-
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
Overture JS-Session
Do-It-All Guitar?
Overture JS-Session Price: $ 1,499. Info: overtureguitars.com When designing a new guitar, builders often face a quandary. Some go to extremes to be original, while others tend to “re-create” the…
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…
Jerry Jones Master Electric Sitar
High-quality build, authentic groove
If you’ve always wanted to learn the sitar, but could never quite scrape up the cash to fly to India and study with the Maharishi for several years, then you’ll…
-
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
-
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
-
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
Sweet Sustain
Guitar Tech Craig’s Dino Sauce Compressor
Imagine a Strat tuned to open G, a D chord being floated at the seventh fret with a Craftsman deep-well socket. What is that ethereal sweetness and sustain under Lowell…
Fender ’57 Twin Amp and ’57 Deluxe
Tweed for Two
Fender “tweed” guitar amplifiers – the Twin, Deluxe, Bassman, Champ, etc., from the 1950s – are the most sought after amps in the annals of guitardom. Whether it is Leo’s…
Parker Guitars P8E and P8E
Fresh designs from radical axe maker
A Parker acoustic? And a cyber-age single-cutaway? Yes, folks, it’s the 21st century, and the Parker guitar company is responding with new designs for a new era. Of the two,…
Carvin CT6M California Carved Top
Carvin CT6M In a way, it’s like those clothing catalogs that fill your mailbox (especially this time of year). It’s regular, it’s reliable. But instead of sweaters and shoes, the…
ToadWorks Lil’ Leo and John Bull
OD, Spiced to Your Liking
Washington-based ToadWorks USA was founded by Ryan Dunn and Doug Harrison in 2001. They recently asked if we’d be hip to checking out their Lil’ Leo and John Bull units.…
DryBell Unit67
Balkan Boost
DryBell Musical Electronic Laboratory has been kicking out great pedals for a few year, with clients like Mike Landau, John Mayer, Steve Stevens, and Joe Perry, to name a few.…
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
Mesa Boogie California Tweed 6V6 2:20 1×10 Combo
Ankle Biter
Classic Fender tweed amps are known for fat, warm clean tones, but even more for their raunch when cranked. Mesa Boogie’s California Tweed amps are firmly rooted in those ’50s…
Boss’ SD-1-4A Super Overdrive
Black Magic
Boss’ SD-1 has 40 candles on its cake and the company is celebrating with the SD-1-4A, a new Super Overdrive has a swank finish plus those three knobs you’ve come…
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…
Jammy Instruments’ Jammy G
Digital Six
Digital, MIDI, and synth guitars have been around for decades. One newer entry in the field is the Jammy G, a digital guitar connected to an app that accesses its…
Brimstone Audio Crossover Distortion XD-1
Bi-Amping in a Box
Brimstone Audio Crossover Distortion XD-1 Price: $299.95 Info: www.Brimstoneaudio.com. Brimstone Audio is a relatively new company that hit the ground running, entering the stomp-box arena with some innovative ideas that…
Knaggs Chena Old Violin
Righteous Axe
With notable string-bending monsters like Larry Mitchell, Eric Steckel, and Steve Stevens singing the praises of Knaggs Guitars, Peter Wolf and Joe Knaggs are obviously doing something incredibly right. Beyond…
Fender Songwriter
The Songwriter: Ill-fated Mini-Fender
Just when you think you’ve seen or heard of everything Fender ever did, along comes another tidbit about a guitar that was prototyped but never produced. In 1969 and ’70…
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…
The Pigtronix Envelope Phaser 2
Sophisti-Phaser
Pigtronix Envelope Phaser II Price: $249 (street). Contact: Phone (631) 331-7447; Pigtronix.com. Pigtronix effects are known not only for their tones, but their sophistication. So it’s no surpise that the…
Carl Martin Contour & Boost
Pedals For All Occasions!
The Carl Martin Contour & Boost is a hybrid EQ pedal with two filters, a high pass, and a low pass crossed over at 440 hz. The company says it…
Retroman effects
Five Boxes of Fun
Retroman proprietor Joe Wolf is a dedicated one-man-shop that designs, builds, and finishes effects pedals all by hisself. Wolf, a guitarist and electronics engineer, began building pedals for his own…
Widman Set Neck
An Eye For Detail
Widman Set Neck Price: $3,900 Info: widmancustomelectrics.com. John Widman is a custom guitar builder whose artistic leanings began while he worked as a graphic designer and photographer. After building bolt-neck…
B&G Guitars’ Caletta Standard Build
Small But Mighty
B&G Guitars are made in Tel Aviv by a talented shop that translates the best traits of traditional guitars into high-quality instruments for today’s player. With the Caletta, their aim…
Hull Amplifiers’ Model H5
Pretty, Stunning
Hull Amplifiers’ Model H5 Price: $3,199 (list) Contact: www.hullamps.blogspot.com A beat-up ol’ blackface amp can be a thing of beauty, like an old muscle car showing its miles in patches…
MXR Slash Octave Fuzz SF01/Slash Cry Baby Classic SC-95
Slash ’N Burn
MXR SF01 Slash Octave Fuzz Price: $129 (street) Contact: www.jimdunlop.com Slash Cry Baby Classic SC95 Wah Price: $129 (street) Contact: www.jimdunlop.com MXR’s new Slash Octave Fuzz pedal employs three fuzz…
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…
Genzler Acoustic Array Pro
Pro on the Go
As gigs at coffeehouses, street festivals, and farmers’ markets become more common, a growing legion of performers is being supported by an increasing array of portable acoustic/electric gear. The Acoustic…
Reverend’s Rick Vito Signature Soul Shaker
Built For Speed
Blues-/roots-rocker Rick Vito knows what he wants from a guitar, and the Reverend Soul Shaker is proof. An art deco-inspired design, it sports Rick’s specs for rockin’ blues, slide, and…
Jodi Head Guitar Straps
Stand out in a crowd
For over 15 years, artist and designer Jodi Head has been producing high-quality hand- beaded products, including guitar straps, and her client list reads like the guest list to the…
Rivet ’63/’64 Pickup Set
Pole Position
Rivet Pickups founder David Petschulat made the first locking vibrato with fine tuners for the EVH company, and worked stints at Kahler and Gibson. With Rivet, Petschulat has developed a…
D’Angelico Excel SS
Classic Versatility
The modern D’Angelico company specializes in hip semi-hollow guitars with a nod toward their namesake, legendary luthier John D’Angelico. Case in point is the updated version of its Excel SS,…
