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!
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!
Seymour Duncan’s Whole Lotta Humbucker Price: $94 59/Custom Hybrid Pickups Price: $89 Info: www.seymourduncan.com. In lean times, who can afford to introduce anything but a winner? Wisely, Seymour Duncan has learned how to stack the deck in their favor, using its Custom Shop to test-market designs before moving to factory production. The result is boutique […]
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Fans recognize the first three albums by Dinosaur Jr. – Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me, and Bug – as alternative-rock touchstones. Propelled by J Mascis’ dynamic, alternating clean/distorted guitar sounds, their art was more than simply trendsetting. Written and recorded with bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Patrick “Murph” Murphy from 1985 through ’88, the […]
Damon Fowler’s records have traditionally been eclectic conjugations of American music – rock, country, a little sacred steel, and lots of R&B. On his latest, Sounds of Home, Fowler covers all that ground and more. “I lived with my grandparents, and everyone in the house liked country music,” he said. “So, I was around that […]
Brazilian guitarist plays American funk Igor Prado, organist Raphael Wressnig, and their band bring all-American funk on the new album, “Groove & Good Times.” Here’s a jam from the track “No More Okey Doke,” with Igor on his modded ’90s Strat doing it oh so well! Stay ’til the end, where he digs into the […]
The proliferation of digital guitar gear grows by leaps and bounds every year as more players learn to love the world of tones and effects offered by the technology. You’ll obviously get no argument from us that tube amps and analog stompboxes are great, but for more and more musicians, digital is here to stay. […]
Trademark Melodies from an Icon Will Ackerman and his Steve Klein guitar show us a piece of the lovely “I Had To Go There” from his new album, “Positano Songs.” He also introduces us to his Froggy Bottom signature guitar and a parlor guitar gifted to him by Michael Hedges. Catch our review of the […]
Wishbone Ash founder/guitarist Andy Powell has a new term for his resumé – “author.” Abetted by Colin Harper, he recently created Eyes Wide Open: True Tales of a Wishbone Ash Warrior. Powell has been with the twin-lead-guitar band since the early ’70s. As the sole remaining original member, he’s guided it through triumphs and travails […]
Contrary to what some aspiring bass players might think, the world’s most recorded electric bassist isn’t some modern-day L.A. dude purveying “NAMM chops” (to quote John Pattitucci) aplenty with the thumb and fingers of both hands flying all over his instrument. And they don’t have a custom neck-through bass (with five or six strings) and […]
The history of the United Guitar Corporation, which unfolded in Jersey City, just over the river from the glitter of New York, is one of the great obscure stories in 20th-century guitar lore. Jersey City, “left of the Hudson,” was home to the Oscar Schmidt Company, builders of the pre-war Stella guitars iconic in blues […]
Looking to score one of those legendary guitars made by the late British luthier Tony Zemaitis? Yeah, so are we. But given that Tony’s work today occupies its own unique space in the “axe strata,” chances are it won’t happen for any of us anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get close – […]
This long-lost relic was recorded before the band’s 1973 debut LP, with guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford (aged 21 and 19), bassist Tom Hamilton, and drummer Joey Kramer fueling the fire behind frontman Steven Tyler. Using Perry’s two-track Wollensak 1280 tape machine, these songs were captured at their basement rehearsal space (in a Boston […]
Gibson and Fender may be the longstanding heavyweight rivals of the electric guitar game, but they have one very important thing in common: they revolutionized the guitar industry. Fender took a monumental step with the introduction of the first commercially successful solidbody guitar in 1950. Gibson reacted by introducing the Gibson Les Paul Model solidbody. […]
If you play any breed of twang, country, roots-rock or, well, “Americana,” could there possibly be a better amp than this? Okay, according to specs and tonal preferences, sure there could. But for sheer vintage-hip and all-out cool, you really can’t do better than dragging this 1966 Excelsior Americana to the next Gram Parsons tribute […]
Few amps give such an instant jolt of history as a Vox. The golden nameplate, that distinctive crisscross speaker fabric, that black or fawn Vynide basket-weave covering, that tone – it all instantly evokes the Beatles, the Stones, Queen, and so many more greats. Way back in 1959, Vox introduced its AC10 to bridge the […]
1967, the Summer of Love. Everything still seemed possible, and anything went. No more war, racial and gender equality, Fresh Cream, the Beatles best record ever, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Phew! What a difference the next year would bring! And that applied to guitars. None more than this classic minimalist La Baye 2×4 “Six.” This […]
We’re living in a golden age of retro guitars – a period when you can barely turn around without tripping over some cool, vintage-styled plank. Granted, the retro fad has become a bit cliché. But who cares? An avalanche of rose-tinted guitars sure beats the pointy, heavy-metal binge of the ’80s or the bottomless pit […]
Bassist/vocalist Greg Lake, a force in the advent of progressive rock in the early 1970s with Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP), died December 7 following a battle with cancer. He was 69. This article originally appeared in VG the May and June 1994 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication […]
Guild’s Orpheum Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood Dreadnought Price: $4,999 (list); $3,799 (street) Info: www.guildguitars.com. Compared to Martin’s longstanding factory location in Pennsylvania, Guild’s acoustic guitar factory has been a gypsy. The company first produced guitars in Hoboken, New Jersey, before moving to Waverly, Rhode Island, then to Corona, California, followed by Tacoma, Washington. Today, New […]
