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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
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…
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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…
Classics: December 2023
Cliff Antone’s 1952 Fender Precision
Texas is known for music, especially Austin, which in the mid ’70s became a hotbed thanks to clubs like Armadillo…
“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…
Watkins Joker
Beat-Gen Beaut
This could be just what every well-heeled young “Beat” guitarist and singer in Britain needed in the early 1960s –…
Gibson Custom Colors in the 1960s
Burning Embers, Chilled Whites
Unlike its rival from the West Coast, Gibson did not readily embrace the concept of offering custom-color finishes. It wasn’t…
The Supro Thunderbolt S6420
Lightning Strikes
Despite their catalog-grade status, Supro amps have been used by several noteworthy guitarists. For many, the sturdy Thunderbolt is the preferred workhorse. It’s been a long time since Supro amps…
The Fender AA165 Pro Reverb
Fender’s “blackface” amplifiers made from late 1963 through ’67 have earned enduring “classic amp” status. Simultaneously collectible, they’re desired for their rich vintage tones and renowned as everyday workhorses that…
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…
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…
Renaissance T-200G
What is it about Plexiglas? It’s so cool. You can see through it onstage. It’s dense, yet resonant. You’d think it would be the perfect medium for a mean rock…
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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…
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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…
Ampeg’s Jet Reverb Prototype
Ampeg is frequently credited for being not only one of the first makers to put reverb in its amplifiers, but…
The Ovation Adamas II
What do you get when you cross a helicopter with a Martin dreadnought? Easy answer – Ovation guitars, perhaps the…
Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker
Basement Jams & Blown Speakers
1966 Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker Combo The days when a kid would break out the soldering iron and take on a…
Höfner’s Fledermaus Gitarre
A Bat By Any Other Name
Much like the scant records of almost every large-scale American guitar manufacturer, production logs at Höfner’s headquarters in Hagenau, Germany,…
The Supro Thunderbolt S6420
Lightning Strikes
Despite their catalog-grade status, Supro amps have been used by several noteworthy guitarists. For many, the sturdy Thunderbolt is the preferred workhorse. It’s been a long time since Supro amps…
Kramer Pacer Deluxe
Superstrat or Bust
On rare occasions, the zeitgeist – not some lucky designer – creates a guitar that captures hearts and minds. Such was the case in 1982, when tastes in popular music…
Martin OM-18 and 000-28
What makes these two Martins remarkable is not necessarily their rarity or historical importance, though both would be welcome additions to any serious collection. Martin has offered sunburst finishes as…
The Fender “Korinacaster”
Double-Cut Kuriosity
There’s irony in the fact that Leo Fender, creator of the first solidbody electric guitar to be mass-produced, wasn’t the adventurous sort. Rather, history tells us he was a pragmatic,…
The Story of Silver Street Guitars
Building a Better…. Gibson?
In the late 1970s, trends combined to spawn several new guitar companies in the Chicago area motivated by a desire to “build a better Gibson.” The list included Dean and…
Maestro GA-45T
AMP-O-RAMA
Until just a couple years ago, Fender really was the only major name in collectible vintage American-made tube guitar amplifiers. Sure, Magnatone, Standel, Danelectro/Silvertone, Supro and the other Valco-made amps…
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Classics: Jeremy Graf’s 1961 Fender Stratocaster
A lifelong vintage-guitar nut who has had “a million guitars,” Jeremy Graf’s all-time favorite is this 1961 Stratocaster. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Graf was just seven when, for reasons he doesn’t remember, he asked for an Elvis Presley record. His mother obliged and brought home Elvis’ Golden Records, a compilation of ’50s hits. “That
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Rising Rockers
Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
In an era when the sub-20-watt combo is arguably the most popular guitar-amp format, it’s worth remembering that several classics of the category emanate from the ’50s. And just as interesting as the well-worn favorites, several lesser-known alternatives were also born in the decade of rock and roll. In the December ’24 issue, we examined
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Classics: Marc Schoenberger’s Rickenbacker Combo 600
Marc Schoenberger was part of the early-’70s vanguard on the Southern California guitar scene – not as a gigging musician, but among the crowd that raced the 101 freeway to check out old guitars every time a new issue of the Recycler hit the streets. He’d also been repairing guitars for friends and local shops
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The Supro Thunderbolt S6420
Lightning Strikes
Despite their catalog-grade status, Supro amps have been used by several noteworthy guitarists. For many, the sturdy Thunderbolt is the preferred workhorse. It’s been a long time since Supro amps were any kind of secret find or hidden gem; players have long recognized the eccentric splendors of certain mid-sized examples, with their thumping tremolo and
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Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings
Double-bound for Glory
George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacher founded Electro String in 1931 to manufacture what everyone would soon call “Rickenbacker” guitars. Success came early and their lap steels set standards of quality, performance, and tone. On the other hand, the company’s electric bass viols and violins excited segments of the industry but never sold well. Same for
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Joey Molland
The word “underrated” is belabored in music journalism, but Joey Molland was just that. As co-guitarist in Badfinger, he was part of a quartet signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records, yielding glorious AM hits like “Come and Get It,” “Day After Day,” and “No Matter What.” The foursome fell into obscurity and tragedy a few
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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…
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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…
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…
Michael Bloomfield’s ’63 Telecaster
This Guitar Killed Folk!
A silver-spoon teen who loved sneaking into Chicago’s southside blues clubs, Michael Bloomfield reveled in absorbing all he could from…
Gretsch 6134 White Penguin
There’s no doubt the White Penguin is one of the rarest Gretsch instruments. It is estimated that no more than…
Teisco Checkmate 30
Café Culture
In a world where the best riffs often come when one is lounging in the family room, sipping espresso and…
