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Bob Dragich
SurfyBear Compact Reverb
Bringin’ Springs
Reverb got a big push into the world of guitar when Leo Fender installed Hammond’s Accutronics Type 4 Spring Reverb in his 1962 Twin Amp. Ever since, players have pursued its sounds in many ways and with many devices. Stand-alone reverb tanks have always been large and costly, but at 9.5″ x 4.5″, the SurfyBear…
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Bob Dragich
Joe Robinson
Eyes on the Prize
Bouncing on a trampoline in the yard of the home his father built outside Temagog, Australia, nine-year-old Joe Robinson gleefully started playing air guitar while Eric Clapton’s “Layla” was blasting from his parents’ stereo inside. At that moment, he decided it would be “really cool” to be a professional guitar player. A year and half…
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Bob Dragich
Fender Pro Junior IV SE
More Function, Fewer Funds
In a sea of inexpensive, feature-laden digital modeling amps, Fender is doubling down on its simple all-tube Pro Junior IV with a new SE version that increases control while lowering the price. A first impression of the Pro Junior IV SE starts with remarkably sturdy construction for an amp in this price range, from its…
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Bob Dragich
Duke Levine
Bonnie’s New Guitar Man
After 29 years on the road, Bonnie Raitt guitarist George Marinelli decided to take a break. Stepping into the role will be Boston native Duke Levine. The youngest of five, Levine had older brothers with Stones and Beatles records along with Paul Butterfield albums featuring Michael Bloomfield on guitar. One brother, Rick, had a band…
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Bob Dragich
PRS SE Silver Sky
Aiming Higher
In a world filled with Strat-type guitars, it takes a lot to set one apart, let alone stand above. The PRS Silver Sky was one that did. Can the SE version achieve similar status? It’s common for PRS to produce an import SE edition of its more-popular guitars, and the plan for the SE Silver…
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Bob Dragich
FOMOfx Virtual Jeff Pro
Whammy For All
On most guitars, installing a traditional vibrato is a task ranging from difficult to impossible. And even done right, mechanical vibratos impact tuning stability and increase wear on nuts and saddles. The Virtual Jeff PRO digital whammy changes all that. A kit that comes complete with the whammy bar and mount, foot controller, radio transmitter,…
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Bob Dragich
CopperSound Strategy
Strat-Jack Boost
CopperSound pedals started in the winter of 2014 as a group of friends in Massachusetts who wanted to build pedals for themselves. Soon, though, people outside their circle wanted one and orders started rolling in surprisingly fast. Today, their catalog includes a dozen options, and the Strategy preamp/clean boost has become one of the most…
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Bob Dragich
Marshall’s DSL1C
Small Stack
For those who love classic British tone, nothing beats the sound of a Marshall stack cranked to 10. Unfortunately, unless you live on a Montana cattle ranch, actually producing this sound with a Marshall stack in the comfort of your own home will have the neighbors doing the beating. Enter the DSL1C, producing a maximum…
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Bob Dragich
The MXR Eric Gales EG74 Raw Dawg
Bark And Bite
During a recording career that spans three decades and includes 19 albums, blues guitarist Eric Gales has achieved a reputation for solos that are a deluge of precise notes delivered with passion. When pedal and accessory manufacturer Jim Dunlop asked Gales what he would like in a pedal, the guitarist was quick to respond, “A…
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Bob Dragich
Orangewood Guitars’ Echo 12 Live
Fresh-Squeezed Jangle
Twelve-string sales ebb and flow in part with the popularity of a song featuring one. Orangewood Guitars aims to change such fickle trends with an affordable 12 that plays and sounds great in any situation. The Echo 12 Live has a dreadnought body with a solid Sitka spruce top and layered back and sides made…
