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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
Peavey’s 6505 Piranha Micro Head
Small Package, Big Bite
At roughly the size of a Harry Potter hardcover, the Peavey 6505 Piranha Micro Head is a small yet fully functional tube head that fits in a gig bag or…
KJL Dirty 30 amp
It's "Fat," It's Purple…
What’s Fat, purple, and loud? Well, Barney the Dinosaur is one answer, but not the one we’re looking for here. The correct answer is the KJL Dirty 30 amplifier head.…
Gibson’s J-45 50s Faded
Lore Holder
In the decade leading up to World War II, guitar builders started scaling up their acoustic offerings to meet the demands of working musicians, and bigger was better. In Kalamazoo,…
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PRS Swamp Ash Special
Narrow(field) Win
The bolt-on Swamp Ash Special has been around for nearly three decades, but PRS just retooled the U.S.-built version and dropped it at NAMM. There are significant upgrades. While earlier versions had humbuckers with a single-coil pickup between them, this latest plank has a PRS Narrowfield (NF) humbucker in the middle. Another bonus is the
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Martin D-28 Standard
If nobody mentioned that Martin’s new Standard line had been updated, a player might be forgiven for not immediately noticing that the latest D-28 has been subtly changed. After all, it’s the D-28 – one of the most recognizable and enduring American icons – and the thought of altering such a flagship is likely to
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Carr Skylark Special 1×12
Take Flight
Arriving a little more than 10 years after the original Skylark, Carr Amplifiers’ new Skylark Special adds versatility and enhanced tonal depths to squeeze a lot more into this diminutive combo. Specs remain much the same, deriving 12 watts of power from a pair of 6V6GT output tubes into a 12″ Celestion A-Type speaker. But,
Retroman effects
Five Boxes of Fun
Retroman proprietor Joe Wolf is a dedicated one-man-shop that designs, builds, and finishes effects pedals all by hisself. Wolf, a guitarist and electronics engineer, began building pedals for his own…
Carr Amplifiers’ Lincoln
Hot Rod
Carr Amplifiers has a fine reputation for high-quality, boutique tube combos with tons of vintage style and panache. Their gear offers point-to-point wiring, tasty tone circuits, high-grade components, and dove-tailed…
EVH Stripe Series Star
Romeo Delight
There was time when guitarists waited for new Van Halen records like ferrets on crack. After all, in the early ’80s, Edward Van Halen was a huge deal – a…
Furch Blue Deluxe SW
Czech Mate
You might not recogonize the Furch brand, but the Czech Republic builder has spent that last 40-plus years gaining a reputation for building high-quality acoustic guitars. One of the company’s…
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…
Cornford Hurricane
Exemplary "extension of your playing" amplifier
Since its introduction, English amp builder Paul Cornford’s 6-watt Harlequin recording amp has had a reputation for great sound. Many an all-star Brit player, and notable Yanks like Joe Satriani,…
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Walrus Audio’s Mako Series MKII
Walrus Audio’s Mako Series MKII bolster the sounds of their first-gen predecessors, using altered algorithms, new controls, and better tonal quality. The most-obvious changes are new fine-tune settings and a menu screen. The M1 High-Fidelity Modulation Machine offers Chorus, Phaser, Tremolo, Vibrato, Rotary, and Filters. Running between a Deluxe Reverb a Les Paul Traditional or
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LSL Instruments’ Lucid OD and OG OD
Lively Drives
LSL Instruments is best known for high-end Leo-style guitar builds, but they’ve also started delving into overdrive pedals. The Lucid OD is their version of a Klon Centaur – one of the priciest stompboxes in human history ($5,000-plus for the first-gen gold box with the horse logo). The box offers Volume, Gain, and Tone knobs
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The Chase Bliss Clean
Posh Squash
With is Clean compressor, Chase Bliss set out to create a pedal that would duplicate the vivid interactivity of a dirty tube amp, but with a completely clean tone. While a standard compressor can give your guitar (bass, keyboard, etc.) a professional sheen, the Clean is a stereo unit that can polish mixes or deliver
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The Eastwood Super Axe
Chet Powered!
Wait – what? Did Eastwood just bring back the Super Axe, that incredibly rare bird from the late ’70s? Indeed, they did. A Korean-made reissue, it captures the spirit of Gretsch’s chambered curiosity. Grabbing one, the first thing you’ll notice is the oversized yet thin body, with its arched top and the enchanting lines of
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The Bad Cat Era 30
Retro-Great
So often has the phrase “Mark Sampson era” been applied to pre-2000 Matchless amps or early examples of the Bad Cat line that the term has become a “thing” in and of itself. As applied to Bad Cat’s new Era 30, it means Sampson is back in the fold (see our interview in the March
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Eastwood MRG Lap Steel
Slide Piece
Now more than 90 years old, the lap steel was the earliest example of an electric guitar and remains a stringed instrument every guitarist should try, largely because it’s so accessible. In fact, a lap steel is about as straightforward as you can get – it’s a plank that sits on your lap and is
Zemaitis GZ-3200DF
One For the Rest of Us
Looking to score one of those legendary guitars made by the late British luthier Tony Zemaitis? Yeah, so are we. But given that Tony’s work today occupies its own unique…
Victoria Sovereign
Royal Blood
Tubeheads the world over are well-acquainted with the story of Jim Marshall lifting the Fender Bassman circuit in 1962 to create his venerable JTM45. To the uninitiated, “similar circuit” means…
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…
Dunlop Fuzz Face Mini Distortion Pedals
Face Lift
Dunlop’s Fuzz Face Mini Distortion Pedals Price: $129.99 (Germanium, street);$99.99 (Silicon and Jimi Hendrix, street) Contact: www.jimdunlop.com. When it comes to fuzz pedals, the one that comes to mind for…
Seymour Duncan SFX-07 Shape Shifter
Vintage Trem Sounds & Beyond
Seymour Duncan’s reputation when it comes to pickups (from dead-on vintage replicas to his own designs) has been well established for decades. And anyone who’s had the pleasure of hearing…
Weller Guitars’ Stageliner
Jetson Moderne
More and more, guitar designers are digging deep, thinking out of the box, and using their imaginations to conjure hip, nontraditional designs. Strat, Tele, and Les Paul shapes are no…
Maxon Fuzz Elements Pedals
Elemental Fuzz
Maxon Fuzz Elements Pedals Price: $189 to $199 Contact: www.maxonfx.com Classic fuzz pedals are some of the fine wines of the vintage guitar world. Guitarists talk like Frenchified sommeliers when…
Melancon Custom Artist and P-90 Artist
Hailing from Louisiana, Gerard Melancon is a former professional gigging and studio player who parlayed experience on the road and as a guitar repairman into a devout attitude toward building…
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…
Keeley Engineering Compressor Pro
Game Changer
Keeley Engineering Compressor Pro Price: $299 (list) Contact: www.robertkeeley.com Studio-quality dynamic control at your feet is a luxury that guitarists haven’t seen before. With the Compressor Pro, Keeley Engineering has…
Cordoba 15CFM
Hawai’i Not?
The ukulele phenomenon shows no signs of slowing, with models ranging from well under $100 on up to thousands. The Cordoba 15CFM is on the budget end. The 15CFM has…
Godin A6 Ultra Baritone
Sub Sandwich
The basic premise of a baritone is that it allows guitar players to occasionally twang genuine bass notes – not enough to get in the way of the bassline, but…
Fender Joe Strummer Campfire
Punk Burner
Punk legend Joe Strummer might not be the first name that comes to mind when the subject turns to “acoustic guitars.” But in fact, all-night hootenannies hosted by the former…
M-Tone Slipstream
Delicious Curves
M-Tone Slipstream Price: $2,600 Contact: www.m-tone.com When it comes to custom, hand-made guitars, many prefer an instrument that innately reveals the work of its craftsman – the type that, instead…
Tone King Royalist MKIII
Firebreather U.K. Three-Speed
British tube amps from the mid ’60s and early ’70s have inspired countless designs emulating their beloved tones. In 2014, Tone King Amplifier Company launched the Royalist, its take on…
Yamaha THR10
Practice Perfection?
Yamaha THR10 Price: $299 Contact: usa.yamaha.com. As a rule of thumb, practice amps are a compromise. Blissfully portable, they typically lack tone and features. Yet whether in a bedroom or…
Gretsch G2420T Streamliner
Bang For The Buck
Want to rock like they did back in the glory days, but don’t have pockets deep enough for a top-line Gretsch hollowbody? Strap on one of the new G2420T Streamliners…
Reverend’s Reeves Gabrels Dirtbike
Wheelie Machine
Signature guitars tend to be either fan-boy models, the owners of which hang them alongside a collection of signed 8×10 glossies of the artists, or they’re useful instruments that just…
Gretsch Roots Collection: Jim Dandy Flat-top, Dixie 6 Guitar-Banjo
Back to the Country
Gretsch Roots Collection: Jim Dandy Flat-top, Dixie 6 Guitar-Banjo Price: $239 retail (Jim Dandy Flat Top) and $499 retail (Dixie 6 Guitar-Bajo) Contact: www.gretschguitars.com Cynics inclined to dismiss Gretsch’s Roots…
Fire-Eye Red-Eye Twin DI
Double Your Pleasure
In a simple system, even a basic direct-input box with little in the way of adjustments will work fine. But what if your setup includes a plethora of pedals and…
Marchione Guitars’ 16″ Archtop
The Golden Mean
In 1922, Gibson introduced Lloyd Loar’s L-5, lauded as the first modern archtop. Luthiers have been “advancing” the design ever since. Marchione Guitars’ 16″ Archtop shows how the violin family…
