Hello, and welcome to Guitar World’s gear round-up, your one-stop-shop for keeping up to date with what’s been happening in the big wide world of guitar gear over the past seven days.
From new electric guitars to amp modeler updates, the guitar industry is never short of fresh releases, and it can sometimes be hard to stay abreast of every new launch that may be of interest to you.
To make things a little easier, we’ve put together an essential must-read guide that will cover the major releases, the boutique drops, and everything in between.
Gibson Mark Morton Les Paul
It’s been a long time coming – almost two years, to be exact – but Mark Morton’s Gibson signature is finally here, and what a beaut it is. Okay, this technically came out last week, but it needed to be included here. The Lamb of God riff lord’s Modern Les Paul is a fine piece of work indeed, with a stunning quilted maple top and new Gibson signature humbuckers.
Its final form doesn’t come as much of a surprise – it was teased back in 2024 – but it’s nice to see it finally get a formal release. It’s a limited-edition version, though, so hopefully there’s scope for some more signatures further down the line...
For more: Gibson
Gibson Flat-Tops
While on the topic of Gibson, we should mention the new acoustic drop that came out this week, which saw the firm begin celebrations of 100 years of the Flat-Top with a collection of vintage-inspired workhorse acoustics that span the LG-2 and SJ-200 to J-160E.
Gibson made a big deal about this at NAMM a few weeks ago, and we got hands-on with a few of them, and they all look like quality additions to the company’s acoustic collection. My favorite has to be the LG-2 50s Original – a smart sunburst parlor-sized acoustic that sounds and looks like a dream.
For more: Gibson
Epiphone WoWkie Da J-180
Aaaaand while on the topic of Gibson acoustics, let’s show some love to the Epiphone WoWkie Da J-180, which arrives as the company’s first signature team-up with the Chinese pop superstar.
It’s a well-deserved signature collaboration for the prolific songwriter, who is known in the Mandopop and pop-punk scenes for his work with The Flowers and as a solo artist. His namesake J-180 takes cues from the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom J-180, meaning it has a sleek black finish and star inlays. More personal touches include the bridge motifs, and the body artwork, which depicts the WoWkie Da logo.
For more: Epiphone
Kiesel Mark 66
Here’s a phrase I didn’t think I’d hear myself say anytime soon: “I really, really want a Kiesel.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I think Kiesels are fantastic guitars, but I – like many others out there, rightly or wrongly – view them more as a prog brand rooted in metal and heavier music. That’s probably an unfair generalization, but it is what it is.
However, I’ve fallen head over heels for the Mark 66 – an all-new, vintage-inspired build that takes cues from Mark Kiesel’s original Carvin guitar from 1966. With its stunning double-cut offset body, elegant traditional colorways and P-90s pickups, it appeals to a whole new pool of players and finds the firm branch away from the prog crowd that many have shoehorned them into.
An excellent move indeed, and what a way to start a new line of guitars. Bravo, Kiesel. I cannot wait to see what other new designs it has up its sleeve for 2026.
For more: Kiesel
Manson Black Edition
If Muse frontman Matt Bellamy could only play one guitar for the rest of his life, he says it would be his Manson Black Edition – the guitar from the Time Is Running Out music video, which has been a mainstay in the studio and on stage since its debut in 2001.
To honor the impact it’s had on modern rock music, Manson has reissued it in three variants. The first is a painstakingly accurate recreation of the OG model, complete with all its war wounds and electronic eccentricities. The second and third are ‘New Era’ models – available in either relic or non-relic – that put a modern spin on the classic Muse guitar.
Manson says the Black Edition is the pinnacle of its 46 years of building guitars. It also says it isn’t just an instrument, but a tool with which to push the boundaries of what’s possible with a guitar. These three guitars pay tribute to that in quite spectacular fashion.
For more: Manson
Eastman Kauffmann
In September last year, I traveled the Mannheim, Germany, to attend Guitar Summit, and I came away with one overwhelming thought: the Eastman Kauffmann Offset might be my dream guitar. Now, almost five months later – and after another run-in with them at NAMM 2026 – the Kauffmann series has finally been launched.
The elevator pitch is as follows: the single-cut, double-cut and offset Kauffmanns take the innovative Fullertone neck joint of the irresistible D’Ambrosio series, as well as all the gorgeous body shapes, and repurposes them into a hand-relic’d package meticulously crafted by Albert Kauffmann himself.
They are the Eastman Murphy Labs, for want of a better phrase, and they look absolutely stunning. The Dutch-made range is a dream come true for Eastman’s Pepijn ‘t Hart and, quite frankly, it’s a dream come true for me, too. So pleased they’re finally out in the wild.
For more: Eastman
Eastwood ETB1000
Ever since I stumbled across Foals playing a secret set at Reading Festival more than 10 years ago, I've had a soft spot for Travis Bean guitars. Yannis Philippakis used his with such fierce intensity that I was immediately hooked. It doesn't hurt that heroes such as Jerry Garcia and Slash have also been known to play the Travis Bean 1000, too.
Vintage examples are few and far between – not to mention rather expensive on the second-hand market – so in order to give us mere mortals a chance of experiencing that Travis Bean charm, Eastwood has launched the ETB1000 – which is a dead-ringer for the original.
It doesn't have a metal neck like the source material, but it does have the 'T' hole in the headstock. A very attractive guitar indeed.
For more: Eastwood
Martin Grand Ole Opry HD-28
The Grand Ole Opry is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and to mark the occasion the legendary music venue in Nashville has partnered with Martin for a limited-edition HD-28 that celebrates the milestone in style.
As one of the music world’s most iconic music halls, the Grand Ole Opry deserved to be honored appropriately. This custom HD-28 does just that, with a sleek ‘Opry 100’ fingerboard inlay and a truly stunning headstock decal that depicts the Opry’s premier symbol of a WSM microphone.
Only 650 will be made, and they’re available for $4,299 through the Grand Ole Opry website.
For more: Grand Ole Opry
Taylor Paisley Park Prince 612ce
In 2004, Prince famously used a custom Taylor 612CE acoustic – complete with a flash purple finish and some suitable stylistic flourishes – on his Musicology Tour. It also featured on Prince’s MTV Unplugged concert.
That guitar was later released as a signature model, but it’s been out of production since 2011. Now, 15 years later, the guitar is officially back – but it will only be available in limited quantities directly from Paisley Park, Prince’s home and recording studio. It represents the original, with a Love Symbol inlaid on the front and back of the headstock. Very smart.
For more: Paisley Park
FM Guitars Orquidea
FM Guitars – the brand behind some of the most expansive double-fretboard bass guitars of the modern age – is back with a new design, the Orquidea. A headless single-cut that differentiates itself from FM Guitars’ previous Esphera model, it’s been described as a lightweight, ergonomic build suitable for “any style of music and playing”.
Of course, a guitar of this style is probably going to lend itself more to progressive playing styles, but there’s plenty here that would appeal to a wider pool of players. For instance, the body has been designed with bevels and curves to “fit perfectly with the human body”, while a ‘Guitar Handle’ is present for convenience. It’s available in guitar and bass iterations, with a number of string configurations – and wild colorways – on tap.
For more: FM Guitars
Harley Benton Multi-Scale LH
Lefties, this one is for you. A multi-scale eight-string is rather niche build, but a multi-scale eight-string built for left-handed players? Let's just say that those currently looking in that corner of the market aren't going to be spoiled for choice – and the options out there are most likely going to be on the upper end of the price spectrum.
Well, the Harley Benton R-458MN is multi-scale, has eight-strings, offers a left-handed configuration, and weighs in at less than $300. There is so much guitar here for $285, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better-value guitar with this sort of setup anywhere else.
For more: Harley Benton
Gibson Aged Greenybuckers
In 2023, Gibson made the Greenybucker pickups found in the uber-exclusive Greeny Les Paul signature guitar available as a standalone set. They, of course, came all shiny and new – and while they might have sounded like the original Greeny pickups, they sure as heck didn’t look like them. They were too new, too shiny.
Well, if you want to give your Les Paul both the Greeny sound and style, you might be interested in these new Murphy Lab aged Greenybuckers from the Gibson pickup shop. Only 100 sets are available, each at $449.
For more: Gibson
Behringer Ring Stinger
Behringer is back with yet another ‘cheap copy of an elusive pedal’ with the Ring Stinger, an affordable revamp of the cult classic Lovetone Ring Stinger modulator and octave fuzz pedal.
This ain’t Behringer’s first rodeo cloning a Lovetone pedal – it recently copied the Meatball envelope filter – but it might be the one guitar fans will be most interested in. The original Lovetone was a favorite among shoegaze and experimental rockers, with Kevin Shields, Ed O’Brien and J. Mascis but three of its famous fans.
The Behringer reboot brings the charm of the original relatively untouched, with all the retro-inspired controls and pink chassis of the Lovetone pedal intact. It promises the musical mayhem that was used in Radiohead and My Bloody Valentine for a fraction of the original’s price – less than $100, to be precise.
For more: Behringer
Xotic EP-Pro
Do you have both a boost pedal and a volume pedal on your pedalboard? Well, thanks to Xotic, you can kill two birds with one stone with the EP-Pro – a nifty gadget that combines (yep, you guessed it) both a boost and a volume pedal.
But not just any boost pedal, though. The EP-Pro comes loaded with Xotic’s beloved EP Booster circuit – the same effect that has been raved about by players the world over – which has been positioned on the end of a volume pedal. It looks like a highly useful utility pedal that will certainly free up some rig real estate and aid your tone in the process. Plus, that toe-kicker switch looks wicked. More of those, please.
For more: Xotic
D’Addario cleaning glove
In today’s installment of ‘I probably don’t need it, but I really want it’ is the D’Addario Micro-Fibre Polish Mitt – a glove that apparently offers a “faster, easier way to clean your gear”. The concept is cool, and although it might look quite novel, it admittedly has quite a few handy use cases. Can’t quite get in between the areas in your tuning pegs to wipe away the dust? Struggling to de-dust all the nooks and crannies under your strings? This will help make the job a whole lot easier.
For more: D'Addario
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