Exploring the world of country guitar is a diverse and exciting journey, one from which a guitarist of any background can benefit, while having fun. Modern country guitar is an amalgam of traditional and not-so-traditional playing approaches borrowed from several related homegrown American styles. As such, it includes elements of blues, bluegrass, rock and roll, and even jazz, and it offers a tasty mix of expressive and challenging playing techniques.

In the following video, Guitar World's Paul Riario tries out the latest high-gain offering from Peavey, the new XXX II, a 120-watt amp sporting four EL34's in the power section and four 12AX7 tubes in the preamp section.

Eagle-eyed gear spotters have probably noticed the distinctive amber glow of a Conn or Peterson strobe tuner display onstage with the biggest acts over the past four decades. Renowned for their incredible accuracy, Peterson strobe tuners are the preferred choice of pro guitarists and guitar techs who demand the most accurate tuning available. The Peterson Stomp Classic Strobotuner is a compact and affordable stomp box that combines the familiar look and performance of the vintage Conn ST-11 Strobotuner with numerous features found on Peterson’s modern high-end strobe tuners.

The band, its label and its management also came up with the idea to release the three discs in succession rather than put them out all at once or as a set. ¡Uno! comes out September 25, ¡Dos! hits on November 13, and ¡Tré! will be released on January 15, 2013. It’s an unconventional move, but one that’s perhaps more attuned to the short-attention-span digital era.