•  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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G&L S-500 Deluxe

Still hand-made, still Leo-like

The people at G&L Guitars consider themselves more than simply guitar builders. Rather, they are the caretakers of Leo Fender’s legacy. Built on what started as Clarence Leo Fender (CLF)…

Debut Drive

Slamo Guitars’ Turquoise Cabronita

Slamo Guitars may not have yet achieved the name recognition of certain others, but Frank Silano has been building guitars under the radar for about 10 years. Silano got his…

Reverend’s Rick Vito Signature Soul Shaker

Built For Speed

Blues-/roots-rocker Rick Vito knows what he wants from a guitar, and the Reverend Soul Shaker is proof. An art deco-inspired design, it sports Rick’s specs for rockin’ blues, slide, and…

Prestige Guitars DC Coupe Custom T Hybrid

“Tele” Twist

The first Telecasters were so good that today they’re made almost exactly as they were 70 years ago. Working just as well for rock as they do for country and…

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 &…

Friedman Motor City Drive & Fuzz Fiend

Sonic Rapture

An innovative designer, builder, and repairman, Dave Friedman has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, lending his artistry, experience, and great gear and amp mods…

Vintage V52 Icon

Vintage V52 Icon

Cost-Effective Twang

Vintage V52 Icon Price: $459 Info: www.jhs.co.uk The U.K.-based distributor John Hornby Skewes offers guitars under the brand Vintage that cater to a market interested in traditional sounds and old-school…

Crazy Tube Circuit White Whale V2

Twin Tones

Introduced in 2017, Christos Ntaifotis’ original White Whale tremolo/reverb became one of his company’s best sellers. Its success, however, didn’t breed complacency, and after years of gathering user input, they…

AXL USA Hand-Aged Bulldog

Bark and Bite

AXL USA Hand-Aged Bulldog Price: $699.99 (street) Contact: www.axlguitars.com Unabashedly inspired by the classic Les Paul Junior, AXL Guitars’ limited-edition USA Hand-Aged Bulldog is a single-pickup guitar with a slab…

Dr. Z 35th Anniversary Carmen Ghia 1×10

Start Me Up

At the forefront of high-end boutique design, the Carmen Ghia was Dr. Z’s first commercially available amplifier when launched in 1988, and has never been absent from the company’s lineup.…

Friedman IR-X Dual Channel Preamp

Stack in the Box

Most guitar-electronics companies make a direct-recording preamp, many promising to provide ultimate distortion and overdrive via impulse responses (IR) or cabinet simulations. Dave Friedman, of course, is known for putting…

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…

The Taylor 712e

Naturally Bold

Taylor Guitars recently redesigned their 700 Series, to add performance bracing, two-piece maple/spruce bridge plate, protein (hide) glue on bridge and bracing, and several new aesthetic features, including a re-shaded…

Harmony Comet

Michigan Meteor

Whoever coined the phrase “Everything old is new again” knew what they were talking about. The resurrected Harmony brand, associated decades ago with budget instruments (and at one time the…

Eastwood La Baye 2x4 Devo Signature Model

Eastwood La Baye 2×4 Devo Signature Model

Whip It Good

For decades, guitarists have lovingly referred to their solidbody guitars as “planks.” In the mid ’60s, a small builder called LaBaye upped the ante by offering a guitar truly was…

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.…

Alday B-Blender

Alday B-Blender

One For The Masses

Taylor 814ce Price: $129.95 (list) Info: www.b-blender.com Why aren’t we guitarists ever happy to have our guitars sound like guitars? We wanted to emulate a trumpet’s blare, so we invented…

Bray Coco 50

Feelin’ Brown

Eddie Van Halen’s “brown sound” is, for many players, the Holy Grail of guitar tone. Featured on his band’s 1978, debut album, it continues to captivate listeners and amp builders,…

JangleBox Acousticomp

Sweet Woodiness

Compression and sustain are the icing on most guitarist’s tonal palette. While many use such effects in service of electric guitars, acoustics can benefit from the same attention to detail.…

Carvin CT6M California Carved Top

Carvin CT6M In a way, it’s like those clothing catalogs that fill your mailbox (especially this time of year). It’s regular, it’s reliable. But instead of sweaters and shoes, the…

Ya’ Gig What Ya’ Pay For

Incase’s Tour Bag is ultra-functional, durable

It wouldn’t be a surprising reaction. “A $200 gig bag?” And one could reasonably assume the price includes a guitar. But it doesn’t. It does include one of the best-conceived…

Earthquaker Devices Sea Machine

Earthquaker Devices Sea Machine

Chorus of Praise

Earthquaker Devices Sea Machine Price: $215 Contact: www.earthquakerdevices.com Known primarily for its monstrous distortion and fuzz units, the folks at Earthquaker Devices have decided to tackle what has often been…

Supro’s Dual-Tone 1624T, Coronado 1690T

Supro’s Dual-Tone 1624T, Coronado 1690T

1964 All Over Again

Supro’s Dual-Tone 1624T, Coronado 1690T Price: $1,595 (Dual-Tone[LEFT]); $1,795 (Coronado) Contact: www.suprousa.com If there was a time machine handy to scoot us back to 1964, where we would naturally stock…

Gretsch Malcolm Young “Red Beast” Signature Jet

Let There Be Rock

Forty-odd years beyond when AC/DC first hit American airwaves, the band still inspires multitudes of guitarists with intoxicating riffs, mesmerizing grooves, and a head-banging blues-adjacent ethos. Much of the power…

Jam Pedals Harmonious Monk Mk2 & Boomster Mk2

Brothers In Tone

Jam Pedals continually evolves its line by creating a cool menagerie of point-to-point stompboxes that adapt to a multitude of sonic applications while maintaining residency on the pedalboards of stringbenders…

Peerless Retromatic

Peerless Retromatic

Modern Vintage

Peerless Retromatic Price: $1,699 Info: www.peerlessguitars.eu While many new guitars of the last decade have touted authentic (or semi-authentic) “retro” features, the Peerless Retromatic represents an evolution in the retro-guitar…

Keeley Noble Screamerb

Ultimate Mash-Up

Just when guitarists thought the golden age of gear couldn’t get better, Robert Keeley has combined two great pedals that sound great together. One side of his new Noble Screamer…

Sadowsky Semi-Hollow

Jazz Axe, Plus

With his newest creation, luthier Roger Sadowsky endows his entrant into the world of semi-hollow guitars with capabilities to cover the demands of blues, rock, and fusion. And while Sadowsky…

Carvin Audio’s X1 Preamp

Welcome Back

The recently re-tooled Carvin Audio has stayed active with product offerings aimed at the player/sound-reinforcement segment. Its new X1 combines the front end of Carvin’s old X100B with cool tweaks…

Sweet Sustain

Guitar Tech Craig’s Dino Sauce Compressor

Imagine a Strat tuned to open G, a D chord being floated at the seventh fret with a Craftsman deep-well socket. What is that ethereal sweetness and sustain under Lowell…