•  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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Chicago Blues Box Roadhouse amp

Hot Windy City Tone

Illinois-based Butler Custom Sound recently introduced its Chicago Blues Box amp series with the blues player very much in mind. Company president Dan Butler has repaired and modified countless tube…

Chaos Audio Stratus Multi FX Pedal

Smart, Swift Stomp

Imagine a world where all of your pedals work together so seamlessly that you can quickly and easily experiment with new combinations with the swipe of a finger – and…

Juke 1210

Tonal Treat

Warbler/Juke’s 1210 is unique both for its 2×10/1×12 speaker layout and lack of a distortion/overdrive. And though the amp shares many characteristics often seen in high-end boutique amps (i.e. point-to-point…

Alairex H.A.L.O.

Heavenly Possibilities

Alairex H.A.L.O. Price: $399 Info: www.alairex.com. Guitarist Alex Aguilar is a veteran player, former guitar-mag columnist, and today runs an effects company that recently released its first box, the Alairex…

Taylor Classic, Custom, and Standard

Worth the Wait

Taylor SolidBody Classic. For years, Bob Taylor fended off the question, “When are you going to build a solidbody guitar?” Well-known as a builder of top-notch acoustics, for his company,…

FOMOfx Virtual Jeff Pro

Whammy For All

On most guitars, installing a traditional vibrato is a task ranging from difficult to impossible. And even done right, mechanical vibratos impact tuning stability and increase wear on nuts and…

EHX String9

Orchestral Stomp

The EHX String9 String Ensemble lets guitar players create electronic-string sounds, in full polyphony and without requiring a special pickup – just plug in and you’re on your way to…

Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO

Archtop Ruler

In the early 1950s, the grand old luthiers like Epiphone and Gibson couldn’t believe there would ever be a market for solidbody guitars. In contrast to their glorious archtop hollowbodies,…

Teye Apache

Sound, Feel, Mojo

One of three stunning L-series models (along with its brothers, the El Toro and Cleopatra) introduced by guitar builder Teye, the single-cutout/mahogany-body Apache has a maple cap that echoes a…

Electro-Harmonix 16 Second Digital Delay

From Practice to the PA

On several occasions, we’ve chronicled the story of Electro-Harmonix, from its first heyday in the 1970s, through the ’80s, and its resurgence in the ’90s. No doubt about it, company…

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…

Walrus Audio Deep Six and Mayflower; Celestial Effects’ Cancer Wah the Fuzz?

Walrus Audio Deep Six and Mayflower; Celestial Effects’ Cancer Wah the Fuzz?

Trio of Tappers

Stompboxes range from organic, transparent circuits that let a guitar’s natural tone shine through, to effects that intentionally color the signal with gobs of sonic insanity. This trio of pedals…

Martin OM-28 Authentic 1931

Martin OM-28 Authentic 1931

Vintage Revolution

If you’ve ever played a fine vintage guitar, you know how two things jump out at you immediately: 1) they’re often quite light, and 2) they display a big, vibrant…

PRS 25th Anniversary Swamp Ash Special NF

From Jimi to Eric to Angus

PRS 25th Anniversary Swamp Ash Special NF Price: $3,908 (retail)/$2,329 (street) Contact: PRSguitars.com. The PRS 25th Anniversary Swamp Ash Special NF is a guitar that attempts to thread many needles:…

Brown Fretted/less Bass

Catches with the eye, keeps with the feel

The Brown’s Guitar Factory Fretted/less bass leaves an immediate impression. Yes, its Purpleheart body wings are attractive, as are its ebony-veneered maple headstock with abalone/mother-of-pearl, engraved/inked logo, and its graphite-reinforced…

Mayfly Goddess Chorus

Come As You Are

Chorus pedals have been around for decades and for many players are an integral part of their tone. But not all are created equally. Some tone purists swear by the…

Maestro Ranger Overdrive and Invader Distortion

Evil Twins

Maestro’s new all-analog overdrive and distortion pedals are like evil twins – two black-sheep siblings that differ in concept but work great together. Part of Maestro’s new Original Collection –…

Epiphone’s Masterbilt Century Deluxe Classic

The New Vintage

Most vintage aficionados admire the grand old acoustic archtops of the 1920s and ’30s, but admire them from afar. They’re beautifully built and boast lovely tone, but they have limitations…

Burns Steer Cutaway

The Burns Steer Cutaway

The story of the Burns Steer Cutaway begins in 1925 with the birth of the “British Leo Fender,” James Ormston Burns. An avid guitar player beginning in his early teens,…

76 Watts the Hard Way

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…

Supro Amulet 1×10

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…

Acoustik Attak Picks

Each of Acoustik Attak’s three guitar picks has a different raised formation that alters the way it interacts with strings; the intent is to provide enhanced upper-midrange and distinct snap.…

Marshall Triple Super Lead

Marshall's Triple Super Lead

Marshall’s new JCM2000 Series was introduced last year and has been well-received by Marshall fans and amp aficionados in general. The 2000 Series started with the two-channel Dual Super Lead…

Mayfly Goddess Chorus

Come As You Are

Chorus pedals have been around for decades and for many players are an integral part of their tone. But not all are created equally. Some tone purists swear by the…

Effectrode’s Fire Bottle Magnetic Pickup Booster

Effectrode Fire Bottle Magnetic Pickup Booster

The Box That Went to Harvard

The Effectrode Fire Bottle is a pedal that deviates from the norm and offers something fresh. Unlike a chorus, distortion, or phaser that delivers a definite “effect,” the Fire Bottle…

Lipe Guitars Maestro

Lipe Guitars Maestro

Whole Lotta Mahogany

Lipe Maestro Price: $4,900 Contact: lipeguitars.com; phone (818) 352-6212 Mike Lipe has a wall of gold records. Why? Not because he’s a musical star, but because he’s a star to…

Supro Huntington

Looking supremely ’60s-like with its gorgeous, vintage-y cherry-red finish, petite body, and fancy-topped pickups, the Supro Huntington is inviting as all get-out. A short-scale axe, it combines a classic shape…

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…

Strymon Cloudburst

Celestial Seasonings

Equipped with powerful delay, modulation, and pitch-shifting abilities, Strymon’s new Cloudburst stretches its “Ambient Reverb” label by adding space and depth to the conventional effect. Beyond that, its orchestral pad…

Fargen Pete Anderson Tumbleweed

Fargen Pete Anderson Tumbleweed

Box Full Of Country

Fargen Pete Anderson Tumbleweed Price: $299 (list) Info: www.fargenamps.com. Pete Anderson is a touring roots and country guitarist probably best known for his work with Dwight Yoakam during the latter’s…