Guitar Week #44/2026
Oct 26, 2026 — Nov 1, 2026
Fender’s Corona factory notice, TONEX’s move toward adjustable captured amps and The Power of 3’s use of an unheard Jimi Hendrix riff made this a week of familiar names changing the terms of the story. One was about work and continuity, one about how captured gear responds, and one about turning an archival fragment into a new trio performance.
Start with Fender’s explanation of the Corona WARN notice: the company says it covers the annual holiday shutdown, not layoffs, and that 533 employees are expected back in the new year.
The week by the numbers
- stories
- 18stories
- new products
- 6new products
- brands
- 10brands
- artists
- 14artists
10 gear · 2 players · 4 music · 1 industry · 1 learn
Most active topics: Electric Guitar (6), Amp Modeling (4), Rock (3), Pedals (2)
🚨 Top stories this week
Fender says Corona factory WARN notice covers holiday shutdown, not layoffsThe company says 533 employees were notified under a newly formalized process for its annual year-end quiet weeks and are expected back in the new year.
The Power of 3 builds new single ‘Taxi’ around an unheard Jimi Hendrix riffOrianthi, Cindy Blackman Santana and Rhonda Smith turn a fragment from the Hendrix archive into a new trio performance ahead of their debut album.
TONEX will make captured amps behave like adjustable modelsIK Multimedia’s Parametric Tone Model technology captures up to six controls across multiple positions and predicts the sounds between them.
Fender and Pokémon turn Red and Green into two playable 8-bit guitarsThe Japan-made Stratocaster and Telecaster pair pixel-art finishes with custom pickups and a volume-knob switch that layers game-like tones over the guitar signal.
Santana and Natalia Lafourcade unite son jarocho and electric guitar on ‘Hermano’The Sony Music Latin single pairs Lafourcade's Veracruz-rooted writing with Carlos Santana's guitar in a call for empathy, peace and reconciliation.
Marc Ribot reconnects two volatile quartets on Hurry Red TelephoneHis first all-instrumental album since 2014 pairs Chad Taylor with two different bass-and-saxophone lineups across six pieces shaped by risk, memory and collective improvisation.
🎸 Gear worth a look
EarthQuaker Devices gives Plumes Jr and Blumes Jr a limited MOSFET makeoverThe compact overdrives trade their familiar asymmetrical silicon voice for a more open MOSFET mode, with only 3,000 pedals planned between the two models.
Underdog CHUCK firmware 1.6.0 expands seven presets into seven banksThe matching STUDIO update adds bank and matrix views, steeper IR-loader filter slopes and safer preset management to the analog-tube floorboard amp.
BOSS shrinks the Katana platform into the 25-watt Katana-25The new 1x8 combo brings six amp characters, more than 60 effects, Bluetooth and USB-C recording to a compact home-practice format.
Epiphone rebuilds the Prophecy Series around its first Victory and a 27-inch Les Paul BaritoneFive modernized electrics pair compound-radius ebony boards and stainless frets with custom triple-voice Fishman Fluence pickups.
Neural DSP gives Morgan Amps Suite X faster preset browsing and session-wide control locksThe free X update retains three Morgan amp models while adding Global Lock, tagged preset search, two skins and undo/redo.
Fender gives Kim Gordon a Jazzmaster with a JB humbucker and stripped-back controlsThe limited Olympic White offset pairs a hot Seymour Duncan bridge pickup with a traditional Jazzmaster neck voice.
Ibanez and Dragon Ball Z team up on a Japan-made RG, TS808 and full instrument rangeThe early-2027 collaboration spans more than ten instruments and accessories, led by a collector-grade Goku and Gohan RG package.
Positive Grid retunes Spark CAB 2 for tighter lows and a cleaner path into modeler rigsThe 140-watt powered FRFR cabinet keeps the 10-inch-plus-tweeter format while adding revised acoustics, flexible power and independent stage and PA levels.
👤 Players
J Mascis returned to a 1959 Jazzmaster and a Mesa/Boogie Mark I for Dinosaur Jr.’s There NearA new interview traces how old guitars, shorter studio sessions and a rediscovered amp sound shaped the band’s first album in five years.
Skid Row name Justin Sargent as their new lead singerThe Broadway vocalist joins the band after a two-year search and makes his recorded debut on a new cover of The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
🎵 New music
🧠 Learn something
Notable releases this week
Brands & artists this week:FenderThe Power of 3OrianthiCindy Blackman SantanaRhonda SmithRockJimi HendrixEddie KramerBluesIK MultimediaProfilingAmp ModelingAI & GuitarPokémonElectric GuitarNatalia LafourcadeSantanaEdgar BarreraMarc Ribot QuartetMarc RibotJazzChad TaylorEarthQuaker DevicesPedalsunderdogBOSSEpiphoneNeural DSPMorgan AmplificationKim GordonIbanezPositive GridJ MascisDinosaur Jr.MESA/BoogieJustin SargentSkid RowAndrea QuarantelliAcoustic GuitarFingerstyleCountryPleven International Guitar Festival 2026Classical Guitar