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Harp Legend Charlie Musselwhite

Harp legend Charlie Musselwhite has recorded and performed with a stunning array of guitarists in his band – Harvey Mandel, Luther Tucker, Robben Ford, Junior Watson, Charlie Sexton, Kid Anderson, and steeler Freddie Roulette to name but a few. Here, he takes the reins (strings?) himself, using his Gibson Nighthawk plugged into a Magnatone Varsity Deluxe to play a bit. In the May issue, we review his latest album, “Lookout Highway.” Here’s our review. Read Now!

Rick Derringer 1947-2025

We’re saddened to hear of the passing of Rick Derringer, legendary rock guitarist and songwriter known for playing classic collectibles. Watch for our memorial in the August issue, and here’s our in-depth interview with Derringer from 1998.

Harp Legend Charlie Musselwhite

Harp legend Charlie Musselwhite has recorded and performed with a stunning array of guitarists in his band – Harvey Mandel, Luther Tucker, Robben Ford, Junior Watson, Charlie Sexton, Kid Anderson, and steeler Freddie Roulette to name but a few. Here, he takes the reins (strings?) himself, using his Gibson Nighthawk plugged into a Magnatone Varsity Deluxe to play a bit. In the May issue, we review his latest album, “Lookout Highway.” Here’s our review. Read Now!

Rick Derringer 1947-2025

We’re saddened to hear of the passing of Rick Derringer, legendary rock guitarist and songwriter known for playing classic collectibles. Watch for our memorial in the August issue, and here’s our in-depth interview with Derringer from 1998.

Classic Instruments

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 […]

by Michael Wright
Artists

Jamie Kime

Lord Of The Jam

Jamie Kime’s first solo record, Alleys, displays a mix of lush guitar tones, poignant soundscapes, and evocative panoramas. We recently sat with him to discuss it, and his recent gig touring with Zappa Plays Zappa project, featuring Franks Zappa’s son, Dweezil. Was there a theme when you started recording Alleys? A lot of the tunes […]

by Oscar Jordan
Have Guitar Will Travel

Have Guitar Will Travel – Featuring 002 Bryan Kehoe

Bryan Kehoe went to school with Les Claypool and played with Exodus. He later joined M.I.R.V. and toured the world with Cheap Trick, Run DMC, and Jerry Cantrell. Today, he plays with his own band with Claypool’s Duo de Twang. Working for Jim Dunlop, he’s constantly on the lookout for the next wave of guitarists. […]

Supro Thunderbolt
Classic Instruments

Supro Thunderbolt

Designed “…exclusively for the electric Bass guitar,” it was simplicity itself, with no “fancy extra circuits.” But much like with Fender’s Bassman, guitarists had other ideas!

Artists

In Memoriam: Anthony Klassen

Anthony R. Klassen, a guitar builder and founder of New Era Guitars, passed away December 13 at his home in Furnessville, Indiana. He was 62. In 1977, Klassen got a ’64 Gibson Dove and became an accomplished player. He attended the American Academy of Art, in Chicago, then became a woodworker in Connecticut, favoring a […]

VG Approved Gear

Allen Amplification Hot Blond 1×15 Combo

Some Like It Hot

In the story of the Fender amp – after the tweedy pre-Army Elvis and before the black-face Deluxe British blues invasion – there appeared the blond, as Leo Fender transitioned his line cosmetically and sonically from righteous crunch to a sophisticated high-fidelity tone suitable for Camelot after midnight – warm and aggressive but in a […]

Music

Eric Johnson

The Book of Making/Yesterday Meets Today

During lockdown, Eric Johnson killed time by poring through his old recordings of songs, ideas, and jams. He took old tapes – some mere audio cassettes – and recorded new material on top, generating two full albums. The music is strong, balancing fierce guitar-burners with vocal-oriented cuts. The heavy-but-melodic instrumental “Soundtrack Life” could have worked […]

Classic Instruments

William Peale, Jr. Gibson Super 400

Sharp-Shooter Special

The iconic “singing cowboy” was created by Hollywood actors like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, and others. Many used fancy, customized guitars, often with their name emblazoned on the fingerboard, and the majority were high-end flat-tops including Martin D-45s and Gibson J-200s. This 1940 Gibson Super 400N was made for a genuine Texas cowboy […]

George Gruhn and Staff
Artists

Pepper Keenan

Down with CoC

It’s difficult enough to be a member of one metal band, let alone two. But Pepper Keenan is pulling double-duty as a member of both Corrosion of Conformity (as singer/guitarist) and Down (as guitarist). The former’s reunion certainly makes sense, as the Keenan-fronted lineup enjoyed the biggest commercial success. We spoke with him about how […]

Artists

Deke Dickerson

Making Merle’s Memoir

From the day he first picked up a guitar at 13, Deke Dickerson honed in on guitarists like Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Scotty Moore, Cliff Gallup, and Duane Eddy. His fancy expanded thanks to garage-sale vinyl. “I discovered country and blues albums that really hit me – Jimmy Bryant and Freddie King opened my narrow […]

Classic Instruments

A Hero’s Gretsch 6117

In the 1960s, the astronauts were bigger cultural icons than the Beatles. And no, that’s not the Colorado-based surf band that hit with songs like “Baja.” We’re talking real astronauts, as in guys who climbed into tin cans perched atop 30,000 pounds of dynamite, lit the fuse, and broke the proverbial “Earthly bounds” of gravity. […]

VG Approved Gear

Bergen Guitars ST and TL

Messing with Perfection

Bergen Guitars ST and TL Price: $2,195 (ST, base)/$2,595 (as tested); $1,895 (TL, base)/$2,295 (as tested) Info: www.bergenguitars.com. If your goal, as a solitary craftsman, is to improve upon two designs that are acclaimed paragons of industrial perfection, what do you do? Paul Bergeson, owner and luthier of Bergen Guitars in Lake Zurich, Illinois, began […]

Artists

Roy Treviño

Joining the Conversation

With his new self-titled album, South-Texas-based guitarist Roy Treviño accomplished his goals by simply being himself and letting the music flow. “I’d made a couple records before, but I’d put limitations on myself,” he said. “For instance, it had to be electric blues or whatever. As a result, I didn’t feel like those albums were […]

Classic Instruments

Steve Evans’ Guitars & Cars Passion Project

Pretty Pairs

Steve Evans was just 12 years old in 1968, when he began to appreciate the sleek bodies of electric guitars in the brochures he collected through the mail – gazing until he memorized all the brands and models. His other burgeoning passion involved the British sports cars his Air Force veteran father repaired at Import […]

Music

Check This Action: Jimmie’s Blues Box

Don’t think music can be life-changing? Try moving 1,700 miles. In 1987, I moved from Northern California to Austin, Texas, and music was the reason. Bands like the LeRoi Brothers, Tail Gators, and Teddy & the Tall-Tops played a part, but the biggest reason was the Fabulous Thunderbirds. On a trip to Austin in ’76, […]

VG Approved Gear

Interstellar Audio Machines Octonaut Hyperdrive

Next-Level Drive

Interstellar Audio Machines advertised its original Octonaut Hyperdrive as, “The only overdrive you’ll ever need.” Well… The new version offers boost based on the Klon Centaur; its secret sauce is Germanium diodes that blend dry signal with drive. With knobs for Volume, Drive, Ton (treble/tone), and an internal switch that alternates between true-bypass and buffered, […]

VG Approved Gear

Aclam Guitar’s The Woman Tone Overdrive

Creamy Tribute

On November 26, 1968, Cream performed its last show, at Royal Albert Hall, and Eric Clapton left the band as a bonafide guitar god. Barcelona-based Aclam Guitar’s The Woman Tone is a tribute to the sounds Clapton wielded during that era, and the theme is deepened with artwork designed by artist Marijke Koger, who painted […]

Artists

Megan Lovell’s New Lap Steel

Slide Sub

In the summer of 2021, Megan Lovell decided enough was enough of her vintage Rickenbacker Model B. While she loved the feel, sound, and vibe of the instrument dubbed “the Panda,” for years it had been taking a toll on her body during Larkin Poe’s high-energy live shows. Knowing something had to give (and preferring […]

Artists

Tom Keifer

Thick and Thin

Tom Keifer is a tad young to be on the (very) long list of musicians inspired first and foremost by the Beatles’ “arrival” in the U.S. in 1964. But he’s not too young to inspired by a TV show inspired by the Fab Four. Keifer’s earliest musical memories were born as he plopped in front […]

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