I've got a stack of old GP mags I've had for years. The earliest one is 1966 to about 1980. I've noticed a few things that might be interesting for some of you.
In the sixties, it was all folk music, jazz and country music. Interviews with The Smothers Brothers (on the cover), Don McLean, Roy Clark, Johnny Rivers, Herb Ellis, Tal Farrow, Barney Kessell, Happy Traum, Roy Nichols, Chet Atkins, James Burton, etc. The ads are great! Woodson amps, Heathkit amps, Aims pa's and gear, Randall, Standell, Altec Lansing, Harmony, Guild, Kustom, some Gibson ads for their acoustics and a only one Fender ad in the whole mag per month, and that was usually just those posters you could buy. They had tabs for old folk songs, Christmas carols, and a lot of ads and columns for Pedal Steel players. The first Pro's Reply with Bo Diddly.
The early 70's it had turned to rock music and the players like Leslie West, Cub Coda, BB King, Steve Miller, The Doobie Brothers, Santana, Charlie Daniels, etc. The ads were for mostly pa gear like Sunn, JBL, Altec, Soundcraft, Heil, and a lot of mail order retailers you could order catalogs from for discount prices. An article on Jack Bruce's $4000 custom built bass; hot wiring your Strat; building cabinets; The famous Jimi Hendrixs issue. Thers a lot of cool stuff in these mags. If you ever have a chance to get your hands on an old issue, do it.

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Life is like a sh*t sandwich. The more bread you have, the less sh*t you have to eat.

Guitar mags never have DIY stuff in them anymore. Some dabble in explaining simple adjustments, but it would be cool to have some guitar related projects in them, like how to build an effect pedal or something. But i would imagine Boss and MXR wouldn't be happy with that, and can't upset the marketing department.

heath kit!! I wish that company was still going strong. i remember building radios and stuff. they even had full on Guitar kits at one point too.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Hey, some guitar mags still do have DIY articles. I remember browsing through a UK guitar mag at Barnes&Noble a few months ago and it had a detailed article on building your own effects pedal. I forgot what the effect was, I should have bought the mag.

But the best these days has got to be Vintage Guitar Magazine. In the current issue they show you how to make your own pickup. About a year ago they had a series of articles about making a tube amp.

But I get where you're coming from. The DIY stuff is not as prevalent anymore most probably for liability reasons these days. Besides, these days there are dozens of websites that sell amp and pedal kits: Weber, buildyourownclone.com, Marsh, Ceriatone, Mission, etc etc.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Interesting to know that GP overlooked rock music until the 70's.

What I can't stand is the gear reviews in GP. Nothing gets a bad review probably for fear of losing advertising dollar$. Did GP ever give honest reviews at some point in their past?

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

The Smothers Brothers? Wow. Not exactly shredders, but ok....

I used to love reading Tommy Tedesco's column. He's gotta be one of, if not, THE, most recorded guitarist. His real life situations in so many studio sessions were really amazing to read. One of the original "Wrecking Crew".

http://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Masterhacker I totally agree as I have a couple of hundred back issues in the basement though not as far back as yours-80s and up and it is great to just stick my hand in and pull one out to read and also to checkout the prices.

There is actually a used book store down by my apt that sells these.

Well they actually weren't around for very long in the 60's--they started in 1967.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

Hi. 12B The U.K. version of Guitar Mag. does each issue and many are multi issue DIY. I get them a B&N each month but I have missed the last two. Other then that I have several years worth.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Wow, I didn't know that GP went back that far. I always assumed it started in the late '70s or early '80s.

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Let's no hurt Ceri's feelings with all this DIY talk.


John.E