•  Reverend Sensei H90

    VG Approved Gear

     Reverend Sensei H90

    Live Wire

    So you want a Gibson-style solidbody that can cover humbucker-powered rock, yet also twangier/glassier tones using a P-90 pickup. Check. You also want to grab high frets via double-cutaway and have the pitch reliability of a tune-o-matic bridge and locking tuners. Got it. One more thing: it’s got to look cool and old-school. Hmm…. sounds

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Rybski Cougar

Wild Cat

Rybiski Cougar Price: $3,850 Info: www.rybskiguitars.com. Before moving to the United States, Rybski founder Slawomir Waclawik repaired and built upright basses and violins for top jazz and fusion players in…

Walrus Audio’s Monument Harmonic Tap Tremolo

Delirious Tremors

At some point, nearly every guitarist realizes they simply can’t function without an effects pedal that creates warm, pulsating modulation. Walrus Audio’s Monument Harmonic Tap Tremolo not only works as…

Fender Acoustasonic Player Telecaster

Well-Bred Hybrid

The truth? Hybrid guitars are a tall order. But with the Acoustasonic line – now five models strong – Fender’s new factory dedicated to it is producing instruments boasting excellent…

Railhammer Hyper Vintage Humbucker

Poles Apart

Railhammer Hyper Vintage Humbucker Price: $139 list / $89 direct Contact: railhammer.com Developed by Joe Naylor of Reverend Guitars, Railhammers are passive humbuckers that use a combination of pole pieces…

Walden Sean Harkness 12-String, CG4070E

Grand-Auditorium Cousins

Walden Sean Harkness 12-String, CG4070E Price: $1,100 (Sean Harkness Model); $1,350 (CG4070E-CERT) Info: www.waldenguitars.com. With 16 years of producing attractive, understated instruments, Walden Guitars puts an accent on quality materials…

PRS Swamp Ash Special SE

Bolt-On Beauty

Known historically for its set-neck guitars, PRS has produced a number of killer bolt-ons, like the CE and Silver Sky. A new version of its Swamp Ash Special is another.…

Collings OM1 T

Faultless Flat-Top?

To the hands, hearts, and minds of many an experienced guitarist, an OM-size body with a 25.5″ scale feels the perfect flat-top. Spend time with Collings’ OM1 T, and you’ll…

PRS SE 245 Single Cut

Dressed to Impress

PRS SE 245 Single Cut Price: $650 (street). Info: prsguitars.com Pick up the PRS SE 245 and turn it around a few times. After blinking repeatedly at its finish, you…

Carr Skylark Special 1×12

Take Flight

Arriving a little more than 10 years after the original Skylark, Carr Amplifiers’ new Skylark Special adds versatility and enhanced tonal depths to squeeze a lot more into this diminutive…

PRS NF 53

Mojo, Distilled

Players who appreciate simple, elegant, well-built guitars may find themselves enamored with the new PRS NF 53, inspired by one of Paul Reed Smith’s favorite Fenders – a ’53 Telecaster.…

Rainbow Electronics Warmenfat Micro Amp

Tiny Tube Infusion

Warmenfat Front Rainbow Electronics is, as the kids say, “old-school.” How old? Well, if you lived in the Sacramento area in the mid 1960s and your color television went on…

Banker Excalibur Derringer

Lordy Mama, Light My Fuse

Gibson guitars from the ’50s and ’60s are some of the most-sought after instruments on the planet, and re-creating the look, tone, and feel from that golden era is no…

Mu-FX TruTron 3X

ToneVille Amplifiers Broadway

Red-Carpet Ready

ToneVille Amplifiers Broadway Price: $2,295 Contact: www.tonevilleamps.com What is it that drives boutique amp builders to expend gallons of skull sweat striving for a more-perfect union between the pluck of…

Girl Brand Crossroads

One Devlishly Sweet Axe

Girl Brand Guitars… No it’s not a clearing house for sparkley pink and purple guitars with short-scale necks and small bodies. Rather, Girl Brand is the brainchild of Tucson-based luthier,…

Allen Amplification Accomplice Jr.

Raw and Ready

Allen Amplification Accomplice Jr. First impressions of Allen Amplification’s new Accomplice Jr. begin to form even before you open the box – it’s so light you might think (as we…

Gallagher Bluegrass Bell

Ready, Set, Ring

Pickers sure love to talk about their guitars, and more than a few will enthusiastically tell you about their favorite acoustic’s “bell-like” tone, describing its chime and the way it…

DryBell Module 4

Compress Yourself

  Inspired by the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer, Drybell Musical Electronic Laboratory’s Module 4 Compressor adds several highly usable features. Running on a 9-volt adapter, the Module 4 allows users…

Oxford Guitar Supply

Fine Finish

One factor keeping many people from working on their guitars is the availability of tools and materials to make those repairs. For refinishers, it meant owning a spray booth and…

Fender Nile Rodgers Hitmaker Stratocaster

Good Times

Guitarists know Nile Rodgers as funkmaster general of Chic, but he looms even larger as a Grammy-winning producer whose skill has helped sell more than 500 million albums. Fender’s Artist…

Moonrock Fuzz/Distortion

Otherwordly distortion sounds

Glenn Wylie has been experimenting with guitar effects pedals for over 10 years – when he’s not working on guitars or amps. In the Moonrock, he has come up with…

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Kramer 84 and Pacer Vintage

Tap, Shred, Dive!

Kramer 84/Pacer Vintage Price: $1,166 (84); $1,267 (Pacer Vintage) Info: kramerguitars.com It’s hard to think of ’80s guitars as vintage, but since all things get older, the guitars of the…

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Teye Super Coyote

Zemaitis Redux

Teije Wijnterp has been around. Born in the Netherlands, he studied flamenco guitar in Spain before relocating to Austin and eventually joining Joe Ely’s band. Through his years as a…

Radial Tonebone Shotgun and Mix-Blender

Swiss-Army Stompboxes

Whether it’s due to shrinking pedalboard real estate, shrinking discretionary budgets, or both, stompboxes that serve more than one function never fail to pique interest. Unfortunately, a lot of these…

Bergen Guitars ST and TL

Messing with Perfection

Bergen Guitars ST and TL Price: $2,195 (ST, base)/$2,595 (as tested); $1,895 (TL, base)/$2,295 (as tested) Info: www.bergenguitars.com. If your goal, as a solitary craftsman, is to improve upon two…

Wayne Lap Steel

Wayne's new lap packs a wallop

Wayne Charvel’s name is familiar to any guitarist who was on the scene in the 1980s. If that rock star or bar wunderkind you saw was playing something with a…

Strymon Zuma

Power Station

Are you tripping over a spiderweb of effects power cords? Have a pedalboard that requires an advanced degree in electrical engineering to operate? Or are you just confounded by your…

Gretsch’s ’55 Falcon G6136-55

Gretsch’s ’55 Falcon G6136-55

Look at that “Cadillac”

Gretsch’s 1955 White Falcon was the pink Cadillac of guitars – quite possibly the most outlandish guitar ever produced. The latest Vintage Select Edition Falcon is all that and more.…

Louis Electric 6L6-183 Cobra

Humble, Capital D

One glance at the control panel and cabinet styling of the Louis Electric 6L6-183 Cobra is all most will need to know what this amp is about – and builder…

Mu-FX Phasor 2X

Next Phase

Mastermind effects mad scientist Mike Beigel is back with another re-creation of a classic Musitronics effect. The Mu-FX Phasor 2X is a time machine back to the bad old ’70s…

Awesome Musical Instruments T3 Pickup Switch Upgrade

Wicked Switch

Awesome Musical Instruments T3 Pickup Switch Upgrade Price: $149.99 (black or white three-ply); $164.99 (white pearloid); $169.99 (brown tortoiseshell) Info: www.awesome-guitars.com. When Leo Fender was designing the Strat back in…