Better guitar tone with boutique acrylic plectrums?

Part two of Jef's Guitar Tone Tips: Ever tried experimenting with thicker plectrums to see how different materials affect your tone? Jef says: you should be...

Top 5 Guitars of 2018 by Fender, PRS, Ibanez, Reverend and Lucem

What a year it's been for guitars - so difficult to choose the 5 best! We had a go anyway: here are Jef's Top 5 guitars of 2018, chosen for their unique properties and interesting designs.

Improve your guitar fretboard with Jef’s secret walnut trick!

Christmas is here and many guitarists will have walnuts lying around the house. Jef explains how to use a walnut to give your rosewood or ebony fretboard to a healthy, lustrous sheen!

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: YouTube guitar medley celebrates 20th Anniversary

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is 20 years old! To celebrate this computer game milestone, guitarist and YouTuber Gerry Trevino has turned the game score into a guitar medley.

Ceramic vs. Alnico: Which pickups sound better?

It's one of the oldest controversies in the guitar world: Ceramic vs. Alnico. Many players believe that Alnico is "warmer", whereas Ceramic sounds "colder". True? All is finally revealed...

Guitar sustain: Do heavier guitars really sustain for longer?

Heavier guitars sustain for longer - don't they? Or is this one of the biggest myths about electric guitar? YouTuber Darrell Braun has made a little video to help you decide if it's true - or not.

YouTuber Davie504 crams 40 years of video games into 2 minutes!

This young many has taken iconic songs and themes from 40 years of video game history, interpreted them on the bass and crammed them all into this two-minute YouTube video!

Amp Tone Shoot-Out: 17 different guitar preamps compared

Johan Segeborn is at it again! This time he is comparing 17 different preamp valves in his old Marshall amp - and the differences in sound are astounding. But which one sounds the best?

KT66 vs. EL34 Tube Shoot-Out: Can you hear the difference?

We do love us a good guitar tone shoot-out at gearnews. YouTuber Johan Segeborn has done a neat little video contrasting the sound of the KT66 tube with that of the EL34. Which do you prefer?

Best free plug-ins this week: aXMeter, dpMeter 3, LuckyWorm, EasyReverb

It's that time of the week again where we take a look at the more interesting freeware releases. We have four - an Ambisonics metering suite, a proficient metering plug-in, a quirky synthesizer, and a reverb!

Jef’s Guitar Tone Tips – Part One ‘The humble plectrum’

When you talk about good tone, it is often said by guitarists, that tone is in the fingers and in this new series I share my own personal tone journey, starting with the humble plectrum

Our Top 5 Semi-Modular Synthesizers

It's been a bumper year for semi-modular synthesizers. Completely capable of being awesome in their own right but with a willingness to get patched into something greater. Here's our pick of the best.

Stupid effect pedal names: Is it all getting a bit tired?

Here we are in 2018, and pedal buyers can choose between Hairy Balls, the Screaming Whore or even the infamous Super Hard On pedal. Is it all getting a little bit out of hand now?

Virtual Guitar Amp Software Round-up Part Two: Positive Grid BIAS Amp 2

The new updated BIAS Amp 2 has many strengths and one of those is its unique component level customisation and now with the option of including some very high-quality Celestion speaker IRs that make it really ...

Virtual Guitar Amp Software Round-up Part One: Line 6 Helix Native

Which virtual amp software should you buy? In this new series, I give my thoughts and opinions on all the major virtual amp packages. First up on my test bench is Line 6' Helix Native software package

Roadie 2 Tuner – The guitarist’s ultimate tool?

Do you suffer from keeping track of guitar tunings, have tuning problems caused by owning multiple guitars or maybe you just love guitar gadgets? Roadie 2 is here to make life easier.

Robin’s Top 3 synthesizers from NAMM 2018

This golden age of synthesizers shows no sign of slowing down and NAMM 2018 had plenty to enthral the enthusiasts. Here are the 3 synths that really made me go all modulated.

Best free plug-ins this week: Bias FX LE, RS-MET ToolChain, One Track Orchestra, HY-TP2

This week, we get a taste of Bias FX with its LE version available as a gift from the peeps at Propellerheads. And a multi-effect processing plug-in for those who like chains... Processing chains, that is.

Top 5 Synthesizers of 2017

Was 2017 a classic year for synthesizers? Which synths captured the imagination, the sonic excitement and hands-on controllability that make for an awesome creative sound machine? Here are my thoughts on that.

Whatever happened to these synths from 2017?

What happened to those synths we got excited about earlier in the year that never appeared? I've dug around to see what's MIA and what might still be coming plus an update on those TR-808 Adidas Trainers.

KLŌS guitar: The ultimate Christmas gift for travel-hungry guitarists?

Need a last-minute Christmas gift for the guitarist in your life that already owns way too many guitars? Get them one of these carbon fibre travel guitars and reap in some serous brownie points.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier vs Line6 Helix: Can you hear the difference?

Take this blind test and see if you can hear the difference between a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and a Line 6 Helix LT.

Best free plug-ins this week: Isol8, Retrox, Ambient Reverb 4

Want to check out some free plug-ins released this week? We have a brand new monitoring tool, a cool little synth rompler, and an interesting reverb to show you. Let's have a look!

Top 5 audio interfaces by Focusrite, Roland, UAD, Presonus, Antelope

With a single exception, our selection includes only products announced and launched (or soon to be released) in 2017. They are spread in five price categories from entry-level to high end pro.