•  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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Fender’s ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb

Fender’s ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb

Improving on a Good Thing

Fender’s ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb Price: $999.99 list Contact: www.fender.com In 1968, Fender gave its amp line what collectors today look back on as a major facelift when it introdued…

Girl Brand Crossroads

One Devlishly Sweet Axe

Girl Brand Guitars… No it’s not a clearing house for sparkley pink and purple guitars with short-scale necks and small bodies. Rather, Girl Brand is the brainchild of Tucson-based luthier,…

BC Audio Grand Prix 100

Hand-Wired Heaven

For the past few years, builder Bruce Clement of BC Audio has been getting attention for his killer-sounding and meticulously wired tube heads and matching cabs. New for 2017 is…

EHX Cock Fight and Key9

Pedalin’ To The Past

When it comes to sweet retro tones, the wizards at Electro-Harmonix (EHX) have been busy again, turning out a fresh pair of wonders just dripping with ’70s and ’80s vibes.…

SoloDallas Schaffer Replica Tower

Instant Angus

There should be a hall of fame of gear that’s famous for “lateral applications” – that is, features and functions beyond their original creation. Think of Fender’s Bassman or Supro’s…

Fishman Broken Record

Acoustic Looper

Part of Fishman’s line of AFX Mini Acoustic pedals, the Broken Record is a looper/sampler for players who like to keep it simple. Capable of six minutes of audio recording,…

The Winfield Dust Devil

Devil’s In The Details

Unlike most amp builders who take up the challenge to create amplifiers that replicate the sounds of the 1960s, Winfield Thomas was actually wielding those sounds as a musician in…

Effectrode Tube-Vibe and Goran Fat Boy

Premium Pedalin’

Effectrode Tube-Vibe Price: $429 (Tube-Vibe) Contact: www.effectrode.com Goran Fat Boy Price: $429 Contact: www.goranguitars.com In the annals of guitar stompboxes, there are no tones more elusive than the mystical swirls…

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…

Budda Verbmaster 112 Home

Budda Verbmaster 112

Versatile 18-Watter

Budda Verbmaster 112 Price: $1,800 (street) Contact: budda.com As part of its Hand-Wired series, Budda has reissued the tube-rectified Verbmaster 1×12 combo that differs from similarly powered amps because it’s…

Dr. Z 35th Anniversary Carmen Ghia 1×10

Start Me Up

At the forefront of high-end boutique design, the Carmen Ghia was Dr. Z’s first commercially available amplifier when launched in 1988, and has never been absent from the company’s lineup.…

Airline Bojotar

Airline Bojotar

Hybrid G-String Machine

There’s something about the Airline Bojotar that makes one ask, “What if Keef had added a high-G banjo string to the bass side of his five-string Tele?” With a scale…

Henriksen’s The Bud

This One’s For You

In theory, a big guitar amp should sound larger than a smaller one. Then there’s Henriksen’s The Bud. Based on a cabinet created by company founder Bud Henriksen, it’s a…

ToadWorks Lil’ Leo and John Bull

OD, Spiced to Your Liking

Washington-based ToadWorks USA was founded by Ryan Dunn and Doug Harrison in 2001. They recently asked if we’d be hip to checking out their Lil’ Leo and John Bull units.…

The MXR Eric Gales EG74 Raw Dawg

Bark And Bite

During a recording career that spans three decades and includes 19 albums, blues guitarist Eric Gales has achieved a reputation for solos that are a deluge of precise notes delivered…

Supro Amulet 1×10

Old-School Soul

Paying homage to low-powered tube amps from yesteryear, the Supro Amulet was designed to re-create classic Supro sounds with a few added features. The Amulet is a 15-watt/Class A 1×10…

Andrews Spectraverb 16

No Limits

Taking inspiration from Fender’s classic AB763 Deluxe Reverb, the hand-wired Andrews Spectraverb 16 uses a pair of JJ 6V6 power tubes (producing 16 watts), a GZ34 rectifier, two 12AX7 and…

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,…

Fender’s ’57 Custom Pro-Amp

Big Brother

When most guitarists consider Fender’s famed vintage tweeds, the first that come to mind are the 5E3 Deluxe and 4×10 Bassman. The 1×15 Pro-Amp? Not so much. It’s perhaps the…

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…

King Snake Three Bone

Latter-Day “Legend”

Gibson’s ES-5 is a legend, but it’s also a bit idiosyncratic thanks to funky out-of-phase pickups and a non-intuitive control setup. Plus, originals are now so pricey that few gig…

BSM RM Majestic Treble Booster

Germany’s BSM is among the rare specialist among modern stompbox builders; their focus is one thing – making treble boosters (albeit in a variety of flavors), and their lineup uses…

Fender’s American Deluxe Stratocaster V Neck

Still Killer After All These Years

One look Fender’s latest Frontline catalog and you’ll see a huge array of models – Custom Shop N.O.S., Closet Classic, and Relics, artist signature models, American Strats, Mexican-made Strats, vintage…

Electro-Harmonix Mel9 Tape Replay Effect

In a Mello Tone

Producer George Martin was so fond of John Lennon’s tape-relay keyboard that he described it “as if a Neanderthal piano had impregnated a primitive electronic keyboard, and they’d named their…

Andrews Spectraverb 16

No Limits

Taking inspiration from Fender’s classic AB763 Deluxe Reverb, the hand-wired Andrews Spectraverb 16 uses a pair of JJ 6V6 power tubes (producing 16 watts), a GZ34 rectifier, two 12AX7 and…

Line 6 M5 Stompbox modeler

100 Sounds, One Box

Line 6 M5 Stompbox modeler Price: $279.99 (retail) Info: line6.com Have you ever thought, “Maaaan, I wish I had that [fill in the blank with the name of that rare…

Mojo Hand Octaverse

Reverse Gears

The Mojo Hand Octaverse is billed as a “dedicated reverse octave delay,” which is a mouthful, but accurate. It offers an array of otherworldly sounds, from chiming backward textures to…

Wylde Audio Odin Grail Genesis Bullseye

Berserker Broadax

Zakk Wylde emerged from New Jersey in the late ’80s to give Ozzy Osbourne’s music a style and attitude unlike that of any guitarist before him, using an approach spawned…

Louis Electric KR M12

Ready To Roll

  Lou Rosano, founder and namesake of Louis Amplifiers, was one of the first of what has since become dozens of “boutique” amp builders, having first produced a Fender tweed…

Elektron Analog Drive

Big Swede

Take a look at your pedalboard. You probably have three or four overdrives and fuzzes hooked up – and are looking to find the cash and real estate to add…