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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…
Breedlove C25 and Custom XII
Beauty, brains, and brawn
Breedlove Guitar Company is a small, independent gui-tar and mandolin builder in Oregon’s high desert region east of the Cascade Mountains. Started in 1990 by Steve Henderson and Larry Breedlove,…
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…
PRS SE Silver Sky
Aiming Higher
In a world filled with Strat-type guitars, it takes a lot to set one apart, let alone stand above. The PRS Silver Sky was one that did. Can the SE…
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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…
Golden Age Pre-73 MkIII, Ear Trumpet Edwina, and Avantone CR-14
The Front End
Strike up a conversation with anyone who records music and they’ll talk your ear off about mics and preamps. If you want to make your guitar and vocals sound good…
Fuchs Clean Machine II
Spotless Tone
The folks at Fuchs Audio Technology know that most guitarists use pedalboards loaded with effects they’ve loved, swapped, upgraded, and considered for years. For them, Fuchs offers the tailor-made Clean…
ToneVille Amplifiers Broadway
Red-Carpet Ready
ToneVille Amplifiers Broadway Price: $2,295 Contact: www.tonevilleamps.com What is it that drives boutique amp builders to expend gallons of skull sweat striving for a more-perfect union between the pluck of…
The Supro Hampton
Island Unto Itself
Supro’s vintage Ozark guitar is famed as Jimi Hendrix’s first axe. According to legend, his father bought him an off-white ’57 Model 1560S in 1959 from Seattle’s Myers Music for…
Chicago Blues Box Roadhouse amp
Hot Windy City Tone
Illinois-based Butler Custom Sound recently introduced its Chicago Blues Box amp series with the blues player very much in mind. Company president Dan Butler has repaired and modified countless tube…
PRS 513
Axe of Many Colors
PRS 513. The latest addition to the model line at PRS Guitars is the discretely-named 513, an axe that carries all the family traits, like a carved figured-maple top, double-cutaway…
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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…
Xaviere XV 700
Lofty Promises, Fulfilled
The Massachusetts-based guitarfetish.com is an instrument/parts importer that carries a complete line of goods, from pickups and vibratos to knobs and pots. Its guitar line, dubbed “Xaviere,” consists of 11…
Epiphone Tony Iommi SG Special
Monkey Time
Digging into the primordial ooze of heavy metal, players often start with Black Sabbath and their resident guitar necromancer, Tony Iommi. Armed with various Gibson SGs and custom-made copies, he…
Holbrook TS50 Tommy Skeoch Head
More Than Modded
After Kevin Holbrook and rock guitarist Tommy Skeoch began working on a custom amp, the former took several trips to visit the latter, lugging prototypes between California and Florida. But,…
Amptweaker’s TightFuzz and Bass TightFuzz
A Good Buzz
Amptweaker’s TightFuzz and Bass TightFuzz Price: $280 retail/$199 street (TightFuzz); $310 retail, $219 street (Bass TightFuzz) Info: www.amptweaker.com. Since the birth of the fuzz pedal in 1960s, its scratchy, buzzy,…
Wangs #2204 HW
Chinese Rocks
Even as new technology spawns new sounds, ease of use, and portability, there remains among guitarists a predilection for technologies of old. New sounds are inevitably compared to the earthy…
Zinky True Grit Pedal
Tone charismatic enough to thrill the Duke
Yeah, we know! You’re thinking, “Wha? Another overdrive pedal?” It seems that one thing guitar players will forever be in search of is the ultimate dirty tone, and few players…
Danelectro Baby Sitar
Paint It Sunburst
Legend has it that during a break in the filming of Help!, George Harrison picked up a sitar left behind by the prop men and attempted to play it. Soon…
The Peavey HP2
Best Of Both Worlds
Introduced in 1996, the EVH Wolfgang was an evolution of Eddie Van Halen’s previous models from Music Man, Kramer, and Charvel. Today known as the Peavey HP2, the guitar is…
Becos FX TS8-JZ Ziffer Overdrive
Dirty Deeds
Based on the highly revered Maxon/Ibanez 808 circuit and co-designed with guitarist Jordan Ziff (Ratt, Marty Friedman, Hot Crazy), the Becos Ziffer Overdrive is one of the newest options in…
ES-Les Paul
F-hole with soul
ES-Les Paul Price: $2,799 to $3,199 (list) Contact: www.gibson.com Gibson’s latest version of the Les Paul isn’t the first with f-shaped sound holes. Various Florentine models have been offered, but…
EHX Slammi Plus, Hot Wax
Grease Fire
EHX’s Slammi Plus and Hot Wax pedals are not for the faint of heart. Housed in heavy-duty plastic, the Whammy-shaped Slammi Plus may look like a wah, but it has…
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…
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…
Rybski Cougar
Wild Cat
Rybiski Cougar Price: $3,850 Info: www.rybskiguitars.com. Before moving to the United States, Rybski founder Slawomir Waclawik repaired and built upright basses and violins for top jazz and fusion players in…
Immix Eleven V-Series 30 Amp/Cab
Lights! Sound! Action!
Immix Eleven V-Series 30 Amp/Cab Price: Amp $1,995 (list); cabinet $895 (list) Contact: www.immix11.com Remember the first time you encountered the Rick 331LS Light Show guitar? You thought, wow, that’s…
Carvin VL212 Legacy Combo
Hotrodded Marshall, glimpse of gussied-up Fender
Carvin’s Legacy series amplifiers were designed exclusively for fretboard wizard Steve Vai – un-questionably one of the best players around is Vai well-known for his keen ear, incredible technique, and…
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…
Fender’s ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb
Improving on a Good Thing
Fender’s ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb Price: $999.99 list Contact: www.fender.com In 1968, Fender gave its amp line what collectors today look back on as a major facelift when it introdued…
From Badass to Bonamassa
New Pedals from MRX, Cry Baby, and Way Huge
The latest from Dunlop includes a pair of overdrives and a fresh addition to the venerable Cry Baby wah family. The Custom Badass Modified O.D., latest addition to the MXR…
Floyd Rose Model One
Redmond Model One
With his 1977 introduction of the Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, Floyd Rose, the man, revolutionized the guitar tremolo and added a new dimension to a guitar player’s arsenal of tricks…
Line 6 M5 Stompbox modeler
100 Sounds, One Box
Line 6 M5 Stompbox modeler Price: $279.99 (retail) Info: line6.com Have you ever thought, “Maaaan, I wish I had that [fill in the blank with the name of that rare…
