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MusicNomad is running a fun Valentine’s Day challenge for guitar players — and it’s a good one.
Has Your Guitar Been KISSed? 💋🎸 This Valentine’s Day, MusicNomad is asking one big question: Has your guitar been KISSed? Show your guitar some love with a KEEP IT SIMPLE,…
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from…
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Pieces of a Prototype
Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. …

Steve Stevens
Moxy at the Roxy
Steve Stevens earned stardom as Billy Idol’s songwriting partner and guitarist in the ’80s. The Grammy-winning New York City native…

The Birth of Newman Guitars
Newman Guitars was established in Austin, TX in 1977 by Ted Newman Jones. Ted was a pioneer of design…

Boss Box 40
Throwback Three-Fer
For players of a certain vintage, there’s something gratifying about an old-school compact Boss pedal at your feet. Even with…

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…

Jerry Miller
Back to Basics
Jerry Miller is back. For many he never left – especially admirers of his innovative playing with the legendary Moby…

Tyler Bryant’s “Bare Bones” and a vintage Duolian
Shakedown front man offers taste of “Shake The Roots” Tyler Bryant grabbed his super-cool 1934 National Duolian to play a…
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VG Q&A: Harmony History
And an Archtop Mystery
I recently received two guitars as gifts and am trying to learn more about them. The first is a Harmony I believe is from the early ’70s. Its serial number…
ARTISTS

Eric Clapton
A Return To The Crossroads: Slowhand Meets Mr. Johnson
In many ways, 2004 marks a return to the crossroads for Eric Clapton. With his latest disc, Me And Mr.…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 1
Beginnings – The Early 1960s
In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled…

James Elkington
Alt-Tuned Sojourn
Expatriate English guitarist James Elkington has long been based in Chicago, collaborating with other musicians including Janet Bean, Nathan Salsburg,…

Tinsley Ellis
Tougher Than Ever
After decades of roadhouses, bars, and international touring, bluesman Tinsley Ellis is still going strong. A 1979 graduate of Emory…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Ca. 1960 Custom Mosrite/Gretsch
A Bakersfield/Brooklyn Cowboy
In the history of vintage guitars, Gretsch and Mosrite are sometimes linked, and often associated with ’50s hot-country pickers and…

Hangin’ with Kid and Lisa “Little Baby” Andersen
Smooth, Funky Blues With Soul Kid Andersen worked with Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin Bishop before scoring his current gig with…

Blues guitarist Charlie Apicella’s “Booze and Blues” and “Just Like a Woman”
Honoring B.B., Rainey Being V.P. of the North Jersey Blues Society isn’t the only thing that separates Charlie Apicella from…

First-Rate Second Fiddles
Jimi’s Gibsons at the Hard Rock Cafe
No two ways about it, as his career hit stride, Jimi Hendrix was a Strat guy. Not famously loyal to…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Killer Guitar Components Killer Trem Bridge
Bridging the Gap
In the mid 1950s, Leo Fender and his crew spent countless hours on the design and manufacture of their revolutionary…

Xotic Effects’ Wah XW-1
State-Of-The-Art MousEtrap
Xotic Effects’ Wah XW-1 Price: $295 (list); $249 (street) Contact: xotic.us/ The chase for tone sometimes seems like never-ending “Tom…

Stomp Under Foot Ram’s Head
Piece of the Pi
Matt Pasquerella has a reputation as a pi connoisseur… no, not the eating kind, the fuzzy kind. The creator of…

St. Blues Bluesmaster, Blindsider, and Delta Blues Box
Straight from the Delta
Saint Blues Bluesmaster/Blindsider Price: $2,399 (Bluesmaster); $2,550 (Blindsider) Info: saintblues.com St. Blues’ history stretches back to the days when its…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
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Remembering a Heavy Hero

Andrew Synowiec
Pyrotechnics and Substance
Andrew Synowiec’s latest album, Fun, is loaded with ferocious pentatonics, muscular grooves, and the kind of instrumentals that harken to…

Have Guitar Will Travel – 031 Featuring John Notto
The latest episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel” has host James Patrick Regan speaking with guitarist John Notto from Dirty…
Bobby Black
Steel Before and After Commander Cody
When he got the invitation, Bobby Black wasn’t sure. The pedal-steel virtuoso, a 20-plus-year veteran of San Francisco’s music scene,…

Def Leppard
Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard
When Def Leppard released its 1980 debut, On Through the Night, most members were barely out of their teens. Now…










































