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…
Downsize, Upmarket L-Style Guitar
In the July issue we looked at affordable L-style flat-tops for the acoustic blues player. This month, we look at similarly inspired instruments, but at a premium price point. All…

Tone Evolution
Oddfellow Caveman Drive Price: $174.99 (list) Info: www.oddfellowfx.com. Handmade in California, the Oddfellow Caveman Drive is a boutique pedal whose simple layout belies its tonal complexities. But even before hooking…

Econo Classic Reimagined
Delisle Island Carney/Drifter Amp-in-Case Combo Price: $4,000 (list) Contact: www.island-instruments.com A half-century ago, before Marshalls were stacked and ’Bursts dangled menacingly below hips, the marketing of guitars and amps targeted…
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…

Germany’s BSM is among the rare specialist among modern stompbox builders; their focus is one thing – making treble boosters (albeit in a variety of flavors), and their lineup uses…

Best In Show… And More
While listening to AC/DC’s Back in Black on a small, audiophile-grade table radio, Blackstar Amplification CEO Ian Robinson had an epiphany: small amps don’t have to sound crappy. Previously, there…

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,…

Retro on 11
Fender’s Vaporizer Amp Price: $399.99 (street) Info: www.fender.com Given the popularity of smartphones, tablets, digital recorders, and amp modeling in today’s music industry, when it comes to guitar amps, what…
Green flashbacks
Japan’s Maxon company has made some of the most popular guitar effects pedals of all time. But because they carried a different brand, you might not equate the box with…

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 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…
Xotic’s S-style guitar line pays homage to the man who revolutionized rock guitar in the ’80s. Hint: He was hot for teacher. The latest version is the XSS-1 Super S, offered in an assortment of pickup configurations, necks, and an array of colors. With an alder body and C-shaped/bolt-on maple neck dressed with tall (Jescar…
Introduced in 2005, the Electro-Harmonix Polyphonic Octave Generator – a.k.a. POG – has spurred a handful of offshoots and updates. Born as an ultimate octave box, it conjures everything from electronic synth-bass, eight-string bass, and 12-string guitar to organs and harpsichords along with a universe of synthesizer textures. Set up like a mixer, the new…
The Bad Cat Cub has evolved through several iterations since arriving with the maker’s inaugural lineup 25 years ago. It has gained (and lost) features, morphed into more-affordable PCB-based versions, even occasionally doubled in power. The new Cub V returns to its entirely hand-wired/point-to-point origins equipped for two popular power levels – a 20-watter with…
Inspired by Robert Keeley’s fondness for combining effects, the digital Keeley Electonics Zoma Stereo Reverb and Tremolo simplifies interface and function compared to his earlier Hydra pedal and many other reverbs on the market. The concept is to deliver reverb and modulation that brings to mind ’60s blackface, while upping ease of operation. There are…
Greg Koch is arguably the Roy Buchanan of our time, wrestling squawks ’n squeals, burning blues and some absolutely haywire chicken-picking from his guitar. Being not only a big talent but a big fella at 6’7″, he asked Reverend to build a Strat-style guitar distinguished (like the single-cut that preceded it) by a slightly increased…

Desert Island Axe
If you found yourself stranded on that proverbial desert isle with – horror of horrors – just a single guitar at your disposal, the Collings I-30 LC just might make…

In Your Face
Sometimes, bassists need boost, too, like when that bass-solo interlude from Sade’s “Smooth Operator” comes along and it’s time to get busy. This updated version of Xotic’s Bass BB brings…
Tone Cubed
3rd Power Dream Weaver Price: $3.299 Info: www.3rdpower.com. Purchasing a new amp is much more than buying a piece of gear – think of it as hiring out a job.…

Legend, Resurrected
Jim Kelley began making his highly acclaimed guitar amplifiers 1978. His big revelation came while he was still doing mods and repairs. A customer brought in an Ampeg SB12 for…

The Eastwood Airline ’59 3P
Long before the brazen, pointy electrics of the 1980s, Airline created a model with all kinds of modern angles and attitude. The original Airline electric guitars were made by Valco…

100-Proof Tone
While many pedal makers tinker away on effects that exhibit their personal tonal philosophies, the fact is that most don’t play gigs or compose music. Seraphim Marcopoulous of ToneConcepts was…

Swiss-Army Distortion
Metal Pedals JH-3 Price: $235 (list) Contact: www.metalpedals.com Like a Swiss Army knife, the multifunction Metal Pedals JH-3 Johnny Hiland has more options than you’d expect in such a small…
Morph For Less
DigiTech iStomp Price: $149.95 Info: www.digitech.com/istomp If you’re the type of gearhead who turns heel and runs from DSP effects, let alone any equipment with a lower-case “i” in front…

Do It Yerself
MOD Kits DIY 102+ Amp Kit Price: $265 (list) Contact: www.modkitsdiy.com A good friend jokingly remarked that building tube amps is the legal equivalent of taking opiates – instantly gratifying…

Brave New Basses
Godin A4/A5 Ultra SA Price: $1,395 (A4 Ultra SA fretted); $1,645 (A5 Ultra SA fretless) Info: godinguitars.com. For years, Godin Guitars has been finding creative ways to improve guitar and…

Classic That Never Was
Fano Alt de Facto RB6 Price: $2,495 Info: fanoguitars.com In recent years, a trend in the guitar realm has been to re-create the magic of vintage-style instruments. This has ranged…

Old-School Soul
Paying homage to low-powered tube amps from yesteryear, the Supro Amulet was designed to re-create classic Supro sounds with a few added features. The Amulet is a 15-watt/Class A 1×10…
Music Technology’s Talos Basic is an all-tube guitar amp is designed to be simple, yet so versatile that it stands out in what has become a rather large crowd. The…

Tribute To The King
Xotic’s S-style guitar line pays homage to the man who revolutionized rock guitar in the ’80s. Hint: He was hot for teacher. The latest version is the XSS-1 Super S,…

Kinship and Connections
As much a celebration of kinship as it is an educational forum, the biannual Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (ASIA) Symposium, held at East Stroudsburg University, in Pennsylvania, is mini…

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…

Little Monsters
In this age of shrinking guitar rigs, Tech 21’s Fly Rig pedals show just how guitar-related technology is getting smaller but more powerful. Fly Rigs measure a mere 11.5 x…

Hot Club Hot Stuff
In the galaxy of Gypsy jazz guitars, the Modèle Special Chorus made by Sicilian-born, Parisian-based Antoine Di Mauro was something special. Departing from the standard Selmer grande and petite bouche…

Delirious Tremors
At some point, nearly every guitarist realizes they simply can’t function without an effects pedal that creates warm, pulsating modulation. Walrus Audio’s Monument Harmonic Tap Tremolo not only works as…
Flanger
Morley’s Sapphire Flanger is a cute little box driven by wallwart or 9-volt battery. The box itself is a bit clunky and odd, but klunky and odd are “in” right…
Bantam Tough-Guy
The Twintone is the Netherlands-based Koch Guitar Electronics company’s mid-sized guitar amp, a 1×12″ combo that, like the entire Koch line, uses top-quality components including cold-lacquered transformers, fiberglas-reinforced PC boards,…