Latest Features
“An impressive rethink of the best of early British rock tones”: The Tone King Royalist MkIII 1x12 combo is reviving the attitude of the British invasion
However you slice it, this amp cleverly packages classic British rock tones to suit a wide range of 21st century performance needs
“A fun vintage find that delivers unique and useful sounds”: Gibson’s GA-79RVT combo is an underrated gem – and cheaper than many of its rivals
One of the world’s earliest reverb-equipped combos, the GA-79RVT is a quirky, temperamental beast that nonetheless is capable of producing a wide array of sweet vintage tones
"A guitar that sounds as aggressive as it looks, with four gold-foil pickups wired in series, resulting in a very hot output…" The green monster that is the 1970 Kimberly Deluxe
More attitude than Godzilla, it's a mean-in-green Japan-made classic
"It was all there in the parlor guitar: that depth and inspirational tone. The only reason guitars got bigger was to compete with barking dogs and juggling children in vaudeville…" The big history of small acoustics
Richard Hoover unravels the history and mystery of parlor guitars
"The Bryn Athyn Cathedral in Pennsylvania called me about a stack of leftover Brazilian rosewood that would have been a living tree in the 1700s": How Santa Cruz's Richard Hoover sources antique materials for his luxurious lutherie
Santa Cruz captain Richard Hoover applied his ultimate artistic expression to his historic Vault Series that made its stunning debut at NAMM 2024 last week.
Eric Clapton's "Beano" Les Paul, George Harrison's 1965 Rickenbacker, Joe Satriani's "Pearly" prototype: Six stolen guitars that are still missing
The stories behind six famous purloined axes.
“I thought whatever made me happy’s gonna make everybody happy. I didn’t think it out”: How legendary guitar designer Les Paul bet on the “Black Beauty” in 1954 and lost…
Despite its glammed up features and appearance, Gibson’s “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom aka “the fretless wonder” was no match against the glitzy Goldtop. Discover its rocky road to guitar greatness
“Lush, evocative and a ton of fun to play with”: Gibson’s new retro-leaning Falcon 5 and Falcon 20 amps pay homage to the rare tweed-era 1961 GA-19RVT and “set a new bar for low-power tone”…
NEW & COOL How Gibson’s latest gorgeous retro-styled Falcon amp duo “recaptures vintage glories”
”What I’m playing is like a string quartet, meaning that a mandolin corresponds to a violin”: Dave Grisman on his Acoustic America album and stunning exhibition of 90 iconic folk instruments at Arizona's Musical Instrument Museum
Musicologist and gear collector David Grisman talks through the historic mandolins, guitars and banjos he played on his Acoustic America album, but you can see them for yourself at Arizona’s Musical Instrument Museum
Caught by the fuzz: The story of Electro-Harmonix’s tooth-rattling Big Muff, the stompbox guitarists have been falling in love with since the 1960s
Big Muff fanboys including Jack White, Dave Gilmour and The Edge, discover how Electro-Harmonix’s fuzzbox changed electric guitars forever
