• Walrus Audio’s Mako Series MKII

    VG Approved Gear

    Walrus Audio’s Mako Series MKII

    Walrus Audio’s Mako Series MKII bolster the sounds of their first-gen predecessors, using altered algorithms, new controls, and better tonal quality. The most-obvious changes are new fine-tune settings and a menu screen. The M1 High-Fidelity Modulation Machine offers Chorus, Phaser, Tremolo, Vibrato, Rotary, and Filters. Running between a Deluxe Reverb a Les Paul Traditional or…

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Gretsch G2420T Streamliner

Bang For The Buck

Want to rock like they did back in the glory days, but don’t have pockets deep enough for a top-line Gretsch hollowbody? Strap on one of the new G2420T Streamliners…

ZT Amplifiers’ Lunchbox Junior

Tasty Treat

ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox Junior Price: $149 (street) Info: www.ztamplifiers.com. ZT Amplifiers is known for producing compact amps that generate sounds which defy their size. Their latest, the 35-watt ZT Lunchbox Junior,…

Fishman’s Fluence Greg Koch Gristle-Tone Pickups

Voices Not In Your Head

In 2014, Fishman introduced their Fluence line with the goal of combining vintage tone with freedom from the inductance problems that impact even the most hallowed vintage pickups. Rather than…

Gabriel Sound Garage Voxer 18

Buzz Buzz, King Bee!

The Gabriel Sound Garage Voxer 18 guitar amplifier is a tonal hybrid based on Marshall’s mid-’60s 18-watt amps and the Vox AC15. An all-tube/hand-wired amp built solely by Romanian emigré…

MTD Kingston Rubicon 6-22

MTD Kingston Rubicon 6-22

Crossing the Rubicon

MTD Kingston Rubicon 6-22 Price: $999 Info: www.mtdkingston.com Intuitive, player-oriented design, prime materials, and first-class execution distinguished Michael Tobias’s work even before he began concentrating on innovative electric basses in…

Small Wonder

The Orange Rocker 15 Terror

Small-footprint amp heads – tube and solidstate – are all the rage and getting better all the time. Case in point, the Orange Rocker 15 Terror. At just 15 pounds,…

Koll Super Glide Almighty

Grady’s Choice

What do you get when you cross a Jazzmaster, Les Paul, Gretsch Duo Jet, ES-335, and Tele? You just might end up with an axe from Koll Guitar, a Portland-based…

Gibson Les Paul Acoustic

Variation On A Theme

Sure, we’ve all seen numerous variations of the legendary Les Paul model electric guitar. Now here’s one variation that’s really unique – Gibson’s new Les Paul Acoustic. Designed for electric…

Frenzel FM-DP1 Tube Preamp

Old-School Bang Without Breaking the Bank

For five decades after he built his first guitar amp in 1952, Jim Frenzel designed tube and solidstate equipment for the military, FAA, and Texas Instruments. But it wasn’t until…

Martin D-18 Satin

Spruce Stalwart

Death, taxes, and spruce on mahogany. There are only so many certainties in life, and these are three. Another is that there will always be spruce-on-mahogany Martin guitars. The newest…

Jeff Babicz Acute model

Earful of Engineering

Writing about new gear is a problematic situation when you’re called Vintage Guitar magazine. Fortunately, most of the gear we review is based on long-accepted concepts. Even the advanced technology…

Danelectro Baby Sitar Home Feature Image

Danelectro Baby Sitar

Paint It Sunburst

Legend has it that during a break in the filming of Help!, George Harrison picked up a sitar left behind by the prop men and attempted to play it. Soon…

Siegmund Micro Tube Overdrive

Stompbox Subtlety

Chris Siegmund is an up-and-coming guitar/amp wizard from Vienna, Austria. A unique type of craftsman, Siegmund is a musician born to a family of architects and furniture makers. He began…

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…

Mesa/Boogie Badlander 25 1×12

Tonal Muscularity

In the solar system of amplifier badassery, the name Mesa/Boogie needs no introduction. From the mellifluous guitar sounds of Carlos Santana to the hard-charging intensity of Metallica, Mesa continues to…

Fender ’57 Amp

What Would Leo Do?

History tells us that Leo Fender wasn’t much for “fancifying” things. More meat-and-potatoes than Chicken in Walnut Curry, Leo was a simple guy, and that ethos carried over to the…

Fender Vaporizer Amp

Fender Vaporizer Amp

Retro on 11

Fender’s Vaporizer Amp Price: $399.99 (street) Info: www.fender.com Given the popularity of smartphones, tablets, digital recorders, and amp modeling in today’s music industry, when it comes to guitar amps, what…

DryBell Vibe Machine 3

Big Deepness

DryBell Musical Electronic Laboratory’s original Vibe Machine (its take on the classic Univibe) was developed 11 years ago and received thunderous accolades. When the company celebrated its 10th anniversary last…

Reverend Goblin 5-15

Ghostly Good

Reverend Goblin 5-15. Reverend’s Goblin 5-15 is the brainchild of Reverend founder Joe Naylor and Dennis Kager, of Pignose and Ampeg fame. The Goblin was designed as a simple single-channel,…

Teye Guitars’ Master Series Knights Templar

Knight Time

Guitar fanatics find inspiration from different players. And if Woody swapping licks and practicing “the ancient art of weaving” with Keef while playing his famous pearl-topped, single-cut Zemaitis gets your…

Chemistry Design Werks’ Holeyboard 123

Chemistry Design Werks’ Holeyboard 123 is made of 1/8″ aluminum with overlapping surfaces that can be adjusted from 13″ to 30″ at 1.5″ increments using one or both panels and…

Marshall MXL V57M

Big-buck mic sounds – small bucks required

If you do any serious recording, analog or digital, you a need a great mic. Condenser mics have been the de facto standard for recording music and voice since World…

Weller El Dorrado

Rock-and-Roll Screamer

Tucked away in southwest Illinois near St. Louis, luthier Steve Weller is making interesting instruments. His El Dorrado model is a solidbody with nods to the angular shapes of the…

Radial Cabbone, Switchbone, and Loopbone

Switcher's Paradise

Radial Cabbone Switcher’s Paradise Radial Cabbone, Switchbone, and Loop-bone add incomparable versatility Bob Tekippe Though Radial Engineering’s Switchbone, Cabbone, and Loopbone pedals can all technically be classified as “switchers,” each…

Metropolitan Guitars Westport

Series

New from Metropolitan Guitars of Texas comes the Westport Series, a scaled-down version of their Tanglewood, reviewed last year in these pages. The Tanglewood is, if you recall, Dave Wintz’s…

G&L S-500 Deluxe

Still hand-made, still Leo-like

The people at G&L Guitars consider themselves more than simply guitar builders. Rather, they are the caretakers of Leo Fender’s legacy. Built on what started as Clarence Leo Fender (CLF)…

RS Guitarworks Rock Master

Lotta Green, Buncha Mean RS

RS Guitarworks Rock Master In 1994, RS Guitarworks was just another guitar repair joint that every so often did some refinishing work. But it has since grown to become a…

Oddfellow Caveman Drive

Oddfellow Caveman Drive

Tone Evolution

Oddfellow Caveman Drive Price: $174.99 (list) Info: www.oddfellowfx.com. Handmade in California, the Oddfellow Caveman Drive is a boutique pedal whose simple layout belies its tonal complexities. But even before hooking…

Taylor 724ce

Bold And Bright

In the Hawaiian tongue, koa means “bold” and it’s an apt name for the wood known in guitardom for its bright tone and golden grain. In kindred spirit, the new…

Roland’s Blues Cube Artist

Roland’s Blues Cube Artist

Roland’s Blues Cube Artist Price: $1,169 (list)/$899 (street) Contact: www.rolandus.com Roland has reinvented and relaunched its Blues Cube combos with a series featuring Roland’s exclusive Tube Logic design that carefully…