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

Bridge Of Floyd
In a civilized world, every guitarist would have a bit of Robin Trower, Pink Floyd, and Band Of Gypsys shimmer in their musical vocabulary. Fitting, then, that a company headquartered…
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…

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,…
The bolt-on Swamp Ash Special has been around for nearly three decades, but PRS just retooled the U.S.-built version and dropped it at NAMM. There are significant upgrades. While earlier versions had humbuckers with a single-coil pickup between them, this latest plank has a PRS Narrowfield (NF) humbucker in the middle. Another bonus is the
If nobody mentioned that Martin’s new Standard line had been updated, a player might be forgiven for not immediately noticing that the latest D-28 has been subtly changed. After all, it’s the D-28 – one of the most recognizable and enduring American icons – and the thought of altering such a flagship is likely to
Arriving a little more than 10 years after the original Skylark, Carr Amplifiers’ new Skylark Special adds versatility and enhanced tonal depths to squeeze a lot more into this diminutive combo. Specs remain much the same, deriving 12 watts of power from a pair of 6V6GT output tubes into a 12″ Celestion A-Type speaker. But,

Time-Machine Tone
In the beginning, there was the Precision Bass. Following Leo Fender’s revelation, things branched out in all directions as builders experimented with the idea that the double bass could be…

Game Changer?
Avante Gryphon Price: $1,495 (street) Info: www.veilletteguitars.com People bandy about the term “game changer” so often these days it barely means a thing, but the Avante Gryphon may be just…

Ultimate Hod Rod
Designed more than 30 years ago, the latest incarnation of Charvel’s Pro-Mod So-Cal keeps the “super” in superstrat. An eye-catching, ergonomic guitar with alder body bolted to a U-shaped, oiled-maple…

Who Woulda Thunk?
Skatterbrane Pickups Jazzbranes Price: $295 (list) per set Info: www.skatterbranepickups.com. In the mid 1950s, Rickenbacker and Gibson began offering dual-coil, hum-canceling pickups. Jazz was still king, but rock and roll…

Heart And Soul
The lutherie art of Tony Zemaitis resulted in some of the rarest, most admired, and most valuable of guitars. Among his creations, including the famed metal- and mother-of-pearl-fronted electrics, his…

RD Our Lips
Issued during Gibson’s infamous “Norlin era,” the original RD Artist has become surprisingly collectible over the years, thanks to its melted-Firebird shape and active electronics from the Moog synthesizer folks.…
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
LSL Instruments is best known for high-end Leo-style guitar builds, but they’ve also started delving into overdrive pedals. The Lucid OD is their version of a Klon Centaur – one of the priciest stompboxes in human history ($5,000-plus for the first-gen gold box with the horse logo). The box offers Volume, Gain, and Tone knobs
With is Clean compressor, Chase Bliss set out to create a pedal that would duplicate the vivid interactivity of a dirty tube amp, but with a completely clean tone. While a standard compressor can give your guitar (bass, keyboard, etc.) a professional sheen, the Clean is a stereo unit that can polish mixes or deliver
Wait – what? Did Eastwood just bring back the Super Axe, that incredibly rare bird from the late ’70s? Indeed, they did. A Korean-made reissue, it captures the spirit of Gretsch’s chambered curiosity. Grabbing one, the first thing you’ll notice is the oversized yet thin body, with its arched top and the enchanting lines of
So often has the phrase “Mark Sampson era” been applied to pre-2000 Matchless amps or early examples of the Bad Cat line that the term has become a “thing” in and of itself. As applied to Bad Cat’s new Era 30, it means Sampson is back in the fold (see our interview in the March
Now more than 90 years old, the lap steel was the earliest example of an electric guitar and remains a stringed instrument every guitarist should try, largely because it’s so accessible. In fact, a lap steel is about as straightforward as you can get – it’s a plank that sits on your lap and is
Big Things, Small Packages
In two short years of existence, ZT Amplifiers has found a unique place for itself in the world of boutique amplification. ZT engineering guru Ken Kantor’s flagship amp is called…
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…

Super Unleaded
After decades of jumping from one guitar manufacturer to another, Greg Howe recently began working with Carvin (more specifically, Kiesel) on a signature guitar. Carvin passed manufacture and sale of…

The Secret Inside
Every once in a while, an instrument or piece of gear emerges that knocks the socks off. Yamaha’s TransAcoustic is one such axe. The TransAcoustic is a dreadnought (the company…

Opposites Attract
In today’s world of proliferating boutique pedals, guitarists have a staggering array of divergent options. Case in point, the Black Cat Vibe and TWA Triskelion Mk. II make for a…

Mods Made Easy
Exploring creative designs at his shop in Georgia, luthier Ian Reddick aimed to solve a common problem – how to cover a range of tones on a gig without lugging…

Things Just Got Serious
Crucial Audio Echo-Nugget Price:$799 (list) Contact: www.crucialaudio.com It’s hard not to be impressed by the physical presence of the Crucial Audio Echo-Nugget. Unlike typical small-footprint stompboxes, the Echo-Nugget is a…

Joe Naylor has a long history of designing and marketing everything in the music business from high-end amps, guitars, basses, speakers, and effects pedals to his latest Railhammer pickups. His…
New Axe From the "Woodstock Contingent"
Before starting his Black Creek Musical Instrument Company, upstate New Yorker Chris Hofschneider spent time building instruments with other members of what has grown into the “Woodstock Contingent,” an elite…
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…
Tone By Analysis
Long before Gary Levinson started making guitars under the Blade moniker, he was, like many builders, a guitar repair tech. He spent much of the 1960s and ’70s in that…
Champ of Champs?
Gries 5 Price: $879 Info: www.griesamps.com The Fender Champ is one of the most popular amps of all time. Offering great tone at low volumes, it’s ideal for both practice…

Throwback Three-Fer
For players of a certain vintage, there’s something gratifying about an old-school compact Boss pedal at your feet. Even with the evolution of more-sophisticated pedals, those bright, uniform boxes reliably…

Brass Ring
Resonator guitars appear to inspire a particular kind of affliction among players. And it’s a difficult addiction to maintain, given the paucity of vintage National and Dobro instruments, their much-cursed…

Small Stack
For those who love classic British tone, nothing beats the sound of a Marshall stack cranked to 10. Unfortunately, unless you live on a Montana cattle ranch, actually producing this…

Do It Yerself
A good friend jokingly remarked that building tube amps is the legal equivalent of taking opiates – instantly gratifying yet highly addicting. If so, then MOD Kits’ 102+ just might…

Goin’ “Old-Store”
Most everyone has seen a department-store-catalog guitar (or two!) from the ’60s or ’70s. With their funky, cool body shapes and smorgasbord of knobs and switches, their looks grabbed ya’.…

Fresh-Squeezed Sounds
Analog Man Bi-Comprossor Price: $275 Info: www.analogman.com Mike Piera, a.k.a. Analog Man, is known for creating pedals with a vintage flavor. Clients include guitarists who want to achieve that classic…
Contemporary Classic
Gibson returned to the ampli-fier business in the late ’90s with its Goldtone amps, de-rived from the ’50s-era Trace Elliot/Vellocette line. The original models – the GA-15, GA-15RV, and GA-30RVS…

Big Step
The Boss Katana amplifier has a cult of devotees, many of whom have been waiting for a Bluetooth version that allows access to the amp’s deep models and effects with…

Greece Is The Word
The modal mellowness of Apollo’s lyre or the perky chirp of the bouzouki might come to mind when one thinks of Greek music. But Crazy Tube Circuits? From the Athens…