The Column.

Gretsch CVT Baritone

Our verdict on the review: Too early

Guitar World gave the baritone four and a half stars and a cons box about finish options. Two rival mastheads gave it the same score and both flagged the clean tones. No owner has weighed in yet, so the press is arguing with itself.

Positive Grid Reactor 50 Review

Our verdict on the review: Too early

MusicRadar filed the AI under cons and scored it 3.5. Three days later Guitar.com filed the same feature under pros and scored it 8/10.

DOD Badder Monkey

Our verdict on the review: Split

MusicRadar called the $149 pedal a viable Klon substitute. The forum filed one objection and retracted it two posts later. The one that survived, a missing mixer out, appears in neither magazine.

Eastman FullerTone Offset '62 Review

Our verdict on the review: Too early

Both gave it 4.5 out of 5. MusicRadar counted a master volume and two tones. Premier Guitar described zeroing either of the volume controls. Same $999 guitar.

Gibson L-00 Century 12-Fret Review

Our verdict on the review: Too early

MusicRadar opened with "this is not a loud guitar." Premier Guitar, nine weeks later, had it snarling and popping under a flatpick. Same $2,299 guitar, same twelve frets.

Strymon Fairfax Review

Our verdict on the review: Split

In the field where a magazine prints the reason you might not buy something, Premier Guitar printed a punchline. Two rival outlets used theirs to name a missing knob.

Blackstar AirWire i58 Range

Our verdict on the review: Press was right

MusicRadar's cons list said the casing feels brittle compared to the competition. An owner on his third set found out exactly how brittle, off a low bookshelf.

Blackstar Beam Mini

Our verdict on the review: Fluffed

MusicRadar gave it five stars out of five and listed one drawback: you need the app. Owners rate it 4.2 and keep naming things that are not the app.

Fender 75th Ultra II Telecaster

Our verdict on the review: Too early

Premier Guitar gave it 4.9 and noted, in the same review, that Fender already lists it as sold out. Nobody reading it could buy one, and nobody who owns one has written about it.

EarthQuaker ZEQD-Pre

Our verdict on the review: Press was right

Premier Guitar scored the Dr. Z collab 4.5 and buried its one scope warning in a subordinate clause. A customer made it an exclamation. A rival masthead made it a cons bullet.

Mesa Mark VII Silent Recording

Our verdict on the review: Press was right

Guitar Player filed silent recording among the Mark VII's pros. The instruction attached: unplug the speaker, and make sure it is fully unplugged. The headphone jack does not do it for you.

Gretsch G2420T Streamliner Review vs. the Owners Who Rewire It

Our verdict on the review: Too early

Guitar Player's only complaints were a missing gig bag and sharp nut corners. The model's owner history, one generation back, is a running log of pot and pickup swaps.

Boss XS-1 Poly Shifter

Our verdict on the review: Split

Premier Guitar scored the pitch shifter 4.2 and the only complaint was missing a treadle. Owners found a different one the review never ran into.

TWA Source Code Review

Our verdict on the review: Press was right

Guitar World says the man who invented the Tube Screamer just beat his own pedal. Owners paying $299 to find out are not arguing.

PRS Archon Classic

Our verdict on the review: Press was right

Premier Guitar gave the revoiced Archon a 4.8 and exactly one con. The forum called it thin off a YouTube clip, then the buyers sided with the magazine.

Strymon BigSky MX at $679

Our verdict on the review: Press was right

Guitar Player's cons box for the $679 pedal reads: nothing, but the price may deter some users. Sixteen owner ratings later, the tag is still the only thing anybody is angry about.

Guitar World said Ibanez broke the rules of conventional guitar design. Some buyers got a guitar with a loose tone knob instead.

Hotone NC-200 Verbera

Our verdict on the review: Split

MusicRadar gave it five out of five. Its own body text says the sounds are impressive when you get the settings just right, a condition that never reached the cons box.

Gretsch CVT Double-Cut

Our verdict on the review: Press was right

MusicRadar called it budget firepower for garage and punk. One forum poster called the specs horrible, and an owner called it an SG killer.

Revv Dirtdog Review

Our verdict on the review: Press was right

Premier Guitar scored it 4.6 and heard a very old, small amp at the edge of breakup. The one owner review on record reaches for the same amp, unprompted, at five stars.

Supro Airwave

Our verdict on the review: Split

Guitar Player praised the serious 21st-century tech inside a simple tube combo. Its own connectivity line lists no effects loop, and the cons box never mentions one.

EHX Bass Big Muff Pi 2

Our verdict on the review: Press was right

Premier Guitar scored the bass fuzz 4.6 and spent its entire cons box on a joke. That leaves a review with no stated fault at all.

EarthQuaker Towers Review

Our verdict on the review: Press was right

Premier Guitar gave the Towers 4.5 and wrote a cons box that blames the buyer for not knowing synthesizers. Its own verdict says do not take this pedal to a wedding.

Dunlop BB535 Reissue

Our verdict on the review: Split

MusicRadar gave the reissue four and a half stars without saying which Cry Baby came back. Rig-Talk recognised it on sight: the 1999 wah they bought for $125, returning at $229.

Fender Vintera Road Worn 51 Telecaster

Our verdict on the review: Fluffed

MusicRadar logged one drawback against the $1,899 Telecaster: some might find the neck a handful. Its own range box, two panels down, prints a £979 alternative.

Strandberg Boden Standard N2

Our verdict on the review: Too early

Guitar World gave it five stars. The forum is still debating whether the neck is a feature or a bug.

Fender Blues Junior IV

Our verdict on the review: Split

The press called the spring reverb "just delightful." The forum had questions.