vintage gear

- YouTube

Nashville's historic Gruhn Guitars give PG an exclusive look at a very early amp that is a piece of rock history that preceded the heralded JTM45. Amp builder and reverb aficionado Eric Borash of Ebo Sounds shares his expertise on this rare amp's lineage, while John Bohlinger plugs in Dan Auerbach's old '60s ES-335 to test it out.

Read MoreShow less

A stripped-down small-bodied acoustic that punches well above its price class.

Midrange-focused voice. Smaller body and scale delivers easy playability. Excellent craftsmanship.

If you love big, boomy jumbos and dreads, you might want to look at a different body style.

$2,450

4.5
5
5
5

As much as I love fawning over expensive vintage and boutique gearā€”which is a lotā€”when it comes to spending my money, I look for the highest-end tone at the kind of prices my modest gigs can pay for. With vintage gear, I want to find ā€œplayer-gradeā€ stuff: the amp that has some long-broken-up bandā€™s logo spray-painted on it, totally devaluing it to collectors, or the guitar with a refin that was done by the last ownerā€™s buddy who paints motorcycles. Sometimes, though, new gear is the only path to what you need. And once you enter the world of boutique, handmade instruments player-grade prices arenā€™t usually an option.

Read MoreShow less
Rig Rundown: Tyler Childers & the Food Stamps' CJ Cain, Jesse Wells, James Barker & Craig Burletic

These barnstorming bandmates are multi-instrumentalists who parade out a music store's worth of gear that provides all the twanginā€™, cryinā€™, moaninā€™, howlinā€™, and note-bendinā€™ thatā€™ll get you two-steppinā€™ or dropping a tear in your beer.

Read MoreShow less