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

Hot Rod Garage: Mods from Readers

An eye-popping gallery of radically reimagined guitars.

Matthew Short
This vision in red from Matthew Short is a 2006 Mexican-made Fender Strat with a Floyd Rose trem. Short replaced the stock pickups with an Arcane Inc. Desert Eagle neck pickup and an Arcane Mr. Scary at the bridge. He also added the red pickguard.

Throughout the year we collect stories and photos of guitar-mod projects created by you, our dear readers. Some are so inspiring that we include them here in our annual Hot Rod issue.

The Jack White Pano Verb features unique stereo-imagine options. “[White] wanted to be able to do sort of startling things with each speaker’s content,” says Fender’s Stan Cotey.

Fender’s Jack White Collection dropped this week, and it includes what might be the most exciting tube amp design in decades. Fender’s Stan Cotey shares some firsthand insight into this unique amp’s design.

This week, Fender and Jack White dropped a new line that spun heads across the guitar-gear universe, proving that the Third Man’s brain knows no bounds. White has been blowing minds with Third Man Hardware’s line of collaboratively conceived gear. Working with makers of all sizes, each yellow-and-black piece is as unique as White himself.

Read MoreShow less

Our guest columnist’s current pedalboard spices his EXH diet with stomps from Line 6, TC Electronic, Strymon, Fulltone, Ibanez, and Boss.

Ex-B-52s member, composer, and NYC music scene veteran Pat Irwin loves pairing EHX pedals with keyboards—and recollecting good times with his late guitar virtuoso friend.

I’ve got a thing for Electro-Harmonix effects boxes. I’ve got a Crying Tone Wah that’s the coolest, a 16 Second Digital Delay, and a Deluxe Memory Man. All have made their way onto my ambient country band SUSS’s new record, Birds & Beasts. And currently a Big Muff, two Freeze Sound Retainers, and a Mel9 Tape Replay Machine are on my pedalboard. Here’s the thing: I like using them on keyboards.

Read MoreShow less

The legendary Elvis sideman was a pioneer of rockabilly guitar, and his approach to merging blues and country influenced generations of guitar pickers. Here’s how he did it.


Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Beginner
Lesson Overview:
• Craft simple blues-based phrases that lie within the CAGED system.
• Understand how double-stops are used in rockabilly music.
• Improve your Travis picking.


Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.

In 2016 we lost one of the most influential guitarists and unsung heroes the world has ever known. The driving force behind Elvis Presley’s first recordings, Winfield Scott “Scotty” Moore III helped shape the sound of rock ’n’ roll and inspire generations of fans. Born in 1931, Scotty caught his big break in 1954 when he was called to do a session with Elvis at Sam Phillip’s Sun Studio in Memphis. History was made that day when Elvis recorded “That’s All Right,” and for about four years, Scotty provided 6-string magic for such Elvis hits as “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” and “Jailhouse Rock.”

A huge Chet Atkins fan, Scotty grew up listening to country and jazz. This blend would have a dramatic impact on his sound, as he would mix Travis picking with some ear-twisting note choices based on chords, rather than using an obvious scalar approach.

Read MoreShow less

A reimagined classic S-style guitar with Fishman Greg Koch Signature pickups and a Wilkinson VS100N tremolo.

Read MoreShow less