Hello, and welcome to Guitar World’s sparkly new 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.
It's not been a vintage week by any means, but 'quality not quantity' is the overriding theme here – there haven't been too many releases, but the ones we did see were pretty big deals, starting in no particular order with...
Gibson and Epiphone “1955” Back to the Future ES-345
Over the past few months, Gibson has been defined by two particular stories. The first is Noel Gallagher’s mystery Oasis reunion Les Paul, now reissued as a fully fledged signature guitar. The second is the Back to the Future ES-345, which has also now been replicated in the form of Custom and Epiphone models.
Earlier this year, Gibson announced a global hunt to track down the long-lost ES-345 that Michael J. Fox’s character used to play Johnny B Goode in the film’s iconic Enchantment Under the Sea dance scene. The hunt has, so far, been a bust – even if Gibson has hired the help of the investigators who helped locate Paul McCartney’s lost Hofner violin bass.
But fear not, because even if Gibson could find it, we wouldn’t be able to get our hands on it. To appease the Back to the Future fans, Gibson and Epiphone have both dropped their own replicas – the former a painstaking Murphy Lab recreation, the latter a more affordable (though by no means cheap) spin-off.
Regardless, both bear nearly all the hallmarks of the OG, with that defining block 12th fret inlay, Bigsby B7 tremolo, and gold hardware. There are also some neat special occasion plaques on the back of the headstocks, and the remnants of the previously removed Stop Bar tailpiece as per the original.
Will Gibson ever find the original Back to the Future guitar? Who knows. But these aren’t bad to have either.
Fender x Hello Kitty Stratocasters
The Fender Hello Kitty collab has been having a bit of a moment over the past few years, and for good reason. Last year, in celebration of the cute cartoon, anthropomorphic feline’s 50th birthday – Hello Kitty is how old?! – Fender dropped a limited edition pink Squier Strat, appropriately stylized with some matching Hello Kitty accoutrements.
Now, it’s no secret that demand for these particular internet-breaking guitars never seems to go away – prices of the original, first launched in 2006, soared to $1,000 after it went viral – so we’re not surprised to see Fender bring it back once more, but this time there’s a twist.
Unfortunately, the pink Strat is history – but Fender has debuted white and black-finished options, which are perhaps a tad more universal. That black one in particular looks very smart indeed. Someone should play some metal on that thing.
The Strats have been joined by some Hello Kitty side servings, including a new-look version of the feline-themed fuzz, a guitar cable, and some apparel. These are all limited edition, so probably wise to check them out relatively quickly if you want in. We can’t imagine Fender will be reissuing these indefinitely…
Loog x Hello Kitty
You wait nearly 20 years for the Hello Kitty Strat to return, then all of a sudden it starts raining Hello Kitty gear. We truly cannot keep up. Of course, the Hello Kitty Strats have plenty of appeal for more seasoned players, but really, if we’re being honest, it is younger players – those unaware of the meme material associated with the guitar – who might particularly enjoy them.
With that in mind, Loog has partnered with Fender to drop not one, but two three-string Hello Kitty guitars – one electric, one acoustic – designed specifically for young beginners. It looks absolutely adorable, perfect for kids – and when one considers Loog’s illustrious expertise in designing instruments for kids, it might just be the ideal first guitar.
Like the larger Fender, there are a load of add-ons, including a tuning peg winder, chord flashcards, picks, stickers, and much more. We wonder if these will be going for $1,000 in a few years…
Orange King Comp
Every now and then a pedal comes across our desk that we want to buy on looks alone. It helps that the Orange King Comp – a monstrous VCA compressor with the feel of an amp – also sounds killer, too.
Compressors are, as many players know, pedalboard essentials, and can help hop the fine line from ‘good tone’ to ‘great tone’. The King Comp – which has some appropriate ape artwork – looks like it will help you make that jump with aplomb, with a no-nonsense compressor setup headed up by Volume, Compression, Release, and Attack parameters.
That’s a decent number of controls to really dial in the compression to your taste, and what’s more, the pedal itself looks borderline bomb proof. We’re not quite sure why it needs the rail bar on there, but we’re all for it.
Nobels MOD-Mini
Nobels – creator of the tried and trusted ODR-1 overdrive, whose pedals have been beloved by the likes of Bryan Adams and Gary Moore over the years – has been making a bit of a push towards the mini pedal market in recent times, and now that momentum has been carried over with the MOD-Mini.
Inside it teeny tiny chassis, the delightfully orange stompbox squeezes in three core modulation effects – tremolo, phaser, and a Uni-Vibe effect – which are at the mercy of Mix, Rate, and Width controls, as well as a sole footswitch that doubles as a bypass and a tap tempo.
Ultimately, it’s an all killer, no filler modulation pedal that looks like an easy way to get three core tones on your pedalboard without having to fork out for a more expensive unit. At around the $99 mark, it’s a very tempting one indeed…
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