“The finest tones ever finally break free“ says IK Multimedia in major product launch teaser

IK Multimedia has teed up its big Summer NAMM 2021 announcement in typically tantalizing fashion, with a 26-second teaser video, some lush and cinematic electric guitar tones, and a big old 'X' graphic and the cryptic promise that “the finest tones ever finally break free“.

This is vintage IK Multimedia, whose marketing team is wasted in the music industry and would surely find better remuneration at a Hollywood studio. But this trailer leaves us with even less to go on than the infamously opaque AmpliTube 5 release campaign

The rumor mill, however, needs little information to run at full pelt and right now it is going 10 to the dozen with speculation mounting that we are looking at a new modeling amp or perhaps a guitar amp incorporating some of the finest digitally created guitar tones on the market. After all, that is what we expect from IK Multimedia.

But then, who can even say whether it is an X or a 10 in the video? Still, the idea of tones finally breaking free makes us think there's some substance to those rumors. A guitar amplifier or floor-based modeling unit equipped with AmpliTube processing power would be a force to reckon with, and another sign that the modeling market is making inroads in transforming guitar by marrying digital convenience with quality. 

Wait, breaking free? Gah! No, we've already got the AmpliTube Brian May software bundle. If the suspense is killing you, perhaps an aspirin and a nap will help. Or indeed the knowledge that all will be revealed on July 15, and we'll bring you all the details. 

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Jonathan Horsley

Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to publications including Guitar World, MusicRadar and Total Guitar. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.