A selection of electric guitars entering their seventh decade.

1956 Gibson Les Paul Special

1956 Gibson Les Paul Special
Here we have a very clean 1956 Gibson Les Paul Special, shown here with the original Gibsonette amp, in Johnny Thunders-approved TV Yellow finish. Originally intended as student instruments, Specials are remarkably versatile guitars, having been used by artists as diverse as Bob Marley, John Lennon, and Marc Bolan. Guitar courtesy of Nationwide Guitars nationwideguitars.com

Looking for more great gear for the guitar player in your life (yourself included!)? Check out this year's Holiday Gear Finds!

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This full-amp-stack-in-a-box pedal brings a new flavor to the Guitar Legend Tone Series of pedals, Missing Link Audio’s flagship product line.

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John Bohlinger plays “Grandpa,” Kurt Cobain’s 1953 D-18 that resides in the Martin Guitar 1833 Shop and Museum.

Energy is in everything. Something came over me while playing historical instruments in the Martin Guitar Museum.

When I’m filming gear demo videos, I rarely know what I’m going to play. I just pick up whatever instrument I’m handed and try to feel where it wants to go. Sometimes I get no direction, but sometimes, gear is truly inspiring—like music or emotion falls right out. I find this true particularly with old guitars. You might feel some vibe attached to the instrument that affects what and how you play. I realize this sounds like a hippie/pseudo-spiritual platitude, but we’re living in amazing times. The Nobel Prize was just awarded to a trio of quantum physicists for their experiments with quantum entanglement, what Albert Einstein called “spooky action at a distance.” Mainstream science now sounds like magic, so let’s suspend our disbelief for a minute and consider that there’s more to our world than what’s on the surface.

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Sporting custom artwork etched onto the covers, the Railhammer Billy Corgan Z-One Humcutters are designed to offer a fat midrange and a smooth top end.

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