While we played more great gear than anyone really has a right to ask for, some of the things
we reviewed were just so “over the top,” “beyond the beyond,” or “off the hook” in their
craftsmanship, attention to detail as well as their artfulness, we just can’t describe them without prepositional phrases like these. Suffice to say, these items will elicit double-takes when
taken onstage. For the gear whose tone and build quality was matched only by its inspiring
artistry, here is our Premier Gear Artisan Award.
ARTISAN
Brown’s Guitar Factory BGF Guitar
The first guitar from a bass maker could’ve won the Branching Out award, but
the exquisite shimmer of the koa top and headstock faceplate placed the guitar
solidly in the artisan category. The BGF features a shape that will stand out on
stage, and a pickup configuration that allows for endless tones from humbucker
to single coil to piezo and onboard ghost preamp and any endless combinations
of those. Reviewer Brett Petrusek said [April ‘08], “Brown’s BGF Chambered
Guitar provides a great range of tones to pull the player through the most
demanding of musical situations, and the craftsmanship is topnotch.”
Xits Piper X30
Often, spicing up an amp consists of a new color of tolex. This is not the
case with Xits. The Piper X30 combines stunning woven vinyl and exotic
hardwoods for a beauty of an amp. The artistry extends to less visible
places—ebony on the backplate, finished wood inside—and to the craf-ing of the amp’s AC30-inspired tone. Thick, loud and articulate, both
channels are stunners.
“…a handmade amp of unsurpassed qual-
ity, exceptional good looks, and astounding
tone.” – October ’08, online
