Norse Guitar Feeds

Gibson, the iconic instrument brand, has shaped sound across generations and genres of music, becoming one of the most relevant, played, and loved guitar brands worldwide. As a true pioneer of the electric guitar and pickup design, Gibson’s nearly 90 years of research and manufacturing have defined the sound of countless musicians and music lovers. Since 1935, Gibson has been the source of the world’s finest pickups—standard-setting components wound in its own factories, though not widely known to the public. Gibson’s original “Patent Applied For” humbuckers™ from the 1950s are considered the holy grail of humbucking tone, highly influential and often imitated, and every modern Gibson pickup continues that tradition of superior construction, crafted in Nashville, Tennessee, from premium materials using time-tested methods.

Today, the Gibson Pickup Shop proudly introduces the 1959 Humbucker Collector’s Edition Series 3, limited to only 1,000 sets and available at authorized Gibson dealers, Gibson Garage locations in Nashville and London, and online at Gibson.com.

“With the 1959 Humbucker Collector’s Edition Series 3, we’ve pushed the boundaries of historical accuracy and tonal integrity even further,” says Jared Brandon, Pickup Product Manager. “Every detail—from the Double Vintage White butyrate bobbins to the Alnico 3 roughcast magnets—was chosen to honor the spirit and sonic magic of the original ‘Patent Applied For’ pickups. This set is not just a tribute; it’s a time capsule for tone purists and collectors alike.”

Explore your sound with the 1959 Humbucker Collector’s Edition Series 3 HERE, and view the full Gibson Pickup Shop Collection, HERE.

Revered by players and collectors alike, Gibson’s legendary “Patent Applied For” humbucking pickups have inspired countless replicas over the decades. The originals featured a range of Alnico magnet types—including Alnico 2, Alnico 3, and Alnico 4—and remain among the most sought-after vintage components in existence, especially when the rare opportunity arises to acquire a set.

Through a meticulous process involving 3D scanning, scientific analysis, reverse engineering of late-1950s examples, and reference to archival Gibson specifications, the Gibson Pickup Shop has crafted its most precise reproductions to date. This Collector’s Edition Series 3 set comes housed in a premium Lifton™ case and showcases Double Vintage White butyrate bobbins, Alnico 3 roughcast long magnets, historically accurate nickel covers, and aged Cream M69 mounting rings. Every metal component—from the silver-nickel covers and baseplates to the screws and springs—has been expertly aged by the Murphy Lab team. Only 1,000 sets will be produced, each serialized with 1959-style numbering.

Dipping their toe into the digital bath of glitch synthesis pedals, Electro-Harmonix introduces the Pico-sized Atomic Cluster Spectral Decomposer. Unlike any other EHX pedal before, the Atomic Cluster uses a unique algorithm to reduce the frequency resolution of your instrument and create a wide range of effects from rhythmic lo-fi glitch and auto-arpeggio tones to ambient synth pads and more.

Housed in EHX’s Pico-sized chassis, the Atomic Cluster main controls for sound manipulation are ATOMS and SPEED. ATOMS controls the number of simultaneous resonant oscillations produced at a time, creating more pixelated, glitchier sound as oscillations are reduced. SPEED adjusts the oscillation refresh rate, ranging from more rhythmic effects to complete random chaos. This rate can also be set by tap tempo. Additional VOL and BLEND controls adjust overall output level and wet/dry mix respectively. A MODE button selects between oscillation transition envelope shapes. SHARP creates instant, choppy effects, while SMOOTH can be used to build more lush, ambient sounds.

This compact sound twister ships with standard EHX 9 Volt power supply, is available now and has a U.S. Street Price of $129.00.

Ad feature with BOSS

For 30 years, pedal-based pitch-shifting pedals have been utilised by some of the greatest and most influential guitar players of the modern era to create unique and interesting sounds that simply didn’t exist before.

But so impactful has the venerable Whammy been in this sphere, it’s been a long time since anyone has offered something truly new in that world – until now. It’s fitting that BOSS, would be the one to bring something new and exciting to the table in the shape of the XS-100 Poly Shifter and it’s little brother the stompbox-sized XS-1. Bringing five decades of bleeding-edge expertise to bear, the Poly Shifters have been years in the making – and it’s more than worth the wait.

The Poly Shifters are more than just pedals, they’re advanced pitch-shifting workstations that reimagine pitch shifting for the modern player – courtesy of advanced technology that offers a more natural, precise and smooth tracking than ever seen before.

The full-sized XS-100 lets you glide a whopping four octaves up or down with ease, while the pedal itself offers deep customisation to ensure the sound is all your own. You can program the pedal switches to enable momentary drops or rises. The dedicated retune switch also enables you to digitally change the tuning of your instrument in a heartbeat, with a wealth of drop tuning and simulated capo options. All with the natural and precise note tracking the likes of which has never been seen on a pedal before.

And the best part is, once you’ve found the sound that inspires you most of all, you can save it to one of the 30 onboard memories to recall at your leisure, and thanks to the clear and concise built-in display you never need to worry about what’s gonna happen when you step on it in the heat of battle.

 

Image: BOSS

The Artist’s Choice

Given the game-changing evolutionary leap that the Poly Shifter represents, it’s hardly surprising that just weeks after its launch, artists are already starting to take advantage of its remarkable capabilities to push them into new musical territories.

“I’ve tried out a few popular choices in the market, but they’ve always had trouble tracking the note, and seem limited to doing only one thing.” explains Jonathan Jourdan, guitarist in Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth band. “With the XS-1 I feel like the tracking is immediate and just inspires me as I play.”

Another artist to extoll the Poly Shifter’s virtues is Night Verses’ Nick DePirro. “I’ve used several forms of pitch shifters as part of my playing for a long time, some with expression pedals and some without,” he explains. “I’ve always liked how they allow you to extend the range of your notes by adding more octaves and harmonies, as well as being able to make sounds you wouldn’t be able to do without an expression pedal.”

For Nick, the XS-100’s treadle-based pitch-shifting is a dream, and has immediately carved out a place as its own thing.

“The travel distance from up to down position on the expression seems shorter than others, which gives it its own feel,” he observes. “Also, having both the effect and drop switch right next to each other in that amount of space is nice. Sound wise, I think the pitch sounds very clean between both low and high octaves – it has a bit of its own pitch tone to it in that regard.”

Image: BOSS

The transposition effects on the Poly Shifter is something that really appeals to Snarky Puppy guitar maestro Mark Lettieri, who’s been having fun with the XS-1.

“It does a pretty stellar job at transposing in half-steps,” Mark tells us. “Where I’ve found it really shines is in its harmonization features – particularly in 4ths and 5ths – which can be used to create some cool, almost synth-like chords.”

It’s not just heavy guitarists who are finding the XS-100 a remarkable and inspirational new tool – modern blues virtuoso Eric Gales has spent some time with the pedal and has come away suitably impressed.
“I love how clean it is being able to shift keys and not have that computerized sound like others do,” he reveals. “I’ve been so blown away by that feature alone.”

Another unique feature of the XS-100 that DePirro has already made use of is the ability to set the pitch travel in increments of half a step.
“My favorite thing is that you can specifically set the pitch in increments of half step, single note movements, which provides a very smooth and consistent bend/expressive motion,” Nick reflects. “While there is some nuance and character to discovering those positions manually, it’s nice to have a consistent, more guaranteed option as well.

I’m currently working on a new Night Verses record and so far, that half step incremental option has inspired me quite a bit. I like to bend harmonics and chords with pitch effects, and having the ability to do it in a way that I can repeat consistently, especially when double tracking guitars with the same riff, makes it pretty inspiring.”

Image: BOSS

Transposition is another key part of any pitch-shifting pedal worth its salt, and the XS-1 has already excelled for Nick in this regard as part of his Mammoth touring rig – and he admits he’s barely scratched the surface.

“I think there’s a lot to unpack with XS1,” he enthuses. “I currently use it as a lower octave blend, but the detuning options are out of this world and extremely accurate compared to other options I’ve tried. I can see myself exploring new tunings with that feature.”

There’s something exciting and reassuring about seeing a name as storied, trusted and innovative as BOSS bring something truly new to the pitch-shifting world, and it’s clear our artists felt the same having spent some time with the Poly Shifter in both its forms.

“I think BOSS have always put out quality and well executed effect pedals, built like tanks on top of that,” DePirro explains. “It’s exciting to see them create a new pitch effect in this form.”

If you’re curious about how the Poly Shifter can shift your perceptions of what a pitch shifter is capable of, don’t listen to us – listen to the artists using it, and check one out now.

Find out more about the XS-100 and XS-1 pedals at boss.info

Image: BOSS

The post “It just inspires me as I play” how BOSS’s XS-100 is inspiring a new generation of pitch-shifting guitar wizards appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Gibson has announced the return of two legendary solidbody models: the Les Paul Junior Double Cut and the Les Paul Special Double Cut. First released in the 1950s, these guitars helped define rock ’n’ roll with their raw tone, playability, and unmistakable P‑90 grit.

• READ MORE: Kirk Hammett is auctioning his silver Gibson CEO4 SG from Black Sabbath’s farewell show – plus more than 150 guitars from his collection

The Les Paul Junior Double Cut was first introduced in 1954 as a no-frills student model, quickly earning praise for its “stripped-down simplicity” and “surprising versatility”. The guitar’s double-cut mahogany body, SlimTaper mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets make it fast and comfortable, while a single Dogear P‑90 pickup delivers tones from sweet and clean to snarling overdrive.

Controls are straightforward, with a single volume and tone knob with an Orange Drop capacitor for added tonal flexibility. Meanwhile, a wraparound bridge, Graph Tech nut, and Vintage Deluxe tuners with white buttons keep tuning stable for all your gigs.

The Les Paul Special followed in 1955 as an upgraded version of the Les Paul Junior, adding a second P‑90 pickup, dedicated volume and tone controls, fretboard binding, and a mother-of-pearl headstock logo. It moved to a double-cutaway body in 1958 for better upper-fret access and received a SlimTaper neck update in 1960.

Today’s Special Double Cut retains that classic design with a double-cut mahogany body, SlimTaper neck, bound rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and acrylic dot inlays, and hand-wired P‑90s for maximum tonal versatility.

Three-way pickup selection and Orange Drop capacitors add further sonic flexibility, while the wraparound bridge and Gibson Vintage Deluxe tuners keep the instrument stable and expressive.

The Gibson Les Paul Junior Double Cut is priced at $1,699, while the Les Paul Special Double Cut comes in at $1,999. Both models are available in Ebony, Vintage Cherry, and TV Yellow finishes, and come shipped with a protective hardshell case.

Learn more at Gibson. 

The post Gibson revives two well-loved student models from the 50s: The Les Paul Junior Double Cut and Les Paul Special Double Cut appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

At this year’s Guitar Summit in Mannheim, Kris Barocsi and Guillaume Chenin from Thomann sat down with EMG founder Rob Turner to talk about the company’s early days – and how his studio-minded designs unexpectedly became a cornerstone of heavy music.

“The heavy metal thing was actually not my first intention,” Turner admits. “When we started making product, we were more into the studio sort of aspect of it – for cleanness of the signal. You could record it direct, you could play it through an amp… and that was the primary intent.”

• READ MORE: Kirk Hammett is auctioning his silver Gibson CEO4 SG from Black Sabbath’s farewell show – plus more than 150 guitars from his collection

He adds that EMG’s design brought several unexpected benefits. “You didn’t have to ground the strings of the instrument anymore. It sounded the same wireless as it did through a cable. It was very predictable in that sense.”

But as Turner explains, that clarity and consistency also made the EMGs irresistible to the growing heavy metal scene of the 1980s. “The heavy metal crowd adopted it because I believe the cleanliness was part of a necessity,” he says. “The passive humbuckers were a little too muddy. And when you wanted to mix them in, it was very difficult to find a spot in the mix. And we just happened to become a part of it. It was not an intention by any means.”

That unexpected rise to prominence was helped by a serendipitous early encounter with one of metal’s biggest names: “Kirk [Hammett] was the first one to actually… he called up and said that he wanted to do an instrument, but I had no idea who he was. I don’t think he knew who he was, actually,” Turner recalls with a laugh.

According to Turner, Metallica were still trying to secure a record deal at the time: “He was in a band and they were trying to get a record deal and all of that,” he says. “But he had this purple Stratocaster that he brought up… it had two single coils and a humbucker in it, and we just simply, you know, did an installation for him while he waited. He took it back with him, and it kind of went from there.”

That modest installation would go on to help define the sound of a generation. By the late ’80s and early ’90s, EMG’s active pickups had become synonymous with heavy metal – prized for their powerful tone, surgical clarity, and noise-free performance.

Watch the full interview below.

Browse the latest product lineup at EMG.

The post “The heavy metal thing was not my first intention”: The creator of EMG pickups never meant for them to become the choice of metal guitarists appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Ad feature with Sweetwater

Black Friday is almost here! And it’s the perfect time to grab a holiday gift for the guitarist in your life, or save big on your dream instrument. Sweetwater’s Cyber Week sales mean substantial discounts on everything from essential accessories to some seriously impressive guitars – there are over 400 deals in total, with new savings added daily, and fast, free shipping included. We’ve picked out some highlights to get you started on your deal-hunting journey – let’s dive in.

Save $300 on a Strandberg Boden Essential 6 in Astro Dust – was $1099, now $799

[deals ids=”5ajkDmMcaFa3f6SfStzsgF”]

This headless wonder brings Strandberg’s wild design philosophy to a more affordable price-point – even more so this Cyber Week thanks to a hefty $300 discount. If you’ve ever wanted to dive into the world of ergonomic, headless guitars, this is an amazing starting point – there’s a standard non-fanned fretboard for some degree of familiarity, but you still get access to Strandberg’s innovative neck profile and versatile humbuckers.

Save $194.9 on a Electro-Harmonix Soul POG – was $324.8, now $129.90

[deals ids=”34qdTkQKCduwibrCCzXpM3″]

Want some polyphonic octaves but with a little more grit than the standard POG? There’s a huge discount of 50% to be had on this Electro-Harmonix Soul POG, a dual pedal that mashes up the Klon-inspired drive sounds of the Soul Food with the multi-octave pitching of the POG, allowing for some awesome overdriven octave sounds – and for only $129.90, you’re effectively getting two amazing effects for the price of one!

Save $170 on a PRS Sonzera 20 combo amp – was $1099, now $929

[deals ids=”3sWLFDfkxDtDs6R8bIcxJ2″]

There’s an awesome saving to be had on this versatile combo amplifier from PRS. This 20-watt 1×12 tube amplifier can handle everything from the most pristine of cleans to thick, saturated crunch. You also get all of the bells and whistles you might need from a modern tube amplifier, including footswitch control, an effects loop, and multiple speaker outputs to expand your sound. However, the included 12-inch celestion speaker and 20 watts of tube power will still do a great job at projecting you over most drummers!

Save $10.63 on a GHS GBL-6 Guitar Boomers Electric Guitar Strings – was $37.62, now $26.99

[deals ids=”40JhyY6FZBikVks0Sbk4RQ”]

A great stocking stuffer for the guitarist in your life? This six-pack of GHS Boomers is now even better value thanks to a discount down to just $26.99. Breaking a string without a backup is any guitarist’s worst nightmare – one that can be avoided if you stock up!

Save $18.75 on a RockBoard by Warwick Tres 3.1 Pedalboard – was $124.99, now $106.24

[deals ids=”2wZaz23Q1iy6lb61WK5fJz”]

The Rockboard Tres 3.1 Pedalboard is a great mid-sized option for guitarists of all stripes. With a lightweight build and easily cable-managed design, you also have the ability to add a Rockboard Mod module to expand the board out with a patch bay or other utility connections – perfect for easy setups and teardowns, while keeping things neat!

Save $200 on a Taylor x MLB GS Mini Acoustic Guitar – Los Angeles Dodgers – was $799, now $599

[deals ids=”vjnQgjlcahjeBhhlC1YHb”]

This is one for the Baseball fan in your life, who also happens to love top-quality compact acoustic guitars. With sapele back and sides and a torrefied Sitka spruce top, the Taylor GS Mini punches well above its size class – and thanks to Taylor’s signature neck carve and an ebony fingerboard, you’ve got great playability to boot. It’s not just an LA Dodgers collab too – other MLB teams are available!

Save $124.5 on a Tech 21 SansAmp Character Plus – was $249, now $124.5

[deals ids=”RlVILCMb1r3SoBnpCx4os”]

Tech 21’s Character Plus series celebrates iconic amp-and-pedal combos from history. These compact pedal units provide three different combos of drive pedals and preamp circuits, allowing for some classic tones right at your feet, with versatile switching arrangements to boot.

Save $100 on a Exclusive Olive Green Line 6 HX Stomp – was $699, now $599

[deals ids=”2h1HmawVMN3Opg6Bha2bKn”]

The HX Stomp is one of the most powerful modelling units out there, packing tons of different tones into a pedalboard-friendly unit that leverages Line 6’s decades of digital experience. For Black Friday you can save $100 on a Sweetwater-exclusive Olive Green variant – perfect if the only analogue pedal in your rig is a Sovtek Big Muff, and you want to keep a consistent colour scheme!

Save $300 on a Epiphone Dave Grohl DG-335 in Pelham Blue – was $1299, now $999

[deals ids=”NrdxNGrLq9w1aMD482G8Z”]

Foo fans finally have a standard production model of Dave Grohl’s otherwise hard-to-find signature Trini Lopez 335 – and for Black Friday you can save a substantial $300 on the guitar. This premium Epiphone model replicates Grohl’s ultra-rare Gibson Custom DG-335 signature model, with the same unique aesthetic appointments, and the very same Gibson USA Burstbucker pickups for that signature dynamic and punchy PAF tone.

The post The Ultimate Guitarist’s Holiday Gift Guide – brought to you by Sweetwater appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

He may be one of the most inventive guitarists to ever stand beside Ozzy Osbourne, but Jake E. Lee has long felt overlooked when it comes to the Prince of Darkness’s storied career.

Now, the 68-year-old musician admits that taking part in Osbourne’s farewell show, Back to the Beginning, made him feel “special” after years of being treated like a “forgotten footnote”.

• READ MORE: “Not a day goes by when I don’t ask myself, why am I here and not them?”: Ozzy Osbourne’s posthumous book reveals he was haunted by Randy Rhoads’ death for the rest of his life

Speaking on Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast, Lee reflects on the emotional week leading up to the star-studded event.

“It was a great week for me,” says the guitarist, whose stint in Osbourne’s solo band lasted from 1982 to 1987. “Maybe one of the best weeks of my life. I came in there feeling kind of like a footnote, maybe even an almost forgotten footnote: ‘Oh, yeah, we’ll throw him in there too.’ But everybody treated me so respectfully and [there was] encouragement and support from everybody. It made me feel special.”

Lee says that for decades, his contributions to Osbourne’s catalogue – most notably on Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin – have often gone unacknowledged: “I’m not mentioned much in documentaries and things about Ozzy,” he notes. “At the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, you know, not a photo.”

Which was why the invitation to join Back to the Beginning came as a pleasant surprise. According to Lee, the call came from none other than Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, who served as the event’s musical director.

“When Tom called, I didn’t know why,” Lee recalls. “I’d never met him before, but when he called me he said, ‘I can’t imagine doing this without you.’ Hmm, really? Cool! I’m in! I mean, if for no other reason than just to be there for Black Sabbath: all original [members], final show. I’d do it just for that. I’d go tech for somebody!”

Besides being a reunion of legends and Ozzy’s final show before his death just weeks later, Back to the Beginning also marked Lee’s first major public performance after he was shot outside his Las Vegas home in October 2024. Three bullets struck him during the attack – one passing through his right forearm – and the guitarist spent time in intensive care recovering. Now, months later, Jake reveals he’s still rebuilding strength in his picking hand.

“I went to physical therapy, where they build up the muscles and make sure they’re stretched and not as bad,” he explains. “It used to be that I couldn’t open doors. That would hurt… Now, it doesn’t really hurt. I get some discomfort after I play guitar for a couple hours, but not a lot: just enough to guide me towards re-training my right hand on how to pick.”

The post “I’m not mentioned much in documentaries and things about Ozzy”: Jake E. Lee felt like a “forgotten footnote” in Ozzy Obsourne’s legacy – until Back to the Beginning appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The pursuit of guitar tone is seemingly endless, new pedals arriving on the scene that rehash (in)famous sounds and circuits, albeit with their own unique stamp on it. But if you look at the pedalboard of practically any famous guitarist you can mention, you’ll likely see not one dirt pedal but several – and often they’re all on at the same time.

This is because there’s a certain magic that happens when you run one circuit into another – it clips and shifts the tone in certain ways that wouldn’t be possible going direct, and sometimes the results are greater than the sum of its parts.

• READ MORE: The best effect pedals for all styles and budgets

This is what’s known in the guitar world as ‘gain stacking’ and it’s become an incredibly popular way of getting the best out of your tone. But what’s actually going on here? Well, let’s see if we can break it down…

Different pedals do different things to our presence, frequency response and dynamics, and as such they’ll affect how our tone arrives, and clips, at a distortion or overdrive stage. Do you want a cleaner, more refined and crisp drive sound arriving at a dirtier pedal, or do you want overdriven, gritty tone to be sculpted by a cleaner circuit after the fact?

The way distortion clips the signal can be drastically different and is dependent on what part of the frequency spectrum hits that threshold of distortion first. An overly bright tone might have the attack and crispness subdued as the higher frequencies might be distorted first, and the same is true for mids and lows.

Similarly, drastic EQ changes might allow us to distort those highs, for example, without the mids and lows clipping. In this sense, stacking pedals to clip, distort and drive differently is a form of multi-band processing. A little aside as we are discussing gain stacking here, but EQ pedals are a great way to utilise this!

If you’ll indulge me further, I spend a lot of time as a music producer encouraging bands to pursue their own sound. We all want to sound like those who inspire us, but there’s a few reasons that it’s really important for us to also sound unique. Firstly, replicating a sound or tone can really date your music, either recorded or live, and it’ll easily get lost in the mire of countless other bands.

Secondly, it’s difficult, nigh impossible, to recreate a tone exactly, and clients and myself are often left focusing on what a sound isn’t, rather than what it is. Finally, and possibly most important of all, is that no one can sound like you, and that’s what makes your sound (and the sounds of our heroes) really cool. Pull influence from everywhere you can, but remember that the sum of all parts is what makes something unique, so throw all those sounds in a melting pot and see what you come up with.

What pedals are good for gain stacking?

A few common tone stacking options are the Ibanez Tube Screamer and Way Huge Swollen Pickle drives, used to shape tone before another drive is used for the main drive. The Tube Screamer, usually a TS9 specifically, tightens up the sound by subtly rolling off low end for a more focused attack and less mud. Without pushing the gain, this can be a great option for tightening tone before it hits another drive.

The Swollen Pickle does a similar job but in the opposite fashion, it bolsters the tone, adding heft and weight to it, even without touching the gain. Again, this can be used before another drive for a totally unique sound. Pedals that affect dynamic and presence are a great candidate for this kind of work, so things like the Boss Blues Driver, MXR Micro Amp+ or EHX Soul Food are all pedals that come immediately to mind.

Series vs Parallel Gain Stacking

Mostly when players talk about gain-stacking they’re talking about doing it in series – running one pedal into another, with the signal from one circuit being fed into the next. However, there is another option – you can run those drives in parallel (with each pedal in an independent loop in your chain), and then blend them together after the fact.

This is, of course, much tricker to do in a live environment than a studio. It’s easy enough to blend the sound of multiple amps or gain pedals together in a mix, but to do it live you’ll need a bit more thought.

The Boss LS-2 Line Selector is one solution, as is the EHX Switchblade and Earthquaker Swiss Things. These pedals boast the ability to send and receive two loops at a time, summing and blending them at output.

For example, the LS-2, when set to ‘A+B Mix’ mode, could be used to loop one drive into Loop A, another into Loop B, blended independently to taste before being summed at the pedal’s output and moving onto an amp. This makes more extreme pedals like fuzz and HM-2 style pedals entirely more usable to every guitar player.

For example, the HM-2, while often used at extreme settings, imparts a drastic EQ curve as well as some pretty wild distortion to your tone. The iconic ‘chainsaw’ signature can be blended in a little (or a lot!) to taste, and when combined with another drive, adds that chuggy, driving energy to whatever other drive you have in the second loop.

Or maybe you love the sound of something like a RAT, the aforementioned HM-2 or a fuzz, but it’s just too much. These line selector/mix pedals allow you to blend in those drives, and simply loop one side back on itself, allowing you to use these as a wet/dry blend, for a clean tone alongside whatever drive you decide on.

Much like the rabbit hole of opinions on pedal order on your pedal board, stacking gain is about listening for the signature that each stage imparts. Some offer heaps of gain on tap, but their subtle shift to dynamic can help refine your tone before a different distortion, summing to something new and wonderful.

Some pedals benefit from a bit of nip and tuck after they add gain, and some work best blended in with your clean sound, adding a hint of grit but retaining the clarity that your hands and pickups work so hard to manifest.

Different pedals are great for a variety of sounds, but combining them, blending them, looping them and stacking them are where really unique sounds begin to appear, and unique tone is the coolest tone of all. Get stacking!

The post An idiot’s guide to gain-stacking – how to master the dirt pedal trick that every pro uses appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

MIDI connectivity added alongside improved Bluetooth and expanded onboard presets

The Australian shredder keeps things simple with signature PRS, Orange, and Gibson gear.

Australian guitarist Orianthi, known for her blistering solo work in addition to her collaborations with superstars like Carlos Santana, Alice Cooper, and Carrie Underwood, stopped through Nashville on her current tour. PG’s John Bohlinger joined Orianthi to get a look at her rig, and it turns out she doesn’t need too many tools to get the job done.

Brought to you by D’Addario.

Flower Power

Orianthi’s signature PRS, based on the Custom 24 and made of Brazilian rosewood, honors the color of her very first Hendrix t-shirt, finished in blooming lotus glow. It’s got custom pickups created by Paul Reed Smith himself, and it’s strung with Ernie Ball .009-gauge strings.

Cherry Bomb

This is Orianthi’s signature, cherry-finish Gibson SJ-200, which she helped create in Montana with her friends Rae Vinton and Robi Johns. They built it with a thinner, ES-345-style neck, and modded the pickup with L.R. Baggs over Zoom.

Orange-ianthi

Orianthi’s signature 50-watt Orange Oriverb was put together with the late designer Pat Foley, a close friend. The main trick is that it’s loaded with plenty of reverb, a taste Orianthi developed early on thanks to her father’s Fender Twins and Music Man amps.

Orianthi’s Pedalboard

Orianthi’s playing does most of the heavy lifting, but this humble board contributes some muscle. There’s a Dunlop Cry Baby EVH wah, Dunlop Authentic Hendrix ’68 Shrine Series Octavio, Dunlop Authentic Hendrix ’68 Shrine Series Uni-Vibe, MXR Analog Chorus, Boss BF-2, Boss DD-3, and a Boss TU-3.

Orange Oriverb

Ernie Ball Strings

Gibson Custom Orianthi SJ-200

Dunlop Cry Baby EVH Wah

MXR Analog Chorus

Boss DD-3

Boss TU-3

Phish’s Trey Anastasio is back again on this week’s extra-special episode of Wong Notes. The expansive conversation goes from the mundane to the massive: Trey shares the meaningful gift he bought himself for his 60th birthday, reflects on his most meaningful song, dissects boredom and nostalgia in the streaming era, and names the young bands impressing him most these days.

Then, Trey and Cory dig deep into the songwriting process, and Trey reflects on how his songwriting has (and hasn’t) changed over his length career: “Maybe it’s some kind of human nature, that you’re kind of fighting against who you actually, really are,” he offers. He then opens up the files and plays a few unreleased (and vintage) demos! At this stage in his career, what is Trey Anastasio hoping to accomplish, and has his approach to making music changed? Tune in to find out.

When picking a guitar, what matters most to you? It could be electronics, tonewood, or even weight. For Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale, shape is also important, and the pointy lightning bolt zig-zag of the Gibson Explorer makes it her go-to guitar.

Hale is the first female ambassador for Gibson, and has an affinity for pointy, rock ‘n’ roll shapes. She also has a very sharp looking signature Voyager model with Kramer – part of the Gibson family of brands – which is covered in a Black Diamond Holographic Sparkle finish that dances under stage lighting.

• READ MORE: Halestorm pick their five most underrated rock and metal bands

In a new video interview with Guitar World off the back of Halestorm’s appearance at Black Sabbath’s final show and following their album launch for Everest, Hale explains why she loves her trusty and worn-in Explorer so much.

“My guitar here is my first signature model that we ended up doing back in 2011/2012. And [it has a] mahogany body, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard. It used to be Alpine white; I don’t smoke, but it’s definitely got that cigarette yellow thing going on. All of the dark grey is just from all the leather over the years. It’s been loved to death,” she says.

“Originally I was a Les Paul girl and then I fell in love with the Explorer shape while we were making our first album out in California. I ended up getting my first Explorer off of Craigslist. This poor guy, he had to sell it because of medical bills. I went to go see him and he was so incredibly excited that it was gonna actually get played and go out on the road.

“What I love about the Explorer shape is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re front row or in the nosebleed section [at a show]. You see that shape and it’s undeniable. It’s like, ‘okay, this isn’t going to be country, this probably isn’t going to be pop. This has to be rock.’”

Fellow Halestorm guitarist Joe Hottinger adds: “There’s three great shapes for hard rock and heavy metal: it’s the V, the Explorer, and the SG.”

Watch the interview below:

Halestorm’s sixth studio album Everest is out now. The band are currently touring across Europe – you can get tickets via the Halestorm website. 

The post “You see that shape and it’s undeniable. It’s like, ‘This isn’t going to be country or pop’”: Lzzy Hale on her love of the Explorer appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Gibson is proud to announce the launch of two legendary models returning to the spotlight: the Les Paul™ Junior Double Cut, available worldwide at Gibson Garage locations in Nashville and London, and on Gibson.com, and the Les Paul™ Special Double Cut, available in the USA exclusively at Guitar Center and through authorized dealers across the rest of the world. These iconic instruments, each with its own rich history and enduring influence, embody Gibson’s commitment to craftsmanship, tone, and playability. With the Junior celebrated for its stripped‑down simplicity and surprising versatility, and the Special revered for its expanded tonal range and double‑cutaway design, both guitars continue to shape sound across generations and genres of music.

Gibson Les Paul Junior Double Cut (L-R) in Ebony, TV Yellow and Vintage Cherry.

The Les Paul™ Junior Double Cut is a guitar known for being nearly perfect in its simplicity, with everything you need to rock and no frills to get in your way. However, some players underestimate this legendary guitar’s versatility. While this single-pickup solidbody electric guitar was designed initially as a student model, the number of different tones that are available simply by adjusting the position of the volume and tone knobs and the position of your picking hand is nearly unlimited. It has resulted in the enthusiastic embrace of the model by countless professional musicians across genres and generations. The Les Paul Junior Double Cut’s double cutaway body also offers unimpeded access to the entire length of the fretboard, including the upper frets, making it an excellent choice for lead guitarists, too.

The Les Paul Junior Double Cut features a slab, double-cutaway mahogany body, a mahogany neck with a fast-playing SlimTaper™ profile that is topped with a rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and adorned with simple acrylic dot inlays. The wraparound bridge bolts straight into the body for exceptional sustain, while the Graph Tech® nut and Vintage Deluxe tuners with white buttons ensure rock-solid tuning stability. The single Dogear P-90 pickup in the bridge position is renowned for its ability to go from sweet and clean to aggressive and dirty with a twist of the master volume control. A single tone control with an Orange Drop® capacitor provides further tonal flexibility.

Discover the perfect simplicity and surprising versatility of the Les Paul Junior Double Cut today and experience the fun and tonal magic of this legendary guitar. A Gibson hardshell guitar case is also included to help keep your investment safe and secure when you’re not playing it and when you’re traveling to your next gig, whether that’s your first gig at a local club or the next stop on your latest world tour.

The Gibson Les Paul™ Special was first introduced in 1955 as an upgraded version of the Les Paul Junior, a somewhat stripped-down yet high-quality solidbody electric guitar initially intended as a student model and first released the previous year, in 1954. Like those early Juniors, the Les Paul Special originally featured a slab, single-cutaway mahogany body. The Les Paul Special also added a second pickup and additional controls for it, along with a pickup selector switch, binding for the fretboard, and a fancier mother-of-pearl headstock logo. While a bit more ornate and feature-rich, it retained the Les Paul Junior’s simple wraparound bridge and tailpiece and no-nonsense attitude while expanding its wide tonal range even further. It was quickly embraced not only by students but also by numerous professional musicians. In 1958, the Les Paul Special transitioned to a double-cutaway body, offering improved access to the upper frets. The model really hit its stride in 1960 when Gibson repositioned the neck pickup slightly further from the neck, allowing for a more stable neck-to-body joint, and a new SlimTaper™ neck profile made it faster and easier to play than ever before.

Now, Gibson is proud to bring the Les Paul Special Double Cut back to the core Gibson product lineup. It returns to the classic design that made it relevant, played, and loved—shaping sound across generations and genres of music. It features a double-cutaway mahogany body with exceptional balance when worn on a strap and easy access to the entire length of the fretboard. The mahogany neck features a comfortable SlimTaper profile and is capped with a bound rosewood fretboard, adorned with acrylic dot inlays, and outfitted with 22 medium jumbo frets. You’ll find smooth turning and precise Gibson Vintage Deluxe tuners with white buttons on the headstock, which also includes the Gibson logo inlaid in mother-of-pearl. The tuners, along with the Graph Tech® nut, ensure solid tuning stability. The other ends of the strings pass over and anchor to a simple wraparound bridge/tailpiece that is fitted with two intonation adjustment screws and bolted directly into the mahogany body, contributing to the excellent tone and sustain that the Les Paul Special Double Cut is famous for.

A pair of Gibson’s acclaimed P-90 Soapbar pickups, each hand-wired to individual volume and tone controls, power the Les Paul Special Double Cut. The tone circuits use high-quality Orange Drop® capacitors. The Les Paul Special Double Cut is available in three classic colors—Ebony, Vintage Cherry, and TV Yellow. A hardshell case is also included to help keep it safe when you’re on your way to your next gig. Isn’t it time you played something Special? Here it is. Order one today and see for yourself why so many people sing the praises of this legendary guitar.

Taylor Guitars, the leading global builder of premium acoustic guitars, today announces two new special edition acoustic guitars developed in partnership with Guitars 4 Vets (G4V), a nonprofit organization that helps U.S. veterans affected by PTSD and other service-related trauma to heal through the power of music. The Guitars 4 Vets 814ce Special Edition Blacktop and Guitars 4 Vets GS Mini Camo Special Edition celebrate the nation's veterans and pay tribute to their service with distinctive patriotic design elements. For every guitar purchased through authorized Taylor dealers, Taylor will donate to G4V's nationwide program. The new models follow the September release of the Guitars 4 Vets GS Mini Americana Special Edition, continuing Taylor's commitment to supporting veterans through music.

"At Taylor, we believe in the power of music to uplift, heal and connect," says Andy Powers, President and Chief Guitar Designer at Taylor Guitars. "We make easy-to-play guitars that help people bring more music into the world because we've seen how transformative guitars and music can be in people's lives. When we learned about the work Guitars for Vets is doing—using music to help veterans heal—it was a natural fit. We're honored to support their mission with these special edition models."

HOW G4V'S GUITAR INSTRUCTION PROGRAM WORKS

Guitars for Vets provides qualifying veterans with a free 10-week, one-on-one guitar instruction program taught by volunteer instructors. After completing the sessions, graduates are given their own guitar and accessory kit to keep, empowering them to continue their musical journey. By combining instruction with the healing power of music, G4V helps veterans build confidence, find connection with others, and experience the proven mental health benefits of learning to play guitar. The program operates through 300 locations nationwide and via video conference in areas that do not yet have a physical location.

"Support like this great partnership with Taylor helps fund our program and raises awareness about the positive impact we can have on veterans' lives," says Nigel Fischer, Director of Advancement for Guitars for Vets. "Customers who buy these guitars aren't just getting beautiful instruments; they're helping put guitars in the hands of veterans in need, where music can truly make a difference."

GUITARS 4 VETS 814CE SPECIAL EDITION BLACKTOP

Boasting premium tonewoods, appointments and visual details, this special edition cutaway Grand Auditorium delivers incredible playing comfort and all-purpose musical versatility. Figured AA-grade Indian rosewood back and sides paired with Sitka spruce top yield dynamic tonal character with warm lows, pristine trebles and a slightly scooped midrange. Internal V-Class bracing produces louder volume, longer sustain and improved harmonic agreement between notes.

A bold blacktop soundboard commands attention, its dramatic finish beautifully framed by green abalone edge trim and Hawaiian koa binding around the body, soundhole, fretboard and peghead. Five-Star fretboard inlays and a Faceted Star peghead inlay—inspired by the stars of the U.S. flag—are rendered in mother-of-pearl. The appointment package also includes a figured koa backstrip and heel cap, a green abalone peghead logo, an ebony backstrap, dark-stained bone bridge pins with Australian opal green dots and Gotoh 510 antique chrome tuners with black buttons. A special interior label indicates this model's special-edition status.

Key Specifications:

• Back/Side Wood: Figured AA-Grade Indian Rosewood
• Top Wood: Sitka Spruce
• Neck: Mahogany
• Fretboard: West African Ebony
• Nut Width: 1-3/4"
• Scale Length: 25-1/2"
• Bracing: V-Class
• Electronics: Claria

GUITARS 4 VETS GS MINI CAMO SPECIAL EDITION

This special edition GS Mini features custom camouflage artwork with a shaded edgeburst on its soundboard. Designed to be the ultimate musical companion, the easy-playing GS Mini is a great choice for on-the-go musicians and players who enjoy the comfort of a smaller guitar. A torrefied spruce top and layered sapele back and sides deliver rich, bold acoustic tone with played-in sonic character. Appointments include a matte-finish body and neck, Italian acrylic 4mm dot fretboard inlays and chrome tuners.

Key Specifications:

• Back/Side Wood: Layered Sapele
• Top Wood: Torrefied Spruce
• Neck: Mahogany
• Fretboard: West African Ebony
• Nut Width: 1-11/16"
• Scale Length: 23-½"
• Bracing: X-Brace
• Electronics: None

AVAILABILITY

The Guitars 4 Vets 814ce Special Edition Blacktop and Guitars 4 Vets GS Mini Camo Special Edition are available now at authorized Taylor Guitars dealers. Limited availability in Q4 2025, with additional quantities arriving in Q1 2026.

For more information about the new Guitars 4 Vets models, please visit taylorguitars.com.

ABOUT GUITARS FOR VETS

Guitars for Vets is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping U.S. veterans affected by PTSD and other service-related trauma to heal through the power of music. Through free guitar lessons and support, G4V provides veterans with a positive outlet for expression and connection.

Looking to expand your tonal options? We've got the Koch Jupiter 45 on deck for our latest giveaway from Guitars.net. This 45-watt combo is designed as a true player's amp, blending vintage aesthetics with modern flexibility. Enter before December 10, 2025 for your chance to WIN!

Koch Amps Jupiter Combo Giveaway

Koch Jupiter 45 combo

The Koch Jupiter is a 45 Watt boutique, vintage style combo amp, that is equally at home in live, recording or rehearsal sessions. This unique tone classic features independent volume and gain controls for both the Clean (Cool) and overdrive (Hot) channels. The overdrive (hot) features a Boost which gives the Jupiter three channels. The shared EQ section (Bass, Middle, Treble) can be further sculpted with the Contour Switch, allowing either a warm, mid-rich vintage tone, or a scooped, more modern and open sound.

The Koch Jupiter combo comes with a two button footswitch with another unique feature. The left button switches between the Cool and Hot Channel, and the right button can be set to turn either the Channel 2 Boost on/off, or the Reverb on/off, allowing you full control over your sound…right at your feet!

Further features of the Jupiter include the Dimmer Control which acts as an attenuator to allow you real tube saturated tube tone at any volume, front mounted Reverb control, 4/8/16 Ohm Speaker Outputs and Speaker Emulated Direct Output with Passive Filtering. Finally, there is a buffered effects loop to allow the addition of your favorite pedals or effects units.

The Jupiter was designed as a player’s amp, with as much tonal control and flexibility as possible in a compact, lightweight combo. From the bell-like clean tones to the punchy, yet dynamic overdrive channels, the Jupiter delivers pure vintage tone.

.rbm-pick-card { --rbm-border: ; --rbm-accent: ; border: 2px solid var(--rbm-border, #e53e3e); border-radius: 10px; padding: 16px; background: #fff; font-family: inherit; position: relative; } .rbm-pick-badge { position: absolute; top: -10px; left: 12px; background: var(--rbm-accent, #e53e3e); color: #fff; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; padding: 6px 10px; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 700; } .rbm-pick-wrap { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 110px 1fr; gap: 16px; align-items: start; } .rbm-pick-img { aspect-ratio: 1 / 1; /* forces square crop */ overflow: hidden; border-radius: 6px; background: #f3f4f6; /* subtle placeholder */ } .rbm-pick-img img { width: 100%; height: 100%; object-fit: cover; /* crops without distortion */ display: block; } .rbm-pick-title { margin: 0 0 4px; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 800; color: #111; } .rbm-pick-sub { margin: 0 0 12px; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; color: #334155; } .rbm-pick-btns { display: grid; gap: 10px; max-width: 560px; } .rbm-pick-btns a { display: block; text-align: center; background: #000; color: #fff !important; text-decoration: none; padding: 12px 14px; border-radius: 8px; font-weight: 800; letter-spacing: .3px; } .rbm-pick-btns a span.price { text-transform: none; } .rbm-pick-btns a span.label { text-transform: uppercase; } /* Responsive */ @media (max-width: 560px) { .rbm-pick-wrap { grid-template-columns: 80px 1fr; } .rbm-pick-title { font-size: 18px; } }

Jack White’s Third Man Hardware has teamed up with JHS Pedals on a new delay pedal, the Troika. It’s not just a guitar pedal, though – it’s also designed to work with “microphones or any instrument you want to use”.

Designed for both desktop use and in professional recording studios – as well as on stage, the Troika is described as a “horse-powered” instrument and microphone delay product “unlike anything else on the market”.

• READ MORE: Eventide Third Man Hardware Knife Drop review – “This Jack White pedal is outrageously great fun”

Available in a standard black colourway and a yellow version exclusive to Reverb, it’s equipped with both XLR and ¼” inputs and outputs. It utilises a hi-grade Lundahl transformer on the mic input, as well as a secondary output transformer, enabling it to work well with other effects.

It’s also been handily designed with sliders so it looks like a mini mixing console, which White opted for to give him greater real-time control of the unit in a live setting. The bypass switch is found above the sliders to keep it out of the way.

“The Troika Delay comes to you from the thundering minds of JHS Pedals and Third Man Hardware like a chariot over the Russian tundra. This is a multi-purpose, studio-grade delay device like you’ve never seen before,” says a message on the Third Man Records website.

“Jack White loves using delay pedals on his voice, but the process can cause lots of problems, including noise, volume drops, and loss of clarity. When Jack brought this idea to Josh, we immediately gave it the same care and attention we gave to the Colour Box and the Pulp N Peel [from JHS]. The Troika is more than a pedal… If you want to use a delay that’s different from everything else on the market, look no further!”

Hear it in action and find out more below:

Both versions of the Troika delay are available now. The standard black version is priced at $349, while the limited-edition yellow comes in at $369.

Shop the standard version of the Troika via Third Man Records, or head over to Reverb to bag the exclusive yellow colour. You can also find out more about JHS Pedals.

The post Third Man Hardware and JHS Pedals’ new Troika delay is “more than a pedal” – you can use it with microphones, guitars, “or any instrument you want” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

As his company’s 50th anniversary approaches, Hoover is still refining his craft and pushing the guitar in both subtle and profound ways.

As guitarist in The Smiths and co-songwriter alongside frontman Morrissey, Johnny Marr lays claim to some of the greatest guitar riffs to come out of English rock music – just listen to This Charming Man and How Soon Is Now? for a taste of his guitar genius.

And in a new interview with MOJO, Marr’s Smiths bandmate, drummer Mike Joyce, reflects on the guitarist’s hot streak of writing killer guitar riffs throughout the band’s five-year tenure between 1982 and 1987.

• READ MORE: Marshall partners with Spinal Tap on the “loudest amp ever made” – with knobs that go to 11 and a master volume that goes to infinity

“Just watching the way that his fingers were moving on the fretboard. The chords were so incredible and so strange,” Joyce remembers. 

“The top end, the picking, it sounded like there was a bass line incorporated within it. It was magical but it looked so natural to him.

“You think of incredible riffs, like Layla, that are just part of music history. Johnny was doing that three times a day for four years. [Rough Trade label owner] Geoff Travis actually said: ‘Stop writing A-sides! Throw in a bit of filler!’

Johnny Marr has long been synonymous with the Fender Jaguar, and just yesterday launched his latest signature model based on his prized 1965 Jaguar.

Spec highlights include an enhanced neck profile inspired by Marr’s own original 1965 Jaguar, a Jaguar bridge with Mustang saddles and a vintage-style floating trem, and custom-wound Johnny Marr-designed single-coil Lipstick pickups in the bridge, middle and neck positions. The guitar also sports a custom gloss nitrocellulose black lacquer finish and 22-fret fingerboard with ivory dot inlays.

“The Jaguar has been central to my sound and style for nearly 15 years,” Marr said. “With this new model, I wanted to create an instrument that feels classic but also pushes players to explore new tones and possibilities.”

“Johnny Marr’s legacy as one of the most inventive guitarists of the last four decades is undeniable,” added Max Gutnik, Chief Product Officer at Fender.

Credit: Fender

The post “You think of incredible riffs like Layla… Johnny was doing that three times a day for four years”: The Smiths’ Mike Joyce on the guitar genius of Johnny Marr appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Jacob Collier‘s playing style is anything but conventional, so it should come as no surprise that he champions unconventional instruments. The multi-instrumentalist and all-round music whizz has played five-string guitars for some time now, and even released a number of signatures, including headless models with Strandberg, and a signature five-string with Taylor last year.

Now, Collier’s five-string repertoire is expanding, with the addition of two new acoustics in collaboration with Taylor.

• READ MORE: “Exploring the guitar more fully than ever before”: Jacob Collier’s forthcoming album is all about the acoustic guitar

Collier’s new Academy 22e and GS Mini acoustic guitars are just as unique as the star himself. Binning off a sixth string, the guitars are tuned to Collier’s preferred DAEAD set up – and the result is a pair of guitars straight from his “dreams”.

“I dreamed of this guitar tuning for many, many years before it existed,” he explains. “I asked Taylor, ‘how would you feel about putting five-strings on a six-string neck, tuned in a very strange way, with exactly the same range as a normal guitar, but with a different set of intervals?’ They said yes, which changed my whole life.”

In a 2024 interview with Guitar.com, Collier explained his love of a five-string over a six-string. “Back in 2016, I figured out a way for guitar to make sense to me – it was by ripping one of the strings off a six-string guitar and leaving only five,” he recalled. “And I tuned it in a very unusual way. I did this for the first time on the day of a gig, and then I played it on the gig, which was a very funny experience.”

View this post on Instagram

“I sat there and found this language in front of all these people,” he continued. “It felt like they were holding me to it. It was like, ‘Okay, Jacob. If you’re going to do that, do it right.’ But it was actually an amazing experience.”

The Academy 22e boasts a walnut Grand Concert body, as well as a comfortable bevelled armrest to take off some pressure. The bridge and fretboard adopt a smoked eucalyptus bridge and fretboard, and it comes with Academy Series bracing and Fishman Presys VT electronics. This one serves as the pricier of the pair, sitting at £1,099.

Credit: Taylor Guitars

On the flip side, the GS Mini boasts a more colourful design. It feels like the essence of Collier is trapped within the spruce top, with its vibrant, geometric rosette. This model boasts a mahogany and West African ebony neck and fretboard, with no electronics for a truly natural sound and a lower price point of £749. Each guitar comes fitted with a custom Jacob Collier label.

Of course, both models sit at a far more accessible price than Collier’s original Taylor Signature, which costs £2,799.

Credit: Taylor Guitars

“Each guitar is so distinct in [its] own right,” Collier notes in a press release. “For them to be accessible to more people, while maintaining the same spirit that inspired the original designs, is a wonder. I’m so looking forward to more folks having the opportunity to discover this 5-string world and make their own magic with it.”

The introduction of these new Jacob Collier 5-strings is also notable in that they now make up what’s a pretty small signature guitar lineup from Taylor, only with other models from Taylor Swift and Jason Mraz.

To find out more, head to Taylor Guitars.

The post Jacob Collier champions the five-string guitar revolution with two new Taylor signature models appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$299/£285, walrusaudio.com

When choosing a looper, your first decision is how complicated you want it to be. Fancy something ultra-simple that you can operate with one foot? Get the original TC Electronic Ditto, a modern classic that has one knob and doesn’t even need that. Feeling more ambitious? That’s where your options get interesting… and where the Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper comes in.

• READ MORE: TC Electronic Ditto 2 review: “The most easy to use looper on the market just got even better”

Walrus has thrown itself into the looping market with a device that offers three minutes of recording time and goes big on bonus features – including two separate recording channels with stereo panning, double/half speed and reverse modes, MIDI control (including clock sync) and more. On paper at least, this is a super-looper.

Image: Press

Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper – is it easy to use?

Here’s the basic principle of operation: hit the left footswitch once to start recording, then again to define the end of the loop, then again to overdub; hold the same switch to delete the last layer, then again to delete the whole loop. If you can’t get your head around that, you’re probably a bassist.

Pressing both footswitches moves you to the other channel, and each has a slider for level and a knob for panning. So far, so approachable… and if you want to change the speed (and octave) or go into reverse mode, you just have to tap the relevant button then hold the right footswitch.

It’s only when you start building up loops and effects on both channels that things can start to get confusing, so Walrus has added colour-coded LEDs to help you keep track. How useful that is will depend on how quickly you can learn the meanings of seven different colours. Regardless, it’s probably a good idea to start slowly and get the hang of one channel before you double up the potential for disorientation.

Image: Press

Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper – what does it sound like?

Each channel has an extra 3dB available above unity gain to provide some wiggle room as you layer up your loops, and I certainly have nothing negative to say about the audio quality. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the Xero is a good looper – not in its current state anyway.

The main problem is that all-important transition at the end of each cycle, where a short crossfade is required to prevent waveforms being chopped off abruptly. Good-quality loopers – even cheap ones like the Ditto – do not have a problem with this. The Xero does. All of my loops had an audible dip or bump, which showed up on recorded waveforms as a gap of around 3 milliseconds.

Clearly that’s some kind of mistake, but the other issue I have with this pedal is apparently a deliberate design choice: when you’re overdubbing, the recording automatically stops after one cycle. Feeling inspired and want to lay down a bunch of quick harmonies? The Xero will only let you do one at a time, followed by a thumb-twiddling cycle of listening back before you can move on to the next. It’s a real inspiration-strangler, and there’s no option to change it.

The other features work fine – messing around with sped-up and reversed loops on two separate channels is a lot of fun – but when the fundamentals are this flawed, all that hardly seems to matter.

Image: Press

Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper – should I buy it?

Right now, no, you probably shouldn’t – but here’s the good news: as far as I can see, there’s nothing going on here that a good firmware update couldn’t fix. So let’s hope Walrus is willing to take its problematic progeny back home and turn it into the all-powerful stereo looping machine that it surely has the potential to be. If that happens, I’ll be sure to update this review.

Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper alternatives

I reviewed the Pigtronix Infinity 2 ($199/£179) back in 2020, and it did most of what the Xero does without any issues. See also the stereo TC Electronic Ditto X2 (€111/£98), or really go for it with the Boss RC-600 Loop Station ($660/£499), which is feature-packed but still fairly easy to use.

The post Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper review – this could be the ultimate looper, once they get it working properly appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.