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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…
MXR’s M250 Double-Double Overdrive
Rectified!
Tone might be in the hands, but you need more than your mitts and a clean amp to bring that heavy-rock masterpiece to life. The list should include skull-caving midrange,…
Xotic Effects’ RC Booster Version 2
Here Come The Booster
Gear designers tend to avoid straying from the workbench – and too often, outside their imaginations. But when professional musicians get involved in designing music gear, good things can happen.…
JHS 3 Series
Budget Boutique
JHS’ seven new 3 Series pedals strip away cosmetics and frills. History has told us that simple pedal designs can sacrifice key elements. Is that the case here? Presented in…
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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…
Quilter Labs’ Aviator Cub
High Flyer
Quilter Labs has gained a rep for busting popular perceptions. They’ve attempted to step up their game with this single-channel combo voiced to deliver classic Fender tones – in a…
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…
Collings I-35
Soul in the Details
2006 Collings I-35. Occasionally, in the world of guitars, events influence the market. The introduction of a new guitar can send ripples through the industry. Not so long ago, Paul…
BMF Effects’ GeSpot Fuzz
Pure Pleasure
If the sheer number of fuzz pedals available today is any indication, the “noisy” little boxes are perhaps the most popular effects. One outfit that offers a good selection amid…
Charvel Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 FR E HSS
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…
MXR Custom Shop Sub Machine Octave Fuzz
Lowdown And Nasty
Rising from the smoke and flames of the MXR Custom Shop is the pedal of which every fuzz freak dreams. You never know when you’ll need that extra octave, so…
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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…
Ernie Ball MVP Volume/Gain Expression Pedal
Total Control
Ernie Ball’s MVP Volume/Gain Expression Pedal Price: $179 (list); $129.99 (street) Info: www.ernieball.com. Just when you thought you were done building the perfect pedalboard with all the coolest overdrives and…
Misa Kitara
Axe of the Future?
Misa Kitara Price: $789 Info: www.misadigital.com. The guitar synthesizer has been around for more than 30 years and made significant inroads to contemporary music, thanks to fusion heroes like Pat…
The Luker Chameleon Combo
True to Its Colors
The Luker Chameleon Combo Price: $1,850 (list) Contact: www.lukeramps.com Considering the state of modern vacuum tubes, a surprising number of great tube amps are currently being built. And of those,…
Brown Guitar Factory Chambered Electric
Beast Mode
To use a slightly skewed metaphor, John Brown builds guitars to the beat of a different drummer. After all, who wants a custom builder without vision, churning out yet another…
Fishman Loudbox Mini
Little Big Man
The Fishman Loudbox Mini is just what its name says – a small amp that delivers the company’s renowned audio in a loud, portable, non-hernia-inducing package. Weighing just 21 pounds,…
Fender’s ’57 Custom Pro-Amp
Big Brother
When most guitarists consider Fender’s famed vintage tweeds, the first that come to mind are the 5E3 Deluxe and 4×10 Bassman. The 1×15 Pro-Amp? Not so much. It’s perhaps the…
Strymon’s Deco Tape Saturation and Doubletracker
Smart Box
Strymon’s Deco Tape Saturation and Doubletracker Price: $299 (list) Contact: www.strymon.net It’s scary, wielding a stompbox that’s smarter than you. Scary and thrilling. Strymon’s Deco pedal is designed to provide…
The Fractal VP4
Pedal Power
Famous for amp and cabinet models made to replace an amp for direct recording or plugging right into a PA, Fractal Audio has also developed an array of highly regarded…
Hull Amplifiers’ Model H5
Pretty, Stunning
Hull Amplifiers’ Model H5 Price: $3,199 (list) Contact: www.hullamps.blogspot.com A beat-up ol’ blackface amp can be a thing of beauty, like an old muscle car showing its miles in patches…
Durham Electronics’ ReddVerb
’Verb, Extra Saucy
Durham Electronics’ ReddVerb Price: $219 (list) Info: www.durhamelectronics.com Take it from Redd Volkaert; good reverb is hard to find. And that’s especially true if you’re gigging on the road and…
Gretsch Richard Fortus G6636T-RF Falcon
Flying Fingers
Through the decades, the Gretsch White Falcon has been spied in the hands of everyone from top Nashville session cats to rockers like Neil Young and Billy Duffy of the…
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…
Music Man Game Changer
Twelve Tons of Tone
Music Man Game Changer Price: $2,275 (street) Contact: www.gamechanger.music-man.com Since the introduction of the electric guitar, builders have sought ways to increase the variety of tones that can be had…
Colby Dual Tone Booster 50
Double Versatile
Colby DTB50 Price: $3,800 (head); $750 (cabinet) Contact: www.colbyamps.com From 1978 through 2010, Mitch Colby helped Marshall become a preeminent name in amplifiers. He recently founded Colby Amplification, where he…
Friedman IR-X Dual Channel Preamp
Stack in the Box
Most guitar-electronics companies make a direct-recording preamp, many promising to provide ultimate distortion and overdrive via impulse responses (IR) or cabinet simulations. Dave Friedman, of course, is known for putting…
Demeter Mighty Minnie Pedalboard Amplifier
Mighty Fine
Demeter Mighty Minnie Pedalboard Amplifier Price: $899.99 Info: www.demeteramps.com Years ago, backstage after a concert, slide-guitar virtuoso Sonny Landreth mentioned to renowned amp designer James Demeter that it would be…
TWA GD-02 Great Divide Analog Synth Octaver
Mono Monster
TWA GD-02 Great Divide Analog Synth Octaver Price: $399 Info: www.godlyke.com . Despite its cumbersome name and the fact it looks like it might require an MIT degree to use,…
Retroman effects
Five Boxes of Fun
Retroman proprietor Joe Wolf is a dedicated one-man-shop that designs, builds, and finishes effects pedals all by hisself. Wolf, a guitarist and electronics engineer, began building pedals for his own…
Ibanez GB10SE
Jazzed Up
In the late ’70s, Ibanez debuted the GB10, a signature jazzbox for crossover icon George Benson. It turned heads with its novel approach – a smaller design, but still fully…
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…
Gibson Les Paul Goldtop Reissue
Nice reissue, aging optional
The Gibson Les Paul. Four words. Sixteen letters. Major guitar history. No, it wasn’t the first electric guitar. Nor was it the first solidbody electric. But when the model was…
