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GALLERY: Reader Hot Rod Guitars 2012, Part 2

See more reader-submitted modded guitars!

"This ""Pirate Guitar"" was built by Kirk Kralidis, who picked up the unfinished, Chinese-made, kit instrument for $80. ""I wanted to give it a rough look so I stained it with a bit of sanding, and decorated it with some stars and stuff,"" Kralidis says. ""Then I added a 1980 DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup with a quality volume pot, and that's it. After a good setup, it plays great and sounds fantastic!"""

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Gibson J 45 & Hummingbird Special | NAMM 2025
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The heralded J-45 & Hummingbird Gibson acoustic models go the no-frills treatment with the release of the Special series that focuses on creating inspiring, well-built instruments that skimp on the extra but not on the tone. These American-made dreads provide the bell-like chime, sparkle, and articulate punch we love from their lineage but come in at a competitive price point.

Gibson Murphy Lab Heavy Aged Acoustic Collection Demos | NAMM 2025
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These might look like old Gibson friends (and that's the point), but these are fresh out of the factory in Bozeman, Montana. Under the watchful eye of Tom Murphy, the relic rage has fully sunk deeper into their acoustic operation as they're now offering heavy-aged options for their flattops like the 1960 Hummingbird and 1939 SJ-100, which hasn't been made in nearly 90 years!

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Vega Trem VT1 Evolution Demo | NAMM 2025
- YouTube

Vega-Trem brought a new tool to the trade show with the introduction of the VT1 Evolution that works for all the Floyd-Rose freaks to give you all the dive-bomb debauchery, but with a flick of a switch, you had a blocked trem that lets you easily slide into drop-D tuning or open tunings for slide. It's a piece of machined metal, but the ingenious design will help gigging guitarists cover a lot of ground on any given set without any guitar changes.

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