•  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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Ohana Ukueles

Ohana Ukuleles

Serious Fun

Ohana Ukuleles Price: $249 (SK-35, CKP-70R); $259 (SK-28) Info: www.ohana-music.com. Just like guitars, ukuleles come in all quality levels, from uke-shaped objects made of plastic, composite board, and unidentifiable materials,…

Fender PM-2

Sitting-Room Savoir Faire

Once wildly popular among everyone from drawing-room dilettantes to road-hardened bluesmen shuffling the dusty byways, parlor-sized guitars fell out of favor mid-century when popular ensembles demanded the volume better provided…

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…

SITORI-HOME-MAIN-BIG

Sitori Sonics pedals

New Highs with Sitori Sonics’ Doob Dreamer, Tidal Phase, and Reel Repeat

Sitori Sonics pedals Price: $188 list (Doob Dreamer, Reel Repeat); $168 (Tidal Phase) Info: sitorisonics.com. Despite the vast possibilities of electronic guitar effects, boutique pedal builders perhaps sometimes focus their…

SoloDallas Schaffer Replica Tower

Instant Angus

There should be a hall of fame of gear that’s famous for “lateral applications” – that is, features and functions beyond their original creation. Think of Fender’s Bassman or Supro’s…

Keeley Electronics Compressor Mini

The Tighten-Up

One entry in Keeley’s next-gen pedals, the Compressor Mini is an automatic “Manhattan-style” compression. The tiny tool’s secret is an Automatic Tone Recovery Circuit that ensures signal maintains clear high…

Tremcaster Single Ninety Home Feature Image

Tremcaster Single Ninety

Best of Both Worlds

Today’s guitar market is one of extreme preferences. For some, the idea of countless options and exotic woods and craftsmanship is the name of the game. For others, the tendency…

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…

Fulltone CF-1 Choralflange

Silky Smooth and Realistic

Housed in a metal case constructed of brushed aluminum and green enamel-coated hammered aluminum, the Choralflange offers rich chorus and flange effects with total control over the parameters. The unit…

EarthQuaker Devices’ Westwood Translucent Drive Manipulator

Ground Shaker

EarthQuaker Devices has a knack for launching pedals that range from ideal tools for those seeking otherworldly sonic textures to vintage-inspired stompboxes for old-school players. Falling more in the latter…

Strymon Flint Tremolo and Reverb

Our Man Flint

Strymon Flint Tremolo & Reverb Price: $200 Info: www.strymon.net. In just a few short years, Strymon has established itself as a premier developer of pedal effects. With boxes like the…

Mesa Boogie’s Badlander 50 Combo

Rarin’ Recto

When Mesa Boogie introduced its Dual Rectifier amps in the early ’90s, they cemented a place in rock-and-roll history. Over the past 30 years, there have been several incarnations of Rectifier-series amps.…

Marshall Triple Super Lead

Marshall's Triple Super Lead

Marshall’s new JCM2000 Series was introduced last year and has been well-received by Marshall fans and amp aficionados in general. The 2000 Series started with the two-channel Dual Super Lead…

Martin D-18 Satin

Spruce Stalwart

Death, taxes, and spruce on mahogany. There are only so many certainties in life, and these are three. Another is that there will always be spruce-on-mahogany Martin guitars. The newest…

Blackstar Fly 3

Best In Show… And More

While listening to AC/DC’s Back in Black on a small, audiophile-grade table radio, Blackstar Amplification CEO Ian Robinson had an epiphany: small amps don’t have to sound crappy. Previously, there…

Peterson VS-1 Tuner

The accurate, real-time tuner goes mobile

Most guitar techs will tell you that there has always been a void between small battery-powered tuners and full-blown rotating disc strobe tuners; the small ones are not all that…

Chase Bliss Onward

Glitch Niche

These days, there’s a litany of “glitch” pedals on the market – boxes that deconstruct guitar signal into 8-bit bleeps and lo-fi bloops. Chase Bliss’ entry is the Onward. Unlike…

Dr. Z Mini Z

We Don't Got To Show You No Stinking Headroom!

The Mini Z is amp builder Dr. Z’s (a.k.a. Mike Zaite) entry into the low-watt/single-power-tube practice/recording category of amps. Extremely compact at under one cubic foot in size, and weighing…

The Hi-Tone HT30/JP 15

Living Loving Gain

While many have tried via transistor trickery to replicate the tone of Jimmy Page’s Hiwatt at Led Zeppelin’s legendary January ’70 Royal Albert Hall performance, the Hi-Tone HT30/JP 15 is…

D’Addario/ Planet Waves Accessories

Goodies Galore

The D’Addario family has been making musical-instrument strings since before brothers-in-law Rocco and Carmine moved to the U.S. from Italy in the early 1900s. A longtime music-industry fixture, D’Addario &…

Ibanez GB10SE

Jazzed Up

In the late ’70s, Ibanez debuted the GB10, a signature jazzbox for crossover icon George Benson. It turned heads with its novel approach – a smaller design, but still fully…

T-Rex Replicator

Daily Echo

Among the arcana of tone, few things inspire as much devotion – even obsession – as echo. The Holy Grail is often considered the simple-but-lovely slapback heard on early Sun…

Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway

Six-Song Minimum?

Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway For years, people continually asked Bob Taylor, “When are you going to come up with an electric guitar?” Taylor’s answer was always, “Somewhere between never and…

Mu-FX Boostron 3

One For All, All For One

Leave it to Mike Beigel to create a masterpiece of a stompbox… again. The Mu-FX Boostron 3 is three pedals in one. But it’s also so much more. Sure, you…

Strobel Rambler Travel Bass

Traveling in Style 

As a rule, travel guitars and basses are intended to help one keep up their chops while on the road for work or vacation. But Florida-based Strobel Guitars strives for…

The Carr Artemus

A Blend of Dick, Leo, and Steve

Steve Carr made a name for himself building fine amplifiers such as the Slant 6V and the Rambler. His Artemus model used four EL84 tubes, but was not a subtle variation on a classic design,…

Fender’s ’57 Custom Pro-Amp

Big Brother

When most guitarists consider Fender’s famed vintage tweeds, the first that come to mind are the 5E3 Deluxe and 4×10 Bassman. The 1×15 Pro-Amp? Not so much. It’s perhaps the…

The Eastman SB55

Little Devil

When re-creating a classic, it’s all too easy to feel hidebound to the original – especially if it’s an icon. In launching its first single-pickup solidbody, Eastman felt few restrictions…

Tech 21 English Muffy

Killer Combo

The Tech 21 Character Plus Series aims to combine a vintage amp with one classic overdrive/fuzz/booster circuit, essentially giving two pedals in one chassis. The English Muffy pairs Hiwatt sounds…

Music Nomad Keep It Simple Setup

Music Nomad’s Keep It Simple Setup kit includes three tool kits. The 26-piece premium guitar tech screwdriver-and-wrench set has a suede-backed spanner wrench that fits under most knobs. There’s also…