•  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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Pigtail Music

Pigtail music makes ABR-style and wraparound bridges (in the U.S.) with vintage-style appearance and materials, but to tighter tolerances. Their bridges hold saddles in place by friction (not with a…

Rybski Cougar

Wild Cat

Rybiski Cougar Price: $3,850 Info: www.rybskiguitars.com. Before moving to the United States, Rybski founder Slawomir Waclawik repaired and built upright basses and violins for top jazz and fusion players in…

Fender ’48 Dual Professional JB

Bring The Growl

Among early Fender amps, the tweed Deluxe and Bassman garner the lion’s share of affection. But the first amp given that durable luggage covering was one Leo created for guitarists…

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…

Cordoba Stage

Classical Gas

With a 1.5″/fully chambered mahogany body, the Stage – Cordoba’s first foray into the world of nylon-string electric guitars – brings a pleasing, ergonomic single-cut shape dressed with a beautiful…

The Jext Telez Jonathan Wilson’s Canyon Climber, Jext Face

Fuzz Buzz

There’s nothing subtle about Jext Telez stompboxes; they’re about loud colors, loud sounds, and loads of fuzz. The latest creations from designers Bob Ebeling and Colin Simon harken to the…

Dr. Z Z Wreck Combo

Dr. Z Z Wreck Combo

Tone On The Go

Dr. Z Z Wreck Combo Price: $2,999 Info: www.drzamps.com. Originally designed as a head with a matching 2×12 cabinet, the Z Wreck came about at the request of country super-picker…

Parker NiteFly Mojo Flame

Get Yer Mojo Workin'!

When Parker Fly guitars were introduced in July, 1993, they were strange aliens from a distant guitar planet, sporting a radical design, composite body, and neck, and one of the…

ToneTron Billy-Rocker 10

Small Is Beautiful

Small amps are big. As venues become increasingly intimate and amplifiers are miked through sound systems rather than muscling-up to broadcast across a full room, you no longer need to…

Xotic Effects RC Booster Reissue

Return of A Legend

Twenty years ago, Xotic Effects unleashed its iconic RC Booster. With variable Gain, EQ, and Volume controls, it was a mainstay on pedalboards the world over for players seeking top-shelf…

Juke 1210

Tonal Treat

Amp purists may have a tough time dealing with Warbler/Juke’s 1210. Until they hear it! The 1210 is unique both for its 2×10/1×12 speaker layout and lack of a distortion/overdrive.…

EVH Stripe Series Star

Romeo Delight

There was time when guitarists waited for new Van Halen records like ferrets on crack. After all, in the early ’80s, Edward Van Halen was a huge deal – a…

Lovepedal Purple Plexi

Glory & Overtones

Fans of guitarists with superb tones routinely spot Lovepedal boxes on pedalboards in almost every music genre. From their early days emulating the tones of Billy Gibbons and Jimi Hendrix,…

Visual Sound Effects Pedals

Two-for-one punch

Always on the watch for good-looking, good-sounding, durable pedals, we were recently drawn to three of the latest gizmos from Visual Sound, the Florida-based company that started out building a…

Epiphone Jack Casady Signature Model

Tuna Bass

Epiphone Jack Casady Signature Bass Price: $699 (street) Info: www.epiphone.com. Rock-and-roll bassists of the ’60s like Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, and Duck Dunn brought something to the game…

Carvin Audio’s X1 Preamp

Welcome Back

The recently re-tooled Carvin Audio has stayed active with product offerings aimed at the player/sound-reinforcement segment. Its new X1 combines the front end of Carvin’s old X100B with cool tweaks…

Tone King Royalist MKIII

Firebreather U.K. Three-Speed

British tube amps from the mid ’60s and early ’70s have inspired countless designs emulating their beloved tones. In 2014, Tone King Amplifier Company launched the Royalist, its take on…

VVT Lindy Fralin Model amplifier

Toneful Tag-Team

Maryland-based amplifier builder Vintage Vacuum Tube Amplifiers (you may know it as VVT) recently fielded a request from renowned pickup winder Lindy Fralin. He wasn’t looking for advice on wire…

Dutch Kazoo Analog Fuzz Pedal

OD Treat

Dutch Kazoo Analog Fuzz Pedal Price: $225 retail Info: www.dutchkazoo.com It’s not easy for a new boutique overdrive or distortion pedal to stand out in today’s thick fog of clipped…

Mack Atomsmasher DB-40

Super Dynamics

What do you get when you have a rockin’ pair of 12AX7 tubes and a pair of EL34 power tubes? You get the tonal core of the new Mack tube…

Fralin’s Wide-Range Humbucker

Gibson and Fender have a long history of influencing each other’s designs. When hard rock and warm, jazzier textures were on the rise in the early ’70s, Fender wanted some…

Xotic Effects’ Wah XW-1

Xotic Effects’ Wah XW-1

State-Of-The-Art MousEtrap

Xotic Effects’ Wah XW-1 Price: $295 (list); $249 (street) Contact: xotic.us/ The chase for tone sometimes seems like never-ending “Tom and Jerry” reruns. Enter Xotic Effects and their better mousetrap:…

Carl Martin Vintage Series Pedals

More Effect, Less Coin

If you’re the type of hardcore gear geek who spends as much time evaluating guitarists based on what’s in their hands, rigs, and pedalboards as you do actually listening to…

Peavey’s 6505 Piranha Micro Head

Small Package, Big Bite

At roughly the size of a Harry Potter hardcover, the Peavey 6505 Piranha Micro Head is a small yet fully functional tube head that fits in a gig bag or…

Vintage V52 Icon

Vintage V52 Icon

Cost-Effective Twang

Vintage V52 Icon Price: $459 Info: www.jhs.co.uk The U.K.-based distributor John Hornby Skewes offers guitars under the brand Vintage that cater to a market interested in traditional sounds and old-school…

Retro Guitar MelodyBurner

Retro Guitar MelodyBurner

Bite and Bark

Retro Guitar MelodyBurner Price: $999 (options available) Info: www.melodyburner.com In the realm of hot-rodded cars, there’s a cool genre known as rat rods – old, relic’d automobiles that sport a…

Walrus Audio’s Monument Harmonic Tap Tremolo

Delirious Tremors

At some point, nearly every guitarist realizes they simply can’t function without an effects pedal that creates warm, pulsating modulation. Walrus Audio’s Monument Harmonic Tap Tremolo not only works as…

Mojo Hand Swim Team Chorus Flanger

Double Duty

Michigan-based Mojo Hand Effects has been building a variety of hand-assembled pedals since 2010. Their latest, the Swim Team, pulls double duty as a chorus and flanger packed into a…

Groove Tubes Soul-O Single

Soul-O Single

Groove Tubes founder Aspen Pittman is a tube connoisseur. For 24 years, he has listened to, tested, designed, and manufactured many variants of the familiar glass bottles that melt the…

Keeley Electronics Compressor Mini

The Tighten-Up

One entry in Keeley’s next-gen pedals, the Compressor Mini is an automatic “Manhattan-style” compression. The tiny tool’s secret is an Automatic Tone Recovery Circuit that ensures signal maintains clear high…