Skip to content

Enter to Win the Vintage-Voiced Cort Essence GA4 Guitar

Search

Latest Stories

Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

GALLERY: Rickenbacker Factory Tour

Go inside Rickenbacker’s Santa Ana facility and see how their guitars are made and see some of the historic instruments in their collection.

Charles Saufley
By Charles SaufleyDec 06, 2011
Charles Saufley
Charles Saufley is a writer and musician from Northern California. He has served as gear editor at Premier Guitar since 2010 and held the same position at Acoustic Guitar Magazine from 2006 to 2009. Charles also records and performs with Meg Baird, Espers, and Heron Oblivion for Drag City and Sub Pop.
See Full Bio

Sweet Pedal Steel
  
"Rickenbacker pedal steels arenуt as famous as the Fender models that were built down the road in Fullerton. But the business was big in the у50s, and Rickenbacker built some very handsome and distinctive models of their own."
rickenbackergear-historygearphoto-galleriesonline-onlyfactory-tourwhats-new

The Latest

Editors' Choice: Fuzz That Fuels PG Staff's Most Ripping Reveries
Gear

Editors' Choice: Fuzz That Fuels PG Staff's Most Ripping Reveries

Prime Day Deal Rundown: Top Picks for 2024!
Gear

Prime Day Deal Rundown: Top Picks for 2024!

Top 10 Prime Day Deals, Amazon Prime
Gear

Top 10 Prime Day Guitar Deals​

Amazon prime guitar deals
Gear

Prime Big Deal Days Rundown: Top Picks for 2023!

More for you

EarthQuaker Chelsea Low End Fuzz Driver Review

EarthQuaker Chelsea Low End Fuzz Driver Review

Wanna talk about rabbit holes? Well, few are deeper or darker than one that awaits when you compare the virtues, shortcomings, and construction peculiarities of Big Muffs. Make no mistake, I love the things. And studying real, audible differences among Big Muff variants is fun. But I would happily take back many hours I’ve spent contrasting Ram’s Head, Triangle, and Sovtek versions, and their clones—all to arrive at the conclusion that they all sound awesome in their own right. One dude that has spent about a million hours dissecting Muff tone minutiae is EarthQuaker Devices founder Jamie Stillman. Hisefforts to reverse engineer his pal Dan Auerbach’s unique-sounding Sovtek Muff begat theHoof, which remains among EarthQuaker’s most enduring and successful products.

Keep ReadingShow less

Most Popular

Roland Announces BOSS Effects Pedals Plug-In
News

Roland Announces BOSS Effects Pedals Plug-In

Supro Announces New Airwave Tube Amp
News

Supro Announces New Airwave Tube Amp

Win a KERNOM RIDGE Analog Morphing Drive Pedal – Enter by June 24!
PG Giveaways

Win a KERNOM RIDGE Analog Morphing Drive Pedal – Enter by June 24!

Did Hendrix Play This Rare 1968 SG Custom?
Vintage Vault

Did Hendrix Play This Rare 1968 SG Custom?

George Harrison’s Sweet Guitar Melodies
Lessons

George Harrison’s Sweet Guitar Melodies

Rare Guitars: Are You a Player, Collector, or Tire-Kicker?
Wizard of Odd

Rare Guitars: Are You a Player, Collector, or Tire-Kicker?

​Fender Player II Modified Telecaster SH Review

​Fender Player II Modified Telecaster SH Review

Incremental improvements yield a deeply satisfying whole in a Tele for all seasons.

Keep ReadingShow less

Upgrade Les Paul: Active Humbuckers!

DIY: Installing Active Humbuckers in a Gibson Les Paul
- YouTube
www.youtube.com

Previously, John Bohlinger was curious about what active pickups could do for his anemic 1994 Stratocaster and EMG offered their drop-and-go Steve Lukather SL20 Pickguard set. JB was floored with the guitar's fresh voice and responsive dynamics he wanted to expand the active experiment to his beloved 2003 Gibson Les Paul. So we got a set of EMG Fat 55 Retro Active Humbuckers that required a full install and our luthier friend Dave Johnson walks us through the whole process before John got to test out his old friend's tonal makeover.

Learn more about EMG Fat 55 Retro Active Humbuckers here.

Fontaines D.C. Rig Rundown [2025]

Fontaines D.C. Rig Rundown [2025]

The Irish post-punk band’s three guitarists go for Fairlane, Fenders, and a fake on their spring American tour.

Keep ReadingShow less

The Songs That We Hear: Capturing Jerry Garcia’s Tone

The Songs That We Hear: Capturing Jerry Garcia’s Tone

Milkman’s Jerry Garcia-style JG-40 combo.

Guitar players wanting to catch the Grateful Dead’s particular lightning in a bottle exist along a spectrum. Some are content to take inspiration from Jerry Garcia’s playing but make their own way regarding guitar choice and signal path. Others strive to emulate Garcia’s sonic decisions down to the most minor details and create signal paths as close to Jerry’s as possible. In recent years, an ecosystem of gear has developed around fostering Jerry Garcia’s electric tone, including everything from guitars, amps, and stompboxes to on-board preamps and speakers.

Keep ReadingShow less