• Classic Instruments

     Jason Isbell

    New Vistas, Old Gear

    Jason Isbell’s powerful songs, compelling vocals, and formidable guitar skills have made him one of America’s most-respected singer/songwriters. A charismatic performer, his critically-lauded albums, solo and backed by the formidable 400 Unit, have earned six Grammys and nine Americana Music Awards. With an eclectic style melding country, blues, and Southern rock, his appeal transcends genres.

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Classics: May 2022

“Wild” Jimmy Spruill’s ’66 Fender Jaguar

Wilbert Harrison’s 1959 version of Leiber and Stoller’s “Kansas City” shares space at the summit of all-time blues/pop classics, its guitar part ably handled by New York City session ace…

Kramer Aluminum-Neck Basses

When it entered the music-instrument market in 1976, Kramer Guitars made a big splash with an aggressive marketing campaign, big-name endorsers, and – most importantly – an improved approach to…

Ralph Novak

Philosophy of the Luthier

I first met Ralph Novak in 1980, when he was working at Subway Guitars in Berkeley, California. I’d assembled a kit Strat and it needed a refret. My monstrosity was…

Rickenbacker 345

Rickenbacker guitars have a look, feel, and sound that is remarkably distinct from those made by any other manufacturers. In fact, artists often find that nothing else works as well…

Cry, Baby!

The Story of the Vox Wah

Beyond being crowned “Album of the Century” by Time magazine, Marley and the Wailers’ 1977 LP Exodus is a wah-wah masterpiece thanks to Junior Marvin and his Thomas Organ Cry…

Classics: November 2022

Vern Juran’s Harmony stratotone

Like many baby-boomer kids, 11-year-old Vern Juran was into slot-car racing and bikes with ape-hanger handlebars, banana seats, and sissy bars. He also loved guitars, and the second-hand Harmony Stratotone…

Martin Style 000-28K

During the 1920s and ’30s, Martin made a considerable number of guitars with bodies constructed of Hawaiian Koa wood. The Hawaiian music craze was in full swing and the demand…

Fender Stratocaster

Aiming High

In 1953, Leo Fender started planning a new standard guitar – the Stratocaster. His partner, Don Randall, who headed Fender Sales, Inc., came up with the name before the design…

Fender California Stratocaster

Have you priced ’57 or ’62 reissue Strats recently? The pride of the Fender line ran about $750 when it was introduced in 1982, but today you’d be hard-pressed to…

The Ray Butts EchoSonic

If you want to talk star-user ratio, the Ray Butts EchoSonic is near the top of the heap. Most accounts agree that fewer than 70 amps were ever made, yet…

The Fender Songwriter

Ill-Fated Mini Acoustic

Just when you think you’ve seen or heard of everything Fender ever did, along comes another tidbit about a guitar that was prototyped but never produced. In 1969 and ’70…

Stella Concert

Circa 1932 Stella Concert. Photo: Michael Wright. Had blues legend Huddie William Ledbetter (a.k.a. Leadbelly) not played a Stella 12-string, the brand might only have been remembered as the name…

Bigsby Merle Travis Electric Guitar

In it's original configuration

Longtime vintage guitar enthusiasts are probably familiar with one of the icons of solidbody electric guitars – the late 1940s Bigsby instrument built for legendary picker Merle Travis. The guitar…

Dickerson Melody King

Few who love vintage amps can resist its art-deco appeal, let alone its luscious hand-wiring and edgy, touch-sensitive 6V6 tone. A tweed Champ doesn’t stand a chance in a cage…

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Buddy Holly’s ’58 Magnatone 280

1958 Magnatone Custom 280

When guitarists talk tremolo or vibrato, you can bet the magnificent Magnatone amps will find their way into the conversation. The watery, warbling “true vibrato” that the larger Magnatones are…

Jim Lauderdale’s honkey-tonk toe-dip

Singer/Songwriter’s Stylistic Twist Jim Lauderdale paid a visit to one of his favorite Nashville hangs and grabbed a gorgeous 1940 Martin D-28 to play “Wishbone,” a standout track from his…

The Supro “Model 24”

Okay, Zep police, sound the alarm and prepare to loose the hounds – we are finally about to lift the lid on the Jimmy Page amp. Well, maybe not the…

Ask Zac: Deep Dive on the Wide Range

Plus, Joey Molland’s Stratotone

I have collected several Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups from the early ’70s, and I’m curious about how to check whether they’re set to factory specs, and then how to…

Carvin Factory Tour

Carvin Does It Different

Imagine a company that builds 600 high-quality guitars and basses per month, with a normal backorder count of 700. “Well, that’s okay…” some guitar enthusiasts might observe, “but some guitar…

1973 Hayman 3030H

If England has a Leo Fender, his name is James Ormston Burns. Like Fender, Burns was a seminal influence on electric guitar design in the U.K., creating the guitars played…

Classics: November 2021

Gibson Les Paul Personal

Billy Soutar loves the vibe of his 1969 Les Paul Personal and matching LP-12 amp. While the guitar’s mahogany body, Les Paul Custom touches, three-piece quartersawn neck, and Fretless Wonder…

Stratospheric Variations

A History of offset double-cut guitars

When you think about it, it’s quite remarkable how few guitar archetypes there really are. By “archetypes” we’re referring to aesthetic design, or shapes. If you pull back and squint,…

The Les Paul Becomes The SG

Double Time

It may be difficult to imagine now, but Gibson’s original Les Paul was only a modest success. Introduced in 1952, the Gibson Les Paul Model (a.k.a. goldtop) reached peak production…

Instro-Meister Eric Penna

Blues Switch-Up in Trabants Eric Penna’s main gig is playing bass for the garage/surf band Insect Surfers, but he side-hustles playing guitar in the blues-instrumental band Trabants. After corralling bassist…

Guyatone LG-160T

The Secret's Out!

Like plants, Japanese guitars have an almost secret life of which few people outside are aware. While many Americans in the ’60s were seeing fairly low-end commodity guitars at the…

Tony Nobles Resonator

Museum-Bound Resonator

This guitar is a special project built after I was approached by the new Braunfels (Texas) Museum of Art and Music to show a guitar in an exhibit of Texas…

Vega Model 120

Viewed from our contemporary perspective, it’s difficult to fully appreciate how different the music scene in general – and the guitar scene in particular – was back in the early…

Custom-Order Gibson B-45-12

The term “rare” is applied to guitars in far too many instances. Usually an appealing term, its overuse can be attributed in part to the fact it’s particularly catchy to…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Finding An Old Friend

What Goes Around…

I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I learned to play guitar during the folk boom that, for me, started with the Kingston Trio in 1959; their music led…

Kay Jazz Special

Kay Jazz Special and Value Leader

Kay entered the electric bass market in the mid 1950s with the K162, which later morphed into the similar K5965 (VG, March 2011), and while each met with a modicum…