Changes at Pure Guitar – And They’re All Good!

In my nearly four decades of teaching guitar, playing guitar, and writing books about guitars, I’ve been lucky to meet a menagerie of characters of wildly diverse backgrounds. I know the co-guitarist in the Saucy Jacks, and a guy who advised Gibson on the authenticity of sunburst Les Paul reissues. I know an author of two books about guitar amps, a guy who served as the face of Marshall in the US, and also a Senior Vice President of Fender. I know a fellow who chatted with John Lennon, founded his own marketing company, held in his hands a guitar made by Leo Fender himself, served as a chauffer to Nigel Tufnel, and once jammed with Stevie Ray Vaughan. He owns a historic first-generation Bakelite Rickenbacker Spanish guitar, has a museum-quality collection of antique radios (all of which work, because he fixed them), and roars about town in a 1971 Dodge Challenger 440+6.

It’s one guy, Ritchie Fliegler. Pure Guitar is lucky to have him onboard as a contributor, because Ritchie is a funny, literate raconteur with a deep knowledge of rock and roll, a passion for the good stuff (if you’re not listening to the Beatles in mono, on vinyl, you’re just not getting it), and an unfailingly honest approach to complicated music-business issues, whether cultural, legal, historical, or commercial.

With the possible exception of the guys on Top Gear UK, Ritchie and I think we have pretty much the best jobs in the world. His wit, deep knowledge and high-octane enthusiasm will benefit Pure Guitar’s staff and readers alike, and the father/son product review column he will be writing with his 22-year-old son Jack (a fine guitarist as well) is just the beginning. Welcome!

 – Tom Wheeler

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Need an incentive to visit Pure Guitar more often? Try our new Pure Guitar Daily section. Here you’ll find a steady stream of newsworthy events, excellent videos, gear coverage, career updates, and lots more. Recent Dailys have covered fabulous players such as King Paris (aka Rick Vito), Eddie Van Halen, Jess Lewis, and Orianthi; stellar new guitars from Taylor, Gretsch, EVH, Freddy Gebrsek, and Fender; and some intriguing apps and effects. We’ll be putting up new posts every day or two, so come again, y’all.

As Tom Wheeler writes, we’re mighty pleased to have Ritchie and Jack Fliegler onboard. We’d also like to extend a warm welcome to Stefan Grossman, Peter Hodgson, and Rory Gordon. A legendary figure in acoustic blues circles, Stefan Grossman is a world-class player with many albums to his credit. Having learned guitar first-hand from Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Skip James, and Fred McDowell, he’s an also insightful teacher, as you’ll see in his video lesson this month. Stefan’s Vestapol Videos  provided the Elizabeth Cotton footage seen in “Blues Origins: Spanish Fandango and Sebastopol.”

Based in Australia, Peter Hodgson is the author of one of the world’s hippest guitar blogs, I Heart Guitar at http://iheartguitarblog.com/. His writing can also be seen in Mixdown Magazine (where he pens Australia’s longest-running guitar instructional column, “Unleash Your Inner Rock God”), Gearphoria, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician Magazine, The Brag, and Beat Magazine’s weekly rock/metal column. Peter has been writing Pure Guitar Dailys for us, and upcoming issues will feature his full-length articles and interviews.

Rory Gordon joins us as Pure Guitar magazine’s Advertising Director. Rory has held positions as Advertising and Sponsorships Manager for In Tune Partners, Ad Director for the Guitar Edge and GuitarInstructor.com at the Hal Leonard Corporation, and National Advertising Manager for Guitar One and Guitar for the Practicing Musician at Cherry Lane Music Publishing. He’s also a longtime guitarist and instructor, and we’re glad to have him.

– Jas Obrecht