So you want a Gibson-style solidbody that can cover humbucker-powered rock, yet also twangier/glassier tones using a P-90 pickup. Check. You also want to grab high frets via double-cutaway and have the pitch reliability of a tune-o-matic bridge and locking tuners. Got it. One more thing: it’s got to look cool and old-school. Hmm…. sounds

World Sounds
It seems that every other stompbox on the market has dual-footswitch functionality, packing two entirely different circuits into one housing. And judging by the trio here – all three of…

Production-Line Custom
After 20-plus years with Fender, where he co-founded and helped guide the renowned Custom Shop, John Page struck out on his own to start John Page Custom. One of the guru’s…
Designed and built for tone – and the real world
George Alessandro and his amps have been high-profile for some time, and both are highly regarded. Over the years, George has repaired, modified, and tweaked thousands of amps. What he’s…
The bolt-on Swamp Ash Special has been around for nearly three decades, but PRS just retooled the U.S.-built version and dropped it at NAMM. There are significant upgrades. While earlier versions had humbuckers with a single-coil pickup between them, this latest plank has a PRS Narrowfield (NF) humbucker in the middle. Another bonus is the
If nobody mentioned that Martin’s new Standard line had been updated, a player might be forgiven for not immediately noticing that the latest D-28 has been subtly changed. After all, it’s the D-28 – one of the most recognizable and enduring American icons – and the thought of altering such a flagship is likely to
Arriving a little more than 10 years after the original Skylark, Carr Amplifiers’ new Skylark Special adds versatility and enhanced tonal depths to squeeze a lot more into this diminutive combo. Specs remain much the same, deriving 12 watts of power from a pair of 6V6GT output tubes into a 12″ Celestion A-Type speaker. But,

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…

Sustain Ability
In the Bizarro Effects Hall of Fame, perhaps none was stranger than the aptly named Gizmotron of the late ’70s designed to make a guitar or bass sound akin to…

Stack in the Box
Most guitar-electronics companies make a direct-recording preamp, many promising to provide ultimate distortion and overdrive via impulse responses (IR) or cabinet simulations. Dave Friedman, of course, is known for putting…

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…

Droppin’ In On The ’60s
Phantom Guitarworks is dedicated to producing odd-shaped guitars based on designs introduced in the early 1960s like the Vox Mark VI “Teardrop,” which helped the company make a name in…
"Do You Feeeeel"?
Well, we’ve all had the fun of trying to mimic – even on the worst of nights – a Peter Frampton tune featuring the dreaded “talk box,” possibly even venturing…
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
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
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

Ring Tones
Named by Flaming Lips guitarist Steven Drozd after composer Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera, Crucial Audio’s lavishly named Die Götterdämmerung Germanium Fuzz/Ring Modulator is a wild, wicked pedal. (Note the…

Is it Really Vintage?
Like the “aged” guitars crafted by Fender and Gibson, this ESP solidbody looks like an ancient road warrior, one that’s gigged from Texas to Tijuana and back again, 200 nights…

Tone To Carry-On
Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 Price: $249 (list) Contact: www.tech21nyc.com Long before the Line6 POD, the Box of Rock, or the iRig, there was the SansAmp from Tech 21 –…
The VG Low-Watt Boutique Tube Amp Shootout
For many electric guitarists, the sound coming out of an amp is just not happening until power-tube saturation enters the tonal spectrum, with the richness and warmth you just don’t…

Bird in Hand
Cardinal Magpie Price: $4,300 Contact: www.cardinalinstruments.com While most folks are happy to buy guitars off the rack, the Cardinal Magpie is a prime example of today’s handcrafted, built-to-order guitars that…

Crying Out Loud!
RMC3FL Prices: $255 RMC4 Picture Prices: $235 RMC8 Guitar Eqwahlyzer Prices: $269 RMC10 Prices: $235 Info: www.realmccoycustom.com. Geoffrey Teese began modding wah pedals in 1993, and eventually earned a reputation…
Maxon updates three classic stomp toys
If you’ve cruised the aisles of a guitar show in the last couple of years, and sauntered up to a table full of effects pedals, you’ve probably experienced a little…

Some Like It Hot
In the story of the Fender amp – after the tweedy pre-Army Elvis and before the black-face Deluxe British blues invasion – there appeared the blond, as Leo Fender transitioned…

Full Dress
Gibson has always had a knack for producing distinctive guitars. The EDS-1275 in Cherry finish will forever be tied to “Stairway to Heaven,” while the white version veritably proclaims “Hotel…

Sound Cube
One old cliché among gigging musicians is, “They pay me for the aggravation, the music is free.” A good deal of that aggravation comes from lugging gear. If you play…

Tap, Shred, Dive!
Kramer 84/Pacer Vintage Price: $1,166 (84); $1,267 (Pacer Vintage) Info: kramerguitars.com It’s hard to think of ’80s guitars as vintage, but since all things get older, the guitars of the…

Manmade Tone Monster
Gather ’round, children, for a scary bedtime story. Once upon a time, there was no such thing as a high-gain amp. So, wizards built treble boosters – like the Dallas…
Vintage Tone For Modern Players
The original Vox Clyde McCoy wah pedals of the late 1960s are high on the list of soughtafter vintage effects. They were widely used during live performances and on legendary…

Laudable Likeness
Few vintage guitars are as vaunted as John D’Angelico’s original handcrafted Excel archtops. Building a new – and affordable – version is a tall task. The EXL-1 from the re-created…
More Tasty Treats
Danelectro has been busy churning out yet another set of pedals that are inex-pensive and quite small. A good thing, since one can never have too many pedals. These are,…

Jerry in a Box
DGN Guitars’ Dan Neafsey is known mostly for his guitar craftsmanship, notably the Kalos and Terrapin models inspired by Jerry Garcia’s one-off axes, as well his Paragon series (VG, August…

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…
Fat, But Not Tubby
Reilander’s Muckbucker Pickups Price: $199 (set) Info: www.reilandercustomguitar.com In the 1970s, great guitar-pickup winders began wrapping extra wire on humbuckers, touting the resultant higher output and greater low-end response. Though…

Fanning the Flames
A time-honored approach to guitar and bass design is to take a classic and improve it. That’s certainly the case with the Dingwall Super P. Straight from Saskatoon, Canada, it’s…

Start Me Up
At the forefront of high-end boutique design, the Carmen Ghia was Dr. Z’s first commercially available amplifier when launched in 1988, and has never been absent from the company’s lineup.…

King of Vibrato
Magnatone Twilighter Price: $2,249 (12″ combo, list) Info: www.magnatoneusa.com. Magnatone is dead, long live Magnatone! The original Magnatone amp company died in 1969 after several decades of making storied “Golden…