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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…

ESP LTD Viper 256P
Metal Cruncher
ESP LTD Viper 256P Price: $399 (street) Info: espguitars.com. In the protoplasmic days of heavy metal, Tony Iommi slashed away…

Area 51 The Alienist Voicing Boost
Manmade Tone Monster
Gather ’round, children, for a scary bedtime story. Once upon a time, there was no such thing as a high-gain…

Chris Bishop
Wizards and Technology
Riff rockers Crobot have been promoting their first album, Something Supernatural, with a live show offering full-bombast rock, contagious funk,…

Tx-Watt Flagship
Tone Big as Texas
For more than three decades on the Texas roadhouse circuit, guitarist Jack Kay’s love of vintage Fender and Marshall tones…

Michael Kelly Custom Collection 55 Ebony
Kelly Tele
Is there a better platform for guitar customization than the Tele? Easily sourced lumber combine with straightforward electronics and hardware…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Doubleneck Redux, Part 2
Full House: Transcendent Jazz Masterpiece
In the November issue, we started to refurbish a doubleneck mandolin/guitar I made for Jerry Schafer in 1977. It needed…
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Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings
Double-bound for Glory
George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacher founded Electro String in 1931 to manufacture what everyone would soon call “Rickenbacker” guitars. Success came early and their lap steels set standards of quality,…
ARTISTS

Javier Batiz
Mexican guitarist Javier Batiz, a teacher and inspiration to Carlos Santana and other musicians, passed away December 14 at his…

Check This Action: One Sax, Three Guitars
It starts with a tenor saxophone floating above spare electric guitar arpeggios. After a dipsy-doodle cadenza, the sax states a…

Greg Howe
Best Of Both Worlds
Greg Howe enjoyed a somewhat overwhelming reception when he appeared in the Carvin booth at the January NAMM show. One…

Ronnie Baker Brooks
The Bridge
Ronnie Baker Brooks’ new album, Times Have Changed, is a Memphis soul fest blended with the unmistakable guitar sounds of…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Horray For Hollywood
The Guitars and Amps of Jersey Boys
Movies made in the 1950s and ’60s that included rock-and-roll music acts typically showed them performing in segments using their…

Star Board: Bruce Kulick
Bruce Kulick played lead guitar in Kiss for more than a decade, and today stays busy as a solo performer…

1949 Bigsby Tenor
By the advent of the solidbody electric guitar in the 1950s, tenor guitarists were a dying breed. Consequently, electric tenors…

The City of Guitars
Git-Shopping in Paris
On your way to Paris for a romantic getaway? Wanting to see the sights in the City of Light? Then…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Lotus Pedal Designs’ Snowjob Underdrive
Love That Yellow Snow
You may be wondering, “What in the world is an ‘underdrive’ pedal?” Good question. Well, you know the traffic-jam of…

Chase Bliss Onward
Glitch Niche
These days, there’s a litany of “glitch” pedals on the market – boxes that deconstruct guitar signal into 8-bit bleeps…
Colby Dual Tone Booster 50
Double Versatile
Colby DTB50 Price: $3,800 (head); $750 (cabinet) Contact: www.colbyamps.com From 1978 through 2010, Mitch Colby helped Marshall become a preeminent…

Meris LVX Delay
Next-Gen Echo
Designed for guitarists drawn to effects with a simple, straightforward interface, Meris LVX Modular Delay System is an attention-getter. Perfect…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Roger McGuinn
Head Byrd Looks Back
Few ’60s rockers have had the lasting influence of the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn, whose 12-string Rickenbacker “jangle pop” sound influenced…

Jammy Instruments’ Jammy G
Digital Six
Digital, MIDI, and synth guitars have been around for decades. One newer entry in the field is the Jammy G,…

Ally Venable
Heart of Texas
On her fourth album, Ally Venable serves up a heaping helping of poignant songs wrapped in Texas-style blues-rock. Ballsy wah…

Korg Nuvibe
Big Box
Korg Nuvibe Price: $499.99 (street) Contact: www.korg.com Korg is not known as a guitar company, but to their great credit…












































