•  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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M&V Guitars and Pickups Atlas Large-Pole Precision Bass Pickups

Big Bottom

M&V Guitars and Pickups Atlas P Bass-Style Pickups Price: $75 Info: www.mvguitars.com. Let’s face it –  when it comes to boutique pickup options, bass players have gotten the short end…

Blackstar’s HT Series Pedals

Gain to the Third Power

Blackstar Amplification is known for its successful Artisan, Series One, and HT amp lines. Its new HT effects line includes boxes for delay, reverb, modulation, distortion, drive, and boost. All…

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…

Reddick Voyager CS

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…

PRS SE NF3

Expanded Options

The latest result of PRS Guitars “reverse-engineering”/ reconsidering its own instruments, the SE NF3 is the first PRS to be given Narrowfield DD (Deep Dish) S pickups. A spin on…

Electro-Harmonix 16 Second Digital Delay

From Practice to the PA

On several occasions, we’ve chronicled the story of Electro-Harmonix, from its first heyday in the 1970s, through the ’80s, and its resurgence in the ’90s. No doubt about it, company…

Jim Dunlop BG95 and EVH95 Signature Cry Baby Wahs

Voodoo Chasin’

Wah users needn’t settle for stock tonal options like those heard on the “Theme From Shaft” or “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).” That’s because Jim Dunlop offers recreations of the classic…

Eastwood Marksman 5

Bullseye!

Eastwood Marksman 5 Price: $999 (retail) Info: www.eastwoodguitars.com. Reviving great and unusual designs from the past has been the focus of Eastwood Guitars since their inception in 2001. For well…

Keeley Electronics Dark Side

Floyd Fare

In the multi-verse of effects pedals, Robert Keeley’s compressors, dirt boxes, and workstation gizmos are a thing of beauty – particularly in the realm of pedals that provide multiple sounds.…

The Wampler Catacombs

Shimmer Box

In the pedal market, the category of reverbs and delays is straight fire these days. Wampler has jumped in with the Catacombs, a stereo box that can operate as a…

AnalogMan Jim Weider Big-T Bridge Pickup

AnalogMan Jim Weider Big-T Bridge Pickup

Mr. Clean

AnalogMan’s Jim Weider Big-T Bridge Pickup Price: $135 Info: www.buyanalogman.com Jim Weider is one of the few guitarists who can truly wear the title “Telemaster” without being crushed by the…

Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway

Six-Song Minimum?

Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway For years, people continually asked Bob Taylor, “When are you going to come up with an electric guitar?” Taylor’s answer was always, “Somewhere between never and…

Bad Cat Jet Black Combo

Back in Black

Guitar players around the globe praised Bad Cat’s Black Cat amp for its tone, but wanted more punch. Its ear twisted, the company delivered by doubling the output and tweaking…

Way Huge Saffron Squeeze MkII

Way Huge Saffron Squeeze MkII

Fresh-squeezed

Twenty years after its launch, the Way Huge Saffron Squeeze compressor has been improved upon. Doing fierce business with an already spectacular product line, Jim Dunlop Manufacturing added pedal wizard…

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…

Bogner Oxford Fuzz

Highly Educational

Teaming with Rupert Neve, Bogner Amplification has developed a line of pedals based on its renowned amp channels. One result, the Oxford Fuzz, is a smooth and highly refined fuzz…

McGregor Cozmic Fuzzball

Sweet & Gnarly

The culmination of a quest to build the perfect transparent overdrive, Garth Heslop’s Cozmic Fuzzball is the third pedal in the series from his company, McGregor Pedals. Designed and hand-soldered…

Airline ’59 Custom 1P and Epiphone ’61 Casino 50th Anniversary

Having a Rave-Up!

Fifteen years ago, you couldn’t give away some of the less-popular guitars from the ’60s, whether they were models with P-90s or cheapo imports from Japan and Germany. Today, however,…

Walrus The Melee

Super Soaker

Just when you think you’ve seen everything, along comes Walrus’ The Melee: Wall of Noise, a pedal with a built-in joystick, perfect for guitarists raised on video games. Billed as…

Colby Amplification Park 45

Colby Amplification Park 45

Put It Here

Colby Amplification Park 45 Price: $2,500 (list) Contact: www.colbyamps.com There are legends that gear fanatics all know, and then there are hidden treasures known to only a few. Park amps…

JangleBox J-Gate Noise Suppression Gate

Silence, Please!

JangleBox J-Gate Noise Suppression Gate Price: $225 Info: www.janglebox.com Dynasonic, lipstick, and P-90 are all great names for pickups with iconic single-coil tones – typically accompanied by the 60-cycle hum…

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,…

Danelectro ’59 Resonator

Book This Dano

While guitar enthusiasts expend a lot of brain power waxing poetic about tonewoods, for many VG readers of a certain vintage, that gateway experience with an electric guitar may very…

Guild Polara Kim Thayil

Get Your Grunge

With Soundgarden, guitarist Kim Thayil helped define the grunge movement. His unusual weapon of choice was the Guild S-100 Polara, a solidbody often unfairly compared to the Gibson SG. Soundgarden…

BBE Sonic Stomp Pro & Green Screamer V2

Maximized Tone

Contributing to a recent burst of creative releases in the effects market, BBE added a pair of stompboxes to its offerings; the Sonic Stomp Pro is a pedal version of…

Speedster 25 Watt Deluxe and Class A 40 amps

Flat-Out in Two Gears

It’s one of the great comeback stories in the history of boutique amps – short as that history may be. In 2003, manufacturing engineer/entrepreneur/guitar buff Joe Valosay contacted the founders…

Alessandro Working Dog amps

Designed and built for tone – and the real world

George Alessandro and his amps have been high-profile for some time, and both are highly regarded. Over the years, George has repaired, modified, and tweaked thousands of amps. What he’s…

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.…

Tx-Watt Flagship

Tone Big as Texas

For more than three decades on the Texas roadhouse circuit, guitarist Jack Kay’s love of vintage Fender and Marshall tones often had him using both amplifier brands at the same…

AXL USA Hand-Aged Bulldog

Bark and Bite

AXL USA Hand-Aged Bulldog Price: $699.99 (street) Contact: www.axlguitars.com Unabashedly inspired by the classic Les Paul Junior, AXL Guitars’ limited-edition USA Hand-Aged Bulldog is a single-pickup guitar with a slab…