Norse Guitar Feeds

Tube amps! While the talk these days may all be about digital modelling, it’s important to remember what these modelling pedals are actually recreating. For many there’s no substitute to having real glowing glass in your rig, whether that’s because you need uncompromising volume or the true touch-responsiveness or unmistakeable power-amp distortion.

But the world of tube amps is big and vast, ranging from affordable gigging combos to premium heads – so we’ve rounded up our best-reviewed picks no matter your budget and style. Let’s dive in.

At a glance:

• Best tube head for metal: Victory The Kraken MkII
• Best affordable tube combos: Blackstar TV-10B and TV-10A
• Best tube combo for metal: EVH 5150 Iconic EL34
• Best tube head for recording: Blackstar HT-20RH MkIII
• Best british-voiced tube head: Marshall ST20H JTM Studio
• Loudest tube head: Orange OR30
• Best lightweight tube combo: Blackstar St James 50 EL34 Combo
• Why you can trust Guitar.com

[products ids=”72MogFZ0vwHKMXhIUN1okP,5dxPO1fQm3VdQhqPAf8Ikr,16E5UjXzhex8e6olc3GJeO,12zdplGii83rX6RKlfebXa,4rDd9SAR2fP3CjHZikiGo,4VR8cF781XsL4wm33IEzQs,6S6w6uKrRj9aM58IBkXAUx,4WfInLLZeZnNZFpJRmVPHG”]

Best tube head for metal: Victory The Kraken MkII

[products ids=”72MogFZ0vwHKMXhIUN1okP”]

The latest update to the Kraken, Victory Amplification’s flagship metal monster, refines an already great amp into an absolutely fantastic one. As well as an overall refine of the sound, major circuit additions come in the form of a new presence control – good for adding some cutting bite to things – and to a brand-new clean channel, acheived by attenuating the lower-gain, JCM800-based Gain I channel for a spongey, responsive clean sound woth bags of character. But, of course, the main appeal is the Gain II channel – a fire-breathing take on a modded 5150-style circuit.

The result is a near-perfect metal sound: plenty of crunch, more than enough gain, and it can be as aggressive as you like or as compressed as you like. That pretty much covers the metal guitar tonal palette, and the excellent performance at the other end of the gain scale makes this a very versatile offering indeed. Or, you know, good for that 10-second clean intro before 50 minutes of riffs.

Need more? Read our Victory The Kraken MkII review.

Best affordable tube combos: Blackstar TV-10B and TV-10A

[products ids=”5dxPO1fQm3VdQhqPAf8Ikr”]

Without putting too fine a point on it, Blackstar’s new TV-10A and TV-10B are aimed squarely at Fender’s Blues Junior – affordable, one-hand-lift 12” tube combos wih simple control schemes that are loud enough to gig. You have either a US or British voice to choose from with the two amplifiers, and Blackstar has taken the bold approach of eschewing it’s normal approach of implementing the anonymising ISF control to instead just give you a straightforward, tube driven sound that takes pedals fantasatically.

Need more? Read our Blackstar TV10B review and Blackstar TV10A review.

Best tube combo for metal: EVH 5150 Iconic EL34

[products ids=”12zdplGii83rX6RKlfebXa”]

In the metal world there are few better platforms for chugging than the 5150, and this compact combo is no exception. It balances the tight topology of the 5150 platform with the slighly more aggressive, midrange-forward sound of EL34 power tubes, leading to a metal amp with a character that harkens back to the more Marshall-driven soujnds of early Van Halen, as much as it’s still capable of chugging with the best of them. The Iconic line is also a more affordable range of amplifiers – great for getting a gigging rig together without breaking the bank.

Need more? Read our EVH 5150 Iconic EL34 review.

Best tube head for recording: Blackstar HT-20RH MkIII

[products ids=”4rDd9SAR2fP3CjHZikiGo”]

Blackstar’s veneralbe HT range has gotten a pretty substantial modernisaton update with the MkIII, including the integration of Blackstar’s awesome CabRig system for direct sounds, and USB-C connectivity. This means that if you want a tube amp that you can record at home with minimal fuss and without having to worry about expensive attenuation systems, the HT-20RH is a great solution – but thanks to its powerful voicing, portability and 20 watts of power, it’s still a very viable gigging option!

Need more? Read our Blackstar HT-20RH MkIII review.

Best british-voiced tube head: Marshall ST20H JTM Studio

[products ids=”4VR8cF781XsL4wm33IEzQs”]

It’s no exaggeration to say that the JTM is part of the very fabric of rock music – after its introduction in 1962, it would shape the landscape of rock and blues by offering massive sounds to an exploding UK rock scene. This UK-made revamp of the JTM harkens back to the very earliest Marshall amps with that fawn cloth and ‘coffin’ Marshall badge. Sonically, the ST20H JTM Studio recreates all of the nuance of the original’s punchy, snarling take on a modified Fender bassman circuit, but there are some concessions to modernity, too. An effects loop and a power-reduction mode make this a very appealing prospect for the modern player indeed.

Need more? Read our Marshall ST20H JTM Studio review.

Loudest tube head: Orange OR30

[products ids=”6S6w6uKrRj9aM58IBkXAUx”]

Don’t let the 30 watt power rating fool you here. The OR30 is an unbelievably loud tube head. I did the testing for this amp – it nearly shook my windows out of their frames. The difference in sheer volume between a 30-watt head and a 100-watt head isn’t actually much, as it’s an exponent relationship rather than a linear one – and so all it means is that you get access to power-amp distortion a little sooner. That’s a great fit with this amp’s overall voicing, which is as old-school Orange as you can get – full bore, single-channel, going from dirty cleans to extremely dirty, fuzzed-out drive tones.

Need more? Read our Orange OR30 review.

Best lightweight tube combo: Blackstar St James 50 EL34 Combo

[products ids=”4WfInLLZeZnNZFpJRmVPHG”]

Tube amplifiers are notoriously heavy, but Blacksar’s St James line does a lot to cut the weight down to as low as posssible. The amps use lightweight cabinet constructons and switching-mode power supplies in place of transformers, meaning that these 50-watt combo amps are single-hand lifts and much more maneagable to transport around – and the good news is that the sounds are still there.

Need more? Read our Blackstar St James 50 EL34 Combo review.

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.

The post The best tube amps for all styles and budgets appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Musical instrument retailer Sweetwater has been ranked as one of the top brands in the US for its customer service, according to Newsweek.

Earning its highest ranking in its 46-year history, Sweetwater places 8th on Newsweek’s America’s Best Customer Service 2025 list, beating out Disney Parks & Resorts, the Four Seasons and American Express, [per Guitar World].

• READ MORE: Does it matter that a 1958 Gibson ES-345 appeared in a Back to the Future scene set in 1955? According to Michael J. Fox, it makes “little difference”

The results – conducted by Sweetwater in partnership with market research company Statista – were achieved analysing 700 brands across 163 categories, with a total of 200,000 customer evaluations, and using an independent survey of over 28,000 US customers. Sweetwater scored 94.09 out of 100.

“Customer service is a cornerstone of a great shopping experience,” Newsweek writes. “Whether shopping online or in-store, customers want to feel valued, heard and supported. According to 2024 statistics from HubSpot, more than 85 percent of consumers say good customer service makes it more likely they will buy from a company again.”

“Sweetwater was founded on the idea of helping our friends make music,” says Justin Dunbar, Sweetwater’s Director of Customer Support, of the recognition. “That spirit drives everything we do. Providing the best customer service we can is simply an extension of that notion. We’re not just serving customers; we’re serving fellow musicians and our friends.”

Those in the market for new gear this Black Friday will no doubt be reassured by Sweetwater’s Newsweek customer service ranking.

While Black Friday isn’t until next Friday (28 November), Sweetwater is already hosting hundreds of killer deals which you can take advantage of right now.

Some of our favourites include $300 off the headless Strandberg Boden Essential 6 – bringing the final price to just $799 – $170 off the PRS Sonzera 20 combo amp, and a cool $300 off the Epiphone Dave Grohl signature DG-335.

You can take a look at all the latest early Black Friday deals on offer over at Sweetwater.

The post Sweetwater’s customer service ranked among the top brands in the US appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

In early 1969, it came time for Neil Young to record the album that would come to be known as Everyone Knows This is Nowhere. This was to be his second solo album, although his first with the backing band that he called Crazy Horse.

• READ MORE: The guitar gear used by Neil Young on his Harvest album

Crazy Horse consisted of guitarist, songwriter, and singer Danny Whitten, bassist Billy Talbot, and drummer Ralph Molina. The album was co-produced by David Briggs, who would be a frequent collaborator for Neil Young all the way up until his passing in 1995.

Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere (EKTIN) is still considered one of the finest albums of the folk era, but not much is known about the gear used to record the album, but there is plenty of speculation. In this article, we will do our best to sift through all the evidence and come up with the best representation of what we know was used on the album.

Old Black

One guitar that has been confirmed to have been used on the album by multiple sources, including Young himself, was Old Black. For those who don’t know, Old Black has been a constant companion of Young’s throughout his solo career, much akin to Willie Nelson’s Trigger. Old Black has been subjected to several modifications over the years and the version of Old Black that we hear on EKTIN is different from the one we hear today. The most notable difference is the pickup. Today, Old Black has a Firebird humbucker in the bridge position, but that wasn’t added until 1973. In 1969, Old Black still had the original pickups in it, as Young explained:

“Well, there’s a lively Firebird pickup on the treble side of my Les Paul, but when I did Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, it didn’t have that pickup, which had got a bad hum in it. I took it to a music store to see if they could do anything with it. I went back to get it, and the store was closed, and everything was gone. I never got the pickup back,
, so now there have been two or three pickups in place of the original. I guess I used the Firebird pickup on all the things I played on my black guitar since 1973.”, so now there have been two or three pickups in place of the original. I guess I used the Firebird pickup on all the things I played on my black guitar since 1973.”
Old Black began its life as a 1953 Goldtop which meant it would have originally had cream colored P-90 pickups in it. When Neil Young got the guitar, the neck allegedly had a Grestch DynaSonic single-coil pickup. There is some debate over whether the neck had been replaced or just the headstock. Old Black was certainly the main guitar used for the EKTIN sessions. A Bigsby vibrato had also been added by the time the sessions rolled around.

Other Guitars

Some claim that Neil Young used a Fender Telecaster on the record. Others claim that they can distinctly hear a Gretsch. Even some reports claim that he used a ’59 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe. While it is true that Neil Young did own all of those guitars at the time of the sessions, and some of them were probably used on the record, it is impossible to confirm what was used, and where. Neil Young had a Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins that he used in Buffalo Springfield and traded to Jim Messina for Old Black. However, there is photographic evidence of Young playing Gretsch guitars during the timespan when the sessions were going on.

Having spoken with Billy Talbot and Nils Lofgren, I’ve come to understand that a Neil Young recording session is a situation where instruments are more communal than private possessions. I know there are instances where Nils Lofgren or the departed Danny Whitten would play some of Young’s guitars for live shows and in the studio. Whitten was known to play Young’s Gretsch 6120 through a bevy of Fender Tweed Deluxes and Bassmans, which were also largely thought to be owned by Young, at a series of shows that occurred in the weeks after recording EKTIN.

Whitten’s story is a tragic one; in fact, it would inspire the song The Needle and the Damage Done just a few years later. But EKTIN saw Whitten at his pinnacle. Listen to the guitar work on Down By The River for more proof of that. Many have insisted that he also used a Stratocaster but that remains unconfirmed and is only backed by those who claim to “hear” the sound of a Strat on the record.

Amps

As mentioned before, Young has long been a fan of vintage Fender amplifiers, and we may assume that they were the primary amp used for the recording of EKTIN, specifically Deluxe Tweeds and Bassmans – I think most would agree that the tone is pretty consistent with those amplifiers. The amplifier tone is even more clearly recognizable due to the lack of effects units on the album. The album is lauded for its raw and organic sound. If you hear distortion or fuzz, it is the amps being driven hard rather than some stomp box. Some speculate there may have been some amp reverb or studio spring reverb as that was pretty common at the time. But again, this is unconfirmed.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere was an incredibly important album for the career of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, not only because of its success, but it also established a new sound in rock and roll – loose, gritty, and raw, with distorted guitars at the core.

That sound is often cited as a precursor to the grunge movement that would take place decades later. The solos have an element of spontaneity to them that lends a genuine feel to the music. It stripped the polish of the studio away and focused on delivering the songs with a sound that was just as much a statement as the lyrics were. That sound is something that many tonechasers have spent their life pursuing.

The post The guitar gear used by Neil Young on the classic Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Anygig has unveiled the AGE TE Travel Guitar, a compact, full-scale electric guitar that redefines portability and performance. Priced at an exceptional $249.99 USD, the AGE TE embodies Anygig’s mission to deliver a design focused purely on playability, aesthetics, and compactness — free of unnecessary or ambiguous features. Its lightweight, headless design makes it the perfect companion for musicians on the move.

Unlike typical travel guitars derived from modified full-sized models, the AGE TE features a stylish, original design conceived entirely by Anygig. Its comfortable neck shape and smooth fret access stem from years of guitar-making experience, ensuring a natural feel and ease of playability. Despite its portable dimensions, the guitar boasts a 25.5” standard scale, delivering the same response and tension as a traditional instrument — which is ideal for players who demand full-scale performance wherever they go.

The latest Anygig model's adaptive design includes the new attachable ‘Flow’ Arm and Leg rests for improved playing posture, bridging the gap between compact design and ergonomic comfort. Fully compatible with the growing range of modern headphone amps, it gives players the freedom to practice and perform anytime, anywhere. Each AGE TE Travel Guitar ships with a travel-size gig bag, fret protector sleeve, Flow leg and arm rest, guitar scale booklet, pick, strap, digital tuner, and Allen key, providing everything needed for an immersive, portable playing experience. .

Features include:

• Frets/ Scales: 24 Frets / 25.5”(=648mm) scale
• Nut: 42mm Graphite
• Truss Rod: 2-way truss rod
• Neck & Body wood: Hard maple 3pcs
• Neck: C shape (1F: 20mm/ 12F: 21mm)
• Fingerboard radius: 16”(=400mm)
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Fingerboard inlay: Dot inlay
• Bridge: Tune-O-Matic bridge
• Tuner: Anygig M-11
• Pickup: Anygig Glow Humbucker
• Output Jack: EG-2P
• Strings: 010-046
• Dimension of Gigbag, Included Guitar & All Accessories : 91cm x 18cm x 10cm ● Net Weight: Fully assembled around 2.1 KG / 4lbs

The Anygig travel guitar is built around a minimalist, ergonomic design that emphasizes portability without sacrificing comfort or control. Whether you're practicing at home or touring across the globe, its slim profile fits wherever you need it to go. Available from $249.99usd on our Website www.anygigguitar.com , Amazon and Reverb.

Lamb of God return to the road this March for what promises to be the heaviest tour of 2026, with the North American trek, produced by Live Nation, featuring support from Kublai Khan TX, Fit For An Autopsy, and Sanguisugabogg.

Tickets for all shows are on-sale this Friday, Nov. 21 at 10 a.m. local time. An artist pre-sale launches today at 12 noon eastern. Tickets and VIP packages will be available at Lamb-of-god.com/tour.

“We are beyond thrilled to announce the loudest, proudest, floor shakin’-est, earth quakin’-est, ear-splittin’-est, mosh pittin’-est, undiluted, undisputed HEAVIEST tour of the whole damn year,” Mark Morton declares. “Is this the largest collection of RIFFS ever assembled under one roof? It would seem so. Lamb of God, Kublai Khan TX, Fit For An Autopsy, and Sanguisugabogg. Do not miss this shit.”

The tour news follows the recent release of “Sepsis,” the band’s first new original song since 2022’s Omens, and now the #1 song on the U.S. metal radio charts. Produced by longtime collaborator Josh Wilbur, the track celebrates the Richmond underground and the bands Lamb of God performed alongside during their early years. The band also shared a live video for “Sepsis,” capturing the electrifying live debut of the song at Aftershock Festival.

Consequence named the three-and-a-half minute track its “heavy song of the week,” describing the single as “crushing” while Revolver spotlighted “Sepsis,” calling it a “rock-solid addition to their ever-crushing canon.”

Lamb of God tour dates:

March 17 National Harbor, MD The Theater MGM National Harbor
March 19 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
March 20 Toronto, ON GCT Theatre
March 22 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre
March 24 Minneapolis, MN Armory
March 25 Chicago, IL Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
March 27 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium
March 28 Salt Lake City, UT The Union Event Center
March 30 Portland, OR Theater of the Clouds
March 31 Seattle, WA WAMU Theater
April 1 Vancouver, BC PNE Forum
April 3 San Francisco, CA The Masonic
April 4 Inglewood, CA YouTube Theater
April 5 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theatre
April 7 Albuquerque, NM Revel Entertainment Center
April 10 Austin, TX Moody Amphitheater
April 11 Irving, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
April 12 Houston, TX 713 Music Hall
April 14 Nashville, TN War Memorial Auditorium
April 15 Atlanta, GA Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre
April 16 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater
April 18 Reading, PA Santander Arena *
April 19 Virginia Beach, VA The Dome
April 21 Buffalo, NY Buffalo RiverWorks
April 23 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Paramount
April 25 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena *
April 26 Boston, MA MGM Music Hall at Fenway

*-Not a Live Nation show

2026 Festival Performances
May 14 – 17 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival
July 24 – 27 Plovdiv, BG Hills of Rock
July 27 – 31 Râşnov, RO Rockstadt Extreme Fest
August 1 Wacken, DE Wacken Open Air
August 5 – 9 Lisbon, PT Vagos Open Air
August 6 – 9 Kortrijk, BE Alcatraz Open Air
August 7 Walton-on-Trent, UK Bloodstock Open Air
August 12 – 16 Dinkelsbühl, DE Summer Breeze
August 13 – 15 Sulingen, DE Reload Festival
August 14 – 16 Eindhoven, NL Dynamo Metalfest
October 30 – November 3 Miami, FL Headbangers Boat

Tickets to the band’s previously announced dates, including the 2026 edition of their annual Headbangers Boat cruise, are on-sale now via their website.

Levy’s Music has introduced two new additions to its popular Amped Leather Series, expanding one of the brand’s most recognized strap collections.

The M26PD-BLK-MAT brings a sleek matte black finish for players drawn to a rugged, understated look. The strap is adjustable from 43”–51" in length and its no-gloss finish highlights the natural texture of the leather. It carries a street price of $32.99.

The M26PD-BLK-XL extends the series’ best-selling black leather strap to suit taller musicians and lower playing preferences. Adjustable from 55.5"–63" in length, it provides an enhanced fit and added comfort for a variety of playing styles and carries a street price of $34.99.

Handcrafted in Nova Scotia from genuine top-grain leather, the Amped Leather Series is known for its 3-inch-wide design and soft ¼-inch foam padding wrapped in garment leather for long-lasting comfort.

Both new models carry forward the craftsmanship and comfort that define the Amped Leather Series, reinforcing its status as a go-to choice for musicians seeking reliability and style in equal measure. Each strap is proudly handcrafted in Nova Scotia, Canada.

To learn more about Levy’s guitar straps and music accessories, please visit levysleathers.com.

The Wilco frontman’s ’90s pawn shop raids are paying off decades later.

Back in September, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy released his fifth solo album, Twilight Override. The triple album, recorded at the band’s Chicago studio, the Loft, features 30 tracks total. Tweedy set out across the U.S. this fall to celebrate the monumental release.

On October 29, he performed at the Caverns in Grundy County, Tennessee, and welcomed PG’s Nashville correspondent John Bohlinger to the bat cave to check out a ripping collection of pawn-shop specials.

Brought to you by D’Addario.

Pawn Shop Prize

Tweedy has had this heavily modded Jaguar for a very long time—he bought it at a pawn shop when they were still cheap. He guesses it’s a 1964, and it’s been modded to run only on its Seymour Duncan Antiquity bridge humbucker.

Root of All Evil

Tweedy got this Fender Jazzmaster at a pawn shop in Chicago for around $500. With its Mastery bridge, he tunes it with bass strings for some of Wilco’s heavier, lower-tuned material like “Dawned On Me.”

Half Moon Fun

Ric Ocasek is one of the few other well-known guitarists to play one of these Kawai MoonSaults, a Japan-made guitar from the 1980s with a scorching-hot preamp wired into it. Tweedy has a soft spot for them, and has collected six or seven of the oddities. He strings this one with flatwounds.

Everyman’s SG

Tweedy didn’t like the feeling of being handed his $20,000 Gibson SG onstage. He wanted to model some more reasonably priced instruments to his fans, so he started bringing out this early-’80s-built Greco SG copy. It features PAF-style Maxon Dry Z pickups.

Tele: Fully Loaded

Fender didn’t make many of these Telecasters with top-loaded strings, and Tweedy loves the sound of this one’s snarl into his Fender Deluxe. It was purchased at New York’s RetroFret Vintage Guitars and lives in open-G tuning.

Tweedy’s Tweed

Tweedy bought this 1954 Fender Deluxe in 1994 for just a couple hundred bucks. This wide-panel, 10-watt 5D3 model still has its original speaker and transformer.

Jeff Tweedy’s Pedalboards

One of Tweedy’s boards is dedicated almost entirely to pedals by Fairfield Circuitry, based in Hull, Quebec. In addition to a TC Electronic Polytune 3 Noir, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail, and Black Mountain volume pedal, there are seven Fairfield units: the Accountant compressor, Barbershop overdrive, ~900 fuzz, Randy’s Revenge ring modulator, Shallow Water k-field modulator, and two Meet Maude analog delays.

On a second board for his acoustics, Tweedy runs another Holy Grail, Polytune 3 Noir, and three more Black Mountain volume pedals, plus a Radial Shotgun splitter and buffer and three Rupert Neve RNDI-M direct interface boxes.

Though a cult classic adored by millions, Back to the Future famously features a historical faux pas, which many guitar gear aficionados have been consistent in pointing out since the film’s release in 1985.

The mistake, specifically, is that Marty McFly plays a Gibson ES-345 during the iconic “Enchantment Under the Sea” school dance scene. Only that scene is set in 1955, when the ES-345 didn’t arrive until three years later in 1958.

• READ MORE: Online games have been doing it for years – are guitar brands cottoning on to the lucrative nature of crossover collaborations?

Of course, this is a debate for the very niche guitar-nerd subsection of the Back to the Future audience, but how much does it really matter? According to Michael J. Fox, who plays the film’s main protagonist, not all that much.

In his recent memoir Future Boy – released last month – Fox says the decision on the part of the film’s producers to call on a Cherry Red ES-345 for the scene was not intended to be a “cinematic Easter egg”.

The film’s art department simply picked the ES-­345 because it evoked the iconic wine-red axe that Chuck Berry famously duckwalked across stages all over the world,” Fox writes [via SlashFilm].

Fox himself wasn’t bothered by the historical inaccuracy himself, as he notes that the 1958 ES-345 was very enjoyable to play while filming.

“Both the ’55 and ’58 versions of the Gibson electric are rare and beautiful instruments; for me, it makes little difference which I played,” he says. 

“I’ve always loved the Gibson E line: big, imposing guitars yet hollow-­bodied and therefore lightweight. Even a little guy like yours truly could sling ’em and fling ’em and still make ’em sing.”

That the inclusion of a 1958 Gibson ES-345 in a film scene set in 1955 turned out to be largely irrelevant, as the scene quickly became a favourite in the cult classic movie.

Now, 40 years after the movie’s original release date, the scene continues to inspire, so much so that Gibson just released a $20k Custom Shop recreation of the Back to the Future ES-345, alongside a more affordable Epiphone version, too.

Astonishingly given its price tag, the Gibson Custom Shop Back to the Future ES-345 sold out its 88 units – corresponding with the film’s 88 miles per hour needed for time travel – in mere hours.

It later emerged, though, that scalpers had gotten their hands on some of the guitars, with one of the $20k guitars later listed on Reverb for over $100,000. Similarly, the guitar’s $999 Epiphone counterpart was being listed on the gear marketplace for up to $7,000.

“Less than an hour after the first Back to the Future guitars went up on Reverb, 10 had sold – and it hasn’t stopped there,” said Cyril Nigg, Reverb’s Senior Director of Analytics, at the time. “Over the past week, ‘Back to the Future’ has been the number one trending search on Reverb.

“What we’re seeing is part of a larger, nostalgia-fuelled trend, as moments from the past continue to drive demand. In fact, the Epiphone edition is the top selling semi-hollow body guitar on all of Reverb at the moment, as buyer demand continues to outpace supply.”

You can learn more about the Back to the Future Collection, which alongside the two guitars includes a line of BTTF-branded memorabilia, over at Gibson.

The post Does it matter that a 1958 Gibson ES-345 appeared in a Back to the Future scene set in 1955? According to Michael J. Fox, it makes “little difference” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Five-time Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist Mark Lettieri has become the latest musician to open his own Reverb Shop, selling a trove of his very own studio- and tour-used gear.

The shop, which is now live, features many pieces of gear from Lettieri’s illustrious career, including unreleased PRS prototype guitars, and an early ’90s Fender Stratocaster he brought on his first tour with Erykah Badu, as well as on solo tracks including Grillman from 2011’s Knows.

• READ MORE: Black Friday has started early at Reverb… save hundreds on Charvel Superstrats, signature drive pedals and more!
  

Elsewhere, the online shop features instruments used by Lettieri during his time with jazz-fusion band Snarky Puppy, and when he played alongside David Crosby and Cory Wong.

“You’ve heard this stuff on records, you’ve seen it on gigs, in videos, and it all holds a very special place in my heart, but I’m finally letting it go…and I hope that you get it so that you can make music!” Lettieri says.

Aside from the aforementioned PRS prototypes and extensively used ’90s Fender Strat, up for grabs are also a range of gloss-finished PRS Fiore guitars – in Hibiscus, Black Hyacinth, Sunflower, and Purple Satin colourways – as well as an ’80s Ibanez Roadstar II with “a lot of vibes”, a “one-pickup wonder” ’80s Peavey Patriot, a Line 6 M9 multi-effects pedal used on Bob Reynolds’ Guitar Band album, and Lettieri’s first-ever Ditto Looper.

There’s also an Audio-Technica AT4040 cardioid condenser microphone used by Lettieri on “a thousand acoustic guitar tracks for people”. There’s also some non-musical memorabilia, including, of all things, a pair of “Deep: the Baritone” fish socks and more.

You can check out what’s on offer at the The Official Mark Lettieri Reverb Shop now.

The post Mark Lettieri launches official Reverb store – with a stage- and studio-used ’90s Fender Strat and a selection of unreleased PRS prototypes appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Guitar tabs for Ed Sheeran’s music are searched for more than those of The Beatles, according to a new study.

Retailer guitarguitar has done some serious digging on what artists and tracks are inspiring players to pick up their guitar and learn by analysing the 5,000 most-viewed tabs and chord sheets on Ultimate Guitar. Sheeran has amassed 229.5 million tab views on the site, according to the findings, with his 2017 single Perfect being one of the most sought after.

• READ MORE: Paul McCartney reflects on legendary Japan drugs bust that landed him in prison: “This stuff was too good to flush down the toilet!”

But fear not Beatles fans, as their catalogue is still in demand too – the report [shared via Guitar World] also places the Fab Four in second place with 226.1 million tab views. Coming in third is pop megastar Taylor Swift with 167.8 million, and Metallica in fourth place with 125.9 million views.

When it comes to the specific songs that are most viewed, Sheeran’s Perfect lands at fourth place, with Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah, Oasis’ Wonderwall, and Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours all ranked above.

Whether you’re a Beatle fanatic or dedicated Swiftie, there’s one thing that we can surely all agree on – it’s great that people still want to pick up the guitar and learn something new, no matter the genre. And as noted by guitarguitar’s marketing director, Adam Speck, many of the songs within this study are pretty easy to learn, meaning less frustration and more dedication.

“It’s no surprise to see artists like Ed Sheeran, The Beatles, and Taylor Swift leading the list, with their timeless songs that translate beautifully to guitar,” he says.

“From classic ballads like Let It Be to modern favourites like Perfect, these are the tracks people dream of being able to pick up and play. What’s really encouraging is that so many of these songs are completely achievable for beginners with a bit of practice.”

Sheeran champions music across the talks he gives at UK schools, and he often donates guitars to the students. Earlier this year during his appearances on the Call Her Daddy podcast, he said that music helped him to build his self-esteem, as he felt he “wasn’t good at anything” as a child.

“I’d love my legacy to be [that] any kid, anywhere, literally anywhere, goes, ‘I can do that too,’” he said. “Music is a thing for kids that aren’t good at other things, who don’t have a lot of self-worth or self-confidence…

“[Music] gives you so much worth and confidence in yourself as a human being and in school there’s so much importance put on, ‘You must be good at this subject [to] actually be a good human being and to go out in the world and achieve’, and I just wasn’t good at anything as a kid and I didn’t have a lot of self-worth because of that – I felt like I was stupid,” he confessed.

Head over to Ed Sheeran’s official website to view the full list of his upcoming tour dates. 

The post Ed Sheeran is inspiring more people to play the guitar than The Beatles, according to a new study appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Gretsch has partnered with legendary London recording facility Abbey Road Studios on a limited-edition electric guitar, the Abbey Road RS201 Studiomatic.

Designed specifically for recording, Gretsch says, the RS201 Studiomatic’s signal path is literally infused with Abbey Road technology, with the integration of a circuit inspired by the RS 97 Rumble Filter. This classic piece of tech – designed in the 1950s by the EMI team at Abbey Road – aims to remove ultra low-frequencies and mechanical vibrations from recordings.

• READ MORE: The Tube Screamer’s original inventor teams up with TWA for the next evolution of his iconic drive pedal

The incorporation of this circuitry, the brand says, offers guitarists “unprecedented tonal control, retaining clarity in complex arrangements without sacrificing warmth”.

For a brief history lesson on the naming convention of equipment at Abbey Road Studios, the facility uses “RS” numbering to refer to equipment designed and built in-house by Abbey Road engineers. Notably, the RS201 Studiomatic marks the first time ever the “RS” numbering convention has been used on a musical instrument.

“Partnerships like this are the kind guitarists dream about,” says Max Gutnik, Chief Product Officer at Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC). Gretsch is one of many guitar brands owned by Fender.

“Gretsch and Abbey Road Studios share a legacy built on tone, feel and musical innovation. The Limited Edition Abbey Road RS201 Studiomatic was born from the idea of crafting a guitar that thrives in the studio: responsive, inspiring and sonically rich.”

Gutnik explains that “every detail” of the guitar was refined via close collaboration between Gretsch/Fender and Abbey Road Studios.

“The result is an instrument that invites players to explore new sounds while tapping directly into the lineage of recordings that defined modern music.”

“The evolution of this unique instrument has been a true collaboration between Gretsch and Abbey Road, driven by a shared desire to craft a guitar designed for mix readiness, sonic flexibility and great tone,” says Jeremy Huffelmann, General Manager of Abbey Road Studios.

“The RS 201 assignation is a testament to the technical innovation encompassed in this unique instrument, placing the Studiomatic in Abbey Road’s storied lineage of groundbreaking new technologies. It has been a joy to collaborate with our friends at Gretsch in creating the Limited Edition Abbey Road RS201 Studiomatic, and we couldn’t be more excited to hear the music it inspires in guitarists around the world.”

Aside from the onboard Rumble Filter-inspired circuitry, the RS201 Studiomatic sports a thin hollow-body build, as well as Filter’Tron pickups that are “both vintage-inspired and modern-voiced”.

Abbey Road Studios is one of the most iconic recording facilities in the world, giving its name to the classic 1969 Beatles album recorded there, as well as hundreds of classic records including Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), and the Beatles’ White Album (1968) and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).

The Gretsch Limited Edition Abbey Road RS201 Studiomatic is priced at £1,249/€1,499.

For more information, head to Gretsch.

The post Gretsch partners with Abbey Road on RS201 Studiomatic – a recording-focused hollow-body guitar infused with Abbey Road-designed circuitry appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Every guitarist has different preferences and needs. For some, the warmth of a tube amp and physical pedalboard can’t be beat. I once had a lecturer who took a deep sniff of a new pedal box – to each their own. For others, chunky gear, cables and potentially unreliable electronics can’t match the cleanliness and efficiency of a digital signal chain.

It’s by no means an absolute, and you can love both. On this occasion, I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this guide, there’s a part of you that falls into the latter camp. If you’re after a comprehensive look at amp modellers and sim pedals, be sure to read our previous guide on setting up a digital signal chain for home playing and recording. Absent from that feature was any mention of guitar plugins and the reason is simple – it’s a big subject.

If you’re already playing and/or recording guitar via a computer, feel free to jump ahead. If this is all new to you then stick around, because the next section is all about how you get your guitar and computer talking with one another.

How to play and record guitar on your computer

Connecting your guitar to your computer is relatively straightforward – it just requires a few essential components.

A fairly modern computer or laptop is essential. A decent amount of hard drive space will enable you to have multiple plugins and software ready to go. When paired with 16GB – 32GB of RAM, you’ll be able to smoothly run all software in tandem along with live playback and recording.

Next you’ll need a Digital Audio Workstation or DAW. This is the software that takes your guitar signal and allows you to record and edit it. It’s also what you’ll likely be integrating your guitar plugins into so that you can load them up quickly. Below are the most popular options, many of which come with a free timed trial or free feature-limited version:

• Logic Pro (macOS only)
• Pro Tools (Windows/macOS)
• Ableton Live (Windows/macOS)
• Cubase (Windows/macOS)
• Tracktion Waveform Free (Windows/macOS)

[products ids=”4cOxjY9hweLJpjNiHjUXjk,5bsho69kOOPPOwcY85zFhe,6G3oSKK3swkY4M4Xrjrad”]

[products ids=”32J3AaZhzExPBtxfjwXuOF,47mUcfTSZLyYExiIjSOf1I”]

Now for the crucial link – an audio interface. This is what takes the signal from your guitar to your computer and DAW. Focusrite’s Scarlett 2i2 and Audient’s iD4 are popular choices for guitarists, but we recommend researching based on your needs. Many audio interfaces will come with a ‘lite’ version of a DAW, such as Ableton Live Lite or Cubase LE, which kills two birds with one stone.

[products ids=”7rtt4qzuJpAWp0eF7ad585,69ARyGFpRDFet9DZNLaqIE”]

Finally, make sure you’ve got some headphones and/or speakers. When playing and recording, any half-decent pair of headphones or speakers will do the job.

Now, before we dive into our list, there are a couple of important things to mention. Every free and paid plugin we’ve featured is compatible with both Windows and macOS. Excluding Guitar Rig 7 Player, each plugin will work in all major DAWs or as a standalone app.

For the paid guitar plugins, all of them have free trials available and they regularly go on sale, so while I may reference their affordability or premium pricing, they are discounted throughout the year.

Now that you possess everything you need to play and record guitar using your computer, let’s check out the plugins we think are worth experimenting with.

Our favourite free guitar plugins

Best for beginners: Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Player

[products ids=”4BW3wG2Y4WvTS8dWN9PXAE”]

A feature-limited version of their pro version, Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig 7 Player is a fantastic starting point for free amp simulation and multi-effects. Out of the box, you’ll find two amp and cabinet sets, plus 26 creative effects and sounds.

Building your signal chain is intuitive with a drag-and-drop interface. When coupled with Native’s Intelligent Circuit Modeling (ICM), which mimics the behaviour of hardware through machine learning, Guitar Rig 7 Player does a great job of delivering realism and depth to the sounds you’re creating.

If you’re interested in trying your hand at music production, I’d recommend downloading Komplete Start – a free plugin bundle that includes Guitar Rig 7 Player along with so many other instruments, sounds and creative effects.

Best for customisation: Neural Amp Modeller

Download at neuralampmodeler.com.

Next up is Neural Amp Modeller, an open-source software that offers almost unlimited options for both digital amps and effects pedals. It’s built around the Snapshot plugin – a simple device that allows you to load in your favourite amp and effects pedal sounds, which have been captured and uploaded by the community.

You can also load IRs or Impulse Responses. These are what adds realism to the sounds as IRs capture not just the amp and cabinet sound, but the microphone placement and reverb of the space in which they were captured.

You will need to visit TONE3000 to download your chosen suite of amp and effects sounds, but otherwise, Neural Amp Modeller is an easy-to-use and endlessly customisable free guitar plugin.

Best all-rounder: IK Multimedia Amplitube 5 CS

[products ids=”6PqbtRHuqHqm8nuSpzjpTf”]

If you like the sound of what the Neural Amp Modeller offers, but want it pre-packaged, IK Multimedia’s Amplitube 5 CS may be for you. Much like Guitar Rig, this is a feature-limited version of the paid version, but you’re still getting a great selection.

Amplitube 5 CS comes with digital recreations of 10 stompbox models, six amplifiers, seven cabinets, four speakers, three microphones, six rack effect units and six room sounds. Many of these bits of ‘gear’ are modelled on iconic real-world equipment such as Marshall’s JCM800, Fender’s Deluxe Reverb, AKG’s 414 microphone and the Neumann U87 microphone.

Amplitube also integrates IK’s TONEX modelling software, which I’ll be talking about later in our best paid guitar plugins.

Our favourite paid guitar plugins

Best for beginners: Blackstar St. James Plugin

[products ids=”7zTtpBIMX91PfmBmf1mMks”]

Unlike the other plugins I’ll be covering, the St. James Plugin is a very lean package – recreating just the EL34 and 6L6 amps.

Featuring a super straightforward UI, pre and post-effects and CabRig, there’s a surprising amount of depth to the sounds you can create, from crisp cleans to modern metal. Mic positions can only be set on- or off-axis, but you’ll still have lots of opportunities for customisation.

In our review, Cillian Breathnach said, “The St. James still offers a lot of great guitar sounds for less than the price of a single hardware pedal. The fact that it includes two wildly different flavours of tube amp also means it’s an inherently versatile thing to have in your production toolbox, and for those who want to dip their toe into what amps can offer, it’s a pretty great initial overview.”

Best specialised plugins: Neural DSP Archetype and amp sims

[products ids=”2iwHG2xa95HBw7EOB8dQEG,5EzOG3yss7KrGybKjNerE8,1FqMQ47OLFWVg4vLJhKrSB,uY6UjeviFrSATipw9fOIj”]

[products ids=”MPmv0JHB0NRTQbSj8R5D9,mcf5bcf4rNcTOD5CzD5gU,3mAR4HiwOtcvm9nglShUM3,7iEGWJAYRhBbx96KxA1nqK”]

When it comes to digital amp sims, Neural DSP has cornered the market. Before the Quad Cortex, Neural began life with stellar amp sims and their acclaimed Archetype series.

To date, Archetype has recreated the classic tones of Tom Morello, Tosin Abasi, Cory Wong, Plini, Gojira and many more. From recreating an artist’s studio signal chain and effects, to capturing their visual aesthetic in the user interface, Neural’s Archetype plugins are the perfect companion for players wanting to sound like their guitar icons.

If you’re looking for more versatility, Neural has many excellent amp sims to choose from. In our review of the Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ Suite, we said, “…if you are drawn by the convenience of a good amp plugin, but didn’t want to leave behind the experience of a real amp, this might be the best €99 you could spend.”

Best for official emulations: IK Multimedia TONEX

[products ids=”7pxq3a8KcIboUg2wcMNoVj”]

IK Multimedia’s TONEX stands apart by recreating real-world gear, so if you’re keen on trying out official digital versions of Fender, Orange and Marshall amps – to name a few – this will be right up your street.

As well as playing with iconic amps, you can also capture the sounds of your own equipment. There are three tiers available ranging from €49.99 – €249.99. The ‘Max’ version opens up 1000 tones and unlimited access to user-created Tone Models via IK’s ToneNET user community. As I alluded to earlier, TONEX can be paired with Amplitube, so if you’re working with a smaller budget, you can still create a fairly robust setup.

In our review of TONEX ‘Max’, Darran Charles said, “…TONEX offers you the ability to profile your own rig, with the added bonus of a wealth of professional quality tones on offer, for a price that is vastly more affordable than the competition. Impressive stuff.”

Best value for money: Two Notes Genome

[products ids=”4oJJUsu8HhXHgX2N86DGFl”]

Offering a focused set of virtual amps, cabs and pedals, Genome is both affordable and a great way to experiment without being overwhelmed.

We loved the clean and distorted sounds, not to mention the endless tweaking of the IRs. Creating your signal chain is super easy thanks to an intuitive drag-and-drop block system, and best of all, Genome has excellent third-party compatibility. This means that if you’ve been experimenting with Neural Amp Modeller, for example, you can load these amp/pedal captures into Genome and tweak them using its EQ and effects.

In our review, Cillian Breathnach gave Genome a 9/10 and said, “With a focused set of virtual amps, cabs and pedals, Genome’s streamlined approach makes it a very appealing option for an affordable ‘full signal chain’ plugin.”

Best for JHS fans: MixWave: JHS Loud Is More Good Collection

[products ids=”5DEKHw7e4MvMAUTyptmI66″]

Our final pick is a bit of an outlier in that its focus is on digital emulations of stompboxes, rather than amplifiers – though they have included one amp for good measure. The MixWave: JHS Loud Is More Good Collection may be a mouthful to say, but the package is simple: five digital JHS stompboxes and a recreation of the JHS/Milkman Loud Is More Good amplifier.

As expected, the pedals on offer here sound fantastic, with the Morning Glory and Hard Drive overdrives featuring a bonus clean blend control, which is absent on their physical counterparts. In addition to these two overdrives, there’s the Pulp ‘n’ Peel compressor, Panther Club delay and NÖTASPRING reverb. The amp sim isn’t quite as feature-rich and customisable, but is a strong pedal platform.

In our review, we said, “It’s not going to solve all your problems… but if you’re broadly happy with your existing sim setup and just fancy adding a few high-quality extras, there’s no harm in taking MixWave’s free two-week trial for a spin.”

The post Plugins baby – An essential guide to free and paid guitar plugins appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

One of Ace Frehley’s ‘Smoker’ Les Paul guitars, which was used during his final tour with Kiss, is being sold at auction.

Frehley used a number of Smoker guitars across his time with the band, with the first instance of him debuting the trick dating back to 1975. The model that is currently under the hammer has a sunburst finish and was used during his final Kiss shows between 1999 and 2001.

• READ MORE: “I owe not just an artistic debt to him, but a life debt to him”: Tom Morello on the genius of Ace Frehley

The auction is live now via Gotta Have Rock and Roll, and will run until 5 December. The unique axe also comes with photographs of Frehley with the guitar, as reported by Rolling Stone. Frehley originally used smoke bombs to create the effect, which he placed in the back cavity of his Les Pauls, but this later adaptation was modified to smoke from the neck pickup.

The visual stunts Kiss implemented into their shows didn’t always go smoothly, and Frehley looked back on some of their biggest mishaps earlier this year. He told MusicRadar in January that his rocket-firing guitar trick nearly once collided with bassist Gene Simmons.

“I fired one of those rockets at Gene and it almost fucking hit him,” Frehley recalled with a laugh. “It flew right by his head. It would have burned him pretty bad.”

He also mentioned the nifty smoke bomb trick: “I burned my leg real bad once back in the ‘70s, man,” he said. “A smoke bomb ignited too early inside the cavity of the guitar, and it melted the asbestos – which our fucking costumes were made from – to my thigh.”

Frehley sadly passed away back in October, and reports later revealed his cause of death as blunt trauma injuries to his head, sustained following a fall. A number of musicians came forward and shared their tributes to the Spaceman, including his former Kiss bandmates, as well as artists such as Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, and John 5.

Last week (14 November), Kiss also honoured Frehley during an unmasked acoustic performance as part of their KISS Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas three-day celebration. The striped back set marked their first live appearance together since retiring from touring in 2023, and included classics such as Beth, Hard Luck Woman, and Nothin’ to Lose.

Before the music began, Paul Stanley invited fans to raise candles as the band reflected on Frehley’s legacy: “Before we get going, we just wanted to take a moment to think about somebody who was at the foundation of this band. We’re talking about Ace. Why don’t we take a moment, a little quiet, think about him looking down on us – from [the planet] Jendell, probably – let’s have a moment for Ace. Candles up,” he said.

Head over to Gotta Have Rock and Roll to find out more about the Smoker guitar auction.

The post Ace Frehley used a guitar that produced smoke on his final tour with Kiss – and it’s headed to the auction block appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$229/£219, warmaudio.com

Texas based Warm Audio have earned a reputation for quality sonic hardware – based on classic vintage designs – with a look that often scrapes painfully close to the originals. Cheeky, but we will allow it. In the case of the new Throne of Tone this means a double wide anger box bristling with no less than eight knobs, seven toggle switches, and a heavy 1990s blue on black Marshall aesthetic. Oh Lord.

• READ MORE: Chase Bliss Brothers AM review: “it could easily be the last drive pedal you ever buy”

Warm Audio Throne Of Tone – what is it?

As the name and visuals might suggest, the Throne of Tone is an amalgam of the Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal and the Analog Man King Of Tone (itself a modified Bluesbreaker at heart) – not only that but you can double up on either option or run one circuit into the other. I’ll explain.

Each half of the Throne of Tone is identical and offers volume, gain, tone and presence controls with your choice of either the Bluesbreaker or KOT voicing. This can be further tweaked with a choice of Boost, OD and Distortion textures and a High or Low gain stage. A top-mounted toggle switch allows you to swap the pedal order in your chain and there’s an internal effects loop too. Fun!

Warm Audio Throne of Tone – usability and sounds

Here’s the thing. For Warm Audio to be doing anything other than trolling classic IPs, this USA designed, Chinese made pedal had better be pretty bloody good. Time to plug in a Les Paul!

The lower gain grumble of a Marshall JTM45 combo in the hands of Eric Clapton inspired the original Bluesbreaker pedal in the 1990s, and Marshall recently rereleased the Bluesbreaker pedal. We can thank a certain John Mayer for that. Having owned an original I can confirm that this is all but identical in voice but the additional tweaks offered here are very welcome.

The KOT side of things is also extremely convincing – a little creamier and more detailed than the original Marshall unit as you’d hope.

The most interesting addition here is the presence knob, which is not available on either of the original units. And it makes a big difference – adding a slice of 500Hz-2.3kHz top end sizzle.

The gain stage elements are also very immediate and intuitive in use. In particular the high gain option takes us off into Soldano territory with corresponding pick squeal and feedback hilarity. Joyful.

Warm Audio Throne of Tone – should I buy one?

At its heart this pedal can be as simple or complex as you need it to be. If you want fuss-free low and high gain options from the same box then it has you covered. If your sonic desires lean more towards achingly precise timbral sculpture you will find that here too.

The fact that you can tweak both sides of the pedal and/or run them together makes this a very versatile and heavy hitting option. No doubt some players will still lust after an original Bluesbreaker pedal or sit on the KOT waiting list for years, and that’s fine too. But now, there’s this. And it’s very good indeed.

Warm Audio Throne of Tone – alternatives

Whether you’re talking about the Bluesbreaker or the King Of Tone, there are various options out there that don’t require a Reverb deep dive or a years-long waiting list. Marshall reissued the Bluesbreaker ($199), complete with original enclosure, a few years back and it was very good indeed. For the KOT, you’ve got options at both ends of the price spectrum – the MXR Duke Of Tone ($159) offers one half of the original and sounds impressively close. If you want another ‘enhanced’ take on the format – albeit one that’s made in partnership with the Analog Man himself – the Chase Bliss Brothers AM adds presets, an extra boost circuit and various other under-the-hood shaping options.

The post Warm Audio Throne of Tone review: “this pedal can be as simple or complex as you need it to be” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Hayden Pedigo performs “Long Pond Lily” from his 2025 album, I’ll Be Waving as You Drive Away at the Fretboard Journal.

https://www.instagram.com/amarillohighway/?hl=en

https://linktr.ee/haydenpedigo

The post Hayden Pedigo – “Long Pond Lily” first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

PRS Guitars today announced the PRS Fiore HH, a dual-humbucker version of GRAMMY® Award-winning guitarist, composer, producer Mark Lettieri’s signature model. An addition to the Fiore family, the Fiore HH offers a new configuration, changing from the original’s single-single-hum, to hum only. It is available in both gloss and satin finishes.

“For players who love the specifications and versatility of the original Fiore but whose sound revolves more around humbuckers, this is the guitar for you,” said Mark Lettieri.

With a swamp ash body, 25.5” scale length maple neck, 22-fret maple fretboard, and two-point steel tremolo, the Fiore HH offers another tonal platform for those searching for vibrancy, dynamics, balance, and clarity.

The Fiore-H humbuckers have enough power and punch for high-gain lead tones but with a smooth top end that allows the pickup to be played clean, even with the volume knob wide open. By pairing these pickups with a master volume, two push/pull tone knobs, and 3-way blade switch, the Fiore HH brings exciting voicing options to players. Each tone control acts as an individual series/parallel selector for each pickup. When in series, the pickups offer the full humbucker sound - warm full lows and mids and an articulate top end. When in parallel, the pickups take on more of a single-coil sparkle with a slightly scooped feel and more brilliance. In all, players can explore eight tonal combinations.

The original Fiore is still in the PRS Bolt-On Series catalog as well, in all of its single-single-hum glory.

For all of the latest news, click www.prsguitars.com/40 and follow @prsguitars on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, X, and YouTube.