saved the Stones

Ear-to-Ear Violence

Today, the Rolling Stones continue to perform live, more than 50 years since their first gig. But few realize how an unsung side project formed and funded by Ron Wood…

Bex Marshall and her ’63 Hummingbird

Family History Straight from the “Classics” feature in the August issue, here’s Bex Marshall playing the ’63 Gibson Hummingbird bought new by her uncle, David, in his days with the…

Gibson’s Mastertone Banjos

Gibson’s Mastertone Banjos

This Gibson RB-3 five-string from 1925 is a rare piece, as is any five-string banjo from the era dominated by tenor banjos. But it’s more important as a representative of…

Martin 00-18

They were days, before Kent State, when everywhere you looked, kids sat under trees, singin’ songs and swappin’ licks. Fresh-faced young girls with names like “Star” painted flowers on their cheeks and…

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…

  • 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…

  • Jim Campilongo & Steve Cardenas

    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 of 2022, New Year showcases harmonic personalities merging through atmosphere, reverb, and ancient acoustic guitars. It’s also a meditation on the beauty and strength of…

Peavey RJ-IV

October 23, 2014 · Willie G. Moseley

Peavey RJ-IV bass, serial number 04938996. Photo: Bill Ingalls Jr. Instrument courtesy of Naffaz Skota. Americans by the millions “know”…

Wolf Strat

A Legend’s Guitar, Discovered

December 28, 2017 · Pete Prown

After possessing it for several years, curiosity finally got the best of the owner of this 1963 Stratocaster. He had…

The D’Angelico Excel Mandolin

March 13, 2015 · George Gruhn

The 1,164 archtop guitars made by John D’Angelico have brought him great renown as the finest individual archtop guitar builder…

Rickenbacker 481

November 24, 2020 · Michael Wright

It’s hard to imagine an instrument other than guitar that has undergone more innovation through its modern history. Perhaps we…