•  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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Fender American Vintage II ’57 Stratocaster

Period Piece

Sure, we all drool over Fender Custom Shop axes, but those instruments are sometimes out of wallet’s reach. Coming to the rescue is Fender’s new American Vintage II series, which…

Dogu Custom Electric Guitars’ MOS-01

Dogu Custom Electric Guitars’ MOS-01

This Old Strat

Dogu Custom Electric Guitars’ MOS-01 Price: $2,200 (list) Contact: www.actionfigurestudios.com Improving upon classic designs is a consistent theme in the guitar-manufacturing community. While many companies take a pragmatic approach to…

Rahbek Standard

A fine custom guitar, Danish-style

Rahbek Guitars hail from Copenhagen, Denmark, hotbed of electric guitar production. Huh? Okay, so that ain’t the case. But those who would rush to judgment over the thought of buying…

Gomez Amplification “G” Reverb

Wet, Hot, or Blue

As amp builders go, Dario G. Gomez is about as fresh as they come. Though he has been repairing tube amps for many years, he started offering his own amp…

PRS S2 Custom 24-08

Plentiful Tones

As the youngest of the big three guitar manufacturers, PRS Guitars has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 1985. Known for radiant tones, playability, and lofty MSRPs,…

Epiphone’s Inspired by 1955 Les Paul Custom

Dressed to Kill

Produced from 1954 to 1956, the Black Beauty Custom is one of the most revered Les Pauls. Marketed as the “fretless wonder” for its small frets, it was given an…

Xotic Effects’ Wah XW-1

Xotic Effects’ Wah XW-1

State-Of-The-Art MousEtrap

Xotic Effects’ Wah XW-1 Price: $295 (list); $249 (street) Contact: xotic.us/ The chase for tone sometimes seems like never-ending “Tom and Jerry” reruns. Enter Xotic Effects and their better mousetrap:…

Cimarron Guitars’ Model P

From the Parlor to the Stage

Cimarron Guitars has being making custom instruments since 1978 in the dry, mild climate of southwest Colorado. The company’s Model P guitar gets its name from its parlor-guitar-sized body (“parlor”…

Paul Hartmann Stormy Monday

Travel Tunes

The typical “travel guitar” is a small, budget-minded instrument that offers varying levels of construction and quality, often forcing compromise in playability and usefulness. Luthier Paul Hartmann takes a different…

Waterloo WL-14

Waterloo WL-14

Modern Johnson

Waterloo WL-14 Price: $2,100, $1,890 (street) Contact: www.collingsguitars.com or www.waterlooguitars.com Robert Johnson slid into a photo booth, dangling a cigarette from his lips and holding a flat-top guitar. What brand…

Garcia Amplification 60-watt combo

Ninety Pounds of Force and Finesse

Garcia Amplification’s 60-watt combo Matthew Garcia has been a guitarist for 27 years, many of them spent on the road six nights each week, 50 weeks each year. During his…

Deluxe Dirt

Wampler’s Tumnus Deluxe & Paisley Drive Deluxe

Already road-proven overdrive stompboxes, the Wampler Tumnus and Paisley Drive have received a makeover for 2018. But, is there is anything new to gain? The original Tumnus was intended as…

The Providence Velvet Comp, Red Rock OD, and Phase Force

The Providence Velvet Comp, Red Rock OD, and Phase Force

Tones of Destiny

The Providence Velvet Comp, Red Rock OD, and Phase Force Price: $199 (per piece, list) Contact: www.providence.jp Providence is a Japan-based manufacturer of effects, cables, guitars, pickups, and audio-switching devices.…

BBE Sonic Stomp Pro & Green Screamer V2

Maximized Tone

Contributing to a recent burst of creative releases in the effects market, BBE added a pair of stompboxes to its offerings; the Sonic Stomp Pro is a pedal version of…

B.C. Rich Eagle Supreme, Bich 10 Supreme

For the Metalhead in All of Us

From the Mockingbird to the Bich and the Eagle, since the 1970s, B.C. Rich guitars have been seducing players (and fans!) with their over-the-top looks and sexy body shapes. Loaded…

Fender Jaguar Bass

Four Strings, Vintage-Six Style

Just when you think Fender has explored every conceivable combination and configuration of electric guitar, bass, and amplifier, the mighty crew from Arizona drums up something unexpected. At last January’s…

Harden Rodeo Boost

Yippee-Ki-Yay

Known for building some of the coolest guitars to roll out of Indiana, Harden Engineering recently expanded its line with a low-gain overdrive pedal called the Rodeo Boost. Bearing the…

Danelectro Free Speech

"Do You Feeeeel"?

Well, we’ve all had the fun of trying to mimic – even on the worst of nights – a Peter Frampton tune featuring the dreaded “talk box,” possibly even venturing…

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Singular Sound BeatBuddy

Drums Even You Can Play

Everyone knows a good drummer joke. Or two. Drummers are indeed a special breed. Singular Sound’s BeatBuddy drum-machine pedal, however, is no joke. And as the first drum-machine-in-a-pedal designed for…

Guyatone FR3000V Reverb, MT-3, WR3 and MD3

effects deliver, regardless of size

Guyatone FR3000V Reverb Reverb! King of guitar effects. If there’s an extracurricular sound guitarists most want, it’s reverb. Maybe because even if they’re playing the most low-down, dirty dive, they…

Donner DST-700 Hyper

Value City

It’s often the case that guitars with roasted necks cost more than gloss poly finishes, but Donner is challenging that assumption with its feature-laden import DST-700 Hyper Series. Aiming for…

Collings I-30 LC

Desert Island Axe

If you found yourself stranded on that proverbial desert isle with – horror of horrors – just a single guitar at your disposal, the Collings I-30 LC just might make…

Feature Guitar

Cardinal’s Magpie

Bird in Hand

Cardinal Magpie Price: $4,300 Contact: www.cardinalinstruments.com While most folks are happy to buy guitars off the rack, the Cardinal Magpie is a prime example of today’s handcrafted, built-to-order guitars that…

Harmonic Design’s VP-90

Harmonic Design’s VP-90

Tone with Intent

Harmonic Design’s VP-90 Price: $100 Contact: www.harmonicdesign.net Harmonic Design must be doing something right. Specializing in replacement pickups, they boast a roster of satisfied customers that includes folks like Redd…

Fender G.E. Smith Telecaster

G.E.'s Electric

G.E. Smith is a guitarist, vintage-instrument authority, and holder of several past high-profile gig including 10 years as the bandleader on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” where he proudly displayed pieces…

Seymour Duncan P-Rails pickups

All-In-One Slam Dunc

Seymour Duncan’s new P-Rails pickup is a P-90 with a slim rail-style coil tucked in next to it, designed to fit into a standard humbucker ring. Coupled with a standard…

Carl Martin Contour & Boost

Pedals For All Occasions!

The Carl Martin Contour & Boost is a hybrid EQ pedal with two filters, a high pass, and a low pass crossed over at 440 hz. The company says it…

Iconix Pickups Black Mass

Michigan Metal

Michigan may have given us the automobile production line, but Troy-based Iconix Pickups is the antithesis of an assembly line operation, and now Iconix is building quality pickups for a…

Tx-Watt Flagship

Tone Big as Texas

For more than three decades on the Texas roadhouse circuit, guitarist Jack Kay’s love of vintage Fender and Marshall tones often had him using both amplifier brands at the same…

The Drew & Sebastian Avenger

Multi-“caster”

At first glance, the D&S Avenger looks like a long-lost prototype from Leo’s shop, with its offset-waist shape and familiar pickup/ hardware/ control setup. The Avenger’s two-piece alder body sports…