About Us

We love guitars. We love other fretted instruments, too. And we love good music played by interesting people (and good music is usually played by interesting people). 

Our goal is simple: to uncover the guitar world’s best stories and take you behind-the-scenes with legendary musicians, instrument builders, recording studios and stores. The Fretboard Journal is not a buying guide. We don't try to hype the latest and greatest. There's no tablature in our magazine for tunes you don't care about. We just want to chronicle the exciting, living history of music in a unique way and turn you onto some new instruments and players.

We do all of this in a very unique format: we're a "coffee table magazine", with page after page of stunning photography and in-depth interviews. Over our first five years, we’re proud to say that we’ve interviewed some of the world’s most respected builders (from Michael Gurian to John Monteleone and Bill Collings) and players (everyone from David Grisman to Wilco and Neko Case).

We don't stick to one genre; we love both acoustics and electrics. One of our subscribers accurately calls us the “guitar magazine for grownups.” 

Our reader-supported format means that advertising is kept to an absolute minimum and all ads are confined to the front and back of the magazine. Issues due not vary in size based on how many ads we could (or couldn't) sell. We promise that, in exchange for supporting this magazine, in each issue you'll get at least 100 pages of pure, ad-free editorial.

In 2006, after publishing for just one year, our magazine was featured in the Washington Post's Best of 2006: Music feature. We've also been profiled in Seattle magazine and on National Public Radio.

Our company was founded in 2005 by two guitar nuts: Michael John Simmons and Jason Verlinde. Though we could probably use a “suit” or two around the premises, our small staff is comprised entirely of musicians and music fanatics. We wouldn't have it any other way.