Reviews "Having played through Friedman's amps, I'd say the IR-X captures their very useable foundations…" Why you need to check out this new tube amp and pedal combo Review: the Friedman IR-X Dual Tube Preamp and IR Pedal "A reminder of just how far ahead of the curve Leo Fender was in 1950": Here's why the Vintera II series guitars sound as good as they look Reviewed: Vintera II ’50s, Jazzmaster ’60s, Telecaster and ’70s Mustang. “More than enough firepower to keep up with a heavy-fisted drummer…” The high-tech, hard-rocking Soldano Astro-20 amp reviewed This great-sounding, future-proofed high-gain tube amp wins an Editors’ Pick award for its power, features and flexibility Latest Reviews “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 5 January 24 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 4 January 24 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 The iconic Batwing-shaped axe made famous by Soundgarden: the new Guild Polara Kim Thayil Signature reviewed By Art Thompson published 8 December 23 Hard rock guitarists will be rushing to get their hands on this new affordable, signature version of the S-100 Polara from China "An amp worth auditioning if you’re in the market for a gig-worthy, low-watt combo that punches above its weight class": Does Fender's Tone Master Princeton Reverb amp live up to the lofty precedent set by its tube-powered sibling? By Art Thompson published 6 December 23 Considering that it's significantly cheaper than a standard Princeton Reverb, there’s enough true-to-form realism here to make the Tone Master Princeton a sweet deal “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 18 November 23 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 ‘‘Creating dreamy sounds that were once only possible in world-class recording studios…’’ The new award-winning range of stompboxes from Universal Audio will blow your mind By Art Thompson published 17 November 23 Four super-versatile state-of-the-art compact effects pedals –the Evermore Studio Reverb, Heavenly Plate Reverb, Orion Tape Echo and the 1176 Studio Compressor – tested "A streamlined hard-charging beast": the Peavey HP 2 Poplar Burl RM reviewed By Dave Hunter published 12 November 23 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 Plastic-free and fully FSC-certified, with a hemp gig bag, the Martin OM Biosphere must be one of the greenest guitars ever – but is it any good? By Jimmy Leslie published 11 November 23 Martin’s second über-environmental guitar: the OM Biosphere reviewed "Eminently playable and fiercely versatile": the Yamaha Revstar Professional RSP02T reviewed By Dave Hunter published 10 November 23 Yamaha's high-end Japanese-built powerhouse is back and better than ever with a makeover for 2023 Acoustic Control Gamma Effects Pedals Review By Dave Hunter published 21 September 23 All are worth checking out, but the Atlas Boosted Overdrive and Narcissus Warm Delay deserve Editors’ Pick Awards 123456789Archives Get The Pick NewsletterAll the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors MOST READ1Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp, Mavis Staples honored by Bruce Springsteen at second annual American Music Honors 2Peter Frampton reveals the stories behind five of his classic tracks3PRS SE CE24, SE Custom 24 Quilt and SE Swamp Ash Special review 4How a deeply personal twist of events brought a beloved 'Burst into Vince Gill's life5How Noel Gallagher and Beck helped bring the Black Keys' latest funky full-length, Ohio Players, to life
“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 5 January 24 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 4 January 24 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
The iconic Batwing-shaped axe made famous by Soundgarden: the new Guild Polara Kim Thayil Signature reviewed By Art Thompson published 8 December 23 Hard rock guitarists will be rushing to get their hands on this new affordable, signature version of the S-100 Polara from China
"An amp worth auditioning if you’re in the market for a gig-worthy, low-watt combo that punches above its weight class": Does Fender's Tone Master Princeton Reverb amp live up to the lofty precedent set by its tube-powered sibling? By Art Thompson published 6 December 23 Considering that it's significantly cheaper than a standard Princeton Reverb, there’s enough true-to-form realism here to make the Tone Master Princeton a sweet deal
“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 18 November 23 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
‘‘Creating dreamy sounds that were once only possible in world-class recording studios…’’ The new award-winning range of stompboxes from Universal Audio will blow your mind By Art Thompson published 17 November 23 Four super-versatile state-of-the-art compact effects pedals –the Evermore Studio Reverb, Heavenly Plate Reverb, Orion Tape Echo and the 1176 Studio Compressor – tested
"A streamlined hard-charging beast": the Peavey HP 2 Poplar Burl RM reviewed By Dave Hunter published 12 November 23 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
Plastic-free and fully FSC-certified, with a hemp gig bag, the Martin OM Biosphere must be one of the greenest guitars ever – but is it any good? By Jimmy Leslie published 11 November 23 Martin’s second über-environmental guitar: the OM Biosphere reviewed
"Eminently playable and fiercely versatile": the Yamaha Revstar Professional RSP02T reviewed By Dave Hunter published 10 November 23 Yamaha's high-end Japanese-built powerhouse is back and better than ever with a makeover for 2023
Acoustic Control Gamma Effects Pedals Review By Dave Hunter published 21 September 23 All are worth checking out, but the Atlas Boosted Overdrive and Narcissus Warm Delay deserve Editors’ Pick Awards