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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
Ellis Guitars TX3
“T” For Texas
Houston is the closest major U.S. port to the tropical hardwoods of South and Central America, so it makes sense that Ellis Guitars makes good use of them. Grabbing…
Magnatone Twilighter
King of Vibrato
Magnatone Twilighter Price: $2,249 (12″ combo, list) Info: www.magnatoneusa.com. Magnatone is dead, long live Magnatone! The original Magnatone amp company died in 1969 after several decades of making storied “Golden…
Empress Effects Tremolo
Outboard Highness
Ontario-based Empress Effects’ Tremolo pedal is housed in a 45/8″ x 35/8″ x 13/8″ die-cast box and boasts a ton of features that separate it from virtually every other outboard…
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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
Stomp Under Foot Ram’s Head
Piece of the Pi
Matt Pasquerella has a reputation as a pi connoisseur… no, not the eating kind, the fuzzy kind. The creator of Stomp Under Foot effects has been building some of the…
The Iris Guitar Dan Erlewine DE-11
Renaissance Reimagined
Among the famous names in American guitar lore is Dan Erlewine – guitarist, builder, VG columnist and editorial consultant, and of course, world-class repair expert who literally wrote the book…
Tsakalis Experience, Emma ON-1 Okto-Nøjs, and Mad Professor Twimble
World Sounds
It seems that every other stompbox on the market has dual-footswitch functionality, packing two entirely different circuits into one housing. And judging by the trio here – all three of…
Visual Sound’s H20 V3 Liquid Chorus & Echo and VS-XO Premium Dual Overdrive
A Step Further
Visual Sound’s H20 V3 Liquid Chorus & Echo and VS-XO Premium Dual Overdrive Price: H20 V3 $199 (list); VS-XO $199 (list) Contact: www.visualsound.net Since bursting on the scene with its…
The Winfield Dust Devil
Devil’s In The Details
Unlike most amp builders who take up the challenge to create amplifiers that replicate the sounds of the 1960s, Winfield Thomas was actually wielding those sounds as a musician in…
The Pettyjohn Crush Compressor
Big Squeeze
Compressors can be a real mystery to guitarists who don’t understand the concept. Recording engineers bandy about words like “hard-knee” and “soft-knee” compression, “ratio,” “threshold,” and “transparency”; these are not…
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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
Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail
Authentic surf-soaked reverb that'd make Dick prou
We’ve long been fans of Electro-Harmonix’s cool reissue pedals. With their inspired looks, feel, and construction, E-H has never steered us wrong. But recently, they threw us a curveball with…
Ya’ Gig What Ya’ Pay For
Incase’s Tour Bag is ultra-functional, durable
It wouldn’t be a surprising reaction. “A $200 gig bag?” And one could reasonably assume the price includes a guitar. But it doesn’t. It does include one of the best-conceived…
The Universal Audio Astra Modulation Machine
Stately Shimmer
Famous for well-regarded interfaces, plug-ins, and vintage-gear emulations, Universal Audio has entered the pedal business with the Astra Modulation Machine, Starlight Echo Station, and Golden Reverberator. Each has an array…
Cornford Hurricane
Exemplary "extension of your playing" amplifier
Since its introduction, English amp builder Paul Cornford’s 6-watt Harlequin recording amp has had a reputation for great sound. Many an all-star Brit player, and notable Yanks like Joe Satriani,…
Reverend Guitars Ron Asheton Model
Raw Power
Reverend Guitars Ron Asheton Model Price: $1,079 Info: www.reverendguitars.com. If Ron Asheton had recorded just one album in his musical career – the Stooges’ 1969 debut – he still would…
McGregor Cozmic Fuzzball
Sweet & Gnarly
The culmination of a quest to build the perfect transparent overdrive, Garth Heslop’s Cozmic Fuzzball is the third pedal in the series from his company, McGregor Pedals. Designed and hand-soldered…
Rowan Cimarron
Amazing craftsmanship, aesthetic appeal
Michael Rowan operates a one-man custom gui- tar shop in Garland, Texas, and he recently submitted for review one of the most appealing guitars we’ve grabbed, groped, and fondled in…
Fishman Fluence Classic Humbucker Set
Classic Retrofit
Fishman recently released the revolutionary Fluence series pickups that utilize an active, hum-canceling pickup design. Following our review of their Single-Width pickups (VG, March ’15) we take a look at…
Kramer 84 and Pacer Vintage
Tap, Shred, Dive!
Kramer 84/Pacer Vintage Price: $1,166 (84); $1,267 (Pacer Vintage) Info: kramerguitars.com It’s hard to think of ’80s guitars as vintage, but since all things get older, the guitars of the…
The String Sling
Trapper Keeper
Almost all of us have a guitar – maybe even two – we like a bit more than “the other ones.” Maybe it’s a favorite color, is from our “birth…
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…
Rivet ’63/’64 Pickup Set
Pole Position
Rivet Pickups founder David Petschulat made the first locking vibrato with fine tuners for the EVH company, and worked stints at Kahler and Gibson. With Rivet, Petschulat has developed a…
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…
Fryette Power Station PS-10
Get It On
There’s nothing like cranking up a tube amp and getting all the punch, feel, dynamics, and juicy goodness of warm valves. But how do you hit your amp’s sweet spot…
Saga’s Gitane DG-300 and DG-320 Modèle John Jorgenson
Gypsy Stars
John Jorgenson boasts not one, not two, but three signature-model guitars – one for each style he excels at: bluegrass, hot country, and Django Reinhardt’s Gypsy jazz. In fact, two…
Crucial Audio DUB-1
Lesson Learned
It’s not uncommon for novice guitarists to seek out stompboxes with zillions of features. As guitarists mature, however, they learn to chase something more important – sounding good. Crucial Audio’s…
DiPinto Mach IV
Garage Days
There are times when a traditional Strat or Tele won’t scratch a particular itch, and you need a retro plank with a specific look and sound to get the job…
Chemistry Design Werks’ Holeyboard 123
Chemistry Design Werks’ Holeyboard 123 is made of 1/8″ aluminum with overlapping surfaces that can be adjusted from 13″ to 30″ at 1.5″ increments using one or both panels and…
The Vox AC15 Custom Classic
A Classic Improvement?
Vox AC15 Custom Classic. In the lore surrounding Vox Amplification, the AC30 is the king of the hill, the alpha male, the one that first springs to mind. But history…
Eastman MD515
The Mando-lorian
Guitarists can expand their instrumental range in several ways, from bass to banjo and even the diminutive mandolin, where guitar-like shredding and strumming (the famed “bluegrass chop”) are the norm.…
FireBelly Amplifiers’ Tweed 1955SE, PR3512SE
Tale Of Two Princetons
FireBelly Amplifiers’ Tweed 1955SE, PR3512SE Price: $949 (Tweed 1955SE); $1,595 (PR3512SE) Contact: www.firebellyamps.com The quest for vintage tone continues, and while budgetary concerns might keep many guitarists from owning the…
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