Signature Gear
The guitars, amps, and pedals behind the players you love.
The Floyd Rose Story: Krazy Glue, a '57 Strat, and the Bridge That Built the Dive Bomb
Every guitar player knows the sound: the low E dropping until the string flaps against the pickups, then snapping back up to pitch like nothing happened. That trick didn't exist as an everyday move before the late 1970s. The Floyd Rose history explains why.
Dumble Is Taking Special Orders Again. That Is Not the Same Thing as Alexander Coming Back.
The Dumble Preservation Society is inviting special orders for an Overdrive Special, a Tweedle Dee, and a MegaPLX. No prices are listed. Alexander Dumble died in 2022, and the guitarist most tied to the Overdrive Special says the builder wanted the amplifiers to stop with him.
RipToneZ Is Giving Valeton GP-200 Players More Reasons to Keep Playing
With free downloads, affordable artist-inspired packs, and a $4.99 monthly Tone Club, RipToneZ is building an offering that goes beyond buying another preset.
RipToneZ Is Moving Beyond Preset Packs—And Its New Sevendust Collection Shows Why
Our original 53-preset test showed what RipToneZ could do. Its current catalog adds song-specific Sevendust sounds—and more ways to get the GP-200 working for you.
The Fuzz Face History: How a Cheap Copy in a Mic-Stand Base Outlived Its Flaws
The Fuzz Face was a borrowed circuit in a mic-stand base, and half of them sounded bad. Here's how it became Hendrix's fuzz and still sells 60 years later.
Boss DS-1 History: The Orange Box That Defined Distortion
The Boss DS-1 history from its 1978 debut to the Waza Craft DS-1W: the circuit, the chip changes, the mods, and the players who made the orange box famous.
The MXR Phase 90 History: How One Orange Knob Taught Rock Guitar to Swirl
The MXR Phase 90 was the first pedal MXR ever sold and it's still in production 50 years later. Here's who built it, script vs. block, how Eddie Van Halen used it on Van Halen I, and which version to buy today.
Kim Gordon's Jazzmaster: Sonic Youth's Offset Sound, and Why Her Signature Drops the Rhythm Circuit
Fender's Limited Edition Kim Gordon Jazzmaster costs $1,099.99. It pairs a Seymour Duncan JB with a Jazzmaster neck pickup and drops the rhythm circuit. Here's how Sonic Youth made the offset a noise-rock icon, and what Gordon's version changes.
The Gibson Firebird History: The Car Designer Who Drew Gibson's Strangest Guitar Upside Down and Backwards
The Gibson Firebird is the only great electric guitar designed by a man who spent his career drawing cars. Here's the history, from Ray Dietrich's 1963 reverse Firebird to 2025's Platypus.
The Gibson Explorer History: How Gibson's 1958 Flop Became Hard Rock's Sharpest Silhouette
Gibson shipped just 22 Explorers in 1958–59 and shelved the design. Here's how the most radical shape of the Modernistic era became hard rock and metal's sharpest silhouette.
Gibson Flying V History: From 98-Guitar Flop to Metal's Favorite Shape
Gibson made fewer than a hundred Flying Vs in 1958–59 and nearly gave up on the shape. Here's how a futuristic flop became the guitar of blues kings, Hendrix, UFO, Judas Priest and Metallica, and which V to buy today.
The Vox AC30 History: How a British Amp Learned to Chime
The Vox AC30 history, from Hank Marvin's call for more volume to the Top Boost, Beatlemania, Brian May and The Edge: the circuit, the speakers, the chime.
The Fender Telecaster History: How a Radio Repairman's "Plank" Became the Guitar That Does Everything
The Fender Telecaster history, from Leo Fender's 1950 Esquire and Broadcaster to the Nocaster, Keith's Micawber, Springsteen's Esquire and what to buy now.
The RAT Started With the Wrong Resistor: The Real ProCo RAT History
The ProCo RAT was born from a wrong resistor in a Kalamazoo basement. Here's how it went from 11 hand-built boxes to Beck, Nevermind, and your pedalboard.
The Ibanez Tube Screamer: How a Little Green Box Built to Compete Became the Pedal Everyone Copies
How a Maxon engineer's answer to the Boss OD-1 became the Ibanez Tube Screamer, why the TS808 vs TS9 debate never ends, and what SRV really used.
Wayne Charvel and the Birth of the Superstrat: How a Repair Shop Rewired Rock Guitar
Wayne Charvel's name is still on the headstock of some of the most aggressive bolt-on guitars you can buy, but he left the company that carries it in 1978. In that short window, he helped create the idea that a Fender-style guitar was a starting point, not a finished product — the superstrat.
Line 6 Helix Stadium Native Review: Agoura Amps, Proxy Clones, and the Studio Helix You’ve Been Waiting For
Agoura amp modeling, Proxy clone loading, Focus View, 48 blocks and 192 kHz—the Stadium brain finally lives in your DAW. Here’s who should pay $399.99, who should upgrade for $99.99, and who should start with the free Intro.
Jackson Pro Series Phil Collen PC1-E: Sustainer Superstrat Hits Pro Series (Specs, Price, Who It’s For)
Jackson put Phil Collen’s Sustainer Dinky in Pro Series reach — 18V PC1 Sustainer, DiMarzio X2N & Sugar Chakra, Worn Black nitro, Floyd Rose 1000, $2,199.99, Ensenada-built. Researched overview (not a TGP playtest).
Valeton GP-200 Review: Is This the Budget Helix We’ve Been Waiting For?
Eight footswitches. Expression pedal. XLR outputs. MIDI. Effects loop. IR loading. More than 240 effects and 140-plus amp and cabinet models. The Valeton GP-200 looks suspiciously like the kind of rig that used to require considerably more money.
Marcus King’s First Guitar Comes Full Circle: Inside the New Epiphone El Dorado
The new Marcus King El Dorado isn’t simply another signature guitar. It recreates the Epiphone that helped start King’s musical life — and it might be one of the most interesting artist acoustics Epiphone has released in years.
Slash Has Used a Talk Box Since He Was 16. Now MXR Has Built One Specifically for Him
The new MXR Slash Signature Talk Box takes one of rock guitar's strangest and most expressive effects, traces it back through Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck and Aerosmith, and rebuilds it around the unmistakable voice of Slash.
Gibson Breaks a 70-Year Habit: The ELEV8 Is Its First Alnico 8 Humbucker
For seventy years Gibson humbuckers have run on Alnico 2, 3, 4 and 5. The new ELEV8 series finally reaches for Alnico 8 — and it is aimed squarely at high-gain players.
Gibson's DES Series Is the Most Aggressive Modern Gibson in Years
Six body shapes, Ghost Burst nitro, Super Split Block inlays, compound-radius ebony boards and Alnico 8 humbuckers. Gibson has built a limited run aimed squarely at the modern technical player — and priced it accordingly.
I Put RipToneZ’s Valeton GP-200 Tone Packs Through Their Paces — Here’s What Stood Out
Five collections. 53 presets. Everything from Plexi crunch and Texas blues to ambient cleans, 5150-style aggression and an entire 15-preset Adam Jones-inspired collection. RipToneZ is betting that the GP-200 can sound considerably bigger than its price suggests.
Positive Grid Spark PEDAL Puts a Full Guitar Rig at Your Feet for $199
Positive Grid has taken the Spark idea off the desk and put it on the floor: 33 amps, 43 effects, a 60-second looper, direct outs, USB-C recording and a seven-hour battery in a pedal that costs $199.
Marshall Brings Hendrix's Plexi Era Down to Earth With New 20-Watt JMH Studio Edition
Marshall's latest Hendrix anniversary release turns a 1969-inspired Super Lead into a UK-built, hand-wired 20-watt half-stack — complete with the cosmic purple visual treatment.
Fender's Strat Crackdown Is Already Changing Guitar Design — Is This What the Next S-Style Will Look Like?
LsL Instruments has shown its first new electric guitar since confirming it received a cease-and-desist tied to Fender's Stratocaster enforcement campaign — and the redesigned Saticoy 24 raises a much bigger question: if boutique builders can no longer lean on the Strat silhouette, does electric guitar design finally move again?
Does Any Guitarist Really Need 27 Frets? Solar's New ACS Makes the Case
Solar Guitars has put 27 frets on its new carved-body ACS models — a six-string at 25.5" and a seven-string at 26.5", both with stainless super-jumbo frets, Gotoh 1996 tremolos and set-thru necks. Here are the verified specs, plus the design question nobody in the launch coverage is asking: what do frets 25, 26 and 27 actually give a player, and what do they cost you further down the neck?
D'Addario's AI Guitar Controversy Is Bigger Than One String Demo — It's About Trust
D'Addario says no generative AI wrote or played the music in its NYXL HD string demo — but it has admitted the track was over-produced and that AI-assisted mastering tools were used. The row exposes a deeper problem: when a product's selling point is sound, how much production is too much before the demo stops being useful to players?
Can the Badder Monkey Beat the Legendary Tube Screamer? I Put Them Head-to-Head
The DOD Badder Monkey takes on the Ibanez Tube Screamer in a head-to-head shootout. Same guitar, same amp, same playing — here's which overdrive actually deserves a spot on your board.
The Evolution of Guitar Modeling: From POD to Quad Cortex
How digital rigs went from bedroom practice tools to the centerpiece of the modern guitar world — from the original Line 6 POD to today's Neural DSP Quad Cortex.
Inside the Evolution of the PRS Silver Sky
From the most controversial launch in modern PRS history to one of the best-selling signature guitars on the market — how the Silver Sky won over the guitar world.
The 5 Best Budget Modeling Amps in 2026 (That Actually Sound Incredible)
Big tone, small budget, zero excuses. We tested today's best affordable modeling amps — from the Boss Katana to the Spark 2 — and ranked the five that genuinely sound incredible without breaking the bank.
The Fender California Vintage King Antigua Is Unlike Any Acoustic I've Played
A hands-on review of the Fender California Vintage King Antigua — the bold Antigua finish, traditional Fender headstock, Fishman Presys VT Plus electronics, premium gold-lined hardshell case, and a surprisingly resonant voice that feels nothing like a typical production acoustic.
The Modern Working Rig: Fender, Charvel & Line 6 Picks for 2026
From the Fender Player Series workhorse to the American Pro II flagship, Charvel's superstrat shred machines, and the Line 6 Helix that ties it all together — here's the gear we'd actually buy this year.
Why the Marshall JCM800 Is Still the King of Rock Tone
Four decades on, the 100-watt JCM800 2203 still defines hard rock bark. We compare a vintage 1984 head with the current 2203X to explain why nothing punches a mix like an 800.
The Best Stratocasters Under $1,000 Right Now
From Fender’s revamped Player II to PRS’s dialed-in Silver Sky SE, these are the S-style workhorses that actually earn their keep under a grand—what to buy, what to skip, and why it matters.
Fractal AM4 Review: Is It the Ultimate Guitar Rig for Players Who Refuse to Compromise?
Our in-depth Fractal AM4 review covers tone, feel, flexibility, recording performance, and whether it's worth the investment for serious guitar players.
Donner's HLX-500 Wants to Make Headless Guitars Affordable
A 24-fret, HSS headless guitar for around $330–$350. Donner's HLX-500 is a budget build with premium ambitions.
Inside Steve Vai's Hydra: The Triple-Neck Monster Built to Play an Entire Song by Itself
Seven-string, 12-string, 3/4 bass, 13 harp strings, sustainer, piezo, MIDI and half-fretless necks — the Hydra isn't a gimmick. It's an arrangement tool. Here's how Vai plays it.
Marshall 1959BJA Review: Billie Joe Armstrong's Signature Amp Brings the Legendary Dookie Tone to the Masses
Marshall's first signature amplifier in 14 years takes the hand-wired 1959HW Super Lead and voices it around Billie Joe Armstrong's famously modified touring Plexi — the sound that powered Dookie and American Idiot.