Latest articles by Rod Brakes
Classic gear: 1960s Fender Stratocasters
The Strat continues its journey towards iconic status as a new decade unfolds
How Rickenbacker evolved into one of the most iconic guitar brands in music history
Martin Kelly, co-author of Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970, retraces the history of Rickenbacker guitars
Gretsch 6122 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman: a hollowbody classic
This top-of-the-range signature model was at the frontline of the British Invasion
Classic gear: 1950s Fender Stratocasters
It did not take long before Fender’s iconic solidbody reached the heights of success
Amp tubes: the different types and what they sound like
We plug into the expert knowledge of analog gear guru, valve expert and Raw State founder Neil Perry
Roger Mayer on making the Purple Haze Octavia, a faithful recreation of the iconic pedal made famous by Jimi Hendrix
Short of the $70k original, is this hand-built reincarnation the ultimate pedal for Hendrix fans?
Top tweed: the evolution of Fender’s earliest guitar amps
Terry Foster, co-author of Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970, imparts his expert knowledge on Fender’s earliest amps
Gibson ES-175: the hollowbody electric archtop that was a Gibson first
With its Florentine cutaway, this hollowbody electric archtop was a Gibson first
Classic gear: Fuzz Faces
The classic '60s fuzz that hasn’t stopped smiling since the Summer of Love
Bigsby vibratos: charting the history of the game-changing guitar hardware
Andy Babiuk – musician and author of The Story Of Paul Bigsby: The Father Of The Modern Electric Solid Body Guitar – uncovers the origins of Paul Bigsby’s masterpieces
Classic gear: Gibson ES-350T
The history of the revolutionary thinline hollowbody that became a leading voice in rock ’n’ roll
The story of Frank Zappa and the Mu-Tron Bi-Phase
Eilon Paz and Dweezil Zappa unpacks the relationship between guitar's most maverick player and the ultimate phaser
Kirk Douglas: “I wanted to give other like-minded players the ability to use an SG in a way they haven’t been able to before“
The Roots guitarist's new signature Gibson might just be the most versatile SG yet. He walks us through its many features...
Calexico’s Joey Burns: “Dynamic range is something I think about a lot as a guitar player. It can be really emotional“
From Bartók to bossa nova, Burns talks about the diverse styles that keep him interested and inspired
The history of the Sola Sound Tone Bender
Tone Bender builder David Main of D*A*M cleans up the fuzzy picture of these classic British stompboxes
The curious tale of Epiphone‘s own single-coil pickup, the ‘New Yorker‘
The “chief mad scientist” at Curtis Novak Classic Pickups shares his findings on Epiphone‘s lesser-known Spectrum single coils
Classic gear: Fender Electric XII
The story behind every '60s studio's not-so-secret weapon – an electric 12-string that played well and sounded even better
The history of the Fender 'Tweed' Deluxe – the definitive tweed amp beloved by Neil Young, Scotty Moore and Don Felder
The story of the amp behind the tweed tone that still sounds “as modern as tomorrow”…
How Gibson rescued Epiphone in the late-1950s
Gibson's head of product development, Mat Koehler, recants the story of a pivotal moment in Epiphone history
The history of Gibson's electric archtops
We shed light on some of the key differences between Gibson’s early flagship models…
Classic gear: Gibson CF-100E
This cutaway electric flat-top set a template for modern acoustic design
The history of the Fender Musicmaster, Duo-Sonic and Mustang
Three classic student models demystified by Fender historian, collector and co-author of Fender: The Golden Age 1946–1970, Terry Foster
How Fender recreated Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstein so accurately that he mistook it for the original
Brian McDonald tells the story of how Fender built the ultimate EVH tribute – the original tone monster
