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Builder Profile: JHS Pedals
September 2, 2013
From humble beginnings of making two pedals a day to nearly 10,000 units in 2012, Josh Heath Scott stays true to his goal of turning out accessible, handbuilt pedals for the people—with a picture of your grandma’s face, if you want.
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Modern Builder Vault: TAO Guitars
August 26, 2013
Belgian luthier duo Serge Michiels and John Joveniaux push the boundaries of guitar design but keep form and function at the core.
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Builder Profile: XAct Tone Solutions
August 22, 2013
Greg Walton and Barry O’Neal of the Nashville-based pedal outfit talk about the stompboxes and effect systems they’ve built for Tom Petty, Oz Noy, Keith Urban, and other top players.
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Builder Profile: Seymour Duncan's Custom Shop Queen - Maricela “MJ” Juarez
July 25, 2013
Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Manager has wound pickups for a who’s-who of guitar gods—Clapton, Gibbons, Van Halen, Holdsworth, Harrison, and many more. But she’s revered for more than her tonal sensibilities.
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The DuncanAfrica Society
July 7, 2013
Canadian luthier Jay Duncan makes the world a better place by
helping others build sustainable communities, one guitar at a time.
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Inside Emma Electronics
June 18, 2013
The Danish designers behind the ReezaFRATzitz have a shop that lives up to their quirky product names—from a vintage amp collection to die for, to grandma wielding a soldering iron.
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Builder Profile: Godin Guitars
June 15, 2013
Robert Godin went deer hunting in 1972 and
came back with a guitar factory instead of
a buck. Today, the company that bears his
name is one of the largest stringed-instrument
manufacturers in North America, and counts
legendary players like John McLaughlin and
Steve Stevens among its endorsees.
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Builder Profile: Visual Sound
May 11, 2013
As a teenager, Bob Weil taught himself how to build
stompboxes by disassembling off-the-rack pedals and adding
the features he wanted. Before long, he was coming up with his
own designs and taking them to industry trade shows. Then he
enlisted the help of DIY pedal guru R.G. Keen, and the two came
up with their now-famous line of stompboxes that fall
somewhere between boutique and mainstream.
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Longfellow Guitars
April 15, 2013
Even though Longfellow doesn’t believe aluminum guitar makers will make an impact in the mainstream industry, he feels he has something uniquely different to offer.
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Builder Profile: Mesa/Boogie
April 15, 2013
Randall Smith’s amps have given voice to some of the biggest
names in music—from Santana to Metallica, Dream Theater,
and now Sir Paul McCartney—and, in the process, they’ve
revolutionized the entire concept of amplified tone.
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Builder Profile: Billy Zoom Music
March 11, 2013
The legendary X guitarist dishes about the trials of balancing a busy touring schedule with the demands of his amp business, and shares his latest designs for Gretsch, the Black Crowes, and Brian Setzer.
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Modern Builder Vault: Zeal Guitars
February 4, 2013
While growing up in Kaiserslautern, Germany, at age 13, the idea occurred to Bastian Kanbach that making guitars for a living must be one of the greatest professions ever. But
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Builder Profile: Bob Bradshaw
February 4, 2013
In the early 1980s, Bob Bradshaw paired his engineering skills with his passion for music and guitars. Before long, he was one of the most talked-about and sought-after builders of amp- and effects-switching systems on the planet—a tech to stars like Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Mike Landau, Steve Lukather, and countless others.
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Builder Profile: James Trussart Guitars
January 9, 2013
From the French countryside to the Louisiana Bayou, the rooftops of Paris, and the Hollywood Hills, James Trussart has spent the last 30 years following his obsession with artisan-quality craftsmanship and classic guitar designs. In the process, he''s carved out his own niche that takes iconic instruments into new sonic and aesthetic realms.
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On A Bender: Gibson and Joe Glaser's Les Paul Junior B-Bender
January 9, 2013
Gibson Guitars and Nashville luthier Joe Glaser team up to create the Les Paul Junior B-Bender––A guitar that takes pedal-steel-style wailing to the masses and opens it to a whole new world of tonal possibilities.
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Builder Profile: Fodera Guitars
December 10, 2012
Shrewd bargaining, a little white lie, and a series of serendipitous connections paved the way for Vinny Fodera to rub shoulders with some of the most esteemed bass builders in the business. When he’d learned all he could from his mentors, he set out on his own and ended up being the luthier of choice for iconic players like Victor Wooten, Oteil Burbridge, and Anthony Jackson.
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Everything at Hand
December 10, 2012
While still in high school, a friend and I embarked upon the creation of an amplifier company in the basement of my parent’s apartment building.
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Builder Profile: John Monteleone
November 5, 2012
From his days being mentored by legendary luthiers
Jimmy D’Aquisto and Mario Maccaferri to the
unsurpassed honor of having his instruments displayed
at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Monteleone has proven himself one
of the most gifted and original archtop
builders in the world.
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Builder Profile: Dagmar Custom Guitars
October 8, 2012
Self-taught luthier Pete Swanson
blends art and science in a
groundbreaking approach to
guitar design that combines
computer technology, wax
molds, and fiber-optic
photonic pickups.
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Builder Profile: EarthQuaker Devices
September 5, 2012
How former Black Keys tour manager Jamie Stillman went from hanging with Dan Auerback to reverse-engineering an old pedal and founding one of the most creative and futuristically retro stompbox outfits in the biz.
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