•  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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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…

Lollygagger FX Canaglia Overdrive

Rude ’Tude

Sean Wright’s love for guitars and electronics has resulted in a family business that realizes his vision of stompbox perfection. Throw in the business savvy of wife Colette, and Lollygagger…

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…

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…

Ibanez EKM100

Ibanez EKM100

Soul On Ice

Ibanez EKM100 Price: $2,799.99 (list) Contact: www.ibanez.com Fans of contemporary soul, jazz, and funk should be well aware of Soulive. Since 1999, the band has been entertaining audiences around the…

Keeley Halo Dual Echo

Dot Matrix

In this latest Keeley offering, the goal is capturing Andy Timmons’ “Halo” sound, which mines the world of dotted-8th delay effects – you know these sounds from U2 and Pink…

Foxrox Captain Coconut

New Pedal, True Vintage Vibe

Dave Fox’s new electronics company, Foxrox, recently hit the market with its Captain Coconut pedal. While most of the interest in the pedal has been through word of mouth, the…

Fralin’s Wide-Range Humbucker

Gibson and Fender have a long history of influencing each other’s designs. When hard rock and warm, jazzier textures were on the rise in the early ’70s, Fender wanted some…

Juke 1210

Tonal Treat

Warbler/Juke’s 1210 is unique both for its 2×10/1×12 speaker layout and lack of a distortion/overdrive. And though the amp shares many characteristics often seen in high-end boutique amps (i.e. point-to-point…

Sommatone Roaring 40

Beauty and the Blend

Sommatone Roaring 40 There’s an inherent dichotomy when it comes to guitar amplifiers; the more TLC that goes into their construction, the tougher they are. Think about your average mass-produced…

Vox’s AC30CH and V212C Cabinet

Get Back

The Beatles helped popularize Vox amps, and Sir Paul tours with them today because they still have that sound – classic chime and overdriven grind. Introduced in ’59, Vox’s AC30…

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…

Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe

Contemporary Vintage

Not every acoustic needs to blow the walls out with volume and projection; there are critical styles of guitar that require subtlety and nuance. The Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe is…

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…

Keeley Electronics’ D&M Drive

Tone Stacker

As the gear industry seeks to reach new segments, Robert Keeley has turned his attention from making products for road warriors who perform onstage to tone freaks who obsess about…

Maxon VS Effects

Five Boxes of Fun

With their straight-out-of- the-’70s groovy colors – pea soup green, bright orange, powder blue, plum purple, and Mopar metallic green – Maxon’s Vintage Series Effects look like new old stock,…

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…

Musicvox 20th Anniversary MI-6 Guitar and Bass

By The Horns

Musicvox has earned a well-deserved reputation for capturing the mojo of ’60s-era gear in their import guitars and basses (and amps). The new MI-6 line is no exception. With their…

Retro Guitar MelodyBurner

Retro Guitar MelodyBurner

Bite and Bark

Retro Guitar MelodyBurner Price: $999 (options available) Info: www.melodyburner.com In the realm of hot-rodded cars, there’s a cool genre known as rat rods – old, relic’d automobiles that sport a…

Fishman’s Aura Spectrum DI, ToneDEQ

Potent Preamps

Unlike most electric guitarists, acoustic-electric pickers tend to worry about preamps. A lot. This front stage is critical because acoustic players often rely on unruly PAs for amplification, especially if…

Gibson Les Paul Acoustic

Variation On A Theme

Sure, we’ve all seen numerous variations of the legendary Les Paul model electric guitar. Now here’s one variation that’s really unique – Gibson’s new Les Paul Acoustic. Designed for electric…

Seymour Duncan SFX-07 Shape Shifter

Vintage Trem Sounds & Beyond

Seymour Duncan’s reputation when it comes to pickups (from dead-on vintage replicas to his own designs) has been well established for decades. And anyone who’s had the pleasure of hearing…

Gretsch Malcolm Young “Red Beast” Signature Jet

Let There Be Rock

Forty-odd years beyond when AC/DC first hit American airwaves, the band still inspires multitudes of guitarists with intoxicating riffs, mesmerizing grooves, and a head-banging blues-adjacent ethos. Much of the power…

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…

Carl Martin Vintage Series Pedals

More Effect, Less Coin

If you’re the type of hardcore gear geek who spends as much time evaluating guitarists based on what’s in their hands, rigs, and pedalboards as you do actually listening to…

Taylor’s 326ce Urban Ash

Tonewood Tales

When hunting for a new acoustic, it’s useful to learn about tonewoods and construction, as both play a huge role in how an instrument sounds. With Taylor’s Grand Symphony body…

The Rivolta Combinata Bass VII

Euro Flash

Rivolta’s Combinata VII bass takes ideas from Rickenbacker, Höfner, and various European builders lost to history and wraps them into a four-string with a chambered mahogany body. Working in collaboration…

Fender ’68 Custom Vibro Champ Reverb

Small Wonder

Fender’s ’68 Custom amp series has become popular among pickers who love old-school looks and sounds but prefer contemporary modifications and features. The original Vibro Champ was a small wonder…

Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus 50th Anniversary

Mr. Clean

The Roland Corporation was born in 1972 and just a few years later introduced its landmark Jazz Chorus JC-120 amplifier. To celebrate the half-century mark, the company has reissued a…

Eastwood Joey Leone Signature RBC

Tonal Crossover

If you’ve paid attention to these pages in recent years, you’re familiar with Mike Robinson’s Eastwood retro-styled electric guitars, which, along with the company’s proprietary instruments, have become ever-more popular…