-
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…

Roy Orbison & Friends
Black & White Night 30
The year 1987 saw Roy Orbison in the midst of a triumphant resurgence. His ’60s recording “In Dreams” was featured…

Check This Action: Unearthing Blues Treasures
Steve Buscemi’s depiction of a socially challenged record collector in the movie Ghost World is not inaccurate – at least in…

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

DAN ROSE AND HIS TASTY TAKE ON A CLASSIC
DAN ROSE AND HIS TASTY TAKE ON A CLASSIC! Dan Rose used his ’58 ES-175 (with a PAF at the…

Andy Peake – Roots Without Boundaries
Andy Peake – Roots Without Boundaries Andy Peake is a drummer/percussionist with a long list of accomplished-guitarist friends. For proof,…

Crucial Audio’ Die Götterdämmerung Germanium Fuzz/Ring Modulator
Ring Tones
Named by Flaming Lips guitarist Steven Drozd after composer Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera, Crucial Audio’s lavishly named Die Götterdämmerung…
-
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

John Abercrombie
1944-2017
After a lengthy illness, jazz guitarist John Abercrombie died August 22 at a hospital outside Peekskill, New York. He was…

Remembering B.B. King
Ed. Note: Everyone associated with Vintage Guitar magazine is saddened to learn of the passing of B.B. King. In 1995, Mr. King…

Gibson’s “SG” Les Paul
Classic Shape That Filled Big Shoes
In 1961, Gibson replaced the single-cutaway Les Paul with a new line of lighter, thinner, mahogany double-cut solidbodies. Developed under…

Jake Andrews – “ Apricot Brandy”
Austin Stalwart Goes Full Steam for “Apricot Brandy” Jake Andrews was just eight years old when he sat in at…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Ovation Adamas II
What do you get when you cross a helicopter with a Martin dreadnought? Easy answer – Ovation guitars, perhaps the…

Webb Wilder’s take on “Beautiful Delilah”
“Hillbilly Speedball” sample Since the mid ’80s, Webb Wilder has cranked out consistently fine roots-rock. His latest is “Hillbilly Speedball,”…

Three Small Tweeds
Fender Princeton, Deluxe, and Tremolux
From 1954 through ’59, the Fender Electric Instrument Mfg. Co. built guitar amplifiers with controls mounted atop using “chickenhead” knobs…

Mark Erlewine’s 40 Years with Willie Nelson’s Trigger
Wooden Wonder
For a decade, Willie Nelson chased fame as a performer in the Nashville mold of the ’60s – hair coifed,…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
-
Live Wire
-
Narrow(field) Win
-
Take Flight

Friedman Amplification JEL-20
Firebreather
For 25 years, Dave Friedman has been creating amplifiers that helped him (eh-hem) gain amp-guru status. His limited-run Jake E.…

The 1912 Martin 000-28
The 1912 Martin
By 1912, players of fretted instruments were familiar with steel strings. Mandolins, which were enjoying their period…

Fishman AFX Pedals
Tiny Tools
The shrinkologists at Fishman recently introduced a line of mini AFX pedals that do many jobs in an acoustic/electric guitar…

Effector 13 Improbability Drive
“Beam Me Up, Jimi” – The Effector 13 Improbability Drive – spacey, fuzzy, and funky
We understand how you might react. “Another drive pedal?” There are so many… a lot of them similar, or nearly…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
-
More Personal
-
Rare Pioneer
MTD Kingston Rubicon 6-22
Crossing the Rubicon
MTD Kingston Rubicon 6-22 Price: $999 Info: www.mtdkingston.com Intuitive, player-oriented design, prime materials, and first-class execution distinguished Michael Tobias’s work…
Arbiter Fuzz Face
When Jimi Hendrix released his first album, 1967’s Are You Experienced, he launched a new level of guitar heroics as…

Pop ’N Hiss: The J. Geils Band’s “Live” Full House
Detroit Get-Down
You heard of the Boogaloo?” singer Peter Wolf bellows as the J. Geils Band roars through “Hard Drivin’ Man.” “You…

Jimmy James’ Psychedelic R&B
“Parlor Strut” on a vintage Harmony! Proving that ’60s import guitars can make cool sounds, Parlor Greens guitarist Jimmy James…










































