What is it?

Relic’d guitars: you either love 'em or hate 'em. Most guitarists baulk at spending thousands on an electric guitar that looks like it’s already taken a beating, which is understandable, but paying less than $250? Well, maybe you don’t mind getting something that looks a little aged when it costs so little. The Harley Benton TE-62LA is exactly that, an inexpensive, relic’d guitar. What a world we live in.

It's part of the new Harley Benton Aged Series, which breaks down into two sub-lines: HA (Heavy Aged), and LA (Light Aged), the latter being the subject of this review.

Harley Benton’s budget-busting antics are nothing new to most guitar players; the brand, owned by Thomann, has made a serious dent in the affordable guitar market over the past ten years, and, as you may be aware, big players in the guitar game have started sit up and take notice.

Aided by cutting out the middleman and going straight to the manufacturer, the brand manages to deliver great-quality guitars at prices much lower than the competition. Thomann has marketed clever, realizing nobody wants a retailer’s name on their headstock, and HB has blossomed into a genuine brand-offering that’s reaching household status in the world of guitar.

The original Harley Benton TE-62 has some very favorable reviews online, and this guitar is similarly spec’d, but it’s not just the same instrument with aged hardware and a distressed look. It’s got an American alder body, with a caramelized Canadian maple neck and fretboard combination. It’s a ‘C’ profile, rather than the TE-62’s modern ‘D’, with both guitars featuring a more modern, 12-inch radius with 21 medium jumbo frets.

The electronics have changed too; previous models had Tesla single coils in the classic T-style lineup, but here we have Isola pickups. The controls are arranged in the typical lineup with a master volume and tone, as well as a three-way toggle switch for selecting pickup combinations. The bridge features three compensated brass saddles, with the classic ashtray-style layout, while at the other end are Kluson-style tuners, with the vintage tops to poke the end of your electric guitar strings through.

Specs

• Launch price: $238 | £214 | $249
• Made: N/A
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Selected American alder
• Neck: Vintage caramelized Canadian maple, C profile
• Fingerboard: Vintage caramelized Canadian maple, dot inlays, 12-inch (305mm) radius
• Scale length: 648mm (25.5")
• Nut/width: Graphite, 42mm (1.65")
• Frets: 21, premium nickel silver
• Hardware: B01 bridge with brass saddles, Kluson-style machine heads
• String spacing at bridge: 53.4mm
• Electrics: 1 Isola VT-TE-B Alnico 5 (bridge), 1 Isola VT-TE-CR-N Alnico 5 (neck), master volume and tone, 3-way pickup selector
• Weight: 3.2kg, 7.05 lbs
• Options: Heavy relic available
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Sea Foam Green (as reviewed), Lake Placid Blue
• Cases: Not included
• Contact: Harley Benton

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

Picking the guitar out of the box, it’s a bit lighter than I’d expect from an alder body, and taking it to my scales, it comes in at 3.2 kg. I have my own Mexican-made Telecaster with an alder body, and it’s much heavier than this one. Like a Formula 1 car, maybe taking the finish off really does save some weight.

The finish itself is poly, but it hasn’t been glossed over, which means it will age quicker with new scratches, scrapes and dents as you inevitably add them over time.

Up close, it’s pretty easy to tell that this isn’t genuine wear, but from further back you could definitely be fooled into thinking the guitar is much older than it actually is.

The aged hardware looks really good, with that yellowing of the pickguard and tarnished chrome of the bridge plate and tuners holding up even under close inspection. There are giveaways, though. The frets look brand new, as does the pickup selector and the bridge pickup. I doubt Harley Benton could have done these and kept it under $250 to be fair, but these details stand out more when the rest of the guitar looks well aged.

On the back of the neck, the wear looks almost genuine. I have a Squier Strat that's over 20 years old and has taken an absolute beating over the years. The neck on that is tarnished similarly to this. I will say the TE-62LA is a bit too uniform. Part of the aging is that guitarists tend to spend a lot of time in particular positions. The heaviest wear on my Squier is all around where you’d play open chords, and up near the 12th fret, as it’s the guitar I honed my chops on when I was first starting to play.

The fretboard wear does not look very good. It makes the guitar look like it’s only been used to play an open major D chord and its variants for 20 years. It’s too clean as well, and would look much better if it’d been dirtied up at the spots of wear so it looked more like it’d been made by sweaty hands. You’d think if a guitar was this worn at the top of the fretboard, it would have some wear elsewhere, too, so it feels a little out of place only being in one spot.

Despite the aged look, it’s a very solidly put-together instrument overall. There’s no movement in the neck pocket, the knobs and switches all feel well installed, and despite the artificially aged hardware, everything is neatly and tidily applied to the guitar.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

Sitting down to play the guitar unplugged, I’m reminded that Harley Benton really has nailed the playability of its guitar necks. It’s something I’ve noticed on quite a few HB guitars I’ve reviewed over the past year, where the feel of the neck is just superb. I don’t need any warming up coming from my Mexican-made Telecaster, and the profile feels just as nice as that, despite the guitar costing significantly less.

The fretwork is neat, although I think this guitar could really benefit from some rounding off of the fret edges. It’s not sharp, but you can feel the frets as you move quickly up and down the neck. A little sanding would solve this quickly. The action is nice and low out of the box, measuring in at 1.5mm at the 12th fret with my finger on the 1st fret. You could get it touch lower and have a real speed machine in your hands.

It means whether I’m playing licks inspired by Don Rich or doing the simple, heavy riffs from my post-punk band, the guitar is supremely playable. It feels comfortable with open chords, and moving further up the neck, I’m easily able to lay down my favorite lead lines without any adjustment required. As a vintage-style guitar, there are only 21 frets, but the medium jumbo size feels nice to bend against, and there’s no noticeable scratchiness as I do.

As you might expect from a hard-tail T-style design, the tuning stability is impeccable. Despite some seriously rough playing, plenty of bends, and really thrashing it with my picking hand, I seldom have to retune throughout my playing. When I do have to, the tuners feel a little stiff, but they operate as normal without any slipping.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

Sitting down with the guitar at my home studio desk and plugging into my audio interface, I load up the Neural DSP Tone King guitar plugin to see how the TE-62LA handles the clean tones. I’m immediately impressed by the bridge pickup on my standard clean sound with a dash of tremolo and a dollop of spring reverb. It’s nice and trebly without being overly harsh, and open chords sound really articulate across the strings.

Single-note licks have that classic twangy attack that’s sharp and dies off quickly, ideal for country or surf-inspired lead lines. It’s got a nice bite to it when you dig in, and really encapsulates that classic Tele sound well. Switching to the middle position and turning the tone knob down a touch gives a Strat-like tone perfect for surf-style tremolo picking.

The neck pickup on its own is a bit woolly with open chords. There’s a muffled feel to it that makes it a bit lifeless compared to the bridge position. On single notes, this isn’t so noticeable. It sounds a bit warmer here rather than dull, and it’s a similar feel with arpeggiated chords. With barre chords, the low end again feels dulled rather than warm.

Adding a simulated King of Tone and dialing up the gain on my amp sim, the neck pickup wooliness is amplified. Adding a little 1 kHz boost with an EQ plugin gives it a bit more clarity and bite, but as is, it’s noticeably dark and muddy sounding. When I switch to the middle position, it takes over the bridge pickup a bit more, overwhelming it with that wooliness that wasn’t so present when played clean.

The bridge position still sounds great with added gain though, aggressive without ever getting too harsh. When you get really far up the neck it can sound a touch ice-picky, but this is easily remedied by rolling back the tone knob a little. For power chords and lead lines, it’s really open and articulate, and stays that way when I try some open chords. It can handle punk, rock, blues, math-rock, and pretty much anything else I throw at it.

Verdict

I’ll be the first to admit relic'd guitars aren’t my thing, but this one is done pretty tastefully. For the untrained eye, it will definitely fool audience members into thinking it’s a guitar that’s much older than it actually is, although a close inspection will reveal some tell-tale signs. If relicing is your thing, this is a great example for not a lot of money, and you'll be able to add your own damage much quicker than you would with an unblemished, regular guitar finish.

Harley Benton has really nailed their neck profiles and overall feel, making the TE-62LA a brilliantly playable instrument. Honestly, it’s worth the entry price for that alone. Stick in a pair of better pickups, and you’d have yourself a gig-worthy guitar for less than $250. An absolute bargain in anyone’s book. It is a shame that the neck pickup underperforms, but the bridge pickup more than makes up for it.

Guitar World verdict: Relic’d guitars are polarizing, but aesthetics aside, the Harley Benton TE-62LA is an awesome guitar for the money. It plays fantastically well, feels really nicely put together, and that quick aging finish is a neat touch. It’s a little let down by the electronics, with the neck pickup being vastly inferior to the bridge, but this is expected at this price point.

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Harley Benton

What is it?

Buying a pedalboard is usually a compromise between size, portability, and having enough room for adding pedals in the future. With the XPND series, D'Addario attempts to remove some of that guesswork by offering a 'board that adapts to your current setup while also expanding as your pedal collection grows – or as you move between different projects that require different effects. After all, pedalboard design hasn't changed dramatically in decades, and D'Addario leans into that with a telescopic system that is, notably, patented.

This pedalboard is aimed at players who regularly need to switch between setups, whether that’s switching between bands, moving from studio to stage, or simply wanting a more portable rig without committing to multiple boards.

The XPND 1 is the single-row model in the range and the most compact option available. It measures 14 inches when closed and extends to 24 inches when expanded, offering a flexible footprint without committing to a permanently large ‘board. Players with more extensive setups will naturally gravitate towards the dual-row XPND 2, but the inclusion of multiple sizes is a smart move from D’Addario and makes the system feel more considered than gimmicky.

Balancing portability with durability is always a challenge in pedalboard design, but here D’Addario opts for ultra-durable aluminum construction. The surface is fully covered in loop Velcro on both the top and underside, so it’s ready for pedal placement straight out of the box. Also included is a cable management system that doubles as a structural support between sections, while helping keep power and patch cables neatly routed underneath the ‘board.

When D’Addario first launched its XPND pedalboard range in the early 2020s, I wasn’t entirely convinced of the need for a telescopic design. But after joining two bands with very different pedal requirements, the appeal quickly became much clearer. One setup demanded a stripped-back ‘board, the other a far more effects-heavy rig, and suddenly the idea of expanding and contracting a pedalboard to suit the gig made a lot more sense. Add in the fact that several guitarist friends had already adopted the system and were full of praise, and I was keen to finally put it to the test for Guitar World.

Specs

• Price: £79 | $64.99 | €79
• Material: Ultra-durable aluminum
• Features: Telescopic row expansion, pre-installed loop Velcro, adjustable feet for height, cable management clips
• Dimensions: 356-610 mm (extension range) x 149 x 65 mm
• Weight: 51.85oz/ 1.47kg (without pedals)
• Contact: D’Addario

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

Having recently moved house and discovering the XPND arrives flat-packed, I did feel a fair amount of trepidation. However, it was actually fairly straightforward to assemble. There are a few moving parts that are slightly fiddly, but it only took about 10 minutes to complete, after following the supplied instructions.

Four of the six rubber feet and side brackets are attached with countersunk hex screws, tightened with the supplied hex key. Everything lined up neatly, and there were no problems to report.

The top two rubber feet work slightly differently and are secured with a washer system that lets you adjust the pedalboard height between 35mm and 50mm. This adds a bit more angle to the unit and some additional clearance for larger power supplies, though it’s by no means generous.

In practice, I found this limited height a bit of an issue. My T-Rex Fuel Tank had absolutely no chance of fitting underneath the XPND 1. To be fair, it is chunky, so I wasn’t expecting miracles, but it’s still worth noting if you’re running a larger pedalboard power supply.

D’Addario does provide a compatibility list for power supplies that do fit underneath, which is helpful, but in my case I had to either place the unit on top of the board – which ate into pedal space and made cable routing a little messier – or leave it on the floor.

Once built, I was impressed by the heft of the thing. The aluminum feels genuinely durable as D’Addario claims, and I’m confident it’ll easily stand up to being thrown in and out of a car on the way to gigs. The telescopic mechanism is also pleasingly smooth, so adjusting the size between rehearsals and gigs takes only a few seconds, and when fully collapsed, the board tucks away very neatly.

On that note, the XPND 1 weighs 1.47kg without pedals, making it light enough to carry without much issue. One slight omission, however, is the lack of a gig bag. For a product clearly aimed at active and gigging players, that feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. D’Addario does offer a dedicated bag separately, but it’s priced at nearly the same as the XPND1 itself, making it a harder sell, in my opinion.

On the underside, there are two plastic braces on each rail that need to be flicked open when extending the board and closed again once you find your desired length. These don’t feel quite as sturdy as the rest of the construction, and I’d be slightly wary of heavy-handed use here, as they feel like the most obvious potential weak point in the design.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★☆

Having loop Velcro installed on both the top and underside was a win for me. Although my T-Rex Fuel Tank didn’t fit underneath, being able to mount a power supply with Velcro would have avoided the awkward attachment issues I’ve had with my Palmer Pedalboard 40, which lacks a pre-velcroed underside.

In its unexpanded state, you’re realistically looking at three, maybe four pedals at a push. I found compact, top-mounted pedals worked best here, as they allowed for tighter spacing without clashing with knobs or switches. I was initially unsure whether my Way Huge Pork Loin and Angry Troll would fit comfortably, being quite chunky and large, but thanks to their top-mounted controls, they slotted in without too much trouble next to my guitar tuner, a Boss TU-3.

I managed to squeeze four Boss pedals onto the board in its compact form – a TU-3, BD-2, RV-6 and CS-3 – but only just. That setup was only achievable thanks to my low-profile pancake patch cables. With standard cables, it would have been too tight to be practical.

Extending the XPND1 to its full 24-inch length opened things up considerably, replicating the effects of a more effects-heavy rig. In this configuration, the pedalboard remained stable, although there is a slight amount of flex. It didn’t bother me in use, but heavier-footed players should take note.

I managed to squeeze on seven pedals, including the Boss models above, my Way Huge Pork Loin and Angry Troll, plus an MXR Carbon Copy, making for a pretty versatile rig.

Although I don't typically play with a wah or other expression pedals, I also threw my Cry Baby wah pedal on to see how the single-row layout coped. Here, the XPND1 showed its biggest limitation. The length of the pedal caused the board to rock back and forth more than I'd have liked, making it feel a little awkward underfoot. If you regularly use a full-sized wah or expression pedal, it's definitely something worth considering.

I also found the playing angle a little flatter than I’m used to. Personally, I prefer a more pronounced tilt, as it makes pressing the pedals feel more natural. The standing height also feels slightly elevated, meaning I had to lift my foot a bit more than expected when switching pedals. These are, of course, preferential things for me, but I thought it’d be worth mentioning.

Verdict

For guitarists who regularly swap between different pedal setups, I think the XPND1 is a genuinely clever solution. With the ability to go from 14 to 24 inches, it has the flexibility to run a compact, everyday board and expand when a bigger gig or project demands more effects. As expected from D’Addario, it's exceptionally well built, thoughtfully designed, and feels like it'll survive years of gigging.

There are compromises, though. Under-board clearance is limited for larger power supplies, and full-sized expression pedals don't pair particularly well with the single-row layout. Even so, if flexibility is high on your priority list, the XPND1 is one of the smartest pedalboard designs I've used.

Guitar World verdict: Simply put, the D’Addario XPND 1 Core pedalboard is a clever, flexible solution for gigging guitarists who need to switch between compact and expanded setups. Its telescopic design and durable aluminum construction allow you to adapt your board to almost any situation, and the pre-installed Velcro means you can get up and running quickly. That said, there is limited clearance underneath, and a single-row layout restricts which stomps will fit comfortably on it.

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Hands-on videos

Guitar World

Ola Englund

• Best pedalboards: perfect platforms for your pedals, tested

What is it?

The Hazee Delay, the first in the Pollinator series, is a bit of a departure for Beetronics in that it’s the company’s first totally digital pedal.

In true Beetronics style, though, this is not just a standard digital delay pedal but one that’s designed to deliver textural delays and ambient sounds.

This is a pedal solely for modulated delays, not simply delays where there’s a bit of wobble on the repeats – we’re talking delays where the modulation is a totally integrated component of the sound as the modulation comes first in the signal chain and is then delayed.

There are eight modes of modulation available – four tremolo and four filter – each mode featuring a different type of repeat, giving you a choice of forward repeats, octave up repeats, reverse repeats and octave up reverse repeats.

There are just four knobs to adjust the effect: the delay pedal staples are Time, Mix and Feedback, and the Mod knob controls the modulation rate.

Specs

• Price: $249 | £229
• Type: Digital delay pedal
• Origin: USA
• Features: Buffered bypass
• Controls: Time, Feedback, Mix, Modulation, Mode selector, Bypass footswitch
• Connections: Standard input, standard output
• Power: 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) 80 mA
• Contact: Beetronics FX

Build quality, usability and sounds

The Hazee Delay controls are very interactive – small changes can have a big effect on the sonic outcome – so experimentation followed by considered adjustment is the key to getting the pedal to work for you.

It can be an inspirational and creative tool in that certain modes may encourage you to adapt your playing in reaction to what you’re hearing, rather than adjusting the controls to fit your playing.

There’s quirky stuff here, for sure, but the modes that are most conventional are those that offer the non-pitch-shifted forward repeats.

For example, the filter will give you auto-wah effects and even something that sounds like a rotary speaker at fast Mod rates, while the tremolo offers a nicely rounded pulse; keep the delay time at minimum if you want something closer to a straight effect.

With the pitch-shifted and reverse repeats, the other modes offer a more ‘out there’ take on things and are capable of pulsing and shimmering sonic layers with rhythmic movement as the repeats and modulation interact.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★

Guitar World verdict: This pedal encourages you to twist the knobs until you find a favoured sweet spot and offers plenty to explore in the realm of strangely voiced repeats and finely textured ambient soundscapes to sit with your core sound. Not your average digital delay by any means, the Hazee Delay is a vibe machine that could help get those creative juices flowing.

Hands-on videos

Beetronics

Kris Barosci

The Studio Rats

• “Lo-Fi and Pitch modes take you well beyond the usual analog delay paradigm”: Beetronics Bee Bee Dee review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

What is it?

The term Stratocaster-style guitar is a bit of a loaded one at the moment, but that’s what we’re dealing with today in the Sire Larry Carlton S7 Ash Top. It’s a double-cutaway instrument with the ever-versatile HSS pickup configuration, a vibrato bridge, and a 25.5-inch scale length. S-type? ST-type? Double-cut? I’m not sure anymore.

But I digress; Sire is a South Korean company that first found fame through its partnership with jazz legend Marcus Miller. In a rather shrewd move, instead of releasing a pricey signature model, Sire bucked the trend by releasing cut-price instruments with the sort of features you’d expect from pro-level instruments.

In 2020 Sire partnered with Larry Carlton, legendary session guitarist, to recreate that same magic. Carlton, whose credits include Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Dolly Parton, and plenty more, has his name put on S-styles, T-styles, 335-style semis, and LP-type guitars. The ethos is the same: good value instruments that deliver pro features at a price most musicians can afford.

Looking at the spec sheet of the S7 Ash Top, it’s hard to believe that it sits so far below the $1k mark. The alder body is paired with a solid Swamp Ash top; it’s got a roasted maple neck and fretboard combo with a 9.5-14-inch compound radius, and 22 stainless steel, medium jumbo frets.

A Graph Tech TUSQ nut is positioned below a set of staggered locking tuners, negating the need for a string tree, while Sire’s own 2-point tremolo bridge anchors the guitar at the opposite end. The Sire LC Super HSS super pickup set is augmented by a push-push knob that splits the humbucker, with a single volume and tone knob and a 5-way position switch.

Specs

• Launch price: $869 | £739 | €749
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Alder body with solid Swamp Ash top
• Neck: Roasted maple / C shape
• Fingerboard: Roasted maple with rolled edges
• Scale length: 25.5 inches, 647.7mm
• Nut/width: Graphtech Tusq XL / 42mm
• Frets: 22, medium jumbo, stainless steel
• Hardware: Sire premium locking tuners, Sire modern 2-post tremolo bridge
• String spacing at bridge: 54.3mm
• Electrics: Sire LC Super HSS pickup set, volume, tone, 5-way lever switch
• Weight: 8.15 lbs, 3.7 kg
• Options: Non-ash top available for $769
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Natural (as reviewed), Amber Burst
• Cases: No
• Contact: Sire

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Taking the Sire S7 Ash Top out of the box, I’m once again reminded why I don’t really like natural finishes on electric guitars. They just look like your grandmother's kitchen table. That said, pictures of the swamp ash top on the Sire site don’t quite do this guitar justice. It’s got a bit more depth to the color and grain of the wood under natural light, versus the rather surgical shine of the product photography lighting, and it grew on me in my time testing it.

The back of the body has a cherry-red stain, and the alder grain is visible underneath, revealing a three-piece body construction. The difference in colors creates a rather dramatic contrast between the dark back and the lighter wood of the Swamp Ash top, which is immaculately bound together.

The body has a forearm carve, as well as a belly cut to make it more comfortable to play. There’s no sculpted neck heel, but the lower horn is slightly carved on the back side, though, to be honest, I never feel like this really aids playability, as my hand tends to go over the front of the guitar when reaching for the upper frets.

The fretwork is exceptionally well done, much better than I’ve seen on a lot of Indonesian-made guitars of late, and better even than some of the Mexican-made instruments I’ve had pass through my hands.

The ‘Edgeless’ fingerboard ends are nicely rounded off, with nary a sharp edge to be seen or felt. The tangs of the fret ends are neatly finished, so there are no visible gaps or bumps on either side of the fretboard edge.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

Sitting down to play the Sire S7 sans amplifier, I’m immediately impressed with the playability. It’s listed as a ‘C’ neck profile but feels decidedly modern and fast-playing as I tear through some of my favorite licks and riffs. It’s a nice all-rounder neck that, combined with the compound radius, feels effortlessly playable no matter where I am on the fretboard.

It feels satisfying bending and playing against the medium jumbo frets, although a full jumbo-sized fret would likely take it into proper shred guitar territory. As it is, it feels more suited to more classic rock styles rather than all-out guitar acrobatics, which I don’t mind one bit. It’s still comfortable enough to pull off frenziedly fast legato, and I can’t find any dead spots or scratchiness across the length of the neck.

Trying some power chords with alternating strikes of the two high strings open, the high E pops out of the nut slot when I really lay into it. This only seems to happen on the upstroke, occurring a couple of times when I was striking the strings very hard. It points to a nut that's likely been cut too shallow, but could also be compounded by the lack of string trees.

The tremolo comes ‘decked’, with the bridge sat against the body so you can’t pitch up, only down. This means it’s a lot more stable, preventing any forward lean when bending the strings and making the tuning more sturdy. You can set it up to float if you want as it’s a two-point design.

In the decked configuration, it works really well, maintaining stability even under heavy load. I can pitch it down two-to-two-and-a-half tones, and it puts up with the abuse, pretty much perfectly maintaining its tuning alongside the locking tuners.

One thing I do notice when playing is that the position of the push-push tone knob is a little further away from my picking hand than I’d like. While a push-push knob is much more ergonomic for live players, its position –– spaced apart from the volume knob ––means you have to reach over the tremolo arm to get it, which can sometimes get in the way when you need to make a quick change.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Plugging the Sire S7 into my pedalboard and feeding it into the clean channel of my Orange Rocker 32 tube amp, the first thing I notice is that the humbucker feels quite a bit louder than the other positions. Going from soft-picked arpeggios and laying into some power chords results in quite a jump due to that midrange bump, so some players may need to slightly adjust their playing style (or the pickup height) to account for this.

Flicking through the positions with the clean channel engaged, as well as a nice helping of spring reverb with a sprinkle of tape delay, it's got all those typical S-type honk and spank tones you’d expect. It sounds great with some of my favorite Spaghetti western-inspired licks, and adding in some tremolo is the cherry on top.

The neck single coil is particularly great. It’s warm and round but never feels dull, and I found myself noodling here for a good twenty minutes during my testing. With some generous reverb and delay, it’s great for those Explosions in the Sky-inspired spacious licks, and chords sound full and articulate.

The split humbucker sound was my least favorite of the bunch. There’s a little harshness in the top end here, although I was able to tame this with a little roll back of the treble knob. If you have a particularly bright amp, you might find that this is a little much in this position, but you can help cure it by rolling back the tone knob a touch. In combination with the five regular pickup selector positions (where position two gives a mix of the split humbucker and middle pickup regardless of the push-push switch setting), that gives a total of six pickup selections in total for a lot of versatility.

It’s not just good at the clean stuff, either. Adding in my Joyo Tauren Klon clone into a Victory Amps V1 Sheriff overdrive pedal, I get some properly good, raunchy rock, PAF-tones from the humbucker. It can chug, too. It’s not quite djent territory, but cranking up the gain I can get some nice modern hardcore tones with chugging power chord licks, and it lends itself well to some prog metal fretboard expeditions.

Verdict

Much in the way AI is disrupting the world, I think we’re getting to a point where players are recognizing you don’t have to pay premium prices when looking for a new guitar.

Of course, there will always be those loyal to the old guard, but this Sire is living proof that if you’re not fussed about brand loyalty or particular headstock shapes, you can get a lot more bang for those hard-earned smackeroonies.

The most striking thing about the Larry Carlton S7 for me was that I couldn’t help myself from picking it up. I’m always testing gear, and I often have a round-robin of guitars on my $7 D’Addario guitar neck rest. The Sire has been solidly in position for the past week, and I’ve picked it up to play countless times, whether testing pedals, an audio interface, recording demos for an upcoming project, or taking it to rehearsal with my band.

The fretwork is particularly good, miles better than guitars I’ve tested costing closer to the $1k mark, and apart from the issue with the high-E nut slot, I can find little to fault here with it. The fact that the non-solid wood top is available for well below $800 makes the S7 a real dark horse, and for those working players who need playability and tone without spending loads, I can’t think of many guitars that deliver better than this.

Guitar World verdict: I’ve tested too many guitars to remember over the past few years, from budget-friendly to those costing in the thousands. Honestly, I think the Sire Larry Carlton S7 Ash Top is one of the best value-for-money instruments out there right now. The build quality is superb, it plays like a dream, and unlike other guitars in this price range, the electronics don’t let it down. It had a couple of tiny niggles, but overall it plays and sounds like an instrument that costs two times as much.

Also try

What is it?

It seems EarthQuaker Devices is in a constant flux between light and dark duality — call it Yin and Yang, if you will — across most of its recognized pedals. On one side, it's known for beautifully ambient pedals that create luminous soundscapes, while the other side unleashes bellowing, sonic mayhem. Its latest stompbox, the Sunn O))) HalfLife Octave Distortion & Booster, firmly falls under the latter description. The HalfLife stompbox (as you probably guessed with its play on words) is a more compact, condensed and pedalboard-friendly version of the Sunn O))) Life pedal, and lives on as a successful ongoing collaboration between Sunn O))) — the loudest of drone metal doomsayer bands — and EQD.

HalfLife is also the standard-issue successor to the extremely limited-edition Sunn O))) HalfLife Fer MMXXV, which featured a striking, cast-iron enclosure made using a centuries-old Nanbu-tekki casting technique. Like the Life Pedal before it, HalfLife is designed to capture Sunn O)))'s core front-end signal chain driving multiple vintage Sunn Model T 100-watt tube stacks into glorious saturation. As an aside, and as someone who owns the V3 version of the Life pedal, I can declare the current HalfLife stompbox doesn’t half-ass any of the chaos-inducing tones of its predecessor.

Specs

• Price: $259
• Type: Analog Octave, Distortion and Boost
• Made: USA
• Controls: Octave, Filter, Distortion, Magnitude, Amplitude
• Features: Three-mode clipping, octave-up, expression pedal control
• Connectivity: 2 x 1/4" instrument and 1 x 1/4" Octave Expression input
• Bypass: True bypass with Flexi-Switch technology
• Power: 9V DC center-negative; 15 mA current draw
• Dimensions: 127 × 70 x 57 mm
• Weight: 0.74 lb
• Contact: EarthQuaker Devices

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

Do I even need to talk about build quality? Like all the other stompboxes in its stable, this EQD is about as solidly built as they come and employs premium components. Housed in a rugged, textured enclosure with contrasting red and black spirals, the pedal pairs distortion with a blend-able octave up at the first stage with the Amplitude footswitch, while the Magnitude footswitch activates the second stage — an all-discrete MOSFET clean booster.

Controls for Octave, Filter, and Distortion occupy the top portion of the pedal, and just below that are Mag (output volume for Boost), Clip (Clipping switch for OpAmp, Asymm or Symm modes), and Amp (output volume for Octave/Distortion). I would also urge anyone to become very familiar with where each specific control is because the tiny UV screen-printed characters are nearly impossible to read from above — just in case you need to make any heat-of-battle adjustments on a dark stage.

Rounding out its features are standard 9VDC power, an expression jack for Octave blending, and EQD's proprietary Flexi-Switch technology for seamless momentary or latching true bypass operation.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

Inspired by the vintage Shin-Ei FY2 Companion and FY6 Super Fuzz boxes and a vintage white-logo RAT distortion-style circuit, with a low-pass filter control, there isn’t much to deal with in this triple-threat of a stompbox arriving in a more pedalboard-friendly size. Most of your guesswork will be made by using your ears and selecting which of the three clipping modes will provide the utmost in aural black magic.

The first OpAmp removes the clipping diodes entirely, unleashing its full output for an aggressively brighter, high-volume attack. Assym employs an asymmetrical clipping configuration using two silicon diodes and one LED, producing a slightly compressed, smoother amp-like crunch. Finally, Symm recreates the original double silicon diode configuration, delivering the classic, familiar rodent-like saturation that made the white-logo circuit a favorite.

Unlike the original Life Pedal, which features a dedicated Octave footswitch, HalfLife's upper octave is only controlled by dialing it in using the O knob or controlled dynamically with an expression pedal connected to the Octave EXP jack, allowing the octave to be blended in as needed.

The final Magnitude stage is designed to overload your preamp tubes with a clean, high-impedance boost while preserving your amp’s natural character, driving it harder without adding coloration or introducing distortion of its own.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Whether paired with single coils or humbuckers, HalfLife delivers a thundering octave/distortion experience tailor-made for doom architects and those who poke around in subterranean noise.

While it nods heavily to the classic ProCo Rat design, it departs from its saturation in a more symphonic fuzz-stortion that’s tightly layered and articulate. What’s interesting is you can hear the fuzzy textures become progressively darker in its clipping modes as you sweep from the brighter and grittier frequencies found on OpAmp, to the warmly compressed Big Muff-style saturation in Asymm, and finally plummeting down to the deep hirsute fuzziness in Symm mode.

I can only imagine that if I brooded in bands like Boris and Burning Witch, I would dwell within the sludgy depths of Symm mode.

The highly responsive Filter knob sweeps from dense darkness to the cutting slice reminiscent of a cranked Sunn Model T's Brite channel. The upper octave tracks clearly on single notes above the ninth fret, provided you are flying high with your neck pickup.

Here, the spiked upper octave tones add a clanging, metallic ring to the signal. It’s an intensely fun pedal that can easily coax the bottom-heavy fuzz found on Gish-era Smashing Pumpkins as well as the shimmering, furry pulse of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless album (Yes, I’m dating myself).

Finally, the highly transparent Magnitude clean boost is loud with a capital “L.” Be mindful of your level setting, as its massive output — combined with the Amplitude stage — can quickly push an amplifier into explosive meltdown and endless sustain. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

Verdict

Whether it admits it or not, EarthQuaker Devices knows exactly how to weaponize distortion — and it's quite good at it. Any aspiring dirt purveyor worth their salt will naturally gravitate toward the HalfLife’s crushing wall of sound. For players seeking targeted drone strikes of blend-able upper-octave fuzz, aggressive distortion, and a powerful clean boost designed to push an amplifier into massive, amp-melting territory, the HalfLife delivers the droned, bottom-heavy fury inspired by Sunn O))) with uncompromising force.

Guitar World verdict: With its combination of brutality and flexibility, the Sunn O))) HalfLife Octave Distortion & Booster is a true “FAFO” pedal for sonic mayhem. It unleashes a full-scale assault of saturated ecstasy, proving once again that this Machiavellian alliance with those shadowy Sunn O))) guitarists is a notorious victory for EQD.

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What is it?

It's the nature of electric guitar and bass design – no matter how brilliant the blueprint is, once it reaches the market, there will almost always be a subset of owners who find joy in tweaking, adding or removing components, and stamping their own identity on it.

The Fender Jazz Bass is one of those instruments whose design was nearly perfect from the off, and remains so after almost seven decades, but there's now a sizeable market for Jazz-inspired bass guitars with the added power and flexibility of active electronics.

It helps that the Jazz is such a versatile platform to begin with; further enhanced, it really can end up being the clichéd “everything you ever need” bass – comfortable and stylish but traditional, and distinctive-sounding but with masses of flexibility.

Strangely, for a company that has made inroads into so many diffuse areas of the guitar and bass market, Ibanez had never hopped aboard.

The company's long-running Soundgear and BTB ranges, and the newer EHB headless models, cater particularly well for the rock and metal crowd; its Talman range adds a couple of quirky retro models. But in between, there's a long-standing gap; we’ve never seen an Ibanez take on the do-it-all ‘Super Jazz’. Until now

In 2026, we're seeing a whole new range of basses from the Japanese giant - the Mode, or MDM (Mode Modern) series. A clearly Fender-inspired outline, and all-important Jazz-sized single-coil pickups, but with the accoutrements of modern bass guitar.

The £999 entry to the range is the solid-coloured MDM1000, available with four, five or six strings, but here we have a four-string example of the next model up - this is the sunburst-finished, ash-bodied MDM1300.

Specs

• Price: $1,299 | £1,099 | €1,199
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Four-string active bass guitar
• Body: Ash
• Neck: Roasted maple, MDM profile
• Fingerboard material/radius: Roasted maple, 12” radius
• Scale length: 34”/864mm
• Nut/width: Plastic, 38mm
• Frets: 24, medium, stainless steel
• Hardware: Ibanez Aero-light tuners, MR5S bridge, black
• String spacing at bridge: 19mm - adjustable at bridge
• Electrics: 2x Delta S4J pickups, Ibanez Sonitech S preamp, controls for Volume, Balance, Tone (push-pull for activating EQ), Bass, Mid, Treble, 3-way Mid selector switch, 2-way Hexa Mid selector switch on rear panel
• Weight: 9.3lb/4.2kg
• Options: MDM1000 range (from £999) with solid-colour finishes, available in 4, 5 or 6-string. MDM1305 5-string (£1,189). MDM1600 range (from £1,189) with exotic wood top, available in 4, 5 or 6-string.
• Left-handed options: N/A
• Finishes: Natural Stained Amber Burst
• Case: Ibanez gig bag included
• Contact: Ibanez

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

The body shape is instantly recognisable as Jazz-inspired, but with a deep treble-side cutaway for access to all 24 frets. The prominent grain of the ash, and the subtle burst finish, are very attractive; like the best of this style of instrument, its aesthetics would be just as suited for a soul/R&B band as for a metal project.

The build is fantastic overall; the hardware is tactile and high-quality, and the fit and finish is extremely well-executed, with no real flaws to mention anywhere – not necessarily a given with basses around this price.

The only sticking point with this review sample is the weight – at around 4.2 kg, it’s more than most will want for a four-string Jazz-style bass.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

I’ve heard Ibanez’s slim, narrow Soundgear neck profile described as being “like playing bass on ‘Easy’ mode” – and that statement came back to mind immediately when I began playing the MDM1300’s roasted maple neck.

It’s a Jazz-spec 38mm nut width, with a slim profile and a very smooth satin finish, and its easy playability is exactly what we’ve come to expect from an Ibanez bass – really superb.

There’s even a detachable finger ramp supplied; it’s as if the bass is egging you on to play faster and more technical fingerstyle passages.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Another feature of the Mode series is an exhaustive EQ section – not satisfied with the conventional Bass/Mid/Treble layout, Ibanez has added a three-way mini-switch to offer a choice of midrange frequencies.

Then, set into the rear cavity cover, a second DIP switch for Ibanez’s new Hexa Mid circuit, which shifts the mid response to a lower register – combined with the first switch, this is a total of six possible frequencies for the Mid knob to boost or cut.

If you’re dialing in a very precise tone, it’s great news; if you’re prone to option paralysis, it’ll confound you. But you can pull up on the passive tone control and bypass the whole lot.

After you’ve found your way around the smorgasbord of midrange possibilities, the Ibanez starts to deliver on its promise of versatility, taking everything my bass test rig could throw at it – from a clean, compressed Gallien-Krueger to a gritty Sansamp tone, a vintage Ampeg overdrive to a modern-day Darkglass roar.

The Sonitech S preamp is clean, articulate and, of course, has that incredibly powerful EQ; fingerstyle, slapped, or picked, every note comes out with abundant punch and clarity. It doesn't sound like a vintage Jazz Bass, but you could immediately slot it into a recorded or live mix as a polished, professional modern Jazz-style tone – which is more the point.

There’s also something to be said for how much better it’s possible to sound on an instrument that simply makes playing smoother.

Verdict

It’s strange that Ibanez has never entered the ‘Super Jazz’ space before but, on this evidence, the Mode series stands as one hell of a first effort.

This example is a heavyweight, but makes up for it with stunning playability and a preamp that offers a borderline-excessive amount of adjustment.

At its price, it’s very difficult to rival the degree of quality and versatility shown here – if a modernised Jazz Bass is what you’re after, you’d be doing yourself a real disservice by not auditioning the Mode series.

Guitar World verdict: Ibanez has come into the modern Jazz Bass-style market for the first time, and pulled it off with quite some aplomb. The Mode series is a class-leading package – an excellent, unique preamp, good looks and the kind of silky-smooth playability that Ibanez fans will know and love.

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What is it?

For a brand that originally shut its doors in 1969, Danelectro’s rebirth some 30 years later has subsequently given us a huge number of reissues and mash-ups.

Although prices have crept up in recent years, Danelectro models still fall into the affordable part of the market with a retro vision and a reminder of a different time. Head over to the brand’s website and you’ll find a dizzying number of available models, not least this year’s new crop to add to the stew.

These 2026 models definitely fall into the mash-up category: they’re not model- or period-specific but come with features that span quite a period, from the get-go in the mid-’50s to the return of Danelectro in the mid-’90s and on to the present day.

All three new models centre on the double-cut Short Horn outline, with a 635mm (25-inch) scale length and – uniquely for any reissued model – a repro of the original and short-lived Full Bell headstock. More unusually, there’s even a logo change: as you can see these are branded ‘Dano’.

The three Dan O models offer subtly different themes. First, the Golden 50’s features “the show-stopping body/headstock graphic that is borrowed from an authentic 1950s kitchen table top”, the press release gushes, and is combined with a pair of hot Lipstick pickups.

There’s no scratchplate, which allows that “kitchen table top” feel to shine in four solid colours of Cream, Black, Maroon and Green. Next is the Dan O Cool, the first of our review models and effectively the same guitar with the ‘rare’ U3-style pickguard (originally from 1955) in Black, Maroon, Blue and Green. A 12-string is offered in Aqua Blue, plus there’s a baritone in Green only.

Finally, the Dan O Mano swaps the overwound Lipstick single coils for two soapbar single coils, there’s no scratchplate here and just three colours of Maroon, Black and Silver.

“With their Atomic Age styling – drawing heavily upon Danelectro’s boldly original 1950s roots – and turbocharged retro vibe, the Dano line might be the company’s most true-to-the-spirit guitars ever,” says Danelectro. Although exactly what the rationale here is, is far from concrete – the brand has been drawing on its ’50s roots since the guitars became available again in the late 1990s.

Conversely, Danelectro might well have created some of its more fit-for-purpose electrics in its now quite extensive history. For example, the so-called ‘Short Horn’ outline is a Danelectro classic, and although not mentioned directly in the marketing blurb – “back to the magic of the 1950s Daneletros” – was first unveiled in 1958.

It’s never been paired with that original and short-lived headstock, and with the Dano logo here it looks quite modern, far from 1950s. Likewise, the moulded ‘D’ logo plastic truss rod cover, which follows the pickguard, style-wise, and the electrics cavity cover on the back.

Construction is ignored by Danelectro’s PR, and indeed its own website. Alex Davis from the brand’s new distributor Strings & Things says: “The publicly available info does leave a little to be desired, but official build specs are pretty much unchanged in decades with the neck a hard Canadian maple and the fretboard in rosewood.”

While Alex states that “the body frame is solid spruce [and] the top and bottom panels are hardboard”, these look more like what we’d call MDF. Another original-style Danelectro feature is the vinyl tape applied to the sides, though here it’s virtually identical to the body colour whereas back in the ’50s it was typically contrasting.

Again, nodding back to the original design is the long heel, quite long and square edged, the strap button placed at its tip, so it’s not doing much to help upper-fret access or comfort.

The hardware certainly looks back and we have the original-style ‘four-way adjustable bridge’ with its one-piece rosewood saddle, liked by many for its sound, less so its accurate intonation. Uniquely, Danelectro is including the much later six (metal) saddle, fully adjustable bridge in the box so you can easily swap: a nice touch, not least that getting hold of Danelectro spares isn’t easy.

Another specific feature is the ‘Skate Key’ tuners. Well, we don’t have any from the ’50s to compare, but these have pretty basic Kluson-style backs with pressed metal buttons, quite thin and small-feeling though perfectly usable.

The nut, as per the originals, is aluminium screwed onto the end of the rosewood fingerboard. Details such as the fingerboard radius aren’t divulged, but historically Danelectro has quoted 356mm (14 inches), which is pretty much what we measure.

Internally, it’s all very clean, the rear cavity opening cut after the guitar is finished, we’d wager. As to how hollow, well, there seems to be a narrow centre block, less wide than the pickups with a pretty large block around the bridge. The actual sides – which are a part of this ‘frame’ – are quite thick, too, and the lower body is certainly much more hollow than the almost solid horns.

Specs

Dan O Cool

• PRICE: $599 | £689 | €669
• ORIGIN: Korea
• TYPE: Double-cutaway semi-hollow electric 
• BODY: Composite top and back over solid wood frame
• NECK: Maple, C profile bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 635mm (25”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Aluminium/ 41.8mm 
• FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, small white dot inlays, 356mm (14”) radius
• FRETS: 21, medium
• HARDWARE: Hardtail rosewood saddle bridge, Kluson-style ‘Skate’ tuners – chrome/nickel plated
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 55.5mm
• ELECTRICS: 2x single-coil Lipstick pickups, 2-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume and tone controls
• WEIGHT(kg/lb): 2.81/6.24
• OPTIONS: None
• RANGE OPTIONS: There is a Dan O Cool 12-string (£759) in Aqua Blue only with different pickups, plus a Baritone (£759) in Green only
• LEFT-HANDERS: Not this model, but lefty versions of the ’59M NOS+ (the ‘Page’ model), Vintage 12-String and Baritone are available
• FINISHES: Green (as reviewed) Black, Maroon, Blue – all-gloss with vinyl-tape sides

Dan O Mano

• PRICE: $599 | £689 | $669
• ORIGIN: Korea
• TYPE: Double-cutaway semi-hollow electric 
• BODY: Composite top and back over solid wood frame
• NECK: Maple, C profile bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 635 mm (25”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Aluminium/ 41.7mm 
• FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, small white dot inlays, 356mm (14”) radius
• FRETS: 21, medium
• HARDWARE: Hardtail rosewood saddle bridge, Kluson-style ‘Skate’ tuners – chrome/nickel plated
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 55.5mm
• ELECTRICS: 2x soapbar single-coil pickups, 3-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume and tone controls
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.83/6.23
• LEFT-HANDERS: See Dan O Cool
• FINISHES: Maroon (as reviewed) Black, Silver – all gloss with vinyl‑tape sides
• CONTACT: Danelectro

Build quality, playability and sounds

We’d call the setup functional, rather than dialled in. The nut’s slots are a little wide but not deep, and the strings are held by a good back angle to those tuners.

The string angle from nut slot to tuner post is fairly straight, too, splaying only slightly. The radius at the rosewood saddle bridge is closer to 305mm (12 inches), so with standard string heights at the 12th fret it does mean the inner strings are a little higher than most would set with separate saddles.

The intonation is nowhere near as ‘off’ as the one-piece saddle would suggest, and while you can tilt the saddle (there’s a small screw under the bridge that holds the saddle in place and allows this angle change), it really is pretty close as supplied.

The fretwork is pretty neat, too – a medium gauge, approximately 2.68mm wide by 1mm high. Overall, then, while not the most dialled-in setup that you should expect from a modern guitar, it ain’t bad, certainly if you live on the bluesier side of the style tracks.

Same with the neck, which feels a little wider than it actually is, perhaps because of the flatter radius. But it’s a pretty classic shallow ‘C’: 20.5mm deep at the 1st fret, 22.8mm by the 12th – no issues at all.

Despite the overwound claims of these new Lipsticks, they are still a pretty low output, although today that’s not really an issue – a little clean boost or whatever takes your fancy easily compensates. It’s the very clear tonality that impresses.

Add in a big reverb and it’s a twang-fest at the bridge, fuller and softer at the neck – which really is almost a middle position – but with a nice clarity.

The surprise (again due to the total lack of specification) is that in the both-on middle position on the selector we have more output and a bigger voice, instead of the expected bounce and funk.

A quick check with our multimeter and the pickups are wired in series (the pickup’s individual outputs are combined), which, of course, is typical Danelectro. There’s still some of the both-on character here, though; it’s just louder with slightly rounder highs.

So you really have some choices. Those individual coils are classic Danelectro; the middle series voice is certainly familiar if you’ve played any of the two-pickup models with stacked volume and tone controls.

However, with just the master volume and tone we have less ability to shade the voice, which might well be an advantage for many players. The controls give a very direct feel: the volume has a good taper, the tone less so, with not a lot happening until the near end of travel where we drop to a woolly roll-off rather quickly.

The same trick is pulled off on the Dan O Mano. The soapbar single coils have a fuller and warmer tonality overall compared with the Lipsticks and, from the off, seem to suit a little more grit.

Again, the middle position combines the pickups in series so there’s more heft and this one sort of has it all: power with clarity. But, again, the three sounds are distinct here – as with the Dan O Cool – and give both guitars their own voice.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★

The backstory here is a bit laboured as the majority of contemporary Danelectros since the late ’90s reference the ’50s. Nothing new there.

It is good to see the rosewood bridge back (with the modern six-saddle unit as back-up), which might not be perfect but really suits the lo-fi vibe.

In-store, these will drop below £600, with the exception of the baritone and the 12-string. Not exactly bargain basement but then neither are the guitars, which remain strangely unique after all these years.

Guitar World verdict: While these finishes give a contemporary and quite moody sheen, the sounds are anything but. The low-output soapbar single coils really suit the lightweight resonant platform; the Lipstick single coils are far from ‘hot’ but have a really appealing clarity and definition, and are archetypal Danelectro.

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What is it?

It has to be said that we’ve been impressed by virtually every instrument we’ve seen from the Cor-Tek Corporation in recent years. The company is also responsible for building a number of guitars outside of its own Cort house brand (including PRS’s SE range) and the quality is always tip-top with playability that hits the mark every time.

This Gold A10 hails from the company’s highly automated acoustic guitar facility in the Jinzhou District of Dalian, Liaoning, China, and just reading the spec put us in a bit of a swirl even before opening its case. Cocobolo back and sides with a torrefied Adirondack spruce top? That’s a match made in heaven if ever there was one – on paper at least.

The company’s website proclaims that “the Cort Gold-A10 Cocobolo exudes boutique-style craftsmanship that extends beyond gorgeous tonewoods and distinguished accoutrements, with time-intensive hand-rolled fret edges, tone-enhancing torrefied materials, and Fishman Flex Blend electronics for unforgettable performance”. And at a price that won’t break the bank (too badly, anyway…).

So, what’s all the fuss about the woods that are involved? Well, first let’s take a look at cocobolo. To begin with, it’s a member of the rosewood genus Dalbergia retusa and is often employed by luthiers as a more than able substitute for that Dalbergia superstar, Brazilian rosewood.

There are tonal variations between the two, of course, with cocobolo being renowned for its bright tone, lower register resonance, articulation and note distinction. Native to Mexico and Central America, it is also renowned for its wild grain pattern, which often challenges all but the most sublime Brazilian variety.

As you can see from the pictures here, the back wood has a beautifully complex pattern with the paler sapwood running down the centre. It’s strange that all the fuss is made about the beauty of back woods on acoustic – and classical – guitars when it’s the part your audience never sees. But that’s all part of the fun of owning such an instrument.

The cocobolo’s running mate on the Cort A10 is torrefied Adirondack spruce, and this is another tonewood that goes hand in hand with exceptional levels of tone and performance.

Known for its “ringing yet complex and nuanced tone that carries right through high volume levels where other spruces start to break up”, according to the Wood Database, ‘Addie’, as it is affectionately known, has graced the tops of some celebrated pre-war Martin acoustics. Indeed, its legend continues, optimising as it does an acoustic’s dynamic and tonal ranges.

But the equation doesn’t end there as we find a mahogany neck, very good-looking reddish-brown padauk binding and maple purfling to both body and neck, plus an ebony fretboard – with mother-of-pearl and abalone inlays – to complete the body timbers.

We’re told the neck is also reinforced with strips of walnut either side of the truss rod underneath the ’board for extra stability and reinforcement. Factor in a bone saddle and nut, with Grover open-gear tuners and a factory-fitted Fishman Flex Blend pickup and you can see what excited us when we scanned the A10’s bill of goods in the first place.

Oh, and if you’re thinking that it would have been nice of Cort to include a scratchplate to protect the top from those wilder plectrum wielding moments, fear not, there’s one in the case for you to fit yourself if you want to. Nice touch.

Freed from its case and turning the A10 over in our hands, its finish and build look as exemplary as we’ve come to expect from Cort.

The cocobolo on the back and sides is the star of the show – and we mustn’t forget that the precise patterning of the wood will vary from instrument to instrument – but if this guitar sounds half as good as it looks, then we’re on to a real winner.

Specs

• Price: $2,599/£1,899 (inc case)
• Origin: China 
• Type: Grand Auditorium
• Top: Torrefied AA-grade Adirondack spruce
• Back/Sides: AAA grade cocobolo
• Max Rim Depth: 113mm
• Max Body Width: 402mm
• Neck: Walnut reinforced mahogany
• Scale Length: 648mm (25.5”) 
• Tuners: Grover gold open gear
• Nut/Width: Bone/44.5mm
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Frets: 20
• Bridge/Spacing: Ebony with bone saddle/55mm
• Electrics: Fishman Flex Blend
• Weight (kg/lb): 2.4/5.2
• Left-Handers: No
• Finish: Natural gloss with satin neck
• Contact: Cort Guitars

Build quality, playability and sounds

Every player would agree that no matter how good looking a guitar is, it’s the playing surfaces – neck, fingerboard, et cetera – that either win or lose the day. In the case of the A10 we’re happy to report that the satin-finished neck is a very comfortable C profile that feels like it belongs in the hand.

It sits in that area where it’s neither too chunky nor too skinny, measuring 21.5mm deep at the 1st fret, broadening only slightly to 22mm at the 8th. The nut has been expertly cut and the ’board is very nicely finished, too, with those hand-finished rolled fret-ends adding extra boutique swish.

When we first tried a few pioneering chords the sound was a little compressed. But we concluded the A10 had very likely not been out of its case since it left China many moons ago and would probably respond to a day or two left on a stand to come up to room temperature and prevailing humidity.

We also made sure to give it the occasional campfire chord serenade each time we passed and it began to open up nicely. Basses became stronger, trebles noticeably sweeter and, although it’s impossible to measure, we could swear it got louder, too.

Of course, all this is in line with how new acoustic guitars can come out of storage hibernation and begin to blossom and bloom – everything we would expect from an Addie top backed with a nice member of an elite rosewood family. And, of course, it bodes well for the future as we’re sure there’s plenty more opening up to be done by the guitar in the months and years ahead.

The instrument responded well to both fingerstyle pieces and chordal workouts, the latter offering a very good blend of clarity and complexity.

The Fishman Flex Blend pickup and preamp system adds another important dimension to the sound. Combining an under-saddle piezo with an internal mic, the plugged-in sound reflected that of the A10’s acoustic nature when interfaced with our Boss Katana-50 EX.

The Fishman’s tone control added more colour with a variable midrange that you can adjust for chordal oomph or fingerstyle finesse. It has a built-in tuner, too.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

We were aware that this is a factory build with a degree of hands-on along the way. But it successfully escapes that stereotypical ‘cloned’ tone set that some factory builds succumb to and when it left us was well on its way to being a standalone individual with a very good portfolio of usable sounds.

Sure, if you gave a set of triple-A grade cocobolo and some Adirondack spruce to a boutique luthier you might find that further tonal refinements and build enhancements would become available. But then the price would very likely be five times what it is here.

Guitar World verdict: What Cort’s A10 offers is a step towards the upper echelon of acoustic guitar lutherie at a very reasonable price and, from what we’ve heard, once the guitar has fully opened up, your investment could be, quite literally, very sound indeed. Try one, we think you’ll like it.

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Cort

WM Sound Guitars

• Cort Flow-OC and Gold-A6 Bocote review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Guitar World video demo

What is it?

Growing up watching MTV in the 2000s, the deluge of mega-hit singles from Green Day's American Idiot was inescapable.

The world was enthralled by the songwriting, attitude and visuals of the title cut, Holiday, Wake Me Up When September Ends and the epic Jesus of Suburbia – but don't forget the magnificent guitar sound too.

Of course, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong had years of form in that department already – the band's 1994 breakthrough album Dookie is also well-known for its tone; that sound has been replicated for several successful runs of MXR's Dookie Drive.

There's a common thread, and it's a pair of Marshall amplifiers - two Super Lead reissues which Armstrong acquired around the Dookie era and then had modified. These have formed the backbone of Armstrong's tight, percussive, snarling tone ever since; over Green Day's long, highly successful career, then, these two Marshalls have left a sizeable footprint on rock history.

Now, the British brand has chosen to commemorate Armstrong with a hand-wired signature amp, based on those long-serving Super Leads with their so-called ‘Dookie mods’.

Marshall's model code for the 100-watt Super Lead is 1959 (nothing to do with the year; a common misconception) - so this amp becomes the 1959BJA.

Specs

• Price: $3,999 | £3,099 | €3,699
• Type: Valve-powered amp head
• Origin: UK
• Output: 100 watts RMS
• Speaker: None
• Channels: 1
• Controls: Presence, Bass, Middle, Treble, Master, Gain
• Connectivity: Front panel 2x ¼” instrument inputs - Low and High gain. Rear panel 2x ¼” speaker outputs (selectable impedance, 16, 8 or 4 ohm)
• Footswitch: None
• Weight: 20.1 kg / 44.3 lbs
• Dimensions: W 741mm x H 294mm x D 210mm
• Contact: Marshall

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

As expected, given its price and top-rung status, the head is put together with care and precision, in the factory that’s been turning out these big old amps for generations. It's a hand-wired, British-built Marshall; the componentry, assembly and finishing is all tried-and-tested.

The front panel has ‘Master’ and ‘Gain’ screen-printed in the style of a label-maker, a fun little touch that calls to mind modified amps of yesteryear. In the top corner, there's a commemorative plate in Marshall's trademark brass, bearing the model name, the ‘Dookie’ logo, and Armstrong's signature. It's a nice addition that stamps some artist personality onto the amp, without being overbearing.

Like other Super Lead models, though, the head shell's corners are unprotected. That's an oversight in terms of durability - it might not be such a worry on a normal, more functional-looking black Marshall, but do you want that tasty blue Tolex getting scuffed and torn?

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★☆☆

The construction is gloriously traditional, then, but so is the form factor - and that's not without its old-fashioned flaws. There's one central handle on top, and the amp’s substantial weight is unevenly-biased; it's tilting uncomfortably against you all the time you're carrying it. Practical it ain't - but once it's sitting on a cab, the BJA looks cool enough to forgive it for the backache… almost.

The front panel, meanwhile, offers some clues to the amp's character before you even switch on. For a kick-off, we've two inputs, not the Super Lead's usual four - just Low and High, for different gain stages. Importantly, there are also controls for Gain and Master Volume. These functions point not towards the Super Lead, but the later JCM 800 model. Interesting.

As for the rear panel - well, there are the speaker outputs, impedance and mains voltage selectors, as well as a nice silk-screen of Armstrong's signature, but not much else in the way of features. In particular, the lack of an effects loop seems a notable oversight; anyone using effects will have to do so through the amp input, which severely restricts functionality for delay or reverb pedals in particular.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

I tested the BJA through an industry-standard Marshall 1960A cab, with my humbucker-equipped Les Paul (the ideal pairing for most Marshalls) and my prized 1962 SG/Les Paul Junior. Armstrong has been relying on Juniors for many years, so this is surely the most appropriate guitar to start with.

The Low input first, with Gain and EQ controls around 12 o'clock. It's a bright, punchy and ringing clean tone; classic Marshall. Winding the Gain up, I ducked the Bass down to keep the low-end tight. The BJA began exhibiting those classic ‘Plexi’ overdrive characteristics we've heard on countless recordings.

The Master volume allows this to happen at *slightly* more sensible levels but, make no mistake, this amp is ridiculously, devastatingly, extravagantly loud. From my rehearsal room, I caused numerous earthquakes throughout Bedfordshire with the knob at a mere 10 o'clock. I once measured a dimed Marshall DSL100 at 124dB, and I've no doubt the BJA would top that. Earplugs are non-negotiable.

That's to say nothing of the High input. With the Gain only around 10 o'clock and the Master towards noon, there's already a hell of a lot of gain, the P-90 in my Junior tipping into feedback without any encouragement - but those ‘Dookie’ mods pay dividends, as this is the sound in every Green Day fan's head. Fat, and full of midrange punch, but with superb definition in the high-end.

At the upper reaches of the Gain knob, it's far beyond Green Day - well into classic metal territory with a Les Paul, for example. As the controls suggest, the BJA does operate much like a JCM 800, and has easily as much gain available, but the voicing is still Super Lead through and through. In a word? Magnificent.

Verdict

Artist signature Marshall amps don't come along all that often and, however good they are, they tend to be hard to get hold of - often amounting to little more than catnip for collectors, buying them to speculate while the general public gets barely a sniff. That may well prove to be the case here too - but does this amp deserve better?

Yes, it's far too loud for almost any situation short of Green Day’s stadium tours. Yes, it’s highly impractical and inflexible, lacking any modern conveniences whatsoever; forget power scaling or reactive load, it doesn't even have an effects loop. The most modern feature is the master volume.

If it were a series production amp, this would certainly be a limiting factor in its appeal, but the market for this hand-wired status symbol likely won’t care. And if you do happen to get into a room with one, and a decent guitar, you tend to forget about all that as it pulverises your brain and eardrums – into Brain Stew, if you will.

This review might be academic for many, who wouldn’t have any use for such an amp even if it were attainable. Imagine if it were a readily-available 20-watt Studio model with the same voicing, though. We can but dream.

Guitar World verdict: The Marshall 1959BJA is the first artist-signature Marshall amp in over a decade, and it might remain out of the grasp of many - but the modified Super Lead tone, in a format that apes the master-volume JCM 800, is truly a magnificent playing experience. Try it, if you can.

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What is it?

Surely we already have enough options when it comes to guitar amp modeling? Well, now we have one more in the form of the Darkglass Anagram and its Guitar Essentials package and limited edition hardware. The thing is, this isn’t just any addition to what is a fiercely competitive market, as there are some twists to this launch that make it an interesting proposition.

First, Darkglass is already a household name when it comes to bass processing and has proven pedigree in tone. Second, one of the founders of Darkglass was none other than Douglas Castro, who has since moved on to work on another project - Neural DSP. You may have heard of the brand and its market-leading guitar amp modeler, capture device, and multi-effects - the Quad Cortex.

Then, (and some will see this as the biggest news) there's the inclusion of NAM A2 capture tech courtesy of Tone 3000. This is an open-source form of capture software that is completely free to use, and has been making waves as a genuinely impressive bit of software, regardless of its free nature.

Lastly, the Anagram Guitar Essentials has been put together in collaboration with seasoned guitar retailers Sweetwater and Andertons and is available exclusively through their stores. So, with plenty of knowledgeable brains behind this launch, expectations are, quite rightly, high.

But, before we dive in, let’s clear up exactly what we have here. The Anagram was originally aimed at bass players as a multi-effects and amp modeler that can run as part of a pedalboard or as an entire rig in its own right.

This Guitar Essentials Limited Edition version is exactly the same device, and comes with all that bass goodness. The differences are in the black finish and the inclusion of the Guitar Essentials package, which is a selection of amplifiers and effects essential to every guitarist.

Once the limited run of the hardware (which costs $100 more to cover the pre-loaded Guitar Essentials package) is sold, the Guitar Essentials will be available for every user of the original Anagram to buy and add to their device.

Specs

• Launch price: $1,299/£999
• Type: Bass amp modeler/multi-fx
• Controls: 6x rotary controls (assignable), 3x footswitches, 7-inch touch color screen
• Features: Amp modeler and multi effects, NAM captures, Darkglass Marketplace
• Connectivity: Input, outputs 1&2 (XLR), outputs 3&4 (1/4-inch jack), FX loop headphones (mini-jack) MIDI in/out (mini-jack), USB C
• Power: 9-12v DC, 2A
• Dimensions: 210mm x 105mm x 62mm/8.2" x 4.1" x 2.4"
• Weight: 815g/1.8lbs
• Contact: Darkglass

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

In the hands, the Anagram’s premium feel is the first thing that jumps out. It’s an aluminum chassis in a classy black finish, a look which I prefer to the original.

That aluminum carries the robustness of a piece of gear that can easily live through the rough and tumble of constant gigs, and this is followed suit by the knobs that turn with a reassuring resistance and click without any unwanted horizontal movement.

The footswitches are also clearly built with a gigging life in mind, and I have no concerns about the lights getting drowned out on bright stages. The same can be said for the screen, which shows off its high resolution with some pretty impressive renderings of its imagery.

The I/O at the back of the unit is also free of any looseness that may indicate a poor build, but this is what you would expect at the price point, and from a company with the pedigree that Darkglass has.

The soft-shell-style case continues the premium feel and houses the hardware neatly. It's not the sort of case you would chuck in with the rest of a band's gear on its own, but it is about as sturdy as lightweight soft cases can be.

Additionally, competitors such as the Neural DSP Quad Cortex Mini do not come with a case at all, so this is an easy score for Darkglass.

The only minor complaint I have is that the mains adapter feels a little flimsy for a bit of gear that could potentially replace an entire rig. This is exacerbated by a 2A power draw, which, although not problematic on its own, will necessitate the use of the provided mains adapter as most pedalboard power supplies won't accommodate this demand even when combining outputs.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

Ease of use is make-or-break for these units. With so many different functions to get the head around and parameters to adjust across the vast number of blocks, avoiding a steep learning curve is no mean feat.

As we noted in our previous review of the Anagram, the unit does well here thanks to a small but intuitive suite of physical controls (six encoders and three footswitches) and a useful touchscreen. The Guitar Essentials version of the Anagram is exactly the same setup, with the only difference being the inclusion of those guitar sounds.

So, in terms of usability, there is no change from the mostly positive points in that previous review; however, it is still worth reiterating the highlights.

It’s the familiar three modes of Presets, Stomps and Scenes through which the footswitches change the entire rig, turn individual effects on and off, or seamlessly switch active blocks and parameters within one scene respectively.

You can also edit the way you view the rig by selecting Chain, Bindings, or Name. The first shows your entire 24-block chain, which can be zoomed into a more palatable and scrollable five at a time.

Bindings view is the highlight for me. It allows us to view exactly what we have set each footswitch to in text form, whilst additionally assigning whatever we want to the six encoders, whether that is activating/de-activating a block or changing individual parameters within a block.

These assignments can be stacked too, and you can set limits on the minimum and maximum amount of adjustment made to save some blushes caused by hasty editing at a gig. Pretty handy.

Name clearly displays the preset in big, easily-readable text as well as the footswitch assignments, making it the view that will be most useful in a gigging circumstance.

The touchscreen is intuitive and makes things easy when it comes to the functional stuff like saving presets, routing, adding blocks, and dragging effects around. The only tripping point is that when I'm scrolling through the icons that represent the effects, it's sometimes reliant on the text within the imagery to discern what the effect is. This text is quite small and is not always easy to read.

There's also a pretty comprehensive I/O featuring stereo ¼” and XLR outputs (separate L and R), MIDI connectivity, Bluetooth audio connectivity, a ⅛” Headphone output, and a TRS stereo effects loop.

Herein lies a limitation, as the Anagram does sport an expression input; however, this takes up the return of the effects loop. This is mitigated by the option to instead use a MIDI controller if you need to use that effects loop for some external stomp boxes, but I’d still much rather see a dedicated expression pedal input given the number of guitarists who own expression pedals.

Back to the positive, and what is particularly exciting about the Anagram isn't just its stellar sounds (more about that soon) but the way in which it can be expanded through NAM and Darkglass Marketplace.

NAM stands for Neural Amp Modeling, which should be noted as a totally separate thing from the closely named Neural DSP. NAM is instead an open-source, capture-based tech that is completely free.

The captures can be browsed and downloaded via Tone 3000’s website, and doing so is straightforward, but does require the Darkglass Suite software and a USB-C connection to link your Anagram to a laptop in order to import the files.

Marketplace is similar and is where third parties can share blocks they have created for the Anagram, some paid, some free. It’s important to note that all core firmware updates and standard blocks developed for the Anagram by Darkglass will remain free.

While it has Bluetooth, there is no mobile app as of yet, and at the time of writing, I'm unaware of any plans to include one. So, at least for the moment, making use of Marketplace and NAM will necessitate a laptop, which feels a little old school at this point, with devices such as the Line 6 Helix Stadium not only sporting Bluetooth apps, but also WIFI to allow similar functions to take place natively within the hardware.

Finally, and helpfully for those of us like myself who are lost on anything with less than six strings, there's the option to hide the bass-aimed blocks from the menus (this is the default on the limited edition model), saving on brain space and scrolling time by displaying only the guitar-relevant stuff.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Making some noise is where things get really exciting. I’m going to preface it all by saying that the range of guitar sounds here is not as expansive when compared to guitar-first modelers like the Helix Stadium and Quad Cortex.

The clue is in the name. It really is the essentials, so if you are looking for an all-encompassing range of wacky guitar sounds, you will not find that here. At least not yet.

What you do have at launch is a range of 12 models of classic amps, going from classy Fender Cleans to all-out 5150-style distortion. In addition to the NAM models, too, of which there are thousands.

Then there are seven drives, three delays, five reverbs, 10 modulations, and 13 more effects under the EQ, Filters and Dynamics category. Again, all choices that fit the “essentials” moniker. I’ll reiterate that this is not as many as on other modelers, but it’s still more than enough for most.

The amp models are almost universally brilliant. I particularly like the Leonardo Twin, which gives an accurate feeling, mid-scooped Fender Twin Reverb clean, and the Admiral JJM800 with its biting, mid-forward hi-gain Marshall JCM800 thing. The only one I’m not as much of a fan of is the 5150-inspired Phoebe SISO, which, while it is still a good high-gain sound, on its own it lacks the tight low end of the real thing.

I find the amps in general to be impressively touch-sensitive, cleaning up on the volume control and reacting to my picking dynamics in a way that makes them feel truly alive.

As I do with a lot of modelers, I feel the need to add a low-pass filter to help with some high-end that comes across just a little digital on some of the amps. Depending on the amp model, I find around 7K works well, eradicating the 'digitalness' and leaving me with truly inspiring guitar sounds that undeniably put the Anagram in the same league as the market-leading modelers.

The drives are impressive too, with models such as the aforementioned Valve Crier 808 adding the rewarding mid-humped sound associated with the famous Tube Screamer, if slightly lacking in that weighty compressed feel, and the Kentauri Firenze happily fulfilling the role of Klon clone.

A particular highlight is the Green Pie Rate Fuzz, which is a hugely rewarding, thick, mid-scooped Big Muff sound, which includes the option to remove the tone circuit to add in some of that mid frequency, as per the common mod on the real Big Muff pedal.

There is no direct Fuzz Face model, which I find to be a bit of an omission given it's an essentials package. But included is the Duality fuzz, which is a fantastic, meaty-sounding fuzz pedal, with a useful Filter control to adjust its spitti-ness.

There are 10 modulation models - Chorus, Flanger, Whammy, Phaser, Tremolo, Pitch Shifter, Vibrato and then three Octavers (tell me you were originally a bass pedal without telling me you were originally a bass pedal).

I start by kicking on the Flanger, and find it easy to imitate that sound from the intro of Stereophonics’ Dakota. The other modulations follow suit in their rewarding and easy-to-use nature, with the only exception being the Pitch Shifter, which manages to impressively mitigate the odd artifacts these types of effects often add when moving things too far one way or another, but it loses a bit of high end at even small shifts.

We all like a bit of space around our sounds, but we are a little limited when it comes to delays here, with only three to choose from. These are named Analog, Digital, and Mod and expertly do as you would expect.

I am a sucker for an analog delay and the way the repeats darken as they go, keeping themselves out of the way of the mix. The Anagram nails this with buckets (pun absolutely intended) of analog tone and degredation.

The five reverbs are of similarly high quality, featuring Room, Plate, Hall, Shimmer and Spring. I particularly like the authentic drop of the Spring, but the Shimmer feels a little bit separate from the dry signal, resulting in a sound that comes across as unnatural. Useful for some things, but not to my taste.

Also included in the EQ’s, Filters and Dynamics section is a collection of envelope filters, compressors, limiters, EQ’s and autowahs.

The Luminal FET compressor is fantastic for funky compressed cleans, and the amusingly named 'Mo**erf***er' provides a Moog Moogerfooger-style envelope filter for those times when we want things to get a little outlandish.

Verdict

As I referred to earlier, compared to other guitar multi-effects, the Guitar Essentials package does not have a vast amount of options. But this is relative talk. It certainly has enough to cover all the essential sonic bases (and indeed, basses) a guitarist might need.

With the Anagram already established in the bass world, we six-stringers are getting the benefit of a pre-developed platform that has been up and running since April 2025. And it’s worth remembering that if you happen to play bass too (let’s face it, the world is already saturated with guitarists), this limited edition Guitar Essentials version contains all the same bass tones and effects that the already-available Anagram does.

When it comes to pro-level compact, pedalboard-friendly guitar modelers and multi-effects, Fractal, Neural, and Line 6 have some real competition here. For a lot of people, the Anagram’s stellar sounds, NAM compatibility, and ease of use will make it the best choice.

Guitar World verdict: Having already made waves as a bass product, the Anagram is now fully capable of taking it to the established leaders in the guitar modeling and multi-effects world with Guitar Essentials. Relatively speaking, it is not the widest selection of sounds, but what it does do is almost universally brilliant. It covers, as the name suggests, the essentials, and for many, that is all they will need.

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The Studio Rats

Guitar World

Steve Sterlacci

What is it?

It’s fair to say that the third installment of a franchise is often the hardest. Every threequel wants to be Return of the King or The Last Crusade, but more often than not, it ends up being The Godfather Part III, The Matrix Revolutions, or The Dark Knight Rises – you either die the hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain, right?

In the realm of the electric guitar, looking to break the curse of the third-act slog is Fender and the hotly anticipated Vintera III series. The Vintera range has never claimed to be faithful vintage recreations. Instead, they opt to generalize the specs, going for a decade rather than a specific production year. This is an effort to capture the look, feel, and tone of golden-age guitars, without locking them into the demands of a fully period-correct build – let’s leave that to the Custom Shop.

Picking up where the II left off, this all-new slate of guitars keeps the original's premise, but takes it in a slightly different direction in terms of years. This time around, we have models inspired by the late '50s as well as the early, mid, and late '60s. The guitar I’m looking at today is the Late '50s Stratocaster.

As expected, this Strat features an alder body paired with a 1-piece maple neck and maple fingerboard. The neck is a '50s “D” profile and is peppered with 21 Vintage Tall frets with a retro 7.25" radius.

Tonally, the Vintera III Strat is powered by a trio of suitably vintage Late '50s Single-Coil Strat pickups, which look to get you as close to the charm of an old-school Strat as possible. That said, what isn’t period-correct is the switching. Original late-50s Stratocasters were wired a little differently from how they're wired today. The first tone knob controlled the neck pickup, while the second controlled the middle pickup; this meant the bridge pickup had no tone control, arguably where you need it most!

The Vintera III comes wired like a modern Strat, with a master volume and tone 1 controlling both the neck and middle pickups, while tone 2 takes care of the bridge pickup.

Rounding out the specs is a vintage-style synchronized tremolo and period-accurate split-post tuning machines.

The whole thing is finished in a gloss polyester lacquer and available in three finish options, from the classic 3-Color Sunburst, which I am reviewing today, to Knopfler-esque Dakota Red and the glittering Aztec Gold. The model also ships with a padded Fender gigbag.

Guitar World demo video

Specs

• Launch price: $1,249 | £1,029 | €1,249
• Made: Mexico
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Alder
• Neck: Maple, Late '50s "D"
• Fingerboard: Maple, 7.25" radius
• Scale length: 25.5" (648 mm)
• Nut/width: Bone, 1.650" (42 mm)
• Frets: 21 Vintage Narrow Tall
• Hardware: 6-Saddle Vintage-Style Synchronized Tremolo with Bent Steel Saddles, Fender Vintage-Style tuners, 1-Ply pickguard
• Electrics: Vintage-Style Late '50s Single-Coil Strat pickups, Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck/Middle Pickups), Tone 2. (Bridge Pickup)
• Weight: 7.5 lbs/3.4kg
• Left-handed options: N/A
• Finishes: -Color Sunburst, Dakota Red, Aztec Gold
• Cases: Fender Gigbag
• Contact: Fender

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

Right, first things first, this is a very handsome guitar, indeed. I’ve always had a soft spot for ‘50s Strats, personally owning a ‘54 Commemorative Anniversary model, and this one does not disappoint in the looks department.

While my own Strat is the earlier option with the more subtle 2-tone sunburst finish over an ash body, this model opts for alder and brings in a pop of red, turning it into the universally loved 3-tone sunburst – although there’s no woodgrain pattern showing through, making it look more like a solid finish than semi-transparent, like you would expect. Fender first introduced the 3-tone sunburst in early 1958, so it’s right on the money to match that “late ‘50s” moniker the guitar wears.

I’d say the poly finish feels good enough underhand, but I’d still prefer to see a full nitrocellulose lacquer on these guitars – in keeping with the vintage vibe they are going for. It would really complete the look for me, and some natural aging is an added bonus, too.

Another period-correct feature is the 8-hole, 1-ply pickguard. Yes, it may look a little basic, and dare I say cheap, but it is what guitars from this era looked like. Fender wouldn’t switch to the 11-hole, 3-ply pickguard until around mid-1959, so again, the company is authentically including the correct option here.

The overall fit and finish of this guitar is pretty spot on. In fact, I can’t really see anything out of place. The finish has been neatly applied, the sunburst has a satisfying fade through the three colors, and the neck joint is tight and flush. This build quality also extends to the vintage-style tremolo, which feels smooth and glides effortlessly. It also shows how well the real bone nut – an upgrade from previous generations – has been cut, as there’s no string stickage here.

Some players may notice that you can see the edges of the headstock decals, as they have been applied over the finish. This isn’t actually a mistake or carelessness from Fender, but another period-correct trait they have chosen to replicate.

That all said, I must say the frets could use a bit of attention. They are covered in patches of amber lacquer across most frets. For most glossy maple boards, Fender typically sprays the lacquer after the frets are installed, then cleans up the frets to a perfect polish.

The clean-up job isn’t great on my test example, and as a result, it feels dull and sticky when bending the strings – and generally looks pretty unsightly. I’m seeing this carelessness with frets more and more from the big names, and frankly, it’s something I’d like to see companies take more seriously.

At $1,249, this is most definitely not a cheap guitar, and as such, I really expect things like this to be done at the factory ahead of shipping.

However, it is an easy enough fix, and it doesn’t detract from what is otherwise a smartly built guitar that is teeming with vintage mojo straight out of the box.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

If you’re a modern player who likes modern necks, this Strat will not be for you. This is, by all metrics, a vintage-lover’s neck through and through – and I, for one, love it.

Billed as an “authentic late '50s ‘D’-shaped neck profile,” this neck is certainly rounder than contemporary Strats, but it’s not massive. We’re not talking baseball bat, Gibson Les Paul territory. It’s subtly rounded and very inviting to play, in my opinion.

Now, I have a couple of vintage reissue Fenders, mainly an AVRI Jazzmaster and Telecaster, both based on ‘64 models, so I’m pretty used to a 7.25" radius fingerboard and those smaller vintage-tall frets. But those not all that familiar may take a little bit of time adjusting to the rounder radius.

There’s a lot of common wisdom swirling online around the 7.25" radius fingerboard – some swear by it, others avoid it. The main argument in its favor is that its rounder profile makes chording a dream. Open chords, barre chords, and Hendrix-style thumb-over shapes all feel supremely comfortable, and that’s certainly true of this new Vintera model.

For me, the natural contour of the neck follows the shape of my hand, making rhythm work especially pleasant. That said, critics argue that these curved boards make big bends and low action more difficult, claiming that notes can “fret out” when you push a string up high on the neck – but that’s not something I found on this model.

Bending is easy and expressive. Fender’s vintage-tall frets give you just enough height to dig in for lead work, while the setup – around medium-low for me, at 1.55mm on the low E to 1.25mm at the high E – allows for easy bends and wide vibrato without choking out.

Yes, the neck has some meat to it, but ultimately, it still feels easy to navigate. Okay, so if you’re coming from a flatter, modern fingerboard, you might notice the difference, but for vintage fans this Strat sits in the sweet spot for both chord and lead work.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

Maybe it was because my first-ever guitar was a Strat, but I’ve always loved the sound of this famed Fender. Yes, the Telecaster is a straightforward tone machine – simply set it to stun, point and shoot. The Stratocaster, on the other hand, has a few extra sounds locked away inside, and this Vintera does a very good job of representing the best of what Leo's crowning achievement can deliver.

For testing, I start by plugging into my '68 Custom Twin Reverb reissue, set a mild amount of verb, and get to playing.

Labeled as “vintage-style late ‘50s” pickups, there’s plenty of woody warmth here, especially from that neck pickup. There’s a moderate output and a real vintage authority to the pickups as a whole. Which I really appreciate. As I said up top, the model forgoes the 3-way pickup selector that would’ve come on a vintage example and swaps it out for the far more useful 5-way switch. This means I have access to all the sounds typically found in the Strat’s sonic palette.

Arguably the most beloved Strat tone is the combination of the bridge and middle pickup, which results in a smooth, slightly out-of-phase tone that just begs you to play your favorite John Mayer licks.

On the Vintera III, this position is bright, with plenty of attack and a slightly hollowed mid-range. Simply put, it sounds fantastic. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it gives the Custom Shop ‘54 pickups in my own Strat a run for their money.

For the funk-masters out there, you'll most definitely want to stick to the percussive attack of the middle position, which again sounds as good as ever in this new model. The bridge pickup is, obviously, where the majority of the treble lives, and here it manages to stay on the right end of harsh. Never sounding too brittle or thin, for that matter. It certainly helps that I can roll down the tone if needed – something players in 1958 couldn’t do!

Moving on, I switch things up and plug into a Vox AC30, stomp on a Tube Screamer, and see how this Strat handles with more gain. To my surprise, it takes it in its stride. The guitar almost takes on a somewhat throaty vocal quality that is perfect for bluesy lead lines and even alt-rock riffage.

I dare not push the gain much higher, as things are on the cusp of getting too noisy, but I’d say this late '50s Strat does more than rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly or country. It would be easy to write this guitar off as a one-trick pony, but actually there is a wealth of tones here, and it’s a pretty versatile guitar all things considered.

Verdict

If you’re after a Strat that leans hard into its old-school DNA, the Vintera III Late ’50s is a love letter to Fender’s golden era, wrapped in a handsome sunburst finish. This is not a guitar for a shred set – after all, there are plenty of them available elsewhere – it’s for those who want their instrument to feel like one from the past, but with a few choice contemporary updates.

The feel of this guitar is very specific. That late-’50s “D” profile, paired with a 7.25" radius and vintage-tall frets, creates a playing experience that’s tactile, inviting, and packed with character. Is it for everyone? No, definitely not. If you’re coming from modern, flatter necks, you’ll feel the difference immediately. But for those who love wrapping their thumb over the top, digging into big chords, or coaxing out expressive bends, this Strat rewards your effort with a feel that’s perfectly old-school. Personally, I think the frets could stand a better polish from the factory, and at this price, that’s worth noting.

Sonically, the Vintera III goes toe to toe with higher-end Custom Shop models, in my opinion. The pickups capture the warmth, snap, and sparkle you want from a late-’50s Strat, with enough output to handle blues, classic rock, and even a touch of alt grit if you push it – and better yet, the modern wiring is a thoughtful update, putting tone control right where you need it.

The bottom line is that the Late ’50s Strat is a fantastic entry into the now long-running Vintera series, proving that some third installments are most definitely as good as the original.

Guitar World verdict: The Vintera III Late ’50s Stratocaster is a loving tribute to vintage Fender, offering authentic late-’50s feel, sound, and looks in a package that’s both inspiring and approachable. The neck is comfortable, the pickups are lively and versatile, and period-correct details are tastefully done.

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What is it?

Donner is probably the best-known of the budget-friendly Chinese brands out there. It makes everything from beginner electric guitars to multi-effects, keyboards, electronic drum sets, and even did a collab with Jack White's Third Man via the Triple Threat pedal. Donner’s got its finger in a lot of pies, but arguably its most popular product is the Hush line of travel guitars.

Now, this model comes in a couple of flavors. There’s the more advanced Pro X, the acoustic EVO2, and the classical-inspired Hush C Nylon. But the one I’ve got my hands on today is the Hush X Live.

​At its core, it’s built around a mahogany body. The neck is a (club) sandwich of five pieces of mahogany with two 1mm maple strips, and you get Donner’s own Alnico V humbucker at the bridge and an Alnico V single coil at the neck. But honestly, that’s about where the traditional guitar stuff stops.

​The vaguely Telecaster-esque outline comes from a detachable metal wing that slots onto the main core, while a built-in speaker module, tucked away right where you’d usually find the controls, completes the silhouette. This turns the Hush X Live from an already portable headless electric guitar into a truly “go-anywhere” instrument.

But it’s not just a speaker; there are actually five amp models baked in, from a Marshall to a Mesa/Boogie, Fender Twin, Roland Jazz Chorus, and Vox AC30. Plus, you get a built-in multi-effects with modules including delay, reverb, modulation, and a noise gate, all tweakable with little controls on the bottom horn.

​And if that’s not enough, there’s built-in Bluetooth streaming, so you can hook up your phone or tablet for backing tracks or online guitar lessons. Of course, since it’s a travel guitar, you can break it down in seconds, and it comes bundled with a slim but well-padded gig bag, and it’s available in two classic finishes, Black or White.

Specs

• Launch price: $499.99 | £423.99 | €499.99
• Made: China
• Type: Six-string electric travel guitar
• Body: Mahogany
• Neck: Mahogany/maple
• Fingerboard: HPL
• Scale length: 25.5"/647.7mm
• Nut: Bone
• Frets: 21
• Hardware: Donner Headless Tuning System with a Full Block 6-Saddle Fixed Bridge
• Electrics: Hush X '23 Original Alnico V humbucker/ single coil
• Weight: 4.4 lbs / 2.0 kg
• Options: N/A
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Black or White
• Cases: Gig bag
• Contact: Donner

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

Opening the skinny oblong box immediately lets me know that this is no ordinary guitar. Housed inside is a padded rectangular gig bag that is in no way guitar-shaped; in fact, it looks more like the type of case you’d find PA speaker poles carried in. It’s a pretty good-looking gig bag, though. It’s well padded, and there are enough compartments to hold everything you need.

As you’ve probably guessed, the guitar comes disassembled with the main body and neck being one piece, and the metal horns and speaker section bolting-on to complete the guitar.

​Overall, the whole thing feels impressively well made and finished, much more so than I expected from a modular design, especially at this price point. The fit and finish are genuinely tight, with all parts locking together with a satisfying click, no rattles or play anywhere. All the joints line up neatly, and the paintwork and hardware look and feel above the usual travel guitar standard.

The main body is made of solid mahogany, which, in this case, is actually pretty lightweight; it’s not until I add the detachable horns that the guitar gains some heft. The satin finish on the neck has been smoothly applied with no sticky spots or rough patches, and the fretwork is impressively tidy, too. There are no sharp fret ends to be found.

As this is a headless design, the tuners are located at the guitar's bridge, and they hold pitch well and turn smoothly, without any grinding or slack. The bridge is a solid and pretty substantial thing, and feels robust under my hand.

I must say, this is a very easy guitar to put together, taking just seconds to complete. It’s a pretty straightforward affair, and there’s no need to reach for the manual, as it’s very obvious how it all connects – and, honestly, there's something deeply satisfying about how quickly it all snaps into place – and it has the added benefit of making me feel like Jason Bourne assembling a rifle on a rooftop.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★☆

The first thing I notice when I pick it up is how lightweight and balanced it feels, even when fully assembled. It’s easy to forget I’m holding a modular instrument, and that’s a compliment. It sits comfortably on my lap or hangs well on a strap, and thanks to its missing headstock, it has none of the awkward neck dive that plagues so many travel guitars.

Now, the neck is finished in a super-slick satin that borders on, dare I say, plasticky. Some players will love how fast and effortless it feels, and shredders especially will appreciate the lack of resistance. But there’s no denying it’s almost slippery, so if you prefer a bit of grip or a more organic feel, it might take some getting used to. It certainly took me a while to gel with it, if I’m totally honest.

The fingerboard, for its part, has a distinctly synthetic vibe, too. It's billed as HPL, which stands for high-pressure laminate, and even though it is smooth and even, the texture is closer to Richlite than to rosewood or ebony. Of course, this isn’t a dealbreaker, but it’s definitely something you'll notice, especially if you’re coming from more traditional fretboards.

The guitar comes with a plethora of built-in effects and controls, which are located on the speaker module, making it pretty easy to grab and tweak while playing, well, that is apart from one control. One of the more unusual design choices is the placement of the Tap-Tempo button for the delay on the back of the guitar. While this keeps the front face clean, it does make adjusting tempo mid-song very awkward – I have to reach around with my fretting hand, which is not exactly intuitive if I'm performing or even just practicing. It’s a strange oversight, in my opinion.

The built-in speaker is a brilliant feature for truly portable practice, but don’t make the same mistake I did. I, somewhat naively, thought that once I clicked the speaker module in place, that was it and it would just work, but that is not the case. It requires a cable connection to the guitar itself; thankfully, the guitar does come with a small patch cable in the bag.

Once I'm playing, the Hush X Live feels much more like a 'real' guitar than the novelty I was first expecting. The fretwork is solid, bends are smooth, and the intonation is impressively good across the neck, and it doesn't take long to forget I'm jamming on an instrument I've just slotted together.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆½

Okay, so now on to the sound, and I’d say it’s a tale of two halves for the Hush X Live. On one hand, you’ve got a genuinely decent pickup and electronics setup, plugged into a real amp, in my case a Fender Blues Junior, it sounds good. Is it mind-blowing? No, not really, but the Alnico V pickups are responsive enough and exactly what I’d expect at this price.

On the other hand, the built-in speaker is somewhat of a limited practice tool, in my opinion. Through the speaker, everything comes across a bit boxy and narrow. It’s not unpleasant, and it does the job for late-night noodling or hotel room jams, but I'm definitely not getting the full character of the instrument. There’s a midrange hump and a lack of real depth, so chords can sound a little congested, and single notes don’t quite sing the way they do through a proper amp, and things only get worse the more gain you add. For cleaner, more bluesy settings, it works pretty well, but the high-gain shred settings aren’t quite up to par.

Of course, none of this is surprising. The Hush X Live really comes alive when plugged it into a real amp or an interface. The tone opens up, the boxiness disappears, and I get a much clearer sense of the guitar’s true voice.

It’s worth noting that there are a few ways to run the Hush. There's a traditional output on the main body, like a normal guitar, giving you the pure sound of the pickups. I can hook up the speaker module and use the amp models and effects without an amp, or I can take a line out from the module into an amp or audio interface to use the effects at a much louder volume. I chose to go with the latter, so I could really hear what was going on without it being coloured by the boxy speaker.

The Hush X Live comes loaded with a surprisingly ambitious lineup of onboard amp models, including a Marshall JCM-800, a Fender Twin, a Roland Jazz Chorus, and a Vox AC30. It’s an impressive roster on paper and is pretty much all the amps I’d ever need. I’ll admit, these aren’t dead-on replicas. Put them side by side with the real amps, and I’d be hard-pressed to identify which was which based on tone alone. The voicings are more like broad strokes of the originals, capturing a bit of the character and flavor, but not the full depth or nuance.

That said, they’re undeniably fun to play with. The JCM-800 model gives a satisfying crunch, the Mesa setting delivers plenty of gain, and the Fender and Roland flavors are bright and lively enough for clean playing. The Vox model offers some nice chime, though it can get a little fizzy if you push it too hard. For most practice and jamming scenarios, they sound pretty good, and swapping between them can spark a lot of inspiration. None of them are going to fool a purist, but for a compact, all-in-one setup, it’s hard not to be impressed by what Donner managed to pack in.

Moving on to the effects, and again, we have plenty to play with, from reverb to delay, chorus, tremolo, and a noise gate. Again, like the amp models, these aren’t the greatest effects ever made, but they sound pretty good for the most part. The chorus is lush, the delay has tap-tempo, and the reverb can get pretty big if you want it to. For a guitar you can assemble in seconds, it’s almost surreal how much sonic territory you can cover with just a few twists of a knob.

Verdict

For me, I’d say the Donner Hush X Live is a clever bit of travel gear. It’s a genuinely impressive piece of kit that goes far beyond its portable ambitions. Is it perfect? Of course not; no guitar is, and the Hush X Live has its quirks. The neck is slicker than some will like, the fingerboard feels a touch synthetic, the built-in speaker, while handy, won’t be replacing your favorite amp anytime soon, and the tap tempo button’s placement on the back is an odd design call. But none of this derails the overall experience.

The build is solid, it’s genuinely well-finished, and assembly is fast and intuitive. Plugged in, the Hush X Live is more than capable. The pickups deliver tones that certainly don’t embarrass themselves next to full-sized guitars, and while the onboard amp models and effects won’t fool a tube amp or boutique pedal lover, they’re a blast to experiment with and more than good enough for practice, jamming, or writing on the go.

For anyone who travels, likes to play anywhere, or just wants a minimalistic rig that still feels like a proper instrument, the Hush X Live is a winner.

Guitar World verdict: With the ability to shrink into a seriously compact little gig bag, the Hush X Live is a fun and pretty well-made travel guitar that can really go anywhere. Okay, so the built-in speaker isn’t the greatest, but the on-board amp models and effects do sound pretty decent when played through a traditional amp – and we can’t forget about its affordable price tag.

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What is it?

A few years ago, Fender upended its range hierarchy and discontinued its long-serving Mexican-built Classic range of electric guitars and basses, replacing it with the Vintera line.

The new name carries a similar ethos – vintage-inspired specs, without American reissue prices. To its credit, Fender didn't simply stop there.

The subsequent Vintera II refresh saw numerous spec upgrades, plus new models and finishes. Now, in 2026, we're starting to see the introduction of the Vintera III range, with yet further updates.

I use the word ‘updates’ somewhat loosely, though, as these are still vintage-inspired instruments; the old-school specs and finishes are really the point. But, of course, Fender's long history provides a seemingly never-ending stream of models and era-specific features, ripe for reissue.

Here, then, is the Vintera III Late ‘60s Precision Bass, and its name states a clear goal - to capture the vibe of Fender's early ‘CBS’ period, after that giant American broadcasting corporation bought the company in 1965.

Many changes were made to Fender's range, not all of them for the better, but the distinctive style of the era is now highly sought-after.

Specs

• Launch price: $1,249 | £1,099 | €1,229currency retail prices
• Made: Mexico
• Type: Four-string electric bass
• Body: Alder
• Neck: Maple, ‘Late ‘60s C’ shape
• Fingerboard material/radius: Round-laminated rosewood, 7.25”
• Scale length: 34”/864mm
• Nut/width: Bone, 41.3mm
• Frets: 20, vintage tall
• Hardware: Vintage style ‘Lollipop’ tuners, vintage style 4-saddle bridge with threaded steel saddles
• String spacing at bridge: 19mm
• Electrics: 1x Late 60s split-coil pickup, volume, tone
• Weight: 7.9lb/3.6kg
• Left-handed options: N/A
• Finishes: Black with matching headstock and rosewood fretboard (as reviewed), Firemist Gold with rosewood fretboard, Lake Placid Blue with maple fretboard, 3-Color Sunburst with maple fretboard
• Case: Fender Deluxe gig bag, included
• Contact: Fender

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Fender hasn't put a specific year on it, as it always has on the upmarket American Vintage lines; presumably, such year-specific features are hard to achieve at this significantly lower price point.

It's arguable that, because the ‘60s Precision aesthetic is so enduringly popular, that this latest take looks like many of Fender's other P-Bass models - especially if you unscrew the plastic tug bar on the scratchplate.

Luckily, this black example benefits from a matching headstock - a rare and desirable custom feature on original ‘60s Fenders, and undoubtedly one that does some heavy lifting aesthetically.

A downside, on our review sample, is that the Fender logo has noticeable rough edges from application - not something you'd be especially pleased about on a £300 instrument, leave alone one retailing for £1,099.

Other than this cosmetic issue, however, the build quality is excellent – the neck pocket is tight and the whole instrument resonates strongly.

The maple neck is finished in a vintage-looking amber tint, and crowned with a lovely, super-dark, round-laminated rosewood fretboard. The radius is an old-school 7.25”, with narrow and tall frets.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★☆

The alder body is a comfortable weight, and the neck's ‘Late ‘60s C’ shape is superb, the usual P-Bass nut width creating enough substance, but the profile slim enough to be comfortable for those with smaller hands. The steep fretboard radius and the slightly sticky-feeling gloss finish might not appeal to all, however.

Out of the box, the action is fairly high; I choose to drop the bridge saddles for an easier playing experience. Just as well the truss rod doesn't need adjusting – it's one of the old-school style with a screw head located at the neck heel, meaning the whole neck might need to come off.

Once the saddles are lowered a little, the playability improves; much easier to enjoy the comfortable neck profile, and the familiar feel of a classic P-Bass.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

I plug into my usual Line 6 HX Stomp test rig, and dial up a couple of favourite presets for vintage-style bass tones – an Ampeg B-15, an Acoustic 360 and a gritty Ampeg SVT for some higher-gain exploration.

The beauty of an old-school Precision Bass is that there's basically no learning curve. You can plug it straight in, with both controls on full, and it immediately sounds like… an old-school Precision Bass.

There's that thick low-midrange boom, and the growl of the upper mids (emphasised here by the fairly new strings). Fender's Late ‘60s split-coil pickup provides a full-bodied bass and low-mid response that would undoubtedly work a treat with some flat-wound strings.

Conversely, the high frequencies are a little more subdued than you'll find in some other P-Basses; it's far from woolly, but it's certainly a little more polite than my own go-to Precision-style bass.

If you're routinely playing more modern rock styles, then, you might consider a hotter or brighter pickup but, for the era-specific sound that Fender is invoking here, it's ideal.

Verdict

The Vintera III Late ‘60s Precision Bass, then, does what it says on the tin. It's a fine-playing and good-sounding P-Bass with a subtle vintage vibe.

To play more to its strengths as a retro instrument, you might consider a different finish (there's a gorgeous, and very ‘60s, Firemist Gold available, for example); even with the matching headstock, this black example just blends a little too readily into the sizeable crowd of other black P-Basses.

That's a bit of a shame, as the whole point of a vintage reissue is to evoke a specific era; a brief that this bass otherwise confidently hits.

Guitar World verdict: The new Vintera III range brings with it another fine 60s-style P-Bass, offering excellent old-school tone and playability. Choose your finish carefully for the right amount of retro charm - but beyond that, it's difficult to go too far wrong here.

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What is it?

Is it a hot take to suggest the Mustang is Fender’s most underrated guitar? Often overlooked in the release schedule over its larger-bodied offset siblings, the Jazzmaster and Jaguar, the Mustang is nevetheless a crucial design for Fender. Like the Jaguar, it’s a short scale, but a smaller-bodied single-cut.

Designed as a student guitar by Leo Fender and introduced in 1964, its potential for younger beginner players is still significant as a result of the compact dimensions and easier bends from the shorter 24" scale compared to the Strat, Tele and Jazzmaster's 25.5". The Squier Bullet and now Sonic series Mustang models have been a testament to that continuing appeal, but for me, the Mustang isn’t just an excellent 'beginner guitar' option; it’s my favourite Fender.

Both my main guitars are hardtail Fender Player Mustang models, and the dimensions of Leo's design just feel right for me. To be honest, I wish I'd come around to it sooner.

I’ve modded my own guitars’ specs to my own taste around that core appeal – the modular nature of Fenders is always good for that. But when I saw the Vintera III Mustang update on the review slate it was a great chance to get back to a real Mustang that echoes a golden era ‘60s spec. A time long before Kurt Cobain's patronage gave the Mustang a much-deserved reappraisal.

Still, the model remains strangely under the radar even within Fender's own walls – I'm somewhat surprised to report at the time of writing this review that with Performer models phased out, the company doesn't currently have a US-made Mustang in its production model catalogue. Isn't that odd?

So the pressure is on for the Vintera III to deliver, but what’s notable about this iteration that the previous iterations didn’t quite grasp?

In short, it’s truer to the inspiration. Vintera III models are now honing in on specific eras within the decade they take inspiration from – and that means specs reflective of that. And for a mid-‘60s slant on the Mustang, we’re at the very genesis of the model that was launched in August 1964… mostly.

We’re moving beyond just the standard Mustang 24-inch scale and vintage 7.25” radius and vintage-tall frets here with ‘mid-’60s’ pickups and neck profile, and even true-to-era Fender decals added on top of the headstock lacquer. The rosewood fingerboard gains the unmistakable vintage vibe of clay fret dots too. This being a Mustang, there’s much more going on elsewhere too.

Specs

• Launch price: $1,249.99 | £1,029 | €1,199
• Made: Ensenada, Mexico
• Type: Six-string solid-body single-cut electric guitar
• Body: Alder
• Neck: Maple, Mid '60s C-shape, gloss urethane
• Fingerboard: Laminated rosewood
• Scale length: 24" / 610mm
• Nut/width: 42mm / bone
• Frets: 22, Vintage Tall
• Hardware: Vintage-style tuners with vintage white buttons, six-saddle vintage-style Mustang tremolo, four-ply tortoisehell pickguard
• Electrics: Vintage-Style Mid '60s Single-Coil Mustang bridge and neck single-coil pickups, master tone and volume controls, two on/off slide switches (one for each pickup)
• Weight of test model: 7lb/3.17kg
• Left-handed options: N/A
• Finishes: Dakota Red, Sonic Blue, Olympic White (as reviewed)
• Cases: Padded gig bag
• Contact: Fender

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

I personally think we have the choice finish of the three here. The options reflect the initial trio available at the Mustang's original launch with Sonic Blue now replacing the 1964 Daphne Blue, alongside Dakota Red and Olympic White. While purists may argue the pickguard should be a lighter, brighter red for vintage authenticity, I really like the darker burgundy tortoiseshell shades here. If anything, it looks a little more lived-in and well… vintage.

While the originals were first offered by Fender in two scale length options with 22.5" (like the existing Duo Sonic and Musicmaster student models) and the Jaguar's 24" – with the latter soon winning out as the popular choice. The Fender logo here is the transitional type from that time, in the gold with black outline style. And while the decal being stuck over the finish may look jarring to some, it is vintage correct. As are the off-white plastic tuner buttons.

The bridge cover from 1964 is absent here, a '60s idiosyncracy with Fender models there's little demand for now, but aftermarket spares can cater for. The nut is bone – a step up from the Vintera II's synthetic example. Again, true to the vintage era.

The fingerboard is round-laminated rosewood rather than slab here. This allows for the radius to be followed at the top and bottom, rather than just the slab's top. There's less mass of rosewood with laminate, which means – in theory – that this Mustang might sound brighter than a Vintera II equivalent. But you know the score with electric guitars – there are so many variables at play elsewhere, it's difficult to prove in this kind of testing situation.

I am immediately drawn to the dark rosewood and clay dots – it has all the vintage vibe I'd hope for, but it really needs a feed of lemon oil. While this isn't uncommon for guitars coming out of storage and varying conditions of humidity before they reach us for testing, the frets looking like they need a polish is less forgivable. It's taking the closet classic fantasy a bit far.

Still, that coffee dark fretboard really does make my Player II Mustang's rosewood look disappointingly caramel by comparison. Lovely stuff.

The dot placement draws from the '64 pre-CBS era but, more noticeably, the headstock does not – it's the larger late '65 shape . So the 'mid '60s' period is very much reflected here, rather than a specific year. This may not to everyone's taste, but Fender certainly isn't misleading anyone with the name.

At 7lbs, this test model is definitely bang on an ideal alder Mustang weight for me – my own Player II is half a pound lighter but that's without a floating tremolo system. However, looking at the stock Sweetwater has at the time of writing, this example is one of the lightest, though there's not much in it.

Apart from the frets and a tremolo issue I'll talk about next, fit and finish are sound. Would I have liked to see a nitro finish for a truer vintage reflection and much more desirable aging over time? Absolutely, and it would have bumped the price up a bit for sure, but I'm a little frustrated that nitrocellulose is only being rolled out on relic'd Road Worn Mexican-made models right now. However, this is Olympic White is very well delivered and is in the right territory of some vintage examples I've spotted.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★☆

There are a lot of opinions about what a 7.25" radius neck is good, and not good for when it comes to guitar playing. John Mayer entered the chat recently to stir the pot with some sound reasoning, but the fact is, our tastes, styles and hand sizes are all so different. So, I personally don't go in for sweeping statements when it comes to radius and suitability for certain styles of playing.

I do, however, have a period of adjustment whenever I go from my usual 9.5" Mustang modern C necks to this kind of vintage spec. The last time was for the Mike McCready Strat review for our sister site MusicRadar, and I really came around to the charms of a rounder radius. I certainly didn't find bending an issue with it.

The action is higher than I'd like on this test guitar at 1.8mm clearance from the low E and, more surprisingly, 1.85mm from the high E. After checking the truss rod relief and finding all is well (thankfully too, as this is vintage spec with the truss nut at the bass of the neck requiring neck removal), I decide to tweak the string action more to my liking.

Unlike my own Player Mustangs with block steel saddles, the six-barrel examples here aren't individually adjustable in height. It's a case of bass and treble bridge height adjustment with one of the three included allen/hex keys and a quick process even with a cautious approach of small changes. Because of the rounder 7.25" radius I'm careful not to go as low as I would with my 9.5" Fender necks and soon find a pleasing compromise.

Unsurprisingly, those frets feel a little scratchy at first but soon play in, and there's no getting around the fact that a short scale and this radius will be too cramped for some players. But equally, it will be a great fit for many, and a Goldilocks scenario for some smaller-statured players with smaller hands. At the end of the day, this is a vintage spec and of course, other options are available.

I prefer bending on a 9.5" radius, but I found myself coming up with more arpeggiated parts with this Mustang because of the ease of more complicated shapes. It feels like a deeper, more rounded C than modern Mustang necks I've played (at the first and 12th fret I measure the depth at 21.3mm and 23.4mm on the Vinter III vs 20.8 and 22.4mm with my calipers on my Player II's Modern C carve), but the lighter 9-gauge strings it ships with definitely help it feel friendly. Most experienced players will want to move to 10s on a short scale like this, or even 11s.

My testing with Vintera III Mustang covered a really strange period of weather in the United Kingdom – from 15 degrees up to the hottest June day on record here at 36 degrees. While my Player Mustangs with their hardtail bridges and fairly springy tensions with 10-gauge strings were surprisingly solid through it all, this Vintera was a challenge. And that's with light tremolo use - though that kind of more subtle wobble is what this type of tremolo is really meant for unless you want to be tuning every between every song, or even solo .

A safe bet would be that the floating tremolo needs calibrating. Not uncommon and often part of the deal with this design – and the 'cigar bar' for the tremolo leaning back, as you can see in the pic above, suggests that is the case. The strings tremolo plate needs to be removed for access to do this. But it has to be done to fully enjoy the sensitivity and thrills of the tremolo here without gritting your teeth in tuning anxiety every time.

It's worth mentioning that the floating design here requires a hex key to fit, adjust and remove the tremolo arm from the cigar bar every time – so keep a spare handy!

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

The obligatory Mustang controls recap is needed here – the pickups are selected and turned off with a pair of three-way switches above them. In the middle the pickups are turned off (no sound), when either is switched left or right they are activated. Switch them both to the left or right together and they're in phase, switch one to the left and one to the right (it doesn't matter which as long as they're both opposites) and they're out of phase.

This out-of-phase position is the least desirable of the options for me. But it's not undesirable either. The low-end drop and reduced output does have some lo-fi charm and useful application for strumming. Especially when contrasted with the other positions.

The Mustang is not a short-scale Strat in tone, it's distinct – in a good way too. And it's just as much an iconic Fender sound for me as its more popular siblings. I'm going to go all-out and say the in-phase position is my favourite 'middle' position on any Fender, and my experience here only highlights that further.

Mustang single-coil pickup polepieces are usually flat, not the staggered heights of a Strats and the Tele's bridge. The result is a finer balance between the strings, certainly to my ears, and it brings detail to chords I find immensely satisfying. I've also found it makes for a great pairing with the addition of a P-90-sized Firebird bridge pickup in one of my Mexican Player models. However, I should note for all you potential modders out there that unlike the Player models, this Vintera III is only routed for single-coil-sized pickups.

For a change, I start on the neck pickup and soon start sighing - there's an added dimension here that my own Player II's neck pickup doesn't have. And I really like that pickup. The round, focused response I love is there, but it's sharper and livelier. I'm an instant fan, the strings ring out for chords so fully, and throwing a touch of plate reverb and some light harmonic tremolo is such an inspiring sound, I think it could convert Mustang newcomers.

It's not the instantly identifiable strat spank, but a very interesting alternative that's more adaptable to my ears. It bodes well for further investigation.

I've found bridge pickups on some Mustangs to be quite gnarly affairs, requiring bespoke dialling on the tone control, and sometimes the amp, to get the best out of them. While I chose to swap out the bridge pickups on both by own Player Mustangs for Sunbear Soapbird P-90-size Firebird humbuckers, what I find with the Vintera III gives me some pause.

The twang and snap I expect has that fullness again and yes, I do reach for the tone control to dial the top off things a little, but I find a voice that's meatier under overdrive than I expected through a clean Princeton and then a Neural Plexi model with my trusty little Wampler Tumnus. The volume control proves super responsive with these setups, revealing a guitar that would be a vibrant tool in a power trio, or a dynamic foil alongside a second, humbucker guitar player.

It's not really a surprise to find the highlight is the 'middle' in-phase position here. A shimmering sound for strumming chords that really laps up light modulation – a Boss CE-2 and Crowded House's Don't Dream It's Over intro and Johnny Marr's Smith arpeggios are addictive stuff here! It's a sublime and expressive experience for Knopfler-esque fingerstyle too, responding sensitively.

As I mentioned earlier, the out-of-phase option is a wiry, lo-fi and lower-output voice in comparison. Though hanging back in a mix or as a contrast in an intro or passages before kicking back into one of the other three voices, it could find useful favor.

Verdict

There's a lot to like about the latest addition to Fender's more affordable vintage-spec'd range, a reminder of why it remains my favourite Fender model. The third-generation additions make it distinct and perhaps the most focused Vintera Mustang we'll see unless the company decides to hone in on specific years for the next iteration.

A couple of setup issues with this test model notwithstanding, this is a persuasive showcase of Fender's dark horse model if you want vintage spec without the eyewatering price tag.

GuitarWorld verdict: This is a great place to go for an authentically full-fat Mustang experience – and the new Mid '60s pickups are a big part of the appeal here, alongside the evocative looks and feel of Fender's golden era.

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What is it?

With no end to limited editions and artist models costing more than many of us are able to spend, it’s easy to forget that Gibson’s start-up maple-topped Les Paul is still the Studio, which – as you can see here – is far from overpriced.

For many, its reputation as almost a proper Les Paul has relegated it to outside of the Premiership, but it’s arguably one of the best-value and potentially super-sounding ’Pauls, especially if you don’t need ‘fancy’.

But even Gibson sometimes seems to overlook this gem. For example, the Studio Modern ushered in the returning level, and no sooner had the actual good ol’ standard Les Paul Studio returned to the USA line-up in late 2024 than an up-spec’d option, the Studio Session, appeared and grabbed the headlines. But at least this new Double Trouble release (technically a limited edition, we’re told) shines a spotlight on what might well be an overlooked gem.

The Double Trouble name, of course, refers to the ‘Double Classic White’ uncovered pickups (which are actually the same cream hue as the pickup mounting rings and fingerboard binding, slightly darker than the single-ply pickguard).

Cover and bobbin colour aside, they’re the same Burstbucker Pro humbuckers we find on the regular Studio and, in all honesty, that really is the only change here: as we said, you get the vibe of the full-fat Standard Double Trouble but with a saving of $/£900. So, what else are we missing?

The most obvious visual change is the lack of binding around the top edge of the plain maple top. Technically, the body depth is around 3mm slimmer here, but you probably wouldn’t notice that. What you do notice is the weight.

This Studio, like the original we evaluated from 2024, is very far from a boat anchor. It uses Gibson’s most hollow Ultra Modern weight relief, and while plenty of die-hards will be saying, ‘That’s not a Les Paul!’, well, plenty of others find the trimmer bulk quite engaging. To be honest, that includes us.

But with those exceptions the Studio is pretty much identical to the upper-market Standard DT, not least the fingerboard binding, which wasn’t always a part of the Studio’s recipe but here is pretty nicely done – as ever, the binding forms the fret-ends, the so-called ‘nibs’.

Hardware is typical for the Modern guitars, too: a wider-travel Nashville tune-o-matic and lightweight aluminium stud tailpiece, Gibson Deluxe tuners with keystone buttons, and the well-cut nut is by Graph Tech.

Specs

• PRICE: $1,599 | £1,599 | €1,539 (inc soft case)
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Single-cutaway, solidbody electric
• BODY: 2-piece mahogany with centre-joined carved maple plain top and Ultra-Modern weight relief
• NECK: 1-piece mahogany, SlimTaper profile, glued-in
• SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”) (NB: measured scale length is shorter)
• NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech/43.6mm
• FINGERBOARD: Cream bound Indian rosewood, acrylic trapezoid inlays, 305mm (12”) radius
• FRETS: 22, medium jumbo
• HARDWARE: Nashville tune-o-matic bridge, aluminium stopbar tailpiece, Gibson Deluxe tuners w/ keystone buttons – chrome/nickel plated
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 50.5mm
• ELECTRICS: Uncovered ‘Double Classic White’ Gibson Burstbucker Pro humbuckers (neck and bridge), 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, volume and tone for each pickup (each volume with pull-switch ‘coil-tap’)
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.45/7.59
• OPTIONS: The standard non-limited Les Paul Studio ($/£1,599) uses nickel-covered Burstbucker Pros
• LEFT-HANDERS: Not this model
• FINISHES: Dirty Lemon Burst (as reviewed) Cherry Sunburst – gloss nitrocellulose
• CONTACT: Gibson

Build quality, usability and sounds

There’s very little here to moan about. The crisp finishing and fretwork suggests it’s a higher ticket model than it is; the SlimTaper neck profile feels familiar, a shallow ‘C’ with a hint of a flat back.

The 3.45kg (7.59lb) weight is a game-changer if your experience tells you all Les Pauls have to be a lot heavier. String height and setup is good; there’s no need to tweak the neck and tuning stability is spot on.

It would be a huge disappointment if what we hear didn’t reflect what we see and feel. But, again, we’re smiling. There’s beautiful depth at the neck, and clarity, too. Meanwhile, the bridge isn’t over-sharp and has good bite that begins to earn its stripes with a little crunch, and the pickup outputs are nicely matched with no adjustment necessary.

Above all, it’s not overly thick-sounding. Yes, there’s some smooth cream, but that’s balanced with clarity. In this lower gain setting you can clearly hear the ‘coil-tap’ effect, too: slightly rounder in terms of attack, marginally (if anything) quieter and, in reality, it’s a subtler option, rather than the more distinct full humbucker to single-coil switching that’s used by so many makers (and also erroneously called a ‘coil-tap’ by some).

It’s certainly fun with both pickups on, and applying the coil-tap to the bridge pickup, for example, just helps pull back the crisp highs that are no doubt enhanced as there are no covers on these pickups.

It sounds a lot more ‘vintage’, if we’re honest – a little played in. Very dynamic and expressive. Also, the Burstbuckers don’t sound potted, which adds to the old‑school appeal.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Guitar World verdict: This is a hard-to-put-down Les Paul with bags of character, not least if your tastes lie with those earlier ’Burst-like tones.

Then there’s the weight, which you simply won’t find outside of the real vintage deal or the higher end of the Gibson Custom range. We’re not saying the weight relief doesn’t change the response, but playing and living with a ’Paul of this weight is simply a pleasure.

Granted, not everyone will accept the lack of body binding, and we’re not spoiled for choice in terms of finish options, but when a guitar plays and sounds this good, we’re not sure we care.

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• "A traditionally spec'd, workhorse machine that sounds like a Les Paul should while offering some limited-edition aesthetics": Gibson Les Paul 60s Double Trouble review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

What is it?

The first signature plugin for pedal-loving math rock guitarist Yvette Young sees MixWave promising to deliver her live rig in digital form. For the uninitiated, Young’s tonal shtick centers on spangly clean guitar tones and oodles of weird and ethereal stompboxes as heard in her band, Covet, as well as her growing solo catalog. So, this plugin is aimed, predominantly, at the math rock crowd.

At its heart, MixWave: Yvette Young is a digitized version of a Vox AC30 combo amp that stays faithful to its control panel, but one that treats the cabinet side like most plugins do – as a separate entity with tweakable speaker cones, with Alnico Blue and Greenback options, 15 different microphones, and mic placements.

Beyond that, there are nine different pedals, ranging from typical stompbox choices like reverb, analog delay, and a classic-voiced chorus, through to grit pedals like overdrive, fuzz, and octaver. More surreal soundscapes can be beckoned with the unique lo-fi modulator, and a compressor in place to produce “infinite sustain,” should it be needed.

Coming from a player who likes to do freaky things to her signal chain 90% of the time, all those additions are not overly surprising. But Young’s MixWave collaboration has also seen a slew of quality-of-life and workflow features added in. From a completely customizable signal chain to an onboard EQ and compressor, a transpose feature, a Focus dial for smoothing out harsh frequencies, a Vibe control for enhancing the top end, and a Contour for the finishing touch of EQ, the kitchen sink has certainly been thrown at MixWave’s latest signature tie-in.

Following on from work with Unprocessed’s Manuel Gardner Fernandes, JHS, and Spiritbox guitarist Mike Stringer, this is arguably the mathiest and most fully-loaded offering in its plugin stable. So, is it a treasure trove of tone, or style over substance?

Specs

• Price: $139 (approx. £105 / €122 – MixWave charges in USD)
• Type: Amp sim plugin - 64-bit VST3 / AU / AAX / Standalone
• Formats: macOS 10.13 to macOS 15 (Intel & Silicon Native), Windows 10 to 11 (64-bit)
• System requirements (minimum): macOS 10.13, Intel Core i3 Processor (4th Gen), 4 GB of RAM minimum, VST3, or Audio Units compatible host/DAW Pro Tools 11 or later for AAX format. Windows 7 (64-bit) AMD Quad-Core Processor / Intel Core i3 Processor, 4 GB of RAM minimum
• Contact: MixWave

Usability ★★★★½

For anyone familiar with amp sim plugins, everything from the format to the intuitiveness of its interface should require little to no adjustment period here, even if I feel the tuner is a little too tucked away for my liking.

One of its biggest draws in this regard is the sandbox-style signal chain, with every aspect fully customizable. A rummage through the built-in presets, including contributions from Holy Fawn, acclaimed producer Taylor Larson, and Ryan Fluff Bruce, shows just what a difference it makes to have pedals on either side of the amp, for instance, and inspires me to get experimenting. Left-clicking a block brings it up full-screen; right-clicking engages/disengages the effect; and I can click and drag to my heart’s content, making the plugin 10x more viable for several uses.

I also really enjoy the tuner (once found) for its clear, aesthetically pleasing display. Being colorblind, busier, strobe-style tuners wreak havoc on my eyes; this was very easy to use.

One of my only gripes here is its quartet of inputs, which can be confusing to anyone not accustomed to an AC30. The virtual cables often get in the way of the text beside each input, and the font size is brutally small to begin with. I understand that MixWave and Yvette Young have gone for authenticity here – the entire amp face layout mirrors a Vox. Still, here, a better display format would have been a smart way to digitize the original’s design.

The same goes for its control: the lack of a middle dial, while faithful to the OG, feels like an oversight to me. Neural DSP often adds extra features that the real amps its plugins are inspired by don’t have, and for me, this was the perfect way to do that, as it would make it a lot easier to dial in tones with the amp alone. The cab section strays from the AC30’s path, so why can’t the amp’s interface?

Speaking of which, the cab section is highly usable if I want to get really granular about microphone choices and placement details, with the axis, distance, angle, and delay all tweakable. As are the panning and levels of each of the cab’s four speakers, which can be assigned to be Greenback or Alnico cones. The polarity can be inverted on each mic, and the Vibe is a subtle but handy addition for getting a little more top end, especially if the OD is set quite woolly. Fine-tuning is plentiful.

But if all of that means nothing to you, or you find yourself out of your depth, the button to match mic levels across the four setups makes this incredibly granular part of the plugin pretty much idiotproof.

My biggest takeaway is how user-friendly this plugin is. If I want to get anal with every single detail, I absolutely can. If I want something plug-and-play, where I don’t have to concern myself with those kinds of intricacies, all I need to do is take a quick scroll through the provided presets, which just about cover all bases, to find what I need in a pinch.

Sounds ★★★★½

As soon as this plugin was announced, and given the weight of Yvette Young’s reputation as a master craftswoman when it comes to sparkly math rock and ethereal tones, I felt it could dislodge Neural DSP’s Tim Henson X as my go-to ethereal amp. During my time with the plugin, that theory has been mostly proven true (they coexist really well), but actually, putting it in such a limited box is doing it a disservice. Yes, this plugin is absolutely killer at creating atmosphere for what I predominantly use as foley and background tracks in a mix, but it does so much more.

Guitarist and content creator Drewsif has shown that, by placing the compressor, octaver, fuzz, and drive in front of the amp, along with some minor EQ notches in the upper mids, it can djent too.

It’s seriously impressive tone sculpting (check the video below), but I wouldn’t be in a rush to use this in a rhythm metal tone context. It can handle everything from scuzzed-up hard rock through to biting indie and smoky, edge-of-breakup blues, but there are plenty more metal-minded amp sims in my collection that outgun it in that area.

From my experience, at least, the amp itself is better serving as a platform for the effects. It’s got oodles of clarity and a really shiny clean sound, on top of which its feast of pedals can be stacked at will, especially tones where the reverb and delay come into their own.

There’s a real touch-sensitive, amp-in-a-room feel to it; it feels as unforgiving as an analog amp should be. As good as Neural DSP plugins are, it’s a skill to make a bad tone, and they do often polish your playing in a way that hides blemishes and mistakes. Here, I feel very exposed, and I think that’s something that actually works in its favor. It makes me play better, cleaner, and more dynamically.

But, as I say, it’s the litany of effects that steal the show. With the overdrive pedal dialed moderately and placed in front of the amp, I only need the reverb and delay to create heavenly magic, and there’s a slew of controls to get the most out of both pedals.

The Pitch feature on the reverb is ideal for making things a little weird, while the high- and low-cut dials are ideal for getting the track to sit better in a wider mix. Meanwhile, the sync feature on the delay, also found on the tremolo and lo-fi modulator, has quickly become a dream feature for me. So much so that it’s become my go-to delay across a multitude of tracks, helping tidy up all the respective tails and give everything a nice sense of uniformity.

The tremolo can go from slow drama to head-spinning wackiness, the chorus is an effortless hack for bringing more color and character to a tone, and the lag feature is a great addition for injecting a sense of oddity into the effect. And the fuzz, while not the lairiest, always retains plenty of note clarity, no matter how much you crank it. On full whack, it handles chords really well. It is incredibly annoying that, for whatever reason, its default sees everything maxed out, so when I turn it on without loading it up on screen beforehand, it can be quite shocking.

The octaver has dials for -1, -2, and +1 octaves and is pleasingly versatile, aided by the direct dial, which lets it add as much or as little grit and/or top-end as needed. It’s a very nice ‘season to taste’ option, and the drive benefits from an optional boost and tweakable silicon/mosfet/open-diode modes to reshape its chic. It’s options aplenty.

I was pretty excited by the lo-fi modulator coming into this review, but it’s actually the pedal that let me down the most. Maybe it’s because I’ve not found a need for sounds as warbly and off-kilter as it produces, but it’s just too weird, not applicable enough for my needs.

But as Young says in her demo video for the plugin, her music so often features one riff repeating for a long time, with subtle nuances pushing it along with each loop. It’s times like that when this pedal will shine, as it just takes the tone out of a pleasant-to-listen-to zone and into something purposefully messed up and out of tune. I’m certainly glad it exists in the plugin, it’s just not one I found myself using all that much. It’s like the evil twin of the chorus.

The plugin has a gluttonous feast of sounds lurking behind its digital grille, but what I did find is that the amp sounds much better with single coil pickups. I’m not sure exactly why, but be it a fat, fuzz-mangled tone or a cosmic clean, the bite of single coils is far more satisfying to me. That’s not to say it sounds bad with humbucker guitars – quite the contrary, even handled my eight-string Strandberg with aplomb – but there’s a more cutting magic to be found here that I can’t get enough of.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Given Yvette Young’s standing in the modern guitar landscape, it’s no surprise that her signature MixWave plugin so successfully carries her trick-filled live rig into the digital realm. The analog-like feel of the amp, to me, is arguably its greatest asset, as it really helps me connect with the myriad effects on offer and makes me play a lot tighter.

Every detail and control bestowed upon each effect pedal has been well thought out, creating one hell of a canvas for everything from luscious ambiance to house-of-mirrors madness, and the fully customizable signal chain really seals the deal.

For players wanting a user-friendly plugin that does the heavy lifting for you, chances are that its presets will have you covered, with only minor tweaking needed most of the time. But if you want to get really specific, this plugin has your back.

There’s enough within its ecosystem to give me all I need in most scenarios, and with the freedom of the signal chain, I’ve actually found myself using a slew of its pedals alongside other amp plugins, helping me get more use out of them, too.

In my opinion, the plugin is best used as intended. It can get heavy, and there’s something particularly thrilling about getting stank face tones with the fuzz and octaver engaged. Still, for cleans, ambient, and sparkly math rock tones alike, it’s an absolute humdinger, and that’s where it’s been getting most employment with my projects.

Guitar World Verdict: For fans of Yvette Young’s luxurious, so often ethereal, so often otherworldly guitar tones, her first signature plugin is a homerun. There’s a huge amount of colors in its palette, and the amp is a fantastic platform for all of its pedals, with a rich array of subtle tweaking options to hand. Be it a main rhythm/lead amp for rock, blues, and indie players, or used for pads and swells in settings from jazz and pop to metal, it feels like a must-have producer’s plugin for just how much ground it covers. It’s a lot of fun to play with.

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What is it?

Jackson Guitars has been on a bit of a spree of signature models over the past year or so, with a bunch of guitars from some very big names in the metal guitar game. The Lee Malia Jackson released last year was huge, and in 2026 we’ve Brandon Ellis’ crazy 27-fret Kelly, the recently reviewed Jackson Pro Plus Christian Andreu Rhoads, and the guitar we’re looking at today, the Jackson Pro Series Signature Wes Borland King V.

Wes Borland first discovered Jackson V guitars while recording The Unquestionable Truth in 2004. He was given a 1981 Jackson Rhoads from producer Ross Robinson, which kick-started a love affair with this sort of instrument. We can trace the roots of his signature model back to 2013, when he came across a faulty, left-handed King V, which he converted to play right-handed and became one of his most played guitars on tour.

For an artist who wears some of the most elaborate on-stage outfits I’ve ever seen, his signature model is a decidedly Spartan affair. That’s by design, though. Borland said himself that “live, it just needs to be as bulletproof as possible.” That means a through-body maple neck with graphite reinforcement, and a nyatoh body painted gloss black with white bevels.

The reverse headstock, with an upside-down Jackson logo just like Wes’ original guitar, is attached via a scarf joint. The neck features an ebony fretboard with 24 jumbo frets and a compound radius that moves from 12 to 16 inches. A white binding goes all the way around, on which Luminlay side dots are placed.

It’s got a single Seymour Duncan Invader humbucker, with just a single volume control, which continues that theme of simplicity. The Floyd Rose 1500 Series locking tremolo is recessed into the body, with a matching locking nut at the top of the neck. Locking strap pins are included in the Jackson gig bag, which completes the breakdown of this fairly simple instrument.

Specs

• Launch price: $1,299.99 | £1,099 | €1,299
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Nyatoh
• Neck: Maple / Modern C
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Scale length: 25.5" (648 mm)
• Nut/width: Floyd Rose 1500 Series Locking, 1.6875" (42.86 mm)
• Frets: 24, jumbo
• Hardware: Jackson sealed die-cast tuners, Floyd Rose® 1500 Series double-locking tremolo
• String spacing at bridge: 54mm
• Electrics: 1x Seymour Duncan Invader SH8, master volume
• Weight: 7.27 lbs / 3.3kg
• Left-handed options: N/A
• Finishes: Black with white bevels
• Cases: Jackson gig bag
• Contact: Jackson

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

The Wes Borland King V comes in a generously proportioned soft-shell gig bag, and pulling it out, it feels pretty heavy, but a trip to the scales reveals a weight of just 3.3kg. It’s a long guitar, though, and the weight is distributed weirdly due to the shape, which makes it feel a lot more hefty than the kilograms show on the scale.

Performing a close inspection of the guitar, the paint is very nicely applied for the most part. I spot a few minuscule wobbles where the gloss black meets the white bevel, and there’s a slight detour for the white binding near the Floyd Rose locking nut. These are only really visible with my nose against the guitar, and certainly don’t detract from the overall look of it.

A bit more noticeable are the upside-down pearloid shark fin inlays, some of which look distinctly more yellow than the others. This isn’t so visible looking at the guitar head-on, but I certainly notice it when sitting with the guitar in my lap. There’s also a fleck of black caught in the inlay of the one marking the third fret. Again, these aren’t huge flaws, but with the price of the guitar, I’d expect a little better.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★☆

Sitting down to play the Wes Borland V, it’s well out of tune, so I have to unlock the nut and play a bit of see-saw, getting the guitar close to perfect tuning while keeping the bridge flat. It’s not ideal, but it’s a necessary evil of locking tremolos. The bridge ends up ever so slightly unparallel to the body, but I’ll have to make do with the time allotted. As a natural aside to the guitar’s shape and aforementioned weight distribution, playing sitting down isn’t really an option, even with a guitar strap on it, so I decide to stand instead.

With these hurdles jumped, my initial play reveals that the neck is really nicely done, with a smooth feel across the bound edges and jumbo frets. Jackson doesn’t list the profile of the neck, but it feels ‘D’-shaped to my hand and more in line with the guitar acrobatics of shred guitars than the more experimental nature of Borland’s own playing.

The large size of the frets offers an excellent playing platform, whether I’m churning power chords with a slight bend a la Break Stuff, nailing the chorus riff from Stuck, or laying into the locking tremolo with the main motif from Hot Dog. Wes’ own playing might not be the most technically demanding in terms of pure chops, but his guitar certainly holds up to the less usual demands he makes of his instruments.

Naturally, there’s a bit of a shift in the tuning when I do things like pushing the bar to the body of the guitar or trying some Dimebag harmonic screams. Still, it puts up with extreme use very well, with only cursory retuning via the mini tuners of the Floyd Rose necessary. For your day-to-day flutters and smaller dives, the tremolo holds without having to retune any more than I usually would with a locking system.

Getting into some more traditional playing, it’s easy to fly around the fretboard with some legato licks, and it’s definitely got plenty of that Jackson shred DNA. Bending against the jumbo frets feels lovely; there’s no scratchiness here, and alternate-picked scale runs and three-note-per-string legato licks are easily achieved. It could be better, though. The factory setup is a pretty high at 2mm clearance from the low E string on the 12th fret when I press down at the 1st. That said, it’s already lightning quick as it is, so things can only get faster with a good setup.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

Interestingly, this guitar comes tuned in standard, presumably to make it more accessible. Wes himself uses C# standard on a lot of his songs, drop-B on others, and, of course, his weird intervals on that unique four-string guitar. Thankfully, I have an excellent pitch shifter available via my Neural DSP plugin collection, so I can play the songs as they should be.

The Seymour Duncan Invader is, as expected, a perfect match for high gain. Playing through the Gojira plugin with the amp sim based on the blue channel of the 5150 engaged, it’s incredibly articulate when I chug powerchords. The low end is controlled, the midrange punchy, and there’a lovely smooth sound to the high end. It’s an awesome-sounding pickup. Adding in a helping of reverb and delay, leads hit with plenty of cut and bags of sustain, although it’s not quite as compressed and never-ending as what you’d get from an active humbucker.

It’s interesting because I initially thought I’d find it limiting, but the organic nature of a passive pickup makes it much more versatile than an active equivalent, as I found with the Jackson Christian Andreu model I reviewed recently. Changing to a Fender-inspired amp model, it’s surprising how nice the cleans can get once I roll back the volume knob significantly to stop it hitting the front of the amp so hard. I do lose a bit of high-end due to the lack of a treble bleed circuit, but with the cutting nature of the high-output humbucker, it ends up being a net positive.

To try and keep some of the high end, I trim the input of my audio interface so that I can utilize the humbucker with the volume knob fully turned. Wes himself uses a Roland JC-120 for his cleans, a guitar amp which is known for its very high clean headroom. With the right gain staging, it means this guitar can deliver ambient and experimental cleans just as well as the heavy riffs.

This isn’t that surprising considering that moving from a heavily effected clean tone to a chunky riffing sound is a signature of Wes’ own playing. Trying some more measured stuff like arpeggiated chords and triads higher up the neck, I'm surprised at how organic the humbucker sounds despite the high output, with a lovely clarity and great note separation.

Verdict

Jackson is really on a roll with their signature guitars at the moment, and the Jackson Wes Borland King V is another success in my opinion. It’s well put together, can handle pretty much any playing style, and despite its simple layout, it’s deceptively versatile. I can see it finding fans beyond just those who worship at the temple of Wes.

I prefer the more organic feel and tone of a passive pickup here, so if you like that super controlled metal tone you get with an active pickup, this might not be the guitar for you. There were also a couple of occasions where I found myself wishing for a neck pickup, but for the most part, the single Seymour Duncan offers plenty of versatility for a variety of guitar tones.

Make no mistake, though, this is a guitar for live playing. V-shaped guitars are, at best, inconvenient for playing sat down at home, and this one is no different. The awkward weight distribution and shape make it cumbersome to wield in tight spaces, but there’s no denying that it feels and looks great when played standing up on a guitar strap.

Guitar World verdict: For anyone who knows their chocolate starfish from their hot dog flavored water, there aren’t all that many surprises with the Jackson Pro Series Signature Wes Borland King V. It can handle the heavy stuff just as well as clean tones, and it’s capable of plenty of guitar acrobatics via the locking tremolo. Putting aside the maladroit nature of V-shaped guitars, this is a riffing machine that can be used equally well for metal guitar playing or the more experimental tones Borland is famous for.

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What is it?

Smaller amps seem to rule the roost these days – definitely in the electric guitar world but also when it comes to acoustic guitar amps too. With acoustic guitars, however, if you’re using an amp it probably means you’re actually going to perform for some kind of audience beyond your bedroom.

Busking is still the most common way people get into performing live with an acoustic, but busking’s close cousins (as activities) are performing in small bars and coffee shops or quick rehearsals in your kitchen or lounge.

Those kinds of scenarios seem to be the target of the latest amp from Orange – better known for its rip-snorting tube amps – though the announcement that it is a collab project with Ed Sheeran was certainly a bit of a surprise. So what do we get?

The Outlowd ES60, whose portmanteau name hints at Sheeran’s other big partnership with Lowden guitars, is a 60-watt combo that can be powered by mains supply or the internal Li-ion rechargeable battery.

This is an upgrade over the numerous AA-size batteries required by busking-ready rivals such as the Boss Street Cube II – though let it be said, the Boss puts out only 10 watts and is considerably cheaper than the ES60, so you’d rightfully expect the Orange to have a beefier solution to al fresco power built in.

A compact, lightweight combo at just over 7kg and only around 28cm high and 30cm deep, it meets its first brief of being the kind of thing you could carry on a bus or on the subway – and it’s padded, quality gigbag with shoulder strap hints at serious have-guitar-will-travel ambitions.

In the US, this model is available exclusively through Guitar Center and Musician's Friend.

The ES60 is a dual-channel design, with one channel clearly intended to plug your guitar into and featuring a high headroom preamp based on that of the Orange Acoustic Pedal. This guitar channel features volume, Treble control, a flexible Mids EQ section with dedicated controls for adjusting ‘Q’ and the centre frequency of the mids, plus Bass and a hall-type Reverb.

Over on the second channel there’s a combination jack/XLR input for a vocal mic or alternate sound source, 48v phantom power switch for use with mics that need it, a high-pass filter switch to take the woof out of vocals, plus an EQ, Volume and, here, a plate-style reverb that’s meant to be optimized for vocals, a Mids EQ section similar to that of Channel One – though minus the ‘Q’ control – and a channel level control labelled Gain rather than Volume.

Round the back we’ve got an XLR line out, so the amp can run straight into a powerful PA rig while giving you local control over EQ and so on, a Ground Lift button, plus an FX loop if you want to expand the tonal palette and sonic capabilities of the combo.

In short, the ES60 sets its sights on enabling serious performance rather than casual, hobbyist play – which may justify, to some degree, its slightly austere lack of extra onboard effects that rivals often offer.

Moving back up to the top panel there’s a button for pairing the combo with Bluetooth devices for music playback – useful when rehearsing songs and, of course, if your performance makes use of backing tracks – plus 1/8-inch headphone and line-in sockets if you need them.

Specs

• Launch price: $699 (exclusively via Guitar Center and Musician's Friend) | £499 | €599
• Type: 60-watt RMS solid state acoustic combo
• Origin: China
• Output: 60 Watts RMS
• Speaker: 8-inch Voice Of The World ‘Whizzer’ speaker
• Channels: TwoControls: Ch 1: Volume, Treble, Middle, Q, Mid-Freq, Bass, Reverb; Ch 2: +48v Phantom Power Switch, HPF Switch, Gain, Treble, Middle, Mid-Freq, Bass, Reverb; Master: Volume
• Connectivity: 1/4" jack Input, Combi XLR /1/4"Jack Input, Balanced Line Out (XLR). Effects Loop 1/4" Send & Return, Aux Input 3.5mm Jack, 3.5mm Headphone Output
• Footswitch: NoWeight: 16.18 lb / 7.34 kgDimensions: 355 x 280 x 295mm / 14 x 11 x 11.6”
• Contact: Orange Amplification

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

The ES60’s angled cab feels chunky and robust. Impressively, it’s made from 15mm birch plywood rather than MDF or similar, underscoring the combo’s roadworthy credentials. The control knobs and switching feel positive and avoid flimsiness.

The fact the Bluetooth pairing button is metal not plastic is a nice touch, too. The chunky top-mounted handle is more than tough enough to lug the amp about on, given its light weight.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★½

In terms of usability, the feature set on both channels is relatively straightforward though there are some quirks.

The Mid-freq and Q controls work as a double act in terms of tailoring the amplified voice of the guitar but do feel very slightly vague in operation – the Q effect certainly isn’t dramatic, though you could argue that allowing the player to apply gentle tweaking to the mids to match personal taste is completely valid and maybe more practical in the real world than making those controls overpowered.

If they’d called the two controls ‘sweetness’ and ‘focus’ it might make more intuitive sense as a subtle but audible rounding, opening or tightening of the mids is really what’s going on here. It grew on me the more I used it.

The Treble control really could have more authority, though - while I like the woody, warm voice of the amp, it would be nice to have just a little more crystalline edge on tap here to provide clarity and snap.

Bluetooth pairing is easy and intuitive and the Reverb couldn’t be simpler with just one Hall-type reverb on offer on the guitar channel, though the upper limit of the ‘verb is tastefully atmospheric rather than cavernous.

With rivals such as the aforementioned Boss Street Cube II or the Laney A-Fresco 2 offering additional effects such as chorus and more, you will either view the ES60s feature set as admirably straightforward with little to confuse you during performance – or a bit sparsely equipped.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Plugging in my Beard Decophonic Southside with magnetic LR Baggs M1 soundhole pickup and my Martin Custom 000-14 (with an unknown but good-sounding under-saddle piezo system fitted by a previous owner), the roundness and warmth of the ES60’s sound is genuinely flattering and easy on the ear.

I may instinctively want a little more treble to be available but there are no unpleasant or unsatisfying sounds here, especially with the wiggle room for fine adjustment offered by the Mids controls – if Sheeran’s part in the project was to help dial in a very pleasant, usable overall sound, I’d say he did a great job.

The mic channel was similarly warm, supple of tone and usable with my test Shure SM57 and the few frills on offer didn’t hinder me from thinking the combo is a very capable tool for street performance and playing small venues.

Verdict

The ES60 is a purposeful and roadworthy acoustic / street performance tool that has a really attractive sound. It feels curiously over-specced in some areas and under-specced in others.

And, let it be said, it does face some keen competition at this price and below and you can’t help but wonder how much that famous moniker alone is adding to the hangtag price.

But if you view it as a piece of no-nonsense, capable kit with an emphasis on core quality rather than a showy spec sheet bursting with gimmicks it makes solid sense.

Guitar World verdict: This punchy little amp is a more serious tool than it might seem at first glance – just make sure you are happy to embrace its high core quality and simple but purposeful, performance-focused feature set.

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Orange and Ed Sheeran

Thomann

Guitar Center

• ​​Best acoustic guitar amps 2026: let your acoustic tone shine

What is it?

The original intention behind the Les Paul Special, in its 1955 launch, was to create a guitar that would offer players something between the more affordable Les Paul Junior and the flagship Les Paul Standard. Nowadays, however, in the collective consciousness of the guitar community, it is much more than just a stripped-down version of a Les Paul, but is instead a bona fide option in its own right.

Like most modern line-ups, Gibson’s catalogue is much more complicated than it was back then, featuring a huge selection of models to satisfy a range of preferences. To this end, we have seen a few different iterations of the Les Paul Special.

This particular model sticks with the original single-cutaway, slab mahogany body, bound fretboard, and dual pickup setup, which defined the Special as being a bridge between the Junior and Standard, but with two key differences: it's equipped with Mini Humbuckers, and is available as a Gibson Exclusive via its website/Garage stores.

In short, a Mini Humbucker is a humbucking pickup the size of a P90. Still hum-cancelling, the Mini Humbucker is considered to be a little brighter and more open-sounding than a normal humbucker.

When it comes to the Les Paul Special, one of the trademarks of the well-loved formula is its two P90’s. So, replacing them with Mini Humbuckers is definitely an interesting choice. But who knows, after playing this, we may be wondering why we don’t see them on more guitars…

Specs

• Launch price: $1,799 | £1,549 | €1,799
• Made: USA
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Mahogany
• Neck: Mahogany, ‘50s Vintage
• Fingerboard: Rosewood, 12” radius
• Scale length: 628.65mm/24.75”
• Nut/width: Graph Tech, 43.05mm/1.7”
• Frets: 22, medium jumbo
• Hardware: Vintage Deluxe tuners, Wraparound bridge
• String spacing at bridge: 10mm
• Electrics: 2 Mini Humbucker pickups, 3-way switch, 2 volume, 2 tone
• Weight: 7.9lb/3.6kg
• Case: Gibson hardshell case
• Contact: Gibson

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

The simple design of the Les Paul Special means that there isn’t much that can go wrong. Starting at the top, we have Gibson Deluxe tuners that resist turning enough to feel premium, as do the volume and tone knobs. Additionally, the bound fretboard is a nice addition that lends credence to the guitar's status as a quality instrument.

A slab mahogany body saves some cash in that it lacks the carved maple top of a Les Paul, and further savings are made in a body that is not bound.

If I’m honest, the Tobacco Burst finish is a little boring, at least in my opinion. It allows some of the grain from the mahogany to show through, but it's not that striking a look with the dark colors.

This is down to personal preference, though, as I am sure there are those out there who will appreciate the understated aesthetic.

Out of the box, the setup leaves a bit to be desired, as the action was unbalanced. Medium-high on the low E at 1.75mm and medium-low on the high E at 1.25mm. Having adjusted it, it’s now comfortably in medium-low territory with the low E down to 1.50.

That imbalance seemed to cause some tuning issues, too, but after making the adjustment, the guitar is much more stable. Another easy fix is the dry fretboard, which is a little unpleasant out of the box.

The things that aren’t so easy to fix, however, are as they should be. For example, nicely finished frets, a tight neck pocket, no imperfections in the finish, and stable tuning. All in all, a well-built guitar, with just a little setup required.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

As someone who spends a lot of time gigging a Stratocaster or a Telecaster with a 25.5” scale length, it's always a joy to pick up a Gibson with the shorter 24.75” scale length and the reduced string tension that results from it.

The strings are easy to manipulate, with bends and vibrato feeling effortless under the fingers. This is helped along by the nicely finished medium jumbo frets, creating a smooth feel, and their height offering the fingers plenty of purchase on those strings.

The 12” radius is a sweet spot for a lot of people, with enough curve to allow those open chords to be played with ease, whilst being flat enough for some flashier lines without feeling too shreddy.

And so, I find myself playing through legato lines relatively effortlessly, and easily fretting those cowboy chords down the bottom of the neck. It’s not a guitar aimed at Steve Vai levels of flashy, but perfect for those rootsy, classic rock solos.

Adding to this is the Vintage ‘50s neck profile. It fills the hand whilst stopping short of ‘baseball bat’ territory, and you won't find any carved heel joints here either. So again, not for the shredders, but a good fit for those who like a more vintage feel.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Plugging into my Hot Rod Deluxe IV with the Special, what immediately jumps out is that the clarity on a clean tone is heavenly.

The Mini Humbuckers have a tight bass and low-mid response, meaning all those fancy chord extensions cut through nicely, but not in a way that is offensive. This makes the neck pickup and the relative roundness it brings perfect for choppy, funky rhythms. Who needs a Stratocaster, eh? (Kidding, I love my Strat).

The bridge is, comparatively, a little too brash for most clean sounds, but both pickups together in that middle position present an almost acoustic-like quality, lending itself to some open chord strumming and country-esque picking.

Using the Carbon side of my Browne Amplification Ethane pedal for some edge-of-breakup tones, those tight low mids again pay dividends, allowing for a light drive full of all the detail and overtones you could ask for.

When using gain, rolling back on the volume control yields a glassy clean which is very dynamic under the fingers, returning to breakup as you dig in.

The joys of a two-tone, two-volume setup mean that one pickup can be set to a rolled-back clean, while the other is giving its full output to utilize that drive, making for a versatile guitar that can induce significant and quick changes to tone just by switching the pickup.

As the gain is pushed further, some may start to miss the low-mid bark that adds some smoothness to the sound. This is the case for me, and for that type of tone, I would sooner reach for my Les Paul Classic and its Burstbucker 61T and Burstbucker 61R pickups with the extra lower mid when compared to the Mini Humbuckers.

That’s not to say the Mini Humbuckers don’t have a place in the land of higher gain. It’s a cutting sound that will get you heard in the mix and is pleasing in its own way, particularly on the neck pickup, where its tight nature keeps the cello-like sound associated with neck humbuckers from collapsing in on itself.

So the gain-y tones may not be for everyone, but on the strength of the clean and lightly driven sounds alone, I would challenge anyone not to be won over by the Mini Humbucker.

Verdict

The bones of the Gibson Les Paul Special are of simple materials constructed in a straightforward, minimal-frills manner.

What makes this particular iteration interesting is the inclusion of Mini Humbuckers in the place of the usual P90s. It’s interesting because it's not the norm, but maybe it should be.

They provide something that differs from full-sized humbuckers without expanding on single-coil or P90 territory, offering stellar cleans and breakup tones thanks to a tight low end and airy highs.

It’s a valid alternative to the P90-driven Les Paul Special, and would bring something different to most collections. Perhaps we should all have a Mini-Humbucker-loaded guitar in our arsenal.

Guitar World verdict: We’ve all seen a Les Paul Special before, but this is a little different. Trading those P90’s for Mini Humbuckers results in tones that excel in clean and lightly driven contexts, although they may prove a little divisive when used in higher gain settings. It’s a simple, well-built guitar that competently shows off the joys of a Mini Humbucker. Worth a try for anyone looking for an alternative version of a Les Paul to add to their collection.

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Gibson

The Guitaristas

What is it?

Orange has long been known for its iconic brand of sonic savagery, and its punchy low-end served up with crispy treble has helped define the music of a great many artists.

While the primary drive of the valve-amplifier industry is towards refined vintage tone, Orange filled the niche for a more aggressive sound. Styles such as punk, doom-rock and indie-rock embrace the more cutting frequency range and punchy response these characterfully coloured cabinets exude.

However, with this new amp Orange offers its take on a more refined all-valve design, aiming to please a wider range of tastes while sticking with brand-building features such as pedal-friendliness and huge overdrive ability.

The all-valve refinements carry through to the ECC82-buffered effects loop to provide enhanced clarity and coherence when using modulation-based effect processors, always best placed in the effects loop.

We have two wattage options incorporated into the standby switch, selecting between the full 60-watts output or 30 watts to better match smaller environments.

Improved top-end tailoring comes in the form of a redesigned presence circuit that works more effectively across the amp’s entire volume range, and a three-position Bright switch allowing for neutral, narrow-band (think ‘sparkle’) and wide-band (including some upper mids) options.

Orange has also included a bass Resonance control – a feature becoming de rigueur for modern high-gain amps. This, along with the Presence control, functions within the negative feedback circuit to tighten or extend the range at both ends of the frequency spectrum. And, yes, we’re looking at you, detuned metal players!

A second footswitchable volume control (not master volume as, strictly speaking, this is not a master volume-equipped amp) allows solo boosting for stage use, an indication of the type of environment Orange foresees this amp being used in.

Built in England using the same familiar chunky cabinets that have become a visual trademark, the brand continues its reputation for hardy, giggable construction quality.

An assembly inspection shows care was taken to withstand the rigorous routines of the road. A heavy-duty PCB board lies at the heart of this cathode-following, self-biasing design using two 6L6 valves to produce 60 watts.

The amp can be biased to accept other common output valves such as the EL34, though the real-world wattage that will be achievable would be governed by the valves’ output rating. Worthy of mention is that the smaller OR30 30-watt version turns into Class A operation with the wattage switch at half power, imparting a highly musical touch-sensitivity.

Specs

• Price: $2,499 | £2,099 | €2,399
• ORIGIN: UK
• TYPE: All-valve, single-channel head with switchable output and valve-buffered FX loop
• VALVES: 3x ECC83, 1x ECC82, 2x 6L6 (EL34 possible with re-biasing)
• OUTPUT: 60W, switchable to 30W
• DIMENSIONS: 550 (w) x 245 (d) x 270mm (h) 
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 19.3/42
• CABINET: Baltic birch
• CHANNELS: 1 with an additional switchable volume
• CONTROLS: Resonance, Presence, FS Volume, Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Gain, Bright Switch
• FOOTSWITCH: Not included
• ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Valve‑buffered FX loop, footswitchable volume
• OPTIONS: No
• RANGE OPTIONS: OR30 (£1,799)
• CONTACT: Orange Amps

Build quality, usability and sounds

Plugging in our Les Paul, we spent a few bemused moments checking out the pictures that label the controls. We’re undecided if the quirky fun is worth the brain resources needed to convert these cryptograms back to knob names, but it’s something die-hard Orange aficionados might enjoy.

First, we were astonished by the range of gain available from the first control as the second and third gain stages are being controlled by this one knob. From spanky cleans to all-out Armageddon, whatever your particular gain needs are, this amp has you covered.

If you are, however, the kind of player who simply has to put a boost before anything, the OR60 is more than ready to play ball. The Orange reputation for pedal-friendliness is fully in evidence. However, there isn’t a great necessity to add extra gain for most sounds.

That solid, almost compressed sound for which Orange amps are famed is still very much in evidence and, as expected, our Stratocaster’s single-coil pickups came punching through with impressive authority. A rich and full sustain renders lead licks with plenty of fluidity of the bravado-inspiring kind.

We found the Bright switch well tuned to best present a variety of guitars. The sparkle setting introduced the chimey top-end that flatters cleaner sounds wonderfully.

The neutral position is recommended to get the most flexibility from tone-shaping pedals and the full-bright position introduces a wider band of top-boost starting lower down the frequency spectrum where upper-mids reside.

This setting brings back some of the traditional treble aggression that metal and punk players will expect from Orange but with an altogether more refined air. The sandpapery grittiness, long described as an Orange hallmark, is less apparent and a smoother, more fluid voice takes its place.

As the gain level gets irresistibly nudged further clockwise, the Resonance and Presence controls help sculpt the response and we found it a doddle to dial up mosh-pit-approved tight low-end. With the Bright switch and the Presence control it was possible to get an appropriate, aggressive top-end from any of our guitars.

We found the frequency response of the mid-control well tuned to either get that US scoop or, at the other extreme, the British mid-forward classic rock sound. Indeed, the range of sounds achievable from the OR60 is huge, not due to channels and switches but simply from the power of the gain and EQ controls.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Like a fist in a velvet glove (granted, that’s quite a barbaric metaphor) the OR60 – and its smaller sibling, the OR30 – brings a newly refined clarity to the brand’s sonic palette.

Worth noting is that this is a weighty beast to lug around, and with the price coming to around £2k this amp will very much be a deliberate choice for purchasers. The same range of musical styles can be played through the OR60, of course, as with previous models due to the abundance of gain and the touch-sensitive response.

However, now they’ll be imparted with a smoother, posher high-end and improved touch-sensitivity. To reappropriate the words of another cultural classic, the OR60 is an ‘elegant weapon for a more civilised age’.

Guitar World verdict: If the abundant punch and gain of the Orange sound appeals but the trademark top-end sizzle doesn’t, the OR60 could be the solution for you.

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Orange Amps

Sweetwater

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

What is it?

Gretsch’s hollowbody behemoths cast a significantly long shadow, one that often eclipses its smaller, overlooked Jet models. Sure, the big-box Gretsches have their fair share of famous fans, but the Jet has built a cult following of its own. Legends like George Harrison and Pete Townshend have slung a Jet over their shoulder, but for me, it’s Chris Cornell, Seattle’s flannel-clad, grunge icon, whose late-'80s sparkling Duo Jet made me want one of my own.

Now, Cornell’s model wasn’t exactly set up for hard-hitting riffs. With its Filter’Tron pickups and Bigsby, it leaned more toward jangle than face-melting. Still, Cornell made it growl in ways the designers probably never imagined. I can’t help but wonder what he’d have done with the new Gretsch Premier Jet in his arsenal. With its modern upgrades, it might have been even better suited for his detuned, heavy riffage and stage-stomping antics.

The Electromatic Premier Jet is Gretsch’s answer to the prayers of players who want classic vibes with some 21st-century muscle. It’s fair to say this isn’t your grandaddy’s Gretsch; the Premier Jet has been dragged, willingly or not, into the modern era, complete with a spec sheet that reads like a wish list for tone chasers and gigging guitarists alike.

As you’d expect, the body of this electric guitar is chambered mahogany, but the top is carved maple, not unlike a certain Gibson single-cut. The neck is also mahogany with a bound ebony fingerboard and a complement of 22 medium jumbo frets. We also have a 10"-14” compound-radius fingerboard and Luminlay side-dot markers.

In terms of electronics, it has a pair of Sphera Twin Six humbuckers. Visually, these are considerably larger than a set of filtertrons, being full-sized buckers in construction. Each pickup features twelve adjustable pole pieces and Alnico VI magnets. The neck pickup uses a clear poly-sol-coated wire, said to lean towards clearer high end, while the bridge uses a plain enamel-coated wire to aid warmer tones. Of course, there are other variables involved too…

Gretsch promises more output, more punch, and a little extra snarl from these pickups in general, perfect for everything from jangly cleans to fuzzed-out grunge, and this versatility continues on to the control layout.

The master volume features a handy treble bleed circuit that helps you maintain clarity at any volume. Individual no-load tone controls for each pickup keep things sounding lively, and a push/pull function on the master volume control engages the custom Lumen Filter for what Gretsch says is a “tighter, snappier response that excels at both percussive hi-gain tones and crystalline clean tones.”

Hardware-wise, the Premier Jet keeps things rock solid with the Lockdown adjustable wraparound tailpiece, locking machine heads, and locking strap buttons. This model is available in a variety of colorways, from the shimmering sheen of the Vintage Pearl to the vintage charm of Robusto Burst, the deep blue Clairvoyant, and the jet-black Onyx Storm I’m reviewing today.

Specs

• Launch price: $799 | £649 | €699
• Made: China
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Mahogany
• Neck: Mahogany, Performance 'C'
• Fingerboard: Bound Ebony
• Scale length: 24.88" (632 mm)
• Nut/width: Graph Tech NuBone, 1.6875" (42.86 mm)
• Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo
• Hardware: LockDown locking bridge, die-cast sealed locking tuners, knurled plain top metal knobs, and strap locks
• Electrics: 2 X Sphera Twin Six Humbuckers, Master Volume with Treble-Bleed, Tone 1. No-Load Tone Control (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. No-Load Tone Control (Bridge Pickup)
• Weight: 7.9Ibs/ 3.6 kg
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Vintage Pearl, Clairvoyant, Onyx Storm (as reviewed), Robusto Burst
• Cases: No
• Contact: Gretsch Guitars

Guitar World video demo

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

Lifting this single-cut out of the box, I’m met with what is, by all accounts, a very handsome guitar. That subtle Onyx Storm finish is stunning, indeed. The light flecks of glitter against the black are seriously classy and a finish I like a lot, which is a good thing as it wraps every inch of the guitar.

It has also been applied very neatly throughout, and this carries over to the entire guitar. I genuinely can’t find a single thing out of place on this model. There are no finish blemishes, no marks, and the ebony used on the fingerboard is as dark as it gets, pretty impressive stuff, considering the price point.

Moving on, the pearloid Neo-Classic Thumbnail inlays have been perfectly installed, as are the medium jumbo frets. You’ll not find any rogue frets here; everything has been installed flush and has been well polished too, meaning you don’t get any of that “straight-out-the-box scratchiness." Lastly, the Graph Tech NuBone nut has been expertly cut and filed, rounding out what is a superbly made and well-put-together guitar.

​Straight off the bat, it’s obvious that this is a model made for performers, as it comes loaded with gig-ready features you typically find on much more expensive instruments. The inclusion of Luminlay side markers is another thoughtful touch, making it easy to see your way around on dark stages, and the addition of pre-installed straplocks and locking tuners is the icing on the cake for me.

It’s these little upgrades that make the Premier Jet feel every bit as roadworthy as guitars costing twice as much, and show that this model is built for live players, not just collectors or home players.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

Okay, so now on to playability, because a guitar can look as good as it wants, but if it doesn’t feel great in hand, none of that matters.

​The best way I can describe the Premier Jet is with one word: modern. This isn’t a model for vintage Gretsch lovers; it’s a contemporary take on the Jet that feels fresh and sleek. The “performance-C” style neck, with its rounded profile and tapered shoulders, fits my hand well. Compared to my own Players Edition Falcon, it feels slimmer overall, but shares the exact same string spacing and a nut width of 42.86 mm, so it still feels familiar. There’s even a whiff of Gibson’s SlimTaper profile in this Gretsch, so fans of the Nashville guitar giant will feel right at home.

​The action measures a very playable height, at 1.35 mm clearance from the low E. It’s low enough to feel slinky, but not so low that it chokes out when I go for full-tone bends high up the fingerboard.

Speaking of the fingerboard, the Premier Jet features a compound radius that morphs from 10" to 14". It’s a subtle change, but it’s definitely noticeable as you play. Starting a run on the 3rd fret E-string and aiming for the 15th, I can feel my hand naturally shifting into more comfortable positions as I move up the neck. That flatter radius higher up is ideal for big bends, fast runs, and complex chord voicings, giving you room to stretch out without fighting the instrument.

All these small design choices add up to an instrument that feels thoughtfully engineered for today’s players.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Next up is sound, and the tonal center of this Jet is a pair of Sphera Twin Six humbuckers. Sonically, this model feels more at home in the Les Paul camp than the classic Jet camp, and that’s thanks to these full-sized humbuckers.

There’s some real power in these pickups. Plugging into a Fender Blues Jr, it doesn’t take much to drive the amp into a nice breakup. The tone is rich, warm, and full of character, but it lacks the sharp brightness of a Filter’Tron. That’s not to say the tone isn’t great, it’s just different from what some players might expect from a brand like Gretsch.

Kick on a Tube Screamer, and the Jet really shows off its hard rock capabilities. That lack of top-end sparkle actually works in its favor here, creating a tight, focused, and well-balanced sound that cuts through a band mix without sounding harsh.

Remove the drive and leave the Gretsch naked, with just a touch of reverb, and the higher-output pickups reveal their drawback. The guitar loses some of the classic Gretsch chime when played clean. I find myself wishing for a little more sizzle and a touch less midrange from the Sphera Twin Six pickups. Still, the treble bleed circuit is a thoughtful inclusion that does help preserve what top-end there is when rolling down the volume.

There’s also a push/pull function on the master volume control. It’s not a coil-split, as you might expect, but instead engages a Lumen Filter. To my ears, this produces a honky, more nasal tone, with the low end shelved off. Does it sound like a single-coil? Not exactly, but it’s a very usable tone that will certainly get you in the right ballpark for playing live.

Overall, the Premier Jet’s sound is unique, balancing power and warmth with just enough versatility to cover a lot of ground. While it may not deliver the vintage Gretsch sparkle some purists crave, it more than makes up for it with its punchy, modern voice. It proves again that Gretsch can surprise us as it continues to evolve and expand.

Verdict

If you’re searching for a guitar that effortlessly bridges the gap between vintage soul and modern muscle, the Gretsch Premier Jet might just be your perfect match. Gretsch has taken the Jet and given it a contemporary overhaul, crafting an instrument that wears its "premier" name well.

I think that a big part of the appeal here is the build quality, which truly stands out at this price point. Every detail, from the flawless finish to the expertly dressed frets, speaks to an attention to detail that Gretsch has brought to a model well under the $1,000 mark.

The Premier Jet’s compound-radius neck and dark ebony fingerboard make for a playing experience that feels fast, smooth, and inviting. Add to that the gig-ready features like locking tuners, the Lockdown wraparound tailpiece, Luminlay side markers, and secure strap buttons, and you’re looking at a package that’s ready for the stage.

Sonically, the Sphera Twin Six humbuckers bring a new flavor to the Jet formula. There’s plenty of punch and warmth for rock and blues. It’s a voice that feels fresh and perfectly at home in modern music, even if it doesn’t chase the classic Gretsch chime.

For me, the Premier Jet is a really smart buy. Whether you’re gigging every weekend or just want a reliable, stylish workhorse for your collection, the Premier Jet proves that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a professional instrument.

Guitar World verdict: If you’re going to put “premier” in the title of a guitar, then you’d better deliver. Thankfully, Gretsch does, with a guitar that’s chock-full of premium appointments. From the ​Luminlay side dot markers to the adjustable wraparound tailpiece, locking machine heads, and pre-installed strap locks, this guitar is designed to stand up to the harsh realities of playing live and at a very affordable price.

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Gretsch Guitars

Leon Todd

• Best Gretsch guitars: Explore those iconic Gretsch tones with our top picks

What is it?

The Baum Guitars Carve comes from a company that is relatively new on the scene, and seemingly appeared out of nowhere for me. Like most of the modern age’s discoveries, I came across the company via sponsored posts scrolling on Instagram. The sharp design and strangely familiar outlines grabbed my attention, and an encounter with Baum at the UK Guitar Show sealed the deal.

Baum actually goes back to 2015, established by Morten Bau, focusing on custom builds and Danish-made, high-end instruments. Quickly realising it had a winning formula on its hands, Baum switched to replicating these same designs with far-eastern-made guitars, reducing the costs and improving the accessibility to a wider audience. The Carve is made in Indonesia, using proprietary parts and pickups, before being shipped back to Denmark for a proper setup from a professional luthier. It's this new Vega Series that The Carve I have here is taken from.

The Baum Carve features a slim, 36mm mahogany body with a metallic ‘Stone Blue’ finish. The sharp double cutaways are not unlike an SG guitar, but still distinctive enough to look like its own thing. The roasted maple neck is shaped to a ‘C profile, and features a rosewood fretboard with a 12-inch radius. ‘Crown’ inlays decorate the 22 medium jumbo frets, which are constructed from nickel.

The hardware is all Baum’s own, with a Baum Performer tune-o-matic bridge with a stop tail, and a set of Baum Performer tuners with an 18:1 ratio. The dual single-coil pickups are also Baum’s own Goldsound Ember P-90, which feature Alnico V magnets. A 3-way toggle switch gives you traditional switching options, with a master volume and tone controls and 500K potentiometers. It also comes with a very nice Baum Original Deluxe Gig Bag.

Specs

• Launch price: $999 | £669 | €699
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Mahogany
• Neck: Roasted maple / Baum modern ‘C’
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Scale length: 25.5” / 647.7 mm
• Nut/width: High-density composite / 42.9 mm
• Frets: 22, medium jumbo, nickel
• Hardware: Baum Performer tuners, Baum Performer bridge
• String spacing at bridge: 51.5mm
• Electrics: 2x Goldsound Ember P-90, master volume & master tone, 3-way toggle switch
• Weight: 3.2 kg / 7.05 lbs
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Stone Blue (as reviewed), Vintage White
• Cases: Baum Deluxe Gig Bag
• Contact: Baum

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Taking the Baum Carve out of its rather nice gig bag, the shape of the body is immediately distinctive in its metallic blue finish. It’s like a less aggressive SG shape, with the double cutaways more rounded off. At the tail end of the body, there’s an asymmetric cut that starts as an arm bevel but terminates much lower down than usual at the strap pin.

This carve continues up to the top horn, and flipping the guitar around, there’s another bevel that goes all the way around the body edge and into the cutaways, alongside a curved neck heel on the treble side for additional comfort. As I’ve seen with a couple of guitars I’ve more recently reviewed, there’s no panel on the back for accessing the electronics, so if you ever do need to change anything, the entire pickguard will have to come off.

The metallic blue finish is very well applied, and upon close inspection of all the knobs, screws, and body fitments, everything feels very well-made and sturdy. The neck joint is neat, and examining up and down the fretboard, I see nothing out of place apart from a tiny bit of extra glue sticking out from the 17th fret.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

Unlike the SG which it shares so much of a likeness with, the Baum Carve features a 25.5” scale length. Sitting down to play, the Modern ‘C’ neck profile feels very familiar coming from my Telecaster, and there’s no real adjustment period for being able to play my favorite licks. The medium jumbo frets feel nice to bend against, and there isn’t too much resistance from the .10 gauge D’Addario electric guitar strings fitted to it.

I do notice some buzzing at the 1st fret, so I have to remove the truss rod cover and make a small adjustment to get it really singing. Baum did warn me that this particular guitar has been to several shows before reaching me, and that its new guitars always have these adjustments done before reaching customers. With my finger on the 1st fret, the action measures at 2mm on the 12th fret, which, on the face of it, is high. It doesn’t affect the playability all that much, though, whether I’m chugging drop-D riffs or letting fly with some rapid-fire lead licks.

The neck profile is a nice all-rounder. Slim and modern feeling, but not quite in shred guitar territory. It handles everything I throw at it, and I never feel like any particular style or technique is beyond reach. The upper fret access is excellent, as you might expect with a design similar to an SG, but it’s not quite as good as Gibson's design. I have to angle my hand ever so slightly to land those 22nd fret bends.

Using it on a strap in rehearsal, there’s no neck dive either, thanks to the strap pin being positioned on the upper horn rather than at the back of the guitar. I do find that the toggle selector is a bit too close to the neck pickup, so when I got into playing some aggressive barre chords, I whacked it a couple of times onto the neck setting.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

I took the Baum Carve to rehearsal to put it through its paces with my gigging rig of an excessive pedalboard and Orange Rocker 32 tube amp. Starting off with a clean tone, I’m immediately surprised at how hot the bridge pickup is. It doesn’t take much to start pushing my amp into overdrive, and I have to recalibrate some of my pedal settings to get it back to where it usually is with my Telecaster.

It’s got the typical P-90 midrange articulation. It’s cutting, but smoother than a more traditional single-coil sound. Played softly, there’s loads of clean clarity, but as soon as I dig in with the pick, it’s easy to eke out some tube breakup. It’s a lovely sound, without a hint of the ice-pick you sometimes get from single coils, and adding some subtle delay and reverb keeps me playing for a long time.

The neck pickup is a little lower in the output stakes, so it stays cleaner with more forceful picking. Again, there’s that midrange clarity, but the sound is lovely and warm, and noodling single-note motifs sound incredible here. The note sag is really obvious when I attack the string, and it gives a lovely, soft feel that works really well with some busy post-rock arpeggios. With both pickups engaged, there’s a discernible jump in volume, and here the bridge does a lot of heavy lifting with a very bright attack.

Switching in a couple of overdrive pedals and moving to some higher gain stuff, again, the bridge pickup absolutely rips. For punky power chords, it really sings when I leather the strings, but there’s still an excellent clarity when striking full barre chords, even with a Blues Breaker-style overdrive in front of the already driven tube amp. Lead work sings out nicely, and I’m again impressed with the punchiness of the sound.

Switching to the neck pickup, it again retains excellent articulation under higher gain settings, sounding really warm but still with plenty of bite. There’s not quite as much clarity here when I play full chords, but it still sounds inspiring, and there’s a fuzziness to it that sounds great when I attack some single-note riffs on the low E.

Obviously, they won't do metal tones, but I found that pretty much every other style was achievable one way or another. Whether I was playing punky power chords, doomy riffs, or space rock guitar freakouts, the pickups delivered. That said, I think they will likely be too hot for vintage tone hunters.

Verdict

I was admittedly surprised when I saw the price point for the Baum Guitars Carve. It’s more expensive in the US, granted, but you still get a lot for below a grand. The EU and UK should especially sit up and take note, because it’s fantastic value there. It’s a guitar that really nicely balances the retro looks with modern playability and pickups, managing to impressively juxtapose originality and traditionalism that I reckon will appeal to all sorts of guitar players.

My model was very well put together, but it did need a couple of setup tweaks to get it playing perfectly, though Baum did say this was due to this particular test model going to a few expos before it came to me. I’m not sure how I feel about the lack of a panel to access the pots at the back of the guitar, but maybe that’s me being pedantic. After all, how often do we actually check that unless there’s a serious problem or modding to be done? My only other issue is the placement of the toggle switch, which can be easily knocked when getting into a live performance.

Baum’s own Goldsound pickups do a phenomenal job here, especially if you like a hotter, more modern P-90 voice. They’re really adaptable to a wide variety of styles and took to all kinds of effects experimentation with aplomb. It might be a little too much for those who specifically want lower output tones. Overall, I think it’s well voiced for the modern player, and I certainly enjoyed the way they drove my guitar amp hard whilst still retaining plenty of articulation.

Guitar World verdict: Overall, I’m very impressed with the Baum Guitars Carve. It looks distinctive enough to be different in a way that isn’t likely to put off traditionalists, is very well put together, and is fantastic value for money - especially considering you get a high-quality gig bag with it. The pickups deliver that typical P-90 experience, aggressive under gain, lovely when gently picked clean, but always delivering plenty of clarity. It’s easy to see why Baum has seemingly emerged from nowhere when delivering guitars that are this good.

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What is it?

The Gretsch Electromatic Jet Baritone (not to be confused with the G5260 Electromatic Jet Baritone) is an ultra-long scale baritone guitar, coming in at a positively humongous 29.75-inch scale length. Despite being designed for surf and rockabilly, the Gretsch baritone has been effectively hijacked by heavy guitar players, largely thanks to Eric Bickerstaffe of shoegaze-metal chameleons Loathe.

Today’s review model differs in quite a few ways from the guitar that Bickerstaffe tunes an octave down to E with a .105 gauge guitar string, though. The solid mahogany of the G5260 body has been replaced with a chambered mahogany and a carved maple top. It’s more sculpted for comfort and has a rounded neck heel on the treble end for more comfort in the upper fret registers.

The mini humbuckers of the G5260 are also gone, replaced with dual PureVolt Twin 6 humbuckers, which both feature 12 individual adjustable pole pieces. The electronics have also been upgraded, with the addition of a treble bleed circuit on the volume knob and a push-pull control for coil splitting.

The neck profile has changed as well, with the G5260s' thin ‘U’ profile making way for a performance ‘C’ shape. The fretboard wood is bound rosewood, with 22 medium jumbo frets and pearloid classic neo-thumbnail inlays. Both feature adjusto-matic bridges, but the V-stoptail is now a more usual, straight stop tail. Both have die-cast tuners in a 3x3 lineup on the headstock.

Specs

• Launch price: $699.99 | £549 | €599
• Made: China
• Type: Six-string baritone electric guitar
• Body: Mahogany with carved solid maple top
• Neck: Maple/performance ‘C’
• Fingerboard: Bound rosewood
• Scale length: 29.75”/ 756 mm
• Nut/width: Graph Tech NuBone / 42.86 mm
• Frets: 22, medium jumbo
• Hardware: Die-cast sealed, adjusto-matic with stop tail
• String spacing at bridge: 51.7 mm
• Electrics: 2x PureVolt Twin Six humbuckers, master volume with treble-bleed, tone 1 (neck pickup), tone 2 (bridge pickup), push-pull on each tone control splits bridge and neck pickups respectively, 3-position toggle switch
• Weight: 9lb/4.1 kg
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Imperial Stain
• Case: No
• Contact: Gretsch

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

The Electromatic Jet Baritone is ridiculously long for a guitar. Even the box it comes in is supersized to account for the additional scale length, and out of curiosity, I place it next to my Jaguar short-scale bass guitar, which ends up being not that much longer than the Gretsch. I have to take great care moving it around my home studio, not to clang the headstock, and even then, I still managed to knock it off a few things.

Thankfully, there was no damage done, and the overall build quality is very good. A close inspection reveals barely a hair out of place, with the only thing I could spot being some light marks on the fretboard where it terminates by the neck pickup. Other than that, it’s an exquisitely put-together instrument.

It’s really good looking too, in my opinion. The carve of the solid maple top is gorgeous, and the aged white binding is really nicely applied. The body features some very slight comfort contours on the back of the body, with a very shallow belly cut and even a small carve where the guitar sits on my knee.

The Imperial Stain finish on my test model is very dark, looking more like a gloss black in certain lights. That also means that it picks up dirt and dust very easily, and after one playing session in the current UK heatwave, there was a very obvious sweat mark where my picking arm draped over the body.

Placing it on my scales, it comes in at 4.1kg (9lbs), which, while brawny, isn’t quite as heavy as the Sterling by Music Man StingRay Baritone I tested a few months back. Still, when sitting down at my home studio desk and moving it in and out of my D’Addario desk neck cradle, I definitely feel that extra weight.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

Sitting down to play, that scale length makes its presence immediately felt. I regularly play a baritone in a metal band, but this feels absolutely massive in my hands. Out of curiosity, I Google the average hand size for men in the UK, which comes out at 7.6 inches. Mine measures at 7.5, so it’s fair to say that if you have a below-average hand size, you could well struggle with the size of this instrument.

It means that some chord stretches are difficult. Fretting a Loathe-inspired Bmaj7/G# chord is pretty much impossible for me, even after a few days of adjusting to the size of the instrument. It’s fine for your more bread-and-butter open chords, though, and riffing feels really nice on it out of the box.

The stock strings are 13-65, which is a little lighter on the bass end than what I’m used to. It means I can’t hit any Loathe-style downtuning, but I can take it down to drop G. It makes bending at the opposite end relatively easy, too, and I can get a full tone bend without too much difficulty, despite the huge scale length and increased gauge size versus a standard electric guitar. Beyond that, it does get considerably harder, however, so be prepared to practice if you want to nail those Gilmour-inspired two-tone bends on this.

The neck profile is pretty slim for a baritone. It feels more like a ‘D’ than a ‘C’ to my hand, and makes fast riffing and lead legatos really slick feeling. The gloss finish isn’t sticky, and with a nut width of 42.86mm, it doesn’t feel gargantuan when playing open or barre chords, no matter where I am on the neck.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

Plugging it into my audio interface and loading up the Neural DSP Nolly guitar plugin, my first port of call is to see how it djents. I drop tune the low string all the way down to E, and attempt to play some of my favorite Sikth riffs on it. It holds its tuning surprisingly well here, despite the string flapping around all over the place, but despite my best efforts, it’s way too inconsistent, so, ambitions curtailed, I go back to drop A for some high-gain riffing.

It’s chug city with a modeled 5150 and a Tube Screamer-style overdrive pedal pushing the front end. The humbuckers are in that medium output level, which means they stay really clear and articulate despite the low tuning. Playing open chords even on the heavily saturated preset, it’s remarkable how clear everything stays. Moving to some octaves with a drone string throughout, I can hear every string, no matter where I’m playing on the neck.

It won’t be for everyone. If you like that ultra-compressed, effortless active pickup feel of a more usual metal guitar, this might be a little too organic for you. On settings that are usually quite saturated on my other humbucker-equipped baritones, here it sounds more like a hot, vintage-style humbucker rather than something you’d typically hear in modern metal. I don’t mind that at all, but it’s worth noting for those who prefer that type of sound. The low end is also very well behaved, so there isn’t an overload of it even when I crank the bass knob on the amp.

Switching to the neck humbucker, it’s a little less articulate when I play open chords, and lower output than the bridge sound. Cranking up the gain and the bass, I’m straight into lumbering doom power chords territory. It sounds fantastic with single note riffs on the low A, and moving into some lead work and adding a little reverb delivers a fantastic lead guitar sound, with plenty of thick warmth that still manages to sound very clear and defined.

This guitar can be set to coil split individually on each humbucker, so my first instinct is to split the bridge humbucker, leave the neck as is, and move to the middle position of the toggle switch. I switch to the Neural DSP Tone King plugin on my tried and trusted clean setting with a touch of spring reverb and tremolo, and the resulting tone adds a little of that Strat out-of-phase sound, with a bit of honkiness to it. It’s less noticeable with open chords, but as I move higher up the neck, there’s a plinkiness that creeps in.

It’s a cool feature, and adds a lot of different tonal options as you can combine single coil with humbucker sounds, just use the split coils on their own, and have both humbuckers in split coil mode. The sounds are less useful when playing high gain, but for those clean sections or recording, there are a lot of options here.

Moving into some more measured playing, the pickups feel a lot darker with a mid-scooped amp tone and no mid boost pushing the front of the amp. I feel the need to turn up the treble a bit to get them to cut better, and it’s even worse on the neck pickup. They end up coming across so dark that I switch to another plugin, Archetype Cory Wong X, to see if I can eke a brighter sound out of them. Using the baritone guitar specific preset, I have to crank the mids, treble, and presence knobs to get a really bright sound. It sounds great once I get there, but it takes some work.

Verdict

It’s interesting then, because it seems this guitar has been aimed more at the metal crowd than traditional baritone sounds. Under high gain, I found the tones to be incredibly inspiring, articulate, and powerful. It behaves brilliantly with drop tuning, and it’s got plenty of gutsy midrange to power through a full band setup. It can absolutely djent and chug with the best of them. It’s also incredibly versatile thanks to the clever switching of the individual split coil mode on each humbucker.

If you’re after that Spaghetti Western baritone sound, though, I don’t think this is the guitar for you. With clean tones, the pickups end up sounding really dark due to a combination of scale length and the vintage-leaning voicing of the pickups. It means it’s not a clean machine unless you start cranking the treble and presence knobs, which comes with additional side effects.

It will be a very difficult guitar to handle for smaller players or those with smaller hands. The scale length is massive, and even for an experienced baritone player, I found more complex chords hard going on its behemoth span. Despite this, it’s super fun to play for open and barre chords, lead work, and single note riffing, thanks to the slim neck profile and reasonable nut width.

Guitar World verdict: For high gain and metal players who want to downtune, this is a great option if you don’t fancy a 7 or 8-string guitar. The articulate pickups mean it delivers incredibly well when it comes to anything heavy. It’s a tale of two halves, though, because I found the clean tones to be quite lackluster. It means that for players who want the classic baritone experience, I recommend looking elsewhere.

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DenDenBMX

What is it?

For those of you under the age of 30, Kustom with a “K” is most likely an unfamiliar guitar amp brand to you. But if you need a little history, Kustom was one of the very first “trendy” brands to integrate solid-state technology into its amplifiers and PA systems in the early Seventies. Its signature “Tuck-n-Roll” amplifiers, covered in padded Naugahyde, had an unmistakable look that resembled something between an overstuffed armchair and the "Michelin Man" tire mascot. Even so, these distinctive amps arrived in eye-catching, metallic-sparkle colors and were adopted by many popular artists of the time, from John Fogerty to the Jackson 5, and not too long ago, Sheryl Crow.

Kustom eventually went bankrupt but resurfaced with new ownership during the late 1990s and 2000s, reviving the nostalgic Tuck-n-Roll amp series. While not a barnstorming relaunch, the amps faded away once more but still resonate among those who valued their retro looks and punchy tones.

Now, while it seems the Tuck-n-Roll line is temporarily shelved, Kustom has returned with a new line of amps that look surprisingly… well, basic. Gone is the plushy visual flair that’s been replaced by a line of boxy, vintage-style combos that will undoubtedly appeal to players who don’t want their amplifiers to look like car upholstery. Looks aside, that shouldn’t stop you from further investigating Kustom's brand new and enticingly affordable Carbon Series — the company’s first digital modeling amplifiers, which come in full-featured 25-, 50-, and 100-Watt combos, as well as a 100HD head.

For this review, I spent some time with the Carbon 100 1x12 combo, which, as far as new digital amps go, is a bit of a throwback for its minimalist design. What I mean by that is there’s something satisfying about an amplifier that lacks a touchscreen or a display and operates entirely without the need for a companion Android or iOS app.

All of the Carbon 100's functionality is accessible directly through a straightforward set of physical knobs on the front panel. You’ll find, like me, the Kustom Carbon 100 to be the ultimate plug-and-play solution — a stellar-sounding modeling amp that delivers authentic, tube-inspired tones and a versatile array of effects easily accessed with minimal effort.

Specs

• Price: $429.99 | £335
• Type: Digital combo amp
• Origin: China
• Output: 100W
• Channels: 2
• Speaker: 1 x 12” Kustom Design
• Controls: Ch1 Volume, Ch2 Amp Model select, Gain, Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, FX select, FX Level, Master Volume. Ch select button, Tap Tempo button, Tap Tempo LED
• Features: 12 onboard digital effects and 12 onboard amp models
• Connectivity: External Speaker Output jack, Footswitch Jack (Channel switch / Effects On/Off), Effects Loop, DI Balanced Out, Ground Lift Switch, Aux In, Headphones Input and USB Audio Interface
• Weight: 27 lbs / 12.3 kgs
• Dimensions: 340 x 510 x 471 mm
• Contact: Kustom

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

When you think of a 100-watt combo, you might imagine it to be a behemoth of an amp, not so with Kustom’s Carbon 100, which is astonishingly compact and rather boxy. In fact, it’s very much a portable cube of an amplifier, ruggedly handsome and classic-looking with its black tolex covering and vintage silver-and-black woven grille cloth, miniature “Kustom” logo, durable rubber handle, chrome corners, and a grey steel control panel with classic Kustom knobs.

Compared to other black-on-black digital amps with multiple black plastic parts and black panels, there’s a nice contrast here. However, considering the brand’s colorful past, I feel that Kustom missed an opportunity here, where this new series could have been offered in bright custom colors and contrasting-colored grille cloth.

The amplifier also features a semi-open back design with a small oval perforated grill on the rear, which houses a custom-designed 12-inch Kustom speaker. Overall, the amp belies its actual 27 pounds and is surprisingly lightweight and easily transportable.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★☆☆

The Carbon 100 is all about good ol’ fashioned knob-twisting of familiar amp controls and nary a LCD screen with exhaustive menus to reckon with. The amp features two distinct channels with a shared 3-band EQ (Bass, Mid and Treble) to bounce between (using either a footswitch or the channel select button), but there is a slight catch: Channel one is a pristine clean channel with a single volume knob that works in tandem with the master volume control, but this channel is divorced from any of the effects and Amp modeling rotary selections found on channel 2.

This separation results in a cleaner character that differs significantly from any of the three modeled clean tones available on channel 2. In essence, channel 1 provides an unadulterated, pure tone, making it an excellent foundation for guitarists who rely heavily on pedalboards.

Most players will immediately vibe in the digital backyard of Channel 2, where the amp thrives in its amp modeling and effects capabilities. Here, you have separate Volume and Gain controls to tailor your sound, and a rotary Amp model knob to select 12 different amp types. This rotary knob breaks up the amp types into four categories — Clean, Drive, Lead, and Hi-Gain — with three differently voiced amp models in each. Keep in mind, there is no indication of what the actual amps are or what kind was modeled, but you can certainly tell by the gain structure and EQ curve that each falls in its appropriate category.

Moving over to the FX rotary knob, it functions similarly to the Amp knob, separating the effects into four categories and options. For example, Multi-Effects has four groupings (Reverb, Delay, and Chorus; Reverb and Chorus; Reverb and Delay 1; Delay and Boost), and Mod FX also includes four options (Chorus; Flanger; Phaser; Tremolo and Reverb). Two choices are offered in Verb (Long and short reverb) and Delay (one repeat and long delay), and if you’re wondering, the delay sounds very much like an analog tape echo, and the tap tempo button and the tap LED help with on-the-spot tweaking.

For better or worse, your only means of adjusting any amount of depth, rate, or output to the effects is with the sole FX Level knob, which is not terrible; you just have to use your ears. The other drawback is once you adjust your personal setting on any effect you’re using — whether it’s a delay time or a warbly chorus — you can't save that sound, and it reverts to the default effects setting once you switch channels. A bit of a bummer.

Finally, the amp’s back panel offers better-than-average connectivity with an external speaker output jack, a footswitch jack (channel toggle and effects on/off), an effects loop, DI balanced out, a ground lift switch, an aux In, headphones input, and a USB audio interface.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★½

Despite my minor grumblings that you can’t save sounds and the inherent limitations of fine-tuning an effect with just a sole FX Level knob, let me reiterate definitively that this is a great-sounding combo with responsive amp modeling and a solid effects selection that complements your tone. In fact, just plugging into channel 2 with each EQ set midway (or noon), and sweeping through each of the 12 modeled amp types, from clean to hi-gain, all sound stellar for this price point.

But let’s say you just need a bold and foundational clean tone devoid of any effects, where you get to hear how your guitar sounds in its purest form, or maybe hear how your pedals respond and react, and I’d point you toward the Carbon 100’s channel 1 as a solid starting point. It’s impressive how loud you can crank this channel to get the cleans to sound firmly pristine without the amp crumbling into breakup. I’ll say it again: it’s a different type of clean sound here on this channel, one that jazz players might gravitate toward because it sounds so warm and full — and hell, jazzbos love digital amps for their consistency, which the Carbon 100 delivers in spades on this channel.

When you turn the amp on, it automatically defaults to channel 2 on the first clean amp model setting with the short reverb from the effects. Right off the bat, it’s a sparkling clean sound with a splashy spring reverb adding some musical depth. So far, nothing to complain about here, and as you rotate your way toward the drive settings and upping the drive using the Gain knob, you’ll run the gamut of classic rock bark and bite, and warmly overdriven textures, no matter what guitar you use.

The Lead section is also quite good and has a slightly mid-focused EQ to its saturation. Once you add the longer delay setting or the multi-effect grouping of delay and reverb, you’ll be one step closer to nailing some cool Lukather-style solo tones.

The Hi-Gain models were the only section that I felt was kinda “mid” (as the kids say), where I found myself sticking with one model that was decent for metal and Dimebag-inspired riffing. I did run the Carbon 100 through various speaker cabinets using the external cab out with great results, allowing the amp to sound fuller and louder, and I’ll be the first to say the onboard Kustom speaker is voiced perfectly in not making this cubed combo sound boxy.

Finally, the onboard effects are good to great in tones and texture, and sound just as you’d imagine as digital representations of chorus, flanger, tremolo, delays and reverbs, but you are limited in scope in how much you can fine-tune and tweak. You’re stuck with, more or less, setting and forgetting the effect type you will use sparingly or all the time.

Verdict

At the end of the day, digital is no longer a dirty word. Even Joe Bonamassa has opted for a digital reproduction amplifier over his vintage Fender tube combo for his live performances, signaling a significant shift in how players regard digital amps. The truth is, digital amplification has evolved substantially since the solid-state era of Kustom’s classic Tuck-n-Roll models.

The Carbon Series, in my opinion, represents a fresh chapter for Kustom, offering a no-nonsense digital amplifier alternative that avoids the overly complex options currently trending and quickly becoming the norm in this space.

Guitar World verdict: The Kustom Carbon 100 stands out as an affordable plug-and-play modeling combo that offers the touch-sensitive responsiveness of a traditional tube amp, making its digital guts easy to forgive. There are a few drawbacks to this simpler approach, but whether you are in a rehearsal space or performing live, this compact combo proves to be an impressively capable performer.

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What is it?

With so many options, it can be hard to choose an overdrive pedal. For the most part, it comes down to two things - the job you want the pedal to do, and personal preference. The original Little Green Wonder from Finnish brand Mad Professor is an example of a more interesting choice, with its different take on controlling tone courtesy of its unique ‘Body' control.

Since the initial release around 20 years ago, the original version has been discontinued, with that ‘Body' control being replaced by the more ubiquitous Treble and Bass controls on the second iteration, named The Green Wonder.

Now, Mad Professor is bringing the original layout back, including its bougie handwired nature. With it in front of me for review, I am looking forward to seeing what this different take on an EQ control can do.

Specs

• Launch price: $378 | £286 | €330
• Type: Overdrive pedal
• Made: Finland
• Controls: Volume, Gain, Body
• Features: Unique ‘Body’ control EQ, handwired
• Connectivity: ¼” in and out
• Bypass: True
• Power: 9V centre negative, 4mA
• Dimensions: 2.7”x5.3”x2.5”/70x135x65mm
• Weight: 0.9lbs/415g
• Contact: Mad Professor

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

Being a hand-wired pedal, we are paying a hand-wired price, and the Little Green Wonder, with its metal chassis, boasts the near-indestructible feel we can expect when spending this sort of money.

It’s an impression that continues with the knobs and footswitch pushing back in a way that makes them feel premium and reassuring in use, and a bright power LED settled in a metal bevel completes the feeling of industrial strength.

The artwork here is more intricate than the less expensive factory version, and in my opinion, the art deco approach just looks better and, yes, more premium as a result.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

With only three controls and without no screens or menus to worry about, there is no need for a manual here.

A ¼” in and out is as you would expect, and the standard 9V power input that will suit any pedalboard power supply. It can take up to 18V, but Mad Professor recommends we stick to the noted 9V for best results. Still, it’s handy to have this range to avoid any accidents with mixing up voltages.

To state the obvious, the Volume control makes things louder, and the Gain control adds more drive. Less obvious is the Body control. Fully left adds more bass and low mids with a slight treble boost, and fully right reduces bass with more mid focus.

We’ll get into the minutiae of the sounds later, but the result is a control that is, oddly, darkest in the middle and different types of bright at the extremes. In other words, not your usual tone control, or the low-end control that most people would associate with the term.

Whilst this might take a beat or two to figure out, it is still a simple pedal that requires only minimal brain power to get the head around and dial in on the fly.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Now, as a drive pedal with green in its name and finish, most are going to, fairly, assume that the Little Green Wonder is a take on a Tube Screamer.

The gain range is similar, as it goes from light breakup to a relatively driven overdrive. But the increased headroom and Body Control are where things differ quite drastically from a classic TS-type pedal.

With the Body control set straight up the middle, the tone has a TS-style mid hump, but without the smooth feel of a Screamer. This is my least favorite setting, as it sounds a little lacking in high-end life to me.

Turn left, and some high-end gets added back in while the bass response is retained, resulting in a pleasing, relatively full-range type of drive, quite far removed from the TS thing, and perfect for edge of breakup tones or classic rock rhythms when the Gain is pushed.

Turn right, and some more high mid is added (at a higher mid-frequency than a screamer), and the low end is slightly reduced, which means a cutting type of drive that will get you heard in the mix whilst still being pleasant to listen to on its own.

This setting is well-suited to pushing another drive pedal or driven amp into saturation, helped along by a huge amount of output available on the Volume control.

This all ends up in a unique-sounding drive pedal that can work well as a standalone crunchy rhythm or driven lead, or as a boost for a driven amp and other pedals. It is not transparent like a Bluesbreaker, for example, but has a mid hump that is not as forward as a TS-type pedal. A pretty great middle ground.

Verdict

The result of all this is versatility. It can do Tube Screamery things, but the highlights are within the Little Green Wonder’s ability to provide a range of boost and overdrive tones, creating a drive pedal that will fit most pedalboards or guitars. A handy little device.

Guitar World verdict: Ignore the connotations of its green color and title. This is an impressive drive/boost pedal with the unique Body control being the crux of its versatility. It can provide a relatively full-range drive, or a mid-humped lead as a boost or a standalone pedal. Something that could find a home in many a setup.

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Hands-on videos

Mike Hermans

Mad Professor

What is it?

Strymon made its name on the back of its formidable skills in digital guitar effects design, reverb pedals the likes of which we had never seen nor heard before, great, multi-modal delay pedals like the TimeLine that come packed with all kinds of sounds.

Its DSP architecture puts studio-quality sounds on your pedalboard – sounds ranging from the quotidian essentials to the avant-garde. There is MIDI connectivity, presets, functions out of the wazoo.

The Canoga is not that. It’s something completely different; an analog fuzz pedal inspired by a vintage Fuzz Face. Just two knobs and the truth, ma’am. And it wasn’t even designed to be launched as an actual project.

That’s the thing about stompbox designers like Strymon CEO and analog engineer Gregg Stock; they just like making stuff. The Canoga was initially a fuzz box that was made to complement the UltraViolet Vintage Vibe, something suitably Jimi Hendrix to get the most out of this digital Uni-Vibe-inspired modulation for the demo videos. They even made a rudimentary, unbranded enclosure for it. And it sat around gathering dust.

In the interim, Strymon underwent a revolution of sorts. It went analog, unveiling the Series A in December 2025 with the launch of the Fairfax Class A Output Stage Drive. It was a taste of things to come. Strymon, as it turned out, had a heart that beats for all things old-school and analog, too, such as the Garnet Amplifiers Herzog device that inspired the Fairfax, and the Arbiter Fuzz Face that inspired the Canoga.

This two-knob silicon fuzz does not reinvent the wheel-shaped original. But, says Strymon, it might just prove to be more than the sum of its parts. The Canoga is a simple pedal but it is designed to perform both as a fuzz, and a drive-come-distortion when you roll the volume back on your electric guitar.

Specs

• Launch price: $199 | £199 | €263
• Type: Fuzz pedal
• Controls: Drive, Level
• Features: Silicon analogue fuzz circuit, internal jumpers for switchable power-up state (bypassed or engaged)
• Connectivity: 1/4" input/output, DC centre-negative power input
• Bypass: True
• Power: 9V DC (min. 50mA)
• Dimensions: 4.53” (D) x 2.83” (W) x 2.33” (H)
• Weight: 270gm
• Contact: Strymon

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

Like the Fairfax, the Canoga arrives in an unfussy boxy but compact enclosure that will appeal to players who baulk at any pedal that requires consultation with the manual. It has a silent soft-touch footswitch, a pair of amp-style knobs for Drive and Level that sit on a raised black plastic panel.

As with all the pedals that come out of Strymon’s US facility, the build is impeccable. There is no battery power here. Feed it 9V DC from your pedalboard power supply and it’s good to go. All of your connections on the top of the pedal. It’s a simple affair but you can unscrew the base plate to change how the pedal powers up.

By default, it will power up in bypass mode, but there are a pair of internal jumpers that allow you to set it to power up as engaged, which may be useful depending if you have this in a rack setup. The orange LED lets you know when it’s on.

The Canoga has the feel of one of those super-rugged pedals you throw on your 'board, tape it down, and never have to worry about it again. There's no buffer. Stick it on the front end of your signal chain and have at it.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★☆

Sure, the switchable power-up modes speaks to the stereotypical Strymon user – those of the multi-level pedalboards, loop switches, electric toothbrushes and Soundbrenner wearables... Y'know, the tech-literate and ready to mingle. But the Canoga is a time machine pedal. It is Woodstock ’69, not Coachella 2026, and there is something to be said for that.

It’s not about presenting players with all mod cons. We can have too many features. There is none of the post-modern fuzz accoutrements here, no selectable modes, no blend knob or bias control. There isn’t even a tone control. It is old school.

Adjust the Drive and Level, and use the volume control on your guitar to roll off the gain. The Canoga’s simplicity, its presentation of a vintage Fuzz Face in the hear and now, is what we’re here for.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

This is one of those occasions where the instinct to dime a fuzz pedal’s controls and work back makes sense. Strymon has designed this to be one of those fuzzboxes you set up on the floor but control with your guitar’s volume knob – or indeed with how hard you hit the strings.

Unity gain was a little surprising. With my ‘50s Telecaster into a clean tube amp, it came around two o’clock on the Level control but there is a whopping amount of output gain beyond that. The Canoga can hit your amp hard.

But just like a shot of tequila as your first drink of the night can be a bit much, the Canoga is best introduced when you’ve already got a little bit of breakup on the amp – that’s where it sounds the sweetest. And it really does sound sweet, teasing out that harmonic content, adding a bit of sparkle and bloom to your chords, giving single notes the juice they need to hang in the air a bit more.

Strymon is as good as its word here; the Canoga cleans up beautifully. Starting from our all-guns-blazing position of both dials maxed out, there’s all the bestial woof you could want – especially when switching to a Jackson loaded with a Bare Knuckle Holy Diver humbucker, but notably also with both Tele pickups engaged in series, whereupon it came good for all those hairy Kyuss-style stoner tones.

Rolling back the volume brings us to almost clean but with the Canoga just heating everything up. This is where your Hendrix-style triads might take flight. Who needs a blend control when a pedal sounds this good?

Sadly, I didn’t have a Uni-Vibe to hand, but the disorientating throb from the CE-1 vibrato mode on my Boss Waza Craft CE-2 Chorus pedal was surely lysergic enough to give some acid casualties a mean flashback to Monterey; burning Stratocasters, all that mojo. Just add some tape echo and you might open up a new dimension (or set off the smoke alarm). Hmm, maybe it was just as well there was no Uni-Vibe.

Stick it on your ‘board and you’ll surely open up pathways to all kinds of sounds. There is the countrified scratch of its low-gain drive-stortion voicing. There is chewy Gary Moore blues-rock.

Just as the original fuzz pedals were deployed for quasi-horn tones, you can dime this, noodle on the upper registers on the neck pickup and the guitar transcends its anatomy as a stringed instrument.

Which is all to say that the Canoga is a great-sounding vintage-voiced fuzz, and that can be a much more versatile pedal than you might think, especially if you are comfortable working your volume pot during a show.

Verdict

Fuzz pedal design has moved on since Hendrix et al tread the boards, for good and for ill.

There will be some players who, quite reasonably, might baulk at paying 200 bucks for a Fuzz Face clone in 2026. Some of them might want a more modern voicing. Others might simple want more stuff going on. These days, we are used to options. There will be those who want more control over their tone on the pedal. Again, not unreasonably.

But the Canoga makes no promises on that score. It invites you to turn it up and search for the sweet spots via your instrument, or your amp, and how the Canoga interacts with that and other pedals further down the signal chain.

From the full-bore fuzz, to those in between tones that could pass for console grit or dirt from some unbranded vintage drive pedal you found at a pawnshop, the sounds are stellar.

And the simplicity lets you concentrate on doing the playing instead of worrying how the pedal is setup. Sometimes you realise that’s what you've been looking for – what you have needed – all along.

Guitar World verdict: Who would have thought in 2016 that the best Fuzz Face-inspired pedal of 2026 so far would have come from Strymon? But the digital powerhouse has proved it has the appetite for adventures in analog, with the Canoga presenting as an old-school fuzz that can be equally effective as an all-purposes dirt pedal.

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Perry Frank

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What is it?

Be it overdrive, distortion or fuzz, pedals of a certain nature fall into the catch-all category of ‘dirt’ pedals, and The Joker, the latest offering from Flattley, is certainly of that ilk – it even says so on the front panel! What you have here is a pedal with two toggle-switched modes, the aforementioned Dirt and, to take things a stage further, Filth.

Flattley tells us the pedal was inspired by a simple question: what happens if you add controlled distortion to a normally clean booster? And to that end, the designers developed a pedal with a FET-based 12AX7 valve simulation with the aim of achieving a similar sound to an overdriven single-valve amp.

However, this pedal takes it a stage further by adding the Filth mode for more gain and distortion.

Specs

• Price: £259
• Type: Overdrive pedal
• Origin: UK
• Controls: Volume, Gain, Tone, Dirt/Filth switch, Bypass footswitch
• Features: True bypass
• Power: 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) 50mA
• Contact: Flattley Guitar Pedals

Build quality, usability and sounds

In Dirt mode with the pedal’s Gain knob at minimum, the Volume knob (starting from silence) hits unity gain at around 11 o’clock, so anything beyond that will give you a boost – not squeaky clean but with a touch of grit to it and coloured by whatever you have dialled in on the tone knob.

To our ears, that knob is at its most neutral at minimum position, but advancing it starts rolling off bottom-end, and from the midpoint onwards there’s increasing top-end emphasis, heading right into classic treble-boost territory towards its end point. All good stuff for hitting the front-end of your amp in exactly the right way or pushing another dirt pedal.

When you start advancing the Gain knob there’s plenty of those ‘just beyond clean’ tones to explore as you move through low-level break-up and into the more crunchy arena with the flavour of a small valve amp that’s being driven hard. It’s all very playable with fully exploitable dynamic response, pulling back from the dirt to cleaner tone with a softer touch.

Switching to Filth mode, the starting point is somewhere towards the upper end of Dirt mode, so there’s some crossover between the two, but Filth moves very naturally from that crunch into a more compressed, gainier (but not overly saturated) version of it.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★☆

Guitar World verdict: A practical range of gain, from clean-ish through to raunch, combined with a Tone knob that focuses it to push the right buttons, make The Joker a versatile boost/drive asset for your signal chain.

Hands-on videos

R.J. Ronquillo

Flattley

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

What is it?

It was 1926 when acoustic flat-tops first entered the Gibson catalogue and so, to celebrate this really quite significant centenary, the company has released a trio of guitars, two of which we see here.

In order of original production dates, the Century models comprise an L-00, which was first introduced in the early 1930s, a J-45 from the 1940s and a J-185 from the 1950s. But these are not meant to be faithful recreations of those decades-old guitars, rather than a glance back at the past with feet firmly planted in the present.

Certain traditions have been observed, such as using hide glue in the construction, but modernity has crept in where the necks are concerned with Gibson opting to install its SlimTaper profiles on all three models.

But possibly the most obvious veer away from original spec is the fact that all three have necks that join the bodies at the 12th fret, rather than the 14th. This might seem to be a curious move to some, perhaps, but Gibson’s reasoning is that these are “fresh interpretations” of these legendary guitars.

Of the pair we’re reviewing here, the J-45 needs no real introduction from us, having reached the same workhorse status as Martin’s D-28 throughout its long life.

But, to recap, the J-45 was introduced in 1942 and, to quote Gibson itself: “Since the 1930s, Gibson’s full-size, round-shoulder acoustics have shaped the sound of American music, becoming the most frequently recorded acoustic guitars thanks to their rich warmth, expressive character, and remarkable balance across every note. Among these celebrated instruments, the J-45 has earned iconic status.”

It has been seen in the hands of artists like John Hammond, Bob Dylan, Vince Gill and, legend has it, that Monty Python’s Eric Idle used a J-45 to compose Always Look On the Bright Side of Life. And you can’t really get any more iconic than that.

The J-185 isn’t quite as well known, but since its introduction in 1951 it has gained a lot of fans and is regarded as a sort of best-kept secret among the acoustic cognoscenti. Its body profile harks back to another Gibson legend, the L-5 from the 1920s, and could be looked at as being a slightly smaller and more compact version of the SJ-200.

Like our J-45, this version of the J-185 has a 12th-fret body join, which Gibson tells us “shortens the neck and moves the bridge plate farther from the waist and closer to the body’s widest point, enhancing top movement and improving playing comfort. The result is a warm, lively, and responsive voice that especially suits fingerstyle players and anyone with a lighter, nuanced touch.”

Looking at specifics and turning our attention back to the J-45, we find that the build is pretty much standard fare for the model. But like everything that remains functional for decades, simplicity is the key here.

With a top of Sitka spruce – a very nice bookmatched piece with characteristic rippling in the grain – and backed with mahogany, both woods are enhanced by the satin nitrocellulose finish that has been applied so thinly that it’s almost possible to feel the grain under your fingers, especially on the guitar’s back. It certainly promotes the 45’s vintage ambience and actually feels very good under the fingers.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a 12th-fret neck join on a J-45, but Gibson tells us that such models have been limited to “artist collaborations or limited Gibson Custom runs”, and so it looks far from being in any way odd or out of place. In fact, it has the effect of making the guitar look (and feel) more compact and, as we’ll see later, it balances incredibly well, too.

Mahogany is used for the neck, with the aforementioned SlimTaper profile instead of the tree trunks of yore, and the fretboard is rosewood, as you’d suspect.

The older Gibson logo sits atop the guitar’s headstock, but without the banner found on originals that reads, “Only a Gibson is good enough”. Tuners are the vintage-inspired ‘Golden Age strap’ variety with simple white buttons, and both nut and saddle are made from bone.

We noticed that there was no second strap button on the guitar’s heel – an odd omission these days – but when we rifled through the glove compartment of the very nice purple-lined tweed case, we found that Gibson had provided one for the player to install if desired.

That won’t be anything other than a few minutes with a drill and a screwdriver for all the jolly modders out there, but if you’re a little squeamish about wielding sharp objects around $/£2k guitars, it’s probably best to have a professional do the deed for you.

Moving over to the J-185, construction details are very similar, with the same Sitka spruce and mahogany combo for the top, back and sides. The former is camouflaged in a very nicely applied vintage sunburst, which gives the guitar that extra dose of vintage chic and, looking at its outline, it’s possible to see that family resemblance to the revered L-5.

We’ll admit that we’re not as familiar with the J-185 as we are with the J-45, but concede that it’s a very attractive‑looking instrument without any of that bulbousness that jumbos can acquire. In fact, with that classic figure-eight profile, you wouldn’t really think you were looking at a jumbo. It just looks classic.

Neither guitar comes with any electronics onboard, and so it’s time to fire the guitars up and hear how they sound.

Specs

Gibson J-185 Century 12-Fret

• Price: $2,499 | £2,149 | €2,379
• Origin: USA
• Type: Jumbo
• Top: Sitka spruce
• Back/Sides: Mahogany
• Max Rim Depth: 123mm
• Max Body Width: 405mm
• Neck: Mahogany
• Scale Length: 629mm (24.75”)
• Tuners: Golden Age strap 
• Nut/Width: Bone/44mm
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Frets: 19
• Bridge/Spacing: Rosewood/56mm
• Weight (kg/lb): 1.63/3.6
• Options: Finish only – Vintage Amber or Ebony 
• Left-Handers: Yes, same price
• Finish: Vintage sunburst satin nitrocellulose lacquer

Gibson J-45 Century 12-Fret

• Price: $2,399 | £2,049 | €2,279 (inc hard case)
• Origin: USA
• Type: Round-shoulder dreadnought
• Top: Sitka spruce
• Back/Sides: Mahogany
• Max Rim Depth: 123mm
• Max Body Width: 407mm
• Neck: Mahogany
• Scale Length: 629mm (24.75”)
• Tuners: Three-on-a-plate with cream buttons
• Nut/Width: Bone/44mm
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Frets: 19
• Bridge/Spacing: Bone/56mm
• Weight (kg/lb): 1.57/3.48
• Options: Finish only – Vintage Sunburst or Ebony
• Left-Handers: Yes, same price
• Finish: Vintage Amber satin nitrocellulose lacquer
• Contact: Gibson

Build quality, usability and sounds

It’s a very strange thing, but when we were fumbling with freeing the J-45 from its case, we balanced the guitar on our knees and it didn’t budge.

It was perfectly balanced and not a shade heavy on either the body or neck side. In fact, both guitars seem really light and would almost disappear on a strap. So it might be time to consider installing that extra strap button, after all.

Strumming a few exploratory chords on the 45 was like putting on a pair of comfortable slippers. Everything we love about the model is present in spades. There’s bags of volume to that familiar J-45 woody growl and campfire chords ring out with complex harmonics and tons of sustain. Gibson certainly got it right the first time with the J-45, and it’s no wonder that the model is so revered among singer-songwriters and fingerstylists alike.

We particularly liked the way we could feel lower mids and bass vibrate through the body – tone you can feel. And the range of dynamics is very good, too: played quietly, all the subtleties you need are present, but let it rip and there’s all the toneful power you’ll ever need. We very nearly had a ‘Dear Santa’ moment with this instrument…

The J-185 is a contrast in that the bass isn’t quite so strident. It’s more refined, more demure, and would definitely suit a fingerstylist who doesn’t want the full-on bombast of a dread but still needs a reserve of power for those fortissimo moments in their set.

Don’t get us wrong, all the tone is there – it’s just slightly more ‘polished to a shine’ than its roguish stablemate. Once again, singer-songwriters would find a very workable companion in the J-185, and fingerstylists alike would possibly find a soulmate.

Did the SlimTaper necks interfere with our test drive? Not one whit. We didn’t even think about it.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with them, and if we say that the J-45 just nudged past the winning post, be aware that it’s merely a subjective opinion, based on that familiar woof and grunt that has served acoustic players for over eight decades. We’d urge you to check out both models and decide for yourself. Happy 100th, Gibson!

Guitar World verdict: What can we say? Both these revisits to Gibson’s acoustic heritage have hit the mark in their individual ways, and those modern touches have enhanced playability and aligned two vintage models with a more contemporary mindset.

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What is it?

When it comes to guitar players, there are simply none more iconic than Jimi Hendrix. His otherworldly tones and raw energy on stage were backed up by the roar of an almost equally iconic Marshall amplifier. The combination of the two yielded sounds that still influence guitar players 60 years later. So, to mark the 60th anniversary of this pairing, Marshall has launched a rather fetching Hendrix signature amp - the Marshall X Jimi Hendrix 60th Anniversary JMH Half Stack.

Based on a Marshall Plexi, specifically the 1959 Super Lead, which Hendrix famously used, the amp is a hand-wired limited edition with only 300 being made available.

Befitting of its collector's status is the striking purple and black “cosmic swirl” finish and the accoutrements that come along with it - a poster, a letter from Janie Hendrix, a handkerchief, some picks, and, most notably, a Fuzz Face pedal.

Hendrix’s Fuzz Faces are things of lore, thanks to the way engineering guru Roger Mayer would curate and mod them, leading to fuzz sounds that would often vary.

The pedal included in this bundle is inspired by the aggressive sound used by Jimi in his final UK performance on the Isle of Wight in 1970, and is adorned with the same purple and black swirls as the amplifier. It's also not available to buy separately.

It would be remiss of Marshall to put out such a unique-looking head without a matching cabinet. Given that this is from the days when guitar amps needed to fill a venue, that cab is, of course, a 4x12 and loaded with Celestion G12H 30 speakers.

In short, we have a Fuzz Face, a Plexi, a 4x12, and a hell of a lot of volume. This should be fun.

Specs

• Launch price: $4,999 | £3,799 | €4,399
• Type: Tube amp head and cab with Fuzz Face
• Origin: UK
• Output: 100W
• Speaker: 4x12 Celestion G12H 30
• Channels: 2
• Controls: Presence, Bass, Mid, Treble, Volume 1, Volume 2
• Connectivity: ¼” instrument input
• Footswitch: No
• Weight: 20.5kg/45.1lbs (head)
• Dimensions: 29.1”x12”x8.2”/740 x 305 x 210 mm (head)
• Contact: Marshall

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

At $4,999 or £3,799, I am expecting this head and cab combo to be nothing less than premium. Thankfully, that is exactly what we get.

Both sport thick birch plywood sides, hard-wearing tolex, and robust carrying handles that are clearly built to last. The controls on the head are all satisfying to turn, and the rotary selectors that control the impedance and mains power settings operate with a reassuring clunk, as do the power and Standby switches on the front.

The limited edition Fuzz Face is built to the overblown size of the vintage models, complete with the hardy metal chassis. These are both collector's items that will happily last the foreseeable future if they are looked after and properly maintained.

Maintenance for the head will include swapping out those tubes at some point, of which we have three ECC83s/12AX7’s in the preamp (one of which is a phase splitter) and four EL34s kicking out those 100 watts.

This is all within hand-wired circuitry. Some will debate how much difference this makes tonally, but either way, it is certainly an indication that care has been taken here, and it’s this sort of attention I would expect an amp in this price range to be getting.

For me, the star of the whole thing is that swirling purple finish against the more traditional black of a Marshall amp. While it’s not a reference to a specific album cover or such like, in my opinion, it nails the psychedelia associated with Hendrix and rounds off what is a great-looking bundle.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

One of the joys of a good ol’ tube amp is that you just plug in, turn up until it sounds good, and go. Given that this amp is essentially a Marshall 1959 Super Lead, it would be rude not to start the same way here.

As one of the most iconic amps of all time, many of us will already be familiar with this setup. But for the uninitiated, we have two channels - a High Treble and a Normal channel, each with a high and low sensitivity input.

The high sensitivity is designed for low-output pickups, and the low sensitivity is designed for high-output pickups.

These channels can be jumped with a patch lead (by, for example, connecting the low-sensitivity input of the High Treble channel to the high-sensitivity input of the Normal channel) and mixed to taste.

On the front panel, you will find everything you need to tweak the tone - a three-band EQ, a Presence control, and a Volume for each channel, in addition to a power and a standby switch.

Then, around the back are two ¼” speaker outputs, an output selector allowing for 4, 8, and 16 ohms outputs, and a mains selector that switches between 100, 120, and 230 volts.

So, nothing fancy. A faithful re-issue of traditional amplifier technology that is bound to please the purists, resulting in an easy-to-use piece of gear, free from the complications that modernity can bring.

The only thing you need to be careful with is that you select the correct impedance for the cab you are using. Marshall helpfully includes a few notes on this in its manual.

It’s worth noting that with no master control or modern tech, breakup is achieved via pushing the valves with the volume controls. Wattage is not a measure of volume, but even in the context of 100W amps, believe me when I say this amp is loud!

So, in pushing it into breakup, you are going to want to make sure you are in a big room that can handle the level, or employ some modern tech to tame it. In our case, a Torpedo Captor X Plus.

Aiding in that volume is that 4x12 cab, which helpfully comes with castors. Not that I found those helpful while lugging it up the stairs to our studio's testing room.

The Fuzz Face follows the vintage correct approach with an unwieldy size, no power input, and a 9V battery compartment that requires removing the backplate to access.

As much as these vintage correct appointments are kind of a pain compared to pedals with mains inputs and easy-to-reach battery compartments, the result is a bundle that feels like it pays real homage to the time and player, which is entirely the point here.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Playing these amps is a visceral experience. It is not the smooth, produced sound that many will have heard in digital versions of a Plexi-style amp. It is brash, unforgivingly touch-sensitive, and undeniably addictive.

The High Treble channel is very bright, unpleasantly so until you get the volume around the halfway point. Here, the low-end increases and starts to complement that very present treble, creating a more balanced sound, but one that is still very forward in the treble and high-mid range.

The Normal channel is the opposite and remains quite dark until similarly pushed, with much less of that high end. For me, the best results are gained by using both and jumping the inputs.

That three-band EQ is relatively subtle in the Presence, Bass, and Mid, giving enough to tweak the amp to the room whilst preserving its character. The Treble has a much wider sweep, going from dull and dark to ear-piercingly bright.

I am testing with a Les Paul Classic, a Custom Shop Telecaster, and, of course, a Stratocaster. Setting both channels to around seven creates a snappy drive with that mid-forward, present high end that is typical of that Marshall-style, as you would expect.

It is wonderfully dynamic, responding to the different pickups in the guitars and reacting faithfully to the guitar’s volume pots, perhaps more than any other amp I have played.

This sort of touch sensitivity and detailed high-end make the amp feel like it is truly connected to your fingers and your guitar. However, a word of warning, it also makes the amp an unforgiving beast, recreating every bit of a player's nuance and therefore every imperfection. Not for the faint of heart.

It's a sound that makes most sense in a band context, where that presence will serve to cut nicely, and the low end is filled by other instruments. I suspect that many would find these tones to be too bright on their own.

Indeed, it took me a moment to properly adjust and start appreciating it during testing.

I am, of course, playing through as many Hendrix riffs as I can remember, and it isn’t long before I am plugging in that Fuzz Face with the Strat.

A traditional Fuzz Face will change as you turn the volume up, opening more high-end as you get louder. For me, the best way to use them is to gun the volume, set the Fuzz control just a little back from full, and control the amount of Fuzz with your guitar's volume control.

This Hendrix Isle Of Wight festival set-inspired Fuzz Face possesses the aggressive high end as promised, and certainly cuts. There is a little more gain than on some other versions of the Fuzz Face I have played, so I find myself running the Fuzz control back a little further than usual in order to have it clean up properly on the guitar's volume control.

With the guitar's volume gunned, it is a full and fat fuzz, obviously reminiscent of that Foxey Lady and Voodoo Chile sound. And with the volume rolled back, the circuitry of a Fuzz Face allows the signal to clean up spectacularly well whilst staying bright, forming an essential part of Hendrix’s cleaner tones. All in all, I am having a lot of fun here.

But let's not forget, the Marshall Plexi sound was also used by the likes of Paul Kossoff, Jimmy Page, and many others. If you want those sounds, get some humbuckers and dial in some more gain from the volume controls, and you're there.

Additionally, in more modern contexts, this sort of amp works well as a pedal platform. Using a Thorpy Kudu overdrive pedal, I am able to push the amp into high-gain territory, useful for some more modern sounds.

Having no effects loop does somewhat limit the amp in this context, so you will need to be comfortable running your time-based effects into the front end, especially considering that there is no onboard reverb.

Verdict

The Marshall 1959 Super Lead is an undeniably influential sound and is the sort of amplifier that I think every player should experience at least once.

Not only to provide some context to what people really mean when they talk about that Marshall thing, but to gain a better understanding of the type of amp that contributed to the history and development of the guitar.

While the amp is impractically loud, and the fuzz is way too big for most boards, as a tribute to the time and player, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Guitar World verdict: The Marshall X Jimi Hendrix 60th Anniversary JMH Half Stack provides purist-satisfying 1959 Super Lead tones and feel, in a bundle that pays a poignant tribute to the Hendrix/Marshall pairing. For collectors and enthusiasts, this will be a much-coveted purchase.

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Hands-on videos

Marshall

Guitar Bonedo and Planet Guitar

What is it?

Guitar tuner pedals are never going to be the most exciting pedalboard-based purchase, but they are essential, and the Fender Strobo-Sonic Pro Tuner Pedal wants to steal your attention. It arrives at an interesting moment for the company, but boardroom antics and internet discourse aside, it’s my job to look at the gear objectively. Ignoring the logo on the box, is this tuner pedal able to compete in a part of the market with some already very established names? Let’s find out.

The Strobo-Sonic promises a tuning accuracy of just 0.01 cents, which, on paper, is better than the TC Electronic PolyTune, the legendary Boss TU-3, and even the benchmark for accurate tuning, the Peterson StroboStomp HD. Like other competitors in the Walrus Audio Canvas Tuner and TC PolyTune, the Strobo-Sonic features dual modes, so you can use it in a combo strobe/needle mode, or in the more familiar needle mode.

The large, 2.3 x 2.1” screen is second only to the Walrus Audio Canvas tuner, providing plentiful real estate to view the notes you’re aiming for. It also has an auto dim function that adapts to the ambient light condition, getting less blinding when you’re on stage in the dark versus a brighter mode when playing in daylight.

It also has a switchable buffer. You can run it in true bypass, buffered bypass, or an always-on mode, which is what you’ll find with the Peterson, Canvas Tuner, and TC PolyTune. In the always-on mode, the footswitch acts as a mute button, but the tuner is always active, so you can see which note you’re on whilst playing.

The Strobo-Sonic Pro can be powered via a traditional pedalboard power supply, drawing 9V 180mA. You can also run it with a USB-C connection if you’ve got a modern PSU that features a USB-C port.

Specs

• Launch price: $129.99 | £99 | €102
• Type: Tuner pedal
• Controls: Footswitch, bypass switch, mode button
• Features: Auto dim display, strobe mode, needle mode, always on mode, bypass switching
• Connectivity: 1 x 1/4" (instrument), 1 x 1/4" (main out), 1 x USB-C
• Bypass: Buffered, true bypass, buffered always on
• Power: 9V DC, 180mA, USB-C 5V
• Dimensions: 4.53 x 2.57 x 1.73" (115 x 65.3 x 44mm)
• Weight: 0.5 lbs, 0.22 kg
• Options: N/A
• Contact: Fender

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Pulling the Strobo-Sonic tuner out of its box, it’s a pretty unassuming bit of kit. The all-black fascia is very toned down, with just the silver footswitch, retro-gaming inspired white logo, and the classic Fender ‘spaghetti’ logo. It’s very lightweight at 0.5 lbs, weighing no more than a smartphone in the palm of my hand.

It’s got a very low profile in terms of height too, with a 1.73” (44mm) thickness. The footswitch sticks out a good amount and features a modern, quiet-click operation that doesn’t have the loud ‘clack’ of older pedals. It has a nice balance of easy press and feel, so you know you’ve engaged it, and sticks out enough from the chassis that it’s easy enough to hit from a variety of angles.

On top of the unit are two 1/4-inch jacks, and nestled in between the 9V DC power input. All are marked with bold white text so there’s no doubting what does what. This theme continues on the right-hand side of the unit, with a bypass switch, tuning mode switch, and the USC- port nestled here. The bypass switch moves solidly if unspectacularly, and there’s a nice click to the small, circular mode button when you engage it.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

Plugging the Fender Strobo-Sonic at the front of a pedalboard of cheap pedals I’m testing at the moment, the display lights up dimly, showing the reference pitch before going to black. Plugging in a Baum Core Verve electric guitar into the front of it, I engage the footswitch, and I’m greeted with the pedal in dual strobe-and-needle mode.

The strobe portion of the tuner display consists of blocks of LED dots that drift left or right across the screen, depending on the string's pitch. If drifting to the left, it’s flat; if drifting to the right, the note is sharp. The aim is to get the blocks to stop moving, which signals that your guitar is perfectly in tune. Strobe tuning allows you to be more accurate than a needle tuner, because it’s an overlay of the exact pitch of your string. It means even if you’re out by 0.03 cents, the blocks will still move ever so slightly.

Above and below the blocks that drift across the screen is the more familiar needle tuner. This works like the tuners most of us know, turning blue when flat or sharp and going green when it reaches the center of the screen, indicating the pitch is correct. Needle tuners have some guesswork in them, however, because this kind of tuner is constantly sampling your note and doing a little smoothing to make it readable for the human eye.

Having the option for both makes the Strobo-Sonic Pro incredibly useful. Use the needle for quick check-ups in between songs, but you have that strobe accuracy for recording sessions or set-up work, allowing you to get as close to perfect intonation as possible. Interestingly, there’s no strobe mode on its own as you’d get with a Peterson tuner, so your options are either traditional needle on its own, or both strobe and needle together.

The display itself is fantastic, super bright, and readable from any angle. I used the tuner both in my home studio and in a dingy rehearsal room, and had zero issues reading it from any angle. I didn’t really notice the auto-dim function, which is probably a good thing, and although I didn’t try it in bright sunlight, I don’t have any qualms about the readability of it.

Another plus is having the switchable bypass modes on a physical switch. These are often hidden inside the pedal or inside menus, so the ability to change at will is a nice feature. There’s a very slight sonic difference between the true and buffered modes. I can definitely sense a little less high-end on the true bypass mode, as the signal is running through a decent amount of guitar cable and several patch cables.

It’s not going to make a huge difference overall to your tone, but having the switch on the outside makes it very easy to check exactly what effect it’s having when you're rigging it up with a bunch of other pedals.

Verdict

My overall experience with the Fender Strobo-Sonic was a good one, and I think it has enough features to compete with the more established names like Boss, Peterson, and TC Electronic. I love the dual strobe/needle tuner mode, which combines super accuracy with quick convenience, and the price feels right for what it is, especially as strobe tuners, like those from Peterson, are generally a little pricier.

It’s a shame then that it doesn’t have some of the other quality of life options found on other tuner pedals, like an additional power out or the ability to be run on a 9V battery. I also think the side-mounted USB-C isn’t the best placement for powering the pedal, particularly if it’s going onto a tightly packed pedalboard.

Guitar World verdict: While admittedly difficult to get excited about, the Fender Strobo-Sonic Pro Tuner Pedal does its single job extremely well. It’s sensitive enough to cater to those who demand the utmost accuracy, while remaining simple enough to use that the gigging player will appreciate it. The switchable bypass and multiple tuning modes mean it will slot nicely into any pedalboard.

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What is it?

For any rock guitar player, Eddie Van Halen and the 5150 moniker are nothing less than Iconic. As the title of the Van Halen album that ushered in the Sammy Hagar era, the name of Eddie Van Halen’s home studio, and his signature series of amplifiers, 5150 is synonymous with the influential, high-gain, high-octane rock that Van Halen propagated.

The original 5150 tube amp started life in 1992 as a signature amplifier built by Peavey for Eddie. After moving on from Peavey in the early 2000’s, he took the 5150 trademark with him into his own brand - EVH (Peavey continues to produce its take under the 6505 name).

Fast forward a few decades, and the 5150 III 6L6 amplifier has been brought into the modern era with the release of the EVH 5150 III Hypersonic 6L6 combos. The EVH Hypersonic series follows in the footsteps of parent company Fender’s Tone Master range, turning to digital modeling technology for the amplifier but marrying it with a real guitar cabinet to create a digitally modeled combo amp.

These digital versions of the 5150 III 6L6 should, on paper, be about as accurate as it is possible for digital modeling to be for two reasons. Firstly, all of the digital processing power is dedicated to recreating one amp well, rather than a collection of iconic amps and effects and fancy (but useful) routing in floorboards such as the Quad Cortex.

Secondly, utilizing a real cabinet bypasses digital cabinet emulation and puts the player directly in front of two 12” Celestion G12H speakers, reducing the number of digital steps between the modeled tone and your ears. We should note here that there is cabinet emulation for a direct-to-desk sound on the amp, should you need it.

So far, the Hypersonic range consists of the 5150 III FRFR speaker, the 5150 III 6L6 1x12 combo, and what I have here, the 5150 III 6L6 2x12 combo. Looking forward to getting stuck into some high-gain tones, let’s see if it delivers what it should.

Specs

• Launch price: $1,699 | £1,399 | €1,625
• Type: Three-channel digital combo amp
• Origin: China
• Output: 50 watts
• Speaker: 2x12, Celestion G12H 30W anniversary series
• Channels: Three
• Controls: Independent three-band EQ, Gain and Volume for each channel, Presence, Resonance and Reverb, Power Mode switch, IR selector
• Connectivity: 1/4" input, IR-loaded XLR output
• Footswitch: Included
• Weight: 56lbs/25.5kg
• Dimensions: 27.5”x11.8”x24.4”
• Contact: EVH

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Generally speaking, one of the biggest upsides of digital technology is increased portability, but this does not apply in quite the same way when you start making digital combos big enough to house two 12” speakers. Even considering this, the EVH 5150 III Hypersonic is pretty big at 27.5”x11.8”x24.4”.

At 56lbs/25.5kg, it is also relatively heavy in the context of digital equipment (for example, the 2x12 Boss Katana Gen 3 is 43lbs), but, when compared to the 85lbs of the tube equivalent, it is a significant, back-saving reduction.

So, best avoid if you need to work with a relatively small space on stage, but thankfully, there is a 1x12 version for those who need a smaller footprint.

I say on stage, because unless you're playing live, there would be little point in buying the oomph of the 2x12 over the smaller 1x12. And, EVH has built the chassis with live use in mind, as evidenced by the thick plywood sides and reassuring metal bracings on the corners.

Big clunky switches for the power and mute functions also offer an impression of industrial strength, as do the sliders, rotary selectors, and knobs that control the I/O on the back of the unit.

The only place where I feel there is a little room for improvement is the chicken head controls that form the top half of the dual concentric setup on the top panel. They feel a little loose in use relative to the other controls, so they don't quite have the same premium feel as the rest of the amp.

The lower of the dual controls for the Green channel (channel one) and the standalone chicken head knobs for the Red channel (channel 3) happily don’t have this issue and meet the high bar that the amp sets.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★☆

Another benefit of digital technology is the ability to include some extra features. The Hypersonic EVH 5150 III makes use of this, but builds it around a faithful recreation of the real thing, which includes three footswitchable channels, each with its own Gain and Volume control, plus a master Presence and Resonance control, an effects loop, a sturdy footswitch, and MIDI connectivity.

A little note, as we go forward, the three channels are canonically called the Green, Blue, and Red channels. Green for clean, Blue for rhythm, and Red for lead.

The extras on this digital version include a three-band EQ for each channel (on the tube version, channels one and two share an EQ), a noise gate for each channel, and a speaker-emulated XLR out with two built-in Impulse Responses.

For running a silent stage and utilizing just the XLR output, there is a mute switch around the back.

These IRs can be swapped and changed with the EVH IR manager app. Using the app requires a firmware update for the amp, which is easy enough to do, but finding out how requires some browsing around on the EVH website's support page. I would rather have this outlined in the included manual, as it is an operation everyone who buys this amp will need to carry out.

Additionally, instead of the Power Level control featured on the tube amp, the Hypersonic version has selectable 1, 5, 25, and 50-watt outputs.

In short, there are plenty of features for almost everyone. The only omission in my eyes is a Master volume control, as with three channels that have their own independent volume, a master volume would be handy in changing the overall output of the amp without having to worry about accidentally changing the balance you have set between each of the channels.

Adding a Master to a tube amp can bring some compromises depending on its placement in the circuit, but this is a digital amp, so I can’t help but feel this is a missed opportunity.

However, the benefit of the amp being styled after something more traditional is that there are no menus to scroll through or screens to look at. It’s the upside of digital modeling with the plug-and-go sensibilities of old school tube amps.

For the most part, it’s plug your guitar in, tweak the EQ, gain, and volume to your liking, and go. A breath of fresh air in the context of digital floor boards that are getting increasingly complicated.

But that’s not to say there aren’t a few awkward quirks.

The biggest issue being the chicken head knobs positioned on top of the dual concentric controls for EQ, Gain, and Volume on the first two channels (the Green and Blue channels). The Green channel is tweaked by the lower control, and the Blue channel by the chicken head control on top (the Red channel gets its own dedicated knobs).

The top and bottom of the chicken head knobs are bigger than the control below it, and therefore, get in the way when trying to turn the lower control.

This is more than a little annoying. These controls can be done effectively, as demonstrated by Boss in pedals such as the JHS Angry Driver. So on the EVH, I find this to be a good idea that falls short in its execution.

Switching channels with the footswitch is easy, with the channel you are on properly indicated by the LED alongside the switches. Without the footswitch, the LED that indicates what channel you are on is built into the mini rotary knob that is each channel's noise gate control.

I found this confusing, initially believing, as most would, that an LED lighting up a noise gate control would indicate the noise gate being on. Nope, the noise gate is always active (turn the dial to zero to effectively have it off) and the LED indicates which channel is currently being used.

Getting back to the positive, the noise gates themselves are straightforward to utilize and a godsend on an amp with this much gain on tap. EVH has elected to avoid in-depth parameters like attack and release, and has just included one mini knob to control how severe the gate effect is.

Assuming the more in-depth parameters have been set well (we’ll cover this later - spoiler alert - they have), the result is we only need to turn the relevant gate up until the hiss goes away. Easy. And I particularly appreciate having three of them that are independent for each channel.

Having three channels with independent EQ and volume controls makes the amp a versatile beast when it comes to live use, by providing clean, rhythm, and lead sounds without the need for pedals.

Having said that, I’m sure that most of us would prefer to have a pedalboard with perhaps a nice phaser and delay to spice things up a bit, and for this, you will find an effects loop around the back, should you prefer to run things that way.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Making some noise, when it’s run squeaky clean, the Green channel is a little lacking in those harmonic overtones that make a clean tone feel lively.

However, turn the Gain control up until it growls a bit, and there is a healthy, but not unpleasant, amount of high-end that is complemented by a tight low end, making for a very rewarding pushed clean tone.

Testing with both my Gibson SG and Music Man Silhouette Special, things get a little bit muddy in the low mids when that gain is pushed beyond halfway, so be careful here.

For tone shaping, the channels three band EQ sports powerful High and Mid controls, but is more subtle on the Low control. And then we have the master Resonance and Presence controls, which are both quite conservative in their effect, but help control the low-end thump and airy high end of the amp's character, without giving you enough to ruin a tone with.

Let’s face it - most of us will be looking at this amp for its driven sounds. And it does not disappoint. The Blue channel immediately adds a ton more gain, with the control ranging from a heavier crunch to all-out distortion in the first half of its travel, and then adding more than you would ever need as you push it further.

What makes it so much fun to play is that it stays tight throughout. No flubby low end here, so use that neck pickup to your heart's content. On a bridge humbucker, it’s perfect for the chuggy, high-gain, eighties rock thing, with palm mutes benefiting from that tightness.

The Red channel is similar to the Green but gets into distortion territory even earlier and has a slightly more pronounced mid-range, whilst staying super tight in the low end. In short, the perfect high-gain lead.

We also have a little space, courtesy of some digital reverb. Again, this is kept simple with just one control to adjust the amount, and is voiced with a controlled low end that keeps things mud-free even at higher settings. Being picky, I’d say it feels a little bit separate from the dry signal at lower settings, but not problematically so.

As previously mentioned, the XLR out on the back comes with two stock IRs. These are based on the EVH 5150 III cab and speaker, one with an off-axis SM57 and the second an on-axis SM7B.

Testing both, they are impressive IRs. I find myself preferring the on-axis SM7B as it is just a little rounder and has less of that digital fizz. In both cases, utilising the high cut built into the IR Loader app is a good option for mitigating that.

When compared to the real cabinet, there is a little less beefy mid-range in both, which is the sort of thing I would expect when hearing a cabinet through a microphone rather than standing in front of the real thing.

The IR loader app allows for the user to load in their own IR’s, too, so if these don’t do it for you, you are covered. Personally, with a little bit of that high cut, I would happily use the built-in IRs as a direct-to-desk solution.

Verdict

The provenance of the 5150 moniker means that there is a certain expectation on gear that bears that title, as we immediately think Van Halen and great high-gain tones. Thankfully, that is exactly what the EVH Hypersonic 5150 III 6L6 provides.

While I’m not a massive fan of the Green (clean) channel, the super tight, high-gain sounds of the Blue and Red channels are what we are all really here for.

Having three channels, each with its own individual noise gate and EQ, plus the benefits of a direct-to-desk XLR output equipped with decent pre-loaded IRs, makes the amp all any high-gain shredder will need to get through any gig. And that is in both high-volume and silent stage contexts.

The real win here is in taking cabinet emulation out of the digital equation and running a modeling amp into a real guitar cabinet and speaker. A lot of that amp in the room thing comes from the experience of being in front of a real cab, so it makes sense that this would result in a digital combo that feels real.

In short, when playing through the cab, I forgot it was digital.

The uncomfortable truth is that tubes are not going to be around forever. But if this is the future of guitar amplification, I’m okay with it.

Guitar World verdict: The EVH 5150 III Hypersonic 6L6 blends the benefits of a modeling amp with the feel of a real speaker cabinet. It plays like a real amp in a room, but with some of the upsides of digital technology, such as an IR-loaded XLR out and lower power modes. In short, despite a few usability-related shortcomings, it’s an ideal gigging solution for any high-gain player.

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Dagan Wilkin

EVH

John Nathan Cordy

What is it?

What once seemed like a radical new thing, now 11 years on Revstar – Yamaha’s first new guitar line-up in more than a decade – has stayed the course. No mean feat in today’s fickle guitar market.

Okay, the range was completely overhauled four years ago, but the original Café Racer inspiration was retained, and while plenty of us enjoyed the earlier models, it seems that the Mk IIs are, well, just a bit more grown up.

These new guitar designs brought in fresh technology in terms of a passive transformer-based Focus Switch midrange boost, and a slightly larger body created with Yamaha’s Acoustic Design process, which results in a mildly chambered structure designed to attenuate and/or amplify specific frequencies.

Graphite strengthening plays its part in the chambered bodies (Japanese models only), while dual graphite rods are slipped into the neck of both Japanese and Indonesian levels with the exception of the start-up Element models.

Then there are the processes we seem to have been writing about for some years. The Japanese guitars, once assembled, go through Yamaha’s IRA (Initial Response Acceleration) procedure, which Yamaha says is “a process in which the instrument matures and opens up as the stresses between the wood and finish, neck and fingerboard, and body and hardware are released, resulting in better sound and playability”. This, in our experience, ekes out a few extra per cent in terms of sound and performance.

But close on the heels of the new generation Revstars we saw the return of the good ol’ Pacifica, which hadn’t really gone away but was lacking a little up-to-the-minute design. The resulting Pacificas from 2024 and their SC (T-style) models, which were launched at the start of the year (and featured in our last issue) are certainly making waves for their intelligent, modern and very player-centric design.

But what’s next? Well, also at this year’s NAMM Show, apart from delivering that killer Pacifica SC punch, Yamaha took the wraps off the stylish Yamaha 60th Anniversary Revstar, the RSP20B 60th and the Chris Buck RS02CB. Two new Revstars with rather different aims and prices. Let’s take a look.

Specs

Yamaha 60th Anniversary RSP20B

• PRICE: $3,699 | £2,403 | €2,299 (inc case)
• ORIGIN: Japan
• TYPE: Double-cutaway, solidbody electric
• BODY: Chambered 2-piece mahogany with thin flamed-maple cap and graphite reinforcement
• NECK: 3-piece mahogany with carbon graphite reinforcement, glued-in
• SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Bone/42.5mm
• FINGERBOARD: Single-bound rosewood with pearloid bar inlays, 304mm (12”) radius
• FRETS: 22, jumbo stainless-steel
• HARDWARE: Tune-o-matic-style bridge with Göldo G5 vibrato tailpiece, Gotoh SG301 MG-T tuners – gold-plated
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52mm
• ELECTRICS: Yamaha VH5B (bridge) and VH5N (neck) Alnico V loaded humbuckers, 5-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume, master tone
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.86/8.49
• OPTIONS: None
• RANGE OPTIONS: The other MIJ Professional models (all at £1,599) are the twin-humbucking RSP20 and the RSP20X in Rusty Brass Charcoal, and the RSP02T
• LEFT-HANDERS: Not this model
• FINISHES: Noble Black Burst (as reviewed) – gloss polyurethane body with satin polyurethane neck back

Yamaha RS02CB Chris Buck

• PRICE: $1,299 | £1,254 | €1,199 (inc gigbag)
• ORIGIN: Indonesia
• TYPE: Double-cutaway, solidbody electric
• BODY: Chambered, thin maple cap
• NECK: 3-piece mahogany with carbon graphite reinforcement, glued-in
• SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”)
• NUT/WIDTH: PPS/42.3mm
• FINGERBOARD: Single-bound rosewood with pearloid bar inlays, 304mm (12”) radius
• FRETS: 22, jumbo stainless-steel
• HARDWARE: TonePros AVT2 wraparound bridge, die-cast tuners – nickel-plated
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52mm
• ELECTRICS: Yamaha VP5b (bridge) and VP5n (neck) Alnico III loaded soapbar single coils, 3-position lever pickup selector switch, master volume, master tone
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.52/7.74
• OPTIONS: None
• RANGE OPTIONS: The Revstar range kicks off with the Element models (£439). The Standards (£659) come with dual humbuckers or soapbar single coils, graphite neck reinforcement and wide colour choice
• LEFT-HANDERS: Element RSE20L (£439) and Standard RSS20L (£659) with humbuckers
• FINISHES: Honey Gold (as reviewed) – gloss polyurethane body with satin polyurethane neck back
• CONTACT: Yamaha

Build quality, usability and sounds

If you need proof that Yamaha makes exceedingly good guitars, then take this 60th for a spin. There’s an angular elegance to the Revstar design, not least in this tuxedo celebration style. The Nobel Black finish is solid gloss all over the body with the exception of the bass side where it fades to a light grey and – rare on a Revstar – you can see the thin and only lightly figured maple top.

The cleanly single-bound top edge of the body really defines the outline; there is a light forearm chamfer to the otherwise flat top, and on the back, where the edge radius is larger, we also get a sizeable chamfer reducing the bulk of the 42mm-thick body.

What we can’t see is the complex chambering to the mahogany back under that maple top, or the dual graphite rods. And while any chambering will reduce weight, that’s not Yamaha’s primary aim: it’s all about tuning the frequency response and that includes the dual carbon graphite rods in the maple neck.

“Both the carbon rods in the neck and body help eliminate unwanted boomy bass frequencies,” said Yamaha’s manager of Guitar Development, Takashi Yamashiro, when we evaluated the redesign in 2022. “Even with the chambering, we’d like the body to vibrate not as a typical semi-hollowbody but more likely as a solidbody.

“With the carbon rods around the bridge, it stabilises the body vibration, eliminates unwanted bass and elevates the midrange. The neck rods increase the stability for sure, but with the well-calculated design of the neck and body, the guitar could get a well-coupled vibration between them.”

There’s no chance of seeing the three-piece mahogany of the neck, either, as it’s black-painted, a contrasting satin to the body’s gloss. There’s a light point to the body heel and a slight volute behind the nut on the classy back-angled three-a-side headstock.

Like the body and headstock, the rosewood fingerboard is single cream bound, with split bar inlays – and, to be honest, our only concern is the chunky stainless-steel frets. Why? The ends have been left fairly angular, as if there’s still another process to go to round them.

There are no complaints about the hardware here, though. Gotoh’s rear-lock tuners have a very positive feel and look pretty classy, too, while the Göldo G5 vibrato is a typically improved Bigsby-style piece, with easier stringing, a super-smooth feel and the 360-degree rotatable arm that can be set exactly how you want. The tune-o-matic bridge lightly rocks as the vibrato is moved and once the new strings settled tuning stability is solid, they feel liquid. Superb.

At pretty much bang-on half the cost of the 60th model, the long-awaited Chris Buck drops the celebratory style and gets right to the point. It’s based on the Indonesian-made Standard RSS02T with quite a few changes.

The maple-topped, chambered mahogany body (without graphite rods) and the three-piece mahogany neck with its carbon reinforcement are retained, but the first change is the tune-o-matic bridge and vibe-y ‘racing tailpiece’ are ditched in favour of a Tone Pros AVT2 wraparound.

The VP5 soapbars get a magnet swap from Alnico V to III, while the chromed metal knobs are switched to old-school amber top hats. There’s no truck with Yamaha’s high-pass Dry Switch or Focus Switch passive boost extras, and the pickups are simply selected on a three-way lever. Oh, and aside from the split-bar inlays that actually look like a pearl, rather than the duller pearloid of the standard models, that’s it.

Now let’s get the difficult bit over, shall we? These changes basically double the price of the Chris Buck model over the standard Standard RSS02T.

Revstar has quite a specific feel, not least these Mk II versions with their slightly wider, flat-front bodies almost summoning a less chamfered Gibson SG or a lightly offset version of Yamaha’s own SG classic. The scale length and playing feel are more Gibson-like, of course, and with pretty trim weights, good strapped-on or seated balance, these are easy guitars to get accustomed to.

From the instruments we’ve tested, the neck shapes have been pretty consistent, and these two are a little different. There’s a slightly more Fender nut width of 42.4mm here with a depth that averages 21mm at the 1st fret, 23.5mm by the 12th. The profile is quite distinct, though – a slightly flat-backed shape with noticeable shoulder – and both these 2026 guitars feel identical to our earlier 2022 Standard reference.

We mentioned the slightly sharp-feeling fret ends, and our earlier model is noticeable in that its fret ends are really nicely domed by comparison. They feel great, though, with good height and are really bend-friendly.

There is some difference playing these unplugged. While both have a strikingly similar evenness and smoothness to their character, the 60th does sound a little fuller. But both are working in a similarly lively manner: vibrant and quite alive.

The 60th isn’t shooting for anything particularly contemporary when it comes to the sounds we hear plugged in. In fact, the only lightly potted humbuckers seem to nod back to the late ’50s and give the guitar a pretty classic voice. No complaints there, certainly in positions 1, 3 and 5 on the five-way lever (bridge, both and neck).

Overall, the 60th is a little fuller and thicker than our RSS20, for example, which is spec’d with the same VH5 humbuckers (with similar DCRs), but the Professional Japanese level of the 60th clearly sounds, well, bigger.

Still, there’s plenty more here: those position 2 and 4 sounds certainly capture some of the classic ‘in-between’ single-coil sounds, useful played clean and funky or to add another gained texture for lead lines.

Meanwhile, the pull-switch Focus Switch adds thickness and level boost, which isn’t overdone in terms of level. The vibrato obviously adds to what we hear and create, not least with a big clean sound that the 60th actually excels at. Add big ’verbs to taste.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

While our second Revstar did need some attention in the setup and intonation, sounds-wise the Chris Buck is rather special. Neither soapbar is overwound – in fact, our pair has the same amount of wire. And this is less the aggressive midrange of a hotter Gibson Junior or Special; it’s a little more refined, more jangly, more traditional single coil.

But that’s not to say it doesn’t have some poke and nose. A little level boost and pull the tone back slightly and you’re there. The neck sounds quite Patent Applied For-like, that lovely fatter single-coil voice, and the mix position is standout with beautiful sparkle, hollowed depth and all the bounce you’ll need.

Guitar World verdict: It’s not just the pickups, of course, these Revstars are good-sounding guitars – there’s that smoothness that underpins the sounds we hear, plus the pickups, again, aren’t over-potted and have some attractive and lively ‘clonk’ to them as you wind up the wick. Shame about the supplied setup, but with that sorted, this is a very valid, almost stripped-down Revstar with a classic-aimed voice.

Hands-on videos

Chris Buck

Trogly's Guitar Show

Guitar Guitar

Robbie Calvo

• “One of the best electrics out there, at any price”: Yamaha Pacifica SC Professional and Standard Plus review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

What is it?

Almost across the board, Fender’s Artist Signature series Telecasters are unique creations that are truly deserving of their “signature” honorific. Take the psychedelic Jimmy Page Tele, the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Brent Mason Tele or – to really drive home the point – the super-unconventional, “Huh?!?”-inducing Jack White Triplecaster.

These are definitely not your father’s – or your uncle’s, niece’s or cousin’s – Telecasters. I mean, unless you have Thanksgiving dinner at Jack White’s house.

Anyway, it’s safe to say that, with its new John Osborne Telecaster, Fender has stayed true to form; there is no mistaking this guitar – a faithful reproduction of Brothers Osborne fretboard acrobat John Osborne’s heavily modified 1968 Tele – for someone else’s signature model or, for that matter, any other Tele.

Besides the unique visual appointments, which we’ll get to soon enough, this sick puppy comes with a B-bender.

For those who need a refresher, a B-bender is a contraption that – with a downward push on the guitar’s neck – literally pulls your guitar's B string up a perfect whole step. So, a B note suddenly becomes a C# (or a shaky C if you don't pull the string all the way).

Some people say it makes a guitar sound like a pedal steel guitar, but that’s a bit much. It makes your guitar sound like a guitar with a B-bender, and that’s a truly magical thing to have in your arsenal. Anyone who’s ever bent their way from a 3rd-position Csus2 chord on the top three strings – voiced C, D, G – to a perfectly in-tune C major triad (C, E, G) knows what I’m talking about.

No, this is not the first B-bender to appear on a mass-produced Fender Tele; there’s the previously mentioned Brent Mason Tele with its Glaser bender, and let’s not forget Fender’s beloved – and now extinct – American Nashville B-Bender Tele, which sported the ingenious Parsons/Green bender system.

It is, however, the first Fender B-bender to be designed in-house; it has lovingly been named the “Fender B String Bender.”

I’ve been playing B-benders since 1999, so I was eager to get my mitts on this guitar. Let’s see how it goes!

Specs

• Launch price: $2,199 | £1,849 | €2,199
• Made: Mexico
• Body: Alder
• Neck: Maple / 1968 C, bolt-on
• Fingerboard material/radius: Maple, 7.25" (184.1 mm)
• Scale length: 25.5" (648 mm)
• Nut/width: Synthetic Bone / 42 mm
• Frets: 21, Jumbo
• Hardware: Fender Vintage tuners, Ashtray through-body bridge with 3x compensated brass barrel saddles with Fender B String Bender
• Electrics: 2x John Osborne Telecaster pickups, Master Volume, Master Tone, 3-position toggle
• Weight: 7.9 lb. / 3.6 kg.
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Road Worn Olympic White
• Case: Vintage-style hardshell
• Contact: Fender

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

As soon as I open the Osborne’s black hardshell case, my eyeballs don’t know where to go first. But – who am I kidding? – it’s got to be the custom black pickguard that covers most of the body, making the guitar look like an obscure Cold War-era comic book hero who’s about to get his or her own Marvel franchise.

It’s held on tight with 13 screws; the only part that isn’t snug to the body is the thin, descending piece near the control panel, a place where it’d be impossible to fit a 14th screw. It doesn’t get in the way, but I could see it getting knocked off during a particularly nasty roadhouse-gig rumble. Hey, it happens!

The neck pickup’s exposed magnets – which give it a look similar to creations by Lollar, Fralin, Porter or TV Jones – lend the guitar a custom, aftermarket-enhanced look. Meanwhile, the dark, hand-oiled maple neck is kinda stunning. It’s like a stained – and now perfectly faded – piece of ancient living-room furniture that gets passed down from generation to generation.

The three-way toggle, which is more like what you’d find on a Jazzmaster or Les Paul, is nice and tight and devoid of wobbles and shakes; the same goes for the volume and tone knobs, which is a good sign. Speaking of knobs, Fender has turned an unassuming volume/tone knob into an important part of the bender mechanism.

It sits to the right of the bridge (from the POV of the guitarist), and – when you engage the bender with your fretting hand – you can watch as the repurposed knob swivels to the right, literally pulling the B string toward the bridge.

When you flip the guitar over, you can see the guts of the bender, thanks to a recessed, clear-plastic cover. It’s like when you visited that chocolate factory on your fourth-grade class trip, and they suddenly took you into the kitchen to see how the chocolate is made.

The bender looks, well, like a bender – similar to, yet completely different from the Gene Parsons-installed Parsons/White bender in my Palir Titan T-style. Hey, an Egyptian mongoose and a common dwarf mongoose look different from each other, but they both look like mongooses.

The body has your typical Road Worn finish with plenty of tiny craters here and there and a nice chunk of exposed wood right where your picking arm meets the body. To be honest, I’ve been playing this guitar so often that – at this point – I can’t tell which craters and scratches are mine and which were applied in Ensenada, Mexico, but I’m not too worried about it.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

The John Osborne Tele’s 1968 C-shape neck feels particularly comfy. Fender could probably get away with calling it a “1968 U,” although it actually reminds me of the Soft V neck on my Jimmie Vaughan Tex-Mex Strat. Regardless of which uppercase letter you want to stick with, this neck melts into your hands. Its light, hand-oiled finish makes it easy to feel “at one with” the guitar.