•  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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Seymour Duncan P-Rails pickups

All-In-One Slam Dunc

Seymour Duncan’s new P-Rails pickup is a P-90 with a slim rail-style coil tucked in next to it, designed to fit into a standard humbucker ring. Coupled with a standard…

Strymon Zuma

Power Station

Are you tripping over a spiderweb of effects power cords? Have a pedalboard that requires an advanced degree in electrical engineering to operate? Or are you just confounded by your…

D’Angelico Excel SS

Classic Versatility

The modern D’Angelico company specializes in hip semi-hollow guitars with a nod toward their namesake, legendary luthier John D’Angelico. Case in point is the updated version of its Excel SS,…

Gurus Amps’ SexydriveMkII

Bellissimo!

Chalk up another score for Italian innovation. Chicco Bellini and his company, Gurus Amps, are among the top dogs in the Italian gear market. They’ve also been gaining steam worldwide…

Full Dozen, Semi-Hollow

12 Variations on a Classic Design

To complement our February 2016 issue survey of the semi-hollow electric guitar, we tested 12 examples of the form as it exists today. Plus, check out 2 featured articles in…

AmpRX BrownBox Voltage-Reduction Unit

AmpRX BrownBox Voltage-Reduction Unit

Vintage-Safe Voltage

AmpRX BrownBox Voltage-Reduction Unit Price: $269.00 (list) Contact: www.amprx.net Amplifier repairman and builder Patrick Geraghty was frustrated with the sound of his own vintage-styled builds. They seemed to lack the…

TWA Hot Sakè and Dynamorph

Circuit City

Totally Wycked Audio (TWA) builds a line of cool stompboxes that consistently push the envelope in the right direction. Two recent installments are perfect cases in point. TWA’s Hot Sakè…

Vox’s AC30CH and V212C Cabinet

Get Back

The Beatles helped popularize Vox amps, and Sir Paul tours with them today because they still have that sound – classic chime and overdriven grind. Introduced in ’59, Vox’s AC30…

Walrus Audio Eons Five-State Fuzz

Hot on the heels of its Ages Five-State Overdrive and Eras Five-State Distortion, Walrus Audio has unleashed the Eons Five-State Fuzz. Multi-voiced dirt pedals are the latest thing, and the…

ToneTron Feature Home

ToneTron’s Billy-Rocker

Best Amp You've Never Heard of

ToneTron’s Billy-Rocker Price: $1,200 Info: www.tonetroamps.com. On a quiet residential street in Minneapolis lives a mad scientist. Erstwhile rockabilly guitarist Jeffrey Falla is the brains behind ToneTron. And from his…

The Vox AC30C2X and AC15C1

Brit-Rock Mojo in a Box

Fully appointed in classic Vox dress, the famed British amp maker’s new AC30C2X and AC15C1 both sport enough of that beloved AC30 look to make most any player yearn for…

Gurus Amps’ SexydriveMkII

Bellissimo!

Chalk up another score for Italian innovation. Chicco Bellini and his company, Gurus Amps, are among the top dogs in the Italian gear market. They’ve also been gaining steam worldwide…

Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway

Six-Song Minimum?

Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway For years, people continually asked Bob Taylor, “When are you going to come up with an electric guitar?” Taylor’s answer was always, “Somewhere between never and…

The Iris Guitar Dan Erlewine DE-11

Renaissance Reimagined

Among the famous names in American guitar lore is Dan Erlewine – guitarist, builder, VG columnist and editorial consultant, and of course, world-class repair expert who literally wrote the book…

Henriksen Amplifiers’ The Blu

Sound Cube

One old cliché among gigging musicians is, “They pay me for the aggravation, the music is free.” A good deal of that aggravation comes from lugging gear. If you play…

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…

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Sitori Sonics pedals

New Highs with Sitori Sonics’ Doob Dreamer, Tidal Phase, and Reel Repeat

Sitori Sonics pedals Price: $188 list (Doob Dreamer, Reel Repeat); $168 (Tidal Phase) Info: sitorisonics.com. Despite the vast possibilities of electronic guitar effects, boutique pedal builders perhaps sometimes focus their…

Dr Z Z-28 MK II 1×12

Step On It!

If you’ve driven a classic muscle car like the Camaro Z28, you know that when you step on the gas, you’re in for a thrill. In the same spirit, the…

Gretsch G5622T Electromatic

Can’t-Miss Double-Cut

Enamored with the Cadillac of guitars, can’t quite spring for a Coupe de Ville, and don’t want to get stuck with an econobox? Take one of Gretsch’s new center-block Electromatics…

Fender’s Duel Pugilist Distortion & Dual Marine Layer Reverb

Double Trouble

Fender launched its Pugilist Distortion and Marine Layer Reverb in 2018, after VP of Innovation Stan Cotey – who’d previously helped design signature amps with Eric Clapton, Joe Bonamassa, and…

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Louis Electric Buster

Beyond Deluxe

Louis Electric Buster Price: $1,595. Info: louisamps.com Lou Rosano has been building amps in the Fender vein for more than 17 years. His first build wound up in the hands…

Daredevil Pedals’ Atomic Cock

Daredevil Pedals Atomic Cock

Green Monster

Daredevil Pedals’ Atomic Cock Price: $150 (list) Info: www.daredevilpedals.com. Despite the many clever take-aways one could derive from its name, the Atomic Cock is “just” an effects box offered by…

Radial Engineering Tonebone Classic, Hot British, and Switchbone

Tonebone Pedals

Radial Engineering’s Tonebone distortion pedals have been making serious “noise” in the few short months since their introduction. Whether online or in print, the good word has spread quickly, and…

Dutch Kazoo Analog Fuzz Pedal

OD Treat

Dutch Kazoo Analog Fuzz Pedal Price: $225 retail Info: www.dutchkazoo.com It’s not easy for a new boutique overdrive or distortion pedal to stand out in today’s thick fog of clipped…

Six-String Kicks

Six-String Kicks

Wood from Famed Bowling Alley Set to Sing

Few things scratch America’s cumulative itch for nostalgia like Route 66 – the famed wagon-trail-cum-highway that offered passage to those migrating west from Chicago in the mid 19th century, then…

KJ Audio Hanwell 50

KJ Audio Hanwell 50

Shake The Walls

KJ Audio Hanwell 50 Price: Head $1,900; cabinet $1,600 Contact: www.kjaudio.com No apologies: Minneapolis-based amp designer Kristopher Johnson’s Hanwell 50 boutique amp is built to rock. The amp was inspired…

Snarling Dogs Super Bawl Whine-O Wah

The Snarling Dogs Super Bawl Whine-O Wah is definitely one of the coolest-looking wah pedals available, with its bright red base and foot-shaped treadle, it’s reminiscent of those custom gas…

Valvetech Amplifier Company’s VAC 25

Tractable Tweed

Who says pragmatic utility and classic tones have to be mutually exclusive? Not Rob Pierce, whose Valvetech Amplifier Company deals in classic tones and enhanced flexibility. Case in point –…

Six-String Kicks

Six-String Kicks

Wood from Famed Bowling Alley Set to Sing

Few things scratch America’s cumulative itch for nostalgia like Route 66 – the famed wagon-trail-cum-highway that offered passage to those migrating west from Chicago in the mid 19th century, then…

Bixonic Expandora

The Bixonic Expandora is a distortion box par excellence. The name just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? I think Rocky Jones and his Space Rangers had one. I’m sure…