Latest articles by Phil Weller
Donner’s Hush-X was lauded as the ultimate affordable travel guitar – now it’s been given a major upgrade
Lightweight and tonally versatile with onboard tones and effects, the Hush-X Pro shows the Chinese firm is continuing to push the envelope
Tim Henson says he put Ernie Ball’s skills to the test with his new signature string and accessory set
The Ernie Ball Tim Henson Signature String and Accessory Collection features strings for electric and classical guitars, with both sets primed for his unique style
Orange debuts the O Tone 40 – a “ludicrously loud” solid-state combo that promises to be a dream pedalboard platform
The 40-watt single-channel combo is built to be painted on top of with effects, and it wants to be your next “workhorse” amp
After years of waiting, Jacob Collier’s wild five-string Strandberg has hit the market
Melding Strandberg’s ergonomic headless guitar designs with Collier’s perception challenging D A E A D tuning, the guitar is one of the most intriguing guitar concepts in years
The Fart Pedal Number Two has dropped – and it’s promising “10 times the splooty blompers”
Players can now turn their guitars into more tonally accurate farts, as the new pedal adds fan-requested features to the original’s steaming pile...
Sterling by Music Man serves up an affordable take on Tosin Abasi’s Kaizen, plus Rabea Massaad and Fluff signature guitars
The wait for mid-priced versions of some of Ernie Ball Music Man’s most innovative signature models is now over – although not without some significant tweaks...
Fender sprinkles a little pizzazz onto its Player II guitars with a limited edition Sparkle Series
An all-new Three-Color Sunburst finish with a classy sparkle finish sees Strats, Tele, and Precision and Jazz bass builds get an $899 makeover
Harley Benton doubles down on the Fender Tom DeLonge Strat, with this Blink-style dual-humbucker build
The budget gear firm loads up its alder/maple strat copy with high-gain humbuckers with split coil functions for a new tonal take on its ST-Modern Plus Series
Fender reveals its most affordable Acoustasonic builds yet – in the form of the $599 Standard
Made in Indonesia and featuring Fender and Fishman designed electronics, the release brings Fender’s cutting-edge electric-acoustic well under the $1,000 mark
Marshall reimagines the JCM900 as the Studio 900 – condensing its gain and growl into a portable, practice-friendly unit
The high-gain JCM900 has been remodeled for the compact format with 20-watt amp switchable to reduced 5W and 1W levels to adapt to its environment
Marshall makes a play for the amp-in-a-box market, bringing authorized takes on Plexi, DSL and JCM tones to your pedalboard
Blending classic Marshall tones with “modern convenience,” the Overdrive Series pedals represent a bold new era for the legendary British firm
ESP goes all-in on single-pickup builds for 2025 – is the neck humbucker becoming a thing of the past for metal guitars?
The Japanese luthier has dropped 28 new models, with half of those featuring single-pickup designs as it reflects changing trends in the metal guitar scene
Orange launches “studio-grade and gig-ready” Baby Range – three affordable, compact heads that downsize classic Orange tones
NAMM 2025: The three amps are travel-friendly and offer versatile tone-sculpting features for the studio and the stage
Spiritbox’s Mike Stringer to raffle off his gear in support of L.A. wildfires relief
Stringer reveals that the wildfires have affected the band on a personal level, as bassist Josh Gilbert lost his home to the fires
Sterling by Music Man brings six high-end builds to affordable price ranges – covering guitars and basses
From the EVH-rooted Axis and the Cutlass, to a collaborative Darkglass bass, the Ernie Ball-owned firm is serving up cut-price versions of fan favorites
Magneto takes its Sonnet six-string to new heights and launches its first-ever bass
The one-two release is set to be rolled out in May, with its upgraded Strat-a-like and short-scale bass set to be showcased at NAMM 2025
Nobels stuffs three chorus flavors into its tiny new pedal, the CHO-mini
Skewed towards ’70s-style chorus effects, it comes with tap tempo functionality, space-saving housing, and an affordable price tag
Celestion’s ear-saving Peacekeeper speaker lets you dial in the “sweet spot” of a driven amp at modest volumes
The days of having to crank an amp to excessive levels to make it sing could soon be a thing of the past
How Spiro Dussias became shred’s next great hope – and ended up giving Dream Theater guitar lessons
One of 2024’s standout metal guitarists on what it’s like to be compared to Tosin Abasi, why nothing compares to his ESP Horizon, and how amp modeling is about to get crazy
Marshall teases the release of a modded JCM, as a new era for the legendary amp brand beckons
The British gear firm is preparing for its first NAMM in five years – and it looks like a new range of effects pedals is on the cards, too
ESP has dropped a new LTD signature guitar for Richard ZK – and it’s got the Rammstein riffer rather excited
The guitarist road-tested and experimented with various prototypes before landing on the final form
Cort and Hedras continue to elevate their progressive electric design with new Mutility II
Improved ergonomics and bolstered tonal versatility headline Cort’s latest Hedras-designed drop
Dennis Fano is now leading both Fano and Novo – as his two boutique companies merge
Both firms were founded by Fano, and now they’ve been brought under one leadership structure for the first time
