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MusicNomad is running a fun Valentine’s Day challenge for guitar players — and it’s a good one.
Has Your Guitar Been KISSed? 💋🎸 This Valentine’s Day, MusicNomad is asking one big question: Has your guitar been KISSed? Show your guitar some love with a KEEP IT SIMPLE,…
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from…
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Pieces of a Prototype
Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. …

Mick Taylor’s ’58 Les Paul Standard
The Ya Ya’s Out!
Hard-edged face of the British Invasion, the Rolling Stones introduced the world to the implements, trappings, and accessories of rock-and-roll…

Howard Leese
Heart-less But Guitar Laden
Guitarist/ producer/ entrepreneur Howard Leese has come a long way since his early days with Heart in the 1970s. He…

Foghat
Sonic Mojo
Few things in life are guaranteed – but one is that drummer Roger Earl will keep Foghat truckin’. For 50-plus…

Musicvox Space Cadet and MVX-15 Studio Custom
Rockin’ Down the House
Musicvox Space Cadet and MVX-15 Studio Custom Price: $999 (Space Cadet)/$699 (MVX-15) Contact: www.musicvox.com For nearly two decades, Musicvox’s designs…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Creating the Iris DE-11
Something New From Something Old
In last month’s “Approved Gear,” VG reviewed the Iris Guitar Company DE-11. If you missed it, I’d suggest you grab…
Mark Knopfler
Straitforward
Very early in life, Mark Knopfler had a connection with music. His mother cared for the family while BBC programs…
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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

Molly Miller – top-flight instrumental rock, jazz, and twang
Trio rips on “2 West” Instrumental guitar music is having a moment. Offering a stellar example, Molly Miller and her…

Marc Bonilla
Servant Of The Music
On March 11, 2016, keyboardist Keith Emerson took his own life. He was 71 and left a legacy of groundbreaking…

George Gruhn
How a Zoologist Became a Guitar animal
If you bumped into a bearded, corduroy-jacketed George Gruhn in a Nashville coffee shop, you might think you’d stumbled upon…

Johnny Winter
Returning To His Roots
In December, 1968, Mike Bloomfield asked Johnny Winter to perform at the Fillmore East in New York at a Super…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Rising Rockers
Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
In an era when the sub-20-watt combo is arguably the most popular guitar-amp format, it’s worth remembering that several classics…

1843 Martin & Coupa
Retail Rarity
In 1833, C.F. Martin, Sr. and his family arrived in New York City. A trained luthier, Martin had studied under…

Classics: Marc Schoenberger’s Rickenbacker Combo 600
Marc Schoenberger was part of the early-’70s vanguard on the Southern California guitar scene – not as a gigging musician,…

Classics: September 2021
Fenton Robinson’s Gibson ES-225
Kevin Ludwig first became aware of Fenton Robinson in 1975, when he heard Boz Scaggs’ version of “Somebody Loan Me…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Henriksen Amplifiers’ The Blu
Sound Cube
One old cliché among gigging musicians is, “They pay me for the aggravation, the music is free.” A good deal…

Ibanez AF95
Jazzed UP
In 2021, Ibanez re-tooled its hollowbody line to devise big surprises like the Japanese-made AF95, a full-bodied archtop with a…

Breedlove Organic Performer Pro Concert Aged Toner CE
Natural Beauty
With climate change on the minds of so many, guitar builders have started to offer more instruments that are good…

Louis Electric 6L6-183 Cobra
Humble, Capital D
One glance at the control panel and cabinet styling of the Louis Electric 6L6-183 Cobra is all most will need…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Storied Board
The Tale of Bobby Whitlock’s D-35
Plenty of musicians personalize instruments with their names or initials. So, it’s easy to assume that Robert “Bobby” Whitlock commissioned…

Christopher Thorn
Alt-Rocker/Studio Guru
Best known as half of the guitar tandem in the ’90s alternative-rock band Blind Melon (that’s his rhythm on “No…

John Leventhal
Rumble Strip
After 45 years as a roots music sideman and record producer, winning six Grammys, Leventhal’s first solo effort is an…

Mark Tremonti
Rock Star, Amp Snob!
Many of the people we today consider “guitar heroes” – Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to name a…












































