• 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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Rock City RockSlide

Alluring Accessories

The RockSlide Guitar Slide is the creation of Mark Morse, a guitarist who wanted more from a guitar slide. Morse found most conventional slides uncomfortable because they’d pinch the fleshy…

Bare Knuckle Pickups’ PAT Pend, Flat ’52, and Mule

Bruising Tones

Bare Knuckle Pickups’ PAT Pend, Flat ’52, and Mule Price: $125-$340 Info: www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk. From the ever-expanding world of boutique pickups comes a builder out of southwest England who creates a…

Gittler Classic Home Feature Image

Gittler Classic

Back to the Future

The Gittler guitar was invented in the late 1970s by Allan Gittler, whose vision to reduce the guitar to its most essential elements led him to design an instrument that…

Donner DST-400

Seeing Green

If the pandemic had a silver lining beyond more time at home with our toys, it was the growth of our hobby, witnessed by the spike in gear sales and…

Black Cat Vibe and TWA’s Triskelion Mk. II

Opposites Attract

In today’s world of proliferating boutique pedals, guitarists have a staggering array of divergent options. Case in point, the Black Cat Vibe and TWA Triskelion Mk. II make for a…

Saint Blues

St. Blues Bluesmaster, Blindsider, and Delta Blues Box

Straight from the Delta

Saint Blues Bluesmaster/Blindsider Price: $2,399 (Bluesmaster); $2,550 (Blindsider) Info: saintblues.com St. Blues’ history stretches back to the days when its founders customized guitars for the likes of Jimmy Page, Billy…

Weller Guitars’ Stageliner

Jetson Moderne

More and more, guitar designers are digging deep, thinking out of the box, and using their imaginations to conjure hip, nontraditional designs. Strat, Tele, and Les Paul shapes are no…

Carl Martin Contour & Boost

Pedals For All Occasions!

The Carl Martin Contour & Boost is a hybrid EQ pedal with two filters, a high pass, and a low pass crossed over at 440 hz. The company says it…

Xaviere XV-950

Jazzy Looks, Multi-Purpose

Gibsonguildgretsch! Cumbersome as it may be in word form, Xaviere’s XV-950 gracefully combines attributes from the “big trio.” The XV-950 employs a classic Florentine cutaway body measuring a small-ish 15″…

Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster

Flipped Axis

Pity the poor right-handed masses. Emulating the vibe of Jimi’s various Strats has always been tough on them. Some players chase down one of the precious few vintage left-handed Strats,…

Tone Pump Solara Studio

Tone Pump Solara Studio

Clean ’N Dirty

Tone Pump Solara Studio Price: $1,099 (list) Contact: www.tonepumpamplifiers.com The story is a familiar one. A guy learns to repair amps and then gets frustrated with the shortcomings of the…

The Clark Gainster

Trick Your Tweed

Before he got into the effects pedal biz, Michael Clark had a reputation for building killer tweed-inspired amps. In 2001 he utilized his tonal superpowers to devise the first version…

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…

Electro-Harmonix Nano Series LPB-1 and Soul Preacher

Smaller Boxes, Same Big Sounds

Electro-Harmonix Nano Series LPB-1 Renowned guitar-effects builder Electro-Harmonix recently introduced a handful of its most popular pedals, along with a couple of more modern options in its new Nano Series…

The Drew & Sebastian Avenger

Multi-“caster”

At first glance, the D&S Avenger looks like a long-lost prototype from Leo’s shop, with its offset-waist shape and familiar pickup/ hardware/ control setup. The Avenger’s two-piece alder body sports…

Vox AC30 Brian May Custom Limited Edition

Tone Like Brian's? Yes, You May!

Save for its singular single-knob control panel in bright red finish, a quick glance at the new Vox AC30 Brian May Custom Limited Edition amplifier reveals little if anything that…

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…

Earthquaker Devices’ Avalanche Run

Test for Echo

The story of Earthquaker Devices begins with Jamie Stillman fixing his own overdrive pedal and then deciding to get into the pedal business himself. Twelve years later, Stillman’s Earthquaker Devices…

The Supro Delta King 10

Down To The Crossroads

With the increasing popularity of compact, low-wattage combo amps has come an overwhelming variety of choices. Supro has entered the fray with its new Delta King series, ranging from a…

D’Angelico NYSS-3 and NYSD-9

Accoutrements, quality worthy of the name D'Angeli

When one thinks of D’Angelicos, elegant jazz archtops from the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s spring to mind. As it should be. John D’Angelico was the preeminent archtop builder of his…

Strymon Sunset Dual Overdrive

Category Killer?

Taste in overdrives is so subjective. A player might luck into a stellar $50 mini pedal or feel the absolute need for a $2,500 Klon. The only possible category killer…

Carr Amplifiers’ Super Bee

’60s Muscle

Inside its chicken hatchery turned amp shop in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Carr Amplifiers has hatched another beauty in the low-watt/single-channel Super Bee. With three distinct voices plus a wattage attenuator…

DoleSonic Half Back Stack

Tone Meets Crafts-manship

Shaw Audio Bass 130 Price: $1,350 Contact: www.tremcaster.com, phone: (330) 608-2043 In a day where gear companies often focus on utilitarian products, it’s nice when high-end craftsmanship rears its head.…

Novax Sweet Annie

Silver Anniversary

Remember chuckling at the Rick 481 slant-fret guitar? Or wondering about those fret intervals on Joni Mitchell’s dulcimer, or the flying frets on Ravi Shankar’s sitar? Ralph Novak did. But…

Blueridge BR140

Time to Sell the D-28?

Usually, I don’t give Chinese-made acoustic guitars a second glance. But when I saw that the Blueridge BR140 was made of all solid woods and retailed for $650, my interest…

Durham Electronics’ ReddVerb

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…

Republic 207 Tricone

Brass Ring

Resonator guitars appear to inspire a particular kind of affliction among players. And it’s a difficult addiction to maintain, given the paucity of vintage National and Dobro instruments, their much-cursed…

HomeWrecker Pickups

Slumbering Strats, Awake!

In 2011, session guitarist Joshua Hernandez began winding pickups in his living room. From these modest beginnings, and with no desire simply to replicate the sounds of vintage pickups, Hernandez…

ValveTrain PowerTrain Studio 20

Tube Savior

We’ve all watched the guitar amp deconstruct before our eyes, as pedals, preamps, and power amps all shrink – and migrate to the pedalboard. The builders at ValveTrain know this,…

Koll Super Glide Almighty

Grady’s Choice

What do you get when you cross a Jazzmaster, Les Paul, Gretsch Duo Jet, ES-335, and Tele? You just might end up with an axe from Koll Guitar, a Portland-based…