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76 WATTS THE HARD WAY
The VG Low-Watt Tube Shootout ’05
For guitarists, the richness and warmth of tube saturation is the key to nirvana. But big tube amps and small rooms don’t mix, so we gave a listen to handful of low-watt amps. Here’s what we found. By Bob Dragich

IN DETAIL
Fender’s 1951-’54 Telecaster
Fender’s first Spanish-style guitar was a lesson in functional simplicity with its solid body, single pickup, and bolt-on neck. And it didn’t receive a welcome fit for the legend it would become. By Ward Meeker

BASS SPACE
The Gibson RD Artist
Gibson’s oft-maligned RD solidbodies were introduced in 1977 with a body silhouette like a melted Firebird and active circuitry designed by a keyboard synthesizer guy. Did they deserve the bum rap? By Willie G. Moseley

1934 MARTIN 12-FRET D-28
Twelve-fret D-28s are extremely scarce – 17 were made. And this one appears to be a custom-order, with solid peghead, style 45 neck ornamentation, single-bound fingerboard, vertical peghead logo, and snowflake fingerboard inlays. By George Gruhn

MIKE WILHELM
The Saga (and Seeds) of The Charlatans
In the early summer of ’65, The Charlatans played a gig that, along with its handbill, were harbingers of “psychedelic” music, or “acid rock.” Guitarist Mike Wilhelm was there to bear witness. By Willie G. Moseley

1968 YAMAHA SG-3C
From a guitar perspective, the Class of ’68 produced a true whack pack, including this SG-3C, perhaps the only guitar which the term “pulling your ear” might literally refer to playing its earlobe-shaped body! By Michael Wright

BEYOND THE PARLOR
Part 1: The Guitar in Non-Anglo America
In the first of three features on the subject, we explore what was the arguably the most extensive and skillful guitar culture of the 19th century – that of non-English-speaking communities. By Tim Brookes

THE DIFFERENT STRUMMER
Back to the Future: Retro Guitars, Part 1
Blame it on Kurt Cobain for releasing Nevermind, or us for making a fetish of old guitars. Whoever is to blame, several things came together in the early ’90s to create a category of guitars we now call “retro.” By Michael Wright

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