Guitar Week #39/2026
Sep 21, 2026 — Sep 27, 2026
This week’s guitar world stretched from major festival stages to a remarkably busy run of new instruments, amps and effects. Crossroads and Guitar Summit supplied the live momentum, while standout launches from BOSS, Yamaha, Fender, Jackson, VOX and Epiphone shaped the gear conversation. New records and international guitar events rounded out a week that moved comfortably between tradition, experimentation and practical tools for players.
The week by the numbers
- stories
- 33stories
- new products
- 20new products
- brands
- 20brands
- artists
- 12artists
22 gear · 7 players · 4 music
Most active topics: Pedals (8), Electric Guitar (6), Blues (4), Classical Guitar (3)
🚨 Top stories this week
Crossroads Guitar Festival returns to Austin this weekend with a multi-generation guitar lineupEric Clapton's seventh Crossroads festival lands at Moody Center September 26–27, pairing veterans including Buddy Guy and John Mayer with first-time appearances from Tommy Emmanuel and Julian Lage.
Yamaha turns Matteo Mancuso’s custom Revstar into the production RS20MM signature modelThe chambered Vintage Sunburst electric pairs DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary pickups with a five-way selector and Yamaha’s passive Focus Switch.
BOSS packs 120 effects into the compact EX-4 pedalboard expanderThe new EX-4 runs four effects at once, adds flexible routing and MIDI, and is designed to slot into an existing pedalboard rather than replace it.
VOX shrinks its AC idea into a $99 all-analog 10-watt AC MINIThe practice amp uses a new analog Dynamic Response Circuit, a three-inch speaker, boost and specially voiced digital reverb.
Jackson brings Phil Collen’s PC1 outside the Custom Shop with the Pro Series PC1-EThe $2,199 signature model keeps the Sustainer, DiMarzio pickups, compound-radius neck and Floyd Rose in a distressed Worn Black build.
Sterling and Cory Wong put the StingRay II guitar into production at $749The new offset takes cues from the StingRay bass but uses dual humbuckers, a roasted-maple neck, locking tuners and vintage-style tremolo.
Polyend Loop combines four audio loopers, four drum tracks and more than 100 effectsThe $599 standalone pedal turns live looping and sample-based rhythm sequencing into one synchronized performance instrument.
Fender’s passive Silent System targets single-coil hum without changing the pickup voiceThe battery-free noise-cancellation circuit debuts in limited American Professional Classic Stratocaster and Telecaster models.
Epiphone previews an Eric Clapton 1964 ES-335TDC Reissue ahead of CrossroadsThe forthcoming Inspired by Gibson Custom model is based on Clapton's Cream-era 1964 ES-335 and will make its first public appearance at Crossroads this weekend.
🎸 Gear worth a look
Tone King previews the AC30-inspired Royce Preamp at Guitar SummitThe surprise amp-in-a-box prototype combines two channels with switchable treble boosts, reverb and tremolo ahead of a planned November launch.
Cornerstone revives its Dumble-style Gladio pedal as the MKIII, with per-channel compressionThe reissued double preamp — discontinued since 2022 — adds separate Deep and Ratio controls and lets both channels chain in either direction.
Hughes & Kettner's Puretone 50 brings switchable-wattage tube tone back to the amp marketThe 50-watt head switches down to 5 watts and covers everything from Marshall-plexi crunch to high gain, with a built-in noise gate.
Cornerstone's cavernous Nucleo reverb, inspired by a decommissioned nuclear plant, comes to the computerThe Paul Davids-designed pedal's Zwentendorf-inspired Reactor mode and Freeze effect are now available as standalone software, not just hardware.
ENGL squeezes 200 watts of pedalboard power into the compact E805 PowercubeThe Class-D power amp is built to turn any preamp, modeler or amp-in-a-box pedal into a stage-ready rig without adding rack space.
Two Notes' Torpedo Captor X Pro adds a 150-watt load box to its cab-sim engineThe 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.
ENGL shrinks the Savage high-gain amp down to a portable 30-watt headThe 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.
EBS packs a full-size bass rig's sound into the compact Session 110 comboThe 11.3kg tilt-back combo pairs 110 watts with a reworked EQ section and Bluetooth, aiming to replace a much bigger rig for gigging bassists.
Fortin's 3.33 turns Fredrik Thordendal's signature boost into a dual-channel pedalThe 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.
Flattley revisits its first pedal with the 10th-anniversary ReaperThe British builder’s new Reaper uses hard and soft clipping plus a high-output boost mode around an op-amp distortion core.
JAM Pedals' Wahcko Mk.2 rebuilds a fan-favorite wah around a custom inductorThe 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.
PRS and John Mayer launch eight Defender-inspired Silver Sky limited editionsThe Defender Color Collection puts four heritage finishes on US Silver Skys and four contemporary finishes on SE models, with the SE line getting black plastics for the first time.
Behringer revives the treadle-controlled Mu-Tron flanger idea with the B-FlangerThe new B-Flanger pairs an all-analog BBD circuit with a full-size optical treadle, bringing a rare late-1970s modulation format back into production.
👤 Players
Guitar Summit 2026 turns Mannheim's Rosengarten into Europe's biggest guitar showThe 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.
Guitarras del Mundo returns across Argentina for its 32nd editionThe free festival begins September 23 and runs through October 4, with its 2026 edition also paying tribute to the late Argentine guitar master Roberto Aussel.
Cádiz launches a new international guitar festival with 13 free concertsThe first Ángel G. Piñero International Guitar Festival will run across Cádiz, Jerez, El Puerto and Rota from October 22 to November 8.
🎵 New music
Hermanos Gutiérrez trace the Andes on new album Los Ojos Del CóndorThe Dan Auerbach-produced record turns the duo's cinematic instrumental style toward South America, its landscapes and its indigenous traditions.
Robin Trower releases Shine, a new album built on urgency and restraintThe 76-year-old guitarist's latest record on Provogue/Artone pairs molten solos with songs that face down an uneasy modern world.
Ben Poole widens his blues-rock palette on new album Post-Midnight BehaviourHis first album of new material since 2018 pulls in soul, country and alternative-rock colors around a reflective, late-night mood.
▶️ Watch this
Guitar Summit 2026 opens to a sold-out crowd and a packed day-one lineup in MannheimEurope'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.
Krill announce first album in a decade, Secret Language, and share ‘Dominate’The reunited indie-rock trio’s November album puts Andrew Clinkman on guitar and turns the band’s Chicago return into its first full Krill LP since the mid-2010s.
Mad Professor's Milestone fuzz puts germanium after buffers without losing its touch responseThe Finnish builder's new handwired fuzz uses a transformer circuit to make vintage-style germanium behavior far less fussy on modern pedalboards.
🤯 Moment of the week
🧠 Learn something
Notable releases this week
Yamaha Matteo Mancuso Signature REVSTAR RS20MMBOSS EX-4 Effects ExpanderVOX AC MINIJackson Pro Series Signature Phil Collen PC1-ESterling by Music Man StingRay IIPolyend LoopFender Silent SystemCornerstone Gladio MKIIIHughes & Kettner Puretone 50Cornerstone Nucleo SoftwareENGL E805 Powercube 200Two Notes Torpedo Captor X ProENGL Savage 30EBS Session 110Fortin 3.33Flattley Pedals Reaper Dual Mode Distortion Anniversary EditionJAM Pedals Wahcko Mk.2PRS Silver Sky Defender Color CollectionBehringer B-FlangerMad Professor Milestone
Brands & artists this week:Eric ClaptonJohn MayerBuddy GuyTommy EmmanuelJulian LageBluesJazzBluegrassYamahaMatteo MancusoElectric GuitarFusionBOSSPedalsVOXJacksonPhil CollenSterling by Music ManCory WongPolyendLoopingMulti-FXFenderEpiphoneRockTone KingCornerstoneHughes & KettnerPaul DavidsGuitar ModelingENGLTwo NotesAmp ModelingEBSBass GuitarFortinFredrik ThordendalMetalFlattley PedalsJAM PedalsPRSBehringerGuitar SummitGuitarras del MundoRoberto AusselClassical GuitarFestival Internacional de Guitarra de Cádiz Ángel G. PiñeroFlamencoHermanos GutiérrezRobin TrowerBen PooleElles BaileyGreg KochJared James NicholsKrillAndrew ClinkmanMad ProfessorRafael RiqueniTim RiesClassical/Nylon-String GuitarMichele Pittaluga International Classical Guitar Competition