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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…
Rick Dodge The Convertible
Zero to Different in 20 seconds!
We know what you’re thinking: “Ummm… Dodge convertible. If I could have one, I’d take a ’70 Challenger R/T, Hemi, four-speed, Plum Crazy finish!” Ah…yeah. That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?…
Jordan Boss Tone
Little Fuzz with the Big Buzz
In the august and revered Hall of Fame of Fuzz, the Jordan Boss Tone deserves a prominent pedestal. Perhaps it should be in a cabinet of cute curiosities. Or maybe…
Epiphone Emperor Swingster
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,…
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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…
Lollar Pickups’ dB Humbucker
Jason Lollar has been in business winding pickups for more than 20 years. While he’s most famous for his take on the P-90, he makes pickups of all kinds, including…
Gretsch Richard Fortus G6636T-RF Falcon
Flying Fingers
Through the decades, the Gretsch White Falcon has been spied in the hands of everyone from top Nashville session cats to rockers like Neil Young and Billy Duffy of the…
Larry Alan Guitars’ The Harlot
Siren Song
Hot idea: pack a sturdy-yet-petite 1590B casing with specially selected parts rendering a powerful, variable guitar overdrive, add a couple of vintage-look knobs, a titillating pinup-girl graphic, and call it…
DryBell Vibe Machine 3
Big Deepness
DryBell Musical Electronic Laboratory’s original Vibe Machine (its take on the classic Univibe) was developed 11 years ago and received thunderous accolades. When the company celebrated its 10th anniversary last…
Awesome Musical Instruments T3 Pickup Switch Upgrade
Wicked Switch
Awesome Musical Instruments T3 Pickup Switch Upgrade Price: $149.99 (black or white three-ply); $164.99 (white pearloid); $169.99 (brown tortoiseshell) Info: www.awesome-guitars.com. When Leo Fender was designing the Strat back in…
Interstellar Audio Machines Octonaut Hyperdrive
Next-Level Drive
Interstellar Audio Machines advertised its original Octonaut Hyperdrive as, “The only overdrive you’ll ever need.” Well… The new version offers boost based on the Klon Centaur; its secret sauce is…
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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…
Garage Guru
The Epiphone Crestwood
The original Epiphone Crestwood was built at Gibson’s Kalamazoo factory, alongside Les Pauls and other ’50s classics. A double-cut solid-body, it appeared a full three years before that other double-cut…
Carl Martin Vintage Series Pedals
More Effect, Less Coin
If you’re the type of hardcore gear geek who spends as much time evaluating guitarists based on what’s in their hands, rigs, and pedalboards as you do actually listening to…
MXR Slash Octave Fuzz SF01 and Slash Cry Baby Classic SC-95
Slash 'N Burn
MXR SF01 Slash Octae Fuzz Price: $129 (street) Contact: jimdunlop.com MXR’s new Slash Octave Fuzz pedal employs three fuzz “flavors” – Sub-Octave, Fuzz, and Octave Up – that offer a…
Breedlove C25 and Custom XII
Beauty, brains, and brawn
Breedlove Guitar Company is a small, independent gui-tar and mandolin builder in Oregon’s high desert region east of the Cascade Mountains. Started in 1990 by Steve Henderson and Larry Breedlove,…
PRS SE 245 Single Cut
Dressed to Impress
PRS SE 245 Single Cut Price: $650 (street). Info: prsguitars.com Pick up the PRS SE 245 and turn it around a few times. After blinking repeatedly at its finish, you…
Zemaitis S22 Metal Top
Zemaitis company makes its initial offering
Zemaitis S22 Metal Top Amongst the sometimes bizarre, always esoteric lot that is any given group of vintage guitar collectors, the name Antanus Casimere Zemaitis carries a special connotation. The…
Category 5 Samantha
Hook, Line, and Tone
Blues-rocker Samantha Fish (VG, December ’21) electrifies audiences with her high-energy shows. A decade ago, she began favoring Category 5’s 50-watt/cathode-biased Andrew amp onstage. In 2021, she and builder Don…
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.…
Grez Mendocino Short Scale Bass
Time-Machine Tone
In the beginning, there was the Precision Bass. Following Leo Fender’s revelation, things branched out in all directions as builders experimented with the idea that the double bass could be…
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…
Martin’s DJr-10E StreetMaster
Dread, Not
The big, booming dreadnought has been a Martin hallmark since its debut in the 1930s. From that tradition comes Martin’s Dreadnought Junior, a smaller, more playable version of the signature…
Ibanez BWM1 Bob Weir Cowboy Fancy
Return of Cowboy Fancy
The mid ’70s were a time for bold experimentation in guitar design, particularly with electronics. Guitarists were discovering replacement pickups, coil-tapping, onboard boosters, and active EQ circuits; some loaded their…
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…
PRS Modern Eagle and SE Soapbar II
From "10" Top To Bottom
Gee, I have to review two Paul Reed Smith guitars today… I know – it’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it. Today’s subjects are the top-end, USA-made Modern…
Valvetech Amplifier Company’s VAC 25
Tractable Tweed
Who says pragmatic utility and classic tones have to be mutually exclusive? Not Rob Pierce, whose Valvetech Amplifier Company deals in classic tones and enhanced flexibility. Case in point –…
Rob Wrobel Le Voyage Lace III
Boxed Up
Cigar-box guitars are a 19th-century creation that today are enjoying a trendy surge in popularity, and attracting the design expertise of some talented folks. Why? Well, because cigar box guitars…
The Epiphone Nancy Wilson Fanatic
Heart Pounder
Sometimes, it takes awhile to dial-in a good idea. The Epiphone Nancy Wilson Fanatic improves on Gibson’s Nighthawk design from the early ’90s, and now offers a versatile, player-friendly instrument.…
PRS Modern Eagle and SE Soapbar II
From "10" Top To Bottom
Gee, I have to review two Paul Reed Smith guitars today… I know – it’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it. Today’s subjects are the top-end, USA-made Modern…
PRS SE NF3
Expanded Options
The latest result of PRS Guitars “reverse-engineering”/ reconsidering its own instruments, the SE NF3 is the first PRS to be given Narrowfield DD (Deep Dish) S pickups. A spin on…
The Epiphone ES-175 Reissue
Return of a Classic
There are plenty of affordable hollowbodies on the market, but Epiphone’s recent reissue of the Gibson ES-175 is almost a slam-dunk out of the box. Whether your guitar guru is…
Magnatone Varsity
Less is More, Plus
Magnatone Varsity Price: $1,699 (list); $1,799 (as tested) Contact: www.magnatoneusa.com Magnatone earned a cult of admirers in the mid 20th century. Buddy Holly and Lonnie Mack used the company’s amps,…
