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)
PRS unleash this amazingly over the top limited edition of a modern classic. It'll divide opinion for sure and you'll either love it or hate it.
Two new ranges from Faith Guitars: Two versions of the Nomad series travel guitars Mini-Saturn and Mini-Neptune, plus a new Venus Blood Moon model...
Yes, a solar powered amplifier. This madcap French company have released a guitar amp for the end of the world. I've often wondered how I would survive on a desert island with my Strat and now I know...
New higher wattage and now with even more effects, plus a built in looper. This already popular practice amp range is now a gig worthy option for those on a budget.
TransAcoustic acoustic guitars offer built-in reverb and chorus effects without being plugged into a speaker, something completely new for acoustic guitars!
BluBOX guitar amp speaker simulator, all the tone and no cone. A virtual speaker for your recordings!
Two new switches for multi amp and multiple instrument setups. These pedal format, versatile boxes are designed to solve more complex setups live and in the studio.
Boss announce a new multi-effect aimed at all you budding singer/songwriters that need to fill out your solo sound when playing live.
Boss have announced redesigns for their classic TU-3 tuner pedal, with two new variations presented at the Musikmesse show this week.
New for this years Musikmesse, the Artisan B5 bass range now features an updated Markbass preamp - could this add a touch more control to your bass tone?
Two new brand pedalboard friendly glitch, synth and pitch boxes. For those players that want more than just another Tubescreamer clone in their sonic arsenal!
Looking very smart indeed, this new signature Flying V for the Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds will be one for those that like to play heavy!
The Pigtronix Power should have enough power for the most demanding of pedal geeks, hoarders and those with pedal boards the size of a UFO.
Supro bring their new pedal range to the European market and the whole range have the ability to tweaked live in real time using an external foot controller. Vintage flavours with modern thinking.
The latest edition to TC Electronics bass cabinet range offers a 15" custom driver that should fill out your bass sound nicely, as this unit concentrates solely on the low end of your tone.
The Fly 3 range of practise amps gets a new addition for the low frequencies, so Blackstar's popular practise amp finally grows some 'low end' balls...
Running off a single battery and with a large bright display this little tuner will run for up to 100 hours and keep you in tune.
A sneaky peak on Facebook and some audio clips via Soundcloud of what could be. Is the legendary UK amp designer Martin Kidd involved as well?
A new cheaper version of the popular Alt-de-facto range from this popular American boutique guitar builder. Featuring some tasteful relic work and twists on old 1960s classic instruments.
Six different reverbs crammed into a small form factor pedal, with some simple controls and the ability to use an optional expression pedal: Enter the MXR M300.
Gibson and Rick Nielson have teamed up to create a range of three guitars based on the Cheap Trick guitarists original '59 Les Paul Standard. They will most certainly not be cheap though!
This years London Bass Guitar Show at Olympia was filled with all the new gear for 2016. The show spanned the weekend and gave us all the chance to check out what is up and coming in the world of bass.
No need to share your busking money with the bass player anymore: Now you can replicate your bassist with this fancy new pedal for your guitar.
Time to dust off your flares, drop some acid and float back to the late 1960s. Well maybe not, but if you love Hendrix then this could be a one-box solution for getting his tones.