• Super PickupGiveaway 2025

    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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Newman Guitars’ Honeycomb Chambered Jr.

Way Cool Version

June 7, 2023 · Tom Guerra

Following Ted Newman Jones’ passing in 2016, protégé Jeff Smith took over Newman Guitars and is furthering the vision, using…

Austin legend Jon Dee Graham plays “This Old Guitar”

April 16, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

From the Continental Club to You! Jon Dee Graham’s parts Strat has been his stage and studio mainstay for more…

3rd Power Amplification’s Solo Dream 1, Solo Dream 4, and Switchback 112

Dream Babies

December 26, 2013 · Zac Childs

Recording/touring guitarist, studio engineer, and industry veteran Jamie Scott made the metamorphosis into amp designer by learning to repair and…

John McLaughlin

The Montreux Years

January 17, 2023 · Pete Prown

This retrospective from the Swiss jazz festival spans 28 years, covering miles of jazz-rock territory. In 1984, McLaughlin formed a…

Dave Haskell

Wings and Strings

April 20, 2016 · John Heidt

Plenty of improbable stories involve guitarists making first records amid peculiar circumstances. But few match Dave Haskell’s journey to Pivot…

Wolf Marshall

Jazz-Lore Generator

January 3, 2025 · Ward Meeker

Wolf Marshall was absorbing music before he could walk or talk. Born to a mother who was a concert pianist,…

  • Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings

    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,…

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ARTISTS

John Pisano

John Pisano

The Godfather of Jazz Guitar

February 22, 2016 · Jim Carlton

He’s a straight-ahead jazz guitarist who wrote a smash-hit pop song that’s still yielding handsome royalties. In addition, he has…

Neal Schon

Driven Journey Man

April 27, 2023 · Bret Adams

It’s been 11 years since Journey released a new studio album, and its latest, Freedom, is packed with 15 arena-ready…

John Oates’ Prized Guild F-30

Roots Return

October 8, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

Most people know Hall & Oates as a pop-music hit machine that has sold millions of records. What you may…

Greg Koch: Gristly “Blues”

May 22, 2025 · Vintage Guitar

Greg Koch: Gristly “Blues” Greg Koch fearlessly wrings the sort of vibrato that only a Tele will tolerate from his…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Roy Smeck’s Gibson L-5

One For the “Wizard”

March 1, 2023 · George Gruhn

Player endorsements are part of the tradition of guitarmaking going back to its earliest use for public performance. LeRoy G.A.…

Martin’s “12-Fret” 000-42

December 21, 2013 · George Gruhn

Martin has never been a stranger to producing certain guitars in very limited quantities. But just how rare is the…

Jersey Boys

Horray For Hollywood

The Guitars and Amps of Jersey Boys

May 9, 2016 · Jim Elyea

Movies made in the 1950s and ’60s that included rock-and-roll music acts typically showed them performing in segments using their…

The Fender “Korinacaster”

Double-Cut Kuriosity

October 5, 2015 · Ward Meeker

There’s irony in the fact that Leo Fender, creator of the first solidbody electric guitar to be mass-produced, wasn’t the…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

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Avid Technology Eleven Rack

Rack and Roll

June 10, 2016 · Pete Prown

The proliferation of digital guitar gear grows by leaps and bounds every year as more players learn to love the…

Bass Bruiser

The HomeBrew Hematoma Bass Overdrive

June 24, 2020 · Phil Feser

Like a lot of gear-making companies whose stuff is warmly received, Joel and Andrea Weaver at HomeBrew Electronics have never…

Eastwood Marksman 5

Bullseye!

October 13, 2015 · Zac Childs

Eastwood Marksman 5 Price: $999 (retail) Info: www.eastwoodguitars.com. Reviving great and unusual designs from the past has been the focus…

Epiphone’s Masterbilt Century Deluxe Classic

The New Vintage

April 19, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Most vintage aficionados admire the grand old acoustic archtops of the 1920s and ’30s, but admire them from afar. They’re…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Hot Tuna

Live at Sweetwater / Live in Japan

May 13, 2024 · Rich Kienzle

Jorma Kaukonen, who started as an acoustic folk-blues guitarist, returned to that style in 1969 when he and bassist Jack…

Mike Zito

Back to Solo Soul-Searching

March 3, 2017 · Willie G. Moseley

Following a stint of nearly four years in the Royal Southern Brotherhood, Texas-based guitarist Mike Zito is focusing on his…

In Memoriam: Rusty Russell

March 20, 2024 · Ward Meeker

Rusty Russell, a Nashville-based guitarist, songwriter, photographer, and writer who accompanied notable country and jazz musicians in studios and on…

Ken Fischer

1945-2006

June 10, 2020 · Dave Hunter

Although by most estimates he produced fewer than 100 Trainwreck amps, Ken Fischer – tech, designer, and amp-maker – will…

The Routes

Mesmerised

March 31, 2022 · Michael Dregni

Color the Routes’ mastermind Chris Jack’s music how you like: vintage-y, psychedelia, joyfully and unapologetically garage. But be sure to…

Wampler Pedals’ Bravado

Tone Tweaker’s Delight

April 24, 2019 · Chip Wilson

What’s a pedal platform? Nope, it’s not a carbon-fiber Pinarello mountain bike with Shimano shifters and derailleurs. It’s another term…

Dr. Z Z Wreck Combo

Dr. Z Z Wreck Combo

Tone On The Go

January 14, 2016 · Brett Jochim

Dr. Z Z Wreck Combo Price: $2,999 Info: www.drzamps.com. Originally designed as a head with a matching 2×12 cabinet, the…

Gretchen Menn

Abandon All Hope

April 18, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

Every musician aspires to create music that will resonate through the ages and Abandon All Hope, by Zepparella guitarist Gretchen…

Remembering Scotty Moore

Strings for a King

December 26, 2017 · Ward Meeker

Credited with creating the trio format and incorporating country and Atkins-style hybrid picking into the burgeoning rock-and-roll style, he was…

The Zelinsky Dellatera Custom

Easy on the senses

March 5, 2019 · Zac Childs

Dean Zelinsky’s history as a guitar builder includes unique designs that are toneful and eyecatching. To many, he might be…

Have Guitar Will Travel 064 – Luis Carlos Maldonado

December 23, 2021 · Vintage Guitar

“Have Guitar Will Travel” host James Patrick Regan speaks with multi-instrumentalist Luis Carlos Maldonado. Growing up in Arizona and SoCal,…

David Allen Bazooka Overdrive

David Allen Bazooka Overdrive

Ka-Boom!

February 10, 2016 · Chip Wilson

David Allen Bazooka Overdrive Price: $250 (list) Contact: www.dallenpickups.com An Internet search for “overdrive pedals” yields 1,610,000 hits, indicating a…

Have Guitar Will Travel – 012 Featuring Ken Emerson

July 23, 2019 · James Patrick Regan

In this episode of Have Guitar Will Travel Podcast James speaks with Ken Emerson. Ken is one of the world’s…

Big Beat Boys

Musings on Fab and Gear, 50 Years Ago

March 9, 2016 · Peter Stuart Kohman

Americans tend to link the beginnings of the Beatles phenomenon to a specific date – February 9, 1964, when the…

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SynapticGroove’s SlackJaw OD/Boost/Fuzz

Fuzz for Grown-Ups

May 2, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

SynapticGroove’s SlackJaw OD/Boost/Fuzz Price: $239 Info: www.synapticgroove.com Last year SynapticGroove entered the stompbox arena with the Snapperhead Overdrive/Distortion, attracting high-profile…

The Howlin’ Brothers

August 18, 2014 · Michael Dregni

Like a long-lost radio show from the ’50s suddenly coming to life on your radio in the late nighttime hours,…

Pop ’N Hiss: The J. Geils Band’s “Live” Full House

Detroit Get-Down

January 11, 2024 · Willie G. Moseley

You heard of the Boogaloo?” singer Peter Wolf bellows as the J. Geils Band roars through “Hard Drivin’ Man.” “You…

Category 5 TBR-35 2×10

Backline Star

May 13, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

Don Ritter started Category 5 Amplification designing amps for blues players before expanding to other genres while holding to the…

Cry, Baby!

The Story of the Vox Wah

December 9, 2015 · Michael Dregni

Beyond being crowned “Album of the Century” by Time magazine, Marley and the Wailers’ 1977 LP Exodus is a wah-wah…

Leslie West

Leslie West

Still Climbing!

September 7, 2014 · Lisa Sharken

Leslie West is renowned for his iconic tone and revered as a forefather of classic rock. A true survivor, he’s…

NGM Hosts “Medieval to Metal” Exhibit

String Spectacle

August 10, 2022 · Pete Prown

The National Guitar Museum, which has toured the U.S. for more than a decade, recently opened an exhibition titled “Medieval…

Stomp Under Foot Ram’s Head

Piece of the Pi

April 23, 2019 · Phil Feser

Matt Pasquerella has a reputation as a pi connoisseur… no, not the eating kind, the fuzzy kind. The creator of…

2025 January Issue on Spotify

January 15, 2025 · Vintage Guitar

This month we feature Lynyrd Skynyrd, Plasmatics, Jerry Douglas, Phil Lesh, Mark Farner, Larkin Poe, Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Ronnie Baker…

Mike Rutherford

Mike Rutherford

Re-Living The Years

January 4, 2016 · Bret Adams

Mike Rutherford prefers focusing on the future, even if recent projects have required the guitarist/bassist to think about life. Late…

Crucial Audio Echo-Nugget

Crucial Audio Echo-Nugget

Things Just Got Serious

May 2, 2015 · Pete Prown

Crucial Audio Echo-Nugget Price:$799 (list) Contact: www.crucialaudio.com It’s hard not to be impressed by the physical presence of the Crucial…

Harmony Comet

Michigan Meteor

June 21, 2022 · Bob Cianci

Whoever coined the phrase “Everything old is new again” knew what they were talking about. The resurrected Harmony brand, associated…

Rob Wrobel Le Voyage Lace III

Boxed Up

July 10, 2019 · Chip Wilson

Cigar-box guitars are a 19th-century creation that today are enjoying a trendy surge in popularity, and attracting the design expertise…

Kiesel Solo S6

Spank ’N Twang

May 3, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

Buying a guitar made by Kiesel starts with a visit to the company’s website, where you’ll find a bevy of…

Eddie Cochran’s Gretsch 6120

Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got that Twang

August 10, 2022 · Michael Dregni

One night in the late 1950s, Eddie Cochran set the world alight onstage in the City of Angels. Though the…