Hey there! Nate Westgor from Willie’s American Guitars dives into the world of guitar strings, discussing the differences between flat tops, half rounds, and flatwound strings. He also shares the fun backstory of the iconic “Slinky” strings! If you’re a fan of vintage guitars, don’t forget to subscribe to Vintage Guitar magazine and check out Willie’s.
Nate Westgor, Willie’s American Guitar, Guitar, Vintage Guitar, Vintage Guitar magazine
Hey there! Nate Westgor from Willie’s American Guitars dives into the world of guitar strings, discussing the differences between flat tops, half rounds, and flatwound strings. He also shares the fun backstory of the iconic “Slinky” strings! If you’re a fan of vintage guitars, don’t forget to subscribe to Vintage Guitar magazine and check out Willie’s.
Nate Westgor, Willie’s American Guitar, Guitar, Vintage Guitar, Vintage Guitar magazine
Season 03 Episode 01 In Episode 3.1 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by longtime VG contributor Willie G. Moseley, who describes himself as a “stereotypical Babyboomer guitar lover.” They discuss lesser-known instruments made by Robin, Mosrite, and Peavey, then address the challenges in downsizing their guitar collections. Links: Vintage Guitar magazine […]
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Despite what some folks may tell you about the merits of “going direct” for guitar, nothing sounds better than a good microphone and preamp. The Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5017 is a small preamp that helps deliver the famed Neve sound heard on a million studio albums; better still, it’s highly portable. The rugged unit […]
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In the January and February installments, we looked at Gibson’s Thunderbird, an instrument condemned by its maker to a quick demise only to be reborn due to late-blooming popularity. Another early bass represents a flipside to that tale – one that was in production for years before becoming a major success. Most players today are […]
From Johnny Winter and Stephen Stills to Scott Holiday, the Firebird has been turning heads since the early ’60s. Builders Sander de Gier and Ewout Nijman out of the Netherlands are two guitar freaks with a jones for old-school looks and modern appointments. They have a thing for Firebirds too. Their first series for Volt […]
Al Joseph is breaking new ground in prog-metal. Known for his riveting guitar playing and instruction with Jam Track Central, he’s also an ensemble musician and vocalist. On his latest album, All Of Creation, Joseph brings together the drama and precision of contemporary prog with the soulfulness of African-American music. It’s a tuneful mix of […]
Misa Kitara Price: $789 Info: www.misadigital.com. The guitar synthesizer has been around for more than 30 years and made significant inroads to contemporary music, thanks to fusion heroes like Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Steve Morse, and Allan Holdsworth. The latest wrinkle is the Misa Kitara, which shifts the paradigm. Instead of a […]
When Anders Osborne, his band, and various friends went into the studio to work on what became Spacedust & Ocean Views, the music took on a life of its own. “We spent three-plus weeks recording, overdubbing, and working on things. Of the 35 songs we did, 10 or 11 seemed to have their own identity. […]
Nashville singer/songwriter George Ducas emerged in the Garth Brooks era of the ’90s with two albums produced by guitar ace Richard Bennett that harkened to ’80s “new traditionalists” like John Anderson and Dwight Yoakam. After two indie albums in the past dozen years, Ducas returns with 10 songs, nine of them originals. Producer Pete Anderson, […]
The creation of great music is almost always a collaborative effort. From session players to engineers, producers, arrangers, and marketing teams, many talents meld in the fulfillment of a performer’s vision. The music world lost a great member of the team with the passing of guitarist Marlo Henderson, who was 67 when he died of […]
The Redoubtable “Dot-Neck” Early every guitar conceived or designed by Ted McCarty during his tenure as president of Gibson (1948-’66) is today seen as exemplary of the company’s best work. McCarty, who launched the Les Paul model in 1952, followed with many more ideas that kept Gibson at the forefront of the industry, especially among […]
One of the greatest bluegrass musicians, singer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Bush – playing mandolin, fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric bass, and banjo here – pushed the genre’s boundaries in the ’70s with the aptly dubbed New Grass Revival. The 71-year-old has played on countless sessions (from Leon Russell to Doc Watson to Heart), released a dozen […]
Seth Lee Jones is an Oklahoma guitar powerhouse. Not only does he build his own solidbodies and acoustics, but he’s a formidable performer. His latest, Tulsa Custom, melds blues-rock, funk, and gumbo into a punchy sound that’s made for FM radio and dimly lit bars coast to coast. In addition, he has developed innovative slide […]
In no apparent hurry, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter just released his first solo album – at age 73. The guitar flash from Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers brings his six-stringing to the fore, even having the chutzpah to cover “My Old School.” Here, it’s a raucous jam, full of the wild-ass licks Skunk used so […]
It can be tough, living in the golden age of gear tech. Which piece of amazing equipment to get next? Strymon’s Iridium might be worth a look. A stompbox-sized amp modeler, the Iridium offers a selection of choice models and cabs along with nine cabinet impulse response (IR) software for loading third-party IRs and reverb. […]
Big Knob Pedals Price: Tube 808, $139; Echo Flex, $149; Vibe Tone, $159; Octavius, $129 (all list) Contact: www.bigknobpedals.com Gary Kibler started making pedals almost by accident. Originally from Los Angeles, Kibler moved to London when his wife was offered a terrific job. With a background in IT at Sony Studios, Kibler found work at […]
Even as new technology spawns new sounds, ease of use, and portability, there remains among guitarists a predilection for technologies of old. New sounds are inevitably compared to the earthy musical landscape of the classic era. After all, amp manufacturers got it extremely right in the 1960s and 1970s and an entire industry has ballooned […]
Imagine a Jimi Hendrix Experience concert where the audience actually disliked the band. That’s the scenario here, a secretly recorded gig opening for The Mamas & the Papas, a week before the U.S. release of Are You Experienced. At this Hollywood Bowl date, most of the crowd came for a genteel folk-pop show – and […]
Colby Amplification Park 45 Price: $2,500 (list) Contact: www.colbyamps.com There are legends that gear fanatics all know, and then there are hidden treasures known to only a few. Park amps were designed by Jim Marshall and produced in limited quantities. More consistent in construction and design than the ever-evolving Marshalls, the Park line had the […]
Bar-band grinders with nearly 3,000 gigs in their back pockets, when Twisted Sister began recording its major-label debut 40 years ago, they were already on shaky ground. Signed by Atlantic Records A&R guy Jason Flom, TS faced pushback from label president Doug Morris, who wasn’t shy about his distaste for the group and its “car […]
