•  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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Gibson’s 1941 SJ-100

Second Coming

Gibson 1941 SJ-100 Price: $3,868 (list)/$2,999 (street) Info: www.gibson.com Sporting a unique “stair step” headstock, the first Gibson SJ-100s began trickling out of the Kalamazoo factory in 1939. This original…

BluGuitar Amp1

Tiny Tube Terror

The trend toward the miniaturization of guitar gear shows no signs of slowing. Thanks to modern technology, guitarists are fitting more and more sorcery in their bags of tricks. BluGuitar’s…

Positive Grid’s Experience Hendrix For Spark & BIAS FX 2

Get Experienced

In the pantheon of guitar gods, few are studied to the degree of Hendrix. And, given the warp speed at which tech moves today, it should come as no surprise…

The String Sling

Trapper Keeper

Almost all of us have a guitar – maybe even two – we like a bit more than “the other ones.” Maybe it’s a favorite color, is from our “birth…

The Zelinsky Dellatera Custom

Easy on the senses

Dean Zelinsky’s history as a guitar builder includes unique designs that are toneful and eyecatching. To many, he might be best known for his early designs inspired by Gibson’s futuristic…

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…

Hipshot Products

Bass Extenders, Stealth Slide, and B Bender

What do Will Lee, Leland Sklar, and Bunny Brunel all have in common? Besides being bassists, they all use Hipshot Bass Extender keys, a nifty device that drops the E…

Carl Martin Hot Drive’n Boost

Hot Drive'n Boost

We grabbed a Danish-made Carl Martin pedal for a test drive, just to see what was going on across the Atlantic. Carl Martin shares many of the qualities of the…

Singleton Guitars Capella

Shining Bright

Mark Singleton holds the distinction of being a smokin’ guitarist as well as, for the past 24 years, a builder of boutique guitars and basses. One side of the coin…

Santa Cruz HT/13 Happy Traum

Fingerstyle Dream

In a career spanning more than 60 years, Happy Traum has been a fixture of the American folk scene, from the Village to Woodstock and the New World Singers to…

Hipshot Products

Bass Extenders, Stealth Slide, and B Bender

What do Will Lee, Leland Sklar, and Bunny Brunel all have in common? Besides being bassists, they all use Hipshot Bass Extender keys, a nifty device that drops the E…

Baker B1H and BJH

Top quality looks, playability, and tone

This month, the VG Product Advisory Council received a pair of Baker guitars, a B1H and a BJH, from new-kid-on-the-block Gene Baker, in California. Both guitars are mid-sized semi-hollow designs…

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…

Flying High Again

The Eastwood Airline ’59 3P

Long before the brazen, pointy electrics of the 1980s, Airline created a model with all kinds of modern angles and attitude. The original Airline electric guitars were made by Valco…

Lengardo Milano JBE Series

Lengardo Milano JBE Series

Beyond Kalamazoo

Lengardo Milano JBE Series Price: $4,254 Contact: www.JBEPickups.com Though a name unfamiliar to most, Lengardo is a brand of Phaselus, a manufacturer/distributor of guitars and music accessories in the European…

Alessandro Working Dog amps

Designed and built for tone – and the real world

George Alessandro and his amps have been high-profile for some time, and both are highly regarded. Over the years, George has repaired, modified, and tweaked thousands of amps. What he’s…

Iconix Pickups Black Mass

Michigan Metal

Michigan may have given us the automobile production line, but Troy-based Iconix Pickups is the antithesis of an assembly line operation, and now Iconix is building quality pickups for a…

Teye Guitars Electric Gypsy

Balanced Beauty

Teye Guitars Electric Gypsy. Netherlands-born Teye has been a professional guitarist for more than two decades, and like a lot of gigging guitarists spent his share of time searching for…

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…

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…

Savage Audio Macht 12x

Sweeter Mids, Smoother Twang

The Savage Audio Macht 12x Savage Audio gained a solid reputation for its repair work before moving into amplifier production in 1990. Today, the company builds a full line of…

Benedetto Bravo

Earns a Standing O

With a list of regular users that includes Johnny Smith, Joe Diorio, Martin Taylor, Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Ron Escheté, Frank Vignola, Andy Summers, Earl Klugh, and Kenny Burrell, Benedetto…

Morley Sapphire Flanger

Flanger

Morley’s Sapphire Flanger is a cute little box driven by wallwart or 9-volt battery. The box itself is a bit clunky and odd, but klunky and odd are “in” right…

BC Audio JTX45 Octal Plex

Plexi Class

In an amp world full of boutique clones, Bruce Clement has developed a unique twist on the venerable ’60s British plexi circuits using octal preamp tubes, true point-to-point wiring, and…

Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO

Archtop Ruler

In the early 1950s, the grand old luthiers like Epiphone and Gibson couldn’t believe there would ever be a market for solidbody guitars. In contrast to their glorious archtop hollowbodies,…

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…

The Supro Delta King 10

Down To The Crossroads

With the increasing popularity of compact, low-wattage combo amps has come an overwhelming variety of choices. Supro has entered the fray with its new Delta King series, ranging from a…

Digitech RP-200

Budget-conscious way to go ampless

Last month, I disclosed that I’ve gone ampless in 2002. Now let’s discuss how, and with what gear. My criteria is the same as with any gear I use –…

Acoustic Remedy’s ClimaStand Display Case

Open and Shut

Acoustic Remedy ClimaStand Price: $899 (walnut) Info: www.acousticremedycases.com Most players have at least one guitar they would like to display in a manner that allows them to enjoy its beauty…

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…