
Dave Hunter
Dave Hunter is a writer and consulting editor for Guitar Player magazine. His prolific output as author includes Fender Telecaster 75 Years, The Guitar Amp Handbook, The British Amp Invasion, Ultimate Star Guitars, Guitar Effects Pedals, The Guitar Pickup Handbook, The Fender Telecaster and several other titles. Hunter is a former editor of The Guitar Magazine (UK), and a contributor to Vintage Guitar, Premier Guitar, The Connoisseur and other publications. A contributing essayist to the United States Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Board’s Permanent Archive, he lives in Kittery, ME, and fronts the band Dave Hunter and the Seven Hundred.
Latest articles by Dave Hunter

Caught by the fuzz: The story of Electro-Harmonix’s tooth-rattling Big Muff, the stompbox guitarists have been falling in love with since the 1960s
By Dave Hunter published
Big Muff fanboys including Jack White, Dave Gilmour and The Edge, discover how Electro-Harmonix’s fuzzbox changed electric guitars forever

“It was waiting patiently for decades, kind of like lost tapes from an artist”: The Espada HH and Espada HH Active are G&L’s latest “dual-humbucker” takes on Leo Fender’s gorgeous long lost late-1960’s blueprints
By Dave Hunter published
Leo Fender’s long-lost 1960's Estrada is back again for 2024 thanks to G&L in two new “dual-humbucker” variations on the 2019 model

The quest for amps and speakers that can reproduce all that DSP-generated guitar tone as sound waves has yet to produce a clear winner: Could Fender's new Tone Master Pro FR-10 cab be the one?
By Dave Hunter published
Fender’s first full-range, flat-response Tone Master Pro FR-10 powered cab is super-affordable and just what fans have been waiting for

“The thick, punchy stereo sound from this rig simply rocks”: the Two Notes Torpedo Captor X SE is a cleverly designed unit that offers an incredible range of sound from a brick-sized box. And there are only 450 of them…
By Dave Hunter published
As a sound-crafting alternative to cabs and mics, Two Notes’ amazingly versatile Torpedo Captor X SE is a hard act to beat– and there are only 450 are available…

Believe the hype: The long-awaited Fender Tone Master Pro is one of the best-sounding, most powerful and easiest to use guitar processors ever and a worthy Editors’ Pick Award winner
By Dave Hunter published
Been waiting to get in on the guitar modeling craze? There's never been a better time to jump onboard thanks to the incredibly versatile and adaptable Fender Tone Master Pro

Gear of the Year: The best guitars, amps, pedals and more of 2023
By Dave Hunter, Jimmy Leslie, Christopher Scapelliti, Art Thompson published
Our guide to the greatest guitars, amps, pedals and accessories of 2023, handpicked by the Guitar Player team

The mission: create a multi-tone classic-sounding tube amp for the 21st century. 3rd Power founder Dylana Nova Scott on her inspiration behind the “optimal, gigable” Clean Sink MkII
By Dave Hunter published
“Players need inspiring tools to create and deliver their heart, soul and music to their audience That’s what 3rd Power does”: Discover the Clean Sink MkII, a game-changing tube combo with three blendable iconic amp tones

“From its bling to its stereo electronics, Gibson’s ES-355 launched the semihollow format to swank new heights in 1958”: Favored by everyone from B.B. King to Johnny Marr, here's what makes the ES-355 so special
By Dave Hunter published
Gibson's upgrade to the ES-335, the ES-355 was fancy but a little too fussy for some…

For those about to rock: we salute the Boss SD-1 Super OverDrive which has wowed lead guitarists for over 40 years with its jagged, granular tone
By Dave Hunter published
Boss brought out the SD-1 Super OverDrive in 1981, refining the circuit for more gain and aggression and adding a tone knob – and it’s sold by the millions

“One of the most seamless, natural and organic-sounding solid-state pedals we’ve ever played”: Crank it up to 11 with Dinosaural’s award-winning three-channel Cogmeister Overdrive
By Dave Hunter published
The Cogmeister Overdrive sounds fabulous – its three stages interact beautifully to create a range of tactile and tube-like clipping tones that suit any playing style – and richly deserves an Editors’ Pick award

"A streamlined hard-charging beast": the Peavey HP 2 Poplar Burl RM reviewed
By Dave Hunter published
The direct descendant of Peavey’s best-known and most historic rock axe of all time, the Wolfgang, returns — now handcrafted in the Czech Republic

"Eminently playable and fiercely versatile": the Yamaha Revstar Professional RSP02T reviewed
By Dave Hunter published
Yamaha's high-end Japanese-built powerhouse is back and better than ever with a makeover for 2023

What Did Johnny Cash, the Grateful Dead, and the Jackson 5 Have in Common? They All Embraced the Kustom Look and Sound
By Dave Hunter published
These bold, punchy solid-state amps rocked the backlines of many noteworthy stars

All You Need to Know About Gibson PAF Humbuckers
By Dave Hunter published
These hum-cancelling pickups are legendary for their tone, but is the “magic” just hype?

A Firm Favorite of Ry Cooder and Dan Auerbach, Here's Why the Humble Gold-Foil Pickup Can Deliver About as Much Aural Magic as Any of the A-List Coils
By Dave Hunter published
The cult of the gold-foil has acquired a mystique and made its place among us

Acoustic Control Gamma Effects Pedals Review
By Dave Hunter published
All are worth checking out, but the Atlas Boosted Overdrive and Narcissus Warm Delay deserve Editors’ Pick Awards

With a Surprising History Dating Back to the 1940s, Carvin Later Achieved Kudos With Endorsements by Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth and Joe Walsh
By Dave Hunter published
Launched as a post-WWII startup, the firm grew into a guitar gear giant, one catalog sale at a time

Played by Keith Richards and Peter Buck, Fender’s Humbucker-Loaded Telecaster Custom is a CBS Classic
By Dave Hunter published
Punchy, powerful and versatile, version two of the Telecaster Custom carries a big slab of Seth Lover-certified humbucker mojo

Are Vintage Pickups Better Than Modern Pickups? Here's What You Need To Know
By Dave Hunter published
There was no mystical fairy dust sprinkled between the windings in Fullerton or Kalamazoo

More Playable, Portable and Versatile Than a Regular Jazz Box, Tim Bram’s Tribute Archtop Pays Homage to a Vintage Fender From His Youth
By Dave Hunter published
Simultaneously traditional and alternative, this heirloom-level guitar is a Telecaster tribute with a twist

Played by Keith Richards, Joe Perry and Tom Verlaine, the “See-Through” Ampeg Dan Amstrong Guitar Earned Its Own Fan Club of Top-Name Guitarists
By Dave Hunter published
The story of the beloved and delightfully bizarre 1969 Ampeg Dan Armstrong

A Favorite of Carlos Santana, Al Di Meola and John Frusciante, Yamaha’s SG-2000 Was Intended as a Les Paul Killer
By Dave Hunter published
Appealing to players fed up with declining U.S. quality, the most successful and acclaimed Japanese guitar of the late ’70s wasn’t a direct copy of anything

Epiphone 1958 Korina Flying V and Explorer Reviews
By Dave Hunter published
These are surprisingly adaptable and expressive designs, so don’t let their radical looks lead you astray
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