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Harp Legend Charlie Musselwhite

Harp legend Charlie Musselwhite has recorded and performed with a stunning array of guitarists in his band – Harvey Mandel, Luther Tucker, Robben Ford, Junior Watson, Charlie Sexton, Kid Anderson, and steeler Freddie Roulette to name but a few. Here, he takes the reins (strings?) himself, using his Gibson Nighthawk plugged into a Magnatone Varsity Deluxe to play a bit. In the May issue, we review his latest album, “Lookout Highway.” Here’s our review. Read Now!

Rick Derringer 1947-2025

We’re saddened to hear of the passing of Rick Derringer, legendary rock guitarist and songwriter known for playing classic collectibles. Watch for our memorial in the August issue, and here’s our in-depth interview with Derringer from 1998.

Harp Legend Charlie Musselwhite

Harp legend Charlie Musselwhite has recorded and performed with a stunning array of guitarists in his band – Harvey Mandel, Luther Tucker, Robben Ford, Junior Watson, Charlie Sexton, Kid Anderson, and steeler Freddie Roulette to name but a few. Here, he takes the reins (strings?) himself, using his Gibson Nighthawk plugged into a Magnatone Varsity Deluxe to play a bit. In the May issue, we review his latest album, “Lookout Highway.” Here’s our review. Read Now!

Rick Derringer 1947-2025

We’re saddened to hear of the passing of Rick Derringer, legendary rock guitarist and songwriter known for playing classic collectibles. Watch for our memorial in the August issue, and here’s our in-depth interview with Derringer from 1998.

Classic Instruments

Yamaha SA-15

Our perception of Japanese guitars has evolved slowly. At one point, they were cheap toys, at other times imperfect copies, then startling innovations. Perspective encircles the truth. So, how should we perceive the Yamaha SA-15? Japan became interested in guitars in the early 1920s, as some musicians there began to perform what we’d today call […]

by Michael Wright
VG Approved Gear

Widman Set Neck

An Eye For Detail

Widman Set Neck Price: $3,900 Info: widmancustomelectrics.com. John Widman is a custom guitar builder whose artistic leanings began while he worked as a graphic designer and photographer. After building bolt-neck instruments using off-the-shelf parts, he began crafting instruments from scratch, and recently introduced the Set Neck. A chambered single-cut, the Set Neck is built from […]

by Zac Childs
Artists

Sebastian Nagel

Meditations in Funk

Germany’s Sebastian Nagel is a producer, composer, session guitarist, performer, and fan of the funk. His latest project finds him joining Colemine Records for an odyssey into the groovy world of retro instrumental psychedelic R&B. The project is called The Winston Brothers, where jazzy octave guitar work meets dreamy arpeggiation, fuzz solos, and hallucinogenic fade-outs. […]

VG Approved Gear

Fender’s J Mascis

Fender’s J Mascis Artist Jazzmaster - J’s Rockin’ Axe

Introduced in the late 1950s as Fender’s “jazz guitar,” the Jazzmaster was also supposed to compete in the market with Gibson’s semi-hollow ES line. But despite its very specific moniker, the guitar never caught on with the jazz crowd. Lucky for Leo, the Jazzmaster was hijacked by many of the top surf and instrumental bands […]

VG Approved Gear

Dingwall Super P

Fanning the Flames

A time-honored approach to guitar and bass design is to take a classic and improve it. That’s certainly the case with the Dingwall Super P. Straight from Saskatoon, Canada, it’s a refreshing take on the Fender Precision and also full of hip appointments. The Super P neck has 22 smaller banjo-style frets and a compound […]

Artists

Rick Stockton

All Roads Lead to the ’60s

Working under the nom de plume T. Malcolm Oxford, Rick Stockton is the leader, producer, and guitarist for the Strolling Scones, a band that, according to its own bio, “sank to the bottom of a frozen lake in 1969.” They were thawed out in 2004, and the fruit of their labor is the wonderful (and […]

Artists

Tommy Allsup

1931-2017 From Buddy Holly to Bob Wills

No article on the late Tommy Allsup would be complete without the story of an unsuccessful coin flip saving his life – and that goes for this one, too. But the well-known story of Buddy Holly chartering a plane in 1959, and bandmate Allsup giving his seat to Ritchie Valens, avoiding the fatal crash, overshadows […]

Music

The Byrds: 1964-1967

Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, David Crosby

Like Dylan, the three founding members of the Byrds were ’60s acoustic folkies who, inspired by Beatlemania and the British Invasion, defined the amplified genre dubbed folk-rock. This lavish, chronological account of McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman explores three pivotal years through a blend of posed and candid photos (most never seen) combined with new commentary […]

Artists

2025 March Issue on Spotify

This month, we feature Jason Isbell, Steve Vai, Mark Sampson, Midge Ure, Michael Manring, Steve Hackett, The Outlaws, Larry Carlton, Albert King, B.B. King, Allen Hinds, Thin Lizzy, Tab Benoit, and more! Spotify is free or available without ads via a paid subscription. Go to www.spotify.com and search “Vintage Guitar magazine,” or if you already […]

Classic Instruments

Gretsch 6130 Round-up

Head ‘em out!

The romantic concept of the “Old West” – an enduring element of American pop culture – was spurred by pulp novels before John Ford introduced the world to My Darling Clementine and “Gunsmoke” arrived on the small screen. By the 1950s, everything from clothing to toys to candy had been offered to consumers using imagery […]

Marshall JCM800 2203
VG Approved Gear

Marshall JCM800 2203

Preamp tubes: three ECC83. Output tubes: four 6550. Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Pre-Amp Volume, Master Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Presence. Speakers: four Celestion G12T-75 12″ speakers per cab. Output: approximately 100 watts RMS. Late-’60s plexis might catch the majority of the raves, but the amp many music fans hear in their mind’s ear when they think […]

Have Guitar Will Travel

Have Guitar Will Travel – 020 Featuring Dan Hawkins

In this episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with Dan Hawkins, producer and guitarist for the Darkness. They dig into the band’s new album, Easter is Cancelled, and other topics including Dan’s home studio (where the album was recorded), his collection of recording gear, his car collection, the music business, […]

Music

The Everly Brothers

Harmonies From Heaven

If you’re weary of rock concert DVDs with critical commentary, typically unauthorized and of varying quality, this Everly Brothers retrospective is highly recommended. Authorized, with participation of Don Everly and a 2010 interview with his younger brother, the late Phil Everly, it’s an expanded version of a 2016 BBC airing, including a previously unseen 1968 […]

VG Approved Gear

Vintage Revo Surfmaster Quad

Four Your Love

A swank retro plank with four pickups? Heck, yeah! The Vintage Revo Surfmaster Quad is a semi-hollow with a quartet of pickups from noted U.K. winder Alan Entwistle, along with his ATN Variator knob serving up 75 tonal possibilities. The Quad has an offset shape vaguely like a Jazzmaster, but with a body made of […]

Artists

Justin Hayward

Prolificity and Perceptions

In addition to touring and recording with the legendary English band, Moody Blues lead guitarist/vocalist Hayward released his most recent solo album, Spirits of the Western Sky, in February. Such work affords him the option of writing songs in a different style. One of numerous aspiring musicians who as a youngster listened to Radio Luxembourg […]

JONATHAN WILSON
Artists

Jonathan Wilson

Charlotte to Cali

Jonathan Wilson is having a very good year. His Gentle Spirit CD (Bella Union), a hippie-soul drenched 80 minutes of folk-psych-rock goodness, has earned international praise. He toured Europe throughout 2012 to widespread acclaim, including a stint opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, turned numerous heads with his performance at the Jerry Garcia 70th […]

Artists

Samantha Fish: Slide-Blues Fury!

“I’m Done Runnin’” on a D-18 VG readers know Samantha Fish is the real deal. Here, she uses a Martin D-18 Modern Deluxe on an unplugged arrangement of “I’m Done Runnin’,” the ripping lead track from her new album, “Paper Doll.” Catch our review in the May issue. Read Now!

Artists

Andy Bassford

The Harder They Strum

Legendary fish-out-of-water reggae guitarist Andy Bassford has been a first-call sideman for decades. Now, he’s stepping out front with his first solo album – a remake of the soundtrack to the classic film The Harder They Come, which transported him from Hartford, Connecticut, to Kingston, Jamaica – and then, the world. How did a small-town […]

Classic Instruments

Barney Kessel’s ES-350 Rides Again

Return Of An Icon

Bruce Forman acquired Barney Kessel’s beloved Gibson ES-350 in mid 2021. In prep for recording Reunion!, he made the guitar his exclusive daily player. “All it needed was a little setup, and I put flatwounds on because that’s what Barney used,” Forman said. “I did, too, for years, but haven’t in a long while, so […]

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