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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. …

Maestro Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay
Return to the Space(y) Age
Maestro’s Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay, from the company’s Original Collection effects series, may have a retro-chic aesthetic, but they…

John Tropea
A Life in the Studios
John Tropea has spent much of his life in a studio, playing guitar, helping make hit records for people with…

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…

PRS Alex Lifeson Signature
Grand Designs
PRS Alex Lifeson Signature Price: $8,999 (list) Contact: www.prsguitars.com What do you call the most beautifully made production acoustic you’ve…

Larry Collins 1944-2024
Larry Collins, a guitar prodigy mentored by renowned flatpicker Joe Maphis, and half of the ’50s brother/sister act The Collins…

Ray Bonneville
Easy Groove
Ray Bonneville’s latest album, Easy Gone, glides on a steady groove. “I really like the way it sounds with these…
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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

Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Blues From the Backroads
Stepping into the spotlight to play the blues with the classic bands that backed Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, most…

Classics: Jeremy Graf’s 1961 Fender Stratocaster
A lifelong vintage-guitar nut who has had “a million guitars,” Jeremy Graf’s all-time favorite is this 1961 Stratocaster. A native…

Lyle Workman
Orchestral Maneuvers
You might not recognize his name, but in the last 30 years, Lyle Workman and his guitars have backed Sting,…

Steve Boone
Low-end with the Lovin’ Spoonful
The iconic quartet known as the Lovin’ Spoonful germinated in New York City’s Greenwich Village in the mid ’60s and…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Martin OM-28
Although popular music of the 1920s featured the tenor banjo as the preferred rhythm instrument, the guitar’s popularity rose steadily…

Classics: January 2024
Bill Woodward's 1953 Gibson Les Paul
Gravitational heavyweights in our culture, beyond baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie, few things say “American” more than music and…
1942 Martin D-45
The Martin D-45, offered from 1933 through 1942, is well-known as the Holy Grail of acoustic guitars. While players and…

Beyond the Parlor
Part Three: Women
Ed. Note: In the final installment in his series on the guitar in 19-century America, Tim Brookes offers a study of several…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Weller Guitars’ Stageliner
Jetson Moderne
More and more, guitar designers are digging deep, thinking out of the box, and using their imaginations to conjure hip,…

Schertler Giulia X
The Little Things
In the mid ’80s, Swiss multi-instrumentalist Stephan Schertler decided to follow his passion for electronics and created the Schertler brand…
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…
Amptweaker’s TightFuzz and Bass TightFuzz
A Good Buzz
Amptweaker’s TightFuzz and Bass TightFuzz Price: $280 retail/$199 street (TightFuzz); $310 retail, $219 street (Bass TightFuzz) Info: www.amptweaker.com. Since the…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Hot Wires
A Brief History of the Modern Guitar String
If you’ve ever bent a guitar string and given it a shake, send a silent thank you to guitarist James…

Mike Keneally Makes the Gravy
Dig his Meaty “Celery” The track is called “Celery,” but Mike Keneally sure makes it meaty! With a splash of…

Peter Stroud Keeps His Feet, and Keeps Movin’
On “10,” As Always
He has played with Dreams So Real, Pete Droge, Don Henley, and Sheryl Crow. It’s the latter gig that occupies…

Wolf Marshall
Jazz-Lore Generator
Wolf Marshall was absorbing music before he could walk or talk. Born to a mother who was a concert pianist,…












































