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Super PickupGiveaway 2025
Win Big! 11 Sets! 11 Winners! Win a set of pickups from one of these sponsors: Deadline is March 15, 2026. Complete the survey below to enter giveaway. One entry…

The Schaffer-Vega Diversity System
Making Rock Roll
“ The best thing I ever did in the beginning was not use effects,” AC/DC’s Angus Young told VG in…

Guy King
Finding Joy
Israeli-born guitarist/singer Guy King has become a triple-threat musician since moving to Chicago. The playing, singing, and songwriting on his…
Keb’ Mo’
Hearts and Ears
Keb’ Mo’s latest is folksy, endearing, and called Good To Be. Co-produced by Vince Gill and with Darius Rucker onboard,…

Perfect Curves
Fender’s Stratocaster Turns 60
Sixty years down the road since its creation, the Fender Stratocaster is the default image of the electric guitar for…

Vic Johnson
At Your Service
Music fans might remember Vic Johnson as the wickedly eclectic guitarist from the ’80s band The Busboys; it thrived in…

2021 December Issue on Spotify
This month we feature Zakk Wylde, Samantha Fish, Mark Tremonti, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Seth Lee Jones, Dave Murray, Naia Izumi,…
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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,…
ARTISTS

Buck Owens and The Buckaroos
“A Bunch of Twangy Guitars”
Buck Owens’ track to stardom had an unorthodox start and believe it or not, his singing didn’t launch that journey…

Don Felder
Six-Stringed Summer Stock
Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder is spending the summer with a few friends. On an extended tour with Styx and…

Tomas Janzon
From Stockholm With Love
On Tomas Janzon’s Nomadic, the Stockholm transplant based in New York channels his inner Wes Montgomery to unveil fresh compositions…

George Ducas: Modern Honky-Tonkin’
Taste of “Long Way From Home” Singer/songwriter George Ducas is a Nashville traditionalist influenced by Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Gibson Johnny Smith
In 1961, Gibson’s Johnny Smith model not only associated Gibson with one of the most popular guitar stylists of the…

The Gibson ES-5
Instrument Profile
Gibson, like all American guitarmakers, had to shut down electric guitar production for three years during World War II. But…

Marshall Amplifiers
From Birth to the 21st Century
From the first JTM to models for Clapton and Townshend, Jim Marshall has been building amps since the early 1960s.…

Star Board: Joe Moss
Joe Moss is the archetypical blues “road dog,” regularly rolling out of his home base of Chicago to wail for…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Tone Pump Solara Studio
Clean ’N Dirty
Tone Pump Solara Studio Price: $1,099 (list) Contact: www.tonepumpamplifiers.com The story is a familiar one. A guy learns to repair…

UAFX Galaxy ’74 Tape Echo & Reverb
Space, Man
The original Roland Space Echo was a thing of sonic beauty, used by everyone from Brian Setzer to Bob Marley…

Supro Huntington
Looking supremely ’60s-like with its gorgeous, vintage-y cherry-red finish, petite body, and fancy-topped pickups, the Supro Huntington is inviting as…

John Page Classic Aqua Burst AJ
Classy & Sassy
The John Page Classic Aqua Burst AJ is another hip offering from the former Fender Custom Shop honcho and co-founder,…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Aerosmith
1971: The Road Starts Hear
This long-lost relic was recorded before the band’s 1973 debut LP, with guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford (aged 21…

BSM RM Majestic Treble Booster
Germany’s BSM is among the rare specialist among modern stompbox builders; their focus is one thing – making treble boosters…

Pete Huttlinger
A Narrative (and album) From the Heart
To call Pete Huttlinger a survivor is an understatement. The notable Nashville fingerpicker has fought back from a major stroke…
The Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine
Synthful
Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine Price: $283.60 (retail); $212.70 (street) Contact: www.ehx.com Building on the success of its Freeze Sound Retainer…











































