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Trending Now
Designed more than 30 years ago, the latest incarnation of Charvel’s Pro-Mod So-Cal keeps the “super” in superstrat. An eye-catching, ergonomic guitar with alder body bolted to a U-shaped, oiled-maple neck with 12″ to 16″ radius, 25.5″ scale, compound-radius fretboard, and 22 jumbo frets, it also has an ebony fretboard with dot inlays, and other […]
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On Things Eternal, jazz-guitar wizard Dan Wilson fuses post-bop, spirituality, and the songs of Stevie Wonder into a satisfying musical journey. The album is a celebration of those who have passed on, but don’t get it twisted; Wilson understands that what they left behind is the greatest gift of all, and he honors them with […]
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1958-’59 Fender Twin Preamp tubes: one 12AY7, two 12AX7 Output tubes: four 5881 (6L6 equivalents), fixed bias Rectifier: GZ34 (5AR4) tube Controls: Volume, Volume, Treble, Bass, Middle, Presence Output: 80 watts RMS +/- Speaker: two 12” Jensen P12N Many tweed-o-philes get more excited about the small and mid-sized amps that they can crank up in […]
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On Soft Hard & Loud, Dennis Jones combines the guitar-centric sounds of the blues, reggae, R&B, and hard rock. The album is a finely tuned emotional thrill ride through contemporary urban life. Steeped in the blues, Jones has never been afraid to turn up the heat. His guitar is up-front and personal as he molds […]
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Artists
Zakk Wylde
Electric Heart, Acoustic Soul
Storming the stage like King Conan The Biker, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde was one of the highlights of the Tony MacAlpine Benefit Concert at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles last December, laying waste to screaming guitar maniacs with a ferocious onslaught that included Black Sabbath and Allman Brothers classics. Wylde has been […]
Artists
Beckley and Bunnell
America History Lesson
Few bands warrant a career-retrospective box set, let alone two. Then again, most don’t keep going after 50 years. America is an exception. Their new eight-disc collection, Half Century, compiles archival material including alternate mixes, demos, rehearsals, unreleased tracks, in-studio performances, radio interviews, and home movies. The trio of vocalists/guitarists Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and […]
Artists
Kristian Borring
Up From Down Under
Born in Denmark, Kristian Borring now lives in one of the most-remote major cities on earth – Perth, on the far western coast of Australia – yet is making international waves with serious jazz chops. With his trio, Number Junky, Borring is unveiled as a tour-de-force on Earth Matters, delivering sensational improvisations left and right. […]
Music
Pink Floyd in North America 1966-1983
Glenn Povey
David Gilmour playing a rare Stratocaster doubleneck? You’ll see that 1972 photo and others in this reference book documenting Floyd’s many North American tours (FYI, one Strat neck was set up for slide). Largely a compilation of tour dates, setlists, and memorabilia with brief historical descriptions, what makes this tome interesting is the way it […]
VG Approved Gear
Prestige Heritage Premier P90 FM NAT
Liberating the P-90
Approach longtime players with a (yet another) single-cut/single-coil solidbody, and you may find it tough to get their attention. But, the Prestige Heritage Premier P90 does just that. Founded in 2003, Prestige Guitars now offers 14 electric and acoustic models with four variations of each. The company makes about 1,200 guitars a year, and after […]
Artists
Wally Stocker
A Baby Grows Up
After decades away from the music scene, guitarist Wally Stocker is back on his feet again and back where he belongs, playing lead guitar with a new lineup in The Babys. From 1977 to ’80, the group amassed a string of radio-friendly hits including “Isn’t It Time,” “Every Time I Think of You,” “Head First,” “Back […]
Music
John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
Live in 1967 Volume Two
The first volume of this set featured never-before-heard London performances, captured by Dutch fan Tom Huissen, who toted a monaural reel-to-reel recorder to various clubs. It offered new insights into the post-Clapton Bluesbreakers showcasing Peter Green, introduced on the album A Hard Road. The 17 performances (restored by Mayall himself) offered further evidence of Green […]
Artists
In Memoriam: Rusty Russell
Rusty Russell, a Nashville-based guitarist, songwriter, photographer, and writer who accompanied notable country and jazz musicians in studios and on stages for 35 years and was a Vintage Guitar contributor for two decades, died March 27. He was 66 and battled lung cancer. Born in Casper, Wyoming, he moved with his mother to Denver, where […]
Spotify
2021 July Issue on Spotify
This This month we feature Blackberry Smoke, Mark O’Connor, Steve Cropper, Ian Crichton, Jane Getter, Jesse Aycock, Ally Venable, Al Stewart, Cheap Trick, Blackberry Smoke, Tony Joe White, Black Sabbath, Jorma Kaukonen, Southern Culture on the Skids, and many others! Spotify is free, or available without ads via paid subscription. Go to www.spotify.com and search […]
Music
Terry Burrows
The Stratocaster Manual, The Les Paul Manual
Two boards, three pickups, some hardware, and various electric bits and pieces: Stratocasters are simple creations at heart. But setting one up perfectly, repairing it – especially stageside in the heat of a gig – and modding it are all art forms. These two manuals offer hard-won wisdom. These are not books about how to […]
Music
Check This Action: Folk-Music Meccas
Though I was only six or seven, I experienced the Folk Boom of the late 1950s and early ’60s via my parents’ cocktail parties, when their friends would break out instruments and sing “Michael, Row The Boat Ashore” and “Tom Dooley.” It was the commercial vein of folk, á la the Kingston Trio and Limeliters, […]
VG Approved Gear
Heritage Guitars’ H-157W
Turnkey Head-Turner
In 1985, Heritage Guitars took over a certain factory space at 225 Parsons Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan, after the former owners decided to move production to Nashville. Since then, Heritage Guitars have continued to craft instruments in the mold of those classic six-strings that first made Kalamazoo famous to guitarists worldwide. Their H-157W is a […]
VG Approved Gear
Keeley Monterey Rotary Fuzz Vibe
Stomp Festival
Jimi Hendrix passed into infinity at the tender age of 27. The fact that his influential career lasted only four years over 45 years ago speaks volumes. A visionary former chitlin’ circuit guitarist imprinted the world with his virtuosity and meaningful art. Robert Keeley has created a tool that allows you to summon the textures […]
VG Approved Gear
AnalogMan Jim Weider Big-T Bridge Pickup
Mr. Clean
AnalogMan’s Jim Weider Big-T Bridge Pickup Price: $135 Info: www.buyanalogman.com Jim Weider is one of the few guitarists who can truly wear the title “Telemaster” without being crushed by the heavy mantle. Besides his obvious prowess as a player, he is known for his beyond-reproach tone that recently has been abetted by his collaborations with […]
Artists
Greg Martin plays “Shotgun Effie”
Fresh Headhunters riff Greg Martin co-founder and lead guitarist in Kentucky Headhunters, shows us the opening riff to “Shotgun Effie” from the band’s new album, “That’s A Fact Jack.” That’s his gorgeous ’64 ES-335 running into a ’69 Marshall Super Lead 100 and matching 4×12. Read our interview with Greg and review of the album in the […]
Classic Instruments
1905 Gibson F-2
In the opinion of most American mandolinists, Gibson brought mandolin design to a level of perfection in 1922, with the introduction of the Master Model F-5. It wasn’t much earlier – 25 years or so – that Orville Gibson created the F model as one of two mandolin body styles (the other being the symmetrical […]
Music
Check This Action: Box of Cacti
The 1970 debut album by Cactus blasted off with a gnarly guitar riff for the ages, as the band’s rendition of “Parchman Farm” out-rocked any and all transformations of jazz composer Mose Allison – yes, even the Who’s “Young Man Blues.” Before “shred” became a term, the barrage from Jim McCarty’s Les Paul threw down […]