• Duke Robillard – Lowdown

    Duke Robillard – Lowdown

    Vintage Guitar is happy to offer the premier of the new music video by Grammy nominee Duke Robillard. “Lowdown” is the  first single from his upcoming album, Blast Off!, set…

    Read more >>

  • 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…

    Read more >>

Ray Cummins – Guitar Tutorial #8

July 16, 2021 · Doug Yellow Bird

Ray Cummins’ eighth exclusive lesson for VG demonstrates how to play backward rolls (arpeggios) being used in an intro or…

Jesse Johnson

Jesse Johnson

Quad City Funk

March 24, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

In the early 1980s, Jesse Johnson traveled from Rock Island, Illinois, to Minneapolis and found fame with The Time and…

EKO 995

February 22, 2012 · Willie G. Moseley

The Beatles’ appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in February of 1964 is often referred to as the most important…

Leo Lyons

Fifty Years After

September 9, 2024 · Pete Prown

More than a half-century ago, Ten Years After sat at the vanguard of British FM rock, blending blues boogies with…

Mary Kaye

Beyond the Stratocaster Connection

January 6, 2014 · Willie G. Moseley

Most informed guitar enthusiasts associate veteran “lounge” guitarist Mary Kaye with the unique ’50s Fender Stratocaster model (blond finish, gold…

SRV Behind The Scenes

Four Years In Pictures: Offstage With Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1986-1990

June 27, 2017 · Dan Forte

The life of blues-rock icon Stevie Ray Vaughan was under a microscope even before his tragic death in a helicopter…

  • Rik Emmett

    Rik Emmett

    Canadian Custom

    Rik Emmett is a master of many guitar styles and other artistic endeavors. As co-lead vocalist/guitarist in the hard-rock trio Triumph from 1975 to ’88, he experienced life as a…

    Read more >>

NOW AVAILABLE!

CURRENT ISSUE

Join 25,700+ subscribers & be notified when new articles & more becomes available!

ARTISTS

James Burton

James Burton

May 10, 2016 · Ward Meeker

In rural Louisiana in the early 1950s, it was no small feat when a family scraping by to survive bought…

The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson

December 2, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Classic P-90 tones! The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson shows us a bit of “I Can Still Remember When,” from the…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Nate Westgor

July 10, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Nate Westgor Season 01 Episode 01 In Episode 1 of “Buy That Guitar,”…

Marty Friedman

Wall of Shred

July 2, 2019 · Greg Prato

Between playing on Cacophony’s landmark 1987 shred album, Speed Metal Symphony, and Megadeth’s 1990 classic, Rust in Peace, Marty Friedman…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The (Way) Back Beat: A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody

Fretted cheesecake advertising through the years, Part 3: The 1960s

April 5, 2024 · Peter Stuart Kohman

Fretted-instrument advertising in the 20th century relied heavily on “glamor” or “cheesecake.” Electric instruments and accessories, in particular, are still…

Gibson GA-83S Stereo-Vib

Gibson GA-83S Stereo-Vib

March 16, 2016 · Dave Hunter

If you hung around the audio world’s collective R&D room long enough in the late 1950s and early ’60s, you’d…

Earliest Gretsch 6120

…Revealed!

February 3, 2014 · Edward Ball

The Gretsch company rose to the upper echelon of guitar manufacturers in the 1950s with the introduction of a diverse…

The D’Angelico Excel Mandolin

March 13, 2015 · George Gruhn

The 1,164 archtop guitars made by John D’Angelico have brought him great renown as the finest individual archtop guitar builder…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Death By Audio’s Deep Animation

The Other Side

October 14, 2019 · Tom Guerra

If you thought envelope filters died out after Jerry Garcia passed into the great beyond, think again. Submitted as proof…

The Orange Acoustic Pedal

Juice To Spare

July 22, 2022 · Michael Shirek

Since the dawn of amplification, engineers have sought a better mousetrap – a more-transparent signal chain that preserves signal and…

Mu-FX Phasor 2X

Next Phase

July 10, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Mastermind effects mad scientist Mike Beigel is back with another re-creation of a classic Musitronics effect. The Mu-FX Phasor 2X…

Kay’s K161 Thin Twin

Post-war Blues Box

July 5, 2018 · Pete Prown

In his day, Jimmy Reed was a huge influence on everyone from Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield to the Rolling…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

 Isaiah Mitchell

Crowe’s Feat

December 2, 2022 · Pete Prown

When not playing with the Black Crowes, guitarist Isaiah Mitchell works with Earthless, a power trio that just released Night…

William Peale, Jr. Gibson Super 400

Sharp-Shooter Special

April 9, 2019 · George Gruhn

The iconic “singing cowboy” was created by Hollywood actors like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, and others. Many used…

Graham Clise

Bay Area Blaster

March 11, 2019 · Kathleen Johnson

Graham Clise is one of the most-heralded underground rock guitarists of the past 15 years. A mashup of Chuck Berry,…

Daredevil Pedals’ Atomic Cock

Daredevil Pedals Atomic Cock

Green Monster

January 27, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

Daredevil Pedals’ Atomic Cock Price: $150 (list) Info: www.daredevilpedals.com. Despite the many clever take-aways one could derive from its name,…

Excelsior Americana

March 7, 2014 · Dave Hunter

If you play any breed of twang, country, roots-rock or, well, “Americana,” could there possibly be a better amp than…

Luker Chameleon Combo

The Luker Chameleon Combo

True to Its Colors

September 2, 2015 · Bob Dragich

The Luker Chameleon Combo Price: $1,850 (list) Contact: www.lukeramps.com Considering the state of modern vacuum tubes, a surprising number of…

Carlos Santana

Musical Outreach

September 7, 2022 · Bret Adams

Carlos Santana’s creative drive is obsessive, restless – and relentless. For his latest album, Blessings and Miracles, he pooled the…

Martin 000-18HS

The Martin 000-18HS

September 3, 2015 · George Gruhn

According to Martin company records and research by late Martin Historian Mike Longworth, Cable Piano Company, in Atlanta, special-ordered at…

Have Guitar Will Travel – 034 Featuring Nalle Colt

August 31, 2020 · James Patrick Regan

Episode 34 of James Patrick Regan’s “Have Guitar Will Travel” podcast features Vintage Trouble guitarist Nalle Colt. They delve into…

1968 Fender Vibrolux Reverb

Silver Serenade

May 21, 2019 · Dave Hunter

Amplifier collectors swarm to models with descriptors like “first year” and “golden age,” but other types can be far more…

Budda’s Chakra and ZenMan Pedals

Zen and the Art of Tone Maintenance

April 14, 2014 · Pete Prown

Budda’s Chakra and ZenMan Pedals Price: $149.99 Contact: www.budda.com Best known in guitar circles as an admired amp builder, Budda…

Music Man’s JP13

Petrucci Pick

February 23, 2016 · Chip Wilson

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…

Dan Wilson

In Mighty Footsteps

June 17, 2022 · Pete Prown

A riveting soloist, Dan Wilson honed his chops as a sideman to jazz greats like organist Joey DeFrancesco and bassist…

The Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine

Synthful

March 19, 2014 · Phil Feser

Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine Price: $283.60 (retail); $212.70 (street) Contact: www.ehx.com Building on the success of its Freeze Sound Retainer…

Gibson Trini Lopez

April 19, 2010 · George Gruhn

In the early 1960s, as Les Paul was leaving Gibson’s artist roster, the company recruited three of the most respected…

Bob Weir

Ace: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

December 25, 2023 · Pete Prown

When is a Grateful Dead album not a Dead album? When it’s Bob Weir’s solo debut from 1972, also featuring…

Weissenborn Style #4

Weissenborn Style#4

April 13, 2010 · George Gruhn

The acoustic Hawaiian guitar of Hermann Weissenborn is one of the most specialized instrument designs of the 20th century. Weissenborns…

Mr. Smith goes to Rudy’s

“Upstairs” at a famed NYC guitar boutique

June 10, 2020 · Art Department

Nashville has Music Row and London has Soho, but if your heart starts palpitating at the mere mention of carved…

Deke Dickerson

Making Merle’s Memoir

December 14, 2023 · Ward Meeker

From the day he first picked up a guitar at 13, Deke Dickerson honed in on guitarists like Chuck Berry,…

Adam Levy

Staying Spry

October 17, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

As an accomplished sideman, Adam Levy is famous for supplying charismatic guitar sounds for Nora Jones and Tracy Chapman. On…

Have Guitar Will Travel 054 – Bonnie Hayes

July 13, 2021 · Art Department

“Have Guitar Will Travel” host James Patrick Regan speaks with Bonnie Hayes, guitarist, songwriter, and head of the songwriting department…

Pop ’N Hiss: The Black Crowes’ Shake Your Money Maker

Hard To Handle

August 21, 2024 · Pete Prown

At the dawn of the ’90s, rock and roll was not in a good place. MTV had spurred a craze…

Motörhead Bassist Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister Passes

1945-2015

December 29, 2015 · Willie G. Moseley

Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, founding bassist for the iconic heavy metal band Motörhead, died December 28, two days after reportedly being…

Fretprints: The Beatles’ Revolver

Sonic Floodgates

January 14, 2025 · Wolf Marshall

If any rock album can be labeled “groundbreaking,” it’s the Beatles’ Revolver. A sweepingly innovative masterpiece, it divides the ’60s…

Eastwood’s Classic 6 TA PHo

Phish Food

August 10, 2023 · Pete Prown

If you’ve seen Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio onstage, you may have noticed an unusual archtop in his mitts – a…

Jimmy Bryant

Country-Jazz Virtuoso

September 23, 2019 · Wolf Marshall

When Leo Fender strode into a cowboy bar on the outskirts of Hollywood one day in 1950, he had no…

Death By Audio’s Deep Animation

The Other Side

October 14, 2019 · Tom Guerra

If you thought envelope filters died out after Jerry Garcia passed into the great beyond, think again. Submitted as proof…

Have Guitar Will Travel 055 – Mark Goldenberg

July 27, 2021 · Art Department

The new episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel” features guitarist, composer and producer Mark Goldenberg, who studied with Ted Greene…

Mary Kaye

Beyond the Stratocaster Connection

January 6, 2014 · Willie G. Moseley

Most informed guitar enthusiasts associate veteran “lounge” guitarist Mary Kaye with the unique ’50s Fender Stratocaster model (blond finish, gold…