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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…
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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…
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NEWSWIRE
ARTISTS
Musical tag-team – Anika Chambers and Paul DesLauriers
Award-Winning Blues, and Beyond! Individually, the husband-wife team of Anika Chambers and Paul DesLauriers have won blues awards, but together…
Michael Gregory Jackson inspires on “Meditation in E
Classic ’70s Bluesy-Jazz Flavor Jazz guitarist Michael Gregory Jackson changes it up by using a classic (and seldom-seen) ’59 SG…
Fretprints: George Benson
At the height of the disco era, 1976 marked a transition as funk went pop and became the prevalent dance…
Toronzo Cannon
Blues The Chicago Way
“I’m not trying to be a starving artist at 48 years old,” says blues man Toronzo Cannon when asked if…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
L-5 to Super 400
The Story of Gibson’s Big Archtops
The archtop guitar is a uniquely American instrument which can be traced directly to the creative genius of one person…
Gibson Style R Harp Guitar
Harp guitars with a standard six-string guitar neck and varying numbers of sub-bass harp-style strings have been made by a…
Rosalie Allen’s SJ-200
Trophy Flat-Top
On the pages featuring the Super Jumbo 200, Gibson’s 1940 catalog trumpeted, “This king of the flat-top guitars was especially…
Star Board: Rudy Jaramillo
Rudy Jaramillo is quick to mention that his effects setup is very simple. “I go into my 1) Boss tuner,…
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
Fender PM-2
Sitting-Room Savoir Faire
Once wildly popular among everyone from drawing-room dilettantes to road-hardened bluesmen shuffling the dusty byways, parlor-sized guitars fell out of…
DGN Blaster
Jerry in a Box
DGN Guitars’ Dan Neafsey is known mostly for his guitar craftsmanship, notably the Kalos and Terrapin models inspired by Jerry…
Boss AC-22LX
Acoustic Air
On the surface, Boss’ AC-22LX is a 10-watt acoustic-electric guitar amp with two channels. But, dig in, and goodies are…
Taylor 724ce
Bold And Bright
In the Hawaiian tongue, koa means “bold” and it’s an apt name for the wood known in guitardom for its…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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 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…
