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Vintage Guitar has put together a Rockin’ 4th of July playlist. Listen and enjoy! Spotify is free or available without ads via a paid subscription. Go to www.spotify.com and search “Vintage Guitar magazine,” or if you already have an account, Listen to the complete list HERE. Also On Spotify Vintage Guitar presents Buy That […]
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Influences From the Kinks to Beefheart The Mystery Lights’ Mike Brandon used his ’60s Silvertone 1429 plugged into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for this exclusive run through “Together Lost,” from their new album, “Purgatory.” Catch our review in the January issue. Read Now!
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Music
Frank Zappa
Funky Nothingness
The stream of archival Zappa releases would be overkill if not for the fact that the quality remains excellent – a testament to the high standard to which FZ held himself. Recorded in 1970, after the classic Uncle Meat, these 25 tracks feature one of the best groups Zappa ever assembled – Mothers of Invention […]
VG Approved Gear
EHX Good Vibes, Tone Corset
Rawk Boxes
The musical spirit of the ’60s and ’70s lives again in two of EHX’s latest stompboxes: the Good Vibes analog modulator and Tone Corset analog compressor. Whether it’s chorus and vibrato swirls or that funky squeeze, these pedals are pure classic rawk. The Good Vibes recaptures the soul of the great Uni-Vibe, complete with photocells. […]
Readers' Choice
2015 Readers’ Choice Awards
Each year, VG asks readers to select Readers’ Choice winners for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Player of the Year in four musical categories, based on artists and recordings featured in the magazine between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2015. Included in the annual vote are nominees for the VG […]
Artists
Lance Lopez
Supersonic Blues Machine
Lance Lopez is a guitar-slinging blues machine that burns like Texas hot sauce in August. He has scorched the festival circuit for years with an enviable body of work and inspired musicianship. His latest project brings together bassist/producer Fabrizio Grossi, drummer Kenny Aronoff, and Billy Gibbons. The band is called Supersonic Blues Machine and the […]
Artists
Chris Isaak
Sun Worship
Most pop-music fans became aware of Chris Isaak through his 1991 hit “Wicked Game” and its uber-high-profile video, directed by famed photographer Herb Ritts and featuring the singer/guitarist gettin’ all From Here to Eternity with supermodel Helena Christensen. Musically, the moody track – with Calvin Wilsey’s memorable reverb-infused guitar lick – not only put Isaak […]
Classic Instruments
Gibson ES-300 Prototype
Les Paul and the First Gibson ES-300
When a guitar junkie hears the words “soapbar” and “P-90,” the mental image is usually that of a cream-colored rectangle seated deep in a sea of metallic gold, accentuating the curves of one of the most beautiful, sexy guitars ever created – the Gibson Les Paul. Combined with its pure, raw, in-your-face tone, it gave […]
VG Approved Gear
TWA Triskelion MK3 Harmonic Energizer
Functional Filter
Based on the Systech Harmonic Energizer pedal made famous by Adrian Belew, Frank Zappa, and Greg Lake, the TWA Triskelion MK3 is a third-generation mid-boost that combines the features of the manufacturer’s MKI and MKII editions in a smaller pedal. A simple pedal, it has three knobs; Energy sets the peak in the frequency to […]
Special Features
Top 100 Guitarists
30 Years, 30 Favorites
To help mark its 30th year of publication, VG asked readers to submit a list of their five favorite guitarists via written ballots and online. We tabulated the votes and here offer up the top 100 vote-getters in order of overall popularity. 1) Jimi Hendrix Want trouble? Imagine the scene at the big Guitarcon event; someone […]
VG Approved Gear
EMG T-52 Set
EMG pickups have been around since 1976, offering a diverse line of active pickups used in just about every genre of music and matched with top guitar manufacturers. EMGs have been heard in everything from blunt-force metal to trailer park country – all with absolutely no 60-cycle hum. EMG has continued to evolve its Retro […]
VG Approved Gear
Music Man’s JP13
Petrucci Pick
Music Man’s JP13 Price: $3,500 Info: www.music-man.com. Music Man has a knack for building blazing artist models for the likes of Steve Morse, Albert Lee, and John Petrucci – three artists known for their incendiary guitar styles. The latest Petrucci offering, the JP13, has a deceptively utilitarian appearance, but its neck, body, and electronics are […]
Classic Instruments
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 any particular guitar going back to his days hustling chitlin-circuit gigs with Slim Harpo and Tommy Tucker, from the moment he could upgrade from the Supro Ozark and Danelectro of his youth to the Epiphone […]
Classic Instruments
Fender Precision Bass Elite II
On a Tangent In Its Time
Precision Bass has been offered in a myriad of models in its 50 years of existense, including a number of “reissues.” One of the more intriguing variants was the Elite II, which was introduced in mid-1983, and disappeared when Fender was purchased from CBS in early ’85. While subsequent variants of Precision models would have […]
Have Guitar Will Travel
Have Guitar Will Travel – 007 Featuring Gibson’s CEO, James “JC” Curleigh and CMO Cesar Gueikian
In the latest installment of our “Have Guitar Will Travel” podcast, host James Patrick Regan connects with James “JC” Curleigh and Cesar Gueikian to discuss their roles in the revamped Gibson guitar company. New CEO Curleigh is the former president/CEO of Levi Strauss and Salomon, and he has a reassuring message about Gibson’s direction and […]
Music
Billy F Gibbons
Hardware
The ZZ Top guitarist once again stretches his Texas legs on this, his third solo LP. While most of Hardware’s predecessors – Perfectamundo and Big Bad Blues – were comprised of covers, this time, Gibbons and his main collaborators, drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Austin Hanks, dish 11 originals and one cover (Augie Meyers’ “Hey […]
VG Approved Gear
Rock N Roll Relics Revenge Jr
Good Wood
Rock guitarist Billy Rowe turned his love of instruments into a company that makes hand-built electrics that capture the vibe, tone, and feel of prized vintage models. His latest is the Revenge Jr. With its offset Firebird-meets-Telecaster body shape and lightweight cedar body, the Revenge Jr is a stripped-down version of Rowe’s dual-humbucker Revenge, with […]
Classic Instruments
Coppock Guitars
Vintage Rarities from the Pacific Northwest
The obscure Coppock brand of electric guitars first surfaced in 1994, with the publication of Electric Guitars & Basses: A Photographic History, by guitar historians George Gruhn and Walter Carter. And though it was loaded with lovingly detailed information about many rare guitars, one photograph the authors highlighted – on the book’s table of contents […]
Artists
Dean DeLeo and Tom Bukovac unite on the trip the witch
Cosmic Convergence
At a glance, there’s little reason to connect a guitarist like Dean DeLeo to one like Tom Bukovac. One is ’90s-rock royalty, the other a modern-day Nashville studio legend. Strange times, though, can lead to notable things like their new (mostly) guitar instrumental album/project, Trip The Witch. One day early in the pandemic, a friend […]