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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…
Danelectro Innuendo
Flash and panache, Danoblaster-style
In the realm of “…can you top this?” so frequently found in the world of musical instruments, which has in the past produced such luminary items as the four-pickup Guyatones…
EHX Slammi Plus, Hot Wax
Grease Fire
EHX’s Slammi Plus and Hot Wax pedals are not for the faint of heart. Housed in heavy-duty plastic, the Whammy-shaped Slammi Plus may look like a wah, but it has…
Crazy Tube Circuits Stardust, Splash MKII, and Pin Up Fuzz
Pure Sanity
Crazy Tube Circuits Stardust, Splash MKII, and Pin Up Fuzz Price: $290 (splash MKll); $260 (Pin Up Fuzz); $235 (Stardust) Contact: www.crazytubecircuits.com Athens, Greece – birthplace of the Olympics, democracy,…
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LSL Instruments’ Lucid OD and OG OD
Lively Drives
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…
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The Chase Bliss Clean
Posh Squash
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…
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The Eastwood Super Axe
Chet Powered!
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…
Sitori Sonics pedals
New Highs with Sitori Sonics’ Doob Dreamer, Tidal Phase, and Reel Repeat
Sitori Sonics pedals Price: $188 list (Doob Dreamer, Reel Repeat); $168 (Tidal Phase) Info: sitorisonics.com. Despite the vast possibilities of electronic guitar effects, boutique pedal builders perhaps sometimes focus their…
PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow
Multi-Functional Gem
While most guitarists are familiar with PRS (and some dream every day of adding one of the company’s Private Stock axes to their collection), the company’s import SE line typically…
New Orleans Guitar Company Model 8
Sonic Mojo
New Orleans Guitar Company Model 8 Price: $2,999 Contact: neworleansguitar.com For over a decade, the New Orleans Guitar Company has been producing handcrafted electrics with an attention to design and…
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…
MXR Slash Octave Fuzz SF01 and Slash Cry Baby Classic SC-95
Slash 'N Burn
MXR SF01 Slash Octae Fuzz Price: $129 (street) Contact: jimdunlop.com MXR’s new Slash Octave Fuzz pedal employs three fuzz “flavors” – Sub-Octave, Fuzz, and Octave Up – that offer a…
Jammy Instruments’ Jammy G
Digital Six
Digital, MIDI, and synth guitars have been around for decades. One newer entry in the field is the Jammy G, a digital guitar connected to an app that accesses its…
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The Bad Cat Era 30
Retro-Great
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…
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Eastwood MRG Lap Steel
Slide Piece
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…
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Soldano SLO Plus Super Lead Overdive
Icon In Reach
If the iconic Soldano SLO-100 is perpetually on your wish list but its price tag keeps you from pulling the trigger, its creator now has a realistic alternative. Expanding on the original single-channel SLO Overdrive pedal, the SLO Plus introduces a Normal channel alongside Overdrive, each with dedicated controls that allow for detailed tweaking of…
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Orange Dual Baby, Gain Baby, and Tour Baby 100
Playpen Power
For 2025, Orange has expanded on its compact Pedal Baby introduced a few years back with a new trio – the Dual Baby, Gain Baby, and Tour Baby. All 100-watt amps with solid-state Class A/B output stages, Jfet preamp stages (another form of solid-state), and two footswitchable channels, they’re housed in 12″ x 3.25″ x…
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Boss SDE-3 Dual Digital Delay
Double Echo
Based on the famed Roland SDE-3000 rack unit, Boss’ SDE-3 combines some classic delay sounds of the 1980s, updated with a bevy of modern tricks and features. Like a lot of delays, it can be run in mono, but you’ll get the biggest bang going in stereo to different amps or outputs. The core of…
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Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ Reissue
Dual-Mode Delivery
The evolution of Randall Smith’s legendary high-gain Mesa/Boogie design into the revered Mark IIC+ of the mid ’80s established a rock amp that many guitarists still consider the epitome of the form. Building on what was already a high-gain amp by the standards of the day, the M/B team piled on even more gain, more…
Benedetto Bravo
Earns a Standing O
With a list of regular users that includes Johnny Smith, Joe Diorio, Martin Taylor, Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Ron Escheté, Frank Vignola, Andy Summers, Earl Klugh, and Kenny Burrell, Benedetto…
JHS Pink Panther
Diamond Delay
To mark the 10th anniversary of its original Pink Panther delay, JHS has created an updated edition that packs a plethora of cool appointments in an attractive box. Modeled after…
Fender PM-2
Sitting-Room Savoir Faire
Once wildly popular among everyone from drawing-room dilettantes to road-hardened bluesmen shuffling the dusty byways, parlor-sized guitars fell out of favor mid-century when popular ensembles demanded the volume better provided…
Reverend Guitars Ron Asheton Model
Raw Power
Reverend Guitars Ron Asheton Model Price: $1,079 Info: www.reverendguitars.com. If Ron Asheton had recorded just one album in his musical career – the Stooges’ 1969 debut – he still would…
Rick Turner Model 1 Deluxe LB
All-Terrain Guitar
Ever wonder about that strange-looking guitar Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac has been playing all these years? The same one John Mayer has occasionally been spotted with as well? It’s…
Gurus Amps’ SexydriveMkII
Bellissimo!
Chalk up another score for Italian innovation. Chicco Bellini and his company, Gurus Amps, are among the top dogs in the Italian gear market. They’ve also been gaining steam worldwide…
The Hi-Tone HT30/JP 15
Living Loving Gain
While many have tried via transistor trickery to replicate the tone of Jimmy Page’s Hiwatt at Led Zeppelin’s legendary January ’70 Royal Albert Hall performance, the Hi-Tone HT30/JP 15 is…
Marshall JCM800 2203
Preamp tubes: three ECC83. Output tubes: four 6550. Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Pre-Amp Volume, Master Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Presence. Speakers: four Celestion G12T-75 12″ speakers per cab. Output: approximately 100…
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…
Fire-Eye Red-Eye Twin DI
Double Your Pleasure
In a simple system, even a basic direct-input box with little in the way of adjustments will work fine. But what if your setup includes a plethora of pedals and…
Walrus Audio Iron Horse Distortion V2
Versatile Beast
Like virtually every distortion pedal on the market, Walrus Audio’s Iron Horse Distortion V2 will produce enough distortion to molest anyone’s ears, but this box differentiates itself from the distorting…
Electro-Harmonix Mel9 Tape Replay Effect
In a Mello Tone
Producer George Martin was so fond of John Lennon’s tape-relay keyboard that he described it “as if a Neanderthal piano had impregnated a primitive electronic keyboard, and they’d named their…
EHX Good Vibes, Tone Corset
Rawk Boxes
The musical spirit of the ’60s and ’70s lives again in two of EHX’s latest stompboxes: the Good Vibes analog modulator and Tone Corset analog compressor. Whether it’s chorus and…
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…
The Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine
Synthful
Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine Price: $283.60 (retail); $212.70 (street) Contact: www.ehx.com Building on the success of its Freeze Sound Retainer (a.k.a. the world’s shortest looper), the Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine…
Zemaitis’ CS Guitars
Super Models
Artist. Iconoclast. Guitar builder to the stars. Tony Zemaitis was all that and more. Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards swear by his electrics. Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton both played…
Martin D-18 1937 Authentic and OMC-1 Fingerstyle
Display Their Heritage
Martin D-18 1937 Authentic The first thing that catches your eye as you open the case of Martin’s D-18 1937 Authentic is the guitar’s unmistakable vintage vibe. Whether you’re drawn…
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…
Dynamic Amplifiers 2040 Series
Tone to "Dy" For
Dynamic Amps 2040 series Price: $2,570 (VA Combo) David Carambula’s Dynamic 2040 series of amplifiers consists of three models: Vintage American (VA), Vintage British (VB), and the HG DynaLead. All…
EHX Walking on the Moon Flanger/Filter Matrix
Andy Flange
With its mouthful of a name – The Andy Summers Walking On the Moon Flanger/Filter Matrix – the latest Electro-Harmonix stompbox is modeled after Summers’ legendary tone, with nuance that…
Empress Effects Tremolo
Outboard Highness
Ontario-based Empress Effects’ Tremolo pedal is housed in a 45/8″ x 35/8″ x 13/8″ die-cast box and boasts a ton of features that separate it from virtually every other outboard…
