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Bex Marshall’s Saucy Reso Jam

Enjoy Bex Marshall and her Ozark 3515BTE Custom Cutaway resonator delivering superbly on an exclusive rendition of the title track from her latest album, “Fortuna.” Catch our review in the May issue. Read Now!

Kinga Glyk’s four-string tightrope

Superstar bassist Kinga Glyk brings everything from funk-fusion virtuosity to booty-moving grooves. With her ’09 Fender Jazz plugged into an Apollo Twin interface, here she plays “That Right There,” from her new album, “Real Life.” Catch our review of the album and an exclusive interview with Kinga in the May issue. Read Now!

Bex Marshall’s Saucy Reso Jam

Enjoy Bex Marshall and her Ozark 3515BTE Custom Cutaway resonator delivering superbly on an exclusive rendition of the title track from her latest album, “Fortuna.” Catch our review in the May issue. Read Now!

Kinga Glyk’s four-string tightrope

Superstar bassist Kinga Glyk brings everything from funk-fusion virtuosity to booty-moving grooves. With her ’09 Fender Jazz plugged into an Apollo Twin interface, here she plays “That Right There,” from her new album, “Real Life.” Catch our review of the album and an exclusive interview with Kinga in the May issue. Read Now!

Artists

Joe Walsh

Life’s Still Good

Whether coughing up the #2 talk-box lick of the ’70s, kicking the Eagles into overdrive, or wryly expressing his views on subjects ranging from rock-and-roll excess to lawn mowers to a good ol’ set of double Ds, Joe Walsh has earned a rep for delivering a message. The guitarist/songwriter/ producer/actor who gained fame in the […]

by Ward Meeker
Music

Eric Clapton

Crossroads Festival 2019

Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival has become the guitar event since its inception in 1999. With a diverse cast of the greatest pickers in the world, the event is a fundraiser for Clapton’s drug rehabilitation facility on the island of Antigua. This one marked the event’s return after a six-year hiatus. Available in three CDs, two […]

Music

Rush

Moving Pictures 40th Anniversary

If “The Spirit of Radio” helped Rush kick open the door to FM radio, its 1981 follow-up elevated them to blockbuster status. To mark the occasion, this 40th-anniversary Moving Pictures comes in tantalizing combinations of CD, Blu-Ray, ATMOS and 5.1 mixes, and vinyl. Along with the studio anthems, the jackpot is an unreleased ’81 concert […]

VG Approved Gear

Fishman’s Fluence Greg Koch Gristle-Tone P90

A Quiet Place

With the miracle of micro-electronics, you can pack a massive amount of tone into a tight space. Case in point: Fishman’s Fluence Gristle-Tone P90, designed in collaboration with guitar maven Greg Koch. Looking like a vintage P-90, but redesigned from the ground up with modern tech and old-school tones these pickups deploy active electronics and […]

Valco El Grande
Classic Instruments

Valco El Grande

Preamp tube: one 6SL7 Output tube: one 6V6GT Rectifier: 5Y3 Controls: Volume, Tone Speaker: 8″ Rola speaker Output: 5 watts RMS We dig old Valco-made amps wearing Supro, National, Airline, Oahu, Bronson and other badges for the way they deliver a sweetly burnished, chocolatey overdrive at studio-friendly levels when you inject a six-string electric and […]

VG Approved Gear

Kay’s K161 Thin Twin

Post-war Blues Box

In his day, Jimmy Reed was a huge influence on everyone from Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield to the Rolling Stones and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Among its reissues, Kay Guitar has included the K161 Thin Twin, the guitar irrevocably associated with the legendary Chicago bluesman. Strapped on, the Thin Twin is a hefty axe for […]

Classic Instruments

Vintage Instrument Research

An Ever-Changing Landscape

Fretted instruments can be examined in much the same way as zoological taxonomist or forensic pathologist would approach them. They fit well into a Linnaean taxonomic order, and in fact that is very much the approach we use in identifying and dating fretted instruments. In addition, these instruments can be examined much the same way […]

George Gruhn and Staff
Artists

Remembering Jeff Beck

The Guitar Hero, Defined

Jeff Beck, the guitarist who pushed the ’60s British Invasion band the Yardbirds from its electric-blues roots to a contemporary rock-and-roll sound before becoming one of the most-influential musicians of his generation, died January 10 after being stricken with bacterial meningitis. He was 78. Born Geoffrey Arnold to Arnold and Ethel Beck on June 24, […]

Classic Instruments

In Detail: Gibson’s 1954-’58 Les Paul Junior

In 1952, Gibson’s Les Paul model guitar was brand spanking new.  But it wasn’t cutting-edge. True, it was the company’s first solidbody electric guitar, and thus earned a bit of notoriety. But just being Gibson’s first solidbody didn’t win it any real accolades. After all, Leo Fender’s Broadcaster and Telecaster models accomplished the same duties […]

Artists

David Catching

Desert Eagle

Producer and owner of the enigmatic Rancho de la Luna studio in the California desert, guitarist David Catching has been touring with Eagles of Death Metal since 2004. In November of 2015, the band was performing at the Bataclan Theater, in Paris, when three gunmen burst in, killing 90 concert goers and injuring more than […]

Classic Instruments

The D’Angelico Excel Mandolin

The 1,164 archtop guitars made by John D’Angelico have brought him great renown as the finest individual archtop guitar builder in the history of the instrument. His mandolins, however, are seldom talked about, even though – if this particular example from the early 1940s is any indication – they are worthy of the same attention. […]

George Gruhn and Walter Carter
Music

Eliza Gilkyson

Songs from the River Wind

In contrast to her last few, politically-focused albums, Eliza Gilkyson considers this a “love letter to the Old West.” Revisiting her folk roots through originals, covers, and traditional favorites fits her lineage well – her late dad, singer Terry Gilkyson, was one-third of the ’50s folk trio The Easy Riders and a successful composer in […]

Artists

Motörhead Bassist Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister Passes

1945-2015

Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, founding bassist for the iconic heavy metal band Motörhead, died December 28, two days after reportedly being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and four days after his 70th birthday. Kilmister hailed from North Wales. England, and lore had it that he gained the nickname as a youngster, when he would […]

Classic Instruments

Dan’s Guitar RX: A New Tool Makes Luthiery Easier

With a Little Help...

I recently discovered a sturdy pedestal stand that holds a guitar by its neck and makes repair, builds, and setup jobs better, safer, and easier, especially for someone who doesn’t have a shop with benches or permanent fixtures. Called the Total Vise, it beats anything else I’ve built or tried for the purpose. Designed as […]

Artists

Marc Bonilla

Servant Of The Music

On March 11, 2016, keyboardist Keith Emerson took his own life. He was 71 and left a legacy of groundbreaking music that brought together the worlds of rock and classical. In May of 2016, a tribute concert was organized by guitarist and bandmate Marc Bonilla, featuring Emerson’s music with guests Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Jordan Rudess, […]

Artists

Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

The Chicago resident has been exciting blues audiences worldwide for decades. But he built his reputation working the local club circuit, playing for African-American audiences and Chuck Berry-inspired rock for suburban white kids.

Classic Instruments

Stromberg G-5

In the world of archtop guitars, the Stromberg name represents the ultimate instrument – in size, at least – in the big-band era of the late 1930s and ’40s. The huge 19″ Master 400 and Master 300 models are worthy of their flagship status as the best-known and most revered Strombergs. However, this smaller, short-scale […]

Classic Instruments

Classics: October 2021

Ibanez IC200 Iceman

Pete Prown’s obsession with the Ibanez Iceman began when the company’s 1978 guitar catalog landed atop dealer display cases; the teen rocker dreamily eyed what would be the first step up from his Gibson Marauder. “I got the catalog at the iconic original Brian’s Guitars in New Haven, Connecticut, and it blew me away – […]

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