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)
The Lego Microtonal Guitar is an ingenious way to allow the use of microtonal scales by using some 3D-printing, and those little Lego blocks we all know and love.
02 Feb 2020 in
What's better than Maxon's classic SD-9 distortion? A special Scott Henderson SD-9SH edition! Given the skills of all the people involved, it should be pretty special...
Alice in Chains' frontman gets a new signature model from Framus. Made in China, the William DuVall Talisman D-Series comes in at a fraction of the price of the German built model.
The PedalStation 1 houses an Ibanez Tube Screamer TS808, ProCo RAT, Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay and Electro-Harmonix LPB-1 circuit in one old Sony Playstation games console! Epic!
There is a great end of line deal on these two Canadian built S-type models, that will save you a heap of cash. The Godin Session Ltd models both feature a high spec and now come at a bargain price.
Does string gauge matter? Yes, says YouTuber Rick Beato. But perhaps not in the way you think. His new video has some fascinating insights into string gauge that many may find surprising.
Loaded with Celestion speakers, Harley Benton's latest all-tube combos, the TUBE5 and TUBE15 amps, come in at a seriously wallet-friendly price point.
Check out these new Epiphone "Inspired by Gibson" guitars! We have all the specs on the new Epiphone electric range including a new headstock shape, new finishes and both classic and modern designs.
Thomann has a cracking deal on these USA-made boutique effects from Daredevil Pedals, but limited stocks mean you will need to be quick to grab one of these bargains.
Fender has announced that its Player Series Silverburst HH Telecaster will go on release in Europe! With twin humbuckers, expect a guitar that packs a punch. And we think it looks amazing.
Gibson CMO Cesar Gueikian admits that the controversial Play Authentic YouTube video featuring Mark Agnesi was his idea - seven months after it created a tsunami-sized backlash.
Chapman Guitars has joined up with Thomann to offer some lush-looking, stripped back, single-pickup single cut models: The ML2 Thomann Edition! There's even an LH version at no extra charge. Nice!
The Dual Drive pedal has two drive tones inspired by legendary RAT and Tubescreamer circuits. Magnetic Effects says asymmetrical clipping adds more even order harmonics while reducing compression.
Real quality for under 500 pounds? Sire's three new guitars bear the name of a legendary guitarist: Enter the Larry Carlton Collection! We can't wait to see if these guitars hold that promise.
The Winter NAMM Show had some stunning guitars on show - here are our Coolest New Guitars picks from the billions of new models announced. Some of these had us phoning our bank managers....
Going for gold! Duesenberg presents two strictly limited runs of its Starplayer TV guitar, featuring sumptuous gold or silver leaf finishes to celebrate its 25 anniversary.
Red Panda has just announced Context V2, an update to its venerable reverb pedal that adds stereo, MIDI/USB, three new algorithms, preset footswitch, a Shift function to access more parameters...
The new Teisco Interface pedal allows guitarists to run their guitar signal through a DAW and effects, giving you a neat way of looping in your FX plug-ins into your pedalboard.
Thomann has a massive deal going on USA-made Gibson rock guitars, including Firebirds, Flying Vs, an Explorer and a Les Paul at discounts of up to €800! While stocks last, that is...
MOD Devices is teasing a new multi-effects unit called Dwarf. If the bold claims are justified, then this box could shake up a market that includes big players like Line 6...
Not cheap, but good! The Origin Effects RevivalTREM combines a delicious BIAS tremolo and Fender Deluxe amp sound in one device, building on the successful, premium-price Revival platform.
If you're looking for a multi-role modelling amp that covers lots of scenarios, Thomann has a proposition for you: a full €100 off the highly successful Boss Katana Artist 100-watt combo.
HOT
Gimmick or game-changer? A prototype of a new pedal spied at NAMM is the result of a collaboration between Gamechanger Audio and Bigsby - could this be a better Whammy?
The big news at Winter NAMM this weekend was that two new high profile artists had joined Gibson's official roster. Which means that the US guitar giant could be in for a big year for 2020.