• 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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Dino’s Guitars Rust Box and Dynabox

Old-World Build For a New Gen

Dino’s Guitars Rust Box Italians have historically been known for great craftsmanship and detail. Names like Lamborghini and Maserati conjure the image of the exotic and the high-end detail required…

Tech 21’s Fly Rig Brit and Cali

Little Monsters

In this age of shrinking guitar rigs, Tech 21’s Fly Rig pedals show just how guitar-related technology is getting smaller but more powerful. Fly Rigs measure a mere 11.5 x…

EarthQuaker Devices’ Westwood Translucent Drive Manipulator

Ground Shaker

EarthQuaker Devices has a knack for launching pedals that range from ideal tools for those seeking otherworldly sonic textures to vintage-inspired stompboxes for old-school players. Falling more in the latter…

Electro-Harmonix Tube Zipper

Exotic Tones For Eclectic Players

Hailed by its creators as the greatest product introduced by Electro-Harmonix in over 20 years, the new Tube Zipper was developed jointly by E-H’s legendary stompbox guru, Mike Matthews, and…

Black Creek Musical NYS Guitar

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…

Zemaitis S22 Metal Top

Zemaitis company makes its initial offering

Zemaitis S22 Metal Top Amongst the sometimes bizarre, always esoteric lot that is any given group of vintage guitar collectors, the name Antanus Casimere Zemaitis carries a special connotation. The…

PRS CE 24

One Guitar, All night

There are gigs where a guitarist needs to cover a vast range of sounds and tones yet yearns to schlep just one 6-string to the show. It might be a…

Fender Twin & Deluxe

Fender’s ’57 Twin Amp and ’57 Deluxe – Tweed for Two

Fender “tweed” guitar amplifiers – the Twin, Deluxe, Bassman, Champ, etc., from the 1950s – are the most sought after amps in the annals of guitardom. Whether it is Leo’s…

Jam Pedals’ Delay Llama & Wahcko Wah

What’s In A Name?

Positioning its sonic M.O. squarely in the 1960s and ’70s, Jam Pedals strives to create a distinct line of effects. Beyond their fun graphics and tongue-in-cheek names, Jam’s stompboxes are…

Wampler Effects Pedals

Filling the Gaps

Brian Wampler, who developed a reputation first for modding effects pedals, then for building originals including a custom overdrive for heavy-hitter country picker Brad Paisley, plays by the rules set…

Larrivee C-09

The Larrivee C-09

The acoustic guitar wars are heating up, with wonderful instruments from Martin, Gibson, and upstarts like Taylor. Bill is making superb instruments down in Texas, and way up in Vancouver,…

Fender’s Johnny Marr Jaguar Signature Limited Edition

The Right Thing Right

Nostalgia can be a confounding thing. When most fans think of Johnny Marr, they remember him flailing on an array of Ricks, Gibson semi-hollows, and Strats during his days with…

3rd Power Amplification’s Solo Dream 1, Solo Dream 4, and Switchback 112

Dream Babies

Recording/touring guitarist, studio engineer, and industry veteran Jamie Scott made the metamorphosis into amp designer by learning to repair and modify Marshall heads. He quickly realized that he wanted amps…

Crazy Tube Circuit White Whale V2

Twin Tones

Introduced in 2017, Christos Ntaifotis’ original White Whale tremolo/reverb became one of his company’s best sellers. Its success, however, didn’t breed complacency, and after years of gathering user input, they…

Melancon Custom Artist and P-90 Artist

Hailing from Louisiana, Gerard Melancon is a former professional gigging and studio player who parlayed experience on the road and as a guitar repairman into a devout attitude toward building…

The Providence Velvet Comp, Red Rock OD, and Phase Force

The Providence Velvet Comp, Red Rock OD, and Phase Force

Tones of Destiny

The Providence Velvet Comp, Red Rock OD, and Phase Force Price: $199 (per piece, list) Contact: www.providence.jp Providence is a Japan-based manufacturer of effects, cables, guitars, pickups, and audio-switching devices.…

Ibanez Artcore Expressionist AM93QM

Semi-Hollow Magic

There comes a time in a guitarist’s life when one becomes hollowbody curious, and semi-hollow guitars are often the gateway – and they ain’t cheap. Ibanez offers a solution with…

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…

The D’Angelico Excel 59

Hybrid Hotshot

Some might see it as a Frankenstein’s monster, while others will view it as the best of all worlds. The D’Angelico Excel 59 is a throwback to an original John…

Boss MT-2 3A Metal Zone

Captain Crunch

Over the years, the Boss Metal Zone has often been lampooned for its ferocious personality. But if you plug one in, you’ll be hard-pressed to understand why – it’s a…

LBenito Alerce-topped Grand Auditorium

Hot Stuff from Chile

How much more vintage can you get? If you’re talking about guitar tone woods, not much more vintage than the tops on guitars by LBenito. Built in Chile, using alerce…

Donner Rising-G Pro

Weather-Ready

Composite and graphite guitars have been around for more than 50 years, from famous Ovation acoustics to the Parker Fly, Steinberger, Brian Moore MC/1, and RainSong acoustics. The China-based Donner…

Garcia Amplification 60-watt combo

Ninety Pounds of Force and Finesse

Garcia Amplification’s 60-watt combo Matthew Garcia has been a guitarist for 27 years, many of them spent on the road six nights each week, 50 weeks each year. During his…

Square Amps’ Chippy

Radio King

Matt Richards builds basic cathode-bias amps housed in the carcasses of vintage radios. They’re designed to be compatible with various tubes, giving the user a range of output and tone…

Jam Pedals’ Delay Llama & Wahcko Wah

What’s In A Name?

Positioning its sonic M.O. squarely in the 1960s and ’70s, Jam Pedals strives to create a distinct line of effects. Beyond their fun graphics and tongue-in-cheek names, Jam’s stompboxes are…

A Little More Better

CopperSound’s Foxcatcher Boost/Overdrive and Polaris Chorus/Vibrato

Offering hand-built pedals from their shop in Easton, Massachusetts, CopperSound seems to be finding a niche among small-batch builders, namely by rethinking some well-loved tones and technologies. One recent offering…

Roland’s JC-22 Jazz Chorus

More Than Just Chime

The original Roland Jazz Chorus doesn’t get the kind of love that American and British amps in the rock and blues world receive, but its place in history is well…

Chase Bliss Onward

Glitch Niche

These days, there’s a litany of “glitch” pedals on the market – boxes that deconstruct guitar signal into 8-bit bleeps and lo-fi bloops. Chase Bliss’ entry is the Onward. Unlike…

Fishman AFX Pedals

Tiny Tools

The shrinkologists at Fishman recently introduced a line of mini AFX pedals that do many jobs in an acoustic/electric guitar while offering a minimal footprint, 9-volt power, and optional true-bypass.…

Universal Audio Ruby, Woodrow & Dream

Model Of Perfection

With digital recording more popular than ever, audio designers are working to capture guitar tone directly, without miking an amp. Universal Audio – renowned maker of studio gear – has…