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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…
Dennis Jones
About Time
On About Time, bluesman Dennis Jones turns up the heat with blistering guitar, impassioned vocals, and epic tales of 21st-century…
D’Angelico’s EX-DC and EX-SD
D’Elegance and Power
D’Angelico’s EX-DC and EX-SD Price: $1,769 list/$1,259 street (EX-DC); $1,659 list/$1,185 street (EX-SD) Info: www.dangelicoguitars.com John D’Angelico produced just 1,164…
All That Glitters
Gibson’s Copper Iridescent Les Pauls
Like large celestial bodies, some guitar collectors have a gravity that draws objects to them. In 2016, rare custom-color Les…
1971 Dumble Special 16 #0001
Prehistoric Beast
1971 Dumble Special 16 • Preamp tubes: three 12AX7 • Output tubes: eight 6L6GC (most likely) • Rectifier: solid-state •…
Blackberry Smoke
The Atlanta band walks the line between blues, alt country, and Southern rock on their fifth studio album, getting lower…
Kid Ramos’ Raunchy Slide
Kid Carves it up! Proving that tone is less about fancy gear and more about feel, Kid Ramos used his…
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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,…
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ARTISTS
Dave Mustainen
Alive and Shredding
One of the most rugged, resilient rock musicians ever, Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine is a thrash-metal pioneer who has weathered…
Jenny Boyd
Searching For The Source
Dr. Jenny Boyd is founder and director of Spring Workshops, “organizing psychotherapeutic groups for people in need of personal development.”…
Robben Ford
The One and Only
There’s never been a shortage of young guitar hotshots, but in recent years, particularly among blues players, these phenoms seem…
Fabrizio Grossi leads band through exclusive take on “Right Down Below.”
Ready for the Soul Garage Experience? Fabrizio Grossi gathered the Soul Garage Experience for this VG-exclusive take on “Right Down…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
The story of the Martin F-50
Our friend Nate Westgor from Willie’s American Guitars shares the story of Martin’s first step into the booming 1960s electric…
The Micro-Frets Saga
Genius in MD
Had fate been just a notch kinder, Ralph Jones might today be a ’60s counterculture icon alongside Bob Dylan, Muhammad…
La Baye 2X4
1967, the Summer of Love. Everything still seemed possible, and anything went. No more war, racial and gender equality, Fresh…
Classics: July 2021
Warren Garstecki’s 1932 Gibson HG-22
Warren Garstecki is a collector who keys on vintage Gibsons with interesting histories, like the HG-22. Introduced in 1929, the…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Taylor 814ce
New Life at 40
Taylor 814ce Price: $4,378 (list); $3,399 (street) Info: www.taylorguitars.com Of all the guitars in Taylor’s product line, the 814ce is…
Budda Verbmaster 112
Versatile 18-Watter
Budda Verbmaster 112 Price: $1,800 (street) Contact: budda.com As part of its Hand-Wired series, Budda has reissued the tube-rectified Verbmaster…
The Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine
Synthful
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…
Eastwood’s SD-40 Hound Dog and Classic AC
Subjective as it is, the term “mojo” usually refers to gear that’s been played-in over the years. Eastwood tries to…
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Bob Seger and the Borneo Band
Lakeview High School, St. Clair Shores, Michigan, April ’73
If you were a Detroit kid in the 1960s, it was impossible to cruise Woodward Avenue and not hear a…
June Millington
Rock-Guitar Hero
Fanny, the legendary all-girl quartet from the early ’70s, kicked to the curb the notion of “they play good… for…
1963 Fender 6G7-A Bandmaster
Last of the Oxbloods
Those who love vintage amplifiers are often fascinated by little anomalies that present themselves in an otherwise period-correct specimen, and…
Ronnie Baker Brooks
Second-generation bluesman Ronnie Baker Brooks’ first album in 10 years blends the soul of Chicago, hot guitar licks, and old-school…
