tube amps

Latest about tube amps

EVH 5150III 100S head

From Eddie Van Halen’s “uncanny genius” to his brutal crash-testing, inside the making of the EVH 5150 III

By Andrew Daly published

Wolfgang Van Halen and EVH Gear's Matt Bruck on the difficult birth of a modern tube amp legend, and arguably the best metal amp you can buy right now

Guitar Amps
Neural DSP Quad Cortex

Modelers out-sold traditional amps and combos in 2025 – but the war between the two might not be over just yet

By Matt Owen published

Reverb's end-of-year sales stats make for interesting reading with regard to the current state of the amp modeler vs. tube amp debate

Guitar Amps
Bad Cat Mod Shop Black Cat Combo: the new boutique tube amp is photographed in closeup

“A tighter, louder and gutsier tone from an already stellar-sounding amp”: Bad Cat Mod Shop Black Cat 30 review

By Martin Smith published

Remixed and refreshed by the late, great amp-guru Mark Sampson, this Black Cat has two more tubes, 10 more watts and a whole new voice

Combo Amps
Actor and musician Jason wears his trademark hat and plays the bass, on the right, his holy grail Dumble Overdrive Special, once owned by the Beach Boys, photographed on a beach in Hawaii.

A long-lost Beach Boys Dumble that has spent the past 35 years in Hawaii has surfaced – and Jason Momoa is using it on his new album

By Jonathan Horsley published

This early 1980s holy grail took a decade to hunt down – and there's another one out there in the wild

Guitarists
Universal Audio Paradise Guitar Studio

Universal Audio’s amp-emulating pedals have been a huge success – now they’ve arrived in plugin form via the all-inclusive Paradise Guitar Studio

By Phil Weller published

Offering six amps, cab sims, and studio-quality pre- and post-effects, it aims to be a one-stop shop for vintage tone enthusiasts embracing the modern age

Plugins & Apps
The Blues Junior is one of if not the best selling Fender tube amps of all-time and celebrates its 30th anniversary

Celebrating 30 years of the Blues Junior – the Fender combo that came, saw and conquered the tube amp market

By Charlie Wilkins published

Compact, affordable and full of Fender DNA, the Blues Junior celebrates three decades as one of the company’s most iconic and celebrated tube amp designs. This is its story

Combo Amps
Fender Blues Junior IV 30th Anniversary: the classic combo is refinished with a touch of cowboy western flair, and is here photographed against some weathered floorboards in close-up

“The standard-bearer against which to judge all small combo amps”: Fender Blues Junior IV 30th Anniversary review

By Martin Smith published

Decked out in tooled western-style livery with a saddle bag’s worth of speaker and circuit upgrades, this anniversary edition stands strong in the lineage of the classic benchmark combo

Combo Amps
Victory V40 The Duchess MK II Lunchbox Head

"Adding a few tweaks to the winning formula… The perfect pedal platforms": Victory V40 The Duchess Mark II review

By Pete Emery published

Learning some tricks from the development of the super high-end MK Clean, Victory upgrades the Duchess range

Guitar Amps
Doug Aldrich's signature amp, the Blackstar DA100, is photographed in moody low-light situations.

“A new benchmark for heavy guitar sounds at a relatively accessible price point”: Blackstar DA100 Ruby review

By Martin Smith published

Blackstar created this fire-breathing signature head for guitar icon Doug Aldrich. But does it rock our world?

Guitar Amps
Stephen Carpenter of Deftones performs at Pier 17 Rooftop on May 15, 2022 in New York City

Why Stephen Carpenter has returned to tube amps for Deftones’ latest tour

By Janelle Borg published

The Deftones guitarist was an early champion of amp modelers, but has re-embraced a more hybrid, amp-dependent setup

Guitarists
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