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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.
Tyler Morris – 1963 Fender Stratocaster
Tyler Morris – 1963 Fender Stratocaster Tyler Morris guides us through his 1963 Fender Stratocaster in Fiesta Red. Follow Tyler at www.tylerdmorris.com!
The Peoples’ Guitar
Gibson’s Depression-Era Exports
Many aren’t aware that some of the archtop guitars Gibson produced during the Depression were marketed under different brand names, including Kalamazoo, Recording King, Cromwell, Fascinator, and Kel Kroyden, among…
Gibson Les Paul Special 3/4
Gibson’s double-cutaway Les Paul Special 3/4 from 1959 is one of the rarest Les Pauls from the “golden era.” It’s also one of the more unusual in that it may…
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“Boogie Mod” Dual Showman
What do you do when the humble blackface Bandmaster you acquired sight-unseen turns out to harbor one of rock’s hottest lead circuits? Celebrate! And then go tracing its connection to California’s seminal high-gain guitar amplifier. Randall Smith’s legendary Boogie lead circuit started as a prank played on an unsuspecting client before he applied it as
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Albert King’s THC Flying V
Coterie Complete
Robert Johnson has been a fixture in the vintage-guitar community for more than a half-century. As a player and music producer, he has collected an assortment of instruments and music memorabilia, particularly related to his home town of Memphis. One of his guitars recently became part of a recording project that began at the renowned
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VG Q&A: Parlor Mystery
Plus, a Pro’s List of Repair Glues
My neighbor has an old parlor guitar that he asked me to clean up after years in storage. Inside the sound hole it reads “The American No. 5” and there is no other identifying script. The bridge is a pyramid-type. We’re curious about its age and manufacturer; I’m guessing Lyon and Healy from the 1920s.
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…
’72 Marshall “NARB” Tremolo 100
Mirror Image
When is a Marshall not a Marshall? When it’s a Narb, of course. Long a fascinating footnote to the company’s history, this alternative brand arose as something of a bet…
Vox AC-30 Amp
Trademark sound of the British Invasion
Electric guitarists often speak of the “Fender sound” or the “Marshall sound” when referring to amplifiers. And these amps certainly provide distinct coloration to the amplified signal, with different, but…
The Acoustic
Black Widow
In the late ’60s, when Domino guitars were fading away, tube amplifiers were out of vogue. Old technology, man! Cool bands played through solidstate amps that delivered lots of clean…
Gibson ES-300 Prototype
Les Paul and the First Gibson ES-300
When a guitar junkie hears the words “soapbar” and “P-90,” the mental image is usually that of a cream-colored rectangle seated deep in a sea of metallic gold, accentuating the…
Gretsch Jet Firebird
One of the flashiest Jets in the Gretsch Company’s Air Force
Given the number of jet-related model monikers in Gretsch’s 1950s and ’60s catalogs, one might get the impression the company built airplanes. There were the flashy “fighters” like the Duo-Jet, Silver…
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The story of the Martin F-50
Our friend Nate Westgor from Willie’s American Guitars shares the story of Martin’s first step into the booming 1960s electric guitar market. Enjoy, and have a wonderful holiday season from all of us at Vintage Guitar!
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Veillette-Citron Shark
It’s not often a guitar can be said to have been inspired by a TV show, but that is the case with this 1982 Veillette-Citron Shark, which came about as a result of the success of the program “Welcome Back Kotter.” Well, in a pretty roundabout way, that is! Veillette-Citron guitars were the product of
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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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Classics: Tommy Castro’s ’66 Fender Stratocaster
Tommy Castro has never been much for sitting with a guitar teacher, preferring instead to rely on good ol’ time in the saddle to hone his craft. But this 1966 Stratocaster has taught him a couple lessons. The guitar entered Castro’s universe in the hands of San Francisco music legend John Newton – known on
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Classics: Arena-Rock Alternative Amps
Mad Maxed
As rock started hitting the big time in the mid ’60s, it became clear to guitar-amplifier manufacturers that 100 watts or more was the way to go. The best approach to big power, however, would follow several paths. The stories of the high-powered amps introduced by Fender, Marshall, and Vox through the ’60s have been
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Vivi-Tone “Skeleton
A Master’s Magnificent Misfire
The eternal question “Who invented the electric guitar?” has no single answer. By the late 1920s, many players, tinkerers, and inventors were exploring ways to get more volume from fretted instruments. Steel-string flat-tops from Martin, f-hole archtops from Gibson, and metal-bodied resonators from National were louder than their predecessors, but ran up against physical limits.
2021 Readers’ Choice Awards
Each year, Vintage Guitar asks fans to select Readers’ Choice winners for Player of the Year in four categories, along with Album of the Year. Included are selections for the…
D’Angelico New Yorker
Top of the Line from a Master Builder
Having earned its place in the VG Hall of Fame as one of the finest guitars in the history of the instrument, the New Yorker is significant primarily due to…
Matchless JJ-30
Stage Staunch
Rare and sought-after, in part because only about 40 were built, the Matchless JJ-30 John Jorgenson is the only Signature Series amp ever made by the original company. Designed for…
1968 Fender Vibrolux Reverb
Silver Serenade
Amplifier collectors swarm to models with descriptors like “first year” and “golden age,” but other types can be far more interesting; a transitional model or amp from a short-lived evolutionary…
Webster-Chicago RMA 375 Model 166-1
Grammy Winner
Modified or repurposed amps generally don’t fit into our monthly discussion here, but some are representative enough of a certain standard to make an exception. Witness this gem from 1952.…
Robin Ranger
1993 Robin Ranger, serial number 931353. Photo: Bill Ingalls, Jr. Instrument courtesy of Charles Farley. The saga of Alamo Music Products is one of both “retro-innovation” and an against-the-trend manufacturing…
Gittler Guitar
Avraham Bar Rashi
One of the most intriguing electric stringed instruments to ever appear on the American amplified music landscape was the rare and starkly-minimalist Gittler. Simply an electric guitar constructed with as…
100 Years of Boston’s MFA
Playable Exhibits
Musical instruments – guitars – present an interesting philosophical dichotomy. On one hand, they’re utilitarian objects whose very purpose – arguably their only purpose – is to create art, to…
The Oud
Ancient to Modern
If Beatles guitarist George Harrison had used an oud instead of a sitar to give “Norwegian Wood” its distinct sound, the name Munir Bashir may be more recognized today than…
Stromberg Master 400
Considered by many to be the ultimate orchestral rhythm guitar, these very rare instruments are among the most sought-after, and possess a sound epitomized by a power and projection unsurpassed…
Movie Star, Rancher
Mid-’50s Muse of Wire and Wood
In the years immediately after World War II, Americans were settling into a new way of life, and plunging headlong toward an economic prosperity never before experienced by everyday people.…
The Komet Constellation
Amid the general run of vintage amps we have explored in this space, the occasional “modern classic” has proved itself worthy through sheer quality of design, uniqueness of tone and/or…
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…
B.C. Rich Guitars
From Flamenco to Heavy Metal
From one perspective, flamenco and heavy metal might seem as far apart as the sun and the moon, but if you think about the hyperbolic emotion involved in both genres,…
B.C. Rich Stealth
1983 B.C. Stealth Bass prototype, serial number 001-87984. Photo courtesy Richie King. Electric guitar lore from the 1980s almost invariably includes (sometimes snide) references to hair bands, pointy headstocks, black…
Fender’s 1960 Bandmaster
Power of Three
The earliest renditions of our gear icons are often the most valuable, but on many occasions it’s the transition models – those that bridged one era to the next –…
Rickenbacker Electro Bass
Photo courtesy George Gruhn. When discussing the origins of the modern electric bass, most typically think of the Gibson Style J mando-bass of the 1910s and ’20s, the Audiovox electric…
The History of Hamer
High-End Boutique or Budget Vintage?
“We didn’t quite get it,” explains company cofounder Jol Dantzig, discussing the birth of Hamer Guitars. “It was kind of a mistake. When we created Hamer, we created the high-end…
Gretsch 7680 Super Axe
Most of us are – or should be – aware of the enormous contributions of the late Chet Atkins, the Country Gentleman, to American popular music, from his complex fingerpicking…
Sun Rises Again
January, 1950: 27-year-old Sam Phillips opens Memphis Recording Service, soon to become famous as Sun Studio and launching rock and roll with the 1951 Jackie Brenston-Ike Turner ode to an…
George Gruhn
How a Zoologist Became a Guitar animal
If you bumped into a bearded, corduroy-jacketed George Gruhn in a Nashville coffee shop, you might think you’d stumbled upon an avuncular college professor – which is fitting, considering that…
