Steven Hutchins is a lucky guitarist. He not only takes care of his grandfather's 1938 shadetop Martin 00-18; he was able to convince acclaimed guitar builder and historian John Arnold to build a replica of it.

Newport, Tennessee's Arnold may not be a household name, but he's one of the world's foremost experts on tonewoods and an acclaimed repairperson. Along with the late Ted Davis, Arnold helped bring about a renaissance of red spruce in acoustic guitars. And, though he's sold the spruce that he's foraged around the Smoky Mountains to some of the world's best-known builders; he's only made around 70 of his own guitars. As a comparison, fellow builder Wayne Henderson has built over 500 guitars.

African music is not our usual beat, but when Nigerian bandleader and electric guitarist King Sunny Adé stopped by Seattle’s Triple Door in 2009 we couldn’t resist interviewing him for the Fretboard Journal. This singular artist not only modernized juju music over the course of his 100-plus albums, he's also is a veritable historian of the electric guitar in Africa. Among other things, Adé tells us about his earliest exposure to the music of hero I.K. Dairo, his friendly rivalry with fellow bandleader Ebenezer Obey and the story behind his Juju Music album on Island Records.

Fretboard Journal publisher Jason Verlinde and photographers Doug Van Doren and Liz Fish take us on a tour of Wilco’s Loft, the band’s Chicago studio/office/gear storage space. Amidst the band’s hundreds of guitars, microphones, amps and pedals, Verlinde interviews Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline about the space itself, their new album and their latest guitar finds. Also included: a detailed look at Cline’s storied 1959 Fender Jazzmaster.