Custom Shop recreates Mike McCready’s extremely road-worn vintage Strat

Pearl Jam founding member Mike McCready has played a number of guitar models over the years, but he’s perhaps most associated with Fender Stratocasters. And of those, his vintage ’59 model is his most prized. So it was this instrument that was chosen f… Continue reading Custom Shop recreates Mike McCready’s extremely road-worn vintage Strat

Fender’s R&D chief: The Acoustasonic “is the transitional guitar”

Brian Swerdfeger either has one of the greatest jobs in the world, or one of the toughest; as VP of R&D at Fender Guitars, he spends his days crafting tools of musical inspiration, with the formidable machinery of the world’s biggest-selling guitar com… Continue reading Fender’s R&D chief: The Acoustasonic “is the transitional guitar”

Fender Mustang Micro Review: 12 guitar amps in your pocket

As a beginning electric guitarist, I’m well aware that the best gift I can give my family is often the gift of silence. The sense of general relief around the house has been palpable since Fender’s Mustang Micro headphone amp arrived, and while I consi… Continue reading Fender Mustang Micro Review: 12 guitar amps in your pocket

Positive Grid Spark review: A smart game-changer for guitarists

Digital might be a four-letter word in the guitar world, but amp and effects emulation is nothing new; it’s been around for some time and it’s had a chance to get really good.Continue ReadingCategory: Music, TechnologyTags: Guitar, Amplifiers, SmartAmp… Continue reading Positive Grid Spark review: A smart game-changer for guitarists

Acoustasonic Jazzmaster review: Fender walks the digital tightrope

The Acoustasonic series started out as Fender’s moon shot at re-inventing the acoustic guitar for the modern age, but its ambitions quickly expanded to become much broader. Equipped with three different types of pickup and a built-in digital signal pro… Continue reading Acoustasonic Jazzmaster review: Fender walks the digital tightrope

Travel-friendly electrics combine tonewood body and carbon fiber neck

Utah’s Klos Guitars has been making acoustics and ukuleles fashioned from carbon fiber for a number of years now, and while there have been instruments you can plug into an amp, the company hasn’t ventured into all electric guitar or bass territory, un… Continue reading Travel-friendly electrics combine tonewood body and carbon fiber neck

Follow-the-lights learning system installed on travel guitar

Nevada’s Fretlight has been making guitars with LEDs embedded in the neck for a good long while now, but all of its instruments so far have been full size electrics or acoustics. Now it’s going on the road with a travel version of its learning system.C… Continue reading Follow-the-lights learning system installed on travel guitar

Spark-O-Matic Jazzmaster completes Fender’s trip into a Parallel Universe

With the release of the “Spark-O-Matic” Jazzmaster, Fender has completed its Parallel Universe II instrument line up, an eight model range of limited edition electric guitars that combine elements of different Fender icons to create some interesting od… Continue reading Spark-O-Matic Jazzmaster completes Fender’s trip into a Parallel Universe

Review: Roadie 3 motorized multi-tool for stringed instruments

After completing its third successful Kickstarter, Band Industries started shipping the Roadie 3 – a kind of electronic multi-tool for string pickers – out to backers in November 2020. As with the previous generations, we got sent one to try.Continue R… Continue reading Review: Roadie 3 motorized multi-tool for stringed instruments