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GALLERY: Vintage Electro-Harmonix Pedals

GALLERY: Vintage Electro-Harmonix Pedals

Russian Big Muff Pi Bubble Font circa 1995

Photo by Kit Rae

A selection of vintage EHX pedals that still inspire today.

Travel back in time to see the crazy colors that Mike Matthews and his N.Y.C.-based crew have concocted the last 40-plus years.


1969/1970 Original Big Muff Pi

Photo by Kit Rae

Late-'70s Echo Flanger

Photo by Tom Hughes

1973 Big Muff Pi Version 2, Ram's Head

Photo by Kit Rae

Mike Matthews Soul Kiss

Photos by Tom Hughes

An early-90s Mike Matthews-branded Soul Kiss wah-type effect. It features a plastic case with a strap clip and is controlled with the mouthpiece coiled next to it.

Original Memory Man

Photo by Bart, effectsdatabase.com

Late '70s Muff Fuzz

Photo by Tom Hughes

NYC Big Muff Pi

Photo by Tom Hughes

1970s Little Big Muff

Photo courtesy stillnovo.com

Late '70s Polyphase

Photo by Tom Hughes

Late '70s Deluxe Electric Mistress

Photo by Tom Hughes

Small Stone Family

Photo courtesy pedalarea.com

The top row of this Small Stone collection shows left to right) a mid-'70s model with minimalist graphics, a late-'70s version with large orange lettering, early-'80s and mid-'90s models with blocky black-and-orange graphics, and a recent Small Stone Nano, while the bottom row features three Electro-Harmonix/Sovtek co-branded units built in Russia and a US-made late-'70s Bad Stone.

1975 Little Muff Pi

Photo courtesy stillnovo.com

[Updated 11/22/21]

Though Lou Reed seemed to only use a handful of chords, his shrewd right-hand strumming created limitless rhythmic variations.

Beginner to Intermediate

Beginner to Intermediate

  • Focus on syncopation.
  • Add muted strums to enhance your rhythm playing.
  • Learn how to modify complex rhythmic patterns into smaller, more comprehensible figures.

Though usually more lauded for his lyrics than his guitar playing, Lou Reed had a distinctive style of strumming that can make replication a challenge and seemingly impossible for beginners to comprehend. With a combination of syncopations and muted strums, Reed’s rhythm guitar—from his time with the Velvet Underground to his solo career—has a groove and feel that all guitar players can learn from.

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Stringjoy has introduced the Ariel Posen Signature String Set, a heavy-gauge Nickel Wound set designed in close collaboration with acclaimed slide guitarist and singer-songwriter Ariel Posen.

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Nashville luthier and guitar tech Dave Johnson shows us the baker's dozen of tools he thinks any guitar picker requires to be a guitar fixer.

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Paul Reed Smith cradles one of his company’s Charcoal Phoenix limited-edition guitars in front of a PRS Sonzera amp.

The storied guitar builder reflects on his dozen months sharing his experience, knowledge, and perspective with PG’s readers.

Over the past year, I’ve written a series of articles in Premier Guitar going over some of my, and our industry’s, views of guitar making. You can find all of them all online (and for those reading this online, the articles are collected here). What I am going to attempt to do for this final piece is boil down each of these articles to a ā€œsort ofā€ conclusion. I have enjoyed the process of writing and editing each one. For the most part, it’s been a lot of fun. So:

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