The Dean Markley UltraSound CD60 reissue is a dual-channel combo guitar amp with headroom to spare.

FOR: Guitarists playing everything from rhythm guitar in a blues band to Queen covers with treble-heavy distorted leads. This is an all-tube tone machine. After years of turning knobs and hearing a broad shelving of low, middle or high frequencies, the CD60’s EQ—tuned to a guitar’s tonal sweet spots—turns on a dime. Bright and Mid-Boost switches also come in handy when crafting a tone, as does the presence control, which appears after the overdrive in the signal chain for control over the ultra-high artifacts of distortion.

NOT FOR: Players who prefer a solid-state distortion.

–Dave Jones