Gear History
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Wizard of Odd: 1965 Inter-Mark Cipher Valor
May 16, 2019
Learn the history—and hype—behind the flagship guitar of the Cipher line.
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Trash or Treasure: Peavey Blues Classic
April 28, 2019
This all-tube 15" combo from the mid-’90s was produced for just a couple years, but helped develop an amp series that lives on.
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Vintage Vault: 1921 Washburn Model 1915 Style 1222
April 24, 2019
A little giant of the original parlor-guitar style still has stories to tell.
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Signal to Noise: The Sonic Legacy of Tube Amplification
April 23, 2019
Had electric guitar music emerged from transistors, would we even recognize it today?
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Reader Guitar of the Month: Not a Ric
April 15, 2019
After an enlightening lesson in Rickenbacker copyrights, a guitarist turns his once playable Tokai into an art guitar.
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Wizard of Odd: 1965 Zenon Zemi
April 8, 2019
Angular lines, sweeping curves, bright tones, and mysterious origins. What more can you ask for from a super-rare Japanese electric?
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Axes & Artifacts: Gibson ’58 & ’61 ES-335 & ’60 ES-330
April 4, 2019
Hear and learn about the surprising differences between these three classic axes of yore.
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Jol Dantzig's Esoterica Electrica: Simple, Man
March 31, 2019
Taking a vacation from complexity by embracing the electric guitar in its simplest form.
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Vintage Vault: 1962 Gretsch Princess
March 25, 2019
Designed for female players, this guitar had a brief reign but endures as a rare classic.
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Jol Dantzig's Esoterica Electrica: The Guitarist’s Pocket Glossary
February 26, 2019
Arm yourself with guitar-jargon knowledge for decoding the obvious, and not so obvious.
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Vintage Vault: 1960s Silvertone 1446L
February 25, 2019
A close-up look at the “Chris Isaak” model.
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Wizard of Odd: ’60s Excelsior Jamaica III
February 12, 2019
What do polka, beer, accordions, and hot mini-humbuckers have in common?
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Vintage Vault: 1967 Hagström F-300
January 17, 2019
A Swedish gem that's still got tons of rock ’n’ roll swagger—and a lot of switches!
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Trash or Treasure: Framus Strato Super
January 13, 2019
They may not command the price or popularity of some other ’60s vintage guitars, but these solidbodies from Germany have a solid footing in guitar history.
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Vintage Vault: 1967 Gibson ES-330TD
December 17, 2018
A hollowbody thinline guitar with a sound that appealed to jazz players.
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Fifty Years of Filth: The Story of the Mighty Tone Bender Fuzz
December 13, 2018
Zeppelin and Yardbirds recordings made it legendary, but the famous stompbox’s many iterations can be head-spinning. Here’s how to make sense of it all—and how to shop for one of the many clones.
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Wizard of Odd: Stella—A Story of Strange Solidbodies
December 9, 2018
You may know that Charley Patton, Lead Belly, and Doc Watson played Stella acoustics built in New Jersey in the 1930s, but these oddball post-WWII electrics hail from Tokyo.
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Tuning Up: The Vintage Legitimization Myth
December 5, 2018
Why do we love the lusted-after gear of yore? It’s a lot more complicated than we’d like to think.
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Vintage Vault: 1961 Martin F-55
November 21, 2018
A rare electric that’s just finding its place on the collectability scale.
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Wizard of Odd: The Enigmatic ’60s Lux
November 7, 2018
How I almost passed on a rare Italian beauty—and why I didn’t.
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