•  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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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…

Jammy Instruments’ Jammy G

Digital Six

Digital, MIDI, and synth guitars have been around for decades. One newer entry in the field is the Jammy G, a digital guitar connected to an app that accesses its…

Harley Benton Double Vision

Mod Duo

In this era of combination pedals, it makes sense to house similar effects together, as in the Harley Benton Double Vision. A dual-modulation box, it offers chorus and tremolo in…

Teye Guitars Gypsy Queen

Teye Guitars Gypsy Queen

The Art of Tone

For Austin-based Teye Guitars, taking guitar construction to new artistic heights has been a basic tenet since their inception. Mastermind luthier Teye Wijnterp, an accomplished guitarist, forged his concept of…

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Siegmund Missing Link

Rounding Out the Board

Looking like a Sputnik-era satellite, the Missing Link from Siegmund Guitars and Amplifiers may be the perfect way to – pardon the pun – round out a pedalboard. Encased in…

CopperSound Telegraph V2 Autostutter/Killswitch

All the Rage

Need the perfect stutter effect or killswitch in a pedal? Massachusetts-based CopperSound Pedals’ latest iteration of its popular Telegraph Stutter box was recently launched, with a nice dash of increased…

Laney VC30-212

Contemporary Classic

Laney’s VC30-212 is a 30-watt Class A tube combo amp available in 2×10, 1×12, and 2×12 configurations. We tested the 2×12 version, which is loaded with two HH Invader Vintage…

KR Musical Purple Pedals

Jimi Would Love 'Em!

Efects builder Kevin Randall has done his homework on what makes vintage pedals sound the way they do. But most guys who build pedals do that… right? And we all…

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…

Traynor’s Darkhorse DH15H

Canadian Bakin’

Hugely popular in its native Canada, Traynor amps are a formidable force from north of the 49th parallel and its line includes a variety of quality tube amps. The company’s…

Dingwall Super J

Jammin' J-Style

While Dingwall Designer Guitars’ Super J bass is unquestionably inspired by the Fender Jazz, it’s separated from the typical clone by several things, including its use of the Novax Fanned Fret…

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…

Big Knob Pedals

Big Knob Pedals

What’s in a Name?

Big Knob Pedals Price: Tube 808, $139; Echo Flex, $149; Vibe Tone, $159; Octavius, $129 (all list) Contact: www.bigknobpedals.com Gary Kibler started making pedals almost by accident. Originally from Los…

Digitech RP-200

Budget-conscious way to go ampless

Last month, I disclosed that I’ve gone ampless in 2002. Now let’s discuss how, and with what gear. My criteria is the same as with any gear I use –…

Fender Micro Mustang

Fender’s Micro Mustang is a pocket-sized contraption offering 12 amplifier models including classic Fender, “British,” and “American,” along with 12 time-based effects. It uses color-coded LEDs instead of an LCD…

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…

ToneWorks AX1500G

New Tool from ToneWorks

Ahhh, there are never enough toys for us guitarists, are there? Just when we think our rigs are complete, along comes some cool box to turn our heads and make…

Mojo Hand Swim Team Chorus Flanger

Double Duty

Michigan-based Mojo Hand Effects has been building a variety of hand-assembled pedals since 2010. Their latest, the Swim Team, pulls double duty as a chorus and flanger packed into a…

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 Siegmund Doppler Vibe

The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get

Siegmund Doppler Vibe Price: $495 Info: www.siegmundguitars.com. It’s been said that Buddy Guy was the first guitarist to put his instrument through a Leslie rotating speaker. Supposedly, this was done…

Effectrode Tube-Vibe and Goran Fat Boy

Premium Pedalin’

Effectrode Tube-Vibe Price: $429 (Tube-Vibe) Contact: www.effectrode.com Goran Fat Boy Price: $429 Contact: www.goranguitars.com In the annals of guitar stompboxes, there are no tones more elusive than the mystical swirls…

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Echopark Clarence

Wayback Machine

Gabriel Currie’s Echopark Guitars have been played around the world by some of the music industry’s heaviest hitters. His is a line of handmade gems that just ooze vintage flavor.…

Supercool “800,” The Thneed, and ’77 Fuzz Blender

Hip Sounds

Supercool Pedals is a Canadian company that makes stompboxes that sound hip and look seriously groovy. Among its offerings is the “800” Preamp/Distortion, which harkens back to ’70s mid-overdrive designs…

EHX Walking on the Moon Flanger/Filter Matrix

Andy Flange

With its mouthful of a name – The Andy Summers Walking On the Moon Flanger/Filter Matrix – the latest Electro-Harmonix stompbox is modeled after Summers’ legendary tone, with nuance that…

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…

Gibson ES-Les Paul

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…

Cort Z44

Single-Cut Shuffle

Cort Z44 Price: $569 list/under $400 street Contact: cortguitars.com Just about everywhere you look these days, manufacturers are devising new spins on the single-cutaway solidbody. Cort has been a player…

The Orange Acoustic Pedal

Juice To Spare

Since the dawn of amplification, engineers have sought a better mousetrap – a more-transparent signal chain that preserves signal and adds less noise. With its new Acoustic Pedal, Orange takes…

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…

Walrus Audio Eons Five-State Fuzz

Hot on the heels of its Ages Five-State Overdrive and Eras Five-State Distortion, Walrus Audio has unleashed the Eons Five-State Fuzz. Multi-voiced dirt pedals are the latest thing, and the…