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)
Gibson revamps the Custom Shop! The Murphy Lab is a new Custom Shop division headed by guitar relic'ing expert artisan Tom Murphy. Will 2020 bring even more accurately aged guitars?
Guitars and instruments once owned by guitar legend Randy Rhoads have been stolen - and Ozzy Osbourne is offering a huge reward for their safe return!
Kemper has listened to its users and released a beta of its Rig Manager that includes a Profiler Editor! This long-awaited feature is going to have a big impact on how people use their Profiler.
The Best Electric Guitars 2019! What a year it's been for an instrument that's often reported to be dead (or dying). Here is our roundup of the hottest and best value guitars from the past 12 months.
But that's cheaper than a plug-in! The Lunastone True Overdrive 1 is going for a song while supplies last! If you want one, you'd better be quick at this bargain price.
These headphones have a Katana amp stuffed in, with bags of amp sounds and effects! Oh, and there's some 3D spatial imaging tech going on in there, too. The perfect home practise set-up?
Epiphone's new Tommy Thayer Electric Blue Les Paul is an eye-popping new model in a blue, sparkly finish. This new signature model screams for attention. Can it win over anyone who's not a KISS fan?
Boss has just unveiled its most powerful guitar and bass synthesizer system to date, the SY-1000. Yup, it packs in a lot of features and has an epic-looking blue frame. But is it simply too expensive?
Mad Professor's new Super Black is a Fender Blackface amp-in-a-box pedal, adding classic '60s valve amp sounds to your favourite guitar amp. Plus, it has a built-in overdrive pedal too!
Mr Kittycastermusic aka Howard Gee almost vanished from the pedal scene after leaving Catalinbread. But is a new fuzz pedal in thew works? Are we witnessing the birth of a new pedal company?
Back for a final limited run of 250 units, one of the most sought-after pedals around is back. Miss out on the last Black or Gold editions? Here is a last chance to grab a limited edition version.
Need some suggestions for Christmas gifts or stocking fillers for the plucker in your house? Here are our Top 10 gift ideas for guitarists - and you won't need to break the bank to buy any of these!
The new Mark Five: 25 1x10 combo is Mesa/Boogie's way of condensing its flagship combo yet retaining all the classic tube tone you would expect from a Mk V amp.
Due out early 2020, these two new Leslie simulator micro pedals from Neo Instruments are based on the classic Leslie 122 rotary speaker and the Fender Vibratone. And they sound pretty juicy, too.
Delay pedal fans: Not getting enough mojo from your digital delay? J Rockett Audio's APE gives you that old Echoplex EP3 preamp tone, adding a classic preamp sound to your existing delay.
ThorpyFX has just announced the new Camoflange analogue flanger effect pedal. Designed by Adrian Thorpe and Dan Coggins of Lovetone fame, this analogue flanger looks pretty darn sweet.
The Tetanuscaster is a guitar made from used nails pulled from old pallets. Yes, you might well need your shots refreshed before you pick out riffs on this one. Cracking build video!
The Orange Crush Acoustic 30 packs plenty of features into its compact form factor. Two channels, effects and battery power option will make this an attractive one for buskers.
The Old Blood Noise Endeavors Minim is the successor to the Rêver, combining a reverse effect, a reverb and a modulated delay in one device for a spherical, textural multi-effect.
Has Mesa Boogie missed the mark with its new CabClone IR and CabClone IR Plus cabinet simulation pedals? The quality looks to be there, but are these boxes missing a trick in terms of flexibility?
Godin reissues its Radiator 20 years after its release in 1999 and giving it a thorough overhaul along the way. If the price is right, this could be one to watch for 2019 and beyond.
Joe Bonamassa has just announced a new Epiphone Ltd Ed 1960 Les Paul Standard 'Norm Burst' signature model, to add to his already huge list of signature instruments.
HOT
Boutique pedal companies around the world have released a series of blacked out limited edition models, following on from the huge social media campaign earlier this week. This is so cool.
The new Carvin MACH100 crams a 100-Watt stereo amp into a pocket-sized pedal. Is this the perfect backup for gigging guitarists nervous that their old tube amp might pack up during a live show?