• 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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Q&A With George Gruhn: Formica Pickguard on an Early Les Paul?

And Not-So-Strange Variations on an ’87 LP Standard

I’ve just completed restoring a very early Les Paul that was horribly damaged and poorly repaired, then painted black! I’m about to put it together, and am wondering if what…

Meet The GitWik

Cooperative Cognition

When it comes to identifying guitars, basses, amps, and effects, nobody knows it all. Anyone save for the true specialist, whose interest is focused on a particular model, make, or…

Fender’s First Reissues

The CBS Era Concludes in Style

By the late 1970s, cumulative changes in the details of the various classic guitar models on the market – Fender’s Stratocaster and Telecaster, and Gibson’s Les Paul – were so…

Lakland Jerry Scheff Signature Model

Before and Beyond Elvis

Veteran bassist Jerry Scheff is best known for holding down the bottom-end in Elvis Presley’s fabled TCB Band. But he has also been a fixture in the national recording scene…

Teisco Del Rey Basses

’60s Egalitarianism from Japan

Teisco Del Rey basses from the 1960s are exemplary of the Japanese-made instruments that swept into the American market like a tsunami during the “guitar boom” – and were the…

Hanburt Electric Guitars

Rarities From the Pacific Northwest

As a brand of American electric instruments, the name “Hanburt” is about the furthest thing from being a household term. Nevertheless, the recently documented saga behind this obscure line of…

Ted Nugent 1962 Gibson Byrdland

Ted Nugent’s 1962 Gibson Byrdland

Anyone who’s ever caught Ted Nugent on tour has seen this instrument, and during the Summer of 2003 it was intended to be the only guitar used by the Motor…

1939-’42 Gibson SJ-100

$100 Cowboy Flat-Top

Through the 1910s and early ’20s, Gibson catalogs denigrated flat-top guitars as inferior, unworthy of the company name. But that tune changed in 1926, when it introduced the L-1 and…

Gibson 1938 Electric Bass

Likely The First!

Gibson 1938 Electric Bass This interesting piece of fretted Americana can be appreciated by any vintage instrument aficionado – particularly bassists – as it was probably the first instrument of…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Alan Greenwood

Season 02 Episode 1 VG’s “Buy That Guitar” podcast opens its second season with host Ram Tuli joined by Alan Greenwood, founder and publisher of Vintage Guitar. They discuss the…

Steve Vai

Relentless Explorer

More than 40 years into his career, Steve Vai is still pushing himself as a musician and exploring the boundaries of the guitar. A new custom, multi-neck Ibanez called The…

Classics: April 2023

Kim Simmons’ 1973 Gibson Les Paul

For Gio da Silva and several million others in Generation X, the mid ’90s were an exciting time. Young adults when music was experiencing a blues revival spirit-guided by Stevie…

Parsons-White String Bender

On September 20, 1983, Jimmy Page re-emerged into the public eye after the death of John Bonham and the breakup of Led Zeppelin with a thundering ovation at the Royal…

Vintage Gibson Amplifiers

EH-100 and 125

“No longer is the electric Hawaiian Guitar restricted to professional players – here is a genuine Gibson instrument that costs only $100, complete with instrument, case, amplifier with slip cover,…

PRS Basses

Subjective Funk & Cool

The Paul Reed Smith bass was introduced at the January ’96 NAMM show. Set-neck and bolt-on (CE model) models were offered, with mahogany bodies and one-piece mahogany necks. On Bass…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 7

1965: Summer Of The Hollowbodies

The Way Back Beat survey of instruments designed by James Ormston Burns continues with the final products developed by his company before it was bought out by U.S. keyboard manufacturer…

Guitar Picks

What's So Special About Guitar Picks

You may have one in your pocket. They only cost about 25 cents. But if you have always used one to play guitar, you are lost if you don’t have…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Redd Volkaert

Season 03 Episode 03 In Episode 3.3 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Redd Volkaert, one of modern country’s foremost pickers. Any fan of Western swing and…

GIBSON-EB-2-HOME-MAIN-BIG

Gibson EB-2

Kalamazoo’s Biggest Bass Innovation?

In the mid 1950s, Gibson president Ted McCarty was paying close attention to two new instruments impacting the musical-instruments market – the solidbody electric guitar and the electric bass. Both…

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 Watkins Dominator

Crying V

Is there any more stylish vintage amp than the V-front Watkins Dominator? This creation is delightfully twee yet utterly enticing – the allure of its blue-and-cream Rexine covering, gold-threaded grillecloth,…

Acoustic Amplifiers

Early Acoustic amplifiers

I’m not really an amp guy, but I have two early Acoustic catalogs, from early ’73 and ’74. We might as well document the amps therein, since you’re going to…

Six-String Kicks

Six-String Kicks

Wood from Famed Bowling Alley Set to Sing

Few things scratch America’s cumulative itch for nostalgia like Route 66 – the famed wagon-trail-cum-highway that offered passage to those migrating west from Chicago in the mid 19th century, then…

Gibson ES-175 Special Wurlitzer

1955 Gibson ES-175 Special Wurlitzer From Gibson’s early years through the 1960s, the company made many custom instruments that mixed and matched specifications from various models. Few have been as…

Star Board: Jared Scharff

Star Board: Jared Scharff

“Saturday Night Live” staff guitarist Jared Scharff uses this custom pedalboard, built by Matt Brewster, 30th Street Guitars, New York City. “I’ve been using it for two or three years,”…

In Detail: Gibson’s 1954-’58 Les Paul Junior

In 1952, Gibson’s Les Paul model guitar was brand spanking new.  But it wasn’t cutting-edge. True, it was the company’s first solidbody electric guitar, and thus earned a bit of…

VG Q&A: Odd Dots

Import fretboard markers, and Kay’s Model 1961

In the mid ’60s, why did some Japanese electric-guitar manufacturers put the marker on the 10th fret rather than the ninth? – Joe Bigley Very few Japanese makers put dot…

Dallas Rangemaster and Scala Combos

Texas Two Step

Fascinating also-rans, C-list classics, or both, the amps manufactured by London-based Dallas Music Ltd beginning in 1959 tie directly to legendary British gear. All but unheard of stateside, they were…

Gibson’s Mighty F-5 Mandolin

When Gibson’s F-5 was introduced in mid 1922, it was part of the series of Style 5 “Master Models” consisting of the F-5 mandolin, H-5 mandola, K-5 mandocello, and the…

SCOTTY MOORE's GIBSON ES-295 Vinatge guitar Magazine

Scotty Moore’s Gibson ES-295

First Guitar of Rock and Roll

Like a hound dog hit by lightning, the first notes of rock and roll blasted out of radios across the country in July of 1954, courtesy of Elvis Presley’s supercharged-hillbilly…