-
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…
-
Dan Hawkins
Toast of the Town
When The Darkness roared out of England with its 2003 debut Permission to Land and the hit “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” the music world was slapped across…
NOW AVAILABLE!
CURRENT ISSUE
Join 25,700+ subscribers & be notified when new articles & more becomes available!
NEWSWIRE
ARTISTS
Michael Angelo Batio
The Fine Art of Face Melting
Michael Angelo Batio is one of the most prodigious guitarists on Earth. Since his stint with the rock band Holland…
Tommy Castro
A Penchant for the Blues
Tommy Castro is known as a hard-working musician with a penchant for the blues. The rep is well-deserved. “One year…
Dewa Budjana
Fusion/Progressive/World Music from Indonesia
Back home in Bali, Indonesia, guitarist Dewa Budjana is noted for his work with the pop band Gigi, but recently,…
Rusty Young
1946-2021
Rusty Young, the versatile pedal-steel guitarist, guitarist, singer/songwriter, and original member of the pioneering country-rock band Poco, died at his…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Watkins Rapier 33
If you were an American teenager in the late 1950s or early ’60s, and you wanted to play the new…
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…
Gibson F-5 1923
1923 Gibson F-5. Gibson F-5 mandolins signed by Lloyd Loar from mid 1922 to 1924 are considered the Holy Grail…
Spectrum 5
Joining playful mid-’60s cultural icons such as the Ford Mustang, NBC’s “The Monkees,” the Beatles’ “Nowhere Man” and Cassius Clay, the…
APPROVED GEAR
-
Lively Drives
-
Posh Squash
-
Chet Powered!
Gator Cases MiniVault
Rolling Rack
Every gigging guitarist who lugs their own gear (so, 95 percent of us) knows firsthand how instrument cases take a…
The Carr Skylark
Desert-Island Amp
The Carr Skylark Price: $2,390 (list) Contact: www.carramps.com If you could own only a single guitar amp – horror of…
Guild’s S-200 T-Bird
Cult-Fave Phoenix
Sometimes admired, often maligned, the cult classic Guild S-200 T-Bird has enjoyed a rebirth in the hands of Black Keys…
Seymour Duncan ’78 Model
Upscale Touch
In the late ’70s, rock guitarists fell down the rabbit hole trying to achieve more sustain, harmonics, and extra crunch…
-
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,…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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 per customer, any double entries will be automatically disqualified. See previous winners!! *ELIGIBILITY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.One entry per…
