I grew up in a house full of guitars, as my father was forever building electric guitars on the families kitchen table. I spent my teenage years trying to tame a 100 watt Marshall JCM 800 and matching 4 x 12 cab in a bedroom, only just large enough for a bed. I’d bought it not REALLY understanding exactly how loud 100 watts is. At this young age I started to experiment with recording and MIDI and cut my teeth on Pro 24 and Notator on an Atari synced to a Foster R8 with an MTC-1.
Playing in bands and working in recording studios for many years, I learned to mix, record and eventually worked as a sound engineer. I also worked for many of the UKs large pro audio retailers, where I helped to set up DAWs in everything from local studios, music technology colleges all the way through to world famous recording facilities like Air Studios and The Strongroom. As I couldn’t help myself, I even owned my own recording studio in London for a while. There I learnt a lot about recording guitars, dealing with bands and getting quality results anyhow.
Over the years I have acquired a very sizeable guitar collection, which includes many guitars that I have built myself. I’m a total hoarder of effect pedals and valve amps and I’m a certified guitar geek. So there are not many that I have not owned at least once. Whether Parker Fly guitars or Klon Centaur pedals, I’ve had them all. Now running the annual Analogue To Digital music show in the UK, plus the Vintage Guitar Fair, I get to be busy throughout the year and also get to rub shoulders with many other guitar lovers, luthiers, manufacturers and pro players.
My tastes in music includes everything from Dinosaur Jr to Squarepusher.
Write him: jef (at) gearnews (com)
Based upon one of Brad's own guitars, a refinished '63 Tele this new signature model has plenty of cool custom features and will certainly get you noticed on stage down the Dog and Duck!
The original BOSS compact stompboxes return in a one-time-only BOX-40 box set to celebrate the maker's 40th anniversary year - not cheap, but pretty cool!
The Abyss bass overdrive pedal is well laid out, simple and yet promises to be very effective - it's evidently designed from the ground up for low-down dirty tones on tap.
Vox is recreating two of its classic amp designs to celebrate 60 years in the business, AC30 and AC15 model, and will release them in limited numbers later this year.
We hear that Fender is issuing a limited edition of its 15-Watt Bassreaker guitar combo with some pseudo-50s styling - if you love 'vintage' looks, you might want to give this compact tube amp a closer look.
These two new Fano models have been added to the company's Standard Series with the aim of bringing you more colour options for less money whilst maintaining the hand-made in the USA credentials.
These limited edition US-made Silverburst guitars have been created to follow international CITES regulations, with a new fretboard wood upgrade as part of their relaunch for 2017.
Epiphone have signed up singer-songwriter James Bay as an endorser and produced a signature model guitar that recreates his widely recognisable workhorse instrument.
Summer is almost upon us and the Fender Custom Shop is about to assault our wallets with these 'vintage' guitars that never actually existed!
Looks like these new Custom Shop guitars will turn heads in more ways than one! With vintage Firebird colours and matching headstocks, they will certainly stand out from the crowd.
Stoner rock band All Them Witches have collaborated with Stomp Under Foot to build the Alabaster, their new signature dirt box, featuring both fuzz and boost circuits - just in case you need even more volume!
Grab yourself some early Led Zeppelin tones with this re-imagining of Jimmy Page's legendary modded Supro Combo, now presented in a head and cab format, the 1695TH Black Magick.
This American pedal giant manages to squeeze out its second compressor pedal in as many weeks. This one, however, has some really handy features including metering, stereo mode and a dedicated drive section.
The Discumbobulator 2 is an update to the classic boutique autowah/envelope filter pedal, and a dropped price means this little orange box of filtered funk has become better value...
Matt West, guitarist with Pop-Punk outfit Neck Deep, gets a brand new stripped-down, cool-looking signature model guitar that should give plenty of tonal options despite sporting only a single P90!
Mooer are out to prove they can offer a shedload of useful features on a lightweight solution at a low price. But is the new Red Truck multi-effect slowed down by too many compromises?
This highly anticipated new analogue delay pedal now finally has some decent audio demos online ahead of its official release date later this summer.
Like a rolling stone? Gibson Custom Shop's new Rock Top LP Standard features a look styled on a 'stone' theme, with four models each showing a different variation - and all at the same astronomic price.
Hugh Manson's Guitar Store is 25 years old this year and to celebrate they are releasing two o very sparkly guitars for the occasion. with a range of optional extras on each.
Keeley has launched a new version of its Tesla Fuzz using old Soviet-era 104NU71 germanium transistors. The new pedal is being produced in limited numbers and has a distinct historical styling. Dosvedanya!
Need an octave pedal, but short of pedal board space? TC's new mini Sub'N'Up pedal might have lost a few controls from its bigger sibling, but still packs in almost all the same functions.
Boss have announced some new effects pedals, plus a mini-amp for guitarists and a multi-effect for bass players, too. Will these new products be enough to make you want to go out and part with your cash?
When someone with authority and no taste decides to release some high-end Custom Shop guitars, what could possibly go wrong? Well, luckily Gibson has decided to test this theory out for us...
The Iron Horse V2 distortion pedal brings some refinements and better functionality to this old warhorse, being based around the popular LM308 chip and clad in sparkling gold armour.