•  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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Singular Sound BeatBuddy

Drums Even You Can Play

Everyone knows a good drummer joke. Or two. Drummers are indeed a special breed. Singular Sound’s BeatBuddy drum-machine pedal, however, is no joke. And as the first drum-machine-in-a-pedal designed for…

Falbo Alpha Series Hollowbody

Falbo Alpha Series Hollowbody

Top Dog

Falbo Alpha Series Hollowbody Price: $3,450 (base); $6,250 (as reviewed) Info: www.falboguitars.com Frank Falbo set the acoustic guitar world on its collective ear in 2012 with a revolutionary string-anchoring design…

Gibson L-5S Ron Wood Signature

Serious Lumber

In 1972, Gibson introduced the L-5S as a smaller, thinner solidbody version of its L-5 hollowbody. Most mistook it for a Les Paul with a wider body. Though not Gibson’s…

The MXR Custom Badass ’78 Distortion

Company Hot Rod

Dunlop Custom Badass ’78 Distortion Price: $79 Info: jimdunlop.com Custom Badass is a new division of MXR that offers the company’s engineers’ hot-rodded takes on popular designs. Packaged in MXR’s…

Maestro Agena, Orbit, and Mariner

Wavy Gravy

Everyone loves modulation and filter pedals – those swishy, soupy sound makers that doll up a guitar’s signal. Maestro is now offering a new trio with the Agena Envelope Filter,…

Elektron Analog Drive

Big Swede

Take a look at your pedalboard. You probably have three or four overdrives and fuzzes hooked up – and are looking to find the cash and real estate to add…

Rob Allen Mouse 30

30

Many bass players love that cool, jazzy upright bass tone, but don’t want to drag around a big, bulky upright or deal with having to mic it or mess around…

Chase Bliss Onward

Glitch Niche

These days, there’s a litany of “glitch” pedals on the market – boxes that deconstruct guitar signal into 8-bit bleeps and lo-fi bloops. Chase Bliss’ entry is the Onward. Unlike…

Victoria Regal II Amplifier

Tube-Swappin' Time

Mark Baier launched the Victoria Amplifier Company in 1993, intent on reproducing the tones and aesthetic style of the great tweed amps of the late 1950s. He began twisting these…

GODIN-HOME-MAIN-BIG

Godin’s A4 and A5 Ultra SA

Brave New Basses

Godin A4/A5 Ultra SA Price: $1,395 (A4 Ultra SA fretted); $1,645 (A5 Ultra SA fretless) Info: godinguitars.com. For years, Godin Guitars has been finding creative ways to improve guitar and…

Rockn Stompn Sequential Power Strip

“Good” Power!

Power. Juice. Electricity. The brilliance of Ben Franklin, James Watt, and Nikola Tesla helped harness, if not tame, this vital energy. Subsequent refinements that are of particular interest to guitarists…

Reverend Rick Vito Soul Agent

Swank Plank

Some guitars look great, while others sound or play great. With Reverends’ Rick Vito Soul Agent, you get all three in one package. With a chambered korina (white limba) body…

The Vox Bruno TB35C2

Yankee Doodle Tony

When it comes iconic guitar tone – especially “British” tone – Vox and its flagship AC30 are at the top of most players’ list. After all, the Vox AC30 is…

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…

Ya’ Gig What Ya’ Pay For

Incase’s Tour Bag is ultra-functional, durable

It wouldn’t be a surprising reaction. “A $200 gig bag?” And one could reasonably assume the price includes a guitar. But it doesn’t. It does include one of the best-conceived…

Line 6 DM4, DL4, and MM4

Line 6 Modeling Pedals

In an addendum to its well-known line of guitar and bass PODs, combo amps, and amp/cab stacks, the Line 6 company recently launched four stompbox-style effects units. All share features…

Joe Gore Pedals Cult Germanium Overdrive and Filth Fuzz

Dirt Simple

Composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Joe Gore’s career path has been multilayered and includes “guitar effects builder.” Two of his pedals are Cult and Filth – effects capable of great and…

Marshall Triple Super Lead

Marshall's Triple Super Lead

Marshall’s new JCM2000 Series was introduced last year and has been well-received by Marshall fans and amp aficionados in general. The 2000 Series started with the two-channel Dual Super Lead…

Mu-FX Boostron 3

One For All, All For One

Leave it to Mike Beigel to create a masterpiece of a stompbox… again. The Mu-FX Boostron 3 is three pedals in one. But it’s also so much more. Sure, you…

Kiesel JB5 Classic

The look and feel of Kiesel’s JB5 Classic align well with what a bassist expects when they gaze upon it – modern take on a Fender Jazz, with similar cuts…

Guild Starfire I-12

Budget Jangle

Twelve-string electrics were ubiquitous in the swinging ’60s, popularized by bands like The Byrds, Beatles, Searchers, Turtles, Beau Brummels, and many others. Though they eventually fell out of fashion as…

The MXR M234 Analog Chorus and M87 Bass Compressor

Opposite Ends

MXR M87 Bass Comp and M234 Analog Chorus Price: $318 (M87 Bass Compressor), $170 (M234 Analog Chorus). Info: jimdunlop.com For decades, players in virtually every musical genre have been familiar…

Visual Sound Effects Pedals

Two-for-one punch

Always on the watch for good-looking, good-sounding, durable pedals, we were recently drawn to three of the latest gizmos from Visual Sound, the Florida-based company that started out building a…

Epiphone Greeny Les Paul

A Legend Within Reach

Following Peter Green Collectors Edition and Custom Shop tribute models from Gibson (priced in the tens of thousands), Epiphone recently jumped into the segment with its version, the Kirk Hammett…

Peekamoose Model 3

Modern Retro

There’s no shortage of cool, retro-looking solidbodies on the market today, from the big guys as well as the increasing numbers of boutique builders. Cool looks are great, but for…

McElroy OM Model

OM, Gee!

McElroy OM Model Price: $7,500 (base; $8,500 as reviewed) Info: www.mcelroyguitars.com. Brent McElroy is a Seattle luthier specializing in high-quality acoustics. One of them, the OM Model from his Generation…

Mario Guitars Serpentine

Custom Flagship

Given that Mario Martin credits his guitar-building education to a stint at the Fender Custom Shop, it’s no surprise that his Serpentine is a working player’s instrument: comfortable, light, and…

BC Audio Grand Prix 100

Hand-Wired Heaven

For the past few years, builder Bruce Clement of BC Audio has been getting attention for his killer-sounding and meticulously wired tube heads and matching cabs. New for 2017 is…

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…

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…