•  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 >>

Louis Electric Buster

Beyond Deluxe

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

Empress Effects Tremolo

Outboard Highness

Ontario-based Empress Effects’ Tremolo pedal is housed in a 45/8″ x 35/8″ x 13/8″ die-cast box and boasts a ton of features that separate it from virtually every other outboard…

Tx-Watt Flagship

Tone Big as Texas

For more than three decades on the Texas roadhouse circuit, guitarist Jack Kay’s love of vintage Fender and Marshall tones often had him using both amplifier brands at the same…

Eastwood Airline Deluxe

Get Yer' Wings

The demand for vintage and retro-style axes has become so prevalent in today’s guitar-crazy culture that there’s hardly a brand, style, or color of guitar from the ’50s to the…

Wayne Lap Steel

Wayne's new lap packs a wallop

Wayne Charvel’s name is familiar to any guitarist who was on the scene in the 1980s. If that rock star or bar wunderkind you saw was playing something with a…

The Taylor 712e

Naturally Bold

Taylor Guitars recently redesigned their 700 Series, to add performance bracing, two-piece maple/spruce bridge plate, protein (hide) glue on bridge and bracing, and several new aesthetic features, including a re-shaded…

DryBell Module 4

Compress Yourself

  Inspired by the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer, Drybell Musical Electronic Laboratory’s Module 4 Compressor adds several highly usable features. Running on a 9-volt adapter, the Module 4 allows users…

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…

JHS’ SuperBolt and Morning Glory Pedals

Zep in a Box

Started with a quick repair to a Boss pedal in Josh Scott’s Mississippi apartment, JHS has evolved into a well-regarded and growing boutique pedal company thanks to offerings like their…

Fender Twin & Deluxe

Fender’s ’57 Twin Amp and ’57 Deluxe – Tweed for Two

Fender “tweed” guitar amplifiers – the Twin, Deluxe, Bassman, Champ, etc., from the 1950s – are the most sought after amps in the annals of guitardom. Whether it is Leo’s…

Rainbow Electronics Warmenfat Micro Amp

Tiny Tube Infusion

Warmenfat Front Rainbow Electronics is, as the kids say, “old-school.” How old? Well, if you lived in the Sacramento area in the mid 1960s and your color television went on…

Andrew White Guitars’ Freja 1013W

Shape Shifter

Though electric guitars have undergone radical change since the world first laid eyes on Rickenbacker’s “frying pan,” acoustics have rarely strayed from tradition. Andrew White is tweaking the system. The…

Maxon VS Effects

Five Boxes of Fun

With their straight-out-of- the-’70s groovy colors – pea soup green, bright orange, powder blue, plum purple, and Mopar metallic green – Maxon’s Vintage Series Effects look like new old stock,…

GJ2 Arete 5-Star Featured Image

GJ2 Arete 5-Star

Monster of Rock

Bergen Guitars ST and TL Price: $3,999 Info: www.gj2guitars.com. Grover Jackson is a name forever associated with classic metal and custom “superstrats,” thanks to Randy Rhoads and iconic bands like…

Lollygagger FX Canaglia Overdrive

Rude ’Tude

Sean Wright’s love for guitars and electronics has resulted in a family business that realizes his vision of stompbox perfection. Throw in the business savvy of wife Colette, and Lollygagger…

Danelectro Dano Minis

More tasty treats

Danelectro has been busy churning out yet another set of pedals that are inex-pensive and quite small. A good thing, since one can never have too many pedals. These are,…

New Orleans Guitar Company Model 8

Sonic Mojo

New Orleans Guitar Company Model 8 Price: $2,999 Contact: neworleansguitar.com For over a decade, the New Orleans Guitar Company has been producing handcrafted electrics with an attention to design and…

Michael Kelly Custom Collection 55 Ebony

Kelly Tele

Is there a better platform for guitar customization than the Tele? Easily sourced lumber combine with straightforward electronics and hardware for a characteristic sound. Michael Kelly et al have been…

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…

Quilter Labs’ Aviator Cub

High Flyer

Quilter Labs has gained a rep for busting popular perceptions. They’ve attempted to step up their game with this single-channel combo voiced to deliver classic Fender tones – in a…

The Logan Telemaster

Masterful Mashup

Though Bob Logan has been building guitars since 1972, he worked in construction for a few decades before fully dedicating himself to custom builds. Today, he specializes in models like…

Seymour Duncan ’78 Model

Upscale Touch

In the late ’70s, rock guitarists fell down the rabbit hole trying to achieve more sustain, harmonics, and extra crunch via pickup swaps. Seymour Duncan has created a new PAF…

Gallagher Bluegrass Bell

Ready, Set, Ring

Pickers sure love to talk about their guitars, and more than a few will enthusiastically tell you about their favorite acoustic’s “bell-like” tone, describing its chime and the way it…

DNA Analogic Effects

Chemical Reaction

If you‘re a “first impressions mean a lot” kind of gearhead, DNA Analogic’s line of effects pedals may just win your heart the instant you crack open the box(es). Housed…

PRS SE Silver Sky

Aiming Higher

In a world filled with Strat-type guitars, it takes a lot to set one apart, let alone stand above. The PRS Silver Sky was one that did. Can the SE…

Budda’s Baby Budda Amp Head

Big-Boy Tone

Budda Amplification staked its claim in 1995 with the Twinmaster boutique amplifier. Its hand-wired construction and user-friendly tones were hits in the guitar community and led to a broader line…

Epiphone Zenith Fretted and Fretless Bass

New Groove Territory

For decades, guitar players have known the name Epiphone. Renowned for making great-sounding jazz boxes like the Zephyr and Emperor Regent, which have been seen in the hands of major…

Tx-Watt Flagship

Tone Big as Texas

For more than three decades on the Texas roadhouse circuit, guitarist Jack Kay’s love of vintage Fender and Marshall tones often had him using both amplifier brands at the same…

EHX Slap-Back Echo

Alright, Mama

Unlike the vast echoes of modern delays, the original “slap back” tone of the 1950s was a short delay that delivered a fast, hard-surface reflection and tone we associate with…