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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
Brown’s Guitar Factory Lap Steel
Steel Yourself
At the beginning of amplified music, one of the first instruments to get a magnetic pickup was the Rickenbacker “frying pan” lap steel – the first of many electrified lap…
Fargen Pete Anderson Tumbleweed
Box Full Of Country
Fargen Pete Anderson Tumbleweed Price: $299 (list) Info: www.fargenamps.com. Pete Anderson is a touring roots and country guitarist probably best known for his work with Dwight Yoakam during the latter’s…
Dunlop Fuzz Face Mini Distortion Pedals
Face Lift
Dunlop’s Fuzz Face Mini Distortion Pedals Price: $129.99 (Germanium, street);$99.99 (Silicon and Jimi Hendrix, street) Contact: www.jimdunlop.com. When it comes to fuzz pedals, the one that comes to mind for…
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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
EVH Stripe Series Star
Romeo Delight
There was time when guitarists waited for new Van Halen records like ferrets on crack. After all, in the early ’80s, Edward Van Halen was a huge deal – a…
Retro and Wonderful
The EHX Mainframe Bit Crusher
The Mainframe Bit Crusher is a nasty little pedal that warps, mangles, distorts and produces lo-fi digital sounds and trippy sci-fi gizmo textures reminiscent of computers and video games of…
Silvertone’s 1449 and 1423
Classic Comeback
Silvertone’s 1449 and 1423 Price: $739 list/$479 street (1423); $629 list/$399 street (1449) Info: www.silvertoneclassic.com With an up-swell of interest in vintage Silvertones, current parent company Samick has begun to…
Electro-Harmonix Epitome, Tone Tattoo
Tone to the Third Squared
The Electro-Harmonix Epitome, Tone Tattoo Price: $491.84 list (Epitome) and $292.35 list (Tone Tattoo) Info: www.ehx.com The concept is smart yet so obvious it’s a wonder no one came up…
Xaviere XV-950
Jazzy Looks, Multi-Purpose
Gibsonguildgretsch! Cumbersome as it may be in word form, Xaviere’s XV-950 gracefully combines attributes from the “big trio.” The XV-950 employs a classic Florentine cutaway body measuring a small-ish 15″…
Randall MTS RM50/RM100
For the gotta-have-more tube amp lover
After trying to get together for several years, in 2002, tube amp guru Bruce Egnater officially joined forces with Randall Amplification. The result? Randall’s MTS guitar amps! With its interchangeable…
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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
Danelectro 56 Pro
More Solid Vibe
Just a couple of years ago, music stores were having a hard time selling a new Danelectro guitar – the Dano reissue craze had run its course and dealers were…
5150 Iconic Series 60-Watt 2×12
Little Monster
When Edward Van Halen released his 5150 head with Peavey in 1992, it quickly grew famous for its massive gain, tight compression, and ability to chug. Co-designed by engineer James…
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…
Harmony Comet
Michigan Meteor
Whoever coined the phrase “Everything old is new again” knew what they were talking about. The resurrected Harmony brand, associated decades ago with budget instruments (and at one time the…
Cordoba 15CFM
Hawai’i Not?
The ukulele phenomenon shows no signs of slowing, with models ranging from well under $100 on up to thousands. The Cordoba 15CFM is on the budget end. The 15CFM has…
Ernie Ball’s Music Man Cutlass/Stingray
Talkin’ Tonewoods
For many builders of solidbody guitars, the challenge is to improve on a handful of pioneering designs from the 1950s and ’60s. No one knows this better than Ernie Ball…
Vox AC30 Brian May Custom Limited Edition
Tone Like Brian's? Yes, You May!
Save for its singular single-knob control panel in bright red finish, a quick glance at the new Vox AC30 Brian May Custom Limited Edition amplifier reveals little if anything that…
Kiesel JB5 Classic
The look and feel of Kiesel’s JB5 Classic align well with what a bassist expects when they gaze upon it – modern take on a Fender Jazz, with similar cuts…
Lazy J Cruiser Deuce
Revved Up
Lazy J Cruiser Deuce Price: $420 Info: www.lazyjprojects.com. The Lazy J Cruiser Deuce is more complex than your classic stomp-and-go pedal, though its functionality is intuitive. The Cruiser Deuce’s brown…
Guild A-20 Marley
Get Up, Stand Up
When it comes to famous Bobs in rock, Dylan is first to mind. But just behind him is another songwriting behemoth – Marley. As it turns out, the Jamaican icon…
Fuchs Clean Machine II
Spotless Tone
The folks at Fuchs Audio Technology know that most guitarists use pedalboards loaded with effects they’ve loved, swapped, upgraded, and considered for years. For them, Fuchs offers the tailor-made Clean…
Wampler Pedals’ Bravado
Tone Tweaker’s Delight
What’s a pedal platform? Nope, it’s not a carbon-fiber Pinarello mountain bike with Shimano shifters and derailleurs. It’s another term for the Bravado 40-watt head designed by pedal impresario Brian…
Cast Engineering Texas Flood OD
Bring On The SRV
Tube Screamers, those famed overdrives from Ibanez, have been screaming off the shelves ever since guitarists first learned the little green machines were key to Stevie Ray Vaughan’s tone. But…
Immix Eleven V-Series 30 Amp/Cab
Lights! Sound! Action!
Immix Eleven V-Series 30 Amp/Cab Price: Amp $1,995 (list); cabinet $895 (list) Contact: www.immix11.com Remember the first time you encountered the Rick 331LS Light Show guitar? You thought, wow, that’s…
Evil Robot EVR-C30
Advances in Mojo
Evil Robot EVR-C30 Price: $999 (list) Info: www.frettedamericana.com. In 2010, music retailer Fretted Americana joined forces with amp wizard John Kasha to “reimagine” the tonal qualities of a vintage Magnatone…
Louis Electric Buster
Beyond Deluxe
Louis Electric Buster Price: $1,595. Info: louisamps.com Lou Rosano has been building amps in the Fender vein for more than 17 years. His first build wound up in the hands…
AXL USA Hand-Aged Bulldog
Bark and Bite
AXL USA Hand-Aged Bulldog Price: $699.99 (street) Contact: www.axlguitars.com Unabashedly inspired by the classic Les Paul Junior, AXL Guitars’ limited-edition USA Hand-Aged Bulldog is a single-pickup guitar with a slab…
Ball Amps 1950s GE TV
Turn Up The Television
Randall Ball crafts vintage amps like no others. At his workshop in Kearneysville, West Virginia, he translates tried-and-true schematics into new builds, then houses them in old cabinets adapted from…
Godin A6 Ultra Baritone
Sub Sandwich
The basic premise of a baritone is that it allows guitar players to occasionally twang genuine bass notes – not enough to get in the way of the bassline, but…
Martin SC-13E Special Burst
Blueprint Blow-up
For nearly two centuries, Martin has been building acoustic instruments befitting the company’s august reputation. The slew of budget-friendly models in its Performing Artist series offer modern takes on traditional…
Fender G.E. Smith Telecaster
G.E.'s Electric
G.E. Smith is a guitarist, vintage-instrument authority, and holder of several past high-profile gig including 10 years as the bandleader on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” where he proudly displayed pieces…
