Olivia Rodrigo opens the Unraveled Tour with a hand-built heart guitar and a stripped-down Jazzmaster
A small East Los Angeles workshop needed five prototypes to turn the heart-shaped concept into a comfortable stage instrument.
Sep 29, 2026
Aguilar puts DB 751 tube character into an 11-pound, 700-watt DB 700 head
The new hybrid bass amp combines a dual-12AX7 preamp with Class D power, cabinet-IR loading and tour-ready universal mains.
Sep 29, 2026
Guitar Summit 2026 closes with Darryl Jones, Devin Townsend and a full day of workshops
The Mannheim show's final day paired artist clinics and gear demos with a tube-amp panel and the debut of a dedicated Guitar Summit Academy stand.
Sep 28, 2026
Bill Murray sings 'Crossroads' with Clapton as the festival opens in Austin
Night one at the Moody Center moved from Clapton and Sonny Landreth through Joe Bonamassa, John McLaughlin and Julian Lage to a closing jam with Tedeschi Trucks Band and John Mayer.
Sep 28, 2026
Harley Benton launches VegaTrem-equipped Superstrats and refreshed HB-35 semi-hollows
The ST-Modern Plus HH Vega pairs a floating vibrato system with Harley Benton's budget Superstrat, while new HB-35TL colorways and a 6-position rotary HB-35 Plus round out the semi-hollow line.
Sep 28, 2026
OctaKing's Burstphonic PAF pedal chases a specific 1959 Les Paul, not a generic vintage tone
The analog pedal is voiced to Joe Bonamassa's 'Holy Grail' 1959 Les Paul and a Gary Moore-style 'Greeny' tone, with switches for pickup type and an out-of-phase mode.
Sep 28, 2026
Fender CEO says the S-style cease-and-desist campaign should have been handled differently
Bud Cole says Fender should have talked with builders before sending letters, while the company continues defending its Stratocaster-shape strategy.
Sep 28, 2026
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Chris Stapleton leads the Heartbreakers' first full original-lineup reunion in 24 years
Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Stan Lynch and Ron Blair reunited at the Americana Honors, with later members joining for a second part of the set.
Sep 28, 2026
Ashdown makes Guitar Center and Musician's Friend its exclusive U.S. retail partners
The British amp maker says the deal puts its widest American range yet into 300 Guitar Center stores and online through Musician's Friend.
Sep 28, 2026
Thai guitarist Nene Royal wins America's Got Talent Season 21
The 16-year-old from Phuket became the show's first Thai winner after a run built around guitar-led rock performances.
Sep 28, 2026
Fender turns Lee Sklar's heavily modified studio workhorse into a production Precision Bass
The $3,499 signature model combines dual active EMG P pickups, mandolin frets, a Jazz Bass-profile neck, Hipshot extender and Badass II bridge.
Sep 28, 2026
Martin refreshes the 16 Series with new body shapes, bold finishes and stage-ready electronics
The Nazareth-built acoustic-electric range now spans compact 00L models, a short-scale slope-shoulder dreadnought, jumbos, a Grand Performance cutaway and a 12-string.
Sep 28, 2026
Hughes & Kettner's Puretone 50 brings switchable-wattage tube tone back to the amp market
The 50-watt head switches down to 5 watts and covers everything from Marshall-plexi crunch to high gain, with a built-in noise gate.
Sep 27, 2026
Guitar Summit 2026 opens to a sold-out crowd and a packed day-one lineup in Mannheim
Europe's biggest guitar show drew record interest despite a €60 day ticket, with Matteo Mancuso, Greg Koch and Jared James Nichols among day one's standout performers.
Sep 27, 2026
JAM Pedals' Wahcko Mk.2 rebuilds a fan-favorite wah around a custom inductor
The updated wah swaps in a JAM-designed inductor inspired by vintage TDK components, adds an internal Q trimmer and a rubber-topped treadle, and adds bass mode.
Sep 27, 2026
Fortin's 3.33 turns Fredrik Thordendal's signature boost into a dual-channel pedal
The Meshuggah guitarist's follow-up to the original 33 adds a second independent boost channel, active EQ per channel and a built-in Zuul noise gate.
Sep 27, 2026
Two Notes' Torpedo Captor X Pro adds a 150-watt load box to its cab-sim engine
The new flagship load box, attenuator and stereo DI adds multi-impedance support and passive attenuation on top of the Captor X's DynIR cab simulation.
Sep 27, 2026
ENGL shrinks the Savage high-gain amp down to a portable 30-watt head
The Savage 30 packs the brand's crushing rock/metal tone into a compact all-tube head with a built-in power soak and noise gate.
Sep 27, 2026
Tone King previews the AC30-inspired Royce Preamp at Guitar Summit
The surprise amp-in-a-box prototype combines two channels with switchable treble boosts, reverb and tremolo ahead of a planned November launch.
Sep 27, 2026
Fender’s passive Silent System targets single-coil hum without changing the pickup voice
The battery-free noise-cancellation circuit debuts in limited American Professional Classic Stratocaster and Telecaster models.
Sep 27, 2026
Polyend Loop combines four audio loopers, four drum tracks and more than 100 effects
The $599 standalone pedal turns live looping and sample-based rhythm sequencing into one synchronized performance instrument.
Sep 27, 2026
Yamaha turns Matteo Mancuso’s custom Revstar into the production RS20MM signature model
The chambered Vintage Sunburst electric pairs DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary pickups with a five-way selector and Yamaha’s passive Focus Switch.
Sep 27, 2026
Guitar Summit 2026 turns Mannheim's Rosengarten into Europe's biggest guitar show
The eighth edition brings more than 600 exhibitors and 100-plus workshops across seven stages, with Matteo Mancuso, Andy McKee and Jared James Nichols among the players on site.
Sep 26, 2026
Ben Poole widens his blues-rock palette on new album Post-Midnight Behaviour
His first album of new material since 2018 pulls in soul, country and alternative-rock colors around a reflective, late-night mood.
Sep 26, 2026