We guitarists tend to think in boxes, where gear is concerned anyway: a Gibson Les Paul is a rock guitar, a Fender Telecaster is a country guitar, a Gibson ES-175 is a jazz guitar, and so on. Certainly many different guitars and amps have been designed to suit the needs of specific styles of music, but that hasn't stopped adventurous musicians from making their art on a vast range of odds and ends of equipment that might outwardly seem totally mismatched to the task at hand. Let's take a look at some incongruous rigs that have graced the music of guitar greats, and rocked the world in the process.

By 1949 all amplifiers were now being produced in the AC version only. The Kent took the place of the Coronet and came covered in a yellow tweed plastic coated fabric. The traditional E logo was now emblazoned on the grill cloth. The Century underwent a design change during the 50’s to a rectangular plywood box 20”x 16” x 8 1/2” deep. Vibrato was the newest highlight of Epi amps and this model had controls for both speed and intensity.

Epiphone proudly celebrates a remarkable event in our history, boasting 75 years of amplifier production. We are now the oldest amplifier company in the world currently in production, and to celebrate we’re giving you a look at our incredible history in the amplifier business. Every three weeks, we’ll give you another chapter. Here’s Part 1. Enjoy!

One year-and-a-half ago, an anonymous buyer forked over a whopping $82,750 for a mailbox that was hit by a falling meteorite in Claxton, Ga.

Many of the most successful electric guitar designs of all time have emanated from Gibson’s R&D departments in, first, Kalamazoo, Mich., and later Nashville, Tenn., but the brains behind the Les Paul, the SG, and the ES-335 also issued forth a handful of guitars that just didn’t take off in the same major way, sales-wise at least. Some of these were simply too far ahead of their time, and found a fan base years later, often after having been deleted from the catalog. Others were just too out-of-left-field to ever be widely accepted, although few failed to win at least a handful of devotees. Many of both types would become undeniable classics further down the road, but just didn’t sit right in the market at the time of their birth. Let’s take a look at five of the freakiest electrics to waltz out of the Kalamazoo factory in the 1950s and ’60s.

Word has it that there’s a hole in Gibson’s tone arsenal. The crunch and punch of rock, the jangle and chime of pop, the wail and moan of blues, the bop and purr of jazz… all this Gibson excels at. But the twang of countrified styles? Nah, just like Charlie don’t surf, Gibson don’t twang.

It ain’t the Beatles, but a new DVD of the Plastic Ono Band’s historic 1969 Toronto concert provides a close-up look at a severely bearded John Lennon during a pivotal time in his career, playing raw rock and roll on his Epiphone Casino with primal abandon.

Typically, we’re not ones to toot our own horn, but we sure do love it when someone else does it for us!

Signature model guitars have a special allure: the aura of a certain artist’s musical magic. But which are the most alluring? Judging by the reactions of players at trade shows, festivals, auto races, and other events visited by the Gibson Custom Shop’s traveling 40-foot exhibit trailer, the five six-string Signature mojo machines that draw the most interest are:

I first encountered Jim Elyea back around the year 2001 when I was looking for some esoteric information on an early Vox AC4 amplifier that I had acquired. I was working as the editor of The Guitar Magazine in London, England, and started inquiring in gear circles for someone who might know a little more about this seemingly odd transition-period version of the little student model amp. There I was, a guest in the land of Vox, and yet all roads seemed to lead back overseas and all the way to the west coast of the United States, where resided, I was informed, not only an amp collector on a massive scale, but the ultimate authority on all things vintage-Vox. These roads steered me right, and I have turned to Elyea time and again when I’ve been stuck for the final word on a Vox-related question for a book or magazine piece.