• Fender American Vintage II 1965 Strat

    VG Approved Gear

    Fender American Vintage II 1965 Strat

    Classic Character

    The 1965 Stratocaster joins Fender’s American Vintage II reissues of Strats from ’54, ’57, ’61, and ’73. It’s the company’s first dip into a “transitional” instrument from the year CBS acquired the brand amidst the “guitar boom.” With the AVII series, Fender’s goal in part is to reexamine underappreciated instruments while fixing a few details

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Xotic Guitars’ XSC-1 California Classic

New Connection

Xotic is known for its plethora of sonic effect-pedal goodies, but its current guitar line also tends to turn heads. The Xotic XSC-1 California Classic is an American Strat-style guitar…

Brown Fretted/less Bass

Catches with the eye, keeps with the feel

The Brown’s Guitar Factory Fretted/less bass leaves an immediate impression. Yes, its Purpleheart body wings are attractive, as are its ebony-veneered maple headstock with abalone/mother-of-pearl, engraved/inked logo, and its graphite-reinforced…

Magnatone Varsity Reverb

Too Cool For School

Face it. They may look oh-so-cool, but rarely do you really, truly need that full amp stack. Most gigs for mere mortals these days are in smaller venues where smaller…

The Daddy Mojo Ozark

All But The Kitchen Sink

For a decade, Daddy Mojo has been making cigar-box guitars that refine the vibe of those rudimentary instruments. In 2016, the company debuted a line of traditional guitars under the…

Austin Mics DIY Summer Reverb

for Kicks and More

Rick Wilkinson’s Austin Mics company, based in San Diego, specializes in do-it-yourself ribbon-microphone kits and DIY guitar pedals. His latest is the Summer Spring Reverb pedal, a digital spring reverb…

Boss Katana 100

Impressive Amenities

More and more, guitarists’ passion for tube amps is being balanced by the rise of quality digital, solidstate, and modeling amps, and for good reason – they’re often inexpensive while…

DryBell Unit67

Balkan Boost

DryBell Musical Electronic Laboratory has been kicking out great pedals for a few year, with clients like Mike Landau, John Mayer, Steve Stevens, and Joe Perry, to name a few.…

Music Man’s JP13

Petrucci Pick

Music Man’s JP13 Price: $3,500 Info: www.music-man.com. Music Man has a knack for building blazing artist models for the likes of Steve Morse, Albert Lee, and John Petrucci – three…

Chicago Blues Box Kingston 18

Goin' Back to Chicago…

The latest creation from Dan Butler, of the Chicago-based Butler Custom Sound, is the Kingston. Available in 18- and 30-watt configurations, the Kingston is 1x 12 combo that features a…

Peavey Vypyr VIP2

Backline in a Box

Peavey Vypyr VIP2 Price: $199.99 Contact: www.peavey.com For more than 40 years Peavey’s ongoing evolution while building guitars, amps, and pro audio equipment has attracted some big names in the…

Jam Pedals RetroVibe

Bridge Of Floyd

In a civilized world, every guitarist would have a bit of Robin Trower, Pink Floyd, and Band Of Gypsys shimmer in their musical vocabulary. Fitting, then, that a company headquartered…

GluBoost MasterGlu, Fill N’ Finish, MasterTint, and Gludry Accelerator

Stick-To-It-Iveness

There exists a subculture of guitarists who build, customize, or resurrect their own instruments, or help friends with theirs. GluBoost’s line of glues, dry accelerators, and wood finishing products allows…

Eastwood Airline Deluxe

Get Yer' Wings

The demand for vintage and retro-style axes has become so prevalent in today’s guitar-crazy culture that there’s hardly a brand, style, or color of guitar from the ’50s to the…

Railhammer Billy Corgan Z-One Humcutters

Clear Crunch

In the quest for tone, the secret is a combination of pickups, wood, construction, and the magic in a player’s fingers. Aiming for a tone like a P-90 with hot…

Giffin Vikta

Feelin’ Special

Giffin Vikta Price: $2,295 Contact: www.premierbuildersguild.com Roger Giffin is a guitarmaker to the stars, having built for Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle, Mark Knopfler, Andy Summers, David Gilmour,…

Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter

Tremolo Transformed

Tremolo is a simple effect: the amplitude, or volume, of an incoming signal is raised and lowered in pulsating waves. With the Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter, the player is invited…

Supro Huntington

Looking supremely ’60s-like with its gorgeous, vintage-y cherry-red finish, petite body, and fancy-topped pickups, the Supro Huntington is inviting as all get-out. A short-scale axe, it combines a classic shape…

Hall & Collins Signature Echo

Echo Rock

For guitarists whose lives are dedicated to replicating the echo effects heard on songs like Hank Marvin’s “Apache,” Hall & Collins Signature Echo is at their service. Combining analog and…

Lollar Pickups

Super-Suitable Substitutes

Seattle’s Jason Lollar not only builds fine pickups, he also builds archtop, solidbody, and lap steel guitars (his list of clients includes National, DeTemple, Harmos, and Zero Guitars). And he…

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…

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…

The Vox Bobcat V90

Feral Feline

In the Swinging ’60s, Vox guitars were all the rage, particularly among British and European players. Though stylish and visually innovative, the Italian-made guitars were also inconsistent, with anemic pickups…

Rahbek Standard

A fine custom guitar, Danish-style

Rahbek Guitars hail from Copenhagen, Denmark, hotbed of electric guitar production. Huh? Okay, so that ain’t the case. But those who would rush to judgment over the thought of buying…

Providence Anadime Chorus ADC-4

Providence Anadime Chorus ADC-4

Don’t Call It a Comeback

Providence Anadime Chorus ADC-4 Price: $249 (list) Contact: www.providence-ltd.com The chorus pedal holds the distinction of once having been extremely popular, becoming dated and undesirable, then enjoying a resurgence of…

Universal Audio’s OX Amp Top Box

The Tube Abides

Since the mid ’60s, electrical engineers have been trying to drive a stake into the heart of the vacuum tube, first with transistors, then with zeros and ones. Yet the…

PRS CE 24

One Guitar, All night

There are gigs where a guitarist needs to cover a vast range of sounds and tones yet yearns to schlep just one 6-string to the show. It might be a…

The Budda Twinmaster

Return of a Boutique Legend

In the early days of boutique-amp building, there were but a few contenders on the scene. One of the strongest amplifiers in those days was made by Budda. First released…

Electro-Harmonix Epitome, Tone Tattoo

Tone to the Third Squared

The Electro-Harmonix Epitome, Tone Tattoo Price: $491.84 list (Epitome) and $292.35 list (Tone Tattoo) Info: www.ehx.com The concept is smart yet so obvious it’s a wonder no one came up…

Marshall Handwired Series 2245THW Head and 1960AHW Cabinet

Marshall Handwired Series 2245THW Head and 1960AHW Cabinet

Bluesbreaker Redux

Marshall Handwired Series 2245THW Head and 1960AHW Cabinet 2245THW Prices: $4,800 (list); $3,299.99 (street); 1960AHW Prices: $2,180 (list); $1,399.99 (street) Contact: www.marshallamps.com Marshall Amplification needs no introduction. The company’s iconic…

Fargen’s John Lennon Signature JL-15 and Micro Plex Vintage Guitar magazine

Fargen’s John Lennon Signature JL-15 and Micro Plex

Instant Karma?

Fargen’s John Lennon Signature JL-15 and Micro Plex Price: $2,700 (JL-15), $999 (Micro Plex) Info: www.fargenamps.com. From 50-watt monsters to 5-watt heads, Fargen Amplification is known for building amplifiers intended…