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Taylor® Guitars Kicks Off 2026 With Two Major Launches – The Next Generation Of Its Flagship Grand Auditorium Guitars And New Gold Label Square-Shoulder Dreadnoughts
Taylor upgrades its most iconic models, adding “Next Generation” features to its Grand Auditorium body shape while expanding its recently introduced Gold Label Collection with traditional, square-shoulder dreadnoughts EL CAJON,…
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Thomas Custom Guitars
Rarities from the Pacific Northwest
Certain makes and models of electric guitars are rightfully prized for their elegant physical designs and superior craftsmanship. Even better are those also revered for their playability and particularly rich…
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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…
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…
Fender Precision Bass
The “Final” Configuration
The Fender Precision Bass was the first commercially successful solidbody electric bass. Played somewhat like a guitar and sporting a…
The Iris Guitar Dan Erlewine DE-11
Renaissance Reimagined
Among the famous names in American guitar lore is Dan Erlewine – guitarist, builder, VG columnist and editorial consultant, and…
Freddie King’s Gibson ES-345 Keeps on Playin’
Family Ties
Watching her baby boy become rapt whenever his grandma played country blues on her guitar, Ella May King had a…
Cliff Goodwin
Double Trouble
Veteran rocker Cliff Goodwin has worked with everyone from Joe Cocker to Robert Palmer in a long, 4/4-heavy career. Now…
Jubu Smith
Jubu
John “Jubu” Smith (Whitney Houston, Tony! Toni! Tone’!, Raphael Saadiq) has joined with seven-string renegade Charlie Hunter for an instrumental…
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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…
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ARTISTS
Jim Kweskin
Where Jazz Meets Folk
Jim Kweskin grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, and in 1958 entered Boston University, placing him near coffee houses at the…
Pete Anderson
Despite prevailing trends and “industry wisdom” – an oxymoron Pete Anderson has disproved several times over – the 20-year association…
Fretprints: Roy Lanham
Hillbilly Jazz Takes Hollywood
Woefully under-recognized guitarist Roy Lanham was a favorite of leading country and jazz pickers and rock innovators; Merle Travis extolled…
Jimi Bell
Lord of Shred
Recognized worldwide as a master technician, southpaw shredder Jimi Bell first received widespread notoriety for his role sharing a nightclub…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
1949 Bigsby Tenor
By the advent of the solidbody electric guitar in the 1950s, tenor guitarists were a dying breed. Consequently, electric tenors…
The (Way) Back Beat: Top O’ The Line, For Only $150!
The Immortal Danelectro Guitarlin
Having looked at the most expensive electric guitars offered in 1960s – over 50 years ago. Traditional makers – Gibson,…
KayKraft Style A
Almost any guitar can be viewed in terms of a confluence of influences that produced it, from the company history…
Fender’s Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic
Little Brothers
Often forgotten amongst Fender’s many classics, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic were conceived to capitalize on teenagers taking up the guitar…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
Fender’s Jason Isbell Custom Telecaster
Songs Not Included
Fender can’t guarantee its Jason Isbell Custom Tele will instill every player with Isbell’s talent for songcraft, but it sure…
Martin CEO 8.2E
Corner-Office Acoustic
Which new Martin is based on a vintage-reissue with a pronounced low-end? Noooo, the model designation does not begin with…
Carr Amplifiers’ Lincoln
Hot Rod
Carr Amplifiers has a fine reputation for high-quality, boutique tube combos with tons of vintage style and panache. Their gear…
Rivera Shaman Series Pedals
Holy Tones
Rivera Shaman Series Pedals Price: $299 each (street) Info: www.rivera.com. With roots stretching to the late ’70s, SoCal-based Rivera Amplification…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Revisiting Room 335
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Plus, a Pro’s List of Repair Glues
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Rising Tides
The Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+
Early Mesa/Boogie Mark Series amps were something of a sensation, but even with the line now having stretched all the…
Have Guitar Will Travel 077 – Patrick Davis
For Ep 77 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with Patrick Davis, from Songwriters in Paradise.…
The Leilani Lap Steel and Amplifier
You can receive more great articles like this in our twice-monthly e-mail newsletter, Vintage Guitar Overdrive, FREE from your friends…
Keeley Halo Dual Echo
Dot Matrix
In this latest Keeley offering, the goal is capturing Andy Timmons’ “Halo” sound, which mines the world of dotted-8th delay…
