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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. …

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…

The Creation
Biff Bang Pow!
Hard as it seems to imagine, there are U.K. bands of the ’60s who’ve remained obscure and unsung despite increasingly…

In Memoriam: Leslie West
1944-2020
Leslie West, guitarist/frontman in the pioneering hard-rock band Mountain, died December 22, 2020, after going into cardiac arrest. He was…

Kay Jazz Special and Value Leader
Kay entered the electric bass market in the mid 1950s with the K162, which later morphed into the similar K5965…

Ray Cummins – Guitar Tutorial #8
Ray Cummins’ eighth exclusive lesson for VG demonstrates how to play backward rolls (arpeggios) being used in an intro or…
Peavey Vypyr VIP2
Backline in a Box
Peavey Vypyr VIP2 Price: $199.99 Contact: www.peavey.com For more than 40 years Peavey’s ongoing evolution while building guitars, amps, and…
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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

Midge Ure
Many Facets and Musical Stylings
Humanitarian, activist, guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Midge Ure has been a vital performer since the ’70s. Former guitarist/vocalist for Ultravox,…

Buck Owens and The Buckaroos
“A Bunch of Twangy Guitars”
Buck Owens’ track to stardom had an unorthodox start and believe it or not, his singing didn’t launch that journey…

Pop ’N Hiss: The Black Crowes’ Shake Your Money Maker
Hard To Handle
At the dawn of the ’90s, rock and roll was not in a good place. MTV had spurred a craze…

Jack Bruce
Surging Septuagenarian
Bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, who turned 71 in May, recently released Silver Rails, his first solo album in a decade, with…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

National Style O
Industrial Art
National. The name is patriotic! And what else but American inventiveness could have brought about a metal-bodied guitar? The answer…

100 Years of Boston’s MFA
Playable Exhibits
Musical instruments – guitars – present an interesting philosophical dichotomy. On one hand, they’re utilitarian objects whose very purpose –…
Brian Setzer
What a Dude Does
You can’t keep an iconic rocker down. Brian Setzer’s The Devil Always Collects is his first album in more than…

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…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

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…

Charis Acoustic SJ
Spirit in the Wood
Charis Acoustic SJ Price: $4,800 (base); $7,100 (as reviewed) Info: www.charisacoustic.com. The spiritual aspects of music perhaps originate with the…

Guild Aristocrat HH
High Roller
Since its arrival in 1954, the chambered Guild Aristocrat and it’s later solid cousin, the Bluesbird, have offered an alternative…

Pigtail Music
Pigtail music makes ABR-style and wraparound bridges (in the U.S.) with vintage-style appearance and materials, but to tighter tolerances. Their…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Metropolitan Tanglewood
A Rare Modern Map
Many guitar aficionados are aware of the instruments proffered by Houston’s Alamo Music. The Texas manufacturer has created unique low-end…

Pete Huttlinger
A Narrative (and album) From the Heart
To call Pete Huttlinger a survivor is an understatement. The notable Nashville fingerpicker has fought back from a major stroke…

Have Guitar Will Travel 087 – Rhys Lewis and Chase Mitchell
HGWT episode 87 has host James Patrick Regan speaking with singer/songwriters Rhys Lewis and Chase Mitchell. Rhys grew up in…

Neil Giraldo
Road Routine
The hard-driving husband-and-wife rock act that hits the stage as Pat Benatar and Neil “Spyder” Giraldo is responsible for more…













































