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Thomas Custom Guitars
Rarities from the Pacific Northwest
Certain makes and models of electric guitars are rightfully prized for their elegant physical designs and superior craftsmanship. Even better are those also revered for their playability and particularly rich…
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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…
Fender’s Mid-’50s Precision Bass
The "In-Between" Version
In the world of electric basses, the 1952 Fender Precision is the one that started it all. While it’s true…
Jake Andrews
Train Back Home
In his early 40s now, for some folks around Austin, he’ll always be “Guitar Jake.” When Andrews was eight years…
Greg Martin plays “Shotgun Effie”
Fresh Headhunters riff Greg Martin co-founder and lead guitarist in Kentucky Headhunters, shows us the opening riff to “Shotgun Effie” from…
Matchless JJ-30
Stage Staunch
Rare and sought-after, in part because only about 40 were built, the Matchless JJ-30 John Jorgenson is the only Signature…
Born In Chicago Documents ’60s Revival
Disciples Of The Blues
A new documentary on the blues revival of the late ’60s opens with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band performing live…
Tommy Shaw and James Young
Styx’s Crowning Achievement
“One thing I like about how Styx does progressive stuff is we try and make it friendly progressive, not math,”…
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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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ARTISTS
Greg Howe
A New Wheelhouse
Greg Howe is a globe-trotting, guitar-clinic-teaching, concert-performing fusion monster. He’s known for taking risks and pushing his playing into fresh…
Gustavo Assis-Brasil
Chromatic Dialogues
While guitarists have more platforms than ever when it’s time to showcase their music, rising above a sea of marketing-savvy…
Classics: Larkin Poe
American Gothic
The latest album from Grammy-nominated axe-slinging sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell is a showcase of artists rising to new heights.…
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…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Kay Jazz Special and Value Leader
Kay entered the electric bass market in the mid 1950s with the K162, which later morphed into the similar K5965…
Ampeg Gemini II G-15
Preamp tubes: three 12AX7, one 6CG7, one 7199. Output tubes: two 7868. Rectifier: solidstate Controls: volume, treble and bass on…
’39 Gibson EH-185
Preamp tubes: three 6J7, one 6N7 Output tubes: two 6L6 Rectifier: 5U4 Controls: Instrument Volume, Microphone Volume, Bass and Treble…
Arbiter Fuzz Face
When Jimi Hendrix released his first album, 1967’s Are You Experienced, he launched a new level of guitar heroics as…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
EHX’s Bad Stone Phase Shifter, C9 Organ Machine, and Pitch Fork Polyphonic Pitch Shifter
Pedal Heaven
When it comes to stompboxes, there are the standard go-to effects that every guitarist, whether a gigging musician or a…
Maestro Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay
Return to the Space(y) Age
Maestro’s Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay, from the company’s Original Collection effects series, may have a retro-chic aesthetic, but they…
The Vox Bobcat V90
Feral Feline
In the Swinging ’60s, Vox guitars were all the rage, particularly among British and European players. Though stylish and visually…
Electro-Harmonix Mel9 Tape Replay Effect
In a Mello Tone
Producer George Martin was so fond of John Lennon’s tape-relay keyboard that he described it “as if a Neanderthal piano…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Revisiting Room 335
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Plus, a Pro’s List of Repair Glues
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Rising Tides
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,…
Arlen Roth
No Stone Unturned
To guitarists raised on his “Hot Licks” instructional video series, session and touring great Arlen Roth is something of a…
Les Paul
2007 Hall of Fame Player
In 1952, Gibson’s new Les Paul model was becoming one of the company’s most popular guitars, and though there was…
Michael Lee Firkins
Meditations in Southern Rock
Michael Lee Firkins began his career as the ’80s shred era wound down and grunge began to boom. His out-of-the-box…
