1965 Gibson B-25N
A friend sent me a picture of his 1965 Gibson B-25N guitar recently. This got me reminiscing about the Gibson B series of guitars.
Around 1965 I wanted a 12-string guitar. My teacher brought in his Gibson B-25 12-string for me to try o...
Tom Morello Strat$1800
Fender seems to be stuck selling tribute “artist” model guitars for folks that once were notable but no longer seem relevant. There are 20 or more of these available, ranging in price from $850 to well over $3,000.
Fender Playe...
Six Million Dollar Man
Six Million Dollars for a 1959 Martin guitar! Unbelievable!! But it is true.
Kurt Cobain on MTV 1994
In 1959 one could have purchased a brand-new Martin D-18e guitar for $235. A regular Martin D-18 had a retail price of $175. The del...
Declaration of Independence
Today is July 4th, 2026. The Declaration of Independence was written on this day, 250 years ago, when the brave men that founded the United States agreed that it was time to quit being subjects of the English King George and begin an adve...
Facebook
I find it amazing and I am honored by the number of friendships I have through social media. A few of these folks are with well-known people, generally musicians, that I had seen in concerts, and purchased their records when I was a much younger man. All ar...
Young Dean Zelinsky
Dean Guitars are perhaps one of the most interesting guitar stories that I have run across in the past 16 years that I have been writing these articles. The company was started by Dean Zelinsky while he was still a teenager.
His father, Rob...
Gay guitars!!!? Yes, you heard me right.
And this article has nothing to do with Pride Month. Although I got to say, these guitars are rather flamboyant.
And why isn't there a National Guitar Month? But I digress.
We are going to take s...
Aspen AD18
During the 1980’s my wife decided she wanted to learn to play guitar. We were shopping at a local department store and in their audio department, and I spotted a guitar for only $80. This was odd as it was there among the stereos, and speakers.
...
Hohner Guitars
Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Company is the current name of Hohner Musical Instruments Company. This long standing German company is mostly known for manufacturing fine harmonicas.
Hohner Hamonicas
Since 1857 clock maker M...
Cease and Desist
DÜSSELDORF, Germany (March 9, 2026) — Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) has secured a significant legal victory following a ruling by the Regional Court of Düsseldorf that establishes broad legal protection for Fender’s iconic Stratocaster® gu...
Leo Fender with '50's P Bass
Leo Fender gets credit for inventing the first bass guitar, but did you know that another musician and inventor named Paul Tutmarc actually developed and marketed the first electric string bass guitar almost 15 years earlier in 1935. It...
1967 Josh White Model
It was in 1966 that Ovation Guitars first came on the scene. Their first instrument was "The Josh White Model" named for a folk singer. By February of 1967 Ovation introduced perhaps their most popular model; the 'Balladeer'.
D...
Ed Sullivan and the Beatles 1964
In 1964 the Beatles made their first United States appearance on the Ed Sullivan television show. At that time I was 13 years old and like kids of that era I had to have a guitar.
Harmony Patrician
My Dad relented and bought...
Fibonacci Guitars
Fibonnaci Guitars are Boutique builders of some of the most wonderful handmade archtop guitars. Their shop is in London, in the United Kingdom.
The company takes it’s name from the Middle Ages Italian mathematician Leonardo Bonacci who was co...
Where In The World...
Where in the World was my guitar built?In the not-too-distant past this was an easy question to answer. It was the United States, Japan, or perhaps Korea.
But in 1965 when I was learning to play guitar, all of the most reputable instrumen...
The Folk Singer Issue
Where Have All the Folkes Gone…Long time passing?
Most of them have rambled off this Mortal Coil. But we still have their music and memories.
Pete Seeger
In my opinion Pete Seeger was probably the best. He wrote some of the mos...
The Regional Court of Düsseldorf
DÜSSELDORF, Germany (March 9, 2026) — Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) has secured a significant legal victory following a ruling by the Regional Court of Düsseldorf that establishes broad legal protection for Fende...
Jerry Jones
Jerry Jones was a well known figure in Nashville. As a luthier and guitar repairman he worked at The Old Time Pickin’ Parlor, where he repaired guitars for some of Nashville’s finest, and well known players, including Chet Atkins, and Reggie Young.&nb...
Bob Taylor - Kurt Listug 1985
Taylor Guitars were not even a glimmer in the eye of a teenaged boy named Bob Taylor when he was a student in the Eleventh Grade. He was 16 years old and enrolled in a high school woodworking class. Young Bob wanted a guitar at a local ...
1970 Martin 0-16 New Yorker
In 1973, when I was 21, I purchased my one and only Martin guitar. It was a Martin 0-16NY and it came with a soft-shell case, all for $250. The salesman mentioned I was lucky as Martin was raising their prices soon.
I don’t know if...
Geezer Butler is a Geezer.
by Di Arrehea Pantz
Ever since he was a young boy, Michael Joseph Butler was called “Geezer”. This apparently was a 1960's Cockney expression equivalent to “hello mate”, or in the USA, “Dude”.
Geezer Butler 1970's
Michael, uh G...
Late 1960's Kustom Amps
There are some men that just seem to be born to become entrepreneurs. I don’t know how they obtained their skills and knowledge, but they put it to use and succeed.
Leo Fender learned how to repair and build radios.
He late...
1970 Martin 0-16NY
I mentioned in another article my love/hate relationship with a Martin 0-16NY guitar that I once owned. It was a beautiful instrument but must not have been set up properly at the factory. It would never play in tune. After returning it to the Naz...
Stanley Jordan
A few days ago my friend Randy sent me a video of the amazing Stanley Jordan tapping out Autumn Leaves on two guitars. In discussing the video I told Randy that one of the guitars was a Travis Bean TB1000S. I recalled what fine and heavy instruments t...
The Teddybears
In 1964 there was a huge interest in the electric guitar mostly due to The British Invasion of the popular music acts. The median US income that year was $6,000 with many adults earning much less. With that in mind understand that leisure spending was...
