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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
Hamer Blitz
The Hamer Blitz
One of the unspoken assumptions in the vintage guitar market is American instruments are superior to those made outside the U.S. Regular “Gigmeister” readers know I don’t necessarily subscribe to…
Headway EDB-2 Equalizer Direct Blend Preamp
Make Way
Headway EDB-2 Equalizer Direct Blend Preamp Price: $475 (retail)/$320 (street) Info: www.headwaymusicaudio.com. Designed in England and manufactured in Korea, the Headway EDB-2 is a 5.75″ x 3.75″ x 1.5″ box…
Soldano Astro-20 combo
Rock Machine
Mike Soldano is the man behind amp tones that influenced a generation of guitarists, his hot-rodded ideas having been used on countless albums by artists from Warren Haynes and George…
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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
Rainbow Electronics Warmenfat Micro Amp
Tiny Tube Infusion
Warmenfat Front Rainbow Electronics is, as the kids say, “old-school.” How old? Well, if you lived in the Sacramento area in the mid 1960s and your color television went on…
Marshall’s DSL1C
Small Stack
For those who love classic British tone, nothing beats the sound of a Marshall stack cranked to 10. Unfortunately, unless you live on a Montana cattle ranch, actually producing this…
Frantone “The Sweet” Fuzz
Sturdy, Fuzzy, and Sweet
Frantone Electronics is a New York City company that has been hand-making a variety of effects pedals since 1994, and recently launched it’s germanium-transistor powered The Sweet, which the company…
Groove Tubes Soul-O Single
Soul-O Single
Groove Tubes founder Aspen Pittman is a tube connoisseur. For 24 years, he has listened to, tested, designed, and manufactured many variants of the familiar glass bottles that melt the…
Carvin AE-185
Our movable feast of musical gear begins this month with an offering from the folks as California’s Carvin Musical Instruments: the semi-hollow, acoustic-electric, 6-string guitar designated AE-185. These are the…
Epiphone USA Coronet
Simple Screamer
Single-pickup guitars are flat-out cool: think Leslie West, Keith Richards, Johnny Thunders, Steve Marriott, Johnny Marr, and Jimi Hendrix. Once fluffed off as a one-trick pony or a kid’s guitar,…
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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
Zerberus Nemesis Stone-Top
Let's Get Stoned
When German luthier Frank Scheucher was first approached about building a guitar from stone, he had the same reaction you’re probably having right now: Say what? It’ll weigh a ton.…
The PRS Studio
Bird Watcher
The new Studio model is the culmination of many decades of work from the design minds at PRS, as they attempt to craft a solidbody that can do it all.…
Jordan Boss Tone
Little Fuzz with the Big Buzz
In the august and revered Hall of Fame of Fuzz, the Jordan Boss Tone deserves a prominent pedestal. Perhaps it should be in a cabinet of cute curiosities. Or maybe…
Orangewood Berkeley Live
Professional Finesse
Orangewood. Why not Ironwood or Peachwood? What does the brand name matter compared to the actual guitar? The simple answer is “A lot.” The Berkeley is part of Orangewood’s Topanga…
Bad Cat Mini Cat
Little Kittie With Bite
The Bad Cat amplifier company’s Mini Cat is a small unit designed for many things, including practice, recording, or use as a preamp. Bad Cat has established itself as one…
The Victoria VIC 105
Raw And Responsive
Victoria VIC 105 Price: $1,495 Contact: Victoria Amp Co.; phone (630) 820-6400; victoriaamp.com. In the 1990s, Mark Baier put himself on the map making quality reproductions of choice ’50s tweed-amp…
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…
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,…
The Carvin LB70
Höfner Hybrid
When a Carvin instrument has been featured in this space over the years, it was a either a doubleneck or an unusual custom instrument. And while the 1977 LB70 featured…
Epiphone Jorma Kaukonen Riviera Deluxe
Plenty of go to match the show
Epiphone’s Jorma Kaukonen signature model Riviera is a straight-up pleasure to look at. For starters, there’s the beautiful maple top and striking gold hardware appointing the cherry-finished semi-hollow body. But…
Visual Sound Route 66 V3 American Overdrive
Get Yer’ Kick
Visual Sound Route 66 V3 American Overdrive Price: $179 (street) Contact: www.truetone.com/ Over the years, the Route 66 pedal by Visual Sound (Ed. Note: the company is undergoing a rebranding,…
Knaggs Guitars’ Steve Stevens Signature Model
Rebel Yell
Knaggs Guitars’ Steve Stevens Signature Model Price: $6,000 Contact: www.knaggsguitars.com Everyone wants to build a better mousetrap, and those who build solidbody guitars are no different. Frequently, they strive to…
Gretsch G2420T Streamliner
Bang For The Buck
Want to rock like they did back in the glory days, but don’t have pockets deep enough for a top-line Gretsch hollowbody? Strap on one of the new G2420T Streamliners…
Fishman’s Fluence Greg Koch Gristle-Tone Pickups
Voices Not In Your Head
In 2014, Fishman introduced their Fluence line with the goal of combining vintage tone with freedom from the inductance problems that impact even the most hallowed vintage pickups. Rather than…
Zeppelin Design Labs Cortado MkIII
Zeppelin Design Labs Cortado MkIII contact microphone can record everything from acoustic guitars to a train bridge with a frequency range of 23 hertz to 40 kilohertz. It combines a…
Phantom Reissue 1964 PH12
Ghost of Vintage Past
From the Hollies to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, from Robert Junior Lockwood to the Stones, the electric 12-string has a prominent place in modern music. And arguably, the most iconic of…
Gibson’s J-45 50s Faded
Lore Holder
In the decade leading up to World War II, guitar builders started scaling up their acoustic offerings to meet the demands of working musicians, and bigger was better. In Kalamazoo,…
Blackstar Limited Edition JJN-20R MkII
Rockin' Blues Power
If you don’t know about Jared James Nichols, you likely will soon. One of the hottest up-and-coming blues/rock players on the planet, he recently teamed with Blackstar to develop a…
Groove Tubes Soul-O Single
Soul-O Single
Groove Tubes founder Aspen Pittman is a tube connoisseur. For 24 years, he has listened to, tested, designed, and manufactured many variants of the familiar glass bottles that melt the…
Fire-Eye Red-Eye Twin DI
Double Your Pleasure
In a simple system, even a basic direct-input box with little in the way of adjustments will work fine. But what if your setup includes a plethora of pedals and…
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…
