•  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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SX SST-57 Guitar and SJB-57 Bass

Redefining "Low-End" Gear

SX SST-57 guitar. Once upon a time, cheap guitars were just that – inferior imported planks bought as Christmas gifts then replaced as fast as one could afford. But with…

SynapticGroove Snapperhead OD/Distortion

SynapticGroove Snapperhead OD/Distortion

Dirty Deeds

With their first offering, Benjamin Harrison and Chrystal Gilles of SynapticGroove set out to fill the gap between heavy effects users and straight-into-the-amp players. Apparently, they’re on to something. They…

Carl Martin Contour & Boost

Pedals For All Occasions!

The Carl Martin Contour & Boost is a hybrid EQ pedal with two filters, a high pass, and a low pass crossed over at 440 hz. The company says it…

Ernie Ball Earthwood

A Big ABG

Way before “unplugged” became a popular way to play music and fretted acoustic bass guitar (ABG) models began appearing from so many manufacturers and independent luthiers, Ernie Ball bought a…

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…

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.…

MXR Custom Shop Sub Machine Octave Fuzz

Lowdown And Nasty

Rising from the smoke and flames of the MXR Custom Shop is the pedal of which every fuzz freak dreams. You never know when you’ll need that extra octave, so…

The MXR Custom Badass ’78 Distortion

Company Hot Rod

Dunlop Custom Badass ’78 Distortion Price: $79 Info: jimdunlop.com Custom Badass is a new division of MXR that offers the company’s engineers’ hot-rodded takes on popular designs. Packaged in MXR’s…

Teye Guitars Gypsy Queen

Teye Guitars Gypsy Queen

The Art of Tone

For Austin-based Teye Guitars, taking guitar construction to new artistic heights has been a basic tenet since their inception. Mastermind luthier Teye Wijnterp, an accomplished guitarist, forged his concept of…

JHS Pink Panther

Diamond Delay

To mark the 10th anniversary of its original Pink Panther delay, JHS has created an updated edition that packs a plethora of cool appointments in an attractive box. Modeled after…

LANEYL50H-HOME-MAIN-BIG

Laney L50 Head and L412 Cab

Classic British Tone

Laney L50H/L412 Price: $1,990 (head); $1,499 (cab) Info: laney.co.uk. Lyndon Laney is no stranger to fans of the iconic British stack. Established in 1967, Laney Amplification found its early fame…

Fender Bassbreaker 45 Combo

Hybrid Love Child

Fender’s new nine-product Bassbreaker series combines popular traditional amplifiers with modern technology. Classic tones and flexibility are the name of the game, which means a plethora of wattages and sizes…

Crazy Tube Circuits SPT

Greece Is The Word

The modal mellowness of Apollo’s lyre or the perky chirp of the bouzouki might come to mind when one thinks of Greek music. But Crazy Tube Circuits? From the Athens…

Guild Polara Kim Thayil

Get Your Grunge

With Soundgarden, guitarist Kim Thayil helped define the grunge movement. His unusual weapon of choice was the Guild S-100 Polara, a solidbody often unfairly compared to the Gibson SG. Soundgarden…

The Soldano

Super Lead Overdrive

One of the leaders of what we might call the second wave of high-end high-gain tube amps, Soldano has been making a big noise since 1987 – the year Michael…

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…

Republic’s Classic Concert Ukulele

Dainty Device

National launched its first ukulele in 1927, combining a brass-bodied, nickel-plated uke with the sweet-sounding amplification of a resonator cone. Plenty of vintage-uke fans see those rare National (and subsequent…

EMG T-52 Set

EMG pickups have been around since 1976, offering a diverse line of active pickups used in just about every genre of music and matched with top guitar manufacturers. EMGs have…

The Selmer Zodiac 50

The Zodiac Twin Fifty

An amp maker at the very heart of the British guitar boom of the late ’50s and early ’60s, Selmer was, for a time, the leader in the field, though…

Gretsch G5191BK Tim Armstrong Electromatic

Cool Player, Punk Heart

Few punk-rock guitarists have made their mark like Tim Armstrong. Through his work with renowned punkers Rancid, Armstrong has torn it up on stages worldwide, and key to his presence…

Real McCoy Custom Wah Pedals

Real McCoy Custom Wah Pedals

Crying Out Loud!

RMC3FL Prices: $255 RMC4 Picture Prices: $235 RMC8 Guitar Eqwahlyzer Prices: $269 RMC10 Prices: $235 Info: www.realmccoycustom.com. Geoffrey Teese began modding wah pedals in 1993, and eventually earned a reputation…

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…

Fishman Fluence Single-Width Pickup

Fishman Fluence Single-Width Pickup

Hum-Free, Cutting-Edge

Fishman Fluence Single-Width Pickup Price: $224 (set) Contact: www.fishman.com Larry Fishman is one of the most respected names in the world of acoustic-guitar pickups and the tone-shaping devices necessary to…

Xotic Guitar XSS-1 Super S Style

Tribute To The King

Xotic’s S-style guitar line pays homage to the man who revolutionized rock guitar in the ’80s. Hint: He was hot for teacher. The latest version is the XSS-1 Super S,…

The Koch Studiotone

No-Sweat Double-Duty

Koch Amplifier’s 20-watt Studiotone uses an all-tube circuit powered by a matched pair of Ruby EL84 tubes producing 20 watts and three 12AX7A preamp tubes. The Studiotone’s lightweight, compact (19…

Fender Mustang II Amp

Practiced Past

When you check out an amp like the Fender Mustang II, you may wonder if the term “practice amp” still applies anymore. Once upon a time, a practice amp was…

Analog Man BC183 Sun Face

Here Comes the (Black Hole) Sun

Analog Man BC183 Sun Face Price: $185 Contact: www.analogman.com Mike Piera has been building his line of stomp boxes bearing the Analog Man name since the mid ’90s. Famous for…

Larrivée D-03E

High marks in the "bang for the buck" category

Not all great values are old instru-ments. For you newcomers, in this column we focus on musi-cal gear that presents extraordinary “bang for the buck.” This month’s entree, the Larrivée…

Lace California Twister

Just This Side of Twisted

When most people go shopping for a new guitar, they look for one with a nice, straight neck. But maybe we’ve been doing it all wrong… The California-based Lace company…

Carvin’s AE185-12

Stairway to Heaven

Carvin’s AE185-12 Price: $1,239 (base retail) Info: www.carvinguitars.com. Most guitarists love the sound of a 12-string, but the thought of owning one often raises several questions. Should you get an…