Gibson buys Mesa/Boogie amps, Randall Smith to become “Master Designer”

Gibson stuns the guitar world by buying Mesa/Boogie amps, with Randy Smith staying on to design new amps. A dream partnership in the guitar business?

Wavefonix Poly-8 VCO brings CEM3340 based polyphony to Eurorack

Wavefonix has released the first glimpse of their forthcoming Poly-8 range of polyphonic Eurorack modules with the massive Poly-8 VCO and there's much more to come.

The new Toneforge Jeff Loomis has all the tools you need for a modern heavy guitar tone

The Toneforge Jeff Loomis plug-in by Joey Sturgis Tones was developed in collaboration with famed metal producer Jens Bogren and guitarist Jeff Loomis.

Ibanez reveals new AZ Series 7-strings, plus rosewood option and new pickups

Ibanez expands its AZ Series with a 7-sting, a rosewood fretboard option, SD Fortuna pickups and other tweaks that add up to a damn nice guitar.

A new synth from Hammond? What are they up to?

Hammond, famous for their organs, posted an intriguing video on the 1 January teasing us with something "coming soon". OK, we'll bite.

COVID conspiracy theorists claim Boss pedal is a secret 5G chip, or something.

You couldn't make it up: COVID conspiracy theorists claim the Boss MT-2 is a secret 5G chip used by governments for mind control, or something.

Grit and Gain from British Noise Electronics

British Noise Electronics introduces the beautifully serious-looking Grit Analog Filter and Gain Stage Amplifier both dripping with saturation.

Caelum Audio Schlap: A cool, aggressive hardware-inspired compressor plug-in

Need yet another compressor? Yes. Schlap is a modern take on old RMS detection comps with a characterful, aggressive sound and versatile applications.

Behringer is working on a RSF Kobol synthesizer clone

While wishing us all a Happy New Year Behringer posted an image of a prototype Kobol clone having a little party by itself.

The new Ibanez Paul Gilbert PGM FRM300 is a luscious purple shredder with style

This new Paul Gilbert Ibanez PGM FRM300 signature model for 2021 comes with three mini humbuckers and a striking new purple finish.

Antelope Audio deals at Thomann on audio interfaces with free FX and modeling mic!

Antelope Audio and Thomann have attractive deals on four Synergy Core interfaces with discounts and freebies thrown in.

MOK Filtryg: Creative multimode dual filter with modulation and MIDI

Filtryg is a dual multimode filter plug-in with plenty of modulation and MIDI playability - packaged behind a swish GUI that looks fun to use.

Synths in miniature: The extraordinary work of Ronaldo Lopes Teixeira Rolt

Ronaldo is a graphic designer and maquette (model) maker who produces exquisitely hand-made models of classic synthesizers. We asked him to tell us about it.

Leak! Tracks and Rhythm: New Circuits from Novation?

An online store accidentally published photos of what looks like two new Circuits inbound from Novation: Circuit Tracks and Circuit Rhythm.

Can Reverend’s Gil Parris Signature GPS guitar stand out from the crowd?

A second Gil Parris signature by Reverend, with Fishman Fluence pickups, finished in Midnight Black. Is there enough in this package to entice you?

Top 5 Live Gear Releases of 2020: Our Favourites Rated!

Our pick of the Top 5 Live Gear of 2020 is here! Undoubtedly a bad year for live music, but a great one for innovative new live gear releases!

Electro-Harmonix Nano Metal Muff: Miniature Metal for the masses!

The Electro-Harmonix Nano Metal Muff is a pedalboard-friendly stompbox that comes with a newly designed noise gate, promising crushing riffs with no hiss.

DubSiren 2.0: Jamaican Sound System siren in your DAW

DubSiren 2.0 contains a siren synthesizer giving you a fat siren sound with full control, modulation, distortion and delay.

WVR: tiny open source sample player platform for audio projects

WVR is a ready-made wav player board for building custom electronic instruments and experimental machines.

Oskitone POLY555: 3D printed analogue polyphonic synthesizer

The POLY555 is an alarmingly coloured and brilliant lo-fi synthesizer based on a whole bunch of 555 timer oscillators.

The Best Software Synthesizers of 2020: Top 10 VSTi classics, innovations and weirdness

2020 saw wonderful software by Korg, Roland, Softube, Audiomodern, Cherry Audio GranuRise, Klevgränd, Matt Tytel, Mike Moreno DSP and Newfangled Audio.

Best Effects Pedals 2020: 10 Stompboxes You Need on Your Pedalboard

The Best Guitar Effects Pedals 2020! These glorious boxes by crazy scientists of pedal design produced sonic magic that brightened up our year.

Best of Eurorack 2020: 8 modules you need in your rack!

We were stunned by wonderful modules by Behringer, Cosmotronic, Expert Sleepers, Instruo, Omsonic, Qu-Bit, Robaux and RYK. Was your favourite among them?

Instruo saves Christmas by releasing their modules on VCV Rack for free

Jaw-dropping: Instruo adds 17 modules to VCV Rack FOR FREE, breaking the hearts of hardware fans and adding modular joy to our season of disappointment.