Guitar Week #41/2026
Oct 5, 2026 — Oct 11, 2026
Fender put Joe Bonamassa’s high-powered tweed Twin sound into a 30-pound digital amp, while Power Trip returned with its first post-Riley Gale songs and Aerosmith booked its first full shows since retiring from touring. Gibson’s scanned 1957 L-5 CES reissue and Trivium’s next album added two very different kinds of continuity.
Start with Fender and Joe Bonamassa’s first signature Tone Master amp: it carries power scaling, convolution reverb and a studio-ready IR output in a much lighter 2x12 format.
The week by the numbers
- stories
- 17stories
- new products
- 7new products
- brands
- 8brands
- artists
- 12artists
8 gear · 5 players · 3 music · 1 learn
Most active topics: Rock (3), Electric Guitar (2), Pedals (2), Acoustic Guitar (1)
🚨 Top stories this week
Fender and Joe Bonamassa Launch the First Signature Tone Master AmpThe Tone Master ’59 Twin-Amp JB Edition puts Bonamassa’s high-powered tweed Twin sound into a 30-pound digital 2x12 with power scaling, convolution reverb and studio-ready IR output.
Gibson Custom brings the 1957 L-5 CES back with scanned vintage geometryThe core-line reissue pairs carved AAA woods and Custombuckers with prices starting at $10,999.
Power Trip return with ‘Precinct 3’ and ‘Scavenger,’ their first new songs of the post-Riley Gale eraThe Texas thrash band’s new double single introduces Seth Gilmore on vocals and previews a full-length album due in spring 2027.
Aerosmith schedules two Hollywood Bowl returns with an all-star guest rosterThe October 29 and November 1 concerts mark the band's first announced full live shows since retiring from touring.
Trivium Announce Crown In The Grave and Release Its Title TrackThe Florida metal band’s 11th album arrives November 20, while its first full-length with drummer Alex Rudinger opens with a title track shaped by Japanese horror cinema.
Slash Receives the 2026 Les Paul Spirit Award in HollywoodThe Les Paul Foundation and Gibson Gives honored Slash at Les Paul’s Hollywood recording studio with a one-of-a-kind award made from acoustic boards built by Paul himself.
🎸 Gear worth a look
Ernie Ball Music Man Expands the Albert Lee Line With HSS and 75-Piece BFR ModelsA new HSS production model broadens the angular signature guitar’s range, while the Malibu Burst BFR pairs an okoume body and figured maple top with Axis-spec DiMarzio humbuckers.
Behringer Brings Back Its Klon-Style Drive as Four Zentara PedalsThe relaunch splits the transparent overdrive into standard and mini enclosures, each in gold or silver, with all four variants selling for less than $76.
Wylde Audio launches its first acoustic guitarThe $999 Grand Auditorium Acoustic adds flamed maple, mahogany and onboard piezo electronics to Zakk Wylde's decade-old brand.
Fender gives John 5 three new signature Telecasters, from $1,299 to Custom ShopThe Phantom, Ghost and Custom Shop Phantom pair stripped-down controls with high-output DiMarzio pickups, while the two black models add Floyd Rose trems.
Keeley puts germanium at the heart of its 25th-anniversary Compressor PlusThe $189 Compressor Plus Germanium changes both the output and side-chain feedback circuits while keeping the familiar four-knob layout.
EL AMIR and LuxuryToneFX launch the hand-built Fire & Flames distortionThe Spanish boutique pedal targets articulate high gain with a pre-gain dynamics filter and low-noise power design.
👤 Players
Six International Finalists Set for Uppsala’s Young Talents Guitar CompetitionPlayers from Austria, Italy, Iran, China, South Korea and Japan meet in the October 10 final, with more than €7,000 in prizes and an audience vote.
Nita Strauss returns to Alice Cooper's stage after maternity leaveA three-song NFL halftime set in Las Vegas marked Strauss's first show back before her full late-November return.
Yamaha opens a 60th-anniversary guitar exhibition in ShibuyaThe free Tokyo exhibition spans historic guitars, artist instruments, TransAcoustic tryouts and hands-on setup education through November 23.
🎵 New music
▶️ Watch this
Eric Gales turns position shifts into a seven-part roadmap for freer improvisationA new lesson breaks down how blues-scale boxes, root-note awareness and a ‘step ladder’ approach can connect distant areas of the fretboard.- Behringer Brings Back Its Klon-Style Drive as Four Zentara PedalsThe relaunch splits the transparent overdrive into standard and mini enclosures, each in gold or silver, with all four variants selling for less than $76.
- Fender gives John 5 three new signature Telecasters, from $1,299 to Custom ShopThe Phantom, Ghost and Custom Shop Phantom pair stripped-down controls with high-output DiMarzio pickups, while the two black models add Floyd Rose trems.
- Nita Strauss returns to Alice Cooper's stage after maternity leaveA three-song NFL halftime set in Las Vegas marked Strauss's first show back before her full late-November return.
- EL AMIR and LuxuryToneFX launch the hand-built Fire & Flames distortionThe Spanish boutique pedal targets articulate high gain with a pre-gain dynamics filter and low-noise power design.
🤯 Moment of the week
🧠 Learn something
Notable releases this week
Brands & artists this week:FenderJoe BonamassaCelestionGibsonElectric GuitarJazzPower TripAerosmithRockSlashTom MorelloJerry CantrellTriviumLes PaulErnie Ball Music ManAlbert LeeDiMarzioBehringerWylde AudioAcoustic GuitarZakk WyldeJohn 5KeeleyPedalsLuxuryToneFXEL AMIRFlamencoUppsala International Young Talents Guitar CompetitionNita StraussAlice CooperYamahaSterling BallBiff Baby's AllstarsJohn PetrucciSteve VaiSteve LukatherEric Gales