•  Reverend Sensei H90

    VG Approved Gear

     Reverend Sensei H90

    Live Wire

    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

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Gibson’s “Non-Reverse” ’Birds

In the ’60s, Gibson strived mightily to meet the demands of players of all levels while also working to maintain its image as industry leader. One of its primary attempts…

KR Musical Purple Pedals

Jimi Would Love 'Em!

Efects builder Kevin Randall has done his homework on what makes vintage pedals sound the way they do. But most guys who build pedals do that… right? And we all…

L-Guitar Lance Glass

Tweak City

Builders love tweaking the creations of Leo Fender and his squad of ’50s innovators; California luthier Lance McCormick is making his mark with the L-Guitar Lance Glass. It may look…

Sundragon Super Dragon

The Sound Remains

A few years back, amp builder Mitch Colby and music producer Perry Margouleff teamed with Jimmy Page to introduce the Sundragon amp (VG “Approved Gear,” July ’19), a reproduction of…

Supro’s Thunderbolt S6420+

Supro’s Thunderbolt S6420+

35 Watts on a Gold Platter

Supro’s Thunderbolt S6420+ Price: $1,599 (list) Contact: www.suprousa.com Upon introduction in 1964, the Valco-made Supro Thunderbolt Model S6420 was a misfit. Like Fender’s 4×10 Bassman, it was designed “exclusively for…

PureSalem Honey Bunny, Pink Beard, Attack Captain

Bring The Fuzz

Remember your first fuzz pedal? Maybe, like a certain reviewer, you literally worked up a sweat trying to strike a deal between the body resonance of an ES-175D and the…

Godin ACS SA

Nylon Dreams

Too often, the notion of plugging in a thin-body guitar and getting a reasonably natural acoustic/electric tone is more dream than reality. With decades of experience, Godin is taking on…

Eventide H9

Maximum Effect

Eventide H9 Price: $499 Info: www.eventide.com. Stompbox evolution is getting to the point where huge libraries of sound are coming out of single pedals. You might say, “Well, those are…

Carl Martin’s Roadie Bandmate 15

Tone-Rich Traits

Denmark’s Carl Martin has built a following with its PlexiTone series of overdrives and effects pedals used by stars the world over. The company recently introduced the Roadie Bandmate 15,…

Analog Man BC183 Sun Face

Here Comes the (Black Hole) Sun

Analog Man BC183 Sun Face Price: $185 Contact: www.analogman.com Mike Piera has been building his line of stomp boxes bearing the Analog Man name since the mid ’90s. Famous for…

VVT Rick Derringer Hyperdrive

Quad-6V6 Hoochie-Koo

To a certain degree, the Vintage Vacuum Tube Amplifiers Rick Derringer Hyperdrive model was born of intimidation. When VVT proprietors Tony Albany and Jim Hill began discussing a signature amp…

Peterson VS-1 Tuner

The accurate, real-time tuner goes mobile

Most guitar techs will tell you that there has always been a void between small battery-powered tuners and full-blown rotating disc strobe tuners; the small ones are not all that…

Musicvox Space Cadet USB 30″ Custom

Short-Scale Slugger

Don’t be confused by the USB in this four-string’s name – there’s no computer-cable hookup. Instead, USB stands for “ultimate short-scale bass” and, indeed, this Musicvox Space Cadet sports a…

Tx-Watt Flagship

Tone Big as Texas

For more than three decades on the Texas roadhouse circuit, guitarist Jack Kay’s love of vintage Fender and Marshall tones often had him using both amplifier brands at the same…

The Reverend Koch Gristle 90

Pop The Hood

What happens when you mix a classic design with the creativity of twang ace Greg Koch? You get the Reverend Gristle 90, which may look like a sporty T-style guitar…

Guild Standard Series Acoustics

Legacy, Cont’d?

Founded by a jazz guitarist as jazz-box builder, the Guild company also built a solid reputation with its ’50s acoustic guitars. The brand’s profile as an acoustic builder was certainly…

Keeley Electronics Dark Side

Floyd Fare

In the multi-verse of effects pedals, Robert Keeley’s compressors, dirt boxes, and workstation gizmos are a thing of beauty – particularly in the realm of pedals that provide multiple sounds.…

Fender’s Classic Player Strat HH

Fender’s Classic Player Strat HH

The Humbucker Paradox

Fender’s Classic Player Strat HH Price: $949.99 (list) Contact: www.fender.com One of the great guitar myths is that pro Fender players always use single-coil pickups. Many do, of course, but…

T-Rex Replicator

Daily Echo

Among the arcana of tone, few things inspire as much devotion – even obsession – as echo. The Holy Grail is often considered the simple-but-lovely slapback heard on early Sun…

SIB Echodrive, Varidrive, Fatdrive

They Ain't "Heavy…"

Rick Hamel is one half of the design team behind the SMF 15 Watter amplifier we reviewed in the April ’03 issue. And given his track record, the company he…

Relic the Hague’s Scumbag

Rock-and-Roll Animal

On the surface, the Scumbag is a simple rock beast. With a 25.5″-scale neck, maple fingerboard, and bolt-neck construction, it has the design and spunky nature of a Strat or…

Bergen Guitars ST and TL

Messing with Perfection

Bergen Guitars ST and TL Price: $2,195 (ST, base)/$2,595 (as tested); $1,895 (TL, base)/$2,295 (as tested) Info: www.bergenguitars.com. If your goal, as a solitary craftsman, is to improve upon two…

ZVEX Woolly Mammoth 7

Fuzzy Beast

Zachary Vex masterminds some of the most radical and downright fun pedals known to mankind. And as he states in the user’s manual to the Woolly Mammoth 7, “Because why…

Fender Mike McCready Strat

Evener Flow

Mike McCready’s beat up sunburst ’60s Strat looms large in the history of grunge; heard on Pearl Jam’s illustrious body of recorded work and seen in the band’s millions-viewed videos,…

Red Witch Zeus Bass Fuzz Suboctave and SoloDallas Schaffer Replica

Circuits Gone Wild

Fuzz and octavers are among the hottest pedals around, with some builders even melding them to great effect. The Red Witch Zeus Bass Fuzz Suboctave is one such box. It’s…

Evil robot Feature Page

Evil Robot EVR-C30

Advances in Mojo

Evil Robot EVR-C30 Price: $999 (list) Info: www.frettedamericana.com. In 2010, music retailer Fretted Americana joined forces with amp wizard John Kasha to “reimagine” the tonal qualities of a vintage Magnatone…

Amptweaker’s FatMetal Distortion

Amptweaker’s FatMetal Distortion

Metal To the Pedal

With all of the subgenres of heavy metal out there, it was only a matter of time before the pedal industry began tweaking its many circuits to meet the needs…

Lotus Pedal Designs’ Snowjob Underdrive

Lotus Pedal Designs’ Snowjob Underdrive

Love That Yellow Snow

You may be wondering, “What in the world is an ‘underdrive’ pedal?” Good question. Well, you know the traffic-jam of overdrive pedals you likely have crowding around your amp, all…

Magnatone Twilighter

Magnatone Twilighter

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…

Vox Real McCoy Chrome Wah Ltd and V846 Vintage Wah

Replica Treadles

Thanks to notable users ranging from Del Casher and Frank Zappa to Jimi Hendrix and Kirk Hammett, the “wah wah” is perhaps history’s most-recognized guitar effect. Vox, which marketed the…