•  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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Epiphone Zenith Fretted and Fretless Bass

New Groove Territory

For decades, guitar players have known the name Epiphone. Renowned for making great-sounding jazz boxes like the Zephyr and Emperor Regent, which have been seen in the hands of major…

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Avid Technology Eleven Rack

Rack and Roll

The proliferation of digital guitar gear grows by leaps and bounds every year as more players learn to love the world of tones and effects offered by the technology. You’ll…

The Peavey ValveKing II Micro-head 20-Watt Amplifier

The Peavey ValveKing II Micro-head 20-Watt Amplifier

Royal Rock

The Peavey ValveKing II Micro-head 20-Watt Amplifier Price: $429.99 Contact: www.peavey.com Famous for their sturdy build and quality overdriven sounds, Peavey’s original ValveKing amplifiers were marketed to musicians who required…

Eastwood’s Classic 6 TA PHo

Phish Food

If you’ve seen Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio onstage, you may have noticed an unusual archtop in his mitts – a custom six-string by builder Paul Languedoc. Its design has been…

Mesa/Boogie Badlander 25 1×12

Tonal Muscularity

In the solar system of amplifier badassery, the name Mesa/Boogie needs no introduction. From the mellifluous guitar sounds of Carlos Santana to the hard-charging intensity of Metallica, Mesa continues to…

Fishman’s Fluence Greg Koch Gristle-Tone Pickups

Voices Not In Your Head

In 2014, Fishman introduced their Fluence line with the goal of combining vintage tone with freedom from the inductance problems that impact even the most hallowed vintage pickups. Rather than…

Guyatone FR3000V Reverb, MT-3, WR3 and MD3

effects deliver, regardless of size

Guyatone FR3000V Reverb Reverb! King of guitar effects. If there’s an extracurricular sound guitarists most want, it’s reverb. Maybe because even if they’re playing the most low-down, dirty dive, they…

Fender’s 60th Anniversary Jazz Bass

Golden-Era Glory

Though it looks to be straight from a ’60s catalog, Fender’s 60th Anniversary Jazz Bass isn’t a true reissue. Rather, it’s a “celebration” of the innovation, style, and vibe appreciated…

Newman Guitars Lake Placid Blue

Portrait in Blue

Excitement at the arrival of this offset beauty was dampened by the sad news that its creator had passed away July 1. Ted Newman Jones was known for building guitars…

SviSound’a Overdrive OverZoid oz01

Svi Sound’s Overdrive OverZoid oz01

Full Steam

SviSound’a Overdrive OverZoid oz01 Price: $165 (list) Contact: www.svisound.com Tonally and aesthetically, SviSound’s Overdrive OverZoid is a study in good taste. Handcrafted in Bulgaria, the OverZoid matches a very natural-sounding…

Flying High Again

The Eastwood Airline ’59 3P

Long before the brazen, pointy electrics of the 1980s, Airline created a model with all kinds of modern angles and attitude. The original Airline electric guitars were made by Valco…

Yamaha DG Stomp

Plug 'n' Play Preamp for Recording

It’s always been a struggle for home recordists to capture a good guitar tone on tape or hard disk. Yamaha, however, wants to cure that often aggravating dilemma. To that…

Walden Sean Harkness 12-String, CG4070E

Grand-Auditorium Cousins

Walden Sean Harkness 12-String, CG4070E Price: $1,100 (Sean Harkness Model); $1,350 (CG4070E-CERT) Info: www.waldenguitars.com. With 16 years of producing attractive, understated instruments, Walden Guitars puts an accent on quality materials…

Carr Skylark

The Carr Skylark

Desert-Island Amp

The Carr Skylark Price: $2,390 (list) Contact: www.carramps.com If you could own only a single guitar amp – horror of horrors! – Steve Carr’s new Skylark just might be the…

Gabriel Sound Garage Voxer 18

Buzz Buzz, King Bee!

The Gabriel Sound Garage Voxer 18 guitar amplifier is a tonal hybrid based on Marshall’s mid-’60s 18-watt amps and the Vox AC15. An all-tube/hand-wired amp built solely by Romanian emigré…

Fulltone Clyde Wah

Vintage Tone For Modern Players

The original Vox Clyde McCoy wah pedals of the late 1960s are high on the list of soughtafter vintage effects. They were widely used during live performances and on legendary…

Rick Gram Tone Zone Pedals

Lots of the promised tone, no noise

Rick Gram’s Woman Tone Overdrive, Franken Tone, and Catch-A-Buzz overdrive and distortion effects are designed and hand-built. And despite limited production, they carry a much lower pricetag than many other…

The SeaGlass Route6jr

Boutique Nobility

Roger Mello of SeaGlass Guitars officially opened shop in 2011. Today, he offers four electric models; his Route6jr maintains the simplicity of the guitars that inspired it while re-creating their…

Meris LVX Delay

Next-Gen Echo

Designed for guitarists drawn to effects with a simple, straightforward interface, Meris LVX Modular Delay System is an attention-getter. Perfect for the menu-phobic, it’s a powerful box that’s incredibly easy…

Maestro Ranger Overdrive and Invader Distortion

Evil Twins

Maestro’s new all-analog overdrive and distortion pedals are like evil twins – two black-sheep siblings that differ in concept but work great together. Part of Maestro’s new Original Collection –…

Supro Super 1606 and Reverb 1605R

Little Amps That Could

In guitardom, players far too often believe there is nothing more sonically pleasing than a tall stack. Yet, plenty of diminutive amps offer up massive tone; think Derek and the…

Retro and Wonderful

The EHX Mainframe Bit Crusher

The Mainframe Bit Crusher is a nasty little pedal that warps, mangles, distorts and produces lo-fi digital sounds and trippy sci-fi gizmo textures reminiscent of computers and video games of…

Friedman Plex

Mystique Maker

Dave Friedman built his brand (and reputation) by making supercharged Marshall-inspired amps, and his latest hones in on one of his personal favorites – a beloved ’68 JMP Superlead –…

Valvetech Amplifier Company’s VAC 25

Tractable Tweed

Who says pragmatic utility and classic tones have to be mutually exclusive? Not Rob Pierce, whose Valvetech Amplifier Company deals in classic tones and enhanced flexibility. Case in point –…

St. Blues Scoundrel

St. Blues Scoundrel

Walking the Dog

St. Blues Scoundrel Price: $1,898 (list)/$1,349 (street) Contact: www.saintblues.com Intended as a versatile instrument for the player with a budget for just one boutique guitar, the St. Blues Scoundrel is…

Dean Zelinsky Tagliare Z-Glide Custom

Dean Zelinsky Tagliare Z-Glide Custom

Future Tense

Every so often, a builder gives the art of guitar design a firm shove into the future. The Dean Zelinsky Tagliare Z-Glide Custom certainly fits into that category. On the…

BluGuitar Amp1

Tiny Tube Terror

The trend toward the miniaturization of guitar gear shows no signs of slowing. Thanks to modern technology, guitarists are fitting more and more sorcery in their bags of tricks. BluGuitar’s…

Guild Bluesbird

Flyin’ High Again

The Guild Bluesbird has a long history that began in the 1950s with Guild’s answer to the Gibson Les Paul –the M-75 Aristocrat, later renamed the M-75 Bluesbird. The guitar…

Amalfitano Pickups

Houston Hot, Texas Cool

Texas-based Amalfitano Pickups specializes in hand-wound pickups as well as pickup rewinding and restoration. Owner Jerry Amalfitano uses high-grade Alnico magnets, 42-gauge vintage enameled magnetic wire, vintage-style cloth-covered leads, and…

Fryette Power Station PS-10

Get It On

There’s nothing like cranking up a tube amp and getting all the punch, feel, dynamics, and juicy goodness of warm valves. But how do you hit your amp’s sweet spot…