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…

The Mu Is Back
This is rocket science. Or at least as close as a stompbox gets. Sure, building a pedal that tweaks a guitar’s signal around and about isn’t exactly putting a man…
Single-Cut Shuffle
Cort Z44 Price: $569 list/under $400 street Contact: cortguitars.com Just about everywhere you look these days, manufacturers are devising new spins on the single-cutaway solidbody. Cort has been a player…

Little Heartthrob
Many vintage amp connoisseurs have a special place in their hearts for the early Epiphone Electar amplifiers. David Bromberg is one such fan; as he raved to VG recently about…
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…
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…
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…

Feral Feline
In the Swinging ’60s, Vox guitars were all the rage, particularly among British and European players. Though stylish and visually innovative, the Italian-made guitars were also inconsistent, with anemic pickups…

Little Amps That Could
In guitardom, players far too often believe there is nothing more sonically pleasing than a tall stack. Yet, plenty of diminutive amps offer up massive tone; think Derek and the…
Michigan Metal
Michigan may have given us the automobile production line, but Troy-based Iconix Pickups is the antithesis of an assembly line operation, and now Iconix is building quality pickups for a…

Post-war Blues Box
In his day, Jimmy Reed was a huge influence on everyone from Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield to the Rolling Stones and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Among its reissues, Kay Guitar…

Players often buy a factory aged guitar and swap the plastics and hardware to more accurately represent the overall aesthetic. Bayou Guitarworks’ custom relic’d hardware fits the bill. Artist Denise…
Hot Windy City Tone
Illinois-based Butler Custom Sound recently introduced its Chicago Blues Box amp series with the blues player very much in mind. Company president Dan Butler has repaired and modified countless tube…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Ned Lives On
The year is 1979. The disco era is nearing its end and the “Me Generation” is approaching like a freight train. With the impending new decade full of fresh ideas…

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…

Garage Band
The Valco FX Five-0 was conceived as “Dick Dale in a box.” Offering overdrive, reverb, and tremolo – each with its own on/off footswitch – it’s a multi-effects unit without…

Back to the Future
Mike Lipe Virtuoso Price: $4,000 Contact: lipeguitars.com; phone (818) 352-6212 Mike Lipe has built guitars for top players and guitar companies (notably heading up the Ibanez Custom Shop in the…

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…
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…

Endless Echo
Like politics, religion, and overdrive pedals, echo boxes are sure to incite staunch views, heartfelt arguments, and perhaps even fisticuffs. But Strymon’s El Capistan is one worth fighting for. To…

Duck In A Box
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck… it might be the TWA WR-3 Wah Rocker. Lovingly known as “the duck box,” the Wah Rocker is based…
Contemporary Classic
Laney’s VC30-212 is a 30-watt Class A tube combo amp available in 2×10, 1×12, and 2×12 configurations. We tested the 2×12 version, which is loaded with two HH Invader Vintage…
Bass Extenders, Stealth Slide, and B Bender
What do Will Lee, Leland Sklar, and Bunny Brunel all have in common? Besides being bassists, they all use Hipshot Bass Extender keys, a nifty device that drops the E…
Premium Pedalin’
Effectrode Tube-Vibe Price: $429 (Tube-Vibe) Contact: www.effectrode.com Goran Fat Boy Price: $429 Contact: www.goranguitars.com In the annals of guitar stompboxes, there are no tones more elusive than the mystical swirls…

Big Green Monster
Guild’s Newark Street guitars are a line of lower-priced instruments anchored by a reissue of the classic Starfire; the most distinctive is the I DC GVT. A handsome semi-hollow, it…
Saddle Up!
Metal Pedals’ Raw Hide, Hard Core XXX Price: $175 (Raw Hide); $230 (Hard Core XXX) Info: www.metalpedals.com. For many discerning players, Dave Pantaleone at Metal Pedals is a well-known stompbox…

High Roller
Since its arrival in 1954, the chambered Guild Aristocrat and it’s later solid cousin, the Bluesbird, have offered an alternative to the single-cutaway Les Paul and Gretsch Duo-Jet. Decades later,…
Striking semi-acoustic
The Rumblefish is an electric bass model from Reverend Guitars, out of Michigan. This is a striking semi-acoustic in the best tradition of Danos and Silvertones, but has the finesse…

Goin’ “Old-Store”
Most everyone has seen a department-store-catalog guitar (or two!) from the ’60s or ’70s. With their funky, cool body shapes and smorgasbord of knobs and switches, their looks grabbed ya’.…

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…
After proving my love for luthiery from both sides of the workbench, as a builder of 25 years and a buyer/player, why have I ordered a Variax Acoustic 700 modeling…

Back in Black
Guitar players around the globe praised Bad Cat’s Black Cat amp for its tone, but wanted more punch. Its ear twisted, the company delivered by doubling the output and tweaking…

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,…
Satisfying Sounds
Blackstar’s entry to the growing market of “all in one” compact amplifier/effects units claims to offer a high degree of usability built around famous tones – but don’t they all?…