•  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

    Read more >>

PRS Alex Lifeson Signature

PRS Alex Lifeson Signature

Grand Designs

PRS Alex Lifeson Signature Price: $8,999 (list) Contact: www.prsguitars.com What do you call the most beautifully made production acoustic you’ve ever seen? You might consider calling it the Paul Reed…

Marshall Handwired Series 2245THW Head and 1960AHW Cabinet

Marshall Handwired Series 2245THW Head and 1960AHW Cabinet

Bluesbreaker Redux

Marshall Handwired Series 2245THW Head and 1960AHW Cabinet 2245THW Prices: $4,800 (list); $3,299.99 (street); 1960AHW Prices: $2,180 (list); $1,399.99 (street) Contact: www.marshallamps.com Marshall Amplification needs no introduction. The company’s iconic…

D’Angelico’s Deluxe Atlantic Baritone

Lowdown

Baritone guitars have been around for decades, traditionally featured in Nashville and Hollywood studios and elsewhere to “sweeten” a track or for some other “special” application; to hear an example,…

Strymon Iridium Amp & IR Cab

Model Citizen

It can be tough, living in the golden age of gear tech. Which piece of amazing equipment to get next? Strymon’s Iridium might be worth a look. A stompbox-sized amp…

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…

Sundragon Super Dragon

The Sound Remains

A few years back, amp builder Mitch Colby and music producer Perry Margouleff teamed with Jimmy Page to introduce the Sundragon amp (VG “Approved Gear,” July ’19), a reproduction of…

Home Feature Image

Ibanez PN1-NT

Parlor for Pennies

In recent years, the parlor guitar has exploded into popularity, reviving a 19th century instrument that was, as its name implies, played in the parlor – the small room used…

Martin GPCE Inception Maple

Bold Beginning

Almost 100 years ago, Martin reinvented the flat-top box when it began delivering X-braced, square-shouldered, and oversized dreadnoughts. Now, the company is again reinventing the acoustic guitar to keep up…

BSM RM Majestic Treble Booster

Germany’s BSM is among the rare specialist among modern stompbox builders; their focus is one thing – making treble boosters (albeit in a variety of flavors), and their lineup uses…

The Dr. Z CAZ-45

Prescription Filled

When word got out in early 2020 that Mike Zaite and Alan Phillips (founder of Carol-Ann Amplifiers) were collaborating on a high-gain amp, the buzz was intense. After several prototypes…

Chicago Blues Box Roadhouse amp

Hot Windy City Tone

Illinois-based Butler Custom Sound recently introduced its Chicago Blues Box amp series with the blues player very much in mind. Company president Dan Butler has repaired and modified countless tube…

Gibson Les Paul Acoustic

Variation On A Theme

Sure, we’ve all seen numerous variations of the legendary Les Paul model electric guitar. Now here’s one variation that’s really unique – Gibson’s new Les Paul Acoustic. Designed for electric…

Danelectro Innuendo

Flash and panache, Danoblaster-style

In the realm of “…can you top this?” so frequently found in the world of musical instruments, which has in the past produced such luminary items as the four-pickup Guyatones…

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…

James Trussart SteelCaster

Rust Never Sleeps

James Trussart’s guitars exist on a plane of their own. With their peerless styling, the builder’s guitars-as-art are nonetheless fully functional, gigable axes. Trussart began building violins, dulcimers, and hurdy-gurdies…

Charis Acoustic SJ

Charis Acoustic SJ

Spirit in the Wood

Charis Acoustic SJ Price: $4,800 (base); $7,100 (as reviewed) Info: www.charisacoustic.com. The spiritual aspects of music perhaps originate with the creation of the musical instrument. To that end, Charis Acoustic…

Henriksen’s JazzAmp 112-ER

All That Jazz

Henriksen’s JazzAmp 112-ER Price: $999 (retail) Info: www.henriksenamps.com. Traditionally, jazz guitarists have sought a mellow tone in which single notes exhibit a horn-like timbre. Unfortunately, this often means sacrificing chord…

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…

PRS Guitars’ McCarty

Ted Talkin’

In the late 1980s, Ted McCarty, the man who served as president of Gibson during the company’s “golden age,” became a special consultant to Paul Reed Smith, sharing insight on…

Ceriatone’s OTS Mini 20 Overtone Lunchbox

Meal Ticket

For years, Ceriatone fans have suggested the amp maker offer its stellar Overtone Special sound in a scaled-down, affordable package. The OTS Mini 20 was Ceriatone’s answer. The control layout…

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…

Analog Man’s King of Tone Overdrive

Holiest of Holies

Amid this golden age of music gear, the Analog Man King of Tone Overdrive, first produced in 2005 in collaboration with Jim Weider, heads a distinguished list of “Holy Grail”…

Reverend Hellhound 40/60

One step to "schizo"

Reverend Musical Instruments founder Joe Naylor’s head is always cranking out cool ideas. A Roberto-Venn graduate who in 1996 sold his amplifier company so he could start building guitars, Naylor…

Blackbox Effects Inferno, X-Ray, Cobalt, Ultraviolet 2, Oxygen

Stimulating sounds

During a recent chat with our friends at Willie’s Gui-tars, Minneapolis, we were turned on to an interesting new line of boutique stompboxes made by Blackbox Music Electronics – a…

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.…

Walla Walla Maverick Pro Series

To a T

Walla Walla has carved a niche in the world of highly customized guitars and basses in the tradition of those time-honored Leo Fender archetypes. Their Maverick Pro Series offers up…

Charis Acoustic SJ

Charis Acoustic SJ

Spirit in the Wood

Charis Acoustic SJ Price: $4,800 (base); $7,100 (as reviewed) Info: www.charisacoustic.com. The spiritual aspects of music perhaps originate with the creation of the musical instrument. To that end, Charis Acoustic…

Worland Prairie

Built For Speed

Worland Prairie Price: $1,950 Info: www.worlandguitars.com. It’s been well-documented how car-crazy vets and teens in postwar America reimagined the American automobile. Some shaved, sprayed, and slammed contemporary two-door sedans, creating…

Jerry Jones Master Electric Sitar

High-quality build, authentic groove

If you’ve always wanted to learn the sitar, but could never quite scrape up the cash to fly to India and study with the Maharishi for several years, then you’ll…

Guitar Tone Company’s Bloody Finger

Rugged Facelift

While honing his ears at Greene Street Recording Studio in New York, David Harrington was inspired to build studio-quality stompboxes. He must have done something right because as word spread,…