-
VG Approved Gear
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…
Eastman AR905SCE Uptown Deluxe
Classy Jazz Box
Eastman AR905SCE Uptown Deluxe Price: $3,650 retail Contact: www.eastmanguitars.com Over the past few years the negative stigma attached to guitars manufactured overseas has been altered greatly. Many builders from abroad…
Dingwall Super J
Jammin' J-Style
While Dingwall Designer Guitars’ Super J bass is unquestionably inspired by the Fender Jazz, it’s separated from the typical clone by several things, including its use of the Novax Fanned Fret…
Line 6 Catalyst 100
Natural Vibe
The latest array of amp modelers from Line 6 – pioneers in the field – is the Catalyst, in 60-, 100-, and 200-watt variations. The 100 is a 1×12 combo…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
D’Addario/ Planet Waves Accessories
Goodies Galore
The D’Addario family has been making musical-instrument strings since before brothers-in-law Rocco and Carmine moved to the U.S. from Italy in the early 1900s. A longtime music-industry fixture, D’Addario &…
DeTemple Spirit Series Stellacasta
Hybrid Tone
DeTemple Spirit Series Stellacasta Price: $9,000 (list) Info: www.detempleguitars.com As an accomplished musician since the 1960s and more recently as a guitar builder and vintage collector, Michael DeTemple has long…
The Selmer Zodiac 50
The Zodiac Twin Fifty
An amp maker at the very heart of the British guitar boom of the late ’50s and early ’60s, Selmer was, for a time, the leader in the field, though…
Pefftronics Super Rand-O-Matic
Big sounds from a little device
In the words of the great Monty Python, “Now, here’s something completely different…” The Pefftronics SB-101 Super Rand-O-Matic is a modulation effect unlike anything we’ve heard. It can create basic…
The Carr Skylark
Desert-Island Amp
The Carr Skylark Price: $2,390 (list) Contact: www.carramps.com If you could own only a single guitar amp – horror of horrors! – Steve Carr’s new Skylark just might be the…
EVH Wolfgang WG Standard
Atomic Punk
EVH Wolfgang WG Standard Price: $799.99 (list); $599.99 (street) Contact: www.evhgear.com Decades after the release of the first Van Halen album, universal acceptance of Edward Van Halen as the last…
-
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…
-
Xotic Guitar XSS-1 Super S Style
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, 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…
-
Electro-Harmonix POG III Big Generator
Big Generator
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…
-
Bad Cat Cub V EL34 Amp
First-Class Blast
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…
-
Keeley Electronics Zoma
’65 Vibe
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…
-
Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristle ST
Big Time
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…
Fender’s J Mascis
Fender’s J Mascis Artist Jazzmaster – J’s Rockin’ Axe
Introduced in the late 1950s as Fender’s “jazz guitar,” the Jazzmaster was also supposed to compete in the market with Gibson’s semi-hollow ES line. But despite its very specific moniker,…
AJ Peat Screaming Flamingo, Wild Goose, Dirty Buzzard
Birds Are the Word
AJ Peat is in the business of creating some of the hippest music gear on the planet. Boutique guitars, pedals, and audio devices all bare his thumbprint, and his take…
Maxon VS Effects
Five Boxes of Fun
With their straight-out-of- the-’70s groovy colors – pea soup green, bright orange, powder blue, plum purple, and Mopar metallic green – Maxon’s Vintage Series Effects look like new old stock,…
Xotic RC Booster, AC Booster, Robotalk
High-quality, and a new twist
Some would argue that the world of guitars and amps has reached the point of oversaturation. And right along with the teeming mass of G&A, throw in effects pedals. Everywhere…
DeTemple Spirit Series Stellacasta
Hybrid Tone
DeTemple Spirit Series Stellacasta Price: $9,000 (list) Info: www.detempleguitars.com As an accomplished musician since the 1960s and more recently as a guitar builder and vintage collector, Michael DeTemple has long…
HomeWrecker Pickups
Slumbering Strats, Awake!
In 2011, session guitarist Joshua Hernandez began winding pickups in his living room. From these modest beginnings, and with no desire simply to replicate the sounds of vintage pickups, Hernandez…
Fender’s Brad Paisley Road Worn Telecaster
Country Composite
One of the newest models from Fender’s Artist series is designed to appeal to vintage Telecaster fanatics, country twangers, and even new converts taste-testing the Tele waters. The new Brad…
Golden Age Pre-73 MkIII, Ear Trumpet Edwina, and Avantone CR-14
The Front End
Strike up a conversation with anyone who records music and they’ll talk your ear off about mics and preamps. If you want to make your guitar and vocals sound good…
The Fractal VP4
Pedal Power
Famous for amp and cabinet models made to replace an amp for direct recording or plugging right into a PA, Fractal Audio has also developed an array of highly regarded…
Ibanez GB10SE
Jazzed Up
In the late ’70s, Ibanez debuted the GB10, a signature jazzbox for crossover icon George Benson. It turned heads with its novel approach – a smaller design, but still fully…
Blackstar Artist 15
All ’Rounder
Blackstar’s Artist 15 is a British amp with an American accent. Though designed and built around good ol’ American-flavored 6L6 tubes, its sonic qualities feature that glorious jangly, chimey sound…
Cimarron Guitars’ Model P
From the Parlor to the Stage
Cimarron Guitars has being making custom instruments since 1978 in the dry, mild climate of southwest Colorado. The company’s Model P guitar gets its name from its parlor-guitar-sized body (“parlor”…
Epiphone Jorma Kaukonen Riviera Deluxe
Plenty of go to match the show
Epiphone’s Jorma Kaukonen signature model Riviera is a straight-up pleasure to look at. For starters, there’s the beautiful maple top and striking gold hardware appointing the cherry-finished semi-hollow body. But…
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…
Fender Mustang II Amp
Practiced Past
When you check out an amp like the Fender Mustang II, you may wonder if the term “practice amp” still applies anymore. Once upon a time, a practice amp was…
ZT Amplifiers’ Lunchbox Junior
Tasty Treat
ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox Junior Price: $149 (street) Info: www.ztamplifiers.com. ZT Amplifiers is known for producing compact amps that generate sounds which defy their size. Their latest, the 35-watt ZT Lunchbox Junior,…
E.W.S. Little Fuzzy Drive
Tiny Footprint, Huge Sound
E.W.S. Little Fuzzy Drive Price: $160 (list); $130 (street) Info: www.ews-us.com. At 1.5″ x 3.5″, the E.W.S. Little Fuzzy Drive looks fun and toy-like, but, when plugged in, thoughts of…
LBenito Alerce-topped Grand Auditorium
Hot Stuff from Chile
How much more vintage can you get? If you’re talking about guitar tone woods, not much more vintage than the tops on guitars by LBenito. Built in Chile, using alerce…
Electro-Harmonix Pog and English Muff’n pedals
Sounds, Classic and Funky
For the last 37-plus years, Electro-Harmonix has been a prolific innovator and manufacturer of effects pedals and other preamp devices. A few times each year, E-H president Mike Matthews offers…
Carvin VL212 Legacy Combo
Hotrodded Marshall, glimpse of gussied-up Fender
Carvin’s Legacy series amplifiers were designed exclusively for fretboard wizard Steve Vai – un-questionably one of the best players around is Vai well-known for his keen ear, incredible technique, and…
Fender’s J Mascis
Fender’s J Mascis Artist Jazzmaster – J’s Rockin’ Axe
Introduced in the late 1950s as Fender’s “jazz guitar,” the Jazzmaster was also supposed to compete in the market with Gibson’s semi-hollow ES line. But despite its very specific moniker,…
