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Canary Kestrel Cables Canary 20-Foot Auto-Mute Switch Cables
(8mm), beefy and deliver extremely low
The new 20-foot Canary Auto-Mute Switch
braiding and sleek styling for no-nonsense,
cables feature the same low capacitance and
top-quality components that deliver high-end
pure signal quality that won the ten-foot version
sparkle and clear fidelity at a fraction of the
a #9 spot on Guitar World’s Best Cables 2020 list.
price of comparable products. $40-$49 street.
$21 street. canarycables.com
canarycables.com
capacitance. The cables eschew colorful
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Canary’s Kestrel professional cables are big
Dean Exile The Exile features a high-access alder body, a burled poplar top, a three-piece maple neck, a bound ebony fretboard, 24 frets, an exclusive brushed-chrome EMG 57/66 TW
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pickup set and a Floyd Rose 1000 series tremolo. $1,199 street. deanguitars.com
Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard
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The Limited Edition Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard was created in partnership with the Gibson Custom Shop, and features a hand-rolled and rounded C-profile neck, a mahogany body, a maple cap and AAA figured maple veneer, ‘50s-style wiring, Mallory capacitors, CTS pots and Gibson USA BurstBucker pickups. $799 street. epiphone.com
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Ernie Ball Music Man Jason Richardson Artist Series Cutlass The Jason Richardson Artist Series Cutlass includes dual-humbucking pickups, a transalder body and a gloss-finish Rorschach Red Buckeye burl top highlighted with a natural 3/16th inch wood binding. Other features are a figured roasted-maple neck, slab-ebony fingerboard, 24 jumbo stainless-steel frets, gold hardware, a 20dB boost and coil-tapping options. Available in 6- and 7-string models. $3,299 street. music-man.com
Ernie Ball Music Man Luke III The Luke III is constructed with a lightweight Okuome body, a book-matched quilt- or flame-maple top, a roasted-maple neck, a rosewood fretboard, Pearloid dot markers, an Ernie Ball Music Man vintage tremolo, a preamp with a 20dB boost and custom Ernie Ball Music Man HH pickups. $3,399 street. music-man.com
ESP LTD Deluxe Arrow-1000 Candy Apple Red Satin Brand new for 2021 is the Apple-1000’s Candy Apple Red Satin finish. Other features include a mahogany body, a three-piece maple neck, a Macassar ebony fingerboard, 24 extra jumbo stainless-steel frets, Grover tuners, a Floyd Rose 1000SE bridge and EMG 85 (neck) and EMG 81 (bridge) pickups. $999 street. espguitars.com
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Trace Elliot ELF Combo Bass Amplifiers ELF Combos feature a built-in Trace Elliot ELF ultra-compact 200-watt bass amplifier that weighs just 1.6 pounds and fits inside a back pocket. The amp panel offers a wide-range input-gain control, a signal-level with ground lift. Two combos are offered — a 1x8 that weighs 17 pounds and a 1x10 weighing just 18 pounds. $578 (1x8); $599 (1x10) street. traceelliot.com
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indicator, a three-band rotary equalizer, a 1/4” headphone output and a post-EQ balanced XLR DI output
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Guitar Shop Tees Get a new T-shirt each month from guitar shops around the world. Each month, subscribers get a limited-edition T-shirt along with special offers and amazing extras. Subscriptions are available month to month, or by a three-, six, or 12-month package. $22 up street. guitarshoptees.com
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Dean Exile Select A menacing black-satin finish and Fishman Fluence Modern pickups (with dual modes for additional sounds) take the Exile to the next level. Also included is a high-access heel joint on an alder body, a three-piece maple neck, an ebony fretboard, 24 frets,
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a Floyd Rose 1000 series tremolo, a bound neck and headstock and a chrome foil logo.
Dean MD24 F
$999 street. deanguitars.com
Now available with a roasted-maple neck and fingerboard, the MD24 F is available in vintage orange for those who like a classic look but modern tone and
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performance. Other features include a basswood body, direct-mount Seymour Duncan TB5/APH-1 sandblasted Zebra pickups, 24 jumbo frets and a Floyd 1000 series tremolo. $849 street.
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deanguitars.com
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Charvel Pro-Mod DK22 SSS 2PT CM By James Rotondi, Guitar Player, November 2020
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Pro-Mod guitars pair hot-rod performance features with classy, stripped-down aesthetics that make them as suitable for grown-up “dress gigs” as for fusion and metal jams. The DK-22 SSS 2PT CM is flashy, but in an elegant way, with a lovely Pharaohs Gold satin finish, caramelized maple neck and fretboard, and a contoured alder body. Plugged into a classic medium-to-high-gain amplifier, the DK-22’s bridge pickup delivered immediate Eddie-approved growl, delicious pick harmonics, a balanced blend of grind and girth for palm-muted riffs and a razor’s-edge cut for runs from the 7th to 17th frets. Pair the bridge pickup with the middle, and the wind starts crying Mary, producing a grainy, warm, rounded-mid rhythm scoop. The neck pickup delivers syrupy SRV tone in spades. Pair it with the middle pickup, switch to a clean sound and one enters classic
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indie-rock. Yes, all that from a Charvel. You read correctly. $1,049 street. charvel.com
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Dean Exile Select By Chris Gill, Guitar World, August 2020 With its sharp cutaway horns and deeply scooped high-E string cutaway, the Dean Exile Select makes a bold visual statement that it’s a bona fide shred machine. The guitar’s EMG humbuckers provide warm, dark tones similar to vintage PAFs but with a hotter, more aggressive output. The midrange delivers an assertive, deep bark while the bass remains solid and tight and the treble maintains impressive body and depth. Even though the Exile Select has a very deep cutaway to provide absolutely free access to the entire fretboard, the neck feels exceptionally solid and stable. The ACCESSORIES
relatively flat radius, jumbo frets and ample width make it easy to bend notes or play single-note solos with precision. Another bonus is the D-shaped profile offers a little more depth at the high and low E strings, providing a little extra “meat” to grab onto when blazing up and down the neck. $1,099 street. deanguitars.com
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Eastman Romeo By Dave Hunter, Guitar Player, March 2020 Designed by Los Angeles-based luthier Otto D’Ambrosio, the Romeo is a thinline archtop that, when played unplugged, produces a lively response that approximates an attenuated flat-top. Plugging into a 15-watt Divided by 13 JRT 9/15 head with 1x12 cab or a 50-watt Friedman Small Box head and 2x12 cab, however, it was hard to resist tackling cranked-up rock and roll. Get some gain working for you, and the semihollow body comes alive. There’s evocative feedback aplenty — a great sustain booster — with impressive note clarity. The guitar reveals more of its sonic personality with the gain tamed down for jazz tones and jangly chordal arpeggios, extending from silky articulation to warm lows and a balanced midrange. The Romeo represents an impressively original design rendered with quality construction and at a relatively reasonable price. It all adds up to a guitar with lots of personality and surprising versatility. $1,873 street. eastmanguitars.com
Eastman SB55DC/V By Dave Hunter, Guitar Player, May 2020 There’s little not to like about a set-neck, double-cutaway, single-pickup slab of rock-and-roll fury. The lines of the SB55DC/v accurately follow those of the 1958–’61 Les Paul Jr., but done up with a slab of okoume, which weighs less than traditional Honduran or African mahogany. This thing rings like a gong when played unplugged, with a loud, lively character and plenty of body vibration. Tested through a Dr. Z Carmen Ghia and 1x12 cab, and a Friedman Small Box and 2x12 cab, the SB55DC/v is clear and articulate. Where some P-90-loaded guitars are inherently gnarly, the ‘50s-wind Lollar in the SB55DC/v is predisposed toward jangly arpeggios and low-string twang riffs that bite and sting. The SB55DC/v reminds us why original Juniors became such punk-rock classics, yet there’s more versatility here — even some smooth, near-jazz moods. This is an extremely appealing guitar, and a homage done right. $1,189 street. eastmanguitars.com
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Reverend Rick Vito Soulshaker By Chris Gill, Guitar World, November 2020
GUITAR WORLD
GOLD AWARD P
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Starting out in a garage behind a bicycle shop in East Detroit in 1997, Reverend’s founder Joe Naylor built affordable guitars with an unusual polymer rim and laminated phenolic top and back. The thriving company now produces about 50 guitar and 10 bass models, and has cultivated an impressive roster of artist endorsements. One of those artists is Rick Vito, whose dazzling Soulshaker features a chambered Korina body with pearloid top, custom checker-pattern body binding, a three-piece Korina neck with satin finish, an ebony fingerboard and a pair of custom humbuckers decorated with an art deco triangle motif under each string. Naylor designed this guitar to provide big, beefy tones suitable for Vito’s playing style, but players who prefer to press the flesh will dig how ample and round individual notes sound while chords still maintain excellent
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note-to-note definition. $1,919 street. reverendguitars.com
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Supro Conquistador By Michael Ross, Guitar Player, July 2020 Designed in conjunction with Nashville guitarist Ford Thurston, the Conquistador is as stylish as it gets. Its offset Supro shape, striking racinggreen color, f-hole, classic Kluson-style tuners and teacup-style knobs holler pawnshop prize. Simultaneously, its 12-inch fingerboard radius and satin-finished, shallow C neck scream shred machine. The Conquistador’s gold-foil neck pickup is louder than the Alnico 3 PAF-style humbucker in the bridge, but adjusting the pickup heights evened the balance. The gold-foil can produce vintage Supro woof for that Howlin’ Wolf tone (pickup ACCESSORIES
set nearer the strings) or transparent clarity (when lowered). The bridge pickup has midrange honk, but the low output keeps it from getting muddy. Despite their disparate sounds, the two pickups work well together and deliver a wealth of tones. The Conquistador lives in that special place between pawnshop personality and professional polish. Give it a listen and see if it doesn’t conquer your heart. $999 street. suprousa.com
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Fender Acoustasonic Stratocaster By Jimmy Leslie, Guitar Player, July 2020
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The AcoustaSonic Strat delivers a broad blend of acoustic and electric tones. Unplugged, Fender’s Stringed Instrument Resonance System makes this guitar far louder than its electric cousin, yet quieter than a travel-sized acoustic. For amplification, Fender teamed with Fishman to create a Matrix undersaddle piezo transducer and a Z-Axis body sensor. A Fender N4 Noiseless magnetic is in the bridge position. The whole shootin’ match runs through a digital processor preset with acoustic-guitar models and two Strat sounds, and the three pickup signals are summed to one output. The options are awesome. You can run the AcoustaSonic into an acoustic or an electric rig, but Libras like me love a balance of both (though you’ll need an ABY footswitch for this). I can combine acoustic and electric styles, play percussively in alternate tunings, and with all the
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shredability of a bona fide Stratocaster. It’s the bee’s knees. $1,999 street. fender.com
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Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster By Paul Riario, Guitar World, Holiday 2020 Fender’s endless pursuit of innovation has given us the Acoustasonic Telecaster. While this hybrid may not replace your favorite electric or acoustic, it can sit somewhere between, most likely as a utility guitar. Strumming unplugged, it sounds firm with a moderate output, but once plugged in to an acoustic amp or P.A., there’s an undeniable wow factor. The sound is stunning in how full-bodied it becomes with no feedback. The imaged voice combinations are variations of Sitka and Engelmann spruce tops, Brazilian rosewood, maple parlor body, dreadnought, ACCESSORIES
rosewood auditorium body acoustics and more, and all are good to great. Using the Mod knob to blend voices generates incredible detail for finetuning your acoustic tone. The N4 bridge pickup adds a nice snarl if you’re using it like an electric, and twisting the Mod knob to roll between clean or fat tones really makes the Acoustasonic an all-in-one solution. $1,999 street. fender.com
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Gibson G-45 Standard By Jimmy Leslie, Guitar Player, December 2019 Built in Gibson’s Bozeman, Montana, factory, Generation 45 acoustics offer plenty of bang for the buck, including a dovetail neck joint attached via hot hide glue to a neck with a modern profile, a sleek body constructed from solid woods and an onboard Fishman Sonitone pickup. The most impressive aspect of the G-45 Standard is its playability. Right out of the box, this baby is ready to roll. Gibson says the neck has an “advanced response” profile, and its full C-shape feels low and comfy. You don’t feel like there’s a tree trunk in your hands, but you still have still plenty to grab onto. The G-45’s tone is mid focused, with a crisp top end. There’s a solid bottom-end foundation, but nothing too boomy. The G-45 Standard’s craftsmanship is high for its relatively low price. Gibson has truly delivered an American-made instrument that’s affordable for gigging musicians. $1,299 street. gibson.com
Gibson Sheryl Crow Country Western Supreme By Jimmy Leslie, Guitar Player, February 2020 The idea for the most highly customized Country Western in Gibson history was to use Sheryl Crow’s own sweet-sounding classic CW as a baseline and add punch and projection via a hand-scalloped, X-bracing pattern from the 1930s. Unlike many dreadnoughts, the Crow Country Western’s hallmark tone is not a booming bottom, but rather a satisfying midrange and a brilliant top end that’s present without being brittle. Chords sound together as one voice, yet single-note runs pop out with clarity. The Amulet M undersaddle pickup does a fantastic job of representing the guitar’s acoustic character, as the electrified tone is balanced from string to string, and it didn’t quack out when I played big cowboy chords with a strong attack. The Sheryl Crow Country Western Supreme truly sings. It’s a dream acoustic for the performing singer/ songwriter who has an ear for elegance and an eye for the extraordinary. $4,299 street. gibson.com
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Martin SC-13E By Jimmy Leslie, Guitar Player, June 2020
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The SC-13E’s new shape, style and innovative features make it truly special, and to have such a progressive acoustic-electric drop out of the blue from America’s most historic guitar manufacturer is like having a Tesla suddenly roll off the line at Ford. The Martin S is a shredder’s dream machine. I’ve come across no other acoustic with such fantastic upper-register access. Martin’s Sure Align neck system and the absence of a “15th fret hump” allows for smooth position transitions up into the short rows. Lead licks flow like water, and all sorts of new avenues open up. For example, I found myself placing a capo much higher than usual and making all kinds of chimey chords and melodies as a result. Of course, the SC-13E’s groovy looks and über playability wouldn’t mean squat if it didn’t sound good, and this guitar delivers plenty
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of power, pop and projection. $1,499 street. martinguitar.com
GUITAR WORLD
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Orangewood Hudson By Chris Gill, Guitar World, March 2020
GOLD AWARD P
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The Hudson is a non-cutaway dreadnought built with a solid torrefied (a thermochemical treatment that reduces moisture, oils and resins) spruce top, solid mahogany back and sides, mahogany neck and ebony fretboard and bridge. Additional high-quality details include vintagestyle Grover open-gear tuners with “butterbean” knobs, a Tusq nut and saddle, scalloped bracing, full body, neck and headstock binding, herringbone top purfling, rosette and back center strip and a thin natural satin finish. While many acoustic guitars in the sub-$1,000 category
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sound pretty good these days, Orangewood guitars truly stand out for their playability, in addition to delivering impressively complex, responsive tone. The necks on the Hudson and Sage Live provide ample width for playing chords and single-note lines comfortably, and the action has that “just right” balance of height for tone while still providing incredibly fast and comfortable playability. $645 street. orangewoodguitars.com
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Dr. Z Jetta 1x12 Combo By Dave Hunter, Guitar Player, June 2020 Dr. Z’s Mike Zaite is one of the more original designers on the boutique scene, but he often
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takes inspiration from left-field vintage creations, rather than the Vox-Marshall-Fender triumvirate to which 90 percent of the boutique market pays homage. The Jetta, therefore, is a 30-watt 1x12 combo inspired by a 1968 Ampeg Reverbojet. It’s a surprisingly gutsy little brute, capable of a wide range of personalities, yet with a thickness and ELECTRIC G U I TA R S
muscularity of tone throughout its range. Cranked up, it is one thumpingly loud amp, with a bark and kick reminiscent of the great Hiwatt amps. Dialed down, the Jetta becomes a more vintage-voiced, tweed-inflected brawler. In a nutshell, the Jetta reminds you of what fun a simple, plug-and-go first plugged into a real tube amp and got right down to the business of playing rock and roll. $1,399 street. drzamps.com
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amp can be, and of that magical time when you
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Fender ’64 Custom Princeton Reverb By Chris Gill, Guitar World, September 2020 Hundreds of stars have made the Fender Princeton an icon, and it’s known as the most recorded amp in the world. Like the original, the ‘64 Custom Princeton’s clean tones are among the absolute best available — especially when
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paired with its gorgeous, lush tube-driven reverb. Individual notes have ample body, and percussive snaps of the low E string deliver a tight, drum-like wallop. The impressive clean headroom and overall warmth makes this amp ideal for a pedal-based rig. The tremolo is also
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impressive, with a rich, organic texture that smoothly emerges on the decay of sustained notes and ducks out of the way when playing more aggressively. The tone transforms to overdrive grit with the volume at “5” (with humbuckers) or at “7” (single-coils). The overdrive becomes satisfyingly raunchy with the ACCESSORIES
volume maxed, but the tone never becomes tubby and note definition and attack remains brilliant. $2,299 street. fender.com
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Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb By Paul Riario, Guitar World, April 2020 The Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb is a dropdead cosmetic replica of the venerable tubepowered Twin Reverb amp, but in a completely all-digital version. The amp’s tight and punchy cleans become bigger and bolder as you turn up the volume, and with a firm top-end sparkle. What’s truly striking is that there’s an underlying lively warmth to the Tone Master without it sounding coldly digital. Fender boldly states the Tone Master’s tone is “virtually indistinguishable” from the actual Twin Reverb, and it is eerily close. My well-attuned ears tell me it’s a more controlled and detailed sound that’s well-suited as a pedal platform, and without all the hum and spikiness an all-tube Twin Reverb can be notorious for. By all expectations, the Tone Master Twin Reverb proves to be a really gorgeous sounding amp, and its tube-emulated response at any attenuated volume is nothing short of groundbreaking. $999 street. fender.com
Hartke LX8500 By Stuart Clayton, Bass Player, July 2020 The LX8500 has a sleek, modern look, comprised of a robust aluminum chassis with a recessed carrying handle. It won’t fit into the front pocket of a gig bag, but at just 8.5lbs, it’s no hardship to carry. The front panel is uncluttered and simple to navigate. In use, the basic tone is thick and satisfying with plenty of low-end oomph. The Drive control offers overdriven tones that range from subtle to brain-melting, with a pleasing warmth, thanks to the 12AX7 tube-powered preamp. The LX8500 is great for home practicing and recording, and it’s perfect for the majority of gigging scenarios. At this price point, you’re getting a lot of power for your money, but, power aside, there is much to like here: a versatile EQ, compressor and drive functionality, all housed in a versatile and portable package. Hartke could be onto a real winner here. $599 street. samsontech.com
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Ernie Ball Music Man Short-Scale Stingray Special By Joel McIver, Bass Player, Holiday 2019
and that deficiency exists to a certain extent here. However, the single humbucker has been given neodymium magnets with a higher output than usual, and there’s also a 20db boost available when you push the volume pot down. These solutions don’t quite make this little bass a match for the thunderous tones of a full-sized one, but there’s enough bottom here to satisfy anyone who isn’t actually in a reggae band. However, the tonal performance of this funky little bass isn’t its unique selling point. The objective is to deliver a playable, high-quality bass with a short scale, and this model plays beautifully — even if you’re equipped with gorilla fingers — and it’s made exquisitely. $1,999 street. ernieball.com
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This bass is just like the big ’Ray you’re familiar with, but shrunk. The lack of a weighty body on a bass inevitably leads to a lack of extreme low end,
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Fender Ultra Jazz By Stuart Clayton, Bass Player, April 2020 The Ultra Jazz has a redesigned active preamp that offers a three-band EQ, as well as a passive option. In passive mode, soloing each pickup results in to-be-expected tonal characteristics: warm, vintage tones from the neck pickup, and a punchy, biting sound from the bridge pickup. In active mode, the tonal palette is widened through the addition of the three-band EQ. The treble and bass controls occupy the first stacked control, with the midrange at the top of the second. Having the option to modify those classic Jazz tones is certainly appealing, and I found a subtle boost ACCESSORIES
of the bass frequencies added more meat to my go-to slap tone. Similarly, further bite can be added to Jaco-esque fingerstyle tones via the midcontrol. I found each active tone control to be well-voiced, and that only subtle nudges are really needed to bring about some very pleasing tones. $2,009 street. fender.com
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Fender Ultra Precision By Stuart Clayton, Bass Player, April 2020 Armed with the latest versions of Fender’s Ultra Noiseless Vintage pickups, the Ultra Precision’s passive tone control offers up the traditional P-bass sound palette, from subby low-end warmth to plectrum-beckoning punch. In active mode, both pickups are operational, although the most interesting tones come as a result of soloing the neck pickup and tweaking the traditional tones further using the EQ. Favoring the bridge pickup takes the instrument into Jazz Bass territory. Fender also has made significant alternations to the Ultra range’s body contours, re-sculpting the rear of the basses for easier upper fret access. Gone is the squared-off heel, replaced by a curved alternative that removes all of the mass that restricted access to the upper frets on all previous Fender basses. The area around the neck joint is also gently tapered, making the instruments comfortable to play across the entire fingerboard. $2,009 street. fender.com
Fender Vintera ’60 Jazz By Mike Brooks, Bass Player, August 2020 This bass has a tight, punchy character with a fair smattering of natural growl in the midrange. The pickups themselves have been revoiced to provide a more accurate approximation of the original 1960s units, so the warm, round tone is accompanied by a gritty presence. The warmth of the neck pickup is well suited to classic soul lines, and it does an admirable job of covering the split-coil tone you’d get from a Precision. Bring the bridge unit into play, and you get a tone with a bright raspiness that adds clarity and definition. The Vintera’s playability is very pleasing. The mid-’60s C-shaped neck feels more rounded than a standard Jazz neck, but the narrow nut width helps retain the slinkiness for which J-Basses are renowned. This is a fine instrument that won’t break the bank, while giving you all the classic Jazz Bass tones. $999 street. fender.com
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Blackstar amPlug2 FLY Guitar
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By Paul Riario, Guitar World, Holiday 2020 This tiny plastic wonder contains amp tones and onboard effects that sound so crisp and full, you’ll want to use it for recording, much less practicing. The Blackstar amPlug2 FLY Guitar headphone amp has three channels, each indicated by a color LED: Clean (green), Crunch (orange) ELECTRIC G U I TA R S
and Lead (red). There are controls for volume, gain and ISF (a rotary mid-sweep for more American or British amp characteristics), headphone and aux inputs, and an FX button (selectable chorus, delay and reverb). I’d want the amPlug2 FLY for the Clean channel alone, which offers slightly compressed sparkle or tube-like classic amp stack’s bark to metal grind with molten mids. Lead has more compressed and juiced gain with pointed mids. I now use the amPlug2 FLY a lot because no app matches its unrivaled tube tone in a headphone amp. $44 street. blackstaramps.com
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breakup. The Crunch channel has all the shades of a
Boss Waza-Air By Paul Riario, Guitar World, July 2020 The Boss Waza-Air is a wireless guitar-headphones system that integrates spatial technology and a gyro sensor that tracks your head movement to deliver a virtual “amp-in-room” experience.
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Add five unique amp voices, access to more than 50 effects, Bluetooth audio streaming and editing via the free Boss Tone Studio app, and the Boss Waza-Air may be the ultimate all-inone practice and play-anywhere solution. Waza-Air’s visceral engine provides three spatially realistic environments: Surround captures the immersive atmosphere of playing in a virtual
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recording studio, Static activates the gyro sensor and places the amp and ambient room sound in front of you and pans it in relation to your head movements and Stage places the amp sound behind you, creating a virtual “live setting” that delivers life-like sound and feel. The Katana-amp voicings deliver pleasing hi-gain and clean tones, each sounding incredibly
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dimensional through Waza-Air’s high-fidelity headphones. $399 street. boss.info
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Celestion G10 Creamback By Dave Hunter, Guitar Player, September 2020 The G10 Creamback immediately displays its lineage from several decades of Greenback production with a muscular, slightly mids-forward performance that feels instantly British and overtly classic rock. Hit with clean sounds, it’s a sweet, detailed and balanced speaker with little propensity toward treble spikes. Lows are decent for a single 10, promising fuller bass from a pair in the right cab. Pushed with some overdrive, the G10 Creamback segues into a blend of smoothness and aggression. There’s just a little grittiness in the upper mids to enhance the texture — a notable characteristic of the G12M Greenback line — yet it displays more solidity in the lows than the existing G10 Greenback, and good balance throughout the range, with neither mud nor harshness in evidence anywhere. The immediacy that fans of good 10-inch speakers praise is in abundance, along with enjoyable dynamics that make it a very playable speaker. $115 street. celestion.com
Celestion F12-X200 By Dave Hunter, Guitar Player, August 2020 Vastly improved amp modelers are prompting guitarists to seek better ways of making digital simulations that sound so dynamic and accurate in recorded tracks feel like traditional amps on stage. Celestion’s answer is the F12-X200, a 200-watt 12inch speaker the British company calls “full-range, live-response” (FRLR). When powered by a power amp and fed by a modeling unit, the F12-X200 is intended to remain neutral and reproduce the full range of frequencies that modelers deliver, while offering the physical feedback players expect from a traditional guitar cab. I mounted the F12-X200 into three different test cabinets and hit it with a Fractal Axe-Fx III into a Fryette Power Station used as a power amp. The sound was beyond good enough, and after A/B referencing the Axe-Fx II through some “real” amps and cabs, I actually missed the detail and clarity of the modeling rig into the F12-X200. $175 street. celestion.com
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Arturia KeyStep Pro By Si Truss, Electronic Musician, October 2020
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The KeyStep Pro combines the analog and digital sequencing of Arturia’s BeatStep with a 37-note keyboard. The feature highlight is the comprehensive range of ins-and-outs: two MIDI outputs and one input, a USB port, a quartet of CV voices (each with pitch, gate and velocity/modulation outputs), eight drum trigger outputs (along with analog clock in, out and reset out ports), a metronome output and a sustain pedal input. The KeyStep Pro leans more toward the ‘step’ part of its name than the ‘key’ part. While the keyboard is naturally better for inputting melodies and chords than the pads of the BeatStep, this is still more of a sequencers’ device than a players’ one. The KeyStep Pro is unlikely to replace your stage piano, but the workflow feels tailor-made for modular and hardware synth fans, and
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it’s easily one of the best do-it-all controllers out there right now. $699 street. arturia.com
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Arturia MicroLab By Jon Musgrave, Electronic Musician, June 2020 MicroLab is Arturia’s smallest keyboard. With just 25 compact keys and a small number of controls to the left, MicroLab is designed for portability, and it fits comfortably in a regular backpack. It’s USB powered and USB/MIDI class compliant, but it also has low power requirements, which means it works with Android devices, iPads and iPhones (using the Camera Connection Kit) without the need for pass-through power. Arturia keybeds are excellent, and although the small key design won’t suit everyone, the action is positive, quiet and feels robust enough to handle plenty of abuse. ACCESSORIES
MicroLab’s bundled software includes Bitwig Studio 8-Track and UVI’s Grand Piano Model D. Most impressive is Arturia’s own Analog Lab Lite, which includes more than 500 presets. I like this controller. Arturia set realistic feature limits and maximized the design and functionality. So although this is a very affordable device, it still oozes quality. $89 street. arturia.com
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Novation Launchkey 37 Mk3 By Si Truss, Electronic Musician, August 2020 New for the Launchkey Mk3 series is the 37-note version, adding a fourth option alongside the 25, 49 and 61-key variants. It’s a smart move. The Launchkey 37 is compact but doesn’t feel as limited as a 25-note keyboard. As with other Mk3 controllers, the Launchkeys gain standalone Chord, Scale and Arpeggiator modes, which can be used with or without a computer. All Launchkeys gain a hardware MIDI out, so users can control hardware synths. The Launchkeys are primarily aimed at Ableton Live users, and it’s hard to fault the seamless compatibility. There’s also a decent level of control for Logic Pro X and access to Novation’s flexible Custom modes, which let the Launchkeys send CC and program change messages for more advanced control of external hardware. In all, this is a very well-designed and well-priced mid-level controller. You’ll be hard-pushed to find a better Live-centric keyboard. $179 street. novationmusic.com
Novation Launchpad Mini Mk3 By Jon Musgrave, Electronic Musician, April 2020 Novation’s Ableton Live Launchpad grid controllers are massively popular and have spawned a number of updates and variants, including the very affordable Mk3 Mini. The Mk3’s new features include RGB color matching pads, so you have a really accurate representation of what you see in your Live Session. In addition to the Live Session layout, there are three Custom layouts. Two (Drums and Keys) are preconfigured as drum grids and a chromatic keyboard, and the third (User) is blank. All can be edited using Novation’s Components app, which has a number of widgets including unipolar and bipolar faders, chromatic and scale specific keyboards, 4x4 drum grid, etc. Reworked right-hand side perimeter buttons include dedicated Scene launchers, as well as Stop/Solo/Mute functionality. The Mini Mk3 stands out as a much more customizable MIDI controller, and in many ways it offers an overall slicker user experience than its predecessor, the Mk2. $110 street. novationmusic.com
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Arturia FX Collection By Si Truss, Electronic Musician, August 2020 Despite an epic catalog of synth emulations developed over 20 years, Arturia didn’t release its first software effect until 2018. The brand’s
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processor plugins now total 15, covering filters, preamps, compressors, delays and reverbs, and alongside bundle and individual purchase options, the whole lot is grouped into one allencompassing FX Collection. The focus is on emulations of classic gear, but there are a few leftfield cuts. For example, the compressors ELECTRIC G U I TA R S
include the obligatory 1176, but also a version of the far less emulated Gates STA-Level. Similarly, the delays take in the usual Space Echo and BBD effects, but also add Eternity — an original filter and bit crush-equipped dual delay that might be the collection’s highlight. The whole collection not 100% comprehensive, it’s a well-rounded package, with lots of appeal to producers of all genres. $399 street. arturia.com
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is very impressive. There are no duds here. While
Arturia OB-Xa V By Andy Johns, Electronic Musician, November 2020 Aside from being a faithful rendition of the original OB-Xa (and bits of the X), OB-Xa V adds some lovely touches in terms of modern modulation and effects. You get four waveforms per oscillator (over the two on the original), additional modulation options, nine effects, up to eight voices of unison and an arpeggiator, plus greater LFO and mix flexibility. The OB-Xa V sounds deliver a good mix of old and new, with classic clean and dirty
ACCESSORIES
basses and leads sitting alongside more contemporary presets. The dirt you expect from the OB range is nicely on display, but there are also some surprisingly clean and wholesome sounds. Some of the pads are rich, and many are left untouched by effects so you can enjoy the rawness. The wide range makes the OB-Xa V more racehorse than workhorse, and well suited to a variety of production tasks. $235 street. arturia.com
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Fishman TriplePlay Connect By Chris Gill, Guitar World, January 2020 The Fishman TriplePlay Connect system consists of a hexaphonic pickup, mounting brackets and the TriplePlay Connect app, which is a free download. I’ve installed many hexaphonic pickups on guitars, and the TriplePlay Connect is by far the easiest and fastest. Once the pickup is in place and charged, the app automatically walks you through tuning, pickup sensitivity and picking strength adjustments. It’s smooth sailing for even the most tech-averse guitarists. The selection of instruments is impressive and comprehensive, including pianos, organs, synths, acoustic brass, strings, percussion and ethnic instruments, electric and acoustic basses and drums. Available effects include amp simulators, chorus, phaser, tremolo, analog and modulated delay and reverb. For guitarists who have always wanted to explore the capabilities of controlling new sounds with their guitars but were confused by guitar synth systems, Fishman’s TriplePlay Connect offers the most affordable and easy-to-use solution available. $306 street. fishman.com
IK Multimedia Axe I/O Audio Interface By Freddy Villano, Bass Player, September 2020 The two-in, five-out, Axe I/O offers bass-centric features such as adjustable impedance, streamlined re-amplification functions and a variety of instrument-input circuits. There are a wealth of recording options, including high-end mic preamps, top-of-the-line converters and an extended frequency response. The unit doubles as a controller that allows bass players to record and perform with real-time effects such as octave pedals and envelope filters. Also included is a massive bundle of software and plug‑ins — everything needed to track, mix and master. All of the tones are impressive and convincing, and you can manipulate the sounds with all of the functionality of the actual amps. Technology has come a long way, and you’d be hard pressed to hear the difference between any of IK Multimedia’s plug-ins and the real thing. With what seems like zero latency, the Axe I/O makes tracking bass as easy and straightforward as ever. $349 street. ikmultimedia.com
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