Music is the universal language
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Gibson president and CEO Cesar Gueikian steps down
Cesar Gueikian has stepped back from his role as the CEO and president of Gibson, after three years in the position.
In a press statement announcing the change, Gibson revealed that Gueikian will remain “actively involved” at the company, as a strategic advisor to Gibson’s board and an artist ambassador. He will be replaced by interim CEO/president by Anne Rohosy, formerly Gibson’s Chief Commercial Officer, while the company searches for a permanent successor.
Gueikian stepped up to the roles of CEO and president in the summer of 2023, after serving as interim president following the departure of JC Curleigh. Over his tenure, he oversaw a refocusing of the brand on guitars – shortly after he stepped up, he stated that previous leadership had been “losing focus of what makes Gibson Gibson — which is making the best guitars ever made.” Under his leadership the company changed names from Gibson Brands Inc back to just Gibson, something he said reflected this refocusing.
In a statement, Gueikian said: “Gibson is part of my DNA. It has been the honor of my life to help lead Gibson and to work alongside the people who bring this Company to life every day. Gibson is something special – to musicians, to fans, to everyone who has ever picked up a guitar and felt that connection. I am incredibly proud of what we have built together: our team, our culture, our artists, and our global community of artists and fans. I hope to have left a legacy that will be remembered in Gibson’s history as a progressive era. I have enormous confidence in Anne and in the future of this Company, and I look forward to my next chapter as a shareholder, board member, and artist ambassador. Gibson’s best years are still ahead, and I’m excited to be part of what this Company will go on to achieve.”
His interim successor, Anne Rohosy, has been at Gibson since 2021, and in the role of chief commercial officer since 2025. “Gibson means so much to musicians and music lovers around the world, and I am honored to step into this role at such an important moment for the Company,” she added in a statement. “I have spent my time here focused on how we connect with our customers and grow the Gibson name – and that focus does not change. I look forward to working closely with Cesar, the Board, and our leadership team to ensure continuity and build on the strong foundation already in place.”
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Mick Jagger’s advice to Joe Satriani: “Don’t get hung up on playing all these notes… Person number 91,000 up there cannot hear it”
Mick Jagger once gave some crucial advice to Joe Satriani when it comes to playing at large venues: less shred, more crowd interaction.
Satch, who is currently on tour with The Best Of All Worlds band, feels there are two different components to playing guitar live: the act of being a musician, and the act of being a performer. After playing with The Rolling Stones frontman in 1988 for his solo show at the Tokyo Dome, Satch learned a valuable lesson on why showing off your technical ability can sometimes be less impressive than a simple wave to the audience.
Speaking to Thinking About Guitar, he says (via Ultimate Guitar): “[Mick Jagger] said, ‘When you play places like this, it’s a lot more about this [mimics waving at audience] than it is about this [mimics shredding on guitar].’
“That was his simple way of saying, ‘Don’t get hung up on just playing all these notes, because the number 91,000 up there, they cannot hear it, they cannot see it. But if you do this [wave] and hold one note, you just made their year, because they’re going, ‘He just waved to me when he hit that unbelievable note!’ It gives you perspective about what your job is as a musician and a performer.”
Despite Satriani having a reputation for being a shreddy virtuoso, when it comes to live environments, it seems he also feels far more shy than his typical playing style might convey.
In an interview with D’Addario last year, he said: “I think the history of performing live has been a recurring subject nightmare for me, because I’m not really a kind of a people person. I don’t seek out to be in a crowd and be in front of an audience, but I love music and I want to share it. So there’s the typical artist conflict right there.”
Find out where to catch Joe Satriani on tour with The Best Of All Worlds band via his official website.
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Kemper Profiler Mk II review: “the most accurate amp profiling I’ve ever experienced”
$1,549/£1,349, kemper-amps.com
If you want to come to play in the world of high-end amp and effects processing here in 2026, you’ve pretty much got to have some sort of amp profiling technology in there. So normalised has the capturing process become that it’s easy to forget that it’s only been 15 years since Kemper invented the whole thing, and revolutionised the world of digital guitar technology in the process.
The original Kemper Profiler was such a game-changer, within a decade bands both big and small were regularly eschewing the hassle of real amps and cabs in favour of the distinctive green lunchboxes. It’s been bad news for amp makers, and even worse news for chiropractors.
Over the decade and a half of its life, Kemper has been gradually improving its technology to the point where unerringly accurate profiled guitar sounds are no longer something to be marvelled at. However, in the last five years the brand has started to show its age as new contenders have entered the arena.
Chief of these has been Neural DSP and its various Cortex units – not only did Neural’s capturing tech give Kemper a run for its money in terms of sonic fidelity, but it all came wrapped up in a sleek, high-tech unit with intuitive touchscreen GUI, wifi-enabled tone sharing and downloading, and a thriving online community of sound-sharers.
Truth be told, the Quad Cortex made the Kemper feel like a Nokia 3310 in the age of the iPhone. In the years since other brands like Line 6, IK Multimedia and Headrush have brought out their own capture technology, wrapped up in similarly slick presentations. We’ve been waiting for a response from Kemper, and here it is; the Profiler Mk II.
Image: Adam Gasson
Kemper Profiler Mk II – what is it?
From a visual standpoint, you’d be forgiven for asking if anything has changed really – those hoping that Kemper would follow the trend and develop an amp with a full-colour touchscreen and all the modern bells and whistles are going to be disappointed.
Because aside from spraying the control panel black instead of the light grey of previous Kempers, well… it’s pretty much identical. Ok, it’s a little sleeker, the chassis itself is a little lighter, but other than that, it looks like a Profiler.
The most significant upgrade is under the hood with the processing engine. Something which Kemper claims provides faster performance and quicker boot times. Processor power is a big deal in the digital world as, among other things, it determines how many effects can be run simultaneously, and just how complex your signal routing can be.
The Mk II has seriously upped things in this regard, meaning that you can now run a whopping 20 different effects simultaneously – all of which run with zero added signal latency. The recording time of the onboard looper has also doubled to two minutes.
The increased power also helps deliver the new profiling software: Profiling 2.0. This next evolution of Kemper profiling promises to capture an amplifier’s “unique behaviour” with exceptional precision, moving far beyond traditional “amp snapshot” territory, resulting in, so Kemper claims, “the most organic and authentic amp tone possible, preserving every nuance of your amp’s sonic character”.
This is achieved by analysing 100,000 individual frequency points and additionally determining the actual amp gain, which is then applied to the Kemper’s gain control knob. You can also select a “Target Amp Model” in the profiling menu that mimics the target amp’s EQ and gain knobs, enabling you to treat the profile like the actual amp (provided your amp has been listed in the menu).
The routing options remain extensive, with balanced and unbalanced inputs, two balanced outputs, two balanced monitor outs, two line outs, an effects loop, SPDIF input/outputs, and headphone out jack. USB audio capabilities have been enhanced by doubling the number of audio channels when using as an audio interface (for eight channels in total).
Image: Adam Gasson
Kemper Profiler Mk II – usability and build quality
Back when the Kemper was introduced, the front panel presented a twisted familiarity in that it was a broad representation of a guitarist’s physical rig. Very little has changed on the second iteration – the top layer of buttons corresponds to the signal flow of a physical guitar rig: your input, followed by four effects slots (for pre-amplifier effects such as overdrives, wah), amp and cabinet buttons, and four post-amp effects, including modulation, delay and reverb.
There are then 14 other rotary controls, including a noise gate, master volume, dedicated knobs for delay settings, and four directly below the screen, which have a multitude of functions, including the bass, mid, treble and presence controls.
The chickenhead control selects the unit’s operational mode. ‘Browser’ allows you to browse all the ‘rigs’ stored on the unit; ‘Profiling’ takes you to the profiling menu; and ‘Perform’ mode allows you to store five different rigs in a performance slot (comprising of five slots), which can be navigated using an external footswitch for live use.
Kemper promises the upgraded horsepower would lead to a smoother experience, and booting up certainly bears this out – it takes less than a minute to power on from cold, which is substantially quicker than its predecessor.
In ‘Browser’ mode, you can navigate through the various rigs stored on the profiler, though it’s far more intuitive to hook it up to a laptop and use Kemper’s software editor, Rig Manager, which allows access to ‘Rig Exchange’ – the online library of rigs uploaded by Kemper users. A smartphone app is also available, should you prefer.
Kemper’s rack-based Profiler has become a feature on some truly massive stages, and it’s borne out in the general build of the Mk II – it’s rock solid, dependable and rugged.
Image: Adam Gasson
Kemper Profiler Mk II – sounds and in use
Existing users of the Profiler will have become familiar with the huge library of user-created profiles to download and audition yourself. As Profiling 2.0 is only available on the Mk II, the library of 2.0 profiles available is significantly smaller – you can still use the original ‘Classic Profiling’ sounds on the Mk II, of course, but that’s rather defeating the purpose of the upgrade.
Despite the understandably smaller library we’re working with here, the Kemper comes preloaded with a bunch of Profiling 2.0 sounds, including ones created by the likes of established names Michael Britt and Tone Junkies.
The Britt Marshall JMP amp profiles are quite sensational. They are so organically accurate and inspiring that you are completely unaware that you aren’t playing through a mic’d up amplifier. The array of studio-quality effects onboard helps elevate the sound even further, and using a spring reverb in conjunction with a Deluxe Reverb profile sounds as stunning as the amp itself.
The array of onboard effects is extensive and covers every conceivable base, from Tube Screamers to tape delay and everything in between – they’re not noticeably any better than those on the Mk I, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with them in the first place.
The proof of the Profiler is in the profiling, however, and so the best way to truly assess whether this is a step forward is to start profiling my own amps.
Image: Adam Gasson
Before I get into all that, though, I want to talk about ground loops: audible, low-frequency buzzing or hum. Ground loop happens when two or more pieces of connected gear (e.g. your modeller and a tube amp or computer) have multiple paths to the electrical earth, causing competing currents to leak into your signal path.
To help mitigate this, many manufacturers provide a ground lift, which is supposed to disconnect the audio signal ground from the electrical safety earth/chassis ground in your connecting cable.
Both the Kemper and the Quad Cortex have ground lift buttons which are designed to help eliminate the dreaded ground loop. However, the ground lift on my Quad Cortex does not provide any noise relief. Indeed, the noise is quite unbearable when profiling any amp with a substantial amount of gain.
Miraculously, though – and for reasons I can’t explain – this noise has no effect on the quality of the profile! The downside is that you need to audition the tone you wish to profile before connecting to the unit. Alternatively, it is often recommended to put a hum-cancelling device on the chain, but such a device also has a significant effect on the accuracy of the profile.
This same unbearable noise appears the moment we connect the Kemper to the amplifier, but when we engage the ground lift, the noise completely disappears! That’s a huge plus in the Kemper’s favour.
The first amp I profile is my Mesa/Boogie Mark IV through a Marshall 1960a cabinet. I dial in a moderately high-gain heavy rhythm tone on its lead channel. In front, I have a Royer 121 ribbon mic powered by a Warm Audio preamp, which is fed into an input at the rear of the Kemper. You can of course just plug a mic into the back of the Kemper and use the onboard preamp. I also record some guitar into my DAW, which I will later use for comparison purposes.
Selecting ‘Profile’ brings up the profiling menu in Rig Manager. I select ‘Distorted guitar’ profile and look to see if my amp is in the ‘Amp Matching Section’, but it unfortunately isn’t.
Image: Adam Gasson
In just under 70 seconds the profiling is complete. On first audition, the sound is instantly recognisable and reacts to my playing exactly as the amp does. Had this taken place 15 years ago this paragraph would be littered with exclamation marks but profiling an amp is not the wonder it once was, indicating just how spoiled we have become! I take the opportunity to profile the exact same amp settings using the Quad Cortex (itself already on its second generation of profiling software) for comparison. Surprisingly, the profiling takes nearly seven minutes on the Quad.
I record some guitar into my DAW from both units to compare with the original recording from the Royer. Both profiles are close to the point of being almost indistinguishable, although there is a tad more compression on the Quad profile. In comparison, the Kemper profile is a little more open-sounding, with slightly more detail in the top end. Much the same as the Royer recording.
In fact, the Kemper sounds better than the original. That’s right, better. There are numerous hisses and groans when recording a mic’d amp, but these are all eradicated when profiling.
I also mic up my Morgan AC20 and begin profiling. This is such a simple amp, but one where its charm lies in the dynamic response to your individual playing. The profile created and paired with a plate reverb is sumptuous, and digging in yields a similar response to the actual amp, as does rolling off the volume a little. Profiling 2.0 is the most accurate profiling I’ve experienced and I’m looking forward to profiling every amp in my little collection.
Kemper Profiler Mk II – should I buy one?
The quality of the sounds then makes this seem like an absolute home run – but the elephant in the room here is that user interface. While many existing users are happy enough to have a new product to use that feels instantly familiar and intuitive to them, there’s an argument to be made that Kemper is pandering too much to that user base at the expense of making it more widely appealing.
Even if you wanted to keep things broadly familiar, you could do that while also updating the user experience to offer a more intuitive ride that’s more in line with the rest of the market. For this product to ship in 2026 with the same 1980s calculator LCD screen as its predecessor feels pretty poor, frankly.
That being said, it’s not dramatically harder to use than its flasher rivals, and if you want to have a more intuitive graphical experience, the phone/laptop editor offers that. It’s still a big swing to bet that users will be happy to roll with the current set-up on a $1,500 modeller.
At the time of writing there aren’t huge numbers of 2.0 profiles available, but the library of third-party profiles is growing, and this is a very exciting prospect indeed because the newer profiles really are exceptionally detailed. Given Kemper provides regular updates to their firmware, with its increased processing power there is no limit to what can be made available in the future.
But the main selling point here is the sound – it’s a clear advantage. Profiling 2.0 is the most accurate profiling software I’ve ever experienced, and the new feature that mimics the amp gain and EQ structure, first introduced with liquid profiling in 2023, means that Kemper has upped its game by offering modelling capabilities. For now, the German company has recaptured its position as king of the profilers – whether that’s enough in 2026 is open to debate.
Kemper Profiler Mk II – alternatives
The cock of the proverbial walk here is the Neural DSP Quad Cortex ($1,799 / £1,549) – it can profile amps and dirt pedals with incredible accuracy, while the overall user experience feels streets ahead of what the Kemper offers. If you really want one thing to do everything, Line 6’s Helix Stadium XL ($2,199 / £1,980) is a bewilderingly comprehensive piece of kit – a multi-FX digital amp modeller, studio-quality audio-interface, modeller, DAW, with the facility to connect to stage lighting and live mixers. It’s also recently added profiling capabilities to its bow, and they’re rather good indeed. IK Multimedia’s TONEX One ($/£199) offers a slightly less slick route to tone capture than either Kemper or Neural, but it’s very good and impressively cheap.
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Walnut Handle for a Fretsaw
The saws aren't sharp upon arrival and I have to give the teeth more set so they will cut proper sized kerf required for the fretwire I use. And the saw blade is backwards, the teeth cut on the pull stroke, but they are not filed and shaped like a Japanese saw. I was always told by old time carpenters that that fancy bit of folded brass on the saw's back is supposed to help keep the saw cutting straight, and they said there was no need for a Westerner to cut on the pull stroke.
Keith Richards is fed up with technology: “AI is killing me… Do I fear for the future of music? I fear for the future of everything”
Keith Richards is sick of modern technology, and has no desire to get on board with the progression of AI and those “damn phones”.
While other members of The Rolling Stones – he names Mick Jagger as an example – are much more open to moving with the times, Richards tells The Guardian in a new interview that he likes to stick to his old ways and that his daily use of modern tech extends to “an electric kettle” and not much further.
- READ MORE: Mick jagger says he “absolutely would love to tour” Rolling Stones’ new album Foreign Tongues
Richards says he’s “had it up to here with technology” and celebrity culture, noting that his grandchildren “are not quite as imbecilic”: “If it wasn’t for a cassette, there wouldn’t have been a Satisfaction, because I got the riff in my sleep, hit record and then the next day played it back and it was Satisfaction in a very raw form,” he explains.
“I stick to the old ways, as my dad would have said. I’ve seen records go from being made on two-track tapes stuck to the wall, to suddenly eight tracks, then 16, 24, then digital and it hasn’t really helped the music at all. But it’s something you live with.
“I mean, personally, I think the world would be better off without the damn phone. AI is killing me, you know. Do I fear for the future of music? I fear for the future of everything. They don’t know what the hell it does, so now we all dangle and wait,” he warns.
The Stones announced their 25th studio album in May. Titled Foreign Tongues, it will mark their first release since 2023’s Hackney Diamonds and is due to land on 10 July. Just like their previous release, it has also been produced by Andrew Watt.
Learn more about Foreign Tongues or pre-order the album now via the Rolling Stones website.
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“There aren’t many American guitar players that are well known for restraint”: Joe Satriani on Sammy Hagar’s underrated guitar skills
Joe Satriani has revealed what he considers to be one of the most remarkable yet underrated aspects of Sammy Hagar’s guitar playing
In a recent chat with Thinking About Guitar, Satriani – who’s spent the past few years sharing a stage with the Red Rocker on The Best of All Worlds tour – explains how Hagar’s greatest strength as a guitarist comes from the same place that made him such an effective frontman.
“I always thought that one of the coolest things about his guitar playing was that he somehow took that knowledge of being a really good lead vocalist and applied it to the way he played guitar,” says Satch.
“And, you know, he’s kind of a crazy shred guitar player on the one hand. But on the other hand, he’s got this editorial process that I personally recognise as being a lead singer.”
According to the virtuoso, Hagar possesses an instinctive understanding of what a song needs, and just as importantly, what it doesn’t.
“I’ll play too many notes, but he won’t,” he says. “And I always ask him, ‘Well, what is that?’ And of course, he doesn’t think about it. It’s totally natural to him. He’s just a completely natural player. But he somehow plays the right notes with the right kind of vibrato. And that still fascinates me, as it did when I was a young kid growing up.”
“I was thinking, wow, restraint,” Satriani continues, adding that “there aren’t many American guitar players that are well known for restraint.
“I always saw that as something that would come from the UK or Ireland. You have these players like [Eric] Clapton or Brian May who just play the perfect notes. They don’t turn the amp up to eleven.”
Hagar, he argues, belongs in that conversation.
“Sam had this thing, because he really liked Clapton. I think he would take that one step back from the edge of the cliff and make sure that he could pull it off.”
“I hear it over and over again as a thing that really good lead vocalists have,” he says. “And they apply it to their guitar playing.”
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John Mayer says he’s already used his Neural DSP plugin on records: “I’m just not going to tell you which ones they are”
For a player whose rig lore has spawned countless forum threads, gear rundowns, and YouTube deepdives, John Mayer has revealed that some of the sounds fans have heard on the record may have come from a plugin rather than a tube amp.
The guitarist says he has already used his Neural DSP signature plugin on professional recordings – he just isn’t telling anyone which ones.
The admission came in a recent video for Neural DSP discussing Archetype: John Mayer X, the plugin released last December that captures some of Mayer’s most sought-after amps, pedals and tones in software form.
“If I were in a pinch, I would always use this plugin and I have already on records. I’m just not going to tell you which ones they are. And I don’t think you’ll know,” the musician teases.
Mayer says that part of the appeal is how naturally the plugin slots into both recording and practice setups.
“What’s really cool about using the plugin in a DAW is that the Archetype plugin works really, really, well as the first stage of a signal chain. It gives this kind of water pressure to the rest of the sounds you want to put on top of it.”
These days, he says, his home rig consists of little more than a laptop with the plugin on it, an interface, and a pair of studio monitors. That simplicity is a far cry from wrangling with dying 9-volt batteries, faulty pedals and amps that seem perpetually in need of maintenance.
“I’ve forward to the year I would be able to simply have one cable, a laptop, and two
speakers and have that be the whole rig,” Mayer says. “It’s such a natural authentic emulation of amps, it just does what amps do except it’s already chained in to [your DAW] and have all the flexibility.”
That said, the guitarist stresses that none of this should be interpreted as a declaration of war on tube amps. Despite joining a growing list of high-profile players embracing digital tools – with Joe Bonamassa recently admitting he’s been won over by Fender’s Tone Master series despite ‘really wanting to dislike it’ – Mayer says Archetype: John Mayer X was never intended as a replacement for traditional amplifiers.
“I think more options are better when it comes to technology taking the place of very heavy, expensive things that spend a lot of time in the shop,” he says. “There is always going to be a really good reason to use amps. I will always continue to use amps. I don’t believe you’ll see me on a stage playing in an arena with a laptop. I don’t think that’s that cool.”
“That is not meant to replace an amp,” Mayer continues. “It’s meant to give you more options. It’s meant to bring the experience of owning a tube amplifier and owning this gear into your home. No matter who you are, it’s meant to democratise the gear.”
Learn more at Neural DSP.
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Beyond the hype: are we entering a new era of guitar technological innovation?
Talking about innovation in the world of guitar is a slippery topic at the best of times. On the one hand, the instrument has endured as a key vehicle for popular musical expression for over 70 years – with each new generation finding new ways to use the instrument to express themselves. On the other hand, many of the tools of the trade that we use today are nearly identical to the ones artists were using in the 1950s – in some cases they are literally instruments that were made in that period.
But despite the inherent conservatism of guitar players, there have been clear moments of innovation and technological breakthroughs that have stuck in one way or another – effects pedals would be one example, whereas digital emulation is clearly another.
The first modelers were primitive. Fine for sketching ideas or practice, but their tones weren’t convincing enough for players to fully switch over. They always defaulted to the tried-and-true practice of using gear that moved real air.
But over the last few decades, that has changed dramatically. Whether that’s via the huge leaps forward in digital modelling, or the development of profiling technology, it’s now totally normal to see guitar players use digital rigs and sound just as good as their tube-amp counterparts.
But what’s going to be the next sticky guitar innovation that will change the way we play in the same way that pedals or modellers have done? Could it be new endlessly customisable instruments, or something that uses machine learning to enhance and expand our palette of sounds?
The wisdom of the last 70 years would indicate probably neither, but people were pretty quick to write off the Maestro FZ-1 until Keith Richards used it on Satisfaction – you never know what’s going to capture the musical collective imagination.
Modular mayhem
Modular guitars have been around in some shape or form almost as long as people have been modding their instruments. People forget that asides from the whole lucite body thing, the most interesting thing about Ampeg’s Dan Armstrong guitar was its innovative swappable pickup modules.
In the last decade though, the idea of what a modular guitar can be has flourished and expanded in ways we’ve not seen before. On the more conservative side of things, Swedish brand Relish has developed a pretty innovative pickup-switching system that has since been adopted by other brands – most notably Cream T.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Boaz One promised to be a modular guitar in the truest sense but before that project had a chance to prove its worth things got weird – really weird.
But there are clearly a growing cohort of builders who believe that modular builds are the future, or as Bayram Tekçe of modular maker Shark Guitars tells it, “Guitar V2.0”.
And you can see why on the face of it – modular designs let players hotswap elements like pickups, bodies, necks, nuts, and bridges. Some even include onboard effects. For studio guitarists that need access to a variety of tones it’s a unique value proposition, but introduces complications for live use.
Some might feel that the nature of modular designs compromises the feel and soul of the instrument. Ian Reddick, founder of Reddick Guitars and creator of the modular Voyager states, “I believe the soul lives in the craftsmanship and history of the instrument”.
The idea is fascinating, but where does it fall short? Aaron Maisler, founder of Fern Guitars says, “There are some limits. Primarily alternate tunings in a live setting. [But] with a modular setup, two guitars cover the same territory [of six] since you can freely interchange the electronics.”
Modular guitars offer seemingly endless tonal possibilities, and the idea is appealing. But that modularity is tied to the maker – what happens when something breaks down? You can’t just take it to any luthier for repair. What happens if you want something that the maker doesn’t offer?
The promise of distilling all your guitars into one is captivating, sure – but do any of us really want just one guitar? Isn’t part of the magic of this hobby the fun of trying new instruments, new looks, new everything?
The Smart And Not So Smart Guitars
For decades now, people have been trying to cram technology into guitars in often innovative but usually doomed ways. Built-in effects and onboard MIDI controllers are perfect for someone like Matt Bellamy, but they don’t have a lot of mainstream appeal.
When you try to tell the man or woman in the street their guitar needs to be loaded with onboard technology the answer seems to be well, remember what happened to the Firebird-X…
Still, there are plentiful modern examples of how technology and guitar is starting to blur into one thing. Lava’s smart guitar platform has won it scores of fans around the world for the way it makes learning and practice more fun and interesting. Positive Grid’s Spark amps have brought technology and player together to create the ultimate practice amps. Enya Music’s Sonic integrates a bluetooth speaker and onboard effects into the body of the guitar itself.
Next-gen guitars are addressing issues like tonewood sustainability and sound versatility, but the burning question is do players actually want their guitars to be connected?
Not long ago a guitar player’s main concern was feeding their gear dirty power. But smart guitars introduce concerns about WiFi dropouts and signal weakness, not to mention vulnerability to hackers.
Are modular and “smart” guitars the instrument’s future or just a flashy fad? It could come down to longevity. Traditional guitars work with proper upkeep, no firmware or software updates required.
When manufacturers stop product support or fold altogether, a guitar with an end-of-life OS or modeler can become effectively useless. The appeal of modular guitars is obvious, but carries risks traditional guitars don’t, especially regarding repairs.
Proprietary systems depend on manufacturer support and survival. Investing in technology-dependent instruments comes with uncertainty. Also consider resale value. Vintage guitars are proven investments that appreciate worth. Technology-dependent guitars likely depreciate in value as the tech ages or turns obsolete.
Neural Networks
There’s little doubt that the word “AI” is a polarising one in the guitar world at the moment, with many musicians being reflexively opposed to anything that has those two letters in them. And clearly there are legitimate and valid ethical and environmental concerns about the use (or indeed imposition) of large language models in our modern lives.
And there are unquestionably some products that are using AI as a means to float some pretty uninspiring products under the noses of an unsuspecting musical public – the less said about the TemPolor Melo-D the better.
But machine learning has been benefitting guitar players for a long time now, and many of the most jaw-dropping leaps forward in digital modelling technology in recent years has been enabled on some level by artificial intelligence operating under the hood.
AI amp modeling is moving fast, and neural networks are the new movement. The most notable one of these is perhaps the open-source Neural Amp Modeler platform. NAM uses advanced neural networking to learn the sonic behavior of a real world amplifier – it’s different to what the likes of Neural and Kemper do with profiling, but the results are impressively similar.
The result is amp tones that sound and feel much closer to the real thing than most modellers can offer – and various brands from Poly Effects to Two Notes to Blackstar are starting to incorporate it into their pedals and amps.
Increasingly, guitar players are coming to accept the blurred lines between digital and analogue, but there are plenty still who feel that digital is still not quite there in terms of replicating the true feel of a valve amp – the pick attack response, playing articulation, and acoustic space response are physical elements that contribute to the experience just as much as the sound.
There’s also the question of the long term viability of such things. Your valve amp from 50 years ago still works because it’s easily repaired by any qualified tech – like any other modern piece of consumer electronics, there’s a big question over how long the companies building these connected products will continue to support them.
There’s also the question of what happens when everyone is using the same digitally recreated tones – anyone who has played through a lot of amps knows that there’s a great deal of variation even between identical models. Democratization of tone is an exciting concept, but puts sonic distinction in jeopardy.
Text prompts vs. twisting knobs
If there’s one area of guitar technology that isn’t afraid of progress and innovation, it’s effects – the digital and boutique revolutions have transformed the stompbox arena into something where some of the weirdest and most wonderful ideas have come from small builders trying interesting things with modern technology.
But with talk of “Peak Pedal” being mooted in recent years, after a decade of huge expansion and innovation, where is the next pedal frontier?
Increasingly, some makers are looking to AI as a means to enable creative experimentation – and in the last year or two we’ve seen AI-enabled pedals from makers as diverse as Quilter, Chaos Audio and newbie Groundhog Audio.
Polyend is another manufacturer leading the charge. The brand’s Endless pedal turns ideas into effects by describing them through text prompts or hardcoding. But do players really prefer inputting text prompts over twisting knobs? It’s an interesting idea.
The company deliberately distances itself from the buzzword “AI” for practical and philosophical reasons. Founder/CEO Piotr Raczyński posits, “AI has become a very overloaded term. It often creates expectations that don’t match what the system actually does.”
Endless works by generating DSP structures from natural language akin to LLMs like ChatGPT, but that’s where the comparisons end. This opens up worlds of new sounds not available in standard pedals, but the trouble is in getting there.
Inputting text prompts is simple enough, but hardcoding takes a certain acumen. Another element of AI built into effects is that the more it’s used, the more it learns user preferences. Either way it’s not as easy as turning pots or flipping switches.
Raczyński continues, “We’re not interested in using AI tools for imitation. We’re interested in enabling people to create original tools they couldn’t build before”.
There’s a laudable aim of putting more creativity in guitarists’ hands at play here – the question is does it actually make sense in the real world? As our review of the Positive Grid Reactor recently alluded to, prompting an LLM to do what you want can be more frustrating than twiddling knobs ever was.
Complexity can also be an enemy of creativity – text prompts open up worlds of new sounds, but require extra effort. In that regard, knobs and switches will beat menus and touchscreens every time.
It’s really intriguing to use an LLM to offer unique features that aren’t available in traditional pedal designs, but option paralysis is a real thing for many guitar players as it is – if you effectively give them a blank slate, is that really going to help all but the smallest percentage of creative musicians?
Culture clash
This is far from the first time guitar has faced rapid technological changes. Modelers were supposed to replace analog amps altogether. They didn’t. Guitar synths were supposed to revolutionize the instrument. They became a niche.
Guitarists adapt to changing technology on their terms. Ideas with the biggest hype around them may only find a select audience. Healthy skepticism around “revolution” in guitar tech isn’t hesitance, it’s pattern recognition.
The overarching question is will the traditionalist guitar culture embrace how fast, and in what ways, technology is changing?
Disruption or distraction?
As time proves, new doesn’t equate to better. Oftentimes it’s the opposite. Some products don’t catch on until they’re out of production, and some never do.
Plenty of voices in the guitar industry are shaping the conversation around evolving guitar tech, particularly AI inclusion. Josh Scott, founder of JHS Pedals, argues that AI gear might be solving the wrong problem altogether. “AI gear is optimizing for speed in a domain where speed was never the constraint.”
But there are as many proponents as detractors. Edward “Bud” Cole, CEO of Fender, says “I strongly believe that AI will create opportunities that are unimaginable today for players to learn, create, record, and express themselves”.
It’s human nature to focus on the novelty of technology before examining its efficacy and necessity. That might speak more to the “invisible hand of the market” than inferior design. But hit or miss, creators keep creating.
New horizons
The future of guitar is here, and the technology is changing faster than ever.
Some gear catches on, some gets relegated to time. But one thing is certain. No matter what innovations and advancements come out, the venerated gear and tools guitarists have relied on for the past 75-plus years will always be in style.
Great tone has never required more technology. Historically, constraints drive creativity, they don’t inhibit it. Where guitar technology is going – and what will stick – will always be uncertain.
But there’s one direction it’s not moving. Backward.
The post Beyond the hype: are we entering a new era of guitar technological innovation? appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
The best distortion pedals: jagged sounds from ProCo, Boss, EHX & more
Distortion is the gain effect of choice for guitarists who want to scuzz up their sound without rounding it off or flattening it past the point of musicality. This type of effect has a more jagged and aggressive character than an overdrive, while allowing far more dynamism and nuance than a fuzz pedal.
The basic idea behind distortion pedals hasn’t really changed since these unruly effects were pioneered in the 1960s – they clip your signal, hard, to give you a sound that’s heaven-sent for hellishly heavy rock, metal and punk (or Prince-style solos!) This doesn’t mean all distortions are alike. Sounds and controls vary, and plenty of guitarists will swear by one model or another.
These pedals take various approaches to tonal adjustment, from three-band EQs and special mids-tweaking features down to simple high-end filters or pared down designs where only the gain can be adjusted, and some distortions simply sound heavier or more chaotic than others. One thing that you can usually count on is that distortion pedals are generally less expensive than more technologically intricate effects like delay pedals, although they do range from budget to boutique.
To help you find the soundwave-slasher of your dreams, we’ve brought together our top ten distortion pedals below. There are options from ProCo, Boss, EHX, Fender, JHS and more, spanning the gamut from plug-in-and-play noisemakers to leftfield gain laboratories. Any one of them will add some edge to your sound.
At a glance:
- Our Pick: Pro Co RAT 2
- Best unusual distortion pedal: Redbeard Effects Bearded Vulture
- Best Boss disortion pedal: Boss DS-1W Waza Craft
- Best high-gain distortion pedal: Electro-Harmonix Hell Melter
- Best dual distortion pedal: Fender Pugilist
- Best affordable distortion pedal: TC Electronic Dark Matter
- Best multi-voiced distortion pedal: Walrus Audio Fundamental Distortion
- Best 2000s-style distortion pedal: JHS pedals Hard Drive
- Best distortion pedal for metal: Boss MT-2 Metal Zone
- Best simple distoriton pedal: EarthQuaker Devices Acapulco Gold
- Why you can trust Guitar.com
Our Pick: Pro Co RAT 2
The RAT 2
The RAT distortion line has been around since the 1980s. And when we say around, we mean it, as these pedals are at the gritty heart of recordings from Radiohead, The Arctic Monkeys, Nirvana, Blur, Foo Fighters and countless others.
With sumptuous sustain and era-defining abrasiveness, the RAT 2 is our pick of ProCo’s range. It’s so straightforward (and reasonably priced) that we’ve also named it among the best guitar pedals for beginners, but there’s a deceptive depth of sounds available via the ‘Filter’ control. This rolls off varying degrees of high-end, meaning the output signal can range from tight, radio-friendly rock to avant garde freakout territory.
Need more? Read our Pro Co RAT 2 review.
Best unusual distortion pedal: Redbeard Effects Bearded Vulture
Image: Richard Purvis
Put Skindred guitarist, Mikey Demus, together with Thorpy FX mastermind, Adrian Thorpe, and monumental sounds tend to ensue. The Bearded Vulture is the Redbeard Effects duo at their best, inspired by a classic valve preamp and delivering a streamlined stompbox with surpassingly smart tonal control.
You won’t find another distortion pedal quite like this one. There are two circuits to get your teeth into – straight-up ‘drive’, and ‘octave’ – which can be used independently, or mixed together for the mightiest of distortion sounds. And for further ear-catching idiosyncrasy, you can use the ‘bias’ control to bring in a gating effect, or ‘timbre’ to shape the mids.
Need more? Read our Redbeard Effects Bearded Vulture review.
Best Boss disortion pedal: Boss DS-1W Waza Craft
Credit: Boss
The ‘DS-1’ is aptly named, because there’s a decent chance that the orange stompbox from Boss was the first distortion pedal that you encountered. But before you don your rose-tinted spectacles and dig out the original model, you might consider trying the DS-1W Waza Craft instead. This is a boutiquified version of the classic pedal, with added custom voicings that boost the gain and increase the touch response.
Yes, there’s a ‘standard’ mode here that sounds very much like the DS-1 – but it’s the newly added ‘custom’ mode that really impresses, with amped-up gain, more focused mids and higher responsiveness than the original.
Need more? Read our Boss DS-1W Waza Craft review.
Best high-gain distortion pedal: Electro-Harmonix Hell Melter
If the Metal Muff isn’t quite metallic enough for you, try EHX’s Hell Melter. This pedal will put the chainsaw in your signal chain, whether you’re a metal guitarist or some other fabulously freaky soul in search of maximalist sounds.
Electro-Harmonix refers to this as an ‘advanced metal distortion’, and there’s certainly plenty to master. The deathly jewels in its crown include an active boost mode (with its own footswitch) that allows you to toggle dial-adjusted boosts to bass, mids and treble, and ‘Burn’ mode, which produces a barely-clipped distortion sound that could cut down a whole forest with just a few riffs.
Need more? Read our Electro-Harmonix Hell Melter review.
Best dual distortion pedal: Fender Pugilist
Why choose between drive and distortion, when you can get yourself a pedal that does both? The Fender Pugilist is gainfully employed in delivering these two effects, with a separate channel (and circuit) devoted to each. It’s at its best when the two circuits are mixed together in ‘blend’ mode, which gives you scope to balance musicality (channel A) with distorted brutality (channel B).
Like any seasoned fighter, the Pugilist has some tricks up its sleeve. The bass boost is a handy option when you need to beef up your signal, and the togglable LEDs on the control knobs make for easy tweaking on a gloomy stage.
Best affordable distortion pedal: TC Electronic Dark Matter
This affordable distortion pedal sounds better than you might expect, with 1970s Marshall-style tone that’s tailor-made for hot blues licks and classic rock. Its standard voice is responsive, musical, and bordering on an overdrive sound when the gain is set low. Flick the switch, and you’ll hear a bullish, bassier voicing that’s decidedly more alt-rock.
For about the price of a cheap haircut, that’s a lot of scope to sound like guitarists with haircuts of varying styles and costs. The bass and treble knobs give you further control over your tone, rounding out a pretty spectacular budget-friendly pedal.
Best multi-voiced distortion pedal: Walrus Audio Fundamental Distortion
You might know Walrus Audio as a fancy boutique pedal brand – and if you simply heard the Fundamental Distortion’s trio of distortion voicings, you might be unshaken in that belief. But what’s different in this pedal (and others from the Fundamental range) is the simplicity of the on-unit controls, which cram oodles of functionality into an iota of space, and the accessible price.
The three voicings cover a huge breadth of possibilities, especially when used artfully with the tone, volume and gain sliders. ‘Dark’ smothers the high-end and clips characterfully; ‘Si’ sounds crunchily compressed; while ‘LED’ uses your old D.T. teacher’s favourite diodes to ratchet up the noise.
Need more? Read our Walrus Audio Fundamental Distortion review.
Best 2000s-style distortion pedal: JHS pedals Hard Drive
Josh Scott’s love letter to turn-of-the-millennium high-gain tones, the JHS Hard Drive Distortion is all (or at least largely) about the mids, which can be controlled to create a scooped or boosted sound. The really nifty thing here is that two knobs work together for maximal mid-sculpting finesse: one to select the exact range of mid frequencies that you’ll tweak, and another to set the level of the selected frequency range.
The necessary companion to all of that tonal adjustment is great-sounding distortion. JHS described the Hard Drive as its “heaviest pedal yet” at launch in 2024, and we’d say that’s on the money. It’s an ideal noise-maker for modern alt-rock or classic metal.
Best distortion pedal for metal: Boss MT-2 Metal Zone
Image: Boss
The Boss MT-2 Metal Zone does what it says on the die-cast enclosure. Its high-gain distortion sounds are loved by legions of rock leviathans from Dave Mustaine to Simon Neil.
The three-band EQ controls give you final say over the style of slay, and it’s worth tweaking these with an attentive ear to get the best out of the pedal. Your first instinct might be to cut the mids for a scooped sound, but – whisper it – you might try boosting the mids if you’re exploring noisier or more abrasive territory. That’s the joy of the MT-2: its comprehensive controls let you zone in on your own strand of metal mayhem.
Best simple distortion pedal: EarthQuaker Devices Acapulco Gold
Flaunting its own simplicity with one giant gain control, this power amp distortion pedal is all about Model T-style tube amp distortion tone – and you’ll enjoy that sound strictly as the maker intends.
If you’ve always preferred amp distortion to distortion pedals, but you can’t stretch to a classic tube amp (or you can’t crank one till the signal distorts, perhaps because you have neighbours), then the Acapulco Gold is for you. Depending on the gain setting, its sound ranges from a lively sparkle to a doomy facsimile of full-bore power amp distortion. Sometimes this feels almost like an overdrive rather than a distortion – but treasure abounds in that grey area.
Why You Can Trust Us
Every year, Guitar.com reviews a huge variety of new products – from the biggest launches to cool boutique effects – and our expert guitar reviewers have decades of collective experience, having played everything from Gibson ’59 Les Pauls to the cheapest Squiers.
That means that when you click on a Guitar.com buyer’s guide, you’re getting the benefit of all that experience to help you make the best buying decision for you. What’s more, every guide written on Guitar.com was put together by a guitar obsessive just like you. You can trust that every product recommended in those guides is something that we’d be happy to have in our own rigs.
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In need of a new guitar rack? Get over 60% off on these Gator display and storage solutions at Thomann
Buying new guitars is always exciting, but finding a reasonably-priced storage solution for your collection can often feel far less glamorous. But, now’s the time to act, as these whopping deals on Gator racks at Thomann make the process far less painful.
These guitar racks come in varying sizes and styles, and are reduced from three-figure sums down to just two, with 67 percent off each one. Thomann is currently offering a bunch of savings across the instruments and accessories on its site with Music Days, which run until 14 July.
- READ MORE: Thomann Music Days deals are here: guitars, pedals, amps and accessories we’d actually buy
For a simple and small storage solution, you might want to opt for a Gator Elite 3/4 guitar rack, which comes in black, grey, brown and a natural wood finish. These are now priced at £85.
These smaller racks offer adjustable dividers with rubberised protective linings to keep instruments and cases stored safely, are suitable for asymmetrical body shapes, and have soft padding on the bottom of the stand to prevent the underside of the guitar from coming into contact with the wood.
If you’re in need of more space, the Gator Elite 5 E/A racks offer more space and features, yet still come in at just £96 with their reduced price. Fit up to five electric/acoustic guitars or five-seven cases among its adjustable dividers.
Again, these racks are suitable for asymmetrical body shapes, offer soft padding, and have convenient cable storage hanger hooks on both sides. The racks come in grey or dark brown wood.
As part of Thomann’s Music Days, there are also savings on a number of guitars and gear brands. You can save on models from Schecter, Epiphone, Taylor and more, or get a deal on an amplifier from the likes of PRS or Blackstar.
To shop these deals and more, head over to Thomann.
The post In need of a new guitar rack? Get over 60% off on these Gator display and storage solutions at Thomann appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Finneas shares “confusion” around Rick Rubin’s self-confessed lack of technical ability: “What I assume he means by that is, there are a lot of people that know a lot more than I do”
Musician and producer Finneas says, like many, he’s “confused” about Rick Rubin’s self-proclaimed lack of technical knowledge, and feels he maybe isn’t being so literal when he says he “knows nothing” about music.
In a 2023 interview for 60 Minutes, Rubin claimed he didn’t know how to use a mixing desk and said, “I’ve no technical ability. And I know nothing about music.” He also made similar comments about the freedom of “knowing none of the rules” of music in discussion with Rick Beato in 2024.
Finneas, who recently composed the score for season 2 of Netflix’s Beef, was asked about the evolving role of being a producer and his thoughts around Rubin’s unique practices in a new interview.
Speaking to Billboard, he explains “He’s made work that I’m really inspired by. I’m a little confused by his kind of… He swears that he knows nothing at all about music, and it’s like, just Google Rick Rubin, Johnny Cash. There are many videos of him setting up the mics. He doesn’t know ‘nothing’.
“I think what I assume he means by that, and I respect this, is similar to what I’ve said before: There are a lot of people that know a lot more than I do. I don’t know the most, but I also don’t know ‘nothing.’”
Finneas goes on to add: “I think I try to do the same thing, which is, I don’t want to make people feel like it isn’t achievable. I think that you don’t want to intimidate somebody out of trying to make something by way of, ‘I have my 10,000 hours, I know so much, you’ll never know as much as I do.’ So I like that about [him].
“I also think that the other thing that he really does, and I’m sure he is happy to talk about this, is he provides this environment. And I think that environment is incredibly important to me. I sometimes do think that, similarly to him, that’s the best thing I can offer some people.”
Interestingly, The Cult’s Billy Duffy lifted the lid on what it’s like to work with Rubin in an interview last year. Speaking on the Rockenteurs podcast, he recalled collaborating with Rubin on their 1987 record, Electric.
“He did hire Andy Wallace to be the engineer – Rick’s always used great engineers, he’s not stupid,” Duffy admitted. “And [producer and A&R exec] George Drakoulias was there all the time. Rick and George were like a team… [but] George was more musical. Rick’s not musical… at all,” he said.
“He’d say ‘can you play one of those pussy AC/DC English chords there?’” Duffy laughed. “We literally deconstructed the album on the spot. I went from a Gretsch with the Roland and the chorus and the echoes. And he was like, ‘Well, that’s a Marshall, that’s a Les Paul, off you go.’ It was quite traumatic for me, I gotta tell you.”
As for Finneas, he’s often best known for collaborating with his sister, Billie Eilish. In 2024, he spoke to Guitar.com around the release of his signature Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster, and shared how guitar remains his favourite instrument choice when taking to the stage.
“I happened to be doing this interview the other day with Hans Zimmer, and Hans was talking about touring, playing live – Hans plays everything and can conduct! And I was like, ‘Yeah, but whenever I see footage of you playing a concert, you’re just always shredding!’ and he was like, ‘Playing guitar is the most fun’ – and it really is true! It’s five or six times more fun to play a guitar or a bass than it is to sit and play a keyboard on stage. It’s so fun!”
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Soloing Basics—How to Guide Your Solos with Chord Shapes
Lost footage of The Beatles’ performance on Top Of The Pops has been found
Lost footage captured at The Beatles’ performance on Top Of The Pops in 1964 has been found and is due to be restored.
The Fab Four appeared on the BBC music show to play Can’t Buy Me Love and You Can’t Do That, the A-side and B-side of a single they released the following day, marking their fourth UK Number One.
The show was recorded on the 19 March 1964 at the BBC’s Television Theatre (now known as The Shepherd’s Bush Empire), in London, right at the height of Beatlemania. The footage was believed to have not been preserved by the BBC, but film preservation group Film Is Fabulous! has managed to get hold of it.
The group says it will return the digital scan and 35mm negative film to the BBC Archives, and will hold a discussion with the BBC about making the content widely available to audiences.
In a post on Facebook, it says, “Film is Fabulous! is delighted to confirm the 35mm negative presented to John Franklin at the recent British Film Collectors’ Convention (BFCC) in Oxted [in Surrey], on behalf of the family of a deceased former industry professional, contains the missing BBC film inserts of The Beatles first appearance on Top Of The Pops.”
It continues, “Passages of the film recording show the studio, the technicians, and the make-up ladies. There were four takes of the first song, Can’t Buy Me Love, with two being aborted because of technical errors. During breaks, the Beatles openly joked, and could be seen dancing to amuse themselves.
“The other song, You Can’t Do That, had two takes. During the second of these recordings John Lennon pulled a funny face when the camera came in for a ‘close-up’. It’s an amusing piece of Beatle history.”
In other Beatles news, the first-ever official Beatles fan experience is due to open in 2027 at 3 Savile Row in Mayfair, London, where the band played their final gig.
3 Savile Row is a Grade II listed mansion, and was one of the original headquarters for Apple Corps Ltd, the band’s multimedia company. They recorded their final album, Let It Be, in its basement, and played their last gig on its rooftop in 1969.
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Joe Satriani recalls David Lee Roth’s “crazy” attempt to recruit him for a Van Halen cover band in the ‘90s: “I said, ‘But Dave, Ed’s still alive!’”
Joe Satriani has opened up about the time David Lee Roth tried to recruit him for a Van Halen cover band – while Eddie Van Halen was still very much active.
Speaking to Thinking About Guitar in a recent interview, Satriani reveals how Roth had called him sometime around 1995 or 1996 with an ambitious plan to perform Van Halen material outside the group.
“I remember in the mid ‘90s, David Lee Roth called me, and he wanted to put together a band to do Van Halen songs,” says the guitarist. “He went on and on about how we were the only guys who could really do it right, and he had all these crazy plans.”
Satriani, however, couldn’t get past one obvious issue.
“I said, ‘But Dave, Ed’s still alive! He’s still making amazing records. He’s still on tour. What guitar player would ever try to imitate him while he’s still working?’ I said, ‘It makes no sense.’ And, of course, I said, ‘Look, I’m not the guy.’”
While the proposal never got off the ground, it wasn’t the last time Satriani’s name would be linked to Van Halen. Following Eddie Van Halen’s death in 2020, the guitarist was approached again – this time by Roth and drummer Alex Van Halen – regarding the latter’s long-rumoured tribute project.
Even then, Satriani remained unconvinced he was the right person for the job.
“Dave has a lot of creative ideas, and every once in a while, he’ll reach out, and you just have to listen to him. I mean, he really is a brilliant performer and musician, and I kind of expect it, you know,” says Satch.
“When he and Alex called me after Ed had passed away, it made a little bit more sense, even though I tried to convince them I was not the person who could do it justice, because I said I’ve tried to avoid playing like Ed for so long that now I really can’t.”
Instead, Satriani suggested other players he felt were better suited to the role, including Nuno Bettencourt and Steve Vai. Ultimately though, the project never materialised.
Ironically, Satriani would eventually find himself playing Van Halen songs onstage anyway. In 2024, he joined Sammy Hagar for the Best of All Worlds tour, celebrating the singer’s tenure with the band.
Looking back, Satriani also admits he was somewhat relieved when Alex Van Halen’s tribute plans fell apart, largely because they appeared set to overlook a significant chapter of the band’s history.
“When it fell apart, I was kind of relieved because I was really concerned about how we were going to do it justice as a show, top to bottom, and not reflect Sammy’s period in the band, which was huge,” he says.
“I think they got more number one records and sold more records in general than the Roth era. So it was confusing to me that they wouldn’t want to reflect that at all. But that’s a whole other story. It’s not my place to get into.”
The post Joe Satriani recalls David Lee Roth’s “crazy” attempt to recruit him for a Van Halen cover band in the ‘90s: “I said, ‘But Dave, Ed’s still alive!’” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Pedalboard Power Supply Gets An Upgrade
The Trey Hensley Gold Label 510e
“When I first plugged into it, I realised this s***’s good. I really wanted to dislike it! But I couldn’t”: Joe Bonamassa on digital amps winning him over
There’s something to say about how far digital modelling technology has come when even a self-confessed tube aficionado like Joe Bonamassa ends up using it on tour.
The blues guitarist has recently been “beta testing” Fender’s Tone Master range on the road and it’s clearly made more of an impression than he expected.
Speaking to MusicRadar, Bonamassa admits he went into the experiment ready not to like what he heard: “I’ve got to be honest with you and admit when I’m wrong,” says the virtuoso.
“I still have my other tube amps behind me. It’s just that the [Fender ‘59] high-powered Twin is now a Tone Master. When I first plugged into it, I realised this shit’s good. I wanted to dislike it, I really wanted to dislike it! But I couldn’t.”
The reaction wasn’t just his own, either. According to Bonamassa, the people around him on tour were hearing the same thing.
“My production manager, my sound tech, even my other guitar player Josh Smith – they were all telling me it sounds better and feels right. And I was like, ‘I know!’”
The “trick”, says Bonamassa, “is to be physically pushing out sound.”
“You have to be moving air. By having the right speakers, the Tone Master works. It’s not like I’m plugging into a direct box, which I could, but I don’t think that would sound good.”
“That’s where a lot of this digital modeling stuff can start sounding a little generic,” he continues. “With a lot of the things out there, you’re not moving air, and the dynamic range is limited. For me, moving air is essential, just like playing loud.”
First introduced in 2019, Fender’s Tone Master range was developed to digitally recreate the sound and feel of the company’s most iconic tube amplifiers. The lineup has since expanded to include digital versions of classics such as the Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, Princeton Reverb and more.
The post “When I first plugged into it, I realised this s***’s good. I really wanted to dislike it! But I couldn’t”: Joe Bonamassa on digital amps winning him over appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I want my guitar to do exactly what I need, so we took out all the ‘extra’ stuff”: Mammoth guitarist Jon Jourdan’s new PRS has just one pickup, one knob, and zero distractions
PRS has teamed up with Mammoth touring guitarist Jon Jourdan on a limited-edition signature guitar that’s “stripped back to the bare essentials”.
Designed with the guitarist’s touring needs in mind, the all-new PRS Jon Jourdan Limited Edition features a single bridge humbucker, one volume control and an all-mahogany construction built for life on the road.
- READ MORE: Anime fans can get a real-life version of the guitar from Rock Is A Lady’s Modesty thanks to PRS
Limited to just 200 units worldwide, the model takes a decidedly minimalist approach to electric guitar design. There’s no neck pickup, no tone control and very little standing between the player and their amp.
Instead, the guitar uses a single PRS Metal pickup in the treble position paired with a lone volume control in the tone pot’s traditional location. Given that Jourdan typically plays with the volume control wide open, the repositioned knob ensures that he won’t hit it when going all out during a performance.
The guitar also features a 22-fret Pattern Regular mahogany neck topped with an ebony fretboard that forgoes traditional inlays altogether. Visibility in low light is handled by green Luminlay side dots, while hardware includes a PRS adjustable stoptail bridge, proprietary nut material and Phase III locking tuners with ebony buttons.
“At the end of the day, my guitar is a tool. I want it to do exactly what I need it to, so we took out all the ‘extra’ stuff I don’t need,” says Jourdan. “This guitar sounds huge and is incredibly fun to play. There’s something about taking out any unnecessary wiring and removing the neck pickup so its magnets aren’t pulling on the strings that makes it feel alive. I can’t imagine anyone playing this guitar having a bad time.”
Only 200 units of the PRS Jon Jourdan Limited Edition will be made in 2026, with each guitar arriving with a backplate hand-signed by the guitarist.
Available in Platinum Metallic and Gunmetal Metallic finishes, the model is priced at $4,200 – not exactly pocket change, though we’re keeping out fingers crossed for an SE version down the line.
Learn more at PRS.
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Two Notes’ GENOME software gets a “full-bore” 2.0 upgrade – here’s everything you need to know
Two Notes has launched a 2.0 update for its GENOME platform, providing a “major evolution” that introduces iPad compatibility, a free intro trial for new users, and new capture technology.
GENOME was first teased in 2022 during NAMM, and was later awarded a 9/10 in our review for its focused set of virtual amps, cabs and pedals, making it a sturdy option for an affordable “full signal chain” plugin. Now, the platform is getting a much broader glow up by expanding beyond the desktop and bringing in new features and modern enhancements.
The GENOME 2.0 launch on iPad is described as “full scale”, meaning no watered-down mobile version features. Instead, the software has been “rebuilt for touch from the ground up”, with all the same capabilities as normal.
The launch of GENOME Intro also means new users can try the platform for free through desktop and iOS. Again, Two Notes stresses that this isn’t a basic version, but that it rather “delivers a complete rig-building experience with a curated selection of Amplifiers, Pedals, DynIR Virtual Cabinets and Studio FX”.
A key addition to the update is the Two Notes Capture Studio, a free standalone capture environment built to bring your own gear into your GENOME rig. Users can create static NAM captures for CODEX, or build multi-parametric AmpNet captures for an all-new PARADEX component, preserving how your amp responds across its full control range.
In response to demand, there’s also a new generation of stock TSM-Ai amplifiers on board, bringing “decades of legendary amplifier design” inside GENOME’s hybrid modelling engine. Global Transpose also unlocks full-system pitch control across an entire rig in real time.
Take a look at the video below to find out more:
“Since day one, GENOME has moved fast, each release pushing the boundaries of what the platform can be. With 2.0, we’re not just continuing that momentum – we’re redefining it. This is a new line in the sand…” says Guillaume Pille, CEO of Two Notes Audio Engineering.
“GENOME 2.0 is about innovation, effortless control, and precision – putting a truly uncompromised, next-generation rig-building experience into the hands of every player, wherever they are.”
To learn more about GENOME 2.0, visit Two Notes.
The post Two Notes’ GENOME software gets a “full-bore” 2.0 upgrade – here’s everything you need to know appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
This nylon electro-acoustic guitar is designed for “crossover musicians” seeking classical tone with “modern playability”
Winzz Guitars has launched the WCG 370, an electro-acoustic model with nylon strings that unites classical warm tone with modern playability.
The model is said to blend a familiar electric guitar feel with the expressive character of nylon strings “to answer a growing need” among today’s guitarists. Its body shape certainly resembles modern electric guitars, but its headstock retains classical guitar character.
The WCG 370 has a thin profile African mahogany body paired with a spruce top and flame maple veneer. It has a gloss polyester finish, available in Honey Burst, Vintage Sunburst, and Red Tiger Special colours. As Winzz is a budget-friendly brand, the model is also priced under $500.
The African mahogany neck, constructed with a 4-bolt joint with a satin finish, offers a comfortable C-shape profile and a 25.5” scale length. The neck is completed by a rosewood fingerboard with a 16” radius, 22 medium nickel silver frets, white position inlays, and Luminlay side dots. Its 1.89” bone nut, narrower than traditional classical dimensions, is tailored to players accustomed to steel-string and electric neck widths.
The WCG 370 also utilises an under-saddle piezo pickup powered by an onboard, 9-volt battery, and comes with controls for Master Volume, Bass Control, and Treble Control.
The model is finished with a rosewood bridge and bone saddle for “enhanced tone and improved transfer of string vibration to the top of the guitar”, and 18:1 tuning machines for “reliable tuning stability”.
Credit: Winzz
Winzz was founded in 2006 through a partnership between guitar builders from Germany’s village of Winz and Aileen Music in China. It believes music should be accessible to everyone, and says the WGS150 embodies that mission by offering “a professional instrument that welcomes beginners, creators, and seasoned musicians alike”.
The WCG 370 is available now for $399.99 USD. Find out more via Winzz Guitars.
The post This nylon electro-acoustic guitar is designed for “crossover musicians” seeking classical tone with “modern playability” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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