• Eastwood MRG Lap Steel

    VG Approved Gear

    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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Eastman AR905SCE Uptown Deluxe

Classy Jazz Box

Eastman AR905SCE Uptown Deluxe Price: $3,650 retail Contact: www.eastmanguitars.com Over the past few years the negative stigma attached to guitars manufactured overseas has been altered greatly. Many builders from abroad…

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…

Line 6 Catalyst 100

Natural Vibe

The latest array of amp modelers from Line 6 – pioneers in the field – is the Catalyst, in 60-, 100-, and 200-watt variations. The 100 is a 1×12 combo…

D’Addario/ Planet Waves Accessories

Goodies Galore

The D’Addario family has been making musical-instrument strings since before brothers-in-law Rocco and Carmine moved to the U.S. from Italy in the early 1900s. A longtime music-industry fixture, D’Addario &…

DeTemple Spirit Series Stellacasta

DeTemple Spirit Series Stellacasta

Hybrid Tone

DeTemple Spirit Series Stellacasta Price: $9,000 (list) Info: www.detempleguitars.com As an accomplished musician since the 1960s and more recently as a guitar builder and vintage collector, Michael DeTemple has long…

The Selmer Zodiac 50

The Zodiac Twin Fifty

An amp maker at the very heart of the British guitar boom of the late ’50s and early ’60s, Selmer was, for a time, the leader in the field, though…

Pefftronics Super Rand-O-Matic

Big sounds from a little device

In the words of the great Monty Python, “Now, here’s something completely different…” The Pefftronics SB-101 Super Rand-O-Matic is a modulation effect unlike anything we’ve heard. It can create basic…

Carr Skylark

The Carr Skylark

Desert-Island Amp

The Carr Skylark Price: $2,390 (list) Contact: www.carramps.com If you could own only a single guitar amp – horror of horrors! – Steve Carr’s new Skylark just might be the…

EVH Wolfgang WG Standard

EVH Wolfgang WG Standard

Atomic Punk

EVH Wolfgang WG Standard Price: $799.99 (list); $599.99 (street) Contact: www.evhgear.com Decades after the release of the first Van Halen album, universal acceptance of Edward Van Halen as the last…

Fender’s J Mascis

Fender’s J Mascis Artist Jazzmaster – J’s Rockin’ Axe

Introduced in the late 1950s as Fender’s “jazz guitar,” the Jazzmaster was also supposed to compete in the market with Gibson’s semi-hollow ES line. But despite its very specific moniker,…

AJ Peat Screaming Flamingo, Wild Goose, Dirty Buzzard

Birds Are the Word

AJ Peat is in the business of creating some of the hippest music gear on the planet. Boutique guitars, pedals, and audio devices all bare his thumbprint, and his take…

Maxon VS Effects

Five Boxes of Fun

With their straight-out-of- the-’70s groovy colors – pea soup green, bright orange, powder blue, plum purple, and Mopar metallic green – Maxon’s Vintage Series Effects look like new old stock,…

Xotic RC Booster, AC Booster, Robotalk

High-quality, and a new twist

Some would argue that the world of guitars and amps has reached the point of oversaturation. And right along with the teeming mass of G&A, throw in effects pedals. Everywhere…

DeTemple Spirit Series Stellacasta

DeTemple Spirit Series Stellacasta

Hybrid Tone

DeTemple Spirit Series Stellacasta Price: $9,000 (list) Info: www.detempleguitars.com As an accomplished musician since the 1960s and more recently as a guitar builder and vintage collector, Michael DeTemple has long…

HomeWrecker Pickups

Slumbering Strats, Awake!

In 2011, session guitarist Joshua Hernandez began winding pickups in his living room. From these modest beginnings, and with no desire simply to replicate the sounds of vintage pickups, Hernandez…

Fender’s Brad Paisley Road Worn Telecaster

Country Composite

One of the newest models from Fender’s Artist series is designed to appeal to vintage Telecaster fanatics, country twangers, and even new converts taste-testing the Tele waters. The new Brad…

Golden Age Pre-73 MkIII, Ear Trumpet Edwina, and Avantone CR-14

The Front End

Strike up a conversation with anyone who records music and they’ll talk your ear off about mics and preamps. If you want to make your guitar and vocals sound good…

The Fractal VP4

Pedal Power

Famous for amp and cabinet models made to replace an amp for direct recording or plugging right into a PA, Fractal Audio has also developed an array of highly regarded…

Ibanez GB10SE

Jazzed Up

In the late ’70s, Ibanez debuted the GB10, a signature jazzbox for crossover icon George Benson. It turned heads with its novel approach – a smaller design, but still fully…

Blackstar Artist 15

All ’Rounder

Blackstar’s Artist 15 is a British amp with an American accent. Though designed and built around good ol’ American-flavored 6L6 tubes, its sonic qualities feature that glorious jangly, chimey sound…

Cimarron Guitars’ Model P

From the Parlor to the Stage

Cimarron Guitars has being making custom instruments since 1978 in the dry, mild climate of southwest Colorado. The company’s Model P guitar gets its name from its parlor-guitar-sized body (“parlor”…

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…

New Orleans Guitar Company Model 8

Sonic Mojo

New Orleans Guitar Company Model 8 Price: $2,999 Contact: neworleansguitar.com For over a decade, the New Orleans Guitar Company has been producing handcrafted electrics with an attention to design and…

Fender Mustang II Amp

Practiced Past

When you check out an amp like the Fender Mustang II, you may wonder if the term “practice amp” still applies anymore. Once upon a time, a practice amp was…

ZT Amplifiers’ Lunchbox Junior

Tasty Treat

ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox Junior Price: $149 (street) Info: www.ztamplifiers.com. ZT Amplifiers is known for producing compact amps that generate sounds which defy their size. Their latest, the 35-watt ZT Lunchbox Junior,…

E.W.S. Little Fuzzy Drive

E.W.S. Little Fuzzy Drive

Tiny Footprint, Huge Sound

E.W.S. Little Fuzzy Drive Price: $160 (list); $130 (street) Info: www.ews-us.com. At 1.5″ x 3.5″, the E.W.S. Little Fuzzy Drive looks fun and toy-like, but, when plugged in, thoughts of…

LBenito Alerce-topped Grand Auditorium

Hot Stuff from Chile

How much more vintage can you get? If you’re talking about guitar tone woods, not much more vintage than the tops on guitars by LBenito. Built in Chile, using alerce…

Electro-Harmonix Pog and English Muff’n pedals

Sounds, Classic and Funky

For the last 37-plus years, Electro-Harmonix has been a prolific innovator and manufacturer of effects pedals and other preamp devices. A few times each year, E-H president Mike Matthews offers…

Carvin VL212 Legacy Combo

Hotrodded Marshall, glimpse of gussied-up Fender

Carvin’s Legacy series amplifiers were designed exclusively for fretboard wizard Steve Vai – un-questionably one of the best players around is Vai well-known for his keen ear, incredible technique, and…

Fender’s J Mascis

Fender’s J Mascis Artist Jazzmaster – J’s Rockin’ Axe

Introduced in the late 1950s as Fender’s “jazz guitar,” the Jazzmaster was also supposed to compete in the market with Gibson’s semi-hollow ES line. But despite its very specific moniker,…