•  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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Carvin Belaire 212

A Classic, Re-Voiced

When Lowell Kiesel started Carvin in 1946, his focus was on electric guitar pickups and lap steels. He had a fair amount of initial success, as many top country and…

Cort’s Sunset I and II Feature

Cort’s Sunset I and II

Jonesin’ For Tone

When Cort isn’t busy making guitars and basses for major musical instrument companies, they’re hard at work building some pretty cool instruments under their own name. From jazz boxes to…

Eastwood’s SD-40 Hound Dog and Classic AC

Subjective as it is, the term “mojo” usually refers to gear that’s been played-in over the years. Eastwood tries to counter that perception with their cool reissues, two recent examples…

Gibson Theodore Standard

Flower Power

Named in honor of Ted McCarty, the Theodore is based on a design the legendary Gibson president penciled into a sketchbook back in 1957. Ted was angling for more radical…

EHX Ripped Speaker Pedal

Tore Up

Since the dawn of rock and roll, guitarists have (by accident or with intent) loosened tubes, sliced, or poked holes in their speakers to get low-fi natural distortion – think…

Xotic Effects RC Booster Reissue

Return of A Legend

Twenty years ago, Xotic Effects unleashed its iconic RC Booster. With variable Gain, EQ, and Volume controls, it was a mainstay on pedalboards the world over for players seeking top-shelf…

DoleSonic Half Back Stack

Tone Meets Crafts-manship

Shaw Audio Bass 130 Price: $1,350 Contact: www.tremcaster.com, phone: (330) 608-2043 In a day where gear companies often focus on utilitarian products, it’s nice when high-end craftsmanship rears its head.…

Mojo Hand Swim Team Chorus Flanger

Double Duty

Michigan-based Mojo Hand Effects has been building a variety of hand-assembled pedals since 2010. Their latest, the Swim Team, pulls double duty as a chorus and flanger packed into a…

Echopark Traditional American Acoustic

Small-Body Stunner

Echopark Guitars is the brainchild of Gabriel Currie, who opened the establishment in 2006, after many years of working as a builder and repairman. Currie’s first offerings were electric instruments…

Yamaha DG Stomp

Plug 'n' Play Preamp for Recording

It’s always been a struggle for home recordists to capture a good guitar tone on tape or hard disk. Yamaha, however, wants to cure that often aggravating dilemma. To that…

Supercool “800,” The Thneed, and ’77 Fuzz Blender

Hip Sounds

Supercool Pedals is a Canadian company that makes stompboxes that sound hip and look seriously groovy. Among its offerings is the “800” Preamp/Distortion, which harkens back to ’70s mid-overdrive designs…

Fender’s Dhani Harrison Signature Ukulele

Here Comes The Fun

Ukuleles are inherently charming, and Fender amplifies (literally) that charm with the Dhani Harrison Signature model. A tilted four-inline headstock with vintage-style tuners? On a glued-in mahogany neck? It’s a…

The Wampler Catacombs

Shimmer Box

In the pedal market, the category of reverbs and delays is straight fire these days. Wampler has jumped in with the Catacombs, a stereo box that can operate as a…

Soldano SLO Plus Super Lead Overdive

Icon In Reach

If the iconic Soldano SLO-100 is perpetually on your wish list but its price tag keeps you from pulling the trigger, its creator now has a realistic alternative. Expanding on…

Wampler Pedals’ Bravado

Tone Tweaker’s Delight

What’s a pedal platform? Nope, it’s not a carbon-fiber Pinarello mountain bike with Shimano shifters and derailleurs. It’s another term for the Bravado 40-watt head designed by pedal impresario Brian…

Bad Cat Cub V EL34 Amp

First-Class Blast

The Bad Cat Cub has evolved through several iterations since arriving with the maker’s inaugural lineup 25 years ago. It has gained (and lost) features, morphed into more-affordable PCB-based versions,…

The Framptone Talkbox

Do You Feel (Like Frampton)?

The Framptone Talkbox When you hear the words “Do you feel,” what comes to mind? If you’re of a certain age demographic, you know how ubiquitous Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes…

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…

Yamaha’s LL-TA TransAcoustic

The Secret Inside

Every once in a while, an instrument or piece of gear emerges that knocks the socks off. Yamaha’s TransAcoustic is one such axe. The TransAcoustic is a dreadnought (the company…

Eastwood’s Classic 6 TA PHo

Phish Food

If you’ve seen Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio onstage, you may have noticed an unusual archtop in his mitts – a custom six-string by builder Paul Languedoc. Its design has been…

Grez Mendocino Short Scale Bass

Time-Machine Tone

In the beginning, there was the Precision Bass. Following Leo Fender’s revelation, things branched out in all directions as builders experimented with the idea that the double bass could be…

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…

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…

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Mu-FX Octave Divider

The Mu Is Back

This is rocket science. Or at least as close as a stompbox gets. Sure, building a pedal that tweaks a guitar’s signal around and about isn’t exactly putting a man…

Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster

Flipped Axis

Pity the poor right-handed masses. Emulating the vibe of Jimi’s various Strats has always been tough on them. Some players chase down one of the precious few vintage left-handed Strats,…

Grez Mendocino Short Scale Bass

Time-Machine Tone

In the beginning, there was the Precision Bass. Following Leo Fender’s revelation, things branched out in all directions as builders experimented with the idea that the double bass could be…

Fender’s Brad Paisley Road Worn Telecaster

Country Composite

One of the newest models from Fender’s Artist series is designed to appeal to vintage Telecaster fanatics, country twangers, and even new converts taste-testing the Tele waters. The new Brad…

Reverend Drivetrain Overdrive

Authentic crunch, Ry Cooder to AC/DC

The new overdrive pedal from the canny folk at Reverend Musical Instruments is cleverly named the Drivetrain Overdrive, and it weighs in at a mere pound or so. Overdrives and…

Schertler’s JAM 150

Schertler’s JAM 150

Plays Well with Others

Schertler’s JAM150 Price: $1,249.99 (list); $999.99 (street) Info: www.schertler.com Schertler’s JAM150 is a compact combo amp capable of pulling double-duty as an acoustic amp and a multi-instrument PA. Built in…

Vibesware Guitar Resonator GR-Junior II

Vibesware Guitar Resonator GR-Junior II

Sustain For Days

Vibesware Guitar Resonator GR-Junior II Price: $175 (list, depending on exchange rate) Contact: www.vibesware.com In the beginning, there was the E Bow, a handheld device that used a powered magnet…