Personally, I find that one of the most inspiring guitar tones to play through is a tube amp just on the edge of breaking up. There’s something truly magical about a combo that hovers between clean and distorted, coaxing out some of my best playing - and that’s exactly the experience Fender’s latest stompbox aims to deliver.

Introducing the Breakup Drive, which is the newest member of Fender's ever-growing Hammertone series. This unassuming JFET-based overdrive pedal has been expertly crafted to replicate the dynamic response of cooking tubes right at the brink of saturation, giving you that coveted touch-sensitive feel that many of us guitarists crave.

With a simple trio of knobs for Volume, Tone, and Gain, this pedal is a pretty straightforward affair. That said, there is a little more going on than it may first appear. On the face of the pedal, you’ll discover a small switch for choosing between two distinct clipping modes, light breakup, and medium-gain overdrive. Plus, a switchable pre-gain mid boost ensures your tone slices through even the densest of band mixes with ease.

The Breakup Drive features a soft-touch relay true bypass switch that automatically engages bypass mode when no power is detected, and the in/out is served by a pair of top-mounted jacks. Encased in a rugged, road-ready aluminum enclosure, this pedal is designed to operate with power supplies ranging from 9V to 18V – plug in an 18V supply and you’ll unlock an additional 6dB of headroom.

Specs

• Launch price: $104.99 | £75.99 | €89
• Type: Overdrive
• Controls: Drive, Tone, Level, Type, Mids
• Features: Two selectable JFET-based dynamic clipping stages and switchable between flat response or pre-drive mid boost
• Connectivity: Input and Output
• Bypass: True bypass
• Power: 9-18V DC
• Dimensions: D 2.44" (62mm) X H4.4" (112mm) X L 4.4" (112mm)
• Weight: 0.5 lbs (0.23kg)
• Contact: Fender

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

When it comes to build quality, the Fender Hammertone Breakup Drive certainly lives up to expectations set by its industrial-looking aesthetic. The pedal feels practically bomb-proof – and most certainly stomp-proof.

Like the other pedals in the Hammertone line, the switches and knobs operate smoothly, and the footswitch engages with a satisfying click.

That said, while the rugged design is undoubtedly practical, I do find the aesthetics a bit lacking. The hammered metal look that gives this Fender series its name is quite utilitarian, and personally, I find it to be less attractive compared to other options on the market. The grey enclosure, with the basic "Breakup Drive" font and plastic royal blue controls feel uninspired, and as I find out, the looks don't reflect the performance elsewhere.

Of course, functionality is always paramount when it comes to stompboxes, but a more visually appealing design could elevate the overall impression of this otherwise solidly built pedal.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★★

The Fender Hammertone Breakup Drive is definitely trying to keep things simple – it's truly plug-and-play at its finest. This rugged pedal is designed with simplicity in mind, allowing me to dial in a convincing blues tone in mere seconds. With only three knobs and two switches to navigate, there are no hidden surprises or intricate settings to unravel; everything is clearly labeled, and exactly where it should be.

The user-friendly layout of the Hammertone is a breath of fresh air in a sea of over-engineered gear. Okay, I may have bemoaned the look of the knobs earlier, but from a practical standpoint, amp-style controls do actually feel great under my fingers and are also large and easily readable from a distance – even for someone as short-sighted as me! This means I can make adjustments mid-performance, even on the dimmest stages.

For me, the pedal's simplicity is its greatest strength. In a world brimming with pedals that offer endless tweakability and an overwhelming number of internal dip switches, it’s refreshing to plug into a straightforward drive that champions no-nonsense tone.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Okay, so now to tone – arguably the most important part of any stompbox. Straight off the bat, I'll say the Fender Hammertone Breakup Drive impressively captures the essence of a lightly overdriven tube amp.

Pairing the pedal with my favorite Telecaster – an AVRI '64 – and a Fender Blues Junior set as clean as possible, with a touch of reverb, I found both drive modes to be solid contenders for always-on applications. There is a warmth to this pedal that is genuinely satisfying to play through.

Out of the two modes, I leaned toward the more overdriven setting, which delivered a richer, more dynamic presence, in my opinion. Maybe it's the rocker in me, but I preferred having more saturation on tap, as I could always back off my volume to get the cleaner sound of the first mode, anyway.

Now, I did encounter a slight hiccup with this pedal. I found the mid boost feature to be a touch nasal, which detracted from the overall warmth and smoothness that I'd hoped for. Is it a bad tone? No, certainly not. It just wasn't really to my taste. Perhaps a Q control, which allows you to tweak the frequency of the boost, would have been a nice addition so you could better tailor the pedal to your amp.

That said, ultimately, the Breakup Drive holds its own, perfectly blending simplicity with solid performance, making it a worthwhile addition for those seeking that classic drive sound without a convoluted setup.

Verdict

The Fender Hammertone Breakup Drive is a solid and straightforward overdrive pedal that manages to effectively mimic the characteristics of a slightly overdriven tube amp, all for a very reasonable price.

The pedal's rugged build feels sturdy and well put together, although its utilitarian aesthetic may not appeal to everyone.

Sound-wise, it more than delivers on the promise, with a dynamic tone that is perfectly suited to blues. However, the mid boost can feel a bit pokey, which may not suit every player’s taste.

Guitar World verdict: Okay, so the Hammertone Breakup Drive might not win any beauty contests, but don’t let its modest appearance fool you; this pedal is all about delivering a killer tone. Rugged and competitively priced, it captures the essence of a cranked-up tube amp with surprising accuracy.

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Hands-on videos

Fender

The Nobels ODR-1 overdrive pedal flew under the radar for quite some time, but that’s no longer the case as its well-documented use by a coterie of US session players, particularly in Nashville, has increased awareness and take-up of the ‘other’ green stompbox.

We last looked at a Nobels with the release of the ODR-1 BC (BC standing for bass-cut), which featured a dip switch in the battery compartment to attenuate the bottom-end.

This latest iteration offers more flexibility on that bass-cut by giving the facility its own mini knob. What’s more, it also can deliver more gain than previous ODR-1s via a Gain Boost button.

Specs

• PRICE: $149/£129
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Drive pedal 
• FEATURES: Selectable True/Buffered Bypass, 18V operation for extra headroom, integrated Mounty-P mounting plates, glow‑in‑the-dark pointer knobs 
• CONTROLS: Drive, Spectrum, Level, Bass Cut, Gain Boost switch, True/Buffered bypass switch, bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output, Remote (TRS)
• POWER: 9V battery or 9V-18V DC adaptor (not supplied) 15mA
• DIMENSIONS: 73 (w) x 127 (d) x 55mm (h) 
• CONTACT: Nobels

Usability and sounds

The ODR-1X has standard Drive and Level knobs, but like its predecessors it facilitates EQ changes with a Spectrum knob, a double filter tone control that simultaneously cuts/boosts lower mid and treble frequencies, and is very effective whether you’re going for pushing the clarity of your top-end or calming it down for a mellower vibe. This works well in conjunction with the Bass Cut control.

The pedal is endowed with a substantial bass content that may suit some players but not others (things could get a little bit muddy for humbucker users or with certain amp setups), so to have the ability to roll that off to your exact needs is a very practical asset and a distinct upgrade on a purely switched bass-cut.

Keeping the Drive control at minimum and pushing the Level to somewhere in its final quadrant delivers a useful clean boost. But it’s really in the just-beyond‑clean and low-level crunch where the pedal truly excels, making it a shoo-in for completely natural drive sounds that don’t mess with your core tone.

Of course, it is also capable of more substantial drive, too, especially so with the gain boost, which basically puts the gain knob into a higher range and can take things into cranked-amp classic rock territory.

Adding a remote footswitch will give you switchable gain boost, although to our ears the jump is a little too much and we’d rather do it by stacking another boost pedal.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Guitar World verdict: The ODR-1’s long-term efficacy as a transparent drive pedal is all still here in the ODR-1X edition, freshly enhanced with fully adjustable bass-cut, but the extra gain on tap adds a flexibility that means it’s capable of going beyond that traditional role.

Hands-on videos

Nobels

Tone Junkie

Pedal of the Day

• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Combining modern build quality and design practices with classic colors, the Cort G200SE is a budget beginner electric guitar aiming to provide new guitarists with a versatile tonal palette. Made in the Cor-Tek factory in Indonesia which has also crafted guitars for PRS, Ibanez, Fender, Jackson, and many more, it’s a potentially exciting entrant into a very busy beginner guitar market.

The headline spec is that it features a roasted maple neck and fretboard combo, a feature that was once the reserve of boutique guitars, but is rapidly becoming more accessible to the rest of us at lower and lower prices.

Roasting necks has some advantages in that it purges the wood of moisture, resulting in more stability, as well as preventing any excess oils or moisture from entering once the torrefaction (the technical term for roasting) has taken place. They resist changes in humidity better than traditional maple necks, so to see this start appearing on budget guitars is great news for newbies.

The G200SE is packing an HSS pickup configuration with a covered humbucker for extra style points, plus the two typical Strat-style single coils.

These are Cort’s own ‘Powersound’ pickups to help keep the cost down, combined with a single tone knob and five-way pickup selector to give you plenty of spanky Stratocaster-style tones alongside the heft of the humbucker. A six-point tremolo with die-cast tuning machines rounds out the hardware offering.

Specs

• Launch price: $249/£170/€285
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Poplar
• Neck: Roasted maple
• Fingerboard: Roasted maple
• Scale length: 25.5″ (648mm)
• Nut width: 42mm
• Frets: 22
• Hardware: Die-cast tuning machines, six-point tremolo bridge
• String spacing at bridge: 51.7mm
• Electrics: Cort Powersound humbucker and 2 single coils, master volume, master tone, 5-way pickup selector
• Weight: 7.4lbs/3.35kg
• Options: N/A
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Scarlet Red, Aged Cream, Seafoam Green (as reviewed)
• Cases: No
• Contact: Cort

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Since Cor-Tek is well-versed in building guitars for different brands, it’s not a surprise to find that the G200SE is immaculately put together. The neck on my review model is really dark with a beautiful figuring, and it looks like it cost a lot more money than the price belies. The fretwork is fantastic, better than I’ve seen on some guitars costing three times the price. One of the tuners is ever so slightly skewiff, but apart from that the neck is flawless.

It’s a similar story with the body, which features the classic S-style shape with a more modern, slight offset that shifts the upper horn further forward than you’d typically see. It gives me hot-rodded S-type vibes, but the Seafoam Green invokes a more classic aesthetic. It’s got a sculpted neck heel for better upper-fret access, and a belly cut for additional comfort when playing.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★☆

Getting to grips with the roasted maple neck and fretboard, there’s no neck profile stated on the website, but to my hand it feels very similar to the Modern ‘C’ profiles I’m familiar with on my own Fender guitars. The frets feel a little smaller than the medium-jumbo ones on my Telecaster, albeit only slightly. Upper-fret access is good thanks to the sculpted neck heel and generous cutaway.

Out of the box the GS200SE is really nicely set up with D’Addario 9s, coming in at 3mm at the 12th fret with my finger on the first fret. My usual check of bending all the notes up from the 12th fret onwards on the treble strings finds no choking at all, and the intonation is pretty much bang on, ever so slightly sharp but nothing that couldn't be fettled.

Although the strings are a little lighter than what I use normally, it takes me no time at all to get up to speed on the 9.45” radius ‘board, with my usual arsenal of three note per string legato licks flowing immediately. The fretboard is really satisfying to bend against, and it’s only when I get into some Gary Moore-inspired two-step bends that I start to find the tuning going awry. It’s small steps too, nothing that you can’t account for with a little adjustment.

Where it’s not so good however, is the six-point tremolo. Pretty much any time I engage it, it sends the guitar out of tune, and I find it takes a lot of effort to move it initially, with the resistance dramatically dropping off as I dive further down in pitch.

It’s to be expected on a guitar so cheap that not everything is perfect, and while it’s fine for subtle tone bends, as soon as I start pressing on it more heavily, it’s difficult to get control over it due to that heavy feel. Again, these things are designed to be adjusted, and at this price, it could be improved as part as a regular setup.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

Starting with the humbucker on the drive channel of my Orange Rocker 32 tube amp, the G200SE delivers a surprisingly fat and full tone, much more satisfying than I anticipated given its price. There’s plenty of midrange heft when playing partial barre chords near the headstock, and when I switch to lead licks with some tape delay and spring reverb via my HX Stomp it sounds incredibly inspiring.

Moving to the single coil sounds, these aren’t quite as nice as the humbucker to my ear. The neck position is a little thin, without that thick warmth you typically expect to hear from that position. The in-betweens have some that Strat-type quack or honk, but it’s only really noticeable when playing clean, with the qualities of the pickup disappearing when I add my Tube Screamer clone into the equation.

Changing to the clean channel brings out more of those Strat-style sounds, which are especially honky in position 4. Position 2 is a little lackluster though, with the bridge humbucker and middle pickup sounding duller rather than twangier.

Of course, I’m looking at this through the lens of a lot of guitar experience, so I will counter that for the beginner guitar player, these tones should be more than good enough to go from first chords to first gig.

Verdict

There are a lot of beginner guitars out there at the moment, which can make it harder for brands without the weight of a big name to shine. It’s a shame, because this is a really great guitar that would make an excellent buy for any burgeoning guitar player. I wish I could have had something this good as my first instrument.

Of course it’s not perfect, with a tremolo that sends the guitar well out of tune, and a pair of uninspiring single coils to boot. These are things that are typical of beginner-level guitars though, so it’s not a huge complaint. There’s plenty here that will excite new and old players alike, and you could easily swap those pickups out for something sweeter and have yourself a really nice guitar for not a lot of cash.

Guitar World verdict: With its incredible build quality, excellent playability, and in particular that humbucker, the Cort G200SE is a lot of guitar for the money. The roasted maple neck is a delight to play on, and although some of the single-coil sounds are lacking, the bridge humbucker pretty much makes up for it. It’s a testament to just how good beginners have it these days that I can’t find all that much to fault in a guitar that costs so little.

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Technically speaking, Crazy Tube Circuits’ latest pedal, Mirage, is a dual-engine ambient reverb workstation, although the company’s founder, Christos Ntaifotis, describes it in one word – “shoegaze”.

We can go for that; it can certainly create the dreamy, atmospheric quality that many would attribute to the word.

Perhaps more telling is the inscription on the pedal’s circuit board: “Music is a mirage that throws a party, nothing is real but everything grooves.” This is clearly a pedal that aims for the ethereal!

The Mirage comprises two fully independent reverb engines, R1 and R2, that can each load one of 16 distinct reverb algorithms. Those algorithms are collected in two banks of eight and displayed as symbols in two arcs around a rotary Voice switch.

The outer arc has the more traditional and familiar reverbs – Plate, Cathedral, Hall, Room, Gated, two different spring reverbs (Spring and Springier) and Inchindown, based on an oil tank – while the inner arc is host to modern ambient effects with various shimmer, modulated and infinite reverbs.

Each reverb engine has four dedicated adjustment knobs. While the Mix and Volume knobs have a fixed use, the other two are more flexible with function varying per algorithm.

Swell controls the size or length of the reverb effect in most cases, whereas Excite is a context-sensitive control so controls brightness on some of the more conventional reverbs but has pitch-shift and modulation adjustment functions for others.

Swell and Excite can also be put under foot control for performance options such as ramping up the decay via a press-and-hold of the pedal’s right footswitch for R1 – but only via an external expression pedal for R2.

R1 and R2 each have their own input and outputs. This allows you to use them as two independent mono reverbs if you’re employing an external loop switcher, or in a stereo signal chain where the L and R channels are processed independently with different reverb types or the same reverb type (maybe with slight differences to widen the stereo image) in each.

The way to approach the pedal in a standard mono chain is to use the Master input and output so the signal runs in series from R1 to R2, allowing the reverbs – via the footswitches – to be used independently for different sounds at different times or stacked together for a composite sound.

This configuration enables the use of a send/return loop for placing additional pedals between the two engines for further sonic creativity.

There’s also a mono in/stereo out mode available. A set of internal switches lets you set up for a chosen way of working with either true bypass or buffered bypass with trails, and whether the Mix knob runs to a maximum standard 50/50 wet/dry mix or to 100 per cent wet (Kill Dry).

Specs

• PRICE: $365/£285/€325
• ORIGIN: Greece
• TYPE: Reverb pedal
• FEATURES: Selectable true bypass or buffered bypass with trails, two independent reverb engines, 16 reverb types
• CONTROLS: 2x each: Volume, Mix, Swell, Excite, Voice, Shift switch, Assign switch. IND/R1 XF switch, internal switches (Kill Dry R1 & R2, Bypass Mode R1 & R2, Routing Assignment), footswitches 1 & 2
• CONNECTIONS: Standard inputs 1 (master) and 2 (return), Standard outputs 1 (send) and 2 (master), XP expression pedal input
• POWER: 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) 210mA 
• DIMENSIONS: 123 (w) x 97 (d) x 54mm (h) 
• CONTACT: Crazy Tube Circuits

Usability and sounds

Looking at the different algorithms individually, there’s a lot of ground covered; the only thing we missed was reverse reverb. The reverbs based on conventional spaces (Room, Hall, Cathedral) all give a realistic sense of the ambience to be found in their respective locations, and each one has adjustable size/decay as well as tweakable brightness that can help tie it into the sound of your rig.

The other emulated space, Inchindown, is inspired by Scottish oil tanks that are said to have the longest man-made reverb, and it sounds really good with its decay turned right up for an atmospheric lingering reverb with a metallic edge.

Of the electro-mechanical emulations, the Plate offers reverb with a solid density that sits well with guitar, while the two spring types are also a natural fit by their very nature, one doing a very usable recreation of classic amp reverb, the other representing an outboard unit with longer springs, revisiting early ’60s surf guitar with ease.

The Swell knob mimics a Dwell control here, driving the reverb tank harder, and Excite dials in the splashiness. The Gated reverb has adjustable gate time for a short punch of reverb – useful as a substitute for a delay slapback.

There are four shimmer delays, all with adjustable decay. Three have the shimmer pitched at an octave: one an octave up for that familiar shimmer sparkle; the second an octave down for a doomier vibe; and the third offering an adjustable crossfade between up and down octaves, which effectively lets you position your shimmer on a dark-to-bright arc.

The fourth shimmer has a stable pitch-shift that you can set with the Excite knob, and using it with R1 and R2 together you can dial it in to be harmonious or discordant.

The Repeater algorithm is described as “echoes trapped in reverb” and offers an intriguing texture via rhythmic trail of reflections. With Moduverb you get reverb tails with a sense of movement through modulation. Depth and speed are tweaked simultaneously with the Excite knob, which delivers tasty chorusing at lower levels but can take things to a more seasick extreme.

Frozen Hall offers hall reverb, but turning up the Swell knob cranks the decay to maximum for endless sustain. Finally, Infinite captures and holds a reverb loop indefinitely, responding nicely to playing dynamics if you carefully adjust the threshold.

While all of the reverbs are available for individual use, it’s the stacking of two together that’s going to be the attraction here for players who like to get creative. With the pick ’n’ mix selection of both traditional and esoteric reverbs (256 combinations with R1 and R2 used together!), there’s plenty of scope to craft some unique ambient textures.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

The fact that there are so many sonic options but no memory storage might be a dealbreaker for some, but there are other pedals on the market for that. The Mirage positively celebrates being intuitive and hands-on with no menus.

It’s nicely compact, too, although that comes with its own compromises such as no room for more than two main parameters (pre‑delay would have been useful) and hard-to-read voice selection.

However, those are minor points compared with the routing flexibility, creative sonic potential and performance options that could make this Mirage a solid reality on your pedalboard.

Guitar World verdict: The Mirage positively celebrates being intuitive and hands-on with no menus. Its routing flexibility, creative sonic potential and performance options could make it a solid reality on your pedalboard.

Hands-on videos

The Studio Rats

The Guitar Geek

Mike Hermans

• Best reverb pedals 2025: from spring to shimmer, these are our top picks for your pedalboard
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

No sooner had Oasis begun their Live ’25 reunion tour on 4th July 2025 than chatter started about a mystery guitar Noel Gallagher was wielding, a black Les Paul. Was it the fabled Custom he was loaned from Johnny Marr?

As the dates continued, so did the speculation until Gibson announced a 25-piece limited run, at a mere £17,500, that “paid tribute to the instrument that Noel Gallagher has been using at Oasis reunion shows,” technically a Made To Measure Les Paul that Noel had been working on with Gibson for the previous 18 months.

Surely a production version would follow, and just before Oasis kicked off their five-date run in Australia, it was announced: the Gibson USA Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard!

Specs

• Launch price: $2,999 | £2,699 | €3.099
• Made: USA
• Type: Single-cutaway, solidbody electric
• Body: Mahogany (no weight relief) with carved maple top
• Neck: Mahogany, SlimTaper profile, glued-in
• Fingerboard/Radius: Single-bound Indian rosewood /12”
• Scale length: 24.75” (629mm)
• Nut/width: Graph Tech/43.5mm
• Frets: 22, medium jumbo
• Hardware: Tune-o-matic bridge, aluminium stud tailpiece, Grover Rotomatic tuners w/ kidney buttons – chrome plated
• Electrics: 2x Gibson Soapbar P-90 single coils w/ chromed metal covers, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, individual volume and tone controls
• Weight: 10lb (4.56kg)
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Ebony nitrocellulose only
• Case: Hard case
• Contact: Gibson

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★ ½

Now, rather than any radical re-design of the Les Paul this new signature comes across as a pimped-up hot-rod. Gibson already has its Les Paul Standard 50s P-90 and really this is the same guitar with some tweaks: first off, instead of the ‘50s Vintage neck profile it swaps to Noel’s preferred SlimTaper.

The gloss nitro-cellulose Ebony-only finish is not only nicely done but is the perfect backdrop for the all-chrome hardware instead of the 50s P-90’s nickel. The specs (and some Gibson images) tell us we should have an ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge, although our sample uses the aluminium Nashville tune-o-matic with its slightly wider-travel saddles – as used extensively in Gibson USA’s Modern Collection – along with a lightweight stop tailpiece and Grover Rotomatic tuners. Further pimps include both a chromed-metal jackplate – as used on certain Modern models too – and toggle switch surround aka the ‘switch washer’.

Under the moody exterior there are no changes to the Standard’s mahogany back/maple top construction or its one-piece mahogany neck with a mid-brown, single bound rosewood fingerboard and time-honored acrylic trapezoid inlays.

While the actual soapbar P-90 pickups are the same specification as that 50s model, the difference here are the unique chromed-metal covers, a nod to the chromed dog-ear covers of another Noel favourite, the Epiphone Casino. There are no changes in the controls either, it’s the standard Gibson modern-wired control circuit that’s typically neatly done with Gibson logo’d pots and Orange Drop capacitors. Overall, it’s a pretty tidy contemporary Les Paul.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★☆

If the five-ply pickguard is a nod to that loaned Johnny Marr Les Paul Custom, so is our Standard’s heft. There’s no weight relief here and our sample tips the scales bang-on 10lbs. That aside, it’s obviously very similar to plenty of other USA Les Pauls: it’s very familiar, nothing to get used to.

That said, Gibson’s so-called ‘medium jumbo’ fret wire feels more like a smaller ‘medium’ and our sample’s felt and measured a little low. Bends feel a little less positive and you can certainly feel the fingerboard face: it’s almost a built-in vintage-y played-a-lot vibe. The frets could also benefit from a bit more polishing and the fingerboard needs a little conditioning, if only to deepen the color.

In some quarters the SlimTaper gets some flak, not least from the ‘big is best’ fraternity. But that’s taste: the profile here isn’t exactly skinny, quite a classic ‘C’ with a little more shoulder.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

There’s nothing remarkable in the guitar’s unplugged response either, a good typically pushy ring. But it’s the single coil P-90s, that with the exception of that Les Paul Standard 50s P-90, differentiate this from the mainly humbucker-loaded USA LP models.

Using an original 1957 Les Paul Jr as a sonic benchmark, the NG doesn’t disappoint. It retains some of that Jr’s bite and mid-range attitude but smooths it a little adding seemingly both depth and clarity.

Switch off the obvious crunch and gain on your amp and go clean and there’s quite strident jangle at bridge, jazztastic smoothness at neck and a little sparkle with both pickups voiced that works in more soulful, funkier styles. But then bring back a little hair and crunch and the single-coil texture eases into Americana and a whole lot more. If only there was a Bigsby option…

But the humbucker was invented for good reason. Single coils pick up noise and hum that in certain situations can ruin the fun. It’s why numerous Gibson artists, most recently Warren Haynes, choose hum-canceling P-90 DC soapbars for his signature. In the short time we had the guitar though it was well-behaved. The pickups have the same magnetic polarity so aren’t hum-canceling in the mix position and we simply ran out of time [Gibson UK needed this example back fairly urgently] to test what effect, or not, those covers have on the sound and any noise reduction.

Potential pitfalls aside, the quality of sound, that different texture and bite ain’t to be sneezed at.

Verdict

Some might say this is far from a valid Oasis signature guitar, having only come into play earlier this year. It’s simply based on a custom-spec’d guitar, a tool for Noel’s day job, admittedly a ginormous world tour, but is Noel even still using his versions?

All of that aside, as we said, it’s a slightly different, pimped-up take on an existing USA Les Paul that quite simply might entice players to taste, or remind themselves of the P-90s different, less-smooth fat single-coil voice that has way more sonic potential than merely playing covers of the signature artist’s band. It’s quite the rock’n’roller: old or new.

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Hands-on videos

Long & McQuade Musical Instruments

Andertons

Casino Guitars

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Such is the modern world, we were scrolling through Instagram and stumbled across a delicious-looking Patrick James Eggle Oz-t. A quick “can we get one?” request and a little while later, once Patrick and his team had made another, here it is.

There’s no launch embargo date to follow. No PR to wade through. Just another jaw-dropping example of home-grown craft in the UK.

Increasingly, those of us who enjoy über-quality are looking beyond the big guns’ Custom Shops and Private Stock programmes. Nobody is saying £3k is cheap, but it’s considerably less than those obvious Custom Shop models, not least if you want some bespoke features that suit you.

Like many, many makers worldwide, Patrick’s range centres on electric guitars inspired by Fender favourites: the Tele-style Oz (named after the location of Eggle HQ), as here, and the more Strat-aimed 96, while the Macon covers more Gibson-like style in its various configurations.

So, while there’s no new outline for your eyes and hands to adjust to, Patrick’s main USP is simply the hugely detailed craft honed from vast experience in both the electric and acoustic worlds. And when we say ‘hugely detailed’, we really mean it. This is masterpiece level.

From the off, the experience of unboxing a perfectly packaged instrument is illustrative that the details go beyond the guitar itself. Opening the classic-style hard case, we note that the guitar is shipped with a fretboard protector, and the whiff of quality is hard to miss.

As you pull the guitar out, it’s not only a beautiful light weight for the style, but we’re drawn to the pristine condition and lightly aged hardware, not to mention the look of the roasted, figured maple neck-back and the deep brown/orange of the tortoiseshell pickguard and top-edge binding.

There’s no ageing to the perfectly glossed nitro body finish, though; its dark 2-Tone Burst over the vertically striped swamp ash seems somehow opulent but in very classic rock ’n’ roll style.

It’s perfectly matched by the stripped-down dress: the cut-off bridge with its big brass saddles, and the domed and lightly knurled control knobs, again lightly aged like the original P-Bass-style control plate they sit on.

Suiting the aged style is the old-looking single humbucker at the bridge – a Wide Range-style pickup, wound by Mojo here in the UK. There’s no need for a pickup selector switch, but you can split the humbucker via a pull-switch on the master tone control.

Specs

• PRICE: £3,260 ($4,379 approx., inc case)
• ORIGIN: UK
• TYPE: Single-cutaway, semi-solid electric
• BODY: 2-piece swamp ash back w/ swamp ash top
• NECK: Figured roasted maple, soft V profile, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Bone/43mm
• FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, ivory coloured face dots w/ Luminlay side dots, 304mm (12”) radius
• FRETS: 22 medium (Jescar 55090)
• HARDWARE: Gotoh ‘chopped T’ bridge with intonated brass saddles, Gotoh SD 91 tuners – aged nickel-plate
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 54.5mm
• ELECTRICS: Mojo CuNiFe Wide Range-style humbucker. Master volume and tone (w/ pull‑push coil-split)
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.97/6.54
• OPTIONS: The base price is £2,990: 2-piece swamp ash body construction adds £100; single-ply tortoiseshell pickguard adds £60; body-edge binding adds £200
• RANGE OPTIONS: Solidbody T-style Oz (from £2,900) is joined by Oz Contour Top (from £3,400) and Oz Carved Top (from £4,300). Aside from these standard models, PJE also offers a full custom service (£POA)
• LEFT-HANDERS: Yes
• FINISH: 2-Tone Burst (as reviewed) – gloss nitrocellulose body; satin nitro to headstock and heel with ‘worn through’ neck back
• CONTACT: Patrick James Eggle

Playability and sounds

There’s obviously a familiar feel here to the slab-bodied guitar, which weighs in at 2.97kg (6.54lb). It’s a great seated player and feels like part of your body when strapped on. But not for the first time with a PJE guitar, it’s the neck feel and fretwork that’s truly exceptional.

There are no tricks. The oil/wax finish to the neck-back feels as good as the roasted maple looks, which is technically rift-sawn with a lovely strong flamed figure.

It’s only a shade lighter in colour than the deep brown rosewood fingerboard with its simple clay-like dots to the face (the side dots are quite large-diameter Luminlay), while the narrow/tall fret gauge seems perfectly suited, especially with the 305mm (12-inch) fingerboard radius.

Those frets are beautifully smooth with rounded ends, and the very straight neck has a pretty low action: 1.27mm on the treble side and 1.53mm on the bass side.

Of course, the heel is rounded, too, and the neckplate inset, which all helps the guitar to disappear in your hands. Nothing gets in the way. The neck profile is classed as a ‘soft V’ and there’s good depth – 22.8mm at the 1st fret, 23.4mm by the 12th – but the trim shoulders make it feel thinner to your hand.

The chambering is mostly on the bass side, which not only reduces weight but we get a good acoustic volume and pretty much halfway between a solid- and hollowbody response.

Not everyone will get on with a single-pickup guitar, of course, and you can order the Oz-t with a neck pickup. But us Les Paul Junior or Esquire fans have no complaints and, sound-wise, this Oz nods more to the latter than the former.

If you find a humbucker a bit too ‘big’ and a single coil too ‘small’, then this Mojo ’bucker might appeal. It’s pulled back a little from the Patent Applied For clone we have on our reference PJD Carey Standard – a similar chambered swamp ash/maple build – but it’s got a smooth, lean voice here that, for some, could be a hot country classic.

It’s a very vibrant and ringing voice at full volume and keeps its clarity under some tougher gains, but as any single-pickup player will know, your volume control is your friend.

Here, the guitar cleans up nicely and actually leans into a more twangsome zone. Set up your sound with that rolled-back volume then pull it back up for your riffs and leads and we’re right into a near-perfect roots rock Americana ballpark.

With the pull-switch engaged, though, which voices primarily the neck-facing coil, there’s an almost Gretsch-like sparkle, lower in output with less thickness but bags of bite that can easily be rolled back with the tone control.

Throw some chorus into the mix and if we were told this was a signature pickup for Johnny Marr or the late, great James Honeyman‑Scott, we’d believe it. But it’s just as valid for your 60s power-pop or clean and stingin’ righteous blues. One pickup, a host of sounds. Superb.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★★

Guitar World verdict: A first-class build that’s impossible to fault, this almost demure Oz-t is yet another illustration of why Patrick James Eggle is held in such high regard. But it’s no posh case-queen; it would be criminal if this didn’t hit a stage. It might just be a single-pickup guitar, but when one sounds as good and is versatile as this, do you really need more?

• “Built to a standard that few can come close to – and for a grand under a Fender Custom Shop Strat”: Patrick James Eggle 96 Rob Harris Signature review
• Best high-end electric guitars 2025: the finest guitars money can buy
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Another day, another Tube Screamer-inspired overdrive has shown up at my door. At this point, we must ask ourselves: Have we hit the ceiling in the amount of Screamer-style overdrive pedals? I could say yes, but there’s always room for improvement, right?

So, the question must be: What’s different this time around? With countless versions of the hallowed green box available, distinguishing between them while they fight for space on your pedalboard can be quite challenging. But since my place is already Screamer Central, let’s unearth what’s new here.

If you heed the gospel of certain YouTube content creators, you’ll find they frequently extol the virtues of the classic Japanese "Tube Screamers," particularly the holy trinity of the TS808, TS9, and the TS10.

To that end, Warm Audio is well known for making repros of some very famed overdrives, fuzzes, and boosts, so it only seems fitting in the natural progression of things for the company to take a stab at the iconic Tube Screamer — now known from them as, er… the Tube Squealer.

Yes, Warm Audio’s Tube Squealer is an all-analog, Screamer-inspired overdrive offering three selectable voicings — 808, TS9, and TS10 — that authentically recreate those revered Japanese circuits along with some modern features for flexibility.

Will it knock your socks off? For some, absolutely, but for me, I find it works admirably well in complementing any cranked rig and stacks nicely with other gain pedals.

Specs

• Price: $149 | €159 | £139
• Type: Selectable three-mode, soft-clipping Screamer-style overdrive with modern features
• Controls: Drive, Level, Mix, and Tone
• Features: Clean/Drive Mix Knob, Three-Mode Overdrive switch (808, TS10, TS9), Pickup Voicing switch (Humbucker and Single Coil), External Voltage Boost selector and True/Buffered Bypass Selector
• Jacks: 1/4-inch mono input and output jacks
• Power: 9V/18V, 12mA in Standard Mode, 25mA in Boosted mode (PSU not included)
• Dimensions: W: 5.1” | H: 2.75” | D: 2.63”
• Weight: 1 lb
• Contact: Warm Audio, warmaudio.com

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

The rock-solid Tube Squealer looks pretty reminiscent of its inspiration, arriving in that old-school Screamer-mould pedal enclosure with grippy indicator knobs. What’s noteworthy is that the Tube Squealer offers three distinct signal paths, each faithfully reproducing the authentic circuitry of the 808, TS9, and TS10, rather than merely re-voicing them.

For that reason, it achieves its asymmetrical clipping through carefully selected internal components, including JRC4558 op-amps, discrete transistors and diodes, and premium JFETs. Just like Warm Audio’s other pedals in their stable, these components were chosen to recreate the original character and response of those three pedals the Tube Squealer emulates.

It’s also good to know that Warm Audio ensures the durability of each pedal through rigorous testing in its Austin, Texas, facility before shipment, backing this commitment with a 5-year warranty.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★

Similar to Warm Audio’s new Throne of Tone, the Tube Squealer avoids internal DIP switches for adjustments, offering all tone-shaping controls conveniently on the pedal's face. While the Drive, Level, Mix, and Tone controls are straightforward, achieving your desired sound requires careful adjustment, especially when combining the Circuit Selector (808, TS9, TS10) and Pickup Voicing (humbucker/single coil) switches, and whether you choose to introduce any amount of clean signal via the Mix knob or not.

For each of the 808, TS10, and TS9 circuits, the Tube Squealer is in an “original pedal” voicing when clicked down to the “single-coil” setting on the Pickup Voicing switch. By clicking up towards the “humbucker” setting, it adds a midrange emphasis from 800Hz to 2kHz, which supposedly removes muddiness when using humbucker-equipped guitars. Finally, the Tube Squealer can be selected to operate at 9V for vintage harmonic distortion or at 18V (via an internal voltage doubler) in "On" mode for a cleaner boost with increased headroom. However, I found the difference between these two modes negligible.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★

My relationship with early Ibanez-era Tube Screamers has been a “cookie-jarring” affair. What I mean by that is that I’ve never been fully committed to an 808, TS9, or TS10. I have always used them as a complementary companion when paired with other drive pedals or in front of an amp that is cranked or approaching breakup.

It’s not that those classic pedals are inadequate or unsatisfactory; it’s more that there are better dedicated overdrives out there. And frankly, considering my recent review of Warm Audio’s Throne of Tone, I think it’s fair for me to say the Tube Squealer just doesn’t have the same “wow” factor as the Throne of Tone.

But, here with the Tube Squealer, we have three of the most popular overdrives in one pedal, which is nice to have, and keeps any option paralysis to a minimum. If you didn’t know, here’s a brief reason why each was selected. The 808 (which has always been my personal favorite) is the earliest version of those classic overdrive circuits, which delivers a melange of warm coloration, soft compression, and gritty breakup.

The TS9 was released shortly after and has been the most popular and mass-produced version, with added drive and more compression, and replete with its prominent mid-hump frequency that some find plagues it, while others celebrate it.

The “sleeper” TS10 is a recent unsung hero that has garnered rising popularity among players, most notably John Mayer, for its smooth character, fuller sound and compressed sparkle.

While each circuit in the Squealer nods to those Ibanez classics, the differences in their sound are often subtle to somewhat imperceptible, though distinct characteristic variations do exist.

I primarily favor the 808 for its warmth and the TS10 for its sparkle. I also find myself sticking with the single coil setting (which is the 'original' un-modded circuit), as the humbucker setting sounds too strident to my ears.

However, I do know this humbucker setting is preferable to use with high-gain amplifiers for that enhanced mid-emphasis. I find myself keeping the Mix knob disengaged, as I prefer a pure overdriven tone without any clean signal, but if you like this blend-able option, this feature functions comparably to other pedals with similar mix/dry controls.

Verdict

Again, as I alluded to earlier, the Tube Squealer is more of a supportive pedal that sounds fantastic when paired with your other favored distortions, overdrives, fuzzes and boosts. And even in front of a pushed Marshall, Fender or Vox amp, the Squealer shines by introducing a smooth layer of compressed drive that accentuates pick attack and dynamics, and adding a welcome bump of brawny girth to your tone. All that’s needed is to select which of the three Squealer’s voices works best for your rig. And for that, the Squealer is just as good, if not in some cases, better than most overdrive pedals that offer less versatility for a similar price.

Guitar World verdict: The Tube Squealer is an elevated Screamer-style overdrive that stands out in its flexibility for complementing cranked rigs and stacking with other gain pedals. For some, it will be an absolute showstopper, but for others, it may be heavily scrutinized compared to other overdrive choices.

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It was big news when Boss announced its DigiTech Whammy rival, the XS-100, in late September. So much so, that its little brother, the XS-1, which was announced at the same time, was a little overlooked. But it’s very much a part of the firm’s all-new assault on the pitch-shifting pedal market.

Arriving in a standard pedal format, ideal for those concerned about pedalboard real estate, the XS-1 slims down the XS-100’s package. Gone is the expression pedal, its bank of presets, MIDI compatibility, and simultaneous running of its pitch-shifting and detuning functions. But the same best-in-class shifting capabilities (albeit with a reduced +/- three-octave total range) remain in a unit that puts tactile operation at the fore, making it an obvious choice for those wanting to drop or raise the pitch of their guitar, while also offering more than simply that function.

Boss has spent years developing its new shifting tech, mastered thanks to an all-new algorithm, and the XS-1 is just as much a labor of love as its sibling. Offering two dials, one for choosing the pitch-shift value, and one for the effect’s balance versus the dry signal, it’s as straightforward as it comes.

Two mini-switches sit beneath, dictating Toggle and Momentary operation of the footswitch, and whether the shift value is going up or down, complete its control count. You don’t need a rocket science degree to get stuck into it.

Beyond the unit itself, there's the option of hooking it up to an external expression pedal, which will help broaden its appeal to those put off by the XS-100's $350 price tag, but where the XS-100 was unique in taking the Whammy on head-to-head, the XS-1 is airdropped into a more competitive market.

DigiTech's Drop, Electro Harmonix's Pitch Fork, and even Gamechanger Audio x Fender, with its wonderfully bonkers Bigsby Pedal, have all impressed before it when it comes to pitch-shifting pedals that give your tuning pegs a break. So, in such lauded company, does the XS-1 do enough to plant Boss's flag in the turf?

Specs

• Launch price: $349 / £299
• Type: Polyphonic pitch-shifter pedal
• Controls: Balance, Shift value, Shift direction, Toggle/Moment
• Features: Pitch-shifter/detuner
• Connectivity: Input, Expression pedal input, Output
• Bypass: Buffered
• Power: 9V AC, 160 mA power supply (not included)
• Dimensions: 73mm (W), 129mm (D), 59mm (H)
• Weight: 410g (0.9 lbs) including battery
• Options: N/A
• Contact: Boss

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

In my early band days, there was a running joke that everyone owned at least one piece of Cort gear. Its budget products had a way of slipping their way into everyone’s collection, one way or another. The same can be said of Boss pedals. Just like opinions, everyone’s got at least one – hell, John 5’s Mötley Crüe board is exclusively Boss – and there’s good reason for that.

Well, three actually: sounds, price, and build quality. At $199, the XS-1 isn’t its cheapest stompbox, but even before opening the oh-so familiar black box it arrived in, I knew what I was getting myself into. Here, Boss’s reputation is in no danger of being tattered.

It looks and performs exactly as you’d want a Boss pedal to. It’s built to withstand plenty of stomping, and its slender array of controls will help with its ruggedness, as, put simply, there's less to go wrong. And those mini-switches, despite their diminutive forms, are as strong as they come.

Granted, there's no chance of getting a toe in that gap to change settings easier mid-song, which is a small shame considering it isn't MIDI slave-able, but otherwise, it's another seemingly bulletproof Boss build.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★★

Where the XS-100 relies on a small screen for navigation, what you see on the surface of the XS-1 is what you get. It's a lot more tactile, and it works a treat. Within mere seconds, it’s easy to understand how it works. Getting to the fun stuff couldn't be quicker.

Although the pedal’s quirk is its ability to re-pitch the signal, the real legwork comes via the Balance control, which dictates the blend between the wet, effected, and the dry, unaffected signal. The higher the value, the more effect you get. That makes it more than just a pitch-shifter; it can be an octaver, too, and there are quirks beyond that. The dial really broadens its palette. More on that below.

As ever, there’s a 9V battery compartment hidden under the footswitch, meaning it isn’t married to pedalboard power supplies. Otherwise, there’s not much to report; it’s a piece of cake to use.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

As far as pedals go, the cleanliness of the effect is unparalleled. Some modelers and plugins may contest that theirs is better.

The detuning feature, whether going up or down in range, is incredibly convincing, and with more typical usages, the tracking is faultless. This is the pedal’s bread and butter, and even at its most dramatic detune, at +/- 7 semitones, chords are tracked with great detail. Boss’s claims of the pedal being artifact-free more than hold up. I’d have the confidence to gig with this and use it to avoid guitar changes. It’s compelling.

There's an impressive three-octave span to make the most of too, but once beyond the realm of +/- two octaves, its viability starts to wane, especially on the lower strings. Keep dropping down the octaves, and you’ll journey from stank face city to muddy cacophony pretty quickly. And here, it hates bends; what comes out there sounds like a dying demon, and not in a cool death metal way.

However, I had a blast using the -3 octaves on the higher strings. What I play sounds pitched. I’m not going to convince anyone that this is a dry signal, but there’s a weird charm to it, pushing a metal rhythm tone into a Jack White-esque fuzz territory, and it tracks really well, too. It's a quirk I never expected the pedal to have, but it came as a very fun and very pleasant surprise.

Still, it’s the Balance dial that steals the show. Using the pedal solely as an octaver, it makes the effect incredibly personalizable. Adding just a little bit injects extra bass to riffs and chords. Pull it back, however, and the tone that comes lurching out of my speakers (I’m testing it using Neural DSP plugins, including Archetype: Misha Mansoor X) wants my lunch money. It's nasty.

At 12 o’clock on -1 octave, I get a gnarly octaver tone that’s so angsty it makes me want to hate my mom and start a garage rock band. But there’s a huge amount of sculpt-ability. It's far from cut-and-dry.

At 100%, I was losing a little note clarity, especially with more complex chords, but that goes with the territory. In short, it’s wickedly effective.

Verdict

Pitch-shifting features are pretty commonplace these days. Every new Neural DSP plugin has them, while other pedals, plugins, and digital amp modelers boast them, too. Yet Boss’s detuning recipe might just be the cleanest and most impressive yet.

The pedal shines when employed more typically, dropping a tone or two to save you from having to take extra guitars to shows, adding a subtle low-end boost to riffs, or going full-blown ugly with octave grit. Naturally, it struggles when really pushed to its limits, but for its more everyday employment, it’s really hard to fault it.

I’ve had the privilege of trying out this and its big brother, the XS-100, and despite having a more streamlined set of features, the XS-1 is the one I’m more likely to drop onto my ‘board. It’s a fierce and versatile little unit, packed with the high-quality and effortless usability you expect from Boss. In the writing room, it has inspiration on tap; on stage, it could be a godsend.

Guitar World verdict: Boss has finally entered the detuning game, and it's done it in style. The XS-1 is built like a tank, is effortless to use, and, even with such limited controls, can be used in a variety of ways. In fact, while the XS-100 has grabbed the headlines, the XS-1 stands as the dark horse of the range. I'm still finding ways to make the most of this little stompbox, and I don't expect to run out of ideas any time soon.

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It wasn’t that long ago that Positive Grid released its first headphone amp for guitar and now, it's seen fit to follow up with a second product already. The Positive Grid Spark Neo Core is a more budget-friendly alternative to the original Neo which was launched earlier in the year, offering you the same great sounds but sans any wireless connectivity.

It used to be that the only real combined headphone/amplifier combo was available with the Boss Waza-Air, an expensive option for the majority of guitarists, but these last two releases from PG certainly challenge that. The Neo Core is available at $159 from launch, against the $249 you’ll have to outlay for the wireless version, so it’s not a saving to be sniffed at.

Connectivity comes in the form of plugging any standard 1/4-inch guitar cable into the headphones themselves, a feature that is present on the Spark Neo and the Boss Waza Air in case you’re waiting for your wireless transmitter to charge. There’s no ability to use a 3rd party transmitter with the Core though, nor can you pick up a Positive Grid transmitter and use it that way. So these are cabled headphones, and always will be.

Although you can’t connect to your guitar wirelessly, the Neo Core does still double as a Bluetooth headphone, so you can jam along to your favorite tunes or use it as a regular listening device away from your guitar with the same great sound. Custom 40mm drivers aim to offer a good balance of tone across the frequency spectrum, with ear cups designed to enhance noise isolation, keeping you focused on your playing while minimizing bleed to those around you.

It also has all the same tone options as its pricier, bigger brother, with access to the full 33 amp and 43 effects models, backing tracks, Auto Chord mode, and the Spark AI tone generation feature. Boasting 6-8 hours of battery life, it should hold plenty of charge for users to jam regularly without recharging and interrupting those impromptu jam sessions.

Specs

• Launch price: $159
• Type: Modeling amp headphones with Bluetooth
• Made: China
• Speaker drivers: 40mm ABF Diaphragm
• Headphone Sensitivity: 100dB SPL (@ 1kHz)
• Impedance: 32ohms
• Frequency range: 20kHz-20kHz
• Bluetooth: 5.0
• Hardware controls: Preset Selector, Guitar Volume, Power button / Bluetooth Pairing (streamed audio volume controlled at source device e.g smartphone)
• Latency: 3.8ms
• Features: Bluetooth streaming, four onboard presets, 33 amp models, 43 effects accessible via Spark app, app also includes Spark AI for tone matching, Auto Chords, 100,000+ tones via ToneCloud and Tuner
• Battery life/charging time: Headphones up to six hours with guitar and up to eight for music playback. Charging time 3.5 hours via USB-C.
• Connectivity: 1/4" guitar input
• Footswitch: Not included but compatible with Spark Control and Spark Control X
• Dimensions: Headphones: w180×d195.22×h80.81mm.
• Weight: 372 grams (headphones only)
• Contact: Positive Grid

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

The Spark Neo Core is nearly identical to the Spark Neo in terms of the way they look, and how ruggedly they are built. There are some slight differences though. The Neo Core doesn’t have the gold accents of the Neo, opting for a more understated all-black ensemble which some might find preferable. There’s also a slight difference in the head cushion, with the Neo having a segmented look to it while the Neo Core is just one smooth piece.

On the left ear cup of the Neo Core there’s the slight indentation of what would be the transmitter connect button on the Neo, while the right ear cup features the exact same design, housing the 1/4-inch input, preset button, volume buttons, Bluetooth connect button, and the USB-C charging port.

I really like that Positive Grid has set about making these headphones feel extra robust, more like a piece of guitar gear than your average pair of studio headphones. The rubbery coating on the ear cups gives the look of amp Tolex but makes them feel incredibly rugged, and I have no qualms about chucking them in a backpack sans-hard case to take them somewhere.

They feel a lot more able to deal with roughhousing than the Boss Waza-Air, and as far as I can tell, there’s no difference in build quality between the Neo and Neo Core which is a nice touch. All the hinges feel nice and solid and are able to swivel in one direction, so you can make them slightly smaller, although I wouldn’t go so far as to call them compact.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★½

With no wireless connectivity to deal with in terms of plugging into my guitar, I can eschew the smartphone app and plug a cable straight into the headphones and get playing right away with the default presets. There’s a problem though. The angled cable I choose with the thick Neutrik connectors doesn’t fit properly into the jack input, because its recessed slightly into the rubber of the ear cup.

I thought I was being clever using an angled cable to push the cable over my shoulder but the weight of it and the slightly less-than-snug fit means that it doesn’t work in this format. I switch to a Mogami straight-to-straight cable with a thinner gauge instead, which kind of solves the problem. It fits perfectly, but now there’s a straight bit of cable that needs to go either in front of or behind my shoulder.

Opting for the behind position to start with, I quickly realize that it just won’t work like that. There’s not enough clearance between my shoulder and the jack of the cable in order for it to bend that way. Instead, having the cable go past my armpit and in between the armrest of my guitar is the most natural way for it to fall. The problem here is that if I want to turn my head right to look at my picking hand or the controls on my guitar the cable against my shoulder results in the headphone coming away from my ear.

As I’m playing, I can feel the weight of the cable pulling the right side of the headphones down slightly, and although it doesn’t massively inhibit what I’m doing, I am aware that it’s there all the time. It certainly makes headbanging along to my favorite chunky riff feel a lot less fluid than I’d like.

Going for my third cable, I opt for a cheaper, lighter Fender angled jack which lets me run the cable back behind my shoulder, but has a thinner connector housing that makes a better connection, and a lighter gauge to prevent the weight of it pulling down. This feels much better ergonomically, and I can finally start enjoying myself without feeling like something is going against my natural playing position.

It’s easy to say in hindsight, but having a slight angle on the cable input would make for a much better experience in my opinion. Anything just to offset the angle of the cable slightly and get it out of the way of your shoulder would result in a much more comfortable experience when using a straight cable.

Pulling out my (Android) smartphone next, I set about connecting the Spark app to the headphones in order to access more sounds. After tapping the power button to enable Bluetooth connect mode, I go about using the app to try and find the Neo Core as a device, which the app does successfully but I’m unable to get it to connect this way. Going into my phone settings and connecting to the audio portion there does the trick though, and as I get back to Spark app it finds and connects to the headphones immediately.

The app itself is no different visually from any other Positive Grid product, giving you the classic visual layout of your amps and effects in a signal chain along the top, and a larger, touch-adjustable picture of each individual piece of gear below.

I can save four presets to the hardware, swapping in different pieces of gear to suit my particular sound, and tweaking them as I like.It works really well, although I wish the tuner was a bit more accessible as I frequently use it and imagine other guitarists do too. Also, there are some limitations in the app versus using it with some of the traditional Spark practice amps, like the Positive Grid Spark Mini, for example.

Neither the video portion of the app nor the Smart Jam function is available with Spark Neo Core or Spark Neo, which may be disappointing if you're coming from another Spark amp. Officially, it's due to hardware limitations, as Smart Jam in particular requires sound to operate. These features are available and do work when you use regular Spark amps with headphones though, so I feel like they should still be available for guitarists using Spark Neo and Core.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Plugging in a Cort beginner electric guitar I’m also reviewing at the moment, I scroll through the hardware presets which offer clean, crunch, solo, and high-gain tones. It shows you immediately the gamut of sounds the Spark modeling software is capable of. No matter what sort of style you love to play, there’s no way you won’t be able to pull a tone you love out of the Spark Neo Core.

There’s no active noise canceling, but the sense of isolation once I put the ear cups over my ears and turn the volume up on my guitar is sensational. Whilst I’m chugging away with my baritone guitar I don’t even notice my partner walk into the room, and I have to pull an ear off to hear what she’s saying. I wasn’t listening particularly loudly either. If you are prone to turning things up and are worried about affecting your hearing, the app does warn you once you get beyond a certain threshold of volume.

The stereo reverbs and delays sound fantastic, giving a real sense of space whether I’m going for cavernous reverb settings or just getting that amp in a room feel. Ping pong delays bounce from ear to ear delightfully, and with the separation between myself and what’s going on in the room, there’s nothing to interrupt me from focusing on my playing. The other effects are superb too, and with such a massive suite to choose from you can dial in pretty much any tone you like.

As there’s no wireless to contend with it feels very immediate too, with no noticeable latency. Every note played from the guitar feels connected to what comes out of the ear cups, to the point that it’s easy to forget I’m playing with headphones and on and just get absorbed in the sounds.

Trying out the Spark AI tone generation feature, I’m met with a similar experience as I got when reviewing other Positive Grid products. Sometimes it’s right on the money, other times I need a lot of tweaking of the preset to get what I want. I do believe its great if you need a quick starting point though. Once I’d made some adjustments to my ‘Mars Volta freakout tone’ prompt, I found it was actually pretty close to what I wanted.

Verdict

In terms of tones, it’s impossible to fault the Positive Grid Spark Neo Core. It delivers pretty much any tone you can think of in an incredibly realistic way, making it a playground for guitarists of all abilities, and a potentially massive boon to your practice regimen. The AI tone generator might seem gimmicky, but it’s genuinely fun to mess around with and more often than not results in some very usable sounds once you tweak them a bit.

Where the Core falls short against its pricier, wireless cousin however, is in the comfort of use. Having had to try three different cables before finally settling on something that worked for me, the straight design of the input jack is a big misstep that makes the Neo Core a lot harder to use than it should be. It means that for the guitarists who can afford it, they’ll be much better off with the Spark Neo.

Guitar World verdict: If you’re on a tight budget then the Positive Grid Spark Neo Core can absolutely replace going the traditional route of a practice amp, but you will need to find the right cable to make it work. The sounds are simply superb, offering an immersive and inspiring playing experience and with such a vast choice of tones on offer, most guitarists will find something they love here.

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The Harley Benton CLC-650SM-CE Solid Wood is a Grand Concert-sized electro-acoustic guitar. Sporting a cutaway for easy access to the highest notes on the fretboard and an armrest built into the body, this guitar puts comfort and ease at the top of the menu.

It also boasts some incredible specs that are almost unheard of at this price point. It’s got a Fishman Flex Plus-T acoustic guitar pickup and preamp system with built-in tuner, mother of pearl headstock inlay, abalone rosette but most impressively a solid African mahogany top and solid mahogany back and sides. All-solid wood body construction and premium electronics for under $350? You have my attention.

Specs

• Price: $339/£299/€349
• Made: China
• Body shape: Grand Concert
• Body top: Solid African mahogany
• Top bracing: Scalloped X-bracing
• Back & sides: Solid African mahogany
• Neck/shape: Okume, C
• Scale length: 25.7” (653mm)
• Nut/width: Bone, 1.69” (43mm)
• Fingerboard/Radius: Ebonol (composite), 400mm radius
• Finish: High Gloss Black, Ultra High-Gloss Vintage Sunburst
• Bridge/pins: Composite
• Tuning Machines: Closed WSC DLX machine heads
• Electronics: Fishman Flex Plus-T pickup system with built-in tuner
• Case: Not included
• Left-handed options: No
• Contact: Harley Benton

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

First up, it’s worth saying that the build quality is in no way reflected by the guitar’s price tag. You could double its price and still think that the guitar is very well put together.

The neck is nice and smooth along the back and the frets have been finished perfectly. There isn’t one sharp edge on any of the frets – an issue that can plague some affordable instruments.

The binding on the top and back of the body, the rosette and headstock inlay are have also been executed nicely; no signs of a rushed job, scrapes or scuffs. The heel where the neck joins the body is super neat too, plus the gloss finish all over the body and neck is lovely and smooth with no blemishes. The armrest has also been done seamlessly.

All the hardware feels sturdy and reliable. The tuners do a fine job and give a reassuring amount of resistance when you turn them. The strap buttons are nice and tight, plus the jack input and preamp are sitting pretty where they need to be.

Again, sometimes on more budget-friendly instruments, you get a few things that might be a little loose out of the box, or one or two areas that look like a Friday afternoon job, but none of that is apparent here!

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

One of the main reasons you might look to a Grand Concert guitar to your collection is for its relatively compact size. The body is slightly bigger than a Concert sized guitar, but it’s smaller than a Grand Auditorium, Dreadnought or Jumbo guitar. As such, it’s really comfortable to play.

If you’re smaller of stature, or perhaps you're looking for an acoustic guitar for a child, then its more compact dimensions make it easier to play. Your strumming arm doesn’t have to reach around quite as far to get to the strings and it sits very comfortably on your body when sat down.

The armrest adds an extra layer of comfort to the whole playing experience too. It essentially softens the edge of the guitar where your arm makes contact with it so instead of your arm resting on a right-angled edge, it sits nicely on a flat surface.

The neck profile feels fairly thin. Harley Benton calls it a C profile which doesn’t give too much away, but it is on the thinner side which again will aid those with smaller hands. It’s comfortable in all playing positions too, from right down at the nut all the way to the top – the cutaway on the body also makes for easy access to the very highest notes on the treble strings.

It’s worth noting how well the guitar plays too. The packaging the guitar came in looked like it had come straight from the factory so this is how a customer would receive it. Right out of the box, I wouldn’t make any adjustments to it; the action was fairly low with no frets buzzing at all.

The only potential downside to its playability is the gloss neck. If you’re playing live and you sweat a lot, gloss necks can start to feel a little slippery so some players prefer a more matte-finished neck. If that’s not an issue for you, then it’s a great playing instrument!

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

It’s a great sounding guitar, there’s no doubt. Like you might expect from an acoustic of this size, it has quite a focused sound with a fairly pronounced mid-range and top end. It’s quite bright for a mahogany guitar and has a quick response without too many overtones ringing out as you play it, but there’s also a mellowness to it. As such, it would make for a great recording instrument.

There isn’t a ton of bass with this guitar, again because of the size of the body but that’s not always a bad thing. If you’re playing acoustic guitar alongside a band, having less of a prominent bass response will mean you’re not getting muddled up in the bass player’s frequency range.

A tighter, more mid-focused tone from the acoustic can give a more defined sound in a band context; it’ll also mean that you can cut through more without having to increase the volume.

It’s undeniably versatile, and it reacts well to strumming, flatpicking and fingerpicking. If I was using it more for one style of playing, it would be the latter. The smaller body means there’s less surface area to drive with the strings, so if you’ve got either a softer touch, or you’re more of a fingerstyle player, then you can get the guitar to respond more easily.

When using fingers, the guitar really does produce a beautiful, sweet tone that’s super reactive to playing dynamics. With the guitar being made from all-solid wood, the sound will likely improve the more you play it over time too.

If you’re a big, bold strummer, you’ll get some great tones out of it, but you might find that you hit the volume ceiling fairly quickly. If you need lots of power and projection, then it might be worth looking at the grand auditorium version (CLG-650SM-CE) which also has a spruce top as opposed to mahogany.

When plugged in, the guitar delivers a fairly standard piezo style sound; it’s nothing special but it will get you by at live gigs or open mic nights. What is nice though is having a three-band EQ on board so you can at least dial particular frequencies in or out.

Verdict

This grand concert electro-acoustic guitar from Harley Benton offers outstanding value for money.

Comprising a solid mahogany top, back and sides, you get a mellow but lively tone that’s nice and responsive to your playing. You don’t get loads of volume out of it, so it makes for a great fingerpicking guitar, but that said - it’ll tackle a variety of musical styles in the hands of the right player.

The compact body size makes for a really comfortable playing experience too. If you’re on the smaller side, or you just want something that’s easier to travel around with, then this is a fantastic choice. The armrest makes it even more comfortable and helps give the guitar a more premium look.

Guitar World verdict: I can’t imagine there are many better grand concert guitars around this price. It’s well built and has a premium feel to it. It sounds great and will work for a range of different applications, but it excels as either a recording guitar, acoustic guitar in a band context or fingerpicking guitar.

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Since its birth in 1995, the Fender Blues Junior has matured into the small valve combo to judge all others by. It found its niche as a cost-effective, all-tube, spring-reverb-equipped combo amp with the authentic Fender sound in a throw-and-go, pub-gig-sized format.

The amp’s inception serendipitously coincided with the winds of change blowing through guitar music at that time, away from the clinical and processed tones of the prior decade towards a looser, more organic flavour as heard in the US grunge movement and the UK’s Brit-rock scene. These sounds were well suited to the amp’s comfortable range of classic clean to ‘edge of break-up’ tones.

Judging by its popularity alone, it’s clear that the 15-watt 1x12 package found a niche in the amp world by balancing the factors of cost, loudness and portability without forgoing the famous clean tone that made the Fender sound the stuff of legend.

Critics over the product’s lifespan have occasionally made mention of sonic shortcomings, such as the potential to sound boxy and the ability to display some overly assertive high-end.

While it may be harsh to criticise an entry-level combo of this size for indeed being a small guitar amp, this latest version aims to improve the preamp circuit for fullness, and offers a premium Celestion A-type Creamback speaker, improving the performance within the existing cabinet.

This diminutive standard-bearer has enjoyed four revisions and numerous special editions over its 30 years with some circuit improvements, numerous speaker models and a variety of cosmetic flourishes.

So this particular celebratory and limited-edition amp is based on the mark IV incarnation (see spec list below), and Fender has clearly built what it believes to be its best-in-class Blues Junior.

The valve line-up has remained constant since its inception with its trio of 12AX7s and the pair of EL84s. The use of this British output valve, also used to power the classic AC30, is often thought to impart a softer, chime-y quality and could contribute towards a rich midrange tonality.

Along with the Fat push-switch, the polished chrome top-panel features Reverb, Master, Middle, Bass, Treble and Volume controls, all topped with black plastic chickenhead knobs to complete the vintage styling.

The vinyl bling of the patterned faux-leather covering – somewhat evoking the tooled leather of cowboy boots, perhaps, or other such country and western attire – is augmented by the stylish vintage leather handle. It’s certainly eye-catching!

Some construction details – such as the somewhat hidden position of the footswitch socket and a trailing loop of reverb cable in the rear recess – might require a modicum of care on gigs, though, so as to not unduly stress the components.

Specs

• PRICE: $1,049/£959/€989
• ORIGIN: Mexico
• TYPE: All-valve portable combo
• VALVES: 3x 12AX7, 2x EL84
• OUTPUT: 15W
• DIMENSIONS: 457 (w) x 249 (d) x 406mm (h)
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 14/31
• CABINET: Particle board w/ ‘Black Western’ textured vinyl covering
• LOUDSPEAKER: Celestion G12M-65 Creamback 12”
• CHANNELS: 1
• CONTROLS: Reverb, Master, Middle, Bass, Treble, Fat switch and Volume
• FOOTSWITCH: 1-button footswitch included for Fat boost
• CONTACT: Fender

Usability and sounds

In a leap of faith we embarked, Junior and pedals in-hand, to play a smallish gig where the amp immediately received compliments in soundcheck for its rich tone.

The improved midrange response from the circuit and the speaker improvements impart a greater depth to vintage-output Stratocaster pickups than one might expect, adding up to a great playing response for fluid solos. The Fat circuit further opened up the hallowed gates of sustain.

This amp seems most comfortable operating around the edge of break-up, a tone some lesser amps can struggle with. At high levels of gain the amp’s response will loosen (think Neil Young as opposed to Angus), so depending on your needs this could be just the ticket.

It’s fair to say there are some sounds that may inevitably fall outside of its comfort zone, and it’s unlikely to be replacing anyone’s 5150 for tight and chunky distortion.

That said, all good designs should fulfil a particular requirement and our small test-gig likely represents the kind of scenario it was conceived for.

Switching to our traditional twin-humbucker guitar, the increased mids and power provided an opportunity to visit the EQ section for some tailoring. A little bass and gain reduction tightened up the response nicely, though deployment of the Fat switch might bring fewer benefits to guitars with higher output levels.

Dialling in the controls you notice a wide range of usable bass, which provides plenty of depth, even at higher settings. Experienced Blues Junior players will no doubt notice that the Treble and Middle controls deliver an appreciably softer top-end on this Anniversary edition than on previous models, which is again thanks to the preamp circuit refinements Fender has made.

A recommended setup tip is to place the master volume at a higher level than you might expect (this thing actually goes to 12!) and balance the channel volume and the guitar’s volume control in order to get the most responsive dynamics possible from the amp.

This approach allows the EL84 power valves to contribute more of their harmonic overtones, rather than depending on the preamp gain alone for your saturation needs.

Particularly enjoyable is the improved smoothness of the reverb sound, especially in terms of dwell and response, and while perhaps not being the drippiest of ’verbs, it certainly sounded every bit the authentic springy Fender tone.

The reverb’s position in the circuit has moved from its previously noisy location after the master volume, to a quieter location for a welcome improvement to signal-to-noise ratio.

In accordance with Fender’s reputation for producing pedal-friendly hosts, this amp presents no exception. It really shines when fed by a quality overdrive pedal, although with its relatively modest headroom and power-handling, it may be prudent when using gain pedals to select types that have less bottom-end so as to not overly tax the amp with energy-sapping low frequencies.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Fender has marked this 30th anniversary of the Blues Junior with a player-pleasing set of improvements that really do make an appreciable difference to the quality of tone on offer.

The modifications made to both the preamp and reverb circuits, in addition to the upgraded speaker, have brought out a richer, more responsive presentation from the amp, putting some inspiring air under your soloing wings, so to speak.

The Fat switch offers the kind of mild boost one might normally expect to be provided by a light overdrive pedal or coloured boost, for instance – potentially saving you from carrying an additional pedal. And the reverb now shines clearly, with the improvement to the noise floor and its smoother-sounding top-end.

Guitar World verdict: No matter what your personal preferences and tastes may be, it’s hard to deny how impressively this amp punches above its weight in terms of bold, authoritative tube tone. Its balance of practicality with great tone underscores its reputation as the standard-bearer against which to judge all small combo amps. May it enjoy many more anniversaries to come!

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We may not acknowledge it enough but guitar players have got it really good now. Nostalgia is great, but it's not always applicable, so while you can't really find many golden era vintage electric guitar bargains these days, what we do have is better choice and access to gear and evolving technology than ever.

Inevitably, that also brings a degree of entitlement from some quarters, but also genuine skepticism from increasingly savvy customers who have more options than ever when it comes to making investments in their guitar rigs.

So when Boss announced it was launching a pedal with the ability to upload individual pedal models from its vast catalog of classic effects from a 52-year history, it made some sense as a concept, but its announcement to charge for additional 'Model Passes' in the future ruffled some feathers / caused YouTubers to foam at the mouth with pure outrage.

Charging for extras?! Would we get to keep the pedals we buy in perpetuity? Yes, Boss told Guitar World – "Any optional Model Passes that you purchase are associated with your Roland Account and remain available permanently – there is no subscription".

Was this a line in the sand from the Japanese giant, suggesting a new direction it was going in with its effects? No, as long as it continues to produce 'traditional' pedals – and it very much is.

Boss is adding a new choice here – filling a gap for a multi-purpose compact pedal in its lineup. The PX-1 comes with eight effects preloaded (and another eight available once you register with the accompanying Effects Loader app), from the familiar (DS-1) to the discontinued and collectible/valuable (SG-1).

Yes, in a context where firmware updates bringing additional features are freely available the idea of charging $9.99 for additional pedal models can seem jolting, but this isn't the same as firmware support. Boss is very clear about the proposition here – "It is essentially a living history of BOSS pedals – a greatest hits collection of the most legendary and sought-after BOSS pedals, all with authentic tone and response".

Knowing that, players can go in with their eyes open – they don't have to like it, but nobody is being fooled.

The company making its effects available digitally isn't exactly a new concept – but the examples we find featured in Katana guitar amp range and its multi-effects pedals are not such deep dives at those in the PX-1.

However, the divide between what you get for the initial asking price for the hardware here, and what the PX-1 could become if you pay more in the future is new for Boss in the pedal market. Even though this pedal follows its entry into the plugin market for DAWs.

I think the basic concept of the PX-1 is a cool idea. Growing up with Boss pedals in the '90s felt like a rite of passage for me. Including trying to make a Metal Zone sound like Metallica's Justice album. The idea of having your own 'Best of Boss' in a single, familiar unit is attractive. Especially if Boss can deliver favorite icons and curated obscurities from its catalog of 140 unique pedals. A DM-2 for $9.99? Yes please.

But when I'm looking at the PX-1, I have to look at the stock proposition for the initial outlay; while also taking into account the possible investment required to realize further potential.

Specs

• Launch price: $249.99 | £229 | €269
• Type: Multi-modeling effects pedal
• Controls: 3 rotary push button controls with functions dependent on effects model selected.
• Features: Graphic LCD 128 x 48 dots, up to 16 onboard effects (8 first series Boss pedal models included with PX-1 as stock with a further 8 second series models available to download after registration), stereo input and output, tap tempo, MIDI clock sync for time-based effects, Bluetooth and USB-C connectivity for Boss Effects Loader app, support for external footswitches and expression pedal.
• Connectivity: Input and Output x 2 (mono and stereo), Controller 1, 2 / Expression pedal input, MIDI in, USB-C
• Bypass: Buffered
• Power: 9V DC, USB-C, 260 mA (with AC adaptor), 420 mA (with USB)
• Additional options: Footswitch: FS-5U, dual footswitch: FS-6, FS-7
  Expression pedal: FV-500H, FV-500L, EV-30, Roland EV-5
  Additional models available to buy via Effect Uploader store in January 2026
• Dimensions: W: 73mm | H: 56mm | D: 125mm
• Weight: 400g
• Contact: Boss

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Ask 10 random people to draw a guitar and it's likely something resembling a Strat will be the most common result. For effects pedals, I'd argue it would look like a Boss pedal. It's almost too easy to take for granted just what an industry standard the chassis has become since the trio of OD-1 Overdrive, PH-1 Phaser and SP-1 Spectrum emerged in 1977. All three of those pedals are part of the eight models represented here out of the box.

You can find working originals of those pedals on the used market today - and that's because Boss's compact pedal internal build quality is matched by such a robust protective combo of alloy, rubber and plastic. This is where the "built like a tank" line in guitar reviews sprouted from. It was true in the '70s and it's true now.

The white and royal blue colour scheme is clean but also a little too clinical for me – and it does remind me of the Tesco supermarket color scheme. Perhaps some color options would have been appropriate for a pedal that isn't any one thing, unlike its compact Boss brethren.

The small 128 x 48 dot landscape monotone LCD screen is low-key enough for the pedal not to announce itself as a dramatic departure. It's comparable to recent multi-pedal compact designs from Line 6 and TC Electronic in that regard; just enough screen to perform.

With only three rotary controls above it, I wonder just how this layout is going to work with so many potential parameters, but as each doubles as a push button, I'm starting to guess.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★½

The downloading of the Boss Effect Loader app (and a firmware update) is first required before you can access, then download half of the 16 effects (tip - search for it on your phone under Effects Loader, not Boss). It's all a bit of a faff - first I had to work out how to turn the pedal's Bluetooth on, then I had to download and install a firmware update by connecting the pedal to my phone with a USB-C cable, before I could then upload the newly accessible eight effects to the PX-1.

I don't think customers should have to jump through a hoop like this to access the base features of any pedal – why not make all 16 effects available out of the box? Perhaps it's not a customer-friendly decision, because from Boss's perspective, it would mean you're signed up early on to the app to manage effects via Bluetooth… and sell / notify you about additional models as they become available from January 2026. That's conjecture on my part, of course.

Use the manual or go it alone, there's a fairly quick learning curve to the menu system here – and accessing additional pedal settings the three button / rotart controls don't cover.

When selecting specific models with the ominous 'Execute' command, a brief monotone intro screen appears for the effect and then you're in, with three controls corresponding to a trio of rotary parameters on the screen (Tone, Level and Distortion for the DS-1, for example). Pressing the button for the additional page then accesses anything else that the pedal offers; In the case of the DS-1 there's nothing, but for the DD-2 it's the delay length selection and Carry Over (trails) mode.

It's as rudimentary as it needs to be and soon becomes second nature. If you're using the PX-1 for 3-4 different effect sounds regularly, it remembers the last setting you had for each effect but it doesn't offer a preset screen. The nature of the pedal is that each effect model has to be loaded when accessed – so no multi-effect stacking within it – but this setup does allow you to move between your go-to settings live in a few seconds.

You can also switch instantly via the app, though the idea of using a phone/Bluetooth connection during a live set makes me shudder.

Less desirable is the limit of 16 effects slots when it comes to storage on the PX-1, which seems seriously stingy for a piece of pedal hardware in 2025. I'd have expected more slots on a "greatest hits' device. Instead, you'll need to keep returning to the app and connecting via Bluetooth to remove and upload effect models if your collection grows – and the eight models available out of the box cannot be swapped out. I think Boss should have either increased the internal storage or removed the cap so users weren't as reliant on the app to access pedals they may eventually pay for.

Where you might place the PX-1 could be a tricky decision too. For modulation and some drives it may be an easier decision, but introducing the time-based effects here like the DD-2 and it's less clear cut without a switching system. You will have to physically move the pedal around the signal chain.

"The PX-1 is not intended to be a broad multi-FX device," Boss told us. "Instead, it bridges the gap between collectors, enthusiasts, and players who want access to classic BOSS sounds in their most faithful form". But the PX-1 is undoubtedly a device with multiple effects, and I think a lot of players would want to utilize it in their rig that way.

With that in mind, the addition of an external pedal input is welcome here. One or two footswitches can access the Swap function to switch between two effects on the PX-1. While most parameters can be assigned to an expression pedal. In this sense, the PX-1 can offer enhanced real-time control the original pedals don't – or couldn't because of when they were launched years ago.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

With additional paid-for effects models being released by Boss in early 2026, the whole story of the PX-1 is yet to be told. What we have right now is an excellent showcase of Boss's effects modeling, which also serves as an introduction to the world of Boss for newcomers. It also bursts some bubbles.

While we doubt many people are paying for the PX-1 just to access a model of it, the 1979 Slow Gear SG-1 filter pedal can sell for well over $400 used at the time of writing. But its effect is so subtle in cutting your signal's attack, and arguably not exactly that desirable in the way it does it, it's cured me of my intrigue.

Much more desirable is the CE-2 – a stone-cold classic mellow chorus that was reissued in Waza Craft form in combination with the CE-1. Alongside the likes of the DD-2 delay and DS-1, it's a reminder that these aren't just another set of generic effects models; they're accurate reproductions of iconic Boss pedals. Proper cornerstone sounds from the company that developed them. And if there's something you'd like to try here, or from what will be available in the future, it's undoubtedly cheaper than buying multiple analog and digital Boss originals.

Following that logic I could absolutely envision focusing on a choice collection of the stock modulation effects (as well as the CE-2 I really like the versatility of the BF-2 Flanger here, based on the pedal that was discontinued in 2001) complemented by some choice future model purchases, like a Dimension C. I'd be saving the space of three specific pedals there, as well as money. Judging by the 16 effects I have here, the sounds certainly deliver. When I A/B'd the DS-1 with the 'real' thing I couldn't tell them apart.

Verdict

The keyword in all of this is Boss – others can offer elements of the effects modeling here but the PX-1 is the compact pedal destination for the best multiple models of specific Boss pedals right now. That is the foundation for the desirability here for me, and the sounds deliver, the build is good and the general UI is simple.

Players know what they are getting and what they are not here; and it's the not part that shouldn't be overlooked.

The value in the $9.99 price for individual effects models in 2026 will depend on exactly what specific effects you want in your PX-1. Despite Boss's claim this isn't a multi-effects pedal, I think the most common potential user case of the PX-1 is as part of a signal chain to deliver specific effects as needed. With that in mind, the meager onboard storage space seems an unnecessary limitation for a "greatest hits" Boss effects experience, increasing reliance on a smartphone app. Despite this, what the PX-1 does offer, it delivers well.

My perspective returns to the theme of entitlement I mentioned at the start. Greater accessibility and choice don't mean every new release can or should please everyone. Boss has placed itself in an unenviable position with the PX-1 in some ways, as it enters a market now used to multi-effects and modeling wonderboxes.

Perhaps if Boss gives away a lot of effects models for the base £229 asking price, it risks devaluing and perhaps cannibalizing its physical pedal sales, too few and it faces the wrath of the comment sections. But this is a product launch from a business, not a public effects service. Other choices are available, and it's not a wholesale change in Boss direction; if the pricing model of the PX-1 doesn't appeal to you as a fan of this specific company's effects, Boss has plenty more options for you.

Guitar World verdict: It's not going to suit all Boss effects users, nor is it intended to, but approach the PX-1 with your specific needs in mind and you may discover a compact pedal that could be your tailor-made 'Best of Boss'.

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• Best Boss pedals guide

For decades, the DigiTech Whammy pedal has reigned supreme in the world of foot-controlled pitch-shifters, and rarely has anything challenged its kingdom. It’s a pedal that has been beloved by elite players from myriad generations and styles – see everyone from Tom Morello, Dimebag Darrell and Jack White to Prince, Noel Gallagher, Matt Bellamy, and practically every thall guitarist for evidence.

In 2011, the red pitch-shifting pedal, unique for its expression pedal allowing for alien octave sweeps a la the Killing in the Name guitar solo, was upgraded. The DT married the Whammy with Digitech’s polyphonic drop tuning pedal, Drop, and players have been harnessing it for some bonkers results ever since.

Now, after years of hard graft behind the scenes, Boss has brought forth a challenger (two, including the XS-1), and it’s blue, so you know it’s war. But it isn’t just wanting to go toe-to-toe with DigiTech, it wants to feed it its dust. Stretching up and down by four octaves, it doubles the Whammy’s money, and does so with the promise of glitch-free performance, shifting without the quirky artefacts that have been love-or-hate amongst Whammyists.

The speed of its expression pedal curve and response can be slowed down and sped up via different modes, and its detune offers the same expansive range via semitonal increments and momentary operation.

Beyond that, there's unbridled MIDI compatibility, ensuring the Whammy's greatest asset is mirrored, and for many, the addition of a clear LED screen and bank of 30 preset slots goes beyond its rival.

Other features include the ability to link it to another expression pedal, its bass-friendly usage, and dedicated analog thru, with pitch-shifting and detuning able to run simultaneously. On paper, it’s certainly comprehensive.

Gunning for a pedal whose talons have been so firmly in the flesh of the industry – and on the pedalboards of many greats – for years is a bold move from Boss. The fact it hasn’t served as heavy inspiration before seems quite remarkable, so now that is has, is the Whammy about to be dethroned at long last?

Specs

• Launch price: $349 / £299
• Type: Pitch-shifter pedal
• Controls: Expression Pedal, Effect, Tune Down, Select, Effect, Memory
• Features: Pitch-shifter with and without expression pedal,
• Connectivity: Audio in, audio out, expression in, MIDI in, MIDI out
• Bypass: Buffered
• Power: 9V AC, 160 mA power supply included
• Dimensions: 147mm (W), 230mm (D), 72-96mm (H)
• Weight: 1.7kg (3.7 lbs)
• Options: N/A
• Contact: Boss

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

The XS-100 is a lot smaller than the Whammy DT and roughly the same size as a standard Whammy. Weight-wise, it’s not too different, either, so those wanting a slim, super transportable alternative will be slightly disappointed, but it’s solidly built. It can take a kicking.

It’s got a really sleek design, with far fewer switches and flickering lights; the LED screen does most of the heavy lifting. The intention is to make it a less intimidating prospect for pitch-shifting newbies.

The expression pedal itself operates quite smoothly. Out of the box, it has a consistent motion, and it feels a little less mechanical and clunky than its rival. There’s also a nice amount of cushioning for when the toe of the pedal meets the body itself.

Like DigiTech, Boss makes adjusting the pedal easy with a screw accessible on its side for those who want more or less resistance when stomping on it. I was perfectly happy with the stock presentation.

Aesthetically, the subtle sparkle is really nice, and the font sizes are pretty sizable; everything is readable from a distance. If I had $5 for every time I’ve had to squat mid-song on stage to make sure my Whammy’s on the right setting, I probably wouldn’t be needing to write this; I’d be in the Bahamas.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★½

As far as usability goes, Boss is really trying to stick it to DigiTech here by streamlining its navigation. It centers on a knob just below the screen, which in standard mode is split in half, with the top displaying the set interval of each effect. Whichever is highlighted in white is editable, with the knob turning to adjust the semitone count. Hold it down, and you can move one octave at a time. Saving presets is a doddle, too.

The behaviours of the pedal are also highly customizable. Having the pedal only effective after it's been engaged with the footswitch, or activating it as soon as I place my foot on it like a switchless wah, are two such options.

But, because the screen is so small, Boss speaks in code, and getting into the nitty-gritty of it all is hugely convoluted. Where the Whammy lays it all out on the face of the pedal itself, Boss has locked things away behind a series of menus. I found it very easy to get stuck in the weeds.

The XS-100 can do a lot, but the Whammy’s baked-in modes make initial exploring a whole lot easier – I actually feel kind of restricted being limited to just the small screen. It's all a bit cloak and dagger.

But there are possible benefits of this setup. I’m on my second Whammy. Moving from Gen 3 to the DT was partly due to wanting the detune feature, but it was also dictated by the fact that my old one was going senile. It would randomly change modes, as if the selection knob had a life of its own. I’d stomp on the pedal expecting to go up an octave for a whammy squeal, only to find it was going down a fourth. Locking things in place with presets is a viable solution, as well as a speedy one.

Indeed, its presets are a big pull here, especially when I often use a variety of presets between songs and am yet to go full MIDI, meaning effortless human operation is a big help. However, there is no way to name presets, so remembering if the next song needs preset 6 or 7 on the fly is a challenge. It also looks like reordering them isn’t possible, so if you have the presets reflect your set list, only for that order to change, you are in for some laborious admin to put things right. Using MIDI, though, is the obvious solution. This is a minor gripe for a MIDI-less shredder.

In fact, it feels like the pedal is more geared to MIDI usage than the Whammy. Though the latter has been MIDI-ed up to the nines by the majority of its adoptees, for those, like me, who have yet to venture into that world, the hands-on nature of the Whammy makes operation a lot easier.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

In a tit-for-tat shootout against the Whammy, Boss is a clear winner in terms of the cleanliness of its effects. At +2 octaves, shifting with the pedal isn’t completely glitch-free, especially with things like ringing harmonics, but on the whole, there are far, far fewer tonal artefacts present.

The same can be said for the detune function; it’s very convincing, especially when going beyond +/- 5 semitones, where the Whammy can get a little warbly; it sounds pitched, while the Boss sounds incredibly natural.

But that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Maybe I have a little Stockholm syndrome, but I actually like the weird glitchiness of the Whammy; by cleaning the effect to within an inch of its life, it has also drained the character and wackiness from the effect. Stomping down for a squealing octave sweep just doesn’t feel the same. It becomes a matter of preference which one is best for you.

Its expression pedal's sculptability is unrivaled, however. Instead of being confined to set intervals, I have complete control, and putting the pedal at +7 semitones lets me loosely imitate slide guitar sounds, or at +1, it could fairly convincingly replace bending, which could help with tuning stability on more temperamental instruments.

There’s a blend function buried within the XS-100’s maze of menus. It’s labelled as Balance, and it lets me choose how much dry and effected signal comes garbling out the other end.

In truth, it sounds fantastic. With the detune and dry signal equally balanced, it makes for some pretty gnarly octaver sounds. Personally, I found the Whammy to be a little nastier in this respect, but the difference was minuscule, and XS-100's extra level of customization more than makes up for that.

When sticking within the first octave, the detune feature tracks a little better than the Whammy, but the differences are extremely minor. Both are very impressive.

Elsewhere, the lack of a Shallow/Deep alternative – which is a chorus-y type effect that wobbles notes like it’s doing a vibration plate workout – is a crying shame. I actually use that function a lot for adding an extra dose of weird to certain licks.

It works by adding a second, slightly-detuned signal into the mix, creating that unstable chorus effect. But diluting a -1 semitone detune with dry signal (at a 100:10 dry-to-effect ratio) still felt a way off.

Where this setup shines, though, is with big, heavy chugs. It adds an evil, unsettling undercurrent to them, making it ideal for breakdowns.

It’s also worth noting that the fact that the Boss can travel across an eight octave span isn’t really that great in practice. Beyond two octaves either way, tracking is pretty poor, and honestly, who needs to drop down by four octaves? Sure, it could be a solid cure for constipation, but it’s not exactly musical.

Verdict

The fact that the DigiTech Whammy now has an outright rival – and a worthy adversary at that – is good news for musicians of all dispositions. Competition is a great thing, and Boss isn’t holding back here.

It’s worked hard to counter the Whammy’s biggest pitfalls, but in the heat of the battle, there isn’t a clear winner. Yes, the pitching is cleaner, but arguably at the expense of the effect’s character, and while it tries to solve the Whammy’s navigation downfalls, it gets lost in convoluted menu systems of a small screen.

There are clear benefits, though: the preset bank is hugely appealing, and the Balance parameter headlines a far greater suite of customization options, and, if you can find a musical context for pitching up or down four octaves, the XS-100 has you covered.

As a long-term Whammy user, I don’t see the need to jump ship. Certainly not immediately, anyway. If I were buying an expression pedal-laden pitch-shifter for the first time, then the competition would certainly be fiercer – it becomes a case of historic reputation versus the fresh-faced challenger with (slightly) new ideas.

Much of what will sway things comes down to personal opinion. But what’s clear is that Boss has created an excellent product, and it will bring joy, creativity, and new levels of expression to a whole host of players. Whether I’ll be among them remains to be seen.

Guitar World: Boss has worked hard to counter the DigiTech Whammy's biggest pitfalls, but whether it dethrones it outright is a matter of taste. Its shifting is cleaner, but at the loss of some of the red pedal's wackiness, and its menu system isn't the most intuitive. In that sense, the Whammy is more approachable, but with a bank of 30 presets, a greater octave range, and a sculptable Balance control, the XS-100 is likely to convert many dyed-in-the-wool shifters.

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Dagan Wilkin

If you dig a double shot of overdrive, it’s not hard to find. There are a fair number of dual-sided pedals that couple a Bluesbreaker circuit with a Tube Screamer circuit, or ones that join a Bluesbreaker circuit with a Klon circuit. Whether they come in as budget or boutique, it seems the trifecta of the Klon, Screamer, and Bluesbreaker circuits has all been selectively paired and exhaustively combined into two-in-one overdrive pedals.

Speaking of which, the Marshall Bluesbreaker has always had the benefit of being a heavily favored stompbox, not to mention John Mayer-approved, which explains its consistent popularity and evergreen status.

But right now, for some strange reason, the scarce King of Tone pedal (a heavily modified version of the Marshall Bluesbreaker) made by Analog Man’s Mike Piera seems to be the most trending and coveted overdrive around, despite its years-long waiting list. So much so that the Klon overdrive and its many “Klones” have been overshadowed by a new fascination with any KoT variant that’s readily available.

Could it be that many guitarists have concluded that the King of Tone sounds better than the hallowed Klon tone? That’s for another debate, but one thing I can say for sure is that after already delivering a Klon-style overdrive pedal with the Centavo, Warm Audio may be the only pedal maker savvy enough to integrate King of Tone- and Bluesbreaker-inspired circuits into one pedal.

Now that you know, Warm Audio's new Throne of Tone is a remarkable dual-sided overdrive pedal that combines two classic circuits, which can be voiced independently of each other or duplicated on each side, and cascaded together. As I discovered, once you settle into the Throne of Tone, you'll likely find yourself making space on your pedalboard for this exceptional and "royal" addition, effectively exiling several of your current overdrives.

Specs

• Launch price: $229 | £219 | €249
• Type: Dual-sided British-inspired overdrive with multiple voicings, gain levels, and drive
• Controls: (All per side) Volume, Gain, Tone, Presence, Voicing select switch (King and Blues); Drive Mode select (Dist, Boost, and OD); Gain Level select (High and Low)
• Features: FX order swap switch; global voltage boost selector; two On/Off footswitches (per side)
• Connectivity: : 1/4-inch mono Input and Output jacks, 1/4-inch unbalanced Send and Return jacks
• Bypass: True
• Power: 9V center-negative, 24mA (9V operation) 43mA (18V operation in Global Voltage Boost mode)
• Dimensions: W: 6.75” | H: 5” | D: 2.63”
• Weight: 2.4lbs
• Contact: Warm Audio

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

Warm Audio has received mixed reactions for some of its repros of classic stompboxes being a little too closely “on the nose” compared to the originals, some of which I’ve reviewed. Because I was already aware that this pedal was in the works, I was expecting a familiar purple box. To my surprise, I was greeted with a chassis similar to the original Marshall Bluesbreaker.

So, not a dead-on copy, but this framework makes sense as a usable and smart layout for its many controls and multiple switches. In your hand, the ToT is decidedly rugged and robust in its black, steely frame, and the damn thing is heavy, too, which tells me this stompbox is built like a tank.

For those who love getting into the nuts and bolts of it, you’ll find Warm Audio goes out of its way to use premium components under its hood; with the ToT having four ICs that include JRC4580 and TL072 op-amps, along with 24 diodes to fully power its dual-analog tonal engine. Each pedal undergoes hand-testing at Warm Audio's Austin, Texas, facility before shipment and is backed by a five-year warranty, assuring players that durability and build quality are key.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★★

One of the best things about the ToT is that there aren’t any inconvenient internal DIP switches to tweak; all your tone shaping is easily accessed and done on the face of the pedal.

Each side’s layout is identical with controls for Volume, Gain, Tone, and Presence, and mode switches for Voicing (King and Blues), Drive (Dist, Boost, and OD), and Gain Level (High and Low). The pedal offers two footswitches, allowing independent activation/deactivation of each side and the cascading of one side into the other.

The Tone knob functions after the input and gain stages, and works as expected in brightening the sound as it's turned clockwise. Meanwhile, when turned counter-clockwise, the Presence knob adjusts a variable corner frequency, which enhances top-end frequencies and seemingly eliminates muddiness. And if you don’t need it, you can shut it off when the knob is fully turned clockwise.

Incidentally, I found the Tone and Presence controls to be particularly effective when used together. By reducing the Tone and gradually increasing the Presence, I was able to achieve a warmer overall sound while bringing in clarity and definition.

The ToT also features an FX Order Swap switch, which allows you to change the order of the pedal sides in the signal path. Additionally, the Send and Return jacks enable unique interactions when you insert other pedals between the two sides of the ToT. For example, adding a delay can make one side of the pedal put the echoes in the background, while switching over to the other side will drive the echo in the same manner as putting it in front of a cranked amplifier.

Alternatively, adding a Univibe effect in the loop can also create two opposing swirly textures — one that drives the Univibe in Robin Trower-esque fashion and the other as a more shimmering phase — which makes this before-and-after option kinda neat.

Lastly, an On/Off voltage boost selector, located by the I/O jacks, allows the pedal to run in two modes. The traditional 9V internal power setting delivers harmonically-rich distortion. On the other hand, the "On" mode utilizes an internal voltage doubler to run the pedal at 18V, increasing headroom. Keep in mind, running it in that mode does rob you of some of the ToT’s symmetrical gain stage clipping, but rewards you with a wide open, and cleanly boosted tone.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

My effect coffers are filled with copious amounts of Klones, Bluesbreakers, and Screamer pedals, but like most guitarists I know, I’ve never owned a King of Tone. The closest I’ve come is using MXR’s Duke of Tone, and playing through and hearing some artists’ personal KoTs. It’s surprising that after all these years, I haven’t chased after one. It’s that good.

But now that the Throne of Tone has arrived, let’s get into what it sounds like. Starting with the left side, I set the switches to King for voicing, Boost instead of OD and Dist (more about those modes later), and High for its gain level.

On the adjacent side, the switches remain the same except for voicing, which is set to Blues to hear the difference between the sides.

Right off the bat, the Throne of Tone truly shines with its touch-sensitivity and liveliness, delivering a rich, creamy overdrive and a polished, assertive boost that carves out its own unique space. The King side offers a distinctly warm, rounded, and sweetened drive, contrasting with the Blues voicing's sharper, more cutting tone and edgy warmth.

It’s hard to commit to which voicing sounds better (however, I’ll venture to say King is currently my favorite) because both are remarkably complex and mid-focused. But with minimal tweaking, I was able to easily land on a tonal sweet spot for each side that perfectly complements my playing style. So, in essence, the ToT can provide two distinct and highly usable tones that’ll invigorate any amplifier.

The ToT allows your amp to sound as it always does, but with more responsiveness once you kick it in. Additionally, the range of its low-to-mid gain is impressive. From mild distortion to a boosted gain bump, it’s extraordinary how well the ToT delivers a warmly pronounced drive and lingering sustain that prominently stands out no matter what amp I’m playing through, or whether I’m using humbuckers or single coil pickups in my guitars. I’d also be remiss not to say it has that slightly compressed, tube-like “quack” that gently cushions every note and chord, feeling like joy under your fingers and heaven to your ears.

Since I mentioned before about the mode switches, I found Boost mode — where I stayed for most of this review — is by far the most lively and present of its three drive modes. While Boost boasts the highest headroom, OD and Dist have a noticeably lower output (meaning the volume drops considerably) and a bit more compression, with softened gain in OD and spongier crunch in Dist. To my ears, OD and Dist modes sound similar to more common pedals, but with some manipulation of the ToT’s control set of Tone and Presence, and Gain, you’ll be able to dial in more definition and sparkle.

Verdict

For me, Boost mode is the true highlight here — whether you’re in King or Blues voicing — and an ideal springboard to begin carving out a noteworthy tone. And even if the ToT doesn't fully capture the "it" factor of the original King of Tone, I stand by my assertion that the Throne of Tone comes imperceptibly close as a near-sonic replication of it, complete with all its nuanced goodness. And that’s enough for me to say, it’s a keeper.

Guitar World verdict: There’s no mistaking that there’s something truly unique and special about the Throne of Tone. By combining the legendary Bluesbreaker and King of Tone circuits in one stompbox, Warm Audio’s Throne of Tone proves that you won’t need to wait years or empty your wallet for what could easily be the finest drive and boost pedal of the year.

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John Nathan Cordy

In The Blues

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It's safe to say Tosin Abasi is already one of this century's key progressive players. This is someone who has made his name through pushing the boundaries of the electric guitar. Thumping, tapping, performing impossibly dextrous clean fingerstyle passages, shredding like a man possessed, and churning out brain-breaking low-register metal riffs, Abasi has spent the last two decades rightly hailed as one of the geniuses of modern guitar.

Such a player requires a special instrument, and Abasi’s latest weapon of choice is the Kaizen, developed with American legends Music Man.

A bold offset design, all angles and points; with fanned frets for balanced tension, plus proprietary pickups and custom shop build quality, in a range of vivid colors. As you can imagine, it’s not a cheap electric guitar - but can those principles be adapted into an instrument that more of us can afford?

That’s the question today, with the new Sterling by Music Man adaptation of the Kaizen. Music Man’s sub-brand needs no introduction, having a lengthy track record of high-quality mid-range guitars and basses; this latest addition to the range will be welcomed by Abasi fans, as well as anyone else exploring the forms that a modern electric guitar can take.

In particular, I’ve got my hands on the seven-string variant, likely to be of particular interest to the target audience.

Specs

• Price: $899/£1,099/€1,229
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Seven-string electric guitar
• Body: Nyatoh
• Neck: Roasted maple
• Fingerboard/radius: Rosewood, 15.75"
• Scale length: 25.5"/648mm
• Nut/width: Plastic/49.5mm
• Frets: 24
• Hardware: Steinberger Gearless tuners, Sterling two-point vibrato, black finish
• String spacing at bridge: 10.8mm
• Electrics: 2x Sterling by Music Man uncovered ceramic humbuckers, volume, tone, 3-way toggle
• Weight: 6lb/2.7kg
• Options: Kaizen 6-string, $849/£999
• Left-handed: No
• Finishes: Firemist Purple Satin (as reviewed), Stealth Black
• Cases: None included
• Contact: Sterling By Music Man

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

Only two colors are offered - it’s this Firemist Purple Satin, Stealth Black, or nothing; even the purple is a subdued shade that rather downplays the Kaizen’s dramatic shape.

Some glossier, more unapologetic finishes might do wonders for the aesthetics, as it could be argued that this model looks a little undercooked as is. There were a couple of small finish flaws on our review example, too.

The build underneath is not to be sniffed at, though; a smooth, attractively-grained roasted maple neck and well-fretted rosewood fingerboard mated to a lightweight nyatoh body.

The Sterling Kaizen ditches the fanned frets of the USA model, but it’s a comfortable and ergonomic experience that should cater even to those unfamiliar with seven-string guitars.

The USA-built Kaizen’s Steinberger gearless tuners do make their way over here - a plus from functional and aesthetic perspectives alike. It gives the headstock a streamlined, futuristic aesthetic with no buttons poking out from the sides, while the machines themselves are silky-smooth in action. At the other end sits Sterling’s tried-and-tested two-point vibrato.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

The body might look strange, but the shape sits comfortably and balances well thanks to the long top horn. The neck is slim and subtly rounded, feeling hardly bigger than the average six-string neck despite actually having a slightly above-average seven-string nut width. The vibrato is smooth and expressive, holding tuning well.

On a seven-string guitar, the standard 25.5" scale length can feel like a compromise, not allowing the low B string the tightness it truly needs, but engineering in fanned frets would add hundreds to this guitar's price tag.

Overall, the Kaizen plays superbly and encourages you to put your best foot forward technically; it’s Tosin Abasi’s guitar, after all.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

Tonally, we’ve two unbranded ceramic humbuckers described as “focused, with an aggressive midrange bite”.

In theory then, ideal for modern metal guitar sounds – especially with extended range, where low frequencies must be tightly controlled. No doubt Sterling by Music Man suspects many buyers will swap straight over to their own choice of esoteric seven-string pickup, maybe even Abasi’s own signature Fishman Fluence set - but let’s give these stock units a fair shake.

Encouragingly, the humbuckers immediately make good on their ‘focused’ brief – there’s decent attenuation of boomy lows, and plenty of punchy midrange to cut through a mix.

Some extreme tone-chasers will still wish for a sharper and more cutting sound, but there’s no lack of good qualities here. It also doesn’t push a cleaner signal into undue breakup, important for those seeking to emulate the frequently clean-toned Abasi on a budget.

Not the most inspiring lower-gain voice, but perfectly usable. Tonally, it certainly stands up to other comparable seven-strings, and the slinky playing experience only enhances the enjoyment.

Verdict

Sterling's take on the Kaizen, necessarily, has to dispense with such niceties as the fanned frets and the custom pickups, but what's left is still distinctive and bears the hallmarks of a guitar that has been thought through very well.

You might want new pickups, and the aesthetics aren't up there with the show-stopping USA model, but the playability and ergonomics of this entry point to the Kaizen model leave many rivals in the dust.

Guitar World verdict: It might not have the full complement of features that define the USA Kaizen, but this Sterling model takes the basic design ethos and morphs it into a very well-executed mid-range model. Scoring especially highly for its superb ergonomics, it ought to appeal to those seeking a highly playable seven-string.

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• “A must-try for fans of guitars that push the boundaries of instrument design”: Sterling by Music Man St. Vincent Goldie review

Historically Fender likes to change or refresh its various ranges every four or five years, and here the new American Professional Classic range replaces the American Performer models that we first saw back in 2019.

The new range covers a lot of ground. Along with our featured Stratocaster there’s an HSS version, a regular Tele. plus a ‘Hot Shot’ variant which blends in some Strat, both Jazzmaster and Jaguar offsets and a trio of bass models. Made in Corona, California, these new models, like the out-going Performers, are the start-up USA guitars.

Specs

• Launch price: $1,549.99 | £1,549 | €1,849.00
• Made: USA
• Type: Solidbody electric
• Body: Alder
• Neck: Maple, Modern ‘C’ profile, bolt-on
• Fingerboard / Radius: Slab rosewood with ‘clay’ dots / 7.25”
• Scale length: 25.5” (648mm)
• Nut/width: Synthetic bone/43.5mm
• Frets: 22, medium
• Hardware: Fender ‘upgraded’ vintage-style synchronized vibrato with six bent steel saddles, ClassicGear staggered-height tuners
• Electrics: 3x Fender Coastline ‘57 Stratocaster single-coils, 5-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume, tone 1 (neck/middle), tone 2 (bridge)
• Weight: 7.55lb (3.43kg)
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Faded Firemist Gold (as reviewed), Faded Lake Placid Blue and 3-Color Sunburst all w/ maple fingerboards. Faded Black, Faded Dakota Red, Faded Sherwood Green Metallic all w/ rosewood fingerboards
• Cases: Gig bag
• Contact: Fender

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

While certain USA-made brands’ start-up models can come across as not quite finished, that’s not the impression here. In its gleamingly opulent Faded Firemist Gold the overall attention to detail of this new Stratocaster is, not least at this price point, very good.

All the new American Professional Classics use alder for the bodies, although the number of pieces is hidden by the opaque finish but the overall weight is near-perfect at 7.55lb. The classic body contours are well-shaped here too, the rib-cage cutaway is deeply cut in a very vintage style but there are no modernisms like the sculptured heel we see on the American Professional II models.

Unlike the out-going Performer Stratocaster with its ‘70s style large headstock, the new Classic reverts to vintage-small, plus the maple has a golden vintage-y tint – all satin-smooth except the gloss headstock face.

The Modern ‘C’ neck profile is well proven, likewise the flatter-than-vintage 9.5” fingerboard radius with lightly rolled edges, and with some bigger medium jumbo frets it’s certainly a familiar feel.

Hardware is pretty classy too with a modern-spaced Fender vibrato with its steel top-pate and bent saddles plus a tapered and deep-drilled steel block. The ClassicGear tuners, which we first saw on the Performers, look like old-style Klusons but use a modern front nut mounting plus the gear ratio is higher at 18:1.

New here, however, are the staggered height split-posts: the top four are lower than the bottom two subtly increasing the back angle behind the nut and just a single string-tree is used on the top two strings.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

Like the crisp build, the supplied setup of this Stratocaster is pretty much good to go. The guitar ships with .009s, which produce a snappy response, the string heights pretty much Fender standard. If you hit hard you may want to go up a string gauge and/or slightly raise the string heights but there’s nothing to criticize here, and once strings are stretched the slightly up-tilted vibrato, which provides a little up-bend and certainly enough down-bend for classic use, this Strat held its tuning well.

The combination of the ‘board radius and those bigger frets –which measure approximately 2.5mm wide and 1.0mm high – give the Classic a very ‘all-round’ feel that’s certainly enhanced by the equally mainstream neck shape. In depth it measures 21.2mm at the first fret and 22.3mm by the 12^th, similar to the Ultra Lux Vintage’s Modern ‘D’ but with more relaxed shoulders.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

Typically the new Classics introduce a new pickup line, although as Max Gutnik, Chief Product Officer at FMIC tells us, the new Coastline single coils are “basically the Pure Vintage set – just like the American Vintage II guitars – but these are overwound a little to make them a little hotter. So, you’re getting a very authentic vintage tone but they take a little gain really well and they’re really good for that on-the-edge-of break-up tone.”

It’s a Strat with a little more beef, but certainly not overdone, yet the added heat, especially at bridge, rounds that typically spikey attack and pulling back the tone you’re almost hitting a Patent Applied For-like voice. The neck pickup is equally standout, a little fuller, less scooped than vintage voicing, and again it works really well with a little gain and hair while the RWRP middle pickup means both mixes are hum-canceling.

Another more modern flavour comes with the tone controls: the upper tone 1 works on both neck and middle pickups; the lower tone 2 is just for the bridge. Both also use Fender’s Greasebucket circuit that pulls back the highs but doesn’t have such a dramatic effect fully rolled off and focuses on the midrange, again quite noticeably with a little gain. These are really broad-genre journeyman sounds: perfect for those long cover gigs!

Verdict

While this new American Professional Classic platform doesn’t reinvent Fender’s decades-old designs, this Stratocaster is not only crisply made but really hard to put down.

It’s a well-sorted fluid player while the ‘hot vintage’ Coastline pickups kick in a little additional fullness that works extremely well on rockier amp voicings without really losing any of the classic Fender voice played clean. No fuss: it’s a superb and well-priced working tool with a well-considered vintage/modern blend.

Guitar World verdict: A well-priced everyman Stratocaster that balances modern playability with some hot vintage sounds and a pared-back aesthetic from the faded classic Fender gloss finishes.

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It feels like every week there’s a new fuzz pedal launched, and the vast majority of them tend to be throwbacks to the 60s and 70s. Every now and then though, we get something that takes the age-old effect and does something totally different with it. Rather than focusing on recreating a particular flavor, the Kernom Moho Fuzz gives you the full history of fuzz pedals with a single sweep of a knob.

Packing five variants that chart the way from Fuzz Face and Tone Bender through to Big Muff and then into modern, synth-like textures, the ‘Mood’ knob of the Moho allows you to seamlessly blend between tones, giving you access to some potentially interesting in-between sounds along the way.

There’s no modeling here either; these are analog fuzz circuits empowered by digital controls for a genuine fuzz tone. It also features a built-in octaver and a ring modulator, so if you like things weird, that’s an option too. Add in 128 presets accessible via MIDI, plus the ability to use an expression pedal to morph through different sounds in real-time, and you’ve got a fuzz that’s way more than just another vintage redux.

Specs

• Launch price: $349 | £339 | €349
• Type: Multi-fuzz pedal
• Controls: Electricity, Mood, Volume, Post Tone, Pre Tone, Fuzz
• Features: Built-in octaver and ring modulator
• Connectivity: Audio in, audio out, expression in, MIDI in, MIDI out
• Bypass: True Bypass (electromechanical relay switching)
• Power: 9V DC, 300mA power supply (not included)
• Dimensions: 11.2 cm deep x 16.4 cm wide x 5.2 cm tall (4.4 inches deep x 6.5 inches wide x 2 inches tall)
• Weight: 850g (1.8 lbs)
• Options: N/A
• Contact: Kernom

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

As I pull the Kernom Moho Fuzz out of its packaging, my first remark is that this is a substantial bit of kit. Coming in at just below two pounds it’s densely built, and will take up a fair bit of space on your pedalboard. Its rectangular shape with rounded edges and cutouts gives it a very unique look, with the matt butter yellow paint job ensuring it’ll stand out on a dark stage.

The chassis is made from 5mm aluminium, which combined with the analog circuits inside, contributes to making it such a burly beast. The casing is amongst the most solid-feeling of any pedal I’ve come across, so solid in fact that I reckon it could easily outlast any billionaire’s bunker. The knobs are applied in a similarly robust way, with a smooth turn that’s stiff, allowing for very fine adjustments.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★½

The heart and soul of the Moho Fuzz lies in its mood knob, which allows you to travel the continuum of fuzz pedals from the vintage trappings of velcro fuzz through to the more experimental sounds of the modern era. It’s marked by various dots, dashes, lines, and colored blocks across its path of travel, which give some insight into the type of sound you’ll get from it.

In another unusual turn, there’s also an electricity knob, which allows for further augmentation of your tone via the addition of an octave up, octave down, or a ring modulator for further sound accentuation. The fully anti-clockwise position gives you your low tones, while the fully clockwise position adds the high octave. The in-between settings are where the ring modulator gets brought into the fold.

It all adds up to a myriad of different fuzz tones just with those two knobs, but the Moho isn’t done there. The pre-tone knob affects your signal before it goes into the fuzz circuit, acting as a bass boost at the leftmost position, with a bass cut on the furthest right. The post tone knob acts as a high EQ of sorts, removing high harmonics to the left, while the right position adds more presence.

The Moho has two footswitches, one for on/off operation and the other for saving and selecting a single preset. I immediately find a delay on the on/off switch though, which isn’t a deal breaker, but it takes some getting used to. It’s a few milliseconds but as we guitarists know, that could potentially make a lot of difference when performing live.

The preset footswitch only saves a single preset, but technically you can use it to have two presets on the pedal without using an external MIDI controller. Holding down the footswitch saves the current settings, and then when you turn it off, the pedal defaults to whatever the current settings are, so you could set two of your favorite sounds here.

One of its cooler features is the ability to utilize the Mood knob via an expression pedal. This means you can sweep through different sounds, ramping up from a classic 60s fuzz to a Big Muff-style sound without having to reach down to the pedal. It works by bridging the gap between the current favorite set via the preset button and the knob’s current position.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Sitting down with my Telecaster and going directly into the clean channel of my Orange Rocker 32 tube amp, I start by putting every knob to the midway position, apart from the mood knob, which is set to the fully clockwise position. I discover there are a lot of different sounds just in the first phase of the pedal, which encompasses many classic fuzz tones. Think thin, gated, velcro fuzz sounds.

Turning the knob further to the right opens things up, bringing in those fuller sounds of psychedelia that get a lot gainier. Once I get to the 12 o’clock position, I enter full Muff-mode, a tone that delivers a huge onslaught of sound with bags of sustain on lead notes. Digging into these lets them ring out for an age, and I’m able to coax even more out of it with some wide vibrato. It’s perfect for stoner rock riffing, sounding beautifully thick when I lay into some power chords on the low E string.

Moving to position four, I arrive at some more modern, heavier fuzz sounds. It’s not massively different from the previous Muff-inspired setting, but it piles on the gain and in some positions gets more compressed and spittier sounding. Continuing into the final section, I start finding some genuinely nasty sounds that are more the remit of noise rock. Here, the introduction of discordant ring modulation sounds makes for positively unmusical-sounding tones, with some positions offering a very synth-like quality.

Switching back to a more classic fuzz sound, I try out the excitingly named Electricity knob. A full turn to the left adds a chunky, low octave sound which tracks reasonably well. I notice it behaves differently depending on which type of fuzz I’m using though, and there’s quite a bit of difference in how it reacts depending on where you place the knob, from glitched out and gated to a more traditional octave fuzz sound.

Flicking to the far right position, I’m a little underwhelmed by the octave-up sound. Again, it sounds different depending on which fuzz circuit you’ve selected, but I find myself wishing it were a little more present, as it sounds subtle even with the knob fully to the right. For the more classic fuzz tones I can hear it pretty well, but once I start getting into the Big Muff-type sounds it gets lost in the background.

The interplay between the Mood and Electricity knobs means there’s an incredible amount of sounds in the Kernom Moho, with quite literally hundreds of fuzz tones available. Once you start adding in the pre and post tone knobs, you can add even more to that, with everything from the thickest, most saturated fuzz you can imagine right through to the most cutting, raspy fuzz sounds.

Verdict

There aren’t many multi-fuzz pedals available right now, and with digital modelers still being unsuccessful in replicating many of the classic fuzz sounds to a high enough standard, the Kernom Moho Fuzz is a great choice for any player wishing for all the most popular fuzz tones in a single pedal. It delivers more sounds than you could count, making it an incredibly versatile stompbox for vintage tones, or properly weird ones.

The octave-high sound was a little underwhelming though, only really delivering that classic Hendrix-inspired tone. It sounds great for that particular purpose, but I did find myself wishing it were a little more present on some of the other sounds too. It is also quite heavy while taking up a decent amount of pedalboard space, but considering you're getting a multitude of fuzz circuits in one pedal, I can't imagine anyone getting too put off by that.

Guitar World verdict: The Kernom Moho Fuzz is a banquet table of tone, delivering everything from the thin fuzz of the early 60s right through to today’s modern, modulated, synth-like textures. There are so many options here that it’s going to take you a very long time to extract them all, and no matter what type of fuzz you enjoy, you’ll find something to love here.

Also try

Hands-on videos

Pedalboards of Doom

The Studio Rats

Sasha Ivantic

Finnish tone fiends Neural DSP have been empowering bedroom guitarists for years now, with a suite of amp sim plugins growing exponentially since Fortin Nameless digitized the Meshuggah signature amp in 2018.

A slew of signature plugins for everyone from Plini and Mateus Asato to Gojira and Cory Wong have followed, all powered by TINA, its unique digital modelling software. And they’ve followed a familiar recipe: three amps, pre- and post-amp effects, a graphic EQ, cab sims, impulse responses, and heaps of tone. They, too, have typically offered a secret weapon each time – the Gojira added a Whammy-style effect and octaver to the game, Tim Henson’s a pitch-shifting Multivoicer.

But what makes these plugins different is that they don’t just copy well-loved amps. They always alter the recipe, such as adding a Presence dial to a Marshall that doesn’t usually have one.

Teaming up with Periphery and Jackson signature artist Misha Mansoor for its latest, things are no different.

Chief among its toys is the one-two of its Laser pedal, inspired by the DigiTech Whammy and delivering 19 pitch-shifting and ring-modulating modes, and the Glitch pedal. Built on granular processing, it takes a guitar signal, chops it, and shuffles it around for mad, very rhythmic chaos.

For pre-FX, two pedals from his brand, Horizon Devices – the Compressor and Precision Drive – sit in pride of place in the plugin's virtual pedalboard. They're joined by a Tape Echo, Dual Octaver, and Chaos pedal, a distortion pedal designed to imitate a chainsaw.

Amp-wise, there's a Mesa/Boogie-style clean, a Rhythm amp that’s a hybrid of an EVH 5150 and an Omega Ampworks Granophyre, and a Lead amp that focuses on hot-rodded British tones.

Post-FX fun comes from a Modulator pedal for chorus and flanger flavors, a Stereo Delay, and Reverb, complete with an ethereal Shimmer mode that Neural users will recognize from its other plugins. There are also the universal features, including in/output dials, a Noise Gate, Transpose, and Doubler.

It’s one of the most feature-packed Neural DSP plugins, and arguably its most anticipated in years. So does it live up to expectations?

Specs

• Launch price: €125
• Type: Plugin - 64-bit VST2 / VST3 / AU / AAX / Standalone
• Formats: Mac/PC
• System requirements (minimum): macOS® 13 Ventura (or higher), Intel Core i3 Processor (i3-4130 / i5-2500 or higher), Apple Silicon (M1 or higher), 8GB of RAM or more. Windows 10 (or higher), Intel Core i3 Processor (i3-4130 / i5-2500 or higher), AMD Quad-Core Processor (R5 2200G or higher), 8GB of RAM or more.
• Contact: Neural DSP

Usability

Those accustomed to Neural DSP’s amp sims will find this offering instantly recognizable. For those who aren’t, everything is well signposted and easy to find, with ample space left to make the plugin visually stimulating. The not-so-metal pastel colour scheme is a welcome touch, too.

Where this plugin asserts itself, however, is with its extended arsenal of effects. If anything, it’s a little overwhelming knowing where to start, given how extensive its toy collection is.

Looking at the traditional pre-FX, the Clarity Compressor offers a huge scope of tightening and detail accenting options, vastly outshining the compressor of Archetype: Henson, my previous go-to.

The Precision Drive, meanwhile, makes tones a little more animalistic, but does have a tendency to get a little fizzy around the edges. I’ve learned to handle it diligently, and the Drive dial itself is more often than not backed off entirely. The Attack and Bright controls do the necessary work.

The Tape Echo is a novel addition, but I found myself turning on the Stereo Delay far more often, unless I wanted things to get really psychedelic, and the modulations are quite on-the-nose. They’re nothing remarkable, but useful bits of seasoning nevertheless.

The most fun can be had with the rest of its effects. The Chaos pedal is everything the Insane mode of a Line 6 Spider wishes it was, adding a buzzing, feral hiss to heavy rhythm tones, and the Glitch and Laser pedals are a whole other world unto themselves.

As its name suggests, the Laser is built to go pew pew, delivering sci-fi tones across 13 pitch-shifting presets and six ring-mod options.

The Trigger mini-switch is handy for instantaneous and momentary application, but the expression pedal is what I abused the most.

In Pedal mode, plugging an expression pedal in allows me to control its sweeps manually, while Envelope Mode reacts to my playing.

Here, the Sensitivity dial reacts to signal hum when cranked. It is better behaved when rolled back, but it isn't perfect. Using an expression pedal or MIDI automation for full dominion makes it far more usable, and a very fun tool to have, especially considering how wild it can get, with everything from Star Wars battle scene sounds to subtle detunes and inverted whammy sounds.

Doing a convincing Car Bomb impression has never been easier.

The ace up this plugin's sleeve is the Glitch, and it's definitely wild. While the Laser fares better when kept on a leash, this is all about randomness. Sure, there are parameters to set, such as defining the glitch loop length, character of the grain produced, and mix controls, but the randomness should still be embraced.

Of its four modes, Sequence is the most controlled, with notes played back in the order I played them, but with glitching strangeness injected in, with Interfere doing likewise, but with shorter grains that are far more random; it's the hyperactive little brother.

Pitch Delay is as I expected, with warped versions of my playing spat back out while Texturizer reverses the grains, for some really luscious sounds, especially on clean and edge-of-breakup tones, and was the one I frequented the most. It's certainly the easiest to get musical results from.

The pedal also reacts to pre-recorded parts, making it a fun post-production tool for adding unusual sounds in ambient breaks and outros, for instance.

In truth, I feel I’ve only just scratched the surface of what it can do, which is a plus and a minus – it’s not the easiest to master, but its wild antics are well worth exploring.

Sounds

Notably here, Mansoor has taken creative license when designing its trio of virtual heads, with the Clean amp inspired by his love for high-end watches, while the tiny, portable, and very modern-looking head offers a visage in huge contrast to the British, Celestion Creamback sounds of the Marshall amp it is based on. It’s important, then, to do your reading before diving in; otherwise, you may find yourself sculpting an amp for the wrong intended purpose.

The Clean amp certainly lives up to its billing via crystalline tones with a little edge, like a clean channel on a high-gain metal amp, as opposed to the gentle charm of a blackface Fender. Sprinkle in a little reverb, and you've got a clear, if not a little vanilla, clean amp that is prone to breaking up when I play with a little more force.

Use it as a tonal base for way more mileage. Leafing through the in-built presets, it has been transformed into a pretty convincing organ by utilizing the Dual Whammy function and Glitch for some trippy reverse delays. And it can also go heavy with the Dual Octaver, Drive, and Chaos pedals, combining for stank face-inducing fuzz anarchy, and trippy ethereal to boot. And as Haken's Rich Henshall proves with his presets, it can handle solos too, with the Drive's attack dial giving it enough of a push. It's not a one-trick pony.

The rhythm amp, conversely, is a little less transformable. It comes loaded with two voices offering different EQ voicings, with voice one more like the snarling 5150 tones most metal players are quick to gravitate to, and voice two bringing a more saggy saturation to the fore. Both handle the octaves well, performing with grit and clarity even in downtuned eight-string depths.

The Lead amp is warmer still, really leaning into hot-rodded Marshall territory with the bit between its teeth. There's an altogether more vintage feel to it, albeit with plenty of punch, meaning that it takes a little more taming for tighter sounds. But do so, and you have a feisty rhythm amp here which can be brought to contemporary speed, meaning if this were the only plugin you own, there are two solid-sounding amps for double-tracking metal. Maybe less so for jazz, although I did coax some fusion-y sounds out of it

Its lead tones are buttery smooth with clarity, even when the gain is pushed. That being said, its limited employment as a lead amp in the extensive bank of presets is surprising. I found it incredibly easy to craft a powerful but clear lead tone within a couple of minutes, leaning into what it's meant for. But as is the case with the Clean, there is more to the amp than meets the eye, and as a rhythm machine, it outstrips its stablemates. There’s a greater bite for me, with a heat that can be whipped into shape for those tight, gated riffs.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★☆

Expectations should be tempered before diving in, because Archetype: Misha Mansoor X doesn’t exactly behave like Neural DSP’s other plugins, and that is both its potential weakness and saving grace. I may have found the Lead amp far better at Rhythm tones than the Rhythm amp itself, and that the Clean amp can do way more than chime, but with that understood, I was able to manipulate the amp in far more ways.

As an avid Neural DSP user, I’m not so sure it quite dethrones Nameless and Gojira outright. Instead, it can be one of the gang – it’s not better or worse, just different. Different enough to want to blend with other amps, even if it isn’t necessarily the first one I load up every time.

It has enough features to make me content solely in its ecosystem, and, after hours of exploring, there are still way more wonders to be found. As a toolkit to aid my creative process, there’s always something to get inspired by.

Guitar World verdict: Two of its three amps are the most versatile and manipulable amp plugins I’ve ever come across, and its ridiculous roster of accoutrements has proved to be inspiration on tap. Navigating it is a piece of cake, choosing how to play with it is less so.

Hands-on videos

Neural DSP

• Best Neural DSP plugins 2025: 10 Neural plugins tested with sound samples

Following on from the success of the original, crowdfunded Beat Buddy pedal, the Singular Sound BeatBuddy 2 is back to give guitarists a flexible drum machine in a pedalboard-friendly enclosure. It’s been some 11 years since the original launched, yet despite this, the market for ‘board-mounted drum machines is still pretty small.

A tool equally adept at home practice as it is for live performances, BeatBuddy 2 improves on nearly every aspect of the original with an improved screen, better usability, greater connectivity, a redesigned chassis and enhanced drum sounds. It’s a laundry list of user requests from the first edition made real, showing that Singular Sound has been listening to its user base.

Included with the BeatBuddy 2 is a 4GB SD card, which contains all of the stock beats and room to add your own. You can upgrade the card anywhere up to 32GB if you want, which will be a colossal amount of rhythms if you were ever to fill it up. Used in conjunction with the Beat Buddy Manager Online, you can create your own songs with up to 32 different parts, import other projects, and import drum sounds.

Specs

• Launch price: $499
• Type: Drum machine pedal
• Controls: Volume, drum set, tempo, tap tempo, directional controls
• Features: 24-bit 44.1kHz audio, up to 32GB storage space, 2.4" TFT RGB (240x320) screen
• Connectivity: 2 x 1/4" TS ins, 3 x 1/4" outs, 2 x 1/4" TRS footswitch
• Power: 9V DC Power Supply (Included), 300mA
• Dimensions: HxWxD 2.75" x 4.5" x Depth 6"
• Weight: 1 lbs 5.7 oz (615 g)
• Contact: Singular Sound

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

The BeatBuddy 2 clearly takes the idea of being built like a tank very seriously, and is amongst the sturdiest feeling stompboxes I’ve tested in the past couple of years. In my hand, it has a hefty weight for its size, making it a big chunk of stompbox. As it’s designed to be stomped on a lot, this is definitely a tick in the plus column.

The new black and gold livery is much classier than the generic grey of the original pedal, giving it a much more premium look to match that not insignificant price point. Across the top panel, three chunky knurled knobs (which also act as buttons) control the major functions. They’re all notched, which gives you a bit of feedback when you turn them, and they’re very solidly attached.

It’s a similar story with the dual gold momentary footswitches, which offer a similarly reassuring robustness to them. They sit at the bottom of the pedal’s quite extreme wedge shape, making them nice and easy to stomp but also allowing me to gently manipulate the knobs with my foot, too.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★☆

Getting started with the pedal, I plug into my Spark Live full-range speaker as requested by the manual for the best sound quality, running it separately alongside a Gretsch CVT I’m also reviewing, into my pedalboard, and then on to my tube amp.

You can run your guitar and pedals through the BeatBuddy 2 if you wish, but it needs to be at the end of the signal chain so your pedals don’t affect the tone. If you’re going into a guitar amp, then any color or EQ on your amp is going to go onto the drum sounds, so for my use case, it made sense to run it separately from my amp.

The pedal is well labelled, and it doesn’t take me long to work out what each of the footswitches does. Rather like a two-button looper pedal, the stomp on the left controls most of the drum functions, starting the beats with a single stomp, adding a fill when I hit it while the beat is playing, transitioning to a second beat when I hold it down, and then finally, ending the song with a double tap.

Having this immediate control is what made the original BeatBuddy a success, and it’s easy for me to get into laying down beats to play along with. The tap tempo switch makes it quick to change the tempo on the fly, and you can also use the dedicated tempo knob to set something more exacting, which also allows for quick selection of different beats when you push it in.

The beats are split into parts that are changed by holding down the left footswitch. Some of the stock sounds have differing numbers of parts, but you can customize this in the management software. This means you can get a line structure that you can change on the fly, going long where you need or shortening a section if you feel like it’s not hitting right. It’s amazing fun to play around with, especially when you start adding fills that vary in their style and their intensity.

All of the beats I used only have three fills, which to the Western songwriting brain might seem like an odd choice initially. It actually makes a lot of sense when you consider the transitions to different parts feature longer, four-bar fills. This way, you can build the tension with a few different fills before you launch into a larger one to change the feel of the rhythm as you move towards the next section.

Using the BeatBuddy Manager Online allows you to customize songs with a main beat, drum fills, transitions, and accent hits. You can add up to 32 different parts to a song and customize the fills you want, making it a potentially very powerful tool for creating drum tracks to play your songs along to. I like that it works in the browser, and that I don’t have to add yet another app to my hugely cluttered smartphone, too.

Weirdly, when I began using the software, nothing on my SD card was named, which unfortunately made it pretty much unusable, as I had no idea what I was selecting to add to my song. This may be because I got the pedal into review pre-release, so the software didn’t recognize it, or I got a pre-release SD card that hadn’t been finalized yet. Either way, I wasn’t able to utilize the software to its full potential.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

The sound quality of the BeatBuddy 2 is really rather good, especially when compared to the built-in beats I’ve found on various looper pedals from more established brands. The drum sounds here are crisp and sharp, not quite drum recording territory but certainly good enough for practice or live performance.

Of course, the sound reproduction is dependent on what medium you play it through, but in my test, it sounded fantastic through the FRFR Positive Grid Spark Live. You can play it through your amp, but you lose the punchiness of the kick drum and the shimmer of the cymbals this way, and of course, if you use any overdrive or reverb on your amp, you’ll also subject your beats to that.

There’s a noticeable difference between the regular kits and the new HD ones, three of which are included as stock on the pedal. They sound much more natural, with huge-sounding kicks, snares and cymbals that ring out very realistically. It’s very much that modern produced drum sound, and honestly, it’s amongst the best quality I’ve ever heard from any built-in rhythms on any pedal.

The ability to export the beat in true stereo is another welcome addition, although you’re far more likely to get use out of this at home than you would on the live circuit. It sounds great in mono, of course, but adding that stereo element really helps open up the spread of the drums, with an excellent soundstage and use of the stereo field. This is especially noticeable when you use the headphones out or a nice pair of studio monitors.

Verdict

The Singular Sound BeatBuddy 2 is a really clever bit of kit that makes playing along with drum beats an absolute breeze. Instead of trying to squeeze loads of features in, Singular Sound has kept things nice and simple here, allowing you to concentrate on actually playing and having fun coming up with new ideas or practicing technique.

It is annoying that you can’t chain parts or beats just by using the pedal, though, especially as there are controls here doubling up to do the same function, which to me seems like a missed opportunity. The fact that it sounds much better through an additional speaker versus a traditional guitar amp may also put some guitarists off who are looking for an all-in-one solution.

Guitar World verdict: If you’re looking to play at home or gig without having to rely on an actual drummer, the Singular Sound BeatBuddy 2 is a fantastic choice. It improves on the original in nearly every way, and although it’s probably not what you would use for recording, the quality of the sounds is absolutely fantastic, easily the class in the field of what’s available now in terms of pedalboard-friendly drum machines.

Also try

Hands-on videos

Singular Sound

Let's Play All

The Axe Guitar

In terms of brand names, Victory is a relative newcomer compared to the likes of Marshall, Vox, and Fender. But, with tones from the brain of its renowned and experienced chief designer, Martin Kidd, Victory has nonetheless made a sizeable splash in the market since its 2013 launch, with the likes of Guthrie Govan, Richie Kotzen and Rabea Massad featuring among its artist roster.

With a lineup of well-loved amps such as The Countess, the AC30 styled Copper, the Marshall-esque Sheriff, and the high-gain monster that is the Kraken, it’s one of its best-selling - The Duchess - that is getting some attention in the form of an updated Mark II version.

And it’s fair to say the Mark II has a tough act to follow, with the original iteration boasting users that include Chris Buck, Isaiah Sharkey, and James Bay, plus a reputation for being a fantastic amp for pedals, thanks to a tone that can be tweaked via its three-band EQ, a Voice switch, and Mid Kick switch.

So, what’s to fix if it ain’t broke? Well, nothing, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a bit of tweaking. In 2024, Victory celebrated its 10th anniversary by launching two high-end amplifiers - the MK Clean and the MK Overdrive. This evolution sees some of the aspects of the MK Clean applied to the Duchess MKII range, which includes the V40 Compact Head, the V40 Deluxe Head, the V140 Super Duchess, and the two we have for review, the V40 Lunch Box Head and the V40 Deluxe Combo.

The changes center around upgrades to the amp's gain and tonality options,, with an additional third position on the Duchess' Voice control, an extra increment on the Mid kick toggle, plus improved reverb options.

The Lunch Box head is the most affordable of the bunch, saving some cash with a slimmed-down, no-frills, metal chassis. Conversely, the Deluxe Combo is the most expensive (as expected, being the only combo in the range) but also features a tremolo circuit and a slightly different tube setup. Let's make some noise and see how this new iteration sounds.

Specs

• Launch price: Lunch Box head $1479/£1249/€1489 Deluxe combo $2849/£2599/€3099
• Type: Compact tube amp head and tube amp combo
• Origin: UK
• Output: 42 Watts
• Speaker: 12" Celestion G12H-75 Creamback (combo)
• Channels: 1
• Controls: Three band EQ, Voice switch, Mid Kick switch, Dwell, Reverb, Volume, Master (both) tremolo Depth and Speed (Deluxe only)
• Connectivity: 1/4" jack
• Footswitch: Dual, reverb, and tremolo (Deluxe only)
• Weight: Lunch Box head 18.1Lbs/8.2kgs, Deluxe combo 49lbs/22.3kg
• Dimensions: Lunch Box head 342x185x185mm/13.4x7.2x7.2", Deluxe combo 600x453x250mm/23.2x17.8x9.8"
• Contact: Victory

Guitar World demo

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

Tube amps are, at their core, an old technology. The benefit of which is that we know how to build 'em. Starting with the Deluxe combo, it features a tank-like wooden construction with a sturdy leather handle that feels comfortable and solid in the hands when lifting all of its 22.3kg weight. There's more leather protecting those corners, too, giving the impression of an amp that can handle a busy gigging life.

More than just functional, it's an amp that is also, in my view, aesthetically pleasing with a classy cream finish on both the Combo and Lunch Box. The one downside with this is that colors of a lighter nature inherently show marks a bit more readily. To mitigate this, you may want to get a hold of a cover to transport the combo in, but happily, the Lunch Box head includes a rather handy carry case.

Speaking of the Lunch Box, it is instead a metal construction, but it also feels sturdy and equally capable of withstanding being chucked into the back of a van. It’s a bit more industrial in its appearance, lacking the premium feel that wood and leather bring to the combo. In return, we save a bit of money.

Metal is a better conductor of heat than wood, so the chassis does get hot after use. If either of these metal chassis-related compromises is a deal breaker for you, the aforementioned Compact Head may be a better fit for your preferences.

Furthermore, the Lunch box, as you would expect from the name, is small at 342x185x185mm. Guthrie Govan, in his involvement with the production of Victory’s The Jack amplifier (now called The Countess), requested that it be small enough to fit into the overhead compartment on a plane, and Victory's Lunch Box amplifier range maintains this trend.

Power-wise, both amps are armed with 42 Watts. In the case of the Duchess Deluxe Combo, this is courtesy of two 6L6’s in the power stage, with the preamp featuring a duo of ECC83’s and two ECC81’s (one ECC81 driving the reverb). The Lunch Box instead achieves this with two EL34’s in the power stage. The preamp is also a little different, consisting of three ECC83’s.

Other differences between the two amps include a tremolo circuit and real, valve-driven spring reverb in the Deluxe, whereas the Lunch Box sports a digital reverb and no tremolo.

Moving on to the front panels of the amplifiers, all the switches are about as sturdy as can be asked for, moving with a reassuring clunk. Equally as sturdy are the knobs, which all turn with the sort of resistance indicative of a hard-wearing component.

And hard-wearing is a good term to round up the general feel of both these amplifiers. Combine this with their classy cream aesthetic and well-thought-out features, and the result is a pair of reliable gigging machines.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★½

Generally, another benefit of a tube amp is simplicity in use. The front panels on both these amplifiers reflect this. We have a three-band EQ, along with the effects controls and a big ol’ LED inside a jewel, reminiscent of a Fender-style amp to let you know that the amp is definitely on.

The reverb controls are labeled Reverb and Dwell, the former controlling the reverb level and the latter controlling the length. The Lunch Box has two reverb modes - Modern and Vintage, with a mini-switch to change between them. All pleasingly self-explanatory, as is the case with the Depth and Speed for the tremolo on the Deluxe.

It takes a little experimenting to understand exactly what each of the three positions of the Voice and Mid Kick mini-switches do. Both affect the midrange in different ways that aren’t indicated on the front panel, so a bit of reading is required. Or better yet, just play around with them and let your ears do the work.

To be fair to Victory, how these switches affect the tone (more on that in the ‘sounds’ section) is probably impossible to succinctly display on a front panel. And, the labels are clear and easy to read, doing a good job of letting you know exactly what position the switch is in.

Moving around to the back of the Deluxe combo, both amps come with the facility to bias for either EL34’s or 6L6’s. Other tone hound features include a bypassable effects loop that completely removes the loop from the circuit. These are adjustments that few will be making, but if you have a preference here, you can rest easy knowing that you are accounted for.

On the combo, the bias control, effects loop bypass, IEC cable connection, and power switch are recessed behind one of the back panels. I found this frustrating, as this location makes these things a little awkward to access.

This is mitigated somewhat by nearby icons and labels, which helpfully guide you to the right area for whatever is needed, but there is still a little hunting to be done.

The Lunch Box, however, is a different story, with all of those features located directly on the back panel. Doesn’t get any easier to use than that.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Time to make a bit of noise. First, both amps are very similar as expected, given that they belong to the same range. But there are small differences. I’m testing the combo through its Celestion G12H-75 Creamback speaker, but to get a direct comparison, I take some time to run both amps through Victory’s 1x12 Lunch Box guitar cabinet loaded with an 80w Celestion Seventy 80.

The Deluxe has more low-end on tap, a midrange that is slightly more scooped, and it breaks up a bit later than the Lunch Box. These differences are subtle, but something to bear in mind throughout the testing.

Moving on and plugging the combo back into its built-in speaker, the mission here is to start with a stellar clean sound, given The Duchess’s reputation as a pedal platform. A mission that is easily accomplished.

This ease is due to a core tone shared by both amps being well-balanced across all frequencies, with plenty of bass on tap, a sensible midrange, and a high end that is present without being ice-picky. Get the preamp at a level just before breakup, and it is overtones a-plenty, giving the amp a real sense of life but without being too prominent in any frequency. A perfect foundation for those pedals.

The three-band EQ is foolproof. The Bass control has a fair amount of sweep, but the Mid and Treble have a much tighter range. While some may prefer a little more facility here, the flip side is that it’s an amp that is almost impossible to get a bad sound from.

Guitar tone lives in the mid-frequencies, so the extra tweaking offered by the Voice and Mid Kick controls is valuable. The Voice adds a lowish midrange that increases in level as you tick up through the three positions, with position three being the most mid-heavy.

For home playing, I preferred this control in position one; however, playing in a busy band mix, this sort of mid-push is exactly what is needed to punch through.

Obviously, controlling yet more midrange is the aptly named Mid Kick switch, but in an interesting way. Position one is stock, whilst two adds a little more low mid in a lower frequency than the Voice control. Resulting in a fuller-bodied tone, which I found useful for stopping low-gain stuff from feeling too wiry.

Position three brings in a cutting bite to the high mids, which is most apparent when the amp is breaking up a little. It adds some more gain here, helping push the amp into a light overdrive that’s a little more mid-forward, in an almost Marshall-esque type fashion.

Speaking of drive, one of the Duchess’s strengths is that it reflects what it is given. Using my '51 Custom Shop Telecaster with the amp on the edge of breakup and playing through some Stones-type chords, the tone is quintessential Telecaster with all the bite and cut expected from such a guitar.

Then, plugging in my Gibson Les Paul Classic, the high end rolls off, things get a lot girthier, and the gain moves from the edge of breakup into light overdrive land. Or, in other words, it reflects the Les Paul exactly as you'd hope. All this without going anywhere near the controls on the amp.

It’s this same quality that makes things pedal-friendly. Starting with a couple of overdrive pedals, I’m set up with a Boss Blues Driver and a RYRA The Klone overdrive going into the front of the amp - two completely different styles of gain.

Using the aforementioned Telecaster, I get the volume and EQ into a place that accentuates the balanced response of the amp, and just a little back from the edge of break for a harmonic-laden, lively clean sound.

Kicking-on the Blues Driver, the full-range characteristic of this transistor-based circuit comes through with a cutting light drive that’s endless fun for the lower gain sounds. You might want to try position two or three on the voice control to add some low mid to round things off a bit, but I’m enjoying the high end presence of the pedal getting shown off by the amp.

The Klon clone is a different story with a significant mid bump that is perfect for leads. There’s a ton of level on tap with this pedal, which proves useful in boosting the amp into a heavier, classic rock style distortion. With the RYRA doing its thing and moving the Mid Kick to position three, yet more gain is added in the higher mids, resulting in a cutting, saturated lead that's reflective of that Klone thing, with the ability to cut through in even the busiest of band mixes.

And of course, I cannot test a pedal platform amp without a delay pedal. Cue an MXR Carbon Copy in the effects loop. The result is a warm delay as you would expect from an analog circuit, kept uncoloured by drive from the amp or pedals, courtesy of being in an effects loop rather than fed into any overdrive.

The point of all this is that in both the Lunch Box and the Deluxe, the pedal's characteristics are given a platform to shine. The perfect foundation for showing off those carefully considered boards.

Helpfully, I don’t have to rely on just pedals, as the Duchess features a digital reverb with two voices in the Lunch Box head and a real spring reverb in the Deluxe combo.

The real spring on the combo is lush, with a sound that is scooped to allow your dry signal not to get buried, but not so much as to separate the original sound from the effect. The controls are sensible too, with plenty there for that ambient thing, without ever getting too out of control.

The Lunch Box’s digital reverb is a similar story. Starting with the Vintage sound which is meant to emulate a spring, it is a little darker than its cousin’s real thing, leading me to prefer the clarity in the Deluxe. Bearing in mind that A/B’ing a digital spring with a real one like this is a harsh test, it is still a round, warm, and rewarding reverb.

That said, if I owned the Lunch Box head, I would be more likely to use the Modern setting. Here we have something more akin to a plate-style reverb with a lovely shimmer that is perfect for John Mayer-style clean riffs. (We all know which one I played.)

Moving on to the Tremolo in the Deluxe, it's set-up with the usual Depth and Speed controls that take it from a slight, widening movement to all-out Boulevard of Broken Dreams style choppiness, without affecting the underlying tone. It’s a simple tremolo, but one that perfectly executes its purpose.

Now, the tricky thing about tube amps is that they often sound best when in their ‘sweet spot’, which usually requires some volume. For my taste, this was with the Volume set around two o’clock, which, without a Master control, would always be problematic for neighbors, and often problematic for band mates and sound engineers.

Helpfully, The Duchess deals with this via a Master volume dial. Sometimes these controls can have a detrimental effect on the tone, but that isn’t the case here. I still find that a little past ten o’clock on the Master is the minimum needed to get those overtones jumping out, but this could be due to the fact that our ears tend to like a little level.

The last thing to consider is the Low Power mode. Taking the wattage all the way down to a relatively conservative seven watts, this has little effect on the volume, but results in raising the low-end and a good serving of extra compression when the amp is pushed. It almost feels like a cheat code, with that compression making things slightly easier under the fingers.

I do, however, prefer full-power mode, as I find the extra headroom and transient is more reactive to touch and therefore more rewarding to play. But still, a great option to have.

Verdict

The original Duchess is a high bar to meet. Sensibly, the Mark II at its core retains the winning formula that made the first iteration a success, and adds a few tweaks rather than completely overhauling something that isn’t broken.

The result is an amp that is a pedal-hound’s dream. As a case in point, I happened to be playing a ’60s tribute gig while I had the Duchess in for testing, which, for authenticity's sake, required the use of a Vox AC30. My pedal board then needed some tweaking, with my swapping out the aforementioned RYRA Klone for a T-rex Mudhoney that, for my own personal taste, worked better with the Vox’s signature mid-forward sound.

The Duchess, however, sounded great through both iterations of the board, reflecting what I love about both of those drive pedals with ease. A great choice for a pedal platform.

Guitar World verdict: The Duchess V40 Mark II’s combination of a lively clean that can be pushed to the edge of breakup and a balanced EQ that forms a foundation that can be tweaked to suit any pedal setup makes for an amp that will show off a pedalboard at its best. With a lush reverb to boot and the bonus of a tremolo on the Deluxe, as a pedal platform amp, it’s hard to ask for anything more.

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Victory

How comfortable is your electric guitar? It might have soft contours, it might be lightweight or, if you’re using a spiky axe for your extreme metal project, it might leave you with bruises every time you play it.

But was it designed specifically for ergonomics – to be optimal for playing posture and physical health? If you play any of the traditional shapes we’re used to, the answer is unlikely to be yes.

Even the best-designed of those shapes has some ergonomic setbacks that can be detrimental to the player’s body over time. In theory, that’s where the so-called ‘ergonomic guitar’ comes in, none crossing over into the mainstream quite like Sweden’s Strandberg Guitars.

Ola Strandberg's innovative output with his company is beloved of the contemporary progressive metal scene, several technique-forward fusion and rock artists also adopting the company's most prominent model, the Boden.

This distinctive design has proven itself adaptable to multiple configurations and has spawned successful seven and eight-string variants. Now, Strandberg has ushered in a new generation of Boden models, branded N2, and after the review of the higher-priced Boden N2 Original model from Matt Owen, I’m going to see how the entry-level N2 six-string Standard option stacks up.

I use the term ‘entry-level’ somewhat loosely here; more affordable than its stablemate it may be but, of course, at $1,799 for the six-string model, the Standard N2 isn’t a cheap electric guitar by most standards.

It’s up against some serious competition in the non-ergonomic guitar market – the ever-impressive Ibanez Premium series (as well as headless models like the Ibanez Q54W), and the tops of the import lines from the likes of Jackson and Schecter.

In terms of finding a more comparable design for that price, though, Strandberg has the market fairly well sewn up. If it delivers on quality with the N2 Standard…

Specs

• Price: $1,799/£1,699/€1,959
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Six-string headless electric guitar
• Body: Basswood
• Neck: Roasted maple, Strandberg EndurNeck profile, titanium-reinforced,
• Fingerboard: Roasted maple
• Scale length: 25"-25.5"/635-648mm
• Nut/width: Plastic, 42mm
• Frets: 24, DHP 28HFS, stainless steel
• Hardware: EGS Arc headless bridge and string lock
• Electrics: Seymour Duncan Pegasus (bridge) and Sentient (neck), volume and tone, 5-way switch
• Weight of test guitar: 5.4lb/2.45kg
• Options: Seven-string ($1,899) and eight-string ($1,999) models available. The Boden N2 Original range starts at $2,499.
• Left-handed options: N/A
• Finishes: Transformative Teal Metallic (as reviewed), Black Satin Metallic (acrylic satin lacquer)
• Case: Strandberg Standard gig bag included
• Contact: Strandberg

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

It may not be the flagship N2 but it's certainly not like you’re merely making do with this Standard iteration, quality-wise. Like the Original, this Boden is from the PT Cort facility in Indonesia, which builds for several high-profile brands; it's beautifully constructed and finished. The fretwork is immaculate, the build is tight enough to squeak and the componentry looks and feels great.

Smoothly satin-finished, in a gorgeous ‘Transformative Teal’, a headline feature is the new curved body design, introducing a very subtle arch to the top of the solid basswood body. The colour palette is limited to this Teal and Black Satin Metallic, and only satin as yet.

Neck-wise, we have the patented EndurNeck profile for which Strandberg is famous, fashioned from roasted maple and now reinforced with titanium for stability.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

If you’re unfamiliar, the EndurNeck appears as a series of straight planes meeting in edges, rather than a round carve. The central spine of the neck runs at an angle, the bass side shoulder sloping inward, guiding the fretting-hand thumb to its optimal position for hand comfort, everywhere on the neck. Confused? It’s tough to describe, for sure - play it, and it’ll make sense instantly.

We also have 24 stainless steel frets, in a fanned arrangement (although the difference between low and high strings is only half an inch - 25” to 25.5”).

The Boden was never lacking in its ergonomics, but the N2 is truly inspiring in terms of playing comfort. It’s very difficult to imagine how a guitar could be less physically taxing than this.

It’s incredibly light, and that body shape, of course, is designed to be unobtrusive and work with the body. When seated, it’s best positioned on the left knee (for a right-handed player), letting the neck tilt upwards.

I came to the Strandberg feeling a little out of practice, having played much more bass than guitar for the previous couple of weeks – but it immediately put me at ease, helping me play at my absolute best.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

Sound-wise, most will have no complaints either. The Seymour Duncan Pegasus and Sentient are popular medium-output humbuckers with a clear, punchy tone that doesn’t overpower a clean amp, but still provides plenty of definition for high-gain tones. The five-way switch is a nice addition too, giving the snappy and defined in-between sounds prized by many modern guitarists.

Running through the various presets I've created on my Line 6 HX Stomp rig, everything from crystalline clean to gated metal distortion is ably covered, with plenty of space in the middle for all the other solidbody, passive humbucker sounds one would expect - in a package that offers maximum playing comfort too.

Verdict

This Strandberg may be one of the best guitars available new at its price point. The only reason to plump for the more expensive Original model would be the combination of posher woods and finishes, and the Fishman-designed active pickups.

For a simpler, solid-bodied, passive instrument that gets all the important parts nailed, this is a killer choice.

Try one – you might be surprised how much better you play with a guitar that removes the physical obstacles inherent in lots of others.

Guitar World verdict: It’s hard to fault the Boden N2 Standard as a package. It's a fabulously comfortable, lightweight and beautifully built instrument which provides all the sounds one would expect from a twin-humbucker guitar with aplomb. At this upper mid-range price point, it's hard to think of a guitar to rival it.

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• Best headless guitars 2025: 8 top picks for all budgets and player styles

Based in Canada, the original Diamond Pedals company launched in 2004 and is probably best known for its Memory Lane delay pedal.

It closed down during the pandemic but is now back, having been revived by Greg Djerrahian of SolidGoldFX in 2023, and initially relaunching with five new pedals that built on the brand’s original designs. The latest edition to the roster is the Boost/EQ, which revamps an older version of the pedal from circa 2007.

Two toggle-switched modes of operation are on offer here. You can use the pedal as a straight boost or you can flip the switch down to bring some soft clipping diodes into the equation for more driven tones.

Specs

• PRICE: $209/£215
• ORIGIN: Canada
• TYPE: Boost and EQ pedal 
• FEATURES: True Bypass, soft-touch relay switching
• CONTROLS:  Level, Gain Mids, Tilt, Boost/OD switch, bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V-18V DC adaptor (not supplied) 18mA
• DIMENSIONS: 67 (w) x 122 (d) x 58mm (h) 
• CONTACT: Diamond Pedals

Usability and sounds

Two knobs adjust the EQ, both with neutral central notched detent positions. One knob is a tilt EQ that basically works like a seesaw, tipping to the right to raise high-end while cutting the low-end, or to the left for the opposite effect.

The pivot point for this is the midrange frequency of 800Hz. Working at the same 800Hz frequency point, the other knob cuts or boosts the midrange by up to 10dB.

This two-knob array works really well as a simple system to quickly zero in your tone, with the Tilt taking you straight to your treble/bass balance and the Mid either scooping out some body or pushing through a mid-hump for more punch in the mix.

It’s a flexible facility that can encompass subtle enhancement and more radical shifts whether you’re coaxing an amp into a preferred tonal zone, giving a drive pedal a different voicing, or dialling in a specifically targeted boost for solos.

In Boost mode, using the Level and Gain knobs together can deliver a massive amount of clean boost. There’s 20dB available, which should easily cover all contingencies. In OD mode, the Gain knob turns up the drive.

At zero, there’s unity gain on the Level knob at about 11 o’clock, but with both Level and Gain a little higher you’ll find ‘clean boost with hair’ that, combined with a little top-end Tilt, could be a useful always-on signal sweetener.

Further travel on the Gain knob delivers some practical low-to-medium drive tones that can be voiced to taste with the EQ.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Guitar World verdict: The Diamond Boost/EQ is a supreme utility pedal capable of a host of practical applications in any signal chain.

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• Best boost pedals 2025: including the best clean boost pedals for guitar
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Where were you when you first saw someone playing a headless electric guitar and who was playing it? How you will respond to this question could be instructive in how you receive this Ibanez Q Series model.

Whether you still regard the revival of headless guitars a novelty – the preserve of the maverick virtuoso or village eccentric – or whether you believe it to be simply a more rational form for the instrument, like, Why do we need a headstock at all?

It’s a generational thing. Older readers might think of the late fusion doyen Allan Holdsworth, or recall Eddie Van Halen’s radicalism on a Steinberger GL2T. It is hard to think of the headless guitar and not think of David Bowie’s Tin Machine era.

The Man Who Fell To Earth, Allan Holdsworth, EVH; there is a generation of players who should be forgiven for believing the headless guitar is an otherworldly instrument best left for otherworldly players.

Younger readers might see it a bit differently, however, looking to the likes of Australian instrumentalist Plini and his Strandberg Boden or Ibanez signature guitar artist, Ichika Nito, and seeing the headless guitar as this enabler of next-generation technique and sound, the ne plus ultra of electric guitar modernity… Again, why do we need a headstock at all?

A big part of the appeal is obvious before even taking the Q54W out of its gig bag. It’s so light, so compact. Where is the rest of it? We’d hesitate to call it travel-friendly because that can ghettoize an instrument but it is just that, weighing just a couple of ounces over five pounds.

And it really does look like a guitar for 21st-century adventures in tone and technique, with its Copper Metallic Matte finish perhaps a sign that guitar makers are now looking away from Motor City automobiles and to iPhones for finish inspiration.

There is an obvious similarity to the Ichika Nito ICHI10. Here, too, we have that double cutaway body shape with the radical scoop that exposes the tuners on the Ibanez Mono-Tune bridge.

But where the ICHI10 has the SSS configuration, skirted Stratocaster-style control knobs, the Q54W presents us with a humbucker at the bridge, and two R1 single-coil pickups at the middle and neck positions, knurled metal dials in Cosmo black to match the bridge, and that HSS setup gives us even more core tones.

Here the five-way blade-style pickup selector switch working in concert with the Alter Switch for Ibanez’s Dyna-Mix 9 switching system offering nine core tone variations.

It’s only slight, but the Q54W is a lot of guitar. The question is whether it was worth sacrificing one one of the most iconic headstocks in electric guitar in pursuit of a radical new high-performance platform.

Specs

• Launch price: $1,099/£959/€1,049
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Headless six-string electric guitar
• Body: Nyatoh
• Neck: Three-piece roasted maple and bubinga / Wizard C profile
• Fingerboard: Roasted birds-eye maple, 12" radius with Mother of Pearl offset dot inlays
• Scale length: 25.5"/648mm
• Nut/width: Plastic / 42mm
• Frets: 24, jumbo stainless steel
• Hardware: Ibanez Mono-Tune bridge, white single-ply pickguard, chrome
• String spacing at bridge: 54mm
• Electrics: Q58 humbucker [bridge], 2x R1 single-coil pickups, volume, tone, 5-way selector plus Alter Switch for dyna-MIX9 switching system
• Weight: 5.2lb/2.36kg
• Options: Q54 in Flat Black and Sea Foam Green ($999/£959), Ibanez Q547PB 7-string ($1,299/£1,139)
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Copper Metallic Matte
• Cases: Gig bag
• Contact: Ibanez

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

The Q54W is a very clean guitar with a kind of tech bro bachelor pad aesthetic, a meticulousness that is even evident in the finish. Where many satin/matte finishes are a nightmare with fingerprints, this paint job leaves no trace behind.

There’s always a bit of cognitive dissonance when tangling with a headless instrument. It might look like a short-scale, maybe even feel like it (an illusory feeling), but it’s a full, Fender-esque 25.5” scale.

How often do you hear a brand describe their new guitar's body as being fashioned from “lightweight nyatoh”? Well, here is the dictionary definition of an electric made form lightweight nyatoh. Maybe that 2024 study from Find My Guitar was on the money after all.

The neck is three-piece design of dark toffee-colored roasted maple with a rose-tinted bubinga center strip about the width of a thumb running through the middle to give it some fortitude, and it’s affixed to the body with an unobtrusive four-bolt joint.

It terminates in a subtle nub where the headstock would have been (there’s scarcely room to fit the Ibanez logo), with the strings snipped and held in place by the string locks. You can use regular strings, threading them through the bridge, locking them at the nut with a hex key. Easy peasy.

The roasted birdseye maple fingerboard has been left unbound, is ever-so-subtly lighter, and is nicely patterned, seating 24 jumbo frets that, again, with that stainless steel, give this the feel of a contemporary high-performance instrument.

Luminlay glow-in-the-dark side markers are present and correct, and have become industry standard for electrics at this price and for this demographic, as has the heel-mounted truss rod adjustment spoke wheel.

The Mono-Tune bridge is an impressive feat of engineering, tidy, low-profile, fully adjustable, with those knurled barrel tuners offering a smooth, high-ratio performance – you can pop this into Drop D in no time.

The tuning, incidentally, is super-solid. Tuned once, put back in the bag, no need to tune again. The gig bag could be a bit more heavy duty, especially seeing as this is one guitar you will not have a second’s thought about taking anywhere with you.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

The G54W feels very different to some of the high-performance builds that Ibanez made its name on during the heyday of the shred era. I have my circa ’92 RG770 for reference, and while the neck profile of the Q54W is described as a Wizard C, it presents the fretting hand with a lot more timber than those O.G. Wizard profiles, where you had a 17mm neck depth at the first fret.

That, at the time, was a revelation. Suddenly, the Ozzy Osbourne Tribute tab book became playable. But in retrospect, it was indecent. This is a more respectable 21mm at the first fret, swelling very slightly to 22mm at the 12th. Ibanez describes the neck as a Goldilocks profile; not too thick… et cetera.

They’ll get no argument here. Maybe it’s age talking, but this Wizard C neck is more comfortable over a period of time than that old speedy Wizard. It is a C but there is some shoulder to it that calls to mind the Modern D profile of Fender’s American Ultra II range, even if it lacks the X factor of that high-end range. All things considered, with its Gibson-esque 12” fingerboard radius, the neck is the least radical proposition on the Q54W.

The feel of this guitar is sumptuous, slinky, easy, and that’s with the factory 10s on it; sizing down would make it slinkier still. Stainless steel frets will readily chew up a set of electric guitar strings but they let notes glide over them, and given that playing the guitar is a an experiential endeavor, many will argue that it is better to live in the moment than worry about the longevity of your strings.

That’s the neck, and yeah, it’s a little conservative, playing the percentages, but playability doesn’t end with the neck. The weight, the contouring of the body, plays a part, too, and while the Q54W feels unnaturally light at first, you soon get used to it, and how it balances on a strap.

That scooped-out excavation of the body not only relieves it of some weight (remember, this is not chambered in any way) but allows you to wedge the guitar on your thigh mid-performance with no appreciable affect on the tuners (your mileage may vary).

All this might even encourage you to dance with the guitar, y’know, should the mood grab you. Or to position it better for the 9:16 aspect ratio that content creators have to live with. Hey, many of whom could well be the Q54W’s core demographic.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Ibanez maintains that the Q58 humbucker was designed specifically for the headless guitar. Does the headstock’s size, or even its very presence, make much of a difference to how it reacts with the pickup? Who can say.

The only way to confirm this would be to A/B this with the RG Axe Design Lab SML721, which does have a headstock and a pair of these pickups. What we can say is that it is a typical high-output ceramic humbucker, bright and bold, abundant clarity and top-end, punchy – and it feeds the drive channel to bursting, again, as you might expect.

All that clarity you hear when played clean presents as pinch-harmonic readiness when the gain is cranked up. The tone control can roll-off that top end, giving you a passable neck ‘bucker tone. What’s less impressive is how the humbucker sounds when you're rolling back the volume; it doesn’t clean up all that sweetly.

The R1 single-coils similarly have a ceramic magnet, and pair well with the humbucker, sounding a little overwound and hot when selected individually, with that gentle Fender-ish scoop giving it that percussive, precise attack for single-notes, whole chords sounding full.

Whether it’s a future-forward headless build such as this, or vintage reproductions, if you’ve got a neck position single-coil it’s always a relief that you can get passable Strat spank out of it, as it delivers here.

But with Q54W, the wiring configuration suggests a little social engineering at play, like we are at the Christmas party and Ibanez has positioned the chairs to encourage us to mingle.

I went into this review prepared to have my appreciation of headless guitars changed, but came out once more suspecting that the core mission of this model – and of all Ibanez guitars with Dyna-Mix switching – is to redefine what we mean when we talk about “in between tones”. There are just so many of them.

With the Alter Switch in Position 1, the HSS configuration works as expected: neck single-coil, neck and middle single-coils together in parallel, middle single-coil, middle and humbucker’s inner coil in parallel, humbucker alone. Versatile but conventional.

In Position 2, however, the Alter Switch throws up some humbucking options for the in-between positions, blending those pickups in series, and for those who have the needle in the red with regards gain – or indeed with complex signal chains with pedals such as phasers and flangers that accrue noise – this expanded switching system makes perfect sense.

It is a lot to get used to. You might wish that the Q54W had presets. But you will get used to it. It’s an intuitive way to get more out of the pickup configuration, with that Position 2 series combo of middle and neck pickups in unison almost enough to compensate for not having a full-on proper neck humbucker. It’ll give you that nasal high-gain tone that can be useful for cleaning up sweeps and arpeggios.

It’ll give you some rounded bass and midrange presence to give the fuzz pedal something to work with. The raw bloom of a Beetronics Tuna Fuzz seems likes an inappropriately lo-fi choice to test this theory out, but it worked nicely for putting some wool on the powerchords.

More wooly still is the third position with the Alter Switch in Position two, giving us two single-coils in series and the humbucker. It’s a mighty meaty surprise from a bona-fide featherweight guitar.

Looking for a more angular sound, more trebly plink for a hyper-compressed sound with slapback delay? Again, with the Alter Switch on Position 2, you can select the humbucker’s inner coil, and my personal favourite – even if the symmetry suggests it – is the combination that pairs the bridge-side outer coil of the humbucker with the neck single-coil.

As Ernie Ball might describe it, this presents us a “skinny top, heavy bottom” sound that works great with a clean, processed tone.

Verdict

Okay, so the Ibanez Q54W did not make me look as cool as Tin Machine-era David Bowie. It was a long shot anyways. Nor did it make me play like Allan Holdsworth or Eddie Van Halen. That’s no surprise; it is but wood and steel, not Gandalf the Grey. But it was a lot of fun. It was a revelation in its own right.

There is a certain liberation that comes from doing away with the headstock and playing a full-scale instrument that looks and feels like it has had much removed.

We should not let the lack of the headstock distract us from the effectiveness of the body’s contours and cutaways, and the myriad precision cuts that Ibanez’s Indonesian plant has made to trim down what was once, essentially, an S-style and now presents as a 21st-century neo-shred guitar.

Ironically, the most considerable piece of timber you will hold is the neck. Ibanez is going for the high-performance vibe but it’s not going to extremes here, playing the percentages, trying to take this design mainstream.

The Q stands for Quest. Is the quest to propagate the use of headless guitars? Shaped by players such as Ichika Nito, Plini, Per Nilsson, guitar culture at large will decide that. I’d prefer to think of the Q54W as a choose your own adventure guitar. Ibanez has broken the rules of conventional guitar design. Pick it up and break the rules of guitar playing. Sometimes that is all you want from an instrument, the permission to do something differently.

Guitar World verdict: The headless modernity of it all might make the Q54W a difficult guitar for every player to truly love, but it’s an easy guitar to like, a very easy guitar to play, and one that presents us with so many core tones that it feels like a pre-modded instrument for rock and pop, metal and fusion, and for thinking beyond genre and style.

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The backstory to John Lennon’s association with the Framus Hootenanny 12-string is a tale for another day. But the basic headlines are that Lennon bought his Framus acoustic guitar in 1964, allegedly inspired by Bob Dylan’s use of a 12-string on a recent recording.

It made its first appearance with The Beatles in the studio during the sessions for Help! and subsequently on Rubber Soul, and can be seen in the film footage from the movie Help! during the You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away sequence.

Subsequently, the guitar was gifted to a friend and ended up packed away in an attic until its rediscovery and verification a few years ago. When it reached Julien’s auction in New York in May last year, it went for an eye-watering $2.8 million.

The good news is that Beatles fans without such deep pockets can now recreate their own fab moments thanks to Framus reissuing the exact model used on those historic recordings. And as a bonus, Framus has released a six-string Hootenanny from the same period, too. Alas, this never featured in The Beatles’ long and rich history, but it’s nice to have it along for the ride.

Of the original Hootenanny 12-string guitar, Julien’s text accompanying the auction lot states: “When strummed, it immediately identifies itself as that guitar. If you know the chords, Beatles tunes fall out of the soundhole effortlessly. Like an audio time-capsule from 1965, the Framus is a direct link to those records.”

How faithful its 21st-century doppelgänger is in that respect remains to be seen – and heard, of course – but our curiosity, particularly that of the ardent Beatles fans among our number, was stirred.

Obviously the star of the show here is the 12-string and so that was the instrument we first plucked from its case. The first thing that struck us was the ’50s/’60s look of the guitar. It definitely is a bit of a time capsule in its own right in that respect.

We’re all used to contemporary acoustic designs, many of which, if not all, are based on guitars hailing from the big names in the USA. But back then there was a distinctly European flavour to the look of some acoustics.

For instance, how long is it since you’ve seen a floating bridge on an acoustic guitar? They were, and still are, commonplace on archtops but comparatively rare in the acoustic world. And metal string saddles are another mark of the past.

Gibson experimented with adjustable saddles on some of its mid-’60s acoustics and it’s certainly true that the ability to raise or lower the action with a thumbwheel is less time-consuming than taking a trip to a luthier to shave a bone saddle to gain the same effect.

Then there’s the archtop-like tailpiece and zero fret to take into account. All hallmarks of a different age and furnishings that help fix the Hootenanny to a point in time.

Looking past the guitar’s inherent quirkiness, we find a spruce top with sapele back and sides. Lennon’s original had mahogany for its back and sides, but while this is a diversion from the ’60s spec, sapele is a good enough substitute.

Another surprise is the nitrocellulose finish throughout, and beyond that Framus offers a variety of different finishes for both models including sunburst, high polish or satin.

The neck is mahogany with a distinct wide and shallow D profile; it shares many characteristics with that of a classical guitar in that respect. And the likeness to classical guitars doesn’t end there as the rosewood fingerboard is completely flat with no radiusing at all.

While we’re down the business end, we’ll add that the frets are very low, too. Not 1950s Gibson Fretless Wonder low, but at 0.96mm they’re on the skinny side. As a comparison, a Les Paul Standard we have to hand measures in at 1.29mm fret height.

The six-a-side tuners have Kluson-like casings and vintage-inspired white buttons and the truss rod cover is gold-coloured metal that has been embossed with the Framus logo. It’s also a nice touch that both guitars come with a choice of two different self-adhesive scratchplates that you can choose between to complete that 60s look.

The spec sheet tells us that the Hootenanny is a “round-shouldered dreadnought”, but it’s a little more trim than the standard 380mm to 400mm widest-point dread dimensions at 374mm. Once again, overall, the body doesn’t look too far off from the outlines of a classical guitar, rather than the bulk of a contemporary D-18 or J-45.

Whereas you might expect the 12’s six-string sidekick to be essentially more of the same, and this is true in terms of body furnishings and materials, it goes rogue when it comes to body shape. Once again the spec hails the six as a “round-shouldered dreadnought”, but it is decidedly smaller.

To look at it without a tape measure in hand, you’d swear it was more of a folk size or a slightly more meaty 00. In any case, the Hootenanny 6-string arrives with an attractive dark sunburst and a satin finish. As we’ve said, many of the 12’s construction details are to be found here, including the tailpiece, floating adjustable bridge, spruce top and sapele back and sides.

It certainly maintains that unmistakable ’60s vibe of acoustic guitars from Europe found on its sibling. Obviously, the neck dimensions are different – although we still have those low frets and flat fingerboard – but the profile is a more comfy C, rather than the 12’s D.

Casting a critical eye over both instruments reveals that the build is good in both cases, but the crux of the matter is how they sound. Will we be able to summon up the 12-string spirit of Lennon and Harrison? There’s only one way to find out...

Specs

Framus Hootenanny 6-string

• Price: £809 (approx. $1,040 – inc hard case)
• Origin: China
• Type: Round shoulder dreadnought
• Top: Sitka spruce
• Back/Sides: Sapele
• Max Rim Depth: 113mm
• Max Body Width: 372mm
• Neck: Mahogany
• Scale Length: 643mm
• Tuners: Vintage-style, closed nickel, ivory coloured buttons
• Nut/Width: Bone/44mm
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Frets: 19
• Bridge/Spacing: Height-adjustable rosewood with metal saddle
• Electrics: N/A
• Weight (kg/lb): 1.45/3.2
• Options: Finishes only: Vintage Natural High Polish or Sunburst High Polish (£899), Vintage Natural Nitro High Polish or Sunburst Nitro High Polish (£989)
• Range Options: Hootenanny 12-String
• Left-Handers: No
• Finish: Vintage Sunburst Satin

Framus Hootenanny 12-string

• Price: £1,050 (approx. $1,145 – inc hard case)
• Origin: China
• Type: 12-string dreadnought
• Top: Sitka spruce
• Back/Sides: Sapele
• Max Rim Depth: 114mm
• Max Body Width: 374mm
• Neck: Mahogany
• Scale Length: 645mm
• Tuners: Vintage-style closed nickel, ivory-coloured buttons
• Nut/Width: Bone/50mm
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Frets: 19
• Bridge/Spacing: Height-adjustable rosewood with metal saddle
• Electrics: N/A
• Weight (kg/lb): 1.99/4.4
• Options: Finishes only: Vintage Natural Satin or Sunburst Satin (£870), Vintage Natural High Polish or Sunburst High Polish (£960)
• Range Options: Just the Hootenanny 6-String in either plain or sunburst finishes (as above)
• Left-Handers: No
• Finish: Vintage Natural Nitro High Polish
• Contact: Framus

Playability and sounds

We’ve all heard the jokes about the time it takes to tune a 12-string, but we were a little taken aback with our initial experiences with the 12 in this respect. Having tuned each individual string with a Peterson tuner, our first exploratory chord was still way out of tune.

Testing the guitar’s intonation at the 12th fret we found that it was out by a semitone. In other words, instead of an E on the top string at the 12th fret, we were greeted by an F. Something was wrong here and, as always, the prime suspect was the position of the bridge and, sure enough, it was in completely the wrong position.

This is something every seasoned archtop player will have encountered at one time or another and it’s a relatively easy fix with a floating bridge… but it’s a time-consuming bout of trial and error, nonetheless.

A little while later and everything was ship-shape in the intonation department and so we returned to listening to what the Hootenanny had to say for itself. Initial probing strums revealed a very bright sound, no doubt helped along by the zero fret at one end of the scale length and that metal saddle at the other.

It’s doubtless that the tailpiece and floating bridge contribute to the slight ‘unamplified archtop’ timbre we detected, too. We took a listen to The Beatles’ You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away and John’s 12-string there does have that similar trebly edge to it and so this guitar passes the ‘Fab Four’ test.

As far as playability and feel are concerned, the wide flat ’board and those low frets take a little getting used to, but once we’d spent some time playing, we found we could pretty much forget about both these factors and get on with the job of executing just about every 12-string guitar part we could remember.

Over to the Hootenanny 6-string and we immediately categorised the sound as being rootsy, bluesy with a touch of front-porch Americana on the side. We’re sure the tailpiece and floating bridge play a serious sonic role here as both guitars share very similar traits.

If Delta blues is your thing, there’s a lot to be recommended, but if you’re looking for a more modern Martin/Gibson dread experience, you’re not going to find it with the Hootenanny. However, we’re happy that both instruments are exactly what they’re set out to be: snapshots of the past.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★☆

With instruments so specifically aimed at the target of yesteryear and with – as far as the 12 is concerned – a very specific instrumental voice, it’s always hard to judge them without letting any prejudices inspired by playing and listening to big-league acoustics for many years cloud your vision.

But that’s really not what these Hootenanny guitars are all about. These are voices from the past and will appeal to players who are seeking the particular niche that they represent.

Guitar World verdict: It’s true to say that there are guitars out there that would do a similar job – and many of them may cost less. But if it’s the whole ’60s chic, floating bridge, jazz-box tailpiece and (as far as the 12 is concerned) Beatles association that appeals to you, then we’d recommend you seek them out.

Hands-on videos

Thomann

• Best 12-string guitars 2025: our pick of 12-string acoustic and electric guitars
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

If you’ve been paying attention to the contemporary guitar scene over the past 24 months, chances are you’ve heard of Mk.gee – everyone’s favorite fast-rising guitar hero who has ushered in a tonal revolution thanks to his mysteriously archaic setup.

Such tones took center stage on his acclaimed debut, Two Star & The Dream Police, and thanks to that record – along with Mk.gee’s work with the likes of Dijon and Justin Bieber – Mk.gee’s guitar sound has been talk of the proverbial tone town.

He doesn’t run through an amp – tube, solid state or otherwise – nor is he plugging into an amp modeler or pedal amp. In fact, he doesn’t plug into any form of ‘amp’ at all, and instead injects his modded Jaguar directly into a 424 MK1 multi-track recorder.

The 424 MK1 – a multi-track recorder that revolutionized home recording – is something of a ‘cult classic’ piece of gear, known for its squishy DI compression and tones that can run the gamut from sultry ’80s sounds to blown-out, speaker-ripping clipping fuzz. These old-school, previously avoided, conventionally ‘bad’ tones are the ones Mk.gee champions. They’re also the ones many players want these days.

Now, it’s incredibly hard to get hold of a vintage 424 MK1 – definitely more so now, thanks to the Mk.gee inflationary curve – and while smaller boutique pedals have already been repackaging its sonic DNA into pedal form, it was only a matter of time before one of the ‘big brands’ had a crack at it itself.

JHS Pedals has won that race with the 424 Gain Stage – a recreation of a single 424 MK1 channel strip that delivers the exact same op-amps and controls for those looking for some easily accessible Mk.gee tones.

Specs

• Launch price: $249/£189/€216.95
• Type: Preamp / Overdrive / Distortion pedal
• Controls: Volume, Bass, Treble, Gain 1, Gain 2
• Features: Modeled after 424 MK1 multi-track recorder, Ground Lift switch, soft touch footswitch
• Connectivity: Top-mounted 1/4" input and output jacks, balanced XLR output
• Bypass: Buffered
• Power: 9VDC centre-negative, 50mA
• Dimensions: 2.6" x 4.8" x 1.6" (66m x 122mm x 41mm)
• Weight: 290g / 0.63lbs
• Contact: JHS Pedals

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

I'm consistently impressed with just how well put-together JHS Pedals are. My experiences with the Morning Glory always on, Moonshine for Tube Screamer-style overdrive tones, and a Notaklön for vintage grit attest to this. The 424 Gain Stage is no different.

The soft-touch footswitch is my favorite thing about this – no irksome clicks or pops when stomping this pedal on – and, as expected, the plastic knobs (which, admittedly, can feel a tad budget) are robust but smooth enough to help tap into a responsive spectrum of tones.

Leaving no stone unturned, under the hood JHS has replicated the UPC4570 and NJM4565 op-amps found in the 424 MK1 too.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★½

The 424 Gain Stage is a single channel strip of the 424 MK1 in a pedal, with two Gain parameters, Treble and Bass knobs, and a Volume control. It’s an effective way to streamline the 424 MK1 experience, because let’s face it, not everyone would have the time or patience to plug into a desk and contend with the generous supply of controls the 424 MK1 has. It can be quite intimidating, especially to those untrained in the way of multi-tracks.

So it’s a canny approach from JHS, and the result is a pedal that is very easy to get going with straight out the box. It’s also accessible how the pedal has been set up. Volume translates to the OG 424’s Master, Gain 1 is its Trim, Gain 2 is the channel fader, and Bass and Treble behave as you’d expect.

These all work in tandem and affect one another, which neatly replicates the experience of wrestling a vintage 424 MK1. That top row does feel quite crowded, though, and it’s easy to accidentally adjust one of the flanking knobs when reaching for the central Gain 2 control.

To make it even more practical, there’s a balanced XLR output for sending it straight to a desk via XLR, a necessary ground lift switch for contending with resulting hum, and top-mounted I/Os, making it a breeze to fit into busy pedalboards.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

For something with such a relatively simple design objective, it’s notable just how versatile the 424 Gain Stage can be in the right setting. It can be used into an amp, as a de facto drive, clean boost, or fuzz pedal, but can also be used as a direct-in option for an even more authentic experience. Full disclosure, it’s the latter in which this pedal excels, and really nails the 424 MK1 brief.

Trying it into both my Fender Blues Junior and Two Rock Studio Pro 35 to see how it would react with a tube amp – the oxymoronic practice of using a pedal for its DI tones into a tube amp was certainly not lost on me, I assure you – it did I fine job with the smashed-out fuzz aspect of its tonal spectrum, though the cleans left me feeling a tad underwhelmed.

It seems strange to use the 424 for its cleans into a tube amp, when that sound is something that is probably trying to be avoided in this instance, so it’s no surprise that was the case.

As a cranked, ear-ripping, noise-rock fuzz pedal, though, the 424 felt quite at home on my 'board, and the squishy, saturated goodness that the controls can help dial in certainly gave me huge joy. It filled a sonic gap I didn’t really know I had, occupying that weird grey area between analog fuzz and DI clipping, and proved to be quite inspiring indeed.

Having said all that, I had a much better time with the 424 Gain Stage when I went direct to some speakers with it, no pesky preamp valves or amp speakers getting in the way. Here, the nuances of the 424 MK1 sound can really be appreciated, and though I wouldn’t go as far as to pin my entire rig around this in a live setting, I’d certainly incorporate it into my already-DI setup, as that’s where I felt it could have the most impact.

In that regard, it’s an approach that could be taken for more brave souls, and that’s where I found the true magic of the 424 Gain Stage to lie. We’re living in a funny time for tone right now – once perceived ‘bad tones’ are becoming popular, and studio-grade sounds are shunned in favor of lo-fi DIY alternatives. The 424 Gain Stage is both a celebration of that and a reminder that tone truly is subjective.

Mk.gee plugged into an old multi-track helped to alter the perception of desirable tone in the guitar world. There’s no reason why the old gear lying in your inventory couldn’t have the same effect on your playing. The 424 Gain Stage is a very inspiring pedal that not only brings 2025’s most desired tones to your pedalboard, but somehow also encourages you to do your own thing with it. It’s not attempting to facilitate an army of Mk.gee rip-offs, more provide a platform for personal experimentation.

Verdict

The 424 MK1 multi-track recorder has been the talk of the proverbial tone town for some time now, and though it isn't strictly the first to do so, JHS Pedals has done a very good job of making those vintage desk tones more accessible to casual players.

It's a symbol of the tone times we're currently living through, and while many will dismiss the 424 Gain Stage as a desperate attempt to capitalize on the Mk.gee hype, a less cynical school of thought will see if for what it is – which is an admirably inspiring pedal, not without its faults, that can bring a popular and versatile flavor to your rig.

Guitar World verdict: Though many will simply see the 424 Gain Stage as 'the Mk.gee pedal', it seems inaccurate to run with such a tag. Instead, this is a symbol of the "tone revolution" we're currently experiencing in some quarters of the guitar world, and a platform to experiment with some wildly popular tones. In other words, it does more than the Mk.gee thing – you can truly make the 424 Gain Stage your own.

Also try

Hands-on videos

JHS Pedals

Andertons

John Mayer

• “Our definition of what makes a ‘good’ guitar tone has changed dramatically in the past 10 years”: Does ‘bad’ guitar tone even exist anymore?

Once a particular drive pedal has been established as an icon of guitar tone, it’s inevitable that other manufacturers will spawn copies and evolved versions.

While we’re still witnessing new variations on the Tube Screamer and Bluesbreaker, it seems like the Klon Centaur has been in the ascendant these last few years, spawning the alliterative ‘Klon Klone’ as a whole new genre.

Of course, an exact clone isn’t necessarily what’s on offer, bearing in mind the difficulty in matching precisely the so-called ‘magic’ diodes of an original.

So what we have instead are variations on the theme, and the most interesting of those are the ones that can match the original sound but increase the versatility by adding new features. The Keeley Manis falls firmly into that latter camp: a Klon-type pedal with a twist, adding an inspired option of using transistors as an alternative to the stock clipping diodes.

Specs

• PRICE: £209
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Voltage-doubled hard clipping clean boost pedal 
• FEATURES: Selectable True/Buffered Bypass
• CONTROLS: Tone, Drive Level, Bass+/Stock switch, Ge Trans/Ge Diode switch, bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V-18V DC adaptor (not supplied) 15mA
• DIMENSIONS: 70 (w) x 127 (d) x 67mm (h) 
• CONTACT: Keeley Electronics

Usability and sounds

Sporting the expected Tone, Level and Drive three-knob configuration, the Manis has a pair of two-way toggle switches for a total of four sonic combinations.

One switches between the germanium diodes and transistors, while the other brings in a bass boost with an extra 3dB of low-end that adds girth to the sound and is a particularly potent resource if you’d like something a bit beefier from your single coils.

Both switches down (diodes and no extra bass) is the setting for the sound of an original Klon and, to our ears, nails it.

The Volume knob has loads in reserve if needed, but from about 10 o’clock and with a little on the Drive knob you find the signature cleanish boost with midrange enhancement that many will use this pedal for. Further advancement of the Drive knob yields some very natural open-sounding driven tones.

Switching to the transistor mode there’s more of a valve-like feel as those driven tones become a little more saturated and compressed. This is very natural overdrive that’s more squashy under the fingertips and lends itself to playing styles that would benefit from a richer sound.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★★

Guitar World verdict: Robert Keeley has taken the basic Klon architecture and come up with something with much more versatility in a pedalboard-friendly package. There’s that traditional Klon voice, but there’s also another version with more gain in a pedal that has plenty of adaptability to various amp and guitar combinations.

Hands-on videos

Keeley Electronics

AndyDemoes

Brett Kingman

• “Has J. Rockett built the ultimate Klon clone?: J. Rockett Archer Select review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

It’s not unreasonable to suggest that few guitar makers have influenced the very nature of the contemporary guitar scene quite like Ola Strandberg, and that’s not just because the instruments he designs come sans headstocks.

Rather, not only has Ola helped spearhead something of a headless guitar renaissance following the launch of his eponymous brand in 2012, he’s also brought an entirely fresh perspective on guitar design to the table, forgoing conventional approaches and manufacturing norms for an overarching ethos that is centered around one foundational pillar: Play More.

It sounds obvious, but Strandberg doesn’t utter those words lightly. Each and every Strandberg – from its Boden Essential to Plini, Per Nilsson and Jacob Collier signature guitars – has been optimized for ultimate playability, embracing ergonomics and stroke-of-genius specs that position player comfort as a priority.

The result has been a run of acclaimed, finely tuned, surgically engineered electric guitars that are lightweight, comfortable and, quite simply, unlike anything else out there on the market.

So what we have here is a very intriguing proposition indeed – the Boden N2 Original is the next generation of the Strandberg school of thought, positioned as the brand’s most advanced platform to date. It refines the OG Boden template with both subtle tweaks (improved materials) and game-changing updates (Fishman-designed pickups) for a guitar that, according to its maker, reimagines “how a guitar should connect to your body, respond to your hands, and keep up with your ideas”.

It’s been released alongside the N2 Standard but it's above it in the Strandberg food chain, meaning it has the added benefit of a chambered swamp ash body, Strandberg POWR:D by Fishman Fluence humbuckers, a flame maple veneer, and a decadent roasted birdseye maple fretboard.

I’ve been privy to the N2 Original’s release for some time now, and so to have it finally in my hands has been a long time coming. Let’s see what it’s made of…

Specs

• Launch price: $2,499 / €2,799
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Six-string, headless electric guitar
• Body: Chambered swamp ash, flame maple veneer, curved top and sculpted back
• Neck: Birdseye roasted maple, EndurNeck profile, titanium-reinforced
• Fingerboard: Birdseye roasted maple
• Scale length: 25”-25.5”
• Nut/width: 42mm/1.65”
• Frets: 24, Jescar 57110-S Stainless Steel
• Hardware: EGS Arc hardware, full-body contact bridge system
• String spacing at bridge: 51mm/2”
• Electrics: Strandberg POWR:D pickups by Fishman, three voicings per pickup / 5-way switch / Master Volume and Tone w/ push/pull pot
• Weight: 2.3kg / 5.1lbs
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Black Denim Burst Satin (as reviewed), Sunset Coral Burst Satin
• Cases: Strandberg gig bag
• Contact: Strandberg

Guitar World video demo

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

The N2 Original offers a top-notch spec sheet that puts together a bevy of premium appointments. The highlights here include the chambered swamp ash body, which is incredibly light but robust, and the roasted birdseye maple neck and fretboard, which has been adjoined to the guitar via a contoured four-bolt neck design. It’s not a neck-through like we’ve seen with some other high-end Strandbergs, but there’s something refreshingly familiar about it. Plus, it basically feels like a neck-through, such is the comfort of the contouring and joint.

The 20" radius fingerboard is beautifully finished, with a lively, low action that never frets out. The fret finishing is impossible to fault, and the smooth finish of the neck itself works in tandem with the quirky profile to facilitate some mind-bending maneuverability. Although the multi-scale design is an acquired taste, it’s executed nicely here, and as someone whose main guitar is a Telecaster, I often forget the fret fan. It’s a surprisingly intuitive experience. The Luminlay inlays and side dots are an added bonus for darker environments.

This particular review model has a superb Black Denim Burst maple veneer, and although that may look more at home on stage playing a particular kind of music, do not let looks deceive you. The headless, heavily contoured, metal-y vibe screams ‘prog music’, but I didn’t feel out of place playing my usual blend of rock, indie and blues.

As for the hardware, the Boden N2 Original utilizes updated proprietary EGS ARC tech. This ensures full-body contact that enhances resonance and sustain, and while the whole package helps make it predisposed to be a lively guitar, I am particularly blown away by how expressive and responsive the guitar is, especially unplugged.

There are bottom-mounted tuners that work like regular thumbscrews. It feels strange to be reaching for the bridge, rather than the headstock, when dealing with a flat G, and it can get some getting used to. The pegs are liberally knurled, so grip isn’t too much of an issue, but there certainly is a learning curve with these things. It can be easy to over- or under-tune when in a hurry.

But on the plus side, I had no tuning issues with this guitar whatsoever. In fact, even when I actively tried to bend this thing out of tune, just to test its extremities, it wouldn’t budge. A testament to both the hardware and the way it’s been set up.

Continuing on the hardware, the knobs and switches feel equally heavy-duty despite the guitar itself feeling like it can fly. It’s a simple layout, so nothing to distract from the overall playing experience, but deceptive (more on that later). It feels like an immensely premium guitar – and, at this price point, it should – and it’s staggering that such a complex and engineered guitar could feel so… normal.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

For those who have played Strandbergs before, the experience that the N2 Original provides probably won’t come as much of a surprise, even with the subtle refinements. However, for someone like myself – who has long admired the builds from afar, with minimal practical hands-on experience – that feeling is amplified 10-fold.

It’s a guitar that really needs to be experienced to be truly appreciated. Because of its headless set-up, the guitar itself intangibly feels almost short-scale in nature, even though it measures to a more common 25.5”-25” multi-scale dimension, making it inherently easy to manipulate. The resulting fanned frets – not something that lends itself to all playing types, admittedly – are equally refreshing, and are ideally positioned for chording and noodling (although it is the latter that they especially cater to).

Much has been made of the EndurNeck profile – the asymmetric trapezoid-esque shape that looks to encourage ‘proper’ wrist movement and hand positioning with flat edges – and while it’s worlds away from your standard C or U shape necks, it doesn’t feel inherently alien. Sure, there’s a bedding-in period, but for me it lasted all of two minutes – then I was away, and I admit it felt strange (dare I say disappointing?) to make the move back to more orthodox necks of my Strats and Teles.

The health benefits of playing an EndurNeck will only show themselves over time, and it feels like the N2 Original feels like something you really need to commit to long-term, but it definitely prompted me to be more ‘proper’ with my playing. I didn’t have to think about it, though – I was coaxed into it, then left alone to whatever I had in mind.

The neck – now reinforced with titanium rather than carbon fiber – is joined by a re-tailored body shape that offers a few more ‘arches’ to better sit against the body. Again, it all comes down to the ingrained Strandberg ethos, but it truly does conform to and fit your body. For many guitars I’ve played, it’s usually the other way around, and plenty of guitars have to be wrestled into submission. This feels like putting on a glove.

And this thing is light. Like, really, really light at a touch over 5lbs. So much so that it makes total sense why Strandbergs are becoming increasingly popular with bedroom guitarists and recordists. At my desk, I could sit for hours with this thing on my lap, and could go about my daily duties, tapping away on my laptop without any intrusion. It became a natural extension of me. By contrast, I couldn’t last anywhere near that long with a Tele on my lap.

With that in mind, I should mention the repositioned jack socket, which has been angled in such a way so guitar leads no longer dig into the thigh as much. Another subtle-yet-powerful tweak that most players won’t even think about, but one that has clearly been thoroughly inspected by the Strandberg design team in their unerring quest for the ultimate guitar.

Like the majority of players, I come from a far more quote-unquote traditional guitar background, meaning the most advanced guitar I play on a regular basis is probably something with stainless steel frets. That said, I warmed to the Strandberg playing experience immediately. It worked for me, regardless of the music I played on it, and I don’t doubt it would work for most other players, too.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

Aside from the more subtle refinements, the biggest deviation the N2 Original takes from the previous Boden models can be found in the electronic department, where Strandberg has debuted new POWR:D by Fishman pickups. In the firm’s own words, these deliver “passive tone and dynamics combined with selectable voicings to handle modern fluent distortion sound as well as classic crunch, and vintage cleans with fidelity and authority”. All of these are at the mercy of push/pull pots and the pickup selector.

There’s a lot going on with just two pickups, so wrapping your head around it all can feel a bit like reading a manual. Fishman fans won’t have this problem, of course, but if you’re coming from a traditional PAF background, such advanced electronics can feel a little intimidating at first.

It’s a minor gripe, though, because what the POWR:D by Fishman pickups do offer is quite something, and – like practically every other non-traditional aspect of the Strandberg – quickly becomes second nature.

Simply put, you can push and pull between ‘Original’ and ‘Metal’ voices – inspired by Strandberg’s existing lineups – and each can be further explored through the selector switch. The Original voice is where I found most joy; an impressively receptive canvas to layering. What I mean by that is, the vintage-voiced PAF-style neck and hot-rodded bridge pickups will deliver all the classic tones that those coming from less radical backgrounds would look for.

They are dynamic and responsive, and interact incredibly well in amplifying the nuances of your playing and picking. Running it through a Deluxe Reverb capture on my Neural DSP Nano Cortex, I could close my eyes and convince myself I’m playing something along the lines of a Les Paul. The neck is thick and warm, yet highlights the exact frequencies to avoid anything overly woolly – there’s a depth and a punch, but none of the muddiness that lesser neck ‘buckers are known for.

The bridge is pristine and clear, with a sizzle and bite that never sounds shrill or piercing. A Plexi capture is next, and the results are equally impressive – this guitar can handle pretty much any old-school British or American amp tone you throw at it, but somehow elevates them with a clarity and consistency you weren't expecting.

I could have lived in the Original voice, but since I am duty-bound to leave no stone unturned, a jaunt around the Metal voice is required. It’s the position where many Strandberg players will default to, and while I’d be the first to admit such high-gain tones are not my forte, I was taken aback by how usable and versatile I found them to be.

Some more appropriately high-gain amp captures from the Nano let the N2 Original truly show what it’s made of, and I was pleased to see the articulation and clarity that made the Original voice so versatile in the first place carried on here. There’s a touch more output, unsurprisingly, but it doesn’t get in the way of the guitar’s tone itself.

As mentioned, each voice can be drilled down through the five-way switch, which unlocks an even deeper layer of versatility. Full 'bucker tones are joined by outer- and inner-coil combos that give this deceptively robust all-rounder more tones than you'd probably at first give it credit for.

Verdict

The Boden N2 Original is quite unlike anything I've ever played, and I’d encourage every guitarist, at some point in their playing life, to give this a go. I’d wager some of even the most ardent traditionalists will be won over.

The subtle tweaks, from the arched body (the pickup casings are radiused too) and reinforced neck to the updated hardware and repositioned jack, seem subtle on the surface, but the overall impact they have on the playing experience is hard to overstate.

Never before have I played a guitar that looks so intimidating, yet feels so intuitive. I play in an indie rock band, and if I’d have had the chance, I’d have gigged this without question. That’s how much faith I have in the N2 Original.

Guitar World verdict: With this new model, Strandberg sought to create a next-gen guitar that, above all else, would encourage guitarists to “play more”. On that basis alone, the N2 Original is a roaring success.

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British amp company Blackstar was founded in 2007 by ex-Marshall engineers with the aim of updating traditional circuits with fresh, innovative technologies.

Designed in the UK and manufactured in China, Blackstar’s amps come to market at surprisingly low price points, and the brand has been warmly embraced by bedroom players, rehearsal rooms and touring professionals alike.

Indeed, gathering a roster of varied luminaries – spanning Phil Collen to Gaz Coombes, Neil Schon to Bob Mould – requires wide-ranging, first-class tones alongside ruggedly reliable construction.

Former Whitesnake gunslinger Doug Aldrich began using Blackstar’s HT Stage 100 head with his band The Dead Daisies in 2023 and as the relationship between player and brand grew, conversations regarding a signature model culminated in what we have here: the Ruby.

Based around his HT 100, some personalised tweaks were incorporated into the tone and the cosmetics, resulting in this crimson-clad, high-gain beast.

Coupled with its matching Celestion Vintage 30-equipped 4x12 cabinet, this stout and powerful-looking half-stack cuts a classy-yet-authoritative dash. The Vintage 30’s ability to present a wider range of frequencies than the classic Greenback option made this a more suitable match for the Ruby’s clean-to-dirty tonal palette.

Specs

• PRICE: $1,799/£1,249
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: 3-channel valve head
• VALVES: 2x ECC83, 4x EL34
• OUTPUT: 100/10W
• DIMENSIONS: 591(w) x 225 (d) x 245mm (h)
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 17.5/38.5
• CHANNELS: 3
• CONTROLS: Clean Channel – Bass, Treble, Volume, Voice; OD 1 & OD 2 – Volume, Gain, Voice; OD EQ – Bass, Mid, Treble, ISF; Master section – Reverb, Resonance, Presence, Volume, Wattage Selector (100/10W)
• FOOTSWITCH: 5-way included
• ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Boost and effects loop (foot-switchable). Programmable via USB-C and Architect software
• OPTIONS: The matching DA412B (£1,199) 4x12 (as pictured) with MDF/birch-ply construction in matching Ruby Tolex is loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s
• CONTACT: Blackstar Amplification

Usability and sounds

The three-channel architecture of Clean, OD 1 and OD2 belies the wealth of options the Ruby has to offer. Let’s begin naturally with the Clean channel, which is based on a Fender black-panel circuit, known for high headroom, sparkle and full bottom-end.

The Ruby certainly achieves the clarity and springy articulacy, especially with a hearty measure of the onboard digital reverb. With its highly touch-sensitive and delicate tones (rare qualities in an ostensibly high-gain oriented amp), there’s plenty to enjoy. The Clean channel’s bass and treble controls offer some fairly powerful tone-sculpting, too, taking us from glassy 80s brightness to jazzy warmth.

The digitally derived reverb has two rear-panel-switchable flavours, Light and Dark, allowing for either the longer, brighter, more Fender-like character or a shorter, darker, less obtrusive variant more suitable for overdriven tones. The reverb can be further tailored independently for both the Clean and OD channels using the rear-panel USB-C connection to the free Architect software editor.

Engaging the Voice switch transports us into chime-y, full-bodied Vox territory, bypassing the negative feedback circuit and relocating the position of the tone controls to a post-valve position. With the noticeably increased gain and lower mids enabled by this Voice switch, it’s quite possible to achieve AC/DC levels of classic rock crunch with this channel alone.

OD 1 progresses our gain journey into some chunksome, Marshall-like crunch and sizzle. Simultaneously rich yet articulate, it shines when presented with ’buckers or single coils. The bottom-end is somewhat richer and fuller than that of a traditional Marshall-style circuit without flub or congestion. Quite a feat!

The bass response can be further enhanced by way of the master section’s Resonance control. This channel has a slightly rounder, more traditional overdrive profile when compared with OD 2, but deploying this channel’s Voice switch unleashes an extra level of modified-Marshall style overdrive.

We arrive in the final realm in gain with the OD 2 channel where harmonically rich slabs of chunky tone can sustain infinitely, though not at the expense of string separation. Single notes soar while pick harmonics leap out at the slightest invitation. Background noise is noticeably quieter than similar high-gain circuits.

All channels can be kicked up via the footswitch by 4dB, providing a solo boost function without changing the inherent tone. Speaking of the footswitch, a five-button black-metal type comes as standard, allowing control of the channels as well as the boost and loop functions.

Both overdrives share an EQ section comprising bass, middle, treble and Blackstar’s ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) control that provides fine-tuning of the midrange response – the effectiveness of this control is heightened with lower midrange settings in the EQ section.

The ISF control can take the tone from a UK 70s classic rock midrange character in its clockwise settings to a more carved-out, Sunset Strip 80s tone in the anti-clockwise settings. Clockwise settings also add some solid midrange to single-coil pickups.

Some impressive design and engineering can be found in the implementation of the software-tweakable parameters, again accessed via the rear-panel USB-C port and the free Architect software. By placing the amp in standby mode, it’s possible to run silently while the IR outputs remain activated and can be edited in real-time using the application.

Two virtual speaker channels can be assigned cabinets from a large range of profiles ranging 1x12 open-back vintage speakers to a large retinue of 4x12s. Mics can be selected on or off axis and blended to perfection.

A feature new to us is the effects loop fade-out, where delay tails can be tailored to fade out after switching off the loop, adding production-level finesse to changes.

Three onboard IR profile options can be stored and selected via the three-position IR switch and outputted via the rear panel’s choice of XLR or jack. The amp even has built-in speaker protection to defend the transformers should a momentary aberration leave you running the amp without the speaker connected.

It would be remiss not to mention that the wattage can be switched from the full 100 watts down to a much more manageable 10 watts. Even at the 10-watt setting the amp has enough volume and depth for many home, rehearsal and studio scenarios.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

The sheer wealth of features present in this amp, from the channel variations to the advanced programmability, is astounding but equally impressive is the way they’ve been implemented in such an intuitive and guitarist-friendly manner.

Guitar World verdict: We’re impressed to find the law of ‘more knobs equals less tone’ has been redrawn, and all three channels sound alive with responsiveness and fluidity. It’s an amp that represents a new benchmark for heavy guitar sounds at a relatively accessible price point. Another hit for Blackstar.

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• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Les Paul Customs have always stood apart. While sunburst Standards may be the Holy Grail, Customs have got the job done in every musical setting from Bowie to The Cult. Which is ironic because the Custom was always intended to be the best-of-the-best Les Paul, not the workhorse.

From the split-diamond headstock inlay to the gold hardware and fancier pickup configurations, the Custom was supposed to be a Cadillac to the Goldtop’s Ford, if you will.

In recent years, Gibson has chosen to reflect that historical cachet by producing Les Paul Customs only in the Custom Shop, with no ‘lower-priced’ USA version available.

However, the Custom is very much a working tool for many players, with its own strident character that is typically a little bolder than that of many Standards, especially vintage-voiced ones.

Thankfully, Gibson has now rectified that situation with the Les Paul Custom 70s. In doing so, Gibson is following the same logic behind the company’s existing Les Paul Standard 50s and Les Paul Standard 60s models, which emulate the features and vibe of an era rather than a specific year, a more detailed task that’s left to Custom Shop reissues.

It makes sense, then, that the new Custom slots into the 70s bracket – not only because it fills out the range in a sequential way but also because, throughout the 70s, there was no truly classic sunburst Standard, just a restless assortment of models that were somewhat like one, from the Deluxe onward. Hence, the Custom became the go-to twin-humbucker Les Paul variant in that decade.

But finger-sensitive dynamics and whispery nuance were not what those 70s guitars were about and that’s reflected in the Les Paul Custom 70s – a ballsier guitar by far.

The new release has partly been prompted by the anniversary of Gibson’s move from Kalamazoo to Nashville in 1975 where, we’re told, some of the first guitars to be made were Les Paul Customs.

At that time, Customs were built rather differently to the all-mahogany Customs of the 1950s and had a vertically stacked mahogany/maple/mahogany ‘pancake’ body, while 1975 saw the introduction of a three-piece maple neck, instead of mahogany.

Specs

• Launch price: $3,999/£3,499/€3,999
• Made: USA
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Double edge bound mahogany (no weight relief) with carved plain maple (3-piece) top
• Neck: Maple, ‘70s’ profile with volute, glued-in
• Fingerboard: Ebony, 305mm (12”) radius
• Scale length: 628mm (24.75”)
• Nut/width: Graph Tech, 43.2mm
• Frets: 22, medium
• Hardware: Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge, aluminum tailpiece, Grover Rotomatic tuners, gold-plated
• String spacing at bridge: 52mm
• Electrics: 2x Gibson T-Type covered (gold-plated) humbuckers, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, individual volume and tone controls
• Weight: 10.25lbs/4.65kg
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Buttercream (as reviewed), Tobacco Burst, Wine Red, Ebony
• Cases: Gibson hardshell case included
• Contact: Gibson

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Some (but not all) of the quirks of those mid-70s Customs have been replicated here – the broadness of the ‘70s’ moniker allowing for some wriggle room with the spec that Gibson have made sensible use of. First of all, we get a three-piece maple top which was an in-period feature but here it’s fitted to a one-piece mahogany back.

There’s a maple neck, too, with a pronounced volute which was characteristic of the era – but it’s a one-piece neck, not the more elaborate three-piece construction used in some ’70s Customs. Build quality is crisp and clean – the guitar is rather glossy and box-fresh as compared to aged Custom Shop equivalents but that’s reflected in the price and the spanking-new nitro finish is deftly executed.

Fretwork is very tidy, and though the frets could use a touch more of a polish for absolute perfection the general standard of build is high.

The review guitar is clad in a Buttermilk finish with black back and sides that, if you squint a bit, you could take for an aged-looking Alpine White. Era-correct details such as diamond-shaped Posi-Lok strap buttons are also replicated here and actually work rather well, being easier to squeeze into the leather eyelet of a strap than the oversize circular strap buttons that we tend to get these days but still pretty secure. Gold-plated Grovers with 70s style keystone tuners work effectively and look the part.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★☆

The Les Paul Custom has a really interesting aspect to its playability which perhaps explains why the Custom has long been a hard rock and shredders choice, despite its early origins as an upmarket jazz guitar.

Possibly it's the ebony construction and crisp, white binding, but the fingerboard feels, at least in terms of player perception, flatter than the standard 12-inch Gibson radius might suggest. It excels in making linear, single-note runs up and down the neck feel precise, easy and well articulated. Al Di Meola, circa 1977, would probably approve.

Combined with the bite of the Alnico 5 pickups (more on those in a minute), the feel of this guitar in play very much favours sassy, rock-oriented play rather than nuanced, bluesy bends - though it can do those capably enough too.

The neck, with its glossy finish, is perhaps a little less slinky than a worn-in Fender Tele neck, for example, but it provides a nice, positive handful to grip - so doing the traditional thing and letting the strap hang low and having at it feels pretty good here.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

Under the hood, there’s a similar story of thoughtful – though not forensic – attention to period-correct detail. The T-Top humbuckers of the era, with their distinctive biting, mid-forward sound, are represented here by a pair of un-potted ‘T-Type’ pickups.

These are wound with polysol wire over Alnico 5 magnets, like the original T-Tops, with balanced coils that measured out at 7.36 kOhms for the bridge and 7.23kOhms for the neck on this review guitar.

These have been teamed with four Gibson-logo CTS 500k ohms pots with Orange Drop .022µFarads caps on the tone controls. I did find that, straight out of the box, the bridge humbucker on our guitar was a little quieter than the neck. It was the work of a moment to adjust its height, however, which fixed the imbalance.

Plugging in to a Fender Hot Rod Deville, using a J Rockett Calibre 45 overdrive pedal to add dirt, I immediately notice that wiry but beefy voicing that is so typical of a good, rock-focused Les Paul Custom.

The heft of the guitar, which weighs 10.25lbs (4.65kg) here translates into focused, aggressive mids in the initial attack of the note and a smooth, long sustain.

These aren’t the most subtle of humbuckers but they do absolutely deliver that Mick Ronson-esque growl and have an incisive, hot presence when driven harder that reminds me of tracks such as Fire Woman by the Cult.

Played clean, the T-Types show off why this kind of guitar works so well for jazz fusion, with a nice warm and well-defined clarity that articulates notes clearly and accurately.

Verdict

It’s been a while since we’ve had what you might call an attainably priced Les Paul Custom bearing the Gibson name and this 70s slant on a classic is a sensible mix of authentic features and modern workarounds that still delivers the excitement and tonal authority of a 70s Custom.

True, the guitar is a touch on the heavy side but to us it’s part of the guitar’s character and falls well short of backbreaker territory.

Guitar World verdict: Overall, this is a well-judged entry point to owning a ‘real’ Les Paul Custom with fast, precise playability and some riotously evocative sounds.

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You’ll have noticed by now – artificial intelligence has arrived, and apparently it’s here to stay.

There’s no hotter potato than AI in the world of tech; there’s also ongoing discourse about the ethics surrounding its use, especially when it comes to creative pursuits. Is it fundamentally right or wrong to hand over certain onerous tasks to AI, in order to streamline creative processes and, perhaps, achieve interesting end results? More importantly, does it get you closer to the guitar tone you’ve been searching for?

Positive Grid has become a mainstay in amp modeling over the past decade. The Spark desktop amp is now one of the go-to choices for a really capable small amp, its Spark Neo headphones offer silent, wireless practice, and the company’s BIAS amp and effects modeling software pushed boundaries - allowing the user to play ‘amp designer’ and offering component-level tweaking for a truly in-depth experience.

The company’s latest arrival to the guitar plugin party, though, takes things a step further. BIAS X is touted as “the first fully generative, guitar tone design software powered by agentic AI” – this being a type of AI that can perform automated tasks with or without human supervision, requiring minimal intervention in order to achieve results.

In theory, then, this seriously speeds up the process of tweaking and developing your tone.

Inside, we’ve 33 amp models, 63 effects, an IR loader and all-new cab emulation technology. Not an exhaustive list of models compared to some rivals, but still plenty to be going on with. Positive Grid also boasts of enhanced realism due to the use of machine learning and component modeling.

Another headline feature is the new tech behind the ‘Text-to-Tone’ and ‘Music-to-Tone’ features. That generative AI is used to develop settings and create tones based, respectively, on written user prompts, or by analysing music that is fed into the software. From there, the user can write further prompts to tweak the result.

Specs

• Launch price: $149
• Type: Plugin
• Formats: Mac/PC
• System requirements (minimum): macOS 11.7, 8th-generation Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM Audio Plugin Formats: Audio Units, VST 3, AAX Native, 1GB of available storage space; Windows 10 Version 1903 (10.0.18362, 19H1) Intel Core i5 Processor, 8GB of RAM, Audio Plugin Formats: VST 3, AAX Native, 2GB of available storage space
• Contact: Positive Grid

Usability

To begin with though, I fired up BIAS X and went old-school. As a veteran of Line 6 GearBox, a former Kemper Profiler owner and a current user of a Line 6 HX Stomp and its associated HX Edit software, I’m well used to amp modeling software and thus far, of course, I’ve had to slum it with manual editing.

Over the years though, this has taught me some valuable lessons about dialing in the best possible sounds for my own needs, and regardless of how advanced the AI is, it’s still important to me that I get to adjust settings using my own skill and judgement.

Thankfully, BIAS X makes this a smooth process. I began with a good-sounding default black panel Fender amp model, added one of the selection of compressors, a rotary speaker emulation and a Space Echo, experimenting with mic placement in order to fine-tune the end result.

After only the first few minutes, I'd saved a good-sounding clean patch with some choice effects. The visuals are also good, displaying your signal chain in an easily understood, smart-looking style.

Sounds

There are, as mentioned, lots of amps and effects to get stuck into. As a nerd, it's slightly disappointing not to be able to mess around virtually with component changes and circuit design, but BIAS X's streamlined approach will probably appeal to more users.

And the amp models are on point already – BIAS X is a satisfying-feeling plugin to play through, and valve amp enthusiasts seeking a pleasing response from amp modeling might be pleasantly surprised.

The amps have a fairly standardized control set, so aren’t necessarily true to the originals (the Mark-series Boogie model omits the de rigueur graphic EQ, for example) – but this streamlines the dial-in process and alleviates 'mission creep' – good tones are generally simple to achieve without too much fuss over minutiae. And combined with all the various effects, you'll likely end up where you were aiming.

If you're struggling though, help is at hand. The AI capability of BIAS X is a headline feature, so it's time to find out what it's made of.

As luck would have it, I've some songs to brush up on for one of my projects, a Toto tribute band. Dialing in a Steve Lukather-esque sound is something I already know how to do (the playing is work-in-progress), but why not take the weight off my feet and let BIAS X have a crack at it?

I typed a request for a guitar tone befitting Hold the Line. Around that time, Luke was using a handful of different amps, including a Rivera-modified Fender (many a ‘70s session-slinger's secret weapon), as well as a Marshall amp or two.

To this end, Text-to-Tone calls up a Plexi model, with a Tube Screamer and a Dyna Comp in front, a little reverb afterwards, and straight away the gain level, EQ shape and overall response is impressively close to what you'd hope for.

The same goes for my next request – a cleaner, mix-ready background tone similar to the verses of Rosanna and various other Lukather rhythm parts. A different spread of gear materialized, but with a similarly competent end result.

The AI didn't quite hit the nail on the head when I typed in, simply, “djent” – but it did generate a high-gain metal tone, soon whipped into shape by requesting “tighter” and, then, “even tighter”. If you've a specific tone in your head but don't know where to start, the AI functionality might be very useful to you.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★☆

BIAS X is a very interesting and capable newcomer to the plugin market. It doesn't quite have the tweak-ability, or the mass of amp and effect models some rivals can muster, but there's still enough here to create pretty well any sound you could need.

The flip-side of this is that it's among the easiest amp modeling plugins to get to grips with, and to get great results in very short order. And it sounds excellent – that advanced modeling process has clearly paid dividends.

If you need to generate a variety of useful tones quickly and with minimal fuss, BIAS X might be just the ticket.

Guitar World verdict: Regardless of your feelings on AI as a creative tool, Positive Grid's new foray into generative amp modeling has some serious potential. It's superbly easy to use, has a good spread of features and the sounds are up there with the best in the plugin market.

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There are precious few mobile-friendly USB audio interfaces out there that work on both Android and iOS, so when I came across the Blackstar Polar Go, I was intrigued to see what it could do for guitarists looking to quickly and easily create videos for social media. It’s interesting then that the Polar Go’s marketing campaign seems more aimed towards content creators versus guitarists, particularly as the Polar 2 and 4 interfaces were heavily geared towards guitar players.

The idea with the Polar Go is that it can help you quickly and easily create content anywhere you go, just by simply plugging it into your phone or laptop. There’s a companion app that allows you to control the interface's inputs and outputs, and it features a camera mode that lets you record video with your phone camera while capturing your guitar or vocal through the interface.

On paper, it seems like an absolute winner, as creating content with your phone and a traditional audio interface has always been a time-consuming process. Videoing and recording with separate devices has typically been the go-to, but this results in the fiddly editing process of syncing with your video, so the idea of having it all in one app will be very appealing to content creators everywhere.

Specs

• Price: $129.99 | £79 | €89
• Simultaneous I/O: 4 x 4
• A/D Resolution: 24-bit/96kHz
• Built In DSP/FX: Reverb, compression, EQ
• Number of Preamps: 1
• Phantom Power: Yes
• Analog Inputs: 1 x XLR-1/4" combo
• Analog Outputs: 1 x 1/8"
• MIDI: No
• Headphones: 1 x 1/8"
• Power Supply: USB-C or internal rechargeable battery (up to 6 hours)
• Contact: Blackstar

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

The Polar Go is a teeny-tiny interface, no bigger than your average bar of soap. Into this diminutive package it squeezes in a single combi input with a Rean connector, 1/8-inch headphone output, and, intriguingly, two stereo microphones built into the front face of the unit. There are two USB-C connections, one for connecting to a phone or computer and the other for dedicated power.

Like all of the Polar family of interfaces, it’s an extremely good-looking bit of kit, the classy monochrome of its construction accentuated by the backlit symbols that glow gently when you plug it in. The smooth edges of its frame make it look a lot classier than some of the blocky and bulky gear you typically find in the audio sphere.

Despite much prodding and pulling, I can find nothing loose or willing to succumb to pressure across the whole unit, leaving me in no doubt that it will withstand the rigors of being chucked in a backpack and taken on the go. The knobs have a satisfying resistance when I turn them, and the two buttons for powering it on and engaging phantom power click nicely without feeling flimsy.

It’s incredibly lightweight too, weighing no more than my TV remote and less than my Pixel smartphone with its rather bulky protective case. There’s a lot of music gear that claims to be pocket-sized but the Polar Go really can be chucked into your jeans or trackie bottoms and taken anywhere and everywhere.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★☆

My first test of the Polar Go’s capabilities is to plug it straight into my Pixel 9 smartphone running Android. In the combi input I plug my Telecaster guitar directly in, and a pair of Sony MDR-M1 headphones go into the headphone out for monitoring. I load up my camera app and am greeted with a pop-up that tells me the phone has detected an external microphone. So far, so good.

Hopping into the settings to switch to the external mic, I prop my phone on my desk, upside down to account for the USB input, to try filming some noodling on the guitar. I’m immediately greeted by a glitchy and distorted sound, which is definitely not the direct sound of my guitar, and something I’ve encountered attempting to use other audio interfaces and guitar amp headphones via a smartphone.

Wondering if it’s because I haven't downloaded the official Polar Go companion app, I head to the Play Store to grab it, and the process of getting it downloaded, installed, and recognizing the interface is absolutely rapid, taking no more than five minutes of my time. Unfortunately, I get the same issue, unwanted distortion with every input I make, whether it’s through the direct input or the onboard stereo mics.

After a little back and forth with Blackstar and a few different iterations of the software, I finally got a beta version that allows me to get a sound free of unwanted noises, and I can continue with my testing. Blackstar themselves state that this is an issue with phones that support up to 96kHz playback, whereby the unit defaults to the higher sample rate. The fix returns the sample rate down to 48kHz, which hopefully should mean no further issues for Android users.

The app features three main tabs, the first of which is called home, and gives you control over the inputs. You can choose to mute the direct input or the mic input, adjust the input and output levels, and delve deeper into the tone by adjusting the sensitivity, silence, body, clarity, and space. The sensitivity control acts as a compressor, while body and clarity are EQ adjustments. Space adjusts the amount of reverb you hear.

There are presets on the direct input for vocal mic and bass guitar, while the stereo mics have acoustic guitar, vocals, and wide vocals presets. You can also save your settings and the Polar Go will remember them next time you power it up. I’m a little surprised to find there’s nothing for electric guitars here, though, especially considering the Polar’s heritage as a guitar audio interface.

The camera tab takes over your phone's camera and allows you to film without having to exit the app. There’s a setting here for removing the built-in reverb, but everything else is as you’d expect from your typical smartphone. Finally, there’s a settings section that lets you adjust the reverb types and EQs, record multi-track, direct monitor, USB loopback, a switch for built-in mics or headset mic, and a power saving mode that auto switches the interface off should you unplug the USB.

I find everything super easy to use, and the touch dials respond really quickly to my inputs. The app has zero lag, making switching between the tabs and scrolling around super smooth. The additional side scroll function, like what you get when editing photos on an Android phone, makes fine movements possible, so you can quickly and accurately set your levels.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

My first test involves plugging a Gretsch semi-hollow guitar into the direct input to see how that sounds. It’s as expected, a clear and crisp but a little lifeless and as there’s no preset for guitar, it doesn’t really make much sense to use it this way. So, I grab my IK Multimedia Tonex One, and use that before the direct input to generate some proper guitar tones.

Loading up the camera portion of the app to film myself playing some Mars Volta-inspired freakout licks, when I watch back it sounds fantastic. There is a little compression that comes when I strum a full chord hard despite having the sensitivity control at the minimum, but for the most part it sounds exactly as the pedal does. The body and clarity controls allow me to tweak the sound to get it how I want, and with that I’m quickly and efficiently able to record myself playing, all without having to edit audio and video together in post.

Switching to a Lowden small-body acoustic guitar and utilising the onboard microphones, I find them to be astonishingly sensitive for something so small. They catch the sound of the rain outside, my partner coughing across the other side of the house, and every little touch on my desk, even the sound of me dragging my finger across the touchpad of my laptop. It’s like having a condenser microphone with the gain whacked up, I can hear every tiny detail of what’s around me.

They're really incredible sounding, picking up the ambient space with rich detail. I can see them getting good use for a wide variety of content creation tasks, whether you're interviewing someone for a podcast or creating a promo video for your band performing an unplugged version of your next hit song.

Strumming some moody chords in DADGAD, I play with the space setting on ‘Cave’ mode, which applies some galactic-sounding reverb to my guitar tones, pinging off the squeak of the strings as I move around the fingerboard. There’s also Hall, Room, Plate, and Vocal reverbs to play with, so there’s plenty of choice if you want something a little less gargantuan.

Verdict

For singer-songwriters and acoustic instrument players, the Polar Go is a great tool whether you’re recording videos for Instagram or just want to quickly put down song ideas. The dual onboard microphones deliver recordings of fantastic quality, augmented by a luscious-sounding set of onboard reverbs. It’s not just musicians it will appeal to either, as podcasters, vloggers, and other content creators are sure to find plenty to love here.

Electric guitarists will probably feel a little underserved though, due to the surprising omission of any onboard amp simulation or even just a preset for DI electric guitar. Paired with an amp modeler however, the Polar Go quickly becomes an excellent tool for creating recordings on the go, as well as guitar videos for social media.

Guitar World verdict: It’s about time Android users got a compact audio interface that works with their devices, having been massively underserved while the iPhone hoarded the vast majority of previous offerings. Regardless of your OS allegiance, the Blackstar Polar Go represents one of the best ways to quickly and easily record your music alongside your smartphone, whilst simultaneously being a powerful tool for curating your online profile via video.

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Hands-on videos

Absolute Music

Chug Nerd

Originally introduced back in 2019, we last caught up with Fender’s most advanced USA production models earlier this year after they’d received a Mk II refresh that was announced in October 2024. These American Ultra IIs are fine modern-style guitars that top the USA line with a choice of Telecaster, Stratocaster (including a left-hand model), Strat HSS and the more futuristic Meteora.

But you might have missed another modern strand in the form of the American Ultra Luxe models that were actually launched back in 2021: four guitars with stainless-steel frets, the Ultra’s compound radius fingerboard, and an ‘augmented D’ profile neck shape.

The HSS Strat and dual-humbucking Tele featured alder bodies and Floyd Rose vibratos; the Strat and standard Tele used ash bodies with the same hardware as those refreshed Ultra II models.

Now, introduced just a few weeks ago are their replacements: the longer-titled American Ultra Luxe Vintage models (we understand the Ultra II models will be ongoing). This time we get five guitars: a ’50s Stratocaster, ’60s Stratocaster, ’60s Stratocaster HSS, ’50s Telecaster and ’60s Custom Telecaster.

While there are plenty of modern features, the immediate difference – aside from the decade-specific names and headstock logos – is a new ‘Heirloom’ lacquer (aka nitrocellulose) finish with, as Fender states, “a meticulously aged lacquer finish that lets the tone wood breathe as it wears naturally and uniquely”.

There’s no truck with the noise-cancelling single coils of the Ultra II or prior Ultra Luxe models. The Luxe Vintage models return to Fender’s long-running Pure Vintage pickups (with the exception of the Haymaker humbucker, which we first saw on the refreshed Ultra II’s Strat HSS).

But in contrast to this return to the past is a raft of modern features in terms of hardware (but no Floyd Rose vibratos) and stainless-steel frets – like the Ultra Luxe but not the Ultra IIs.

“With the American Ultra Luxe Vintage series, we’ve redefined the balance between heritage and innovation,” says Max Gutnik, chief product officer, FMIC, in the launch PR. “This collection honours our iconic legacy while pushing the boundaries of modern craftsmanship. Every detail is built for exceptional tone, feel and timeless style. We’re proud to offer players an elevated experience that respects tradition and sets a new standard for performance.”

To us, these come across as a ‘greatest hits’ package that clearly pares back the modernism of both the Ultra Luxe and Ultra II models: a vintage-aimed aesthetic and voicing but with modern hardware and playability. Let’s take a look at a couple.

American Ultra Luxe ’50s Telecaster

If the overall old-meets-new concept can hardly be called unique, pulling this one from its tweed guitar case there’s a moment where we wonder if we’ve been sent the right guitar. The classic colour is here, but the Heirloom finish is a duller low-gloss with plenty of quite subtle cracks and a few minor dings; it almost has the appearance of a well-used but not abused instrument.

It appears a similar finish is applied to the neck – because although it feels pretty similar to the satin sheen of the earlier Ultra IIs, there is some cracking around the portion of the neck before it’s screwed in and behind the nut and lower fret positions.

The chrome-plated bridge plate, the electronics control plate and even the neck pickup cover don’t look aged, but they don’t quite look box-fresh, either. And at the start of our test there were no pick marks on the five-screw single-ply black pickguard. Here, too, the pickguard of the Tele and the larger scratchplate on the Strat revert to classic-looking plastic instead of the Ultra II’s anodised aluminium.

Of course, the guitar retains plenty of Ultra-isms. The classic Telecaster slab body is contoured in the usual Strat-like forearm and rib-cut positions, and another cutaway scoop is added behind the treble cutaway, while the heel is both chamfered and has a more rounded nose. You can also see the wavy ash grain through the translucent finish, as you should, and at 3.44kg (7.58lb) it’s no boat anchor.

Like the Ultra IIs, the necks on both our samples aren’t the trendy roasted maple but are lightly tinted, and both are quarter-sawn as opposed to slab-sawn, which in theory should provide a little more stiffness.

The actual hardware choice follows the Ultra II closely and is pretty much the same as the original Ultra models. Although the brass block bridge saddles aren’t chromed here, the rest of the parts look the same as the Ultra IIs: the rear-locking tuners have short posts, and the standard control plate has the angled pickup selector switch with heavily knurled control knobs.

As we said, the pickups change from the more modern Noiseless humbucking style to Pure Vintage ’51 single coils: the push-in S-1 switch adds neck and bridge in series (with the pickup selector in any position) as it does on the Ultra II.

American Ultra Luxe ’60s Stratocaster HSS

The modern antique illusion continues with this rather fetching Strat in the same lower gloss finish with its slightly pinkish hue. It also retains the same contouring of the Ultra II. The body wood swaps to alder with an overall slightly heavier weight of 3.76kg (8.27lb), which, for some of us, will be the top of the weight range for a good Strat.

The hardware continues to follow that of the Ultra II: the rear-lock tuners, the two-post vibrato and its stainless-steel saddles, cold-rolled steel block and push-fit tension adjustable arm.

As with the Tele, the neck and middle pickups swap from Noiseless to Pure Vintage ’61 Strat single coils with aged-looking vintage-stagger poles, while our HSS model has the open zebra-coiled Haymaker full-size humbucker in the bridge position.

The knobs are those nice-feeling ‘Soft Touch’ types, with an S-1 push switch on the volume, which, when engaged (pushed down), simply splits the Haymaker to voice the neck-facing slug coil. No change there, then.

Here, though, the ebony fingerboard of the Ultra II models changes to classic rosewood with subtle orange-hued stripes and almost pinkish clay dots. Another minor bit of ‘modern-ish’ to these models is the glow-in-the-dark Luminlay side dots, first introduced with the Ultra IIs.

Specs

Fender American Ultra Luxe Vintage ’50s Telecaster

• PRICE: $2,999/£2,949 (inc case)
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Single-cutaway solidbody electric
• BODY: Ash
• NECK: Quarter-sawn maple, modern ‘D’, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech Tusq/43.2mm
• FINGERBOARD: Maple, black dot markers, Luminlay side dots, 254-356mm (10-14”) compound radius
• FRETS: 22, medium jumbo,
  stainless steel
• HARDWARE: Fender Tele bridge with 6x brass block saddles and through-body stringing, Fender Deluxe rear-locking tuners (short posts); nickel/chromed-plated
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 53mm
• ELECTRICS: Fender Pure Vintage ’51 bridge and neck single coils, 3-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume and master tone
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.44/7.58
• OPTIONS: Colour only
• RANGE OPTIONS: The American Ultra Luxe Vintage ’60s Custom Telecaster (£2,949) features top-edge binding to the alder body, rosewood fingerboard and Pure Vintage ’63 single coils in Lake Placid Blue and 3-Color Sunburst
• LEFT-HANDERS: Not at launch
• FINISHES: Butterscotch Blonde (as reviewed), White Blonde – lightly aged ‘Heirloom lacquer’ low gloss to body and headstock, satin neck back

Fender American Ultra Luxe Vintage ’60s Stratocaster HSS

• PRICE: $2,899/£2,949 (inc case)
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Offset double-cutaway solidbody electric
• BODY: Alder
• NECK: Maple, modern ‘D’, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech Tusq/43.4mm
• FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, ‘clay’ dot markers, Luminlay side dots, 254-356mm (10-14”) compound radius
• FRETS: 22, medium jumbo,
  stainless steel
• HARDWARE: Fender 2-point Deluxe synchronized vibrato with stainless-steel block saddles and cold-rolled steel block with pop-in arm, Fender Deluxe rear-locking tuners (short posts)
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 53mm
• ELECTRICS: Fender Pure Vintage ’61 Strat single coils (neck, middle), Haymaker bridge humbucker, 5-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume, tone 1 (neck & middle), no-load tone 2 (bridge)
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.76/8.27
• OPTIONS: Colour only
• RANGE OPTIONS: American Ultra Lux Vintage ’50s Strat with Pure Vintage ’57 Strat single coils and American Ultra Lux Vintage ’60s Strat with 3x Pure Vintage ’61 Strat single coils (both £2,899)
• LEFT-HANDERS: Not at launch
• FINISHES: Fiesta Red (as reviewed), Sea Foam Green – lightly aged ‘Heirloom lacquer’ low gloss to body and headstock, satin neck back
• CONTACT: Fender

Playability and sounds

The Ultra II models, with a wide and quite modern colour choice, are in contrast to not only the finish type but the classic colour palette. So if your audience will think from a few feet away that you’re playing an ‘old’ Fender, your hands will be telling you something different.

Both guitars use a bigger-than-vintage medium jumbo fretwire gauge that’s quite wide and a good height, certainly on the rosewood-’board Strat. Technically, due to the finish on the maple-’board Tele, the fret height is microscopically reduced, but neither feel over-big; it’s a good ‘refretted’ choice.

On both guitars, too, the frets are well fettled and polished, a fairly mainstream modern setup with 0.009s, minimal neck relief and string heights at the 12th fret of 1.53mm on the treble and bass sides on our Tele, and fractionally higher on the bass side of our Strat.

Both guitars have lightly rolled fingerboard edges. The Tele’s maple edges are a little neater; the Strat’s are not as smooth as perhaps you should expect on what is a nearly $/£3k guitar.

While there was some trumpet-blowing about the ‘modern’ compound fingerboard radius of the Ultra IIs, it’s not mentioned in the launch PR here, but it measures the same 254mm to 356mm (10 to 14 inches).

If you only play small-radius vintage-style Fenders with small frets then you’re going to notice a difference, but Fender’s standard ‘modern’ radius is 241mm (9.5 inches), PRS has pretty much exclusively always used 254mm (10 inches) and, of course, Gibson goes for 305mm (12 inches), so this isn’t exactly alien. Both guitars are really clean players.

The necks measure very closely to previous Ultra and Ultra II models that we’ve evaluated and are slightly wider at the nut, which measures just over 43mm on both our guitars, with a very similar depth of 21mm at the 1st fret and 22.4mm by the 12th.

The ‘modern D’ profile could just as easily be called a fuller-shouldered C, which is what it feels like. Nothing radical at all.

If the overall feel of both guitars is obviously very familiar, so are the sounds. As we prefer, we sound-tested both before we checked the pickup specifications and there’s a very present contrast. The Tele isn’t as beefy at the bridge as many early ’50s examples and sounds lighter and considerably brighter.

If you’re looking for that steely Tele-bite and snap, it’s here in spades. And, of course, you can just round-off the spiky high-end with the tone control. It’s quite addictive, not least with a basic overdrive kicked in from our pedalboard. The more refined feel means it’s less of a struggle to produce pretty classic Tele tones, too.

The neck pickup isn’t over-powered, with a smooth top-end and a nice midrange character – the classic dual-pickup parallel mix. Well, that’s why many of us use Telecasters, isn’t it? The extra sound – both pickups in series – adds considerable beef and a lift in output but still retains a more humbucking-like smoothness.

Played clean with a little volume reduction, this series link is great for jazzier, bluesier styles, not to mention big, ringing and fulsome but jangly cleans. Sound-wise, then, it’s not really reinventing any wheel and perhaps it’s better off for that – a good-sounding, quite classic Tele with that extra bit of oomph if you need.

The slightly weightier, beefier feel of our Strat sort of comes over plugged in. There’s a typically different response here with more bounce to the voice that’s subtly less direct than the Tele.

The impression that this HSS is the more powerful starts with the Haymaker: a pretty classic humbucker with good midrange thickness but plenty of definition to the high-end. It suits the hot-rod ‘modded’ style, but it’s not too hot.

In contrast, there’s slightly lower output but good depth to the neck – nice and choppy and with enough depth to clean up the overall voicing after rocking out on the Haymaker. There’s a slight high-end lift to the tougher-sounding middle single coil, and both mixes do their funky job.

Plus you have the choice of the fuller middle and bridge with the full humbucker, or slightly cleaner, snappier sound of the mix with the bridge humbucker split. Voiced in isolation, that coil-split is pretty usable, too – more classic, less rock, and well-balanced output-wise with those Pure Vintage single coils.

On both guitars the volume tapers feel good under the hand and retain clarity as you wind them down without becoming too shrill. Like the guitars themselves, these circuits and the sounds they produce are well sorted.

Overall, tuning stability is very good, too, and the well-proven vibrato on the HSS holds its tuning once everything has settled down.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Presuming these new Ultras are intended to sit alongside the current Ultra IIs and offer an older aesthetic and more classic sound, they certainly achieve their goal.

The modernisms in terms of hardware, neck and fingerboard profile and overall playability provide a nicely mainstream feel and playability, too, not least with the well-finished stainless-steel frets.

And whereas some of the more modern colour finishes of the Ultra II range might not appeal to all classic rockers, these more familiar hues certainly will.

Guitar World verdict: There is a bit of a price hike over the Ultra II models, and we’d guess the Heirloom finish has plenty to do with that, but these are considerably less money than going down even the light-relic route in the Fender Custom Shop. Ultimately, it’s about choice and that’s not lacking in Fender’s USA production line-up. Which would you go for?

Hands-on videos

Fender

Guitar Center

The Guitar Geek

• “Some purists will find the mix of vintage and Ultra spec sacrilegious, but working players will have waited for a Tele exactly like this”: Fender Ultra Luxe Vintage ’60s Telecaster Custom review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.
  

Every now and then, artists come along that mix things up in a way that evolves and inspires. It’s fair to say that for instrumental guitar music, Polyphia is one such band. But in my previous life as a guitar teacher, I had mixed feelings about this: I loved how the band inspired my students, but knew that whenever Polyphia came up, I was in for a tricky few hours of figuring out exactly what on earth Tim Henson and Scott Lepage were doing.

Their alternative and technical approach to guitar is what made this a difficult task, but it also makes the signature guitars they have both released with Ibanez all the more intriguing. Will their guitars be as unique as their playing styles? With Tim Henson's Ibanez TOD10 in hand, I am looking forward to finding out.

Specs

• Launch price: $1599/£1499/€1555
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: American basswood
• Neck: Roasted maple/AZ Oval C
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Scale length: 25.5"/648mm
• Nut/width: Graph Tech/41mm
• Frets: 24, jumbo stainless steel
• Hardware: Gotoh SG381 MG-T locking tuners, Gotoh T1502 tremolo bridge
• String spacing at bridge: 52mm
• Electrics: Fishman Fluence Tim Henson signature pickups, volume and push/pull tone control, 5-way pickup selector
• Weight: 7lb / 3.17kg
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Classic Silver (as reviewed), Metallic Mauve
• Cases: Ibanez soft case
• Contact: Ibanez

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

The Classic Silver finish of this test model is both bold and simple. It’s a bright choice that will stand out in any context, but its monochromatic nature keeps things classy.

Combined with the ‘Tree Of Death’ inlays - Tim Henson's take on the iconic 'Tree Of Life' pattern that decorates Steve Vai's signature models - the TOD10 is a striking guitar, particularly in the Metallic Muave (pink) alternative.

As good as it looks, the finish on our test model has a rough texture around the bolts at the heel joint, the pickup selector, and the pickups themselves. It’s nothing that draws the eye enough to be a deal breaker, but is disappointing to see.

However, that is the only real complaint here. The stainless steel fretwork is impeccable, and the guitar arrived well set up, with a low action; sitting at 1.25mm on the low E and 1mm on the high E at the 12th fret.

Through hours of playing and trying to remember some rather involved Polyphia riffs, the tuning remains solid, and the Gotoh SG381 MG-T locking machine heads with their 1:16 ratio feel smooth in use, as you should expect from the Japanese company./

Also courtesy of Gotoh is the T1502 floating bridge, which also holds the tuning steady, even after some considerable abuse of the tremolo arm.

We’ve all been on a sweaty stage where control knobs can get a little slippery; however, the TOD10 combats this with some nice, grippy gnurling. The push-pull tone pot also has a soft touch action, which I find profoundly satisfying in a way that is probably a little beyond reasonable.

Also well thought out is the placement of the output jack, recessed into the guitar and oriented at a roughly 45-degree upward angle, which helps keep the lead from clumsy feet or arms. In short, a solid and well-designed guitar build.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

With Ibanez’s form for making guitars built for all-out, wizard-level shred and Tim Henson's impressive level of technical ability on display on pretty much every Polyphia track, you would be forgiven for expecting a guitar with a flat radius and a paper-thin neck profile. However, the TOD10 stops shy of this.

Don’t get me wrong, the guitar still feels quick, as with a 22mm thickness at the 12th fret, the ‘AZ Oval C’ neck carve is on the skinnier side of things, but it offers slightly more girth than the 17mm on some Ibanez RGs, as an example. A small difference, but one that is noticeable.

There’s a slight flattening in the centre of the carve - a feel that to some may seem a little odd, but I find it to be a comfortable experience, keeping the thumb in the correct place.

Staying away from compound options and going for a 12” fretboard radius is a more traditional route relative to other Ibanez products, but flatter than a standard Fender 9.5"; it’s still plenty flat enough to allow for those flashy legato licks and feels familiar under the fingers.

Everybody needs a bit of wobble to complement those legato runs, and the jumbo frets make bullying the strings into big (some would say boomer) bends and wide vibrato a breeze.

Yet more wobble is provided by the whammy bar, which is smooth in use, aided by the guitar's excellent setup.

All this means that even with the 12" radius, the TOD10 feels modern in most respects. Where things get distinctly Ibanez-y is with that AZ Oval neck carve. It’s a comfortable shape that is speedy without being too skinny, making for a machine that delivers everything needed for kinetic, technical playing.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

For those new to a Fluence and five-way selector setup, the pickups may seem a little complicated in terms of switching, but the flip side is a wide variety of tones. The TOD 10 is equipped with Tim Henson's signature Fishman Fluence pickups, which are adorned with three voices. Voice one is a modern, high-output humbucker, two is a more traditional style bucker, and three gives us a single-coil flavour.

These voices are accessed via the five-way pickup selector and the push-pull tone pot, to make for a total of eight different sounds (the push-pull affects no change in positions two and four).

The TOD10 page on Ibanez’s website presents a handy diagram that details exactly what voice is active and when, but the best thing here is to let your ears do the work, and use the diagram for a bit of context if you want it. And as a guitar geek, I definitely do.

I am using a Victory The Duchess MKII tube amp head and Victory Lunchbox 1x12 guitar cab that I happen to have in for testing to give me some glassy cleans, and my own Tonex pedal, along with the Tonex Cab and a JCM800 profile for the driven stuff. A quick play through and I’m already smiling - the variety of sounds here is astounding.

The modern humbucker sound in position one is that high-output, rounded sound as expected from the description. Perfect for the heavier side of things, with the downside being that this sort of tone can lack a bit of cut in some mixes. In which case, Fishman has you covered with Voice Two, which brightens things up and keeps the low end even tighter.

Position two brings in some single-coil snap, and I’m immediately reminded of Polyphia’s The Worst with a tone that sounds like the out-of-phase Stratocaster thing with an extra helping of mid range - I'm a big fan.

Interestingly, position three with the push-pull in the up position is the same configuration as position two, but with it down, we are back into humbucker land, activating both the pickups to give us all the punch and girth needed for fat leads.

Three out of the five positions in, and we already have a ton of tonal diversity. The fourth takes a step into the more familiar, with a brighter, modern version of that stratty position four sound. I know I should probably stay within the land of modern technical music, but what I really want to do here is bust out some Nile Rodgers riffs.

The neck pickup in voice one delves into typical warm humbucker vibes, but with a clarity on the high strings that keeps things sounding modern. Voice two is more interesting. It is a humbucker, but with a snap that sounds almost single coil, and provides a glassy sound that is heavenly within a clean context.

These pickups are giving out much more than the average, coil-split-equipped humbucker tones you may find elsewhere. The voices here are genuinely different, allowing for two distinct flavours of humbucker and a single coil that sounds much more convincing than coil splits or taps usually do, making for an impressive variety of usable tones.

Certain configurations result in no change when the selector is moved or the push-pull pot is used. This is a little confusing at first, but the complicated switching is worth it to get the myriad of sounds.

Underneath all of it, though, what is apparent is their modern character. The sound is bright, as is often indicative of active pickups, but in this case, in a pleasing way.

It’s not necessarily a sound that will suit the traditionalists, but it is perfect for those complicated chords and flashy lead lines that require clarity from a guitar tone.

Verdict

Needless to say, then, the TOD10 is indeed as interesting as Polyphia’s style of music. The distinct AZ Oval C neck gives it a quick feel that facilitates all that is needed for the technical wizard, whilst stopping short of wafer-thin and retaining a touch of familiarity with the 12” fretboard radius, making for a playing experience that is unique to some of Ibanez's AZ models.

Then, the sheer number of usable sounds facilitated by the Fishman Fluence Tim Henson signature pickups results in an instrument that is undeniably inspiring to play in the context of modern music.

Present through all these sounds is a contemporary type of clarity. The Ibanez TOD10 is perhaps not for those chasing a guitar tone influenced by the originators of the rock genre through the likes of Les Pauls and Strats, but an obvious must-try for Polyphia fans looking to recreate those unique sounds, or for a guitarist after something a little different in the modern realm.

Guitar World verdict: The Ibanez TOD10 presents a wildly versatile sonic palette of the modern persuasion. It is a well-built, supremely playable guitar, perfect not only for the Polyphia enthusiast but also as a source of inspiration for anyone writing technical, guitar-based music.

Also try

Hands-on videos

Ibanez

Sweetwater

Polyphia

While producing bashed-up looking but brand new guitars goes back in Fender’s line-up to the mid-nineties’ Custom Shop models, they swiftly became hot stuff, albeit at quite a price. Us lower income musos lobbied for more affordable relics and in 2009 that’s what we got: the Mexican-made Road Worn series.

While they didn’t match the authenticity of the upper-tier relics they certainly ticked the bashed-up box and were frankly the closest most of us will ever get to owning a real vintage Fender electric guitar from the fifties or sixties. They’ve been in and out of production ever since, we last saw some limited Road Worns in the first Vintera range, and this again limited mini-range augments the current Vintera II line-up.

Specs

• Launch price: $1,599.99 /£1,349 / €1,599
• Made: Ensenada, Mexico
• Type: Six-string solid body electric guitar
• Body: Alder
• Neck: Maple, '60s ‘C’ profile, bolt-on
• Fingerboard: Slab rosewood with ‘clay’ dots/7.25”
• Scale length: 25.5” (648mm)
• Nut/width: Synthetic bone/42.2mm
• Frets: 21, Vintage Tall
• Hardware: Fender vintage-style synchronized vibrato with six bent steel saddles, vintage-style tuners
• Electrics: 3x vintage-style '60s single-coil Strat, 5-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume, tone 1 (neck/middle), tone 2 (bridge)
• Weight: 7.79lb (3.54kg)
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Sonic Blue w/ rosewood fingerboard (as reviewed), Black w/ maple fingerboard
• Cases: Gig bag
• Contact: Fender

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

If you’re expecting something like Rory Gallagher’s or Mike McCready’s tattered Strats you’re going to be disappointed here. No, these new Road Worns – a 50s Jazzmaster, the 60s Strat here, a 60s Telecaster and 60s Precision bass – employ, in Fender’s words, a “new subtle aging process combining light checking, gentle wear patterns and a semi-gloss finish.”

Fender also tells us it's using nitrocellulose lacquer and while you have to look closely, there are plenty of mild cracks to the body and to the front and back of the headstock. Semi-gloss? It’s pretty glossy if we’re honest and it’s certainly overall a milder aging than the recently released Fender Ultra Luxe Vintage range. The hardware isn’t really relic'd but doesn’t look box-fresh either and unlike an original 2009 Road Worn Strat which provides a good reference, the neck back here still has a light finish on it.

Aging and finish type aside, the new Road Worn seems to follow the specs of the standard Vintera II ‘60s Strat: alder body, a slab rosewood fingerboard with a 7.25” vintage radius but, thankfully, slightly bigger ‘Vintage Tall’ frets. While vintage details like the body-end truss rod adjustment, single string-tree and period correct logo are all present and correct the modernisms, along with those frets, include a five-way lever pickup selector and tone controls for middle/neck and bridge pickups.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

Straight out of its gig bag, a quick tune-up and some string stretching is all we need to get going. Unlike some recent lower-end Fender’s we’ve had our hands on, the set-up here is pretty gig-ready shipping with .009s, very slight neck relief and string height of 1.5mm on the treble side, 1.7mm on the low E. Typically the vibrato – which uses a full-size diecast block, steel top-plate and saddles – is set with three rear springs and lightly tilted giving approximately a half-tone up bend on the high E, a flattened third on the G. Again, very standard stuff.

Some players obsess about fingerboard radius and so long as you can get the small vintage radius to play cleanly, which it does here, it’s not only very comfortable for thumb-around positions and chording but, hey, it just feels right. The slightly taller wire – which appears identical to the original Road Worns – certainly adds to the easy bendability too, while details like a well-cut nut mean vibrato return-to-pitch, certainly for casual use, is perfectly good, as is the overall in-tuneness and tuning stability.

The ‘60s ‘C’-shape neck profile is really quite generic with its 42.2mm nut width and relatively slim depth, 21mm, at the first fret which fills out to a rounded 24.5mm by the 12th. It’s a little fuller than that earlier Road Worn and feels the better for it.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

These pickups are simply referred to as ‘60s Strat (the standard Vintera II ‘60s Strat pickups are called Mid-‘60s), but name aside we have little to go on. They clearly have a vintage-stagger to the unbevelled Alnico 5 magnets: the G string’s is the highest, the B string the lowest. They have the same magnetic polarity so there’s no truck with modernism or hum-cancelling mix positions and all three have very similar DCRs of 5.3k ohms measured at output.

The sounds of a Stratocaster are burned into any serious player's psyche, yet somehow no two side-by-side sound exactly the same. So, yes, it sounds like a good Strat, slightly thinner overall than PRS’s SE Silver Sky, for example, and while there’s a little spike at bridge, as ever there was, with its own tone control you can easily knock that back. The neck pickup has just that right balance between woody depth and percussion. Really, no complaints here.

Verdict

A lot less worn-looking than the previous Road Worns, the finish cracking here is pretty subtle and there are no faux-dings, but with use it’ll continue to age – unlike polyester. For those that like the light N.O.S. or Closet Classic style of aging you’ll appreciate the style, but if you want to show off to your audience that your guitar has been on countless world tours these probably aren’t for you; likewise the less worn neck back.

Bearing in mind the nitro aging adds a good chunk of money to the non-Road Worn models these might not be quite the full comeback we’d hoped for. That said, it’s a well turned out vintage-referenced Stratocaster with a cool, lightly broken-in vibe and sounds to match.

Guitar World verdict: A welcome return of Fender’s affordable Road Worn ‘60s Stratocaster, although the aging is lightly done. If you want dings and bare wood you’re going to have to do that yourself!

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Double-tracking has long been a studio technique to fatten up and widen your electric guitar sound, but an instant version of it has also been available in a select few dedicated pedals.

The latest of these is the KMA Machines Geminus, which uses a tweaked iteration of the double-tracking facility found in the company’s more complex Endgame, a pedal with IR cab and power amp simulation that’s designed to sit at the end of
your signal chain.

Double-tracking in the studio means recording the same part twice so you have two performances that can be panned apart in stereo to create a bigger sound, aided by the inevitable slight differences between the two performances.

What this pedal does is Automatic Double Tracking (ADT), giving the sense of two guitars playing by adding in a delayed – and possibly modulated – version as you play.

The Geminus has TRS input and output with three toggle-switched modes of operation, the ideal mode being a mono input and a stereo output emulating what traditionally happens in a studio. You can also run it as stereo in/stereo out or mono in/mono out.

Specs

• PRICE: $269/£199
• ORIGIN: Germany
• TYPE: Stereo double-tracking pedal 
• FEATURES: Switchable True/Buffered Bypass, silent relay-based soft switching
• CONTROLS: TDT Width, Time, Level, Pitch switch, Stereo Mode switch, internal bypass selection dipswitch, bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard TRS input, standard TRS output
• POWER: 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) 100mA
• DIMENSIONS: 67 (w) x 123 (d) x 53mm (h) 
• CONTACT: KMA Machines

Usability and sounds

What’s going on under the hood is AI-powered and impressively effective in the way it immediately delivers a rich spacious stereo sound from a single guitar: once you’ve heard it, you won’t want to turn the pedal off.

Three knobs have notched centre detent positions that give you expertly dialled-in tones straight out of the box, although there’s plenty of variation if you want it.

The large knob sets the width of the stereo field, while the Time knob adjusts the ‘tightness’ of the double-tracking, allowing a looser feel if desired, and the Level knob balances the volume of the doubled signal against the original source.

For more variation in the sound, you have the option of adding pitch modulation – a detuning in the doubled signal for more spaciousness, and a practical alternative to using a stereo chorus pedal, working particularly well on clean sounds.

While this is definitely a pedal that should be used with a stereo output, the Geminus is not redundant in mono as you can use it for slapback or chorus.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Guitar World verdict: With a big sound in a compact footprint, the Geminus is an excellent, extremely easy-to-use pedal that’s not just for double-tracking but also for spacious stereo modulation.

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A reboot of the cult-classic Corvette, the Gretsch Electromatic CVT is a sleeper vintage guitar reborn at a very budget-friendly price point. Gretsch initially teased us with the return of the distinct asymmetrical double cut design via the Jack Antonoff and Patrick Stump signature guitars, but this super-affordable model looks to build on the positive response to these designs and put Gretsch’s first-ever all-solid guitar into the hands of a new generation of players.

Introduced in 1961, the original Corvette wasn’t exactly a smash hit when it aimed to compete with the Gibson Les Paul Junior and SG Junior. It did gain fans in players like Rory Gallagher, who loved his for playing slide guitar, and Jimi Hendrix, who strung his upside down in his typical style. Later on, the guitar found its way into the hands of Shaun Lopez of Far/Crosses and Josh Homme, and has become an approachable vintage guitar in the process.

Following last year's Jack Antonoff "Princess Antonoff" CVT model, the revamped standard CVT retains the iconic double cut shape, scale length, and combo of mahogany solid body and neck, but there are some differences. Here, the neck is a bolt-on rather than glued-in design of the original, and the pickups are humbuckers.

Typically, early Corvettes came with Gretsch HiLo’Tron single coils and a Burns vibrato, whereas the CVT features an adjustable wraparound bridge. On paper, that makes it not quite a faithful recreation, but rather a reimagination for a modern audience.

Specs

• Launch price: $419.99/£499/€549
• Made: China
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Mahogany
• Neck: Mahogany bolt-on, performance ‘C’
• Fingerboard: Laurel
• Scale length: 24.6" (625 mm)
• Nut/width: Graph Tech NuBone, 1.6875" (42.86 mm)
• Frets: 22 frets, medium jumbo
• Hardware: Die-cast sealed tuners, adjustable wraparound bridge
• String spacing at bridge: 52.7mm
• Electrics: 2x Twin Six humbuckers, master volume, master tone, 3-position toggle switch
• Weight: 7lb 5oz, (3.4kg)
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Havana Burst (as reviewed), Vintage White, Wychwood
• Case: No
• Contact: Gretsch

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½