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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
Crucial Audio Echo-Nugget
Things Just Got Serious
Crucial Audio Echo-Nugget Price:$799 (list) Contact: www.crucialaudio.com It’s hard not to be impressed by the physical presence of the Crucial Audio Echo-Nugget. Unlike typical small-footprint stompboxes, the Echo-Nugget is a…
Orangewood Guitars’ Echo 12 Live
Fresh-Squeezed Jangle
Twelve-string sales ebb and flow in part with the popularity of a song featuring one. Orangewood Guitars aims to change such fickle trends with an affordable 12 that plays and…
Vox’s AC30CH and V212C Cabinet
Get Back
The Beatles helped popularize Vox amps, and Sir Paul tours with them today because they still have that sound – classic chime and overdriven grind. Introduced in ’59, Vox’s AC30…
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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
GluBoost MasterGlu, Fill N’ Finish, MasterTint, and Gludry Accelerator
Stick-To-It-Iveness
There exists a subculture of guitarists who build, customize, or resurrect their own instruments, or help friends with theirs. GluBoost’s line of glues, dry accelerators, and wood finishing products allows…
Steinberger ZT3 Custom
Ned Lives On
The year is 1979. The disco era is nearing its end and the “Me Generation” is approaching like a freight train. With the impending new decade full of fresh ideas…
Universal Audio Max and Del-Verb
Smart Stomps
After rolling out several “amp-in-a-box” pedals last year, Universal Audio is back with a fresh line of stompboxes to help guitarists groove. The Max Preamp/Dual Compressor gives models of famous…
Fender Vaporizer Amp
Retro on 11
Fender’s Vaporizer Amp Price: $399.99 (street) Info: www.fender.com Given the popularity of smartphones, tablets, digital recorders, and amp modeling in today’s music industry, when it comes to guitar amps, what…
Guild Surfliner
Hang Ten
The Surfliner is Guild’s first new solidbody to come along in decades. A thoroughly modern design with classic features, there’s no mistaking the influence in this offset guitar. Named after…
Seymour Duncan SFX-07 Shape Shifter
Vintage Trem Sounds & Beyond
Seymour Duncan’s reputation when it comes to pickups (from dead-on vintage replicas to his own designs) has been well established for decades. And anyone who’s had the pleasure of hearing…
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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
Newman Guitars’ Honeycomb Chambered Jr.
Way Cool Version
Following Ted Newman Jones’ passing in 2016, protégé Jeff Smith took over Newman Guitars and is furthering the vision, using the same offset body as Jones’ original guitars but employing…
Amptweaker’s TightDrive Jr
Big Surprise, Small Package
You may remember James Brown as the mastermind at Peavey Electronics and Kustom Amplification. In addition to being the brains behind Peavey’s 5150, Classic Series, and JSX, Brown is an…
ToneWorks AX1500G
New Tool from ToneWorks
Ahhh, there are never enough toys for us guitarists, are there? Just when we think our rigs are complete, along comes some cool box to turn our heads and make…
Rob Allen Mouse 30
30
Many bass players love that cool, jazzy upright bass tone, but don’t want to drag around a big, bulky upright or deal with having to mic it or mess around…
Paul Hartmann Stormy Monday
Travel Tunes
The typical “travel guitar” is a small, budget-minded instrument that offers varying levels of construction and quality, often forcing compromise in playability and usefulness. Luthier Paul Hartmann takes a different…
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…
Universal Audio’s OX Amp Top Box
The Tube Abides
Since the mid ’60s, electrical engineers have been trying to drive a stake into the heart of the vacuum tube, first with transistors, then with zeros and ones. Yet the…
Area 51 Fuzzwah
Two Great Tastes
Fuzz wahs are nothing new, of course. Released under scores of badge-engineered monikers, they’ve promised aural overload ranging from sirens to tornadoes. Problem is, most have sounded like novelty toys…
Ibanez RGA8
In the Deep End
Ibanez RGA-8 Price: $1,102.21 (approx. $800 street). Info: ibanez.com In the annals of cool, weird, and unusual guitars, they’re nothing like an eight-string axe. It’s a strange beastie, sporting a…
Buzz Feiten Blues Pro
Cantankerous Tones
Buzz Feiten Blues Pro Price: $2,395 (list) Contact: www.buzzfeitenguitars.com Buzz Feiten is a Woodstock alumnus who has played with a who’s who of music artists and lent his guitar artistry…
Metal Pedals’ Raw Hide, Hard Core XXX
Saddle Up!
Metal Pedals’ Raw Hide, Hard Core XXX Price: $175 (Raw Hide); $230 (Hard Core XXX) Info: www.metalpedals.com. For many discerning players, Dave Pantaleone at Metal Pedals is a well-known stompbox…
Harley Benton Double Vision
Mod Duo
In this era of combination pedals, it makes sense to house similar effects together, as in the Harley Benton Double Vision. A dual-modulation box, it offers chorus and tremolo in…
Harden Muddy Waters
Mojo Working
Harden Engineering is a small Chicago shop that specializes in hand-made instruments in a variety of shapes and sizes and aims to bring a custom approach at affordable prices. Its…
BluGuitar Amp1
Tiny Tube Terror
The trend toward the miniaturization of guitar gear shows no signs of slowing. Thanks to modern technology, guitarists are fitting more and more sorcery in their bags of tricks. BluGuitar’s…
TWA GD-02 Great Divide Analog Synth Octaver
Mono Monster
TWA GD-02 Great Divide Analog Synth Octaver Price: $399 Info: www.godlyke.com . Despite its cumbersome name and the fact it looks like it might require an MIT degree to use,…
EHX Slammi Plus, Hot Wax
Grease Fire
EHX’s Slammi Plus and Hot Wax pedals are not for the faint of heart. Housed in heavy-duty plastic, the Whammy-shaped Slammi Plus may look like a wah, but it has…
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…
Heritage Guitars’ H-157W
Turnkey Head-Turner
In 1985, Heritage Guitars took over a certain factory space at 225 Parsons Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan, after the former owners decided to move production to Nashville. Since then, Heritage…
Budda’s Chakra and ZenMan Pedals
Zen and the Art of Tone Maintenance
Budda’s Chakra and ZenMan Pedals Price: $149.99 Contact: www.budda.com Best known in guitar circles as an admired amp builder, Budda has released a pile of new stompboxes that cover all…
Dean Zelinsky Tagliare Z-Glide Custom
Future Tense
Every so often, a builder gives the art of guitar design a firm shove into the future. The Dean Zelinsky Tagliare Z-Glide Custom certainly fits into that category. On the…
Saga Gitane DG-250M
One Loud Blond
Saga Gitane DG-250M Price: $949 Info: www.sagamusic.com Features: Open-gear 14:1-ratio tuners, solid spruce top with “petite bouche” oval soundhole, birdseye maple back and sides, ebony fingerboard, maple neck, zero fret,…
