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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
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,…
BluGuitar Amp1
Tiny Tube Terror
The trend toward the miniaturization of guitar gear shows no signs of slowing. Thanks to modern technology, guitarists are fitting more and more sorcery in their bags of tricks. BluGuitar’s…
Weller El Dorrado
Rock-and-Roll Screamer
Tucked away in southwest Illinois near St. Louis, luthier Steve Weller is making interesting instruments. His El Dorrado model is a solidbody with nods to the angular shapes of the…
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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
Reverend Guitars
Righteous Guitars
Judging by the melee of favorable product reviews, Reverend guitars go beyond colors and chrome to inspire comments like, “…has the feel and finesse of a $2,000 guitar…instant blues machine…superior…
Brian Moore i2p
A modern guitar for the vintage fan
Brian Moore Guitars’ i2000 line of guitars offer some fantastic features and options, on instruments that have a unique feel and vibe while retaining certain vintage… uh… shall we say…
Martin OM-28 Authentic 1931
Vintage Revolution
If you’ve ever played a fine vintage guitar, you know how two things jump out at you immediately: 1) they’re often quite light, and 2) they display a big, vibrant…
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…
Matchless DC-30
Preamp Tubes: One EF86, three 12AX7s (one for PI) Output Tubes: Four EL84s in class A, cathode-bias. Rectifier: GZ34 Controls: Channel 1 – Volume, Bass, Treble: Channel 2 – Volume,…
Carvin’s AE185-12
Stairway to Heaven
Carvin’s AE185-12 Price: $1,239 (base retail) Info: www.carvinguitars.com. Most guitarists love the sound of a 12-string, but the thought of owning one often raises several questions. Should you get an…
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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
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…
Orange Super Crush 100 Head
Convincing Crunch
When speaking of guitar amplifiers that have become part of rock-and-roll lore, you best mention the iconic Orange brand as helping pave the way – their bright tolex and pictographed…
Electro-Harmonix Synth9
Downright Synth-Ful
For 40 years, guitar synthesizers have come and gone, but the Electro-Harmonix Synth9 looks to be a game-changer for several reasons. First, you don’t need an external pickup to make…
Electro-Harmonix Tube Zipper
Exotic Tones For Eclectic Players
Hailed by its creators as the greaest product introduced by Electro-Harmonix in over 20 years, the new Tube Zipper was developed jointly by E-H’s legendary stompbox guru, Mike Matthews, and…
Benedetto Bravo
Earns a Standing O
With a list of regular users that includes Johnny Smith, Joe Diorio, Martin Taylor, Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Ron Escheté, Frank Vignola, Andy Summers, Earl Klugh, and Kenny Burrell, Benedetto…
Ramble FX Twin Bender Fuzz
Whole Lotta Fuzz
Fuzz comes in a lot of flavors. From spitty or choked-off splat to gritty gated sounds, from classic ’60s to ’90s grunge and beyond, Ramble FX’s take on the classic…
Radial Engineering Tonebone Classic, Hot British, and Switchbone
Tonebone Pedals
Radial Engineering’s Tonebone distortion pedals have been making serious “noise” in the few short months since their introduction. Whether online or in print, the good word has spread quickly, and…
Epiphone Emperor Swingster
Juke-Joint Jammer
Though its high-point in terms of popular exposure may have occurred when McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison “discovered” the Casino, Epiphone has historically been most known for its archtop guitars. Today,…
Ernie Ball Rosewood Axis Super Sport, Steve Morse SM-Y2D
Sexy, Super, and Sonic
Ernie Ball/Music Man Rosewood Axis Super Sport. There’s something ridiculously sexy about a rosewood neck. No, not a rosewood fretboard – we’re talking a rosewood neck. Ernie Ball/Music Man’s Rosewood…
Fishman’s Fluence Greg Koch Gristle-Tone P90
A Quiet Place
With the miracle of micro-electronics, you can pack a massive amount of tone into a tight space. Case in point: Fishman’s Fluence Gristle-Tone P90, designed in collaboration with guitar maven…
Jon Kammerer Customs Tone Pod Scorpius Deluxe
Comfort and Joy
For 25 years, Jon Kammerer has been on an evolving pursuit to design a comfortable guitar with superior tone and playability. His designs employ eye-catching body shapes and his new…
Ibanez Artcore AF105NT
Class Axe
Ibanez has always had two distinct personalities – first as a purveyor of shreddy solidbodies for the hard rock/metal crowd, but also as a maker of fine archtops, thanks to…
Xotic XW-1 LPB Limited Edition
Small Wonder
Wah pedals come in a variety of sizes and textures, so finding one that checks all the boxes can be difficult. Based on the iconic Clyde McCoy wahs of the…
Best In Tone
The Marshall DSL40CR
In the minds of guitarists, the Marshall name verges on mythic – from Bluesbreakers to plexis, they hold a special place. However, while iconic in terms of tone, they’re also…
Supro Amulet 1×10
Old-School Soul
Paying homage to low-powered tube amps from yesteryear, the Supro Amulet was designed to re-create classic Supro sounds with a few added features. The Amulet is a 15-watt/Class A 1×10…
Gibson’s 1941 SJ-100
Second Coming
Gibson 1941 SJ-100 Price: $3,868 (list)/$2,999 (street) Info: www.gibson.com Sporting a unique “stair step” headstock, the first Gibson SJ-100s began trickling out of the Kalamazoo factory in 1939. This original…
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…
Reverend Hellhound 40/60
One step to "schizo"
Reverend Musical Instruments founder Joe Naylor’s head is always cranking out cool ideas. A Roberto-Venn graduate who in 1996 sold his amplifier company so he could start building guitars, Naylor…
Collings CJ-45 T
Golden Child
Every now and then, you pick up a guitar and realize you’re holding magic in your hands. Welcome to the Collings CJ-45 T. The inspiration is obvious in a slope-shouldered…
Magnatone Panoramic Stereo
Tales of True Vibrato
Magnatone amplifiers date back to the 1940s and ’50s – the era of Hawaiian-steel guitar – and boasted pearloid-covered casework befitting the silky, exotic post-war slide-vibrato sounds of the South…
Santa Cruz HT/13 Happy Traum
Fingerstyle Dream
In a career spanning more than 60 years, Happy Traum has been a fixture of the American folk scene, from the Village to Woodstock and the New World Singers to…
