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The Latest Breaking News from Phil Barker

"It becomes very hard to put this guitar down": Strandberg Boden N2 Standard review

The next generation of the Swedish firm's headless guitar design has arrived; is this the guitar to finally convince the cynics to try one out?

MusicRadar

“John Lennon’s 12-string has a similar trebly edge to it… this guitar passes the ‘Fab Four’ test”: Framus Hootenanny 12-string and 6-string review

John Lennon famously used a Framus 12-string acoustic with the Beatles, and 60 years later the company has reissued the model in all its fab finery – and it comes with a little help from a friend!

Guitar World

“The guy in the support band was playing a Jazz Bass. We agreed to swap instruments… That guy was Ian Hunter who went on to form Mott the Hoople”: Leo Lyons on the bass that appeared at Woodstock, has been played by Hendrix, and is on three UFO classics

The Ten Years After bassist’s 1962 Fender Jazz Bass is one of the coolest four-strings you will ever see, with buckle rash on the back that any Fender Master Builder would kill to recreate

Guitar World

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“The pickups on that old Univox were amazing. It really makes you wonder about the Japanese guitars produced backthen. They weren’t so bad at all”: How Vintage’s REVO range breathed new life into the oddball electric

Just back from a long stint in China where he oversees the design and production of Vintage guitars, Alan Entwistle delves into what makes REVO that little bit different

Guitar World

“Considerably less money than going down even the light-relic route in the Fender Custom Shop”: Fender American Ultra Luxe Vintage ’50s Telecaster and ’60s Strat HSS review

This latest wave of Fender’s American Ultra models continues to cater for the modern player but with an old-looking vintagevibe. We just can’t escape the past!

Guitar World

“The scrutiny we were under lent itself to the atmosphere of the record. We really had to come out swinging”: Jake Kiszka and Chris Turpin on conjuring old-school guitar magic for Mirador’s debut – and the difference between US and UK guitar players

The Greta Van Fleet x Ida Mae collab is a 21st-century exercise in rock classicism, bringing the ancient and the modern together, using high volume to bind, and to relieve some of the pressure, too

Guitar World

“You get emails saying they’d like to try a guitar and you think, ‘It’s not going to be THAT Audley Freed, is it?… Then the penny drops”: How Ivison Guitars became Britain’s hottest high-end brand

With new staff, in-house pickups and the continuing success of the Dakota, there’s plenty to discuss. We grab Neil Ivison for a quick chat

Guitar World

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“There isn’t a bad sound in the RT-2, and this thing has real mojo”: Boss RT-2 Rotary Ensemble pedal review

Boss attempts to take everything that made the RT-20 great, and shrink it to a third of its size

Guitar World

“Proof that semi-hollows can rock as hard as the clichés, even if they are bedecked with gold”: Gretsch Professional Broadkaster LX review

The Broadkaster is back on the air, this time with a number of modernized features to make this a contemporary, high-performance semi-hollow rocker

Guitar World

“Something a little different, with vibey anddiverse sounds for not a lot of money”: Vintage REVO Galactica and Astrostar review

Revisiting guitars of yesteryear, the REVO models continue to move Vintage away from slavish repros to inspired retro champions for not a lot of money. Let’s hop in that time machine and take a look

Guitar World

“It might not be to all tastes, but its retro charm and sonic potential are compelling indeed”: Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster Bass review

Squier reissues an oddity from Fender's bass archives, complete with a Wide Range humbucker – is this its time?

Guitar World

“When you strip it down tothe essentials, I believe it mostly comes down to the wood and the strings”: Why do some guitars sustain better than others? It’s complicated

With some help from Banker Guitars’ Matt Hughes and SonoTone Strings’ PK Pandy, we unpack the mysteries of sustain – and why it differs from resonance and volume

Guitar World

“The first thing that springs to mind is the value for money when compared with their Gibson forebears”: Epiphone Pre-War SJ-200 Rosewood Reissue, 1960 Hummingbird Reissue and 1963 Dove Reissue review

Following on from the superb Epiphone Inspired By Gibson Custom instruments that wowed us, we look at have three from asextet of new historic reissues. Expectations are high...

Guitar World

“I started out on a Baby Taylor, but I coveted Martins because that’s what all my favorite guitar players had”: Molly Tuttle on her new kick-ass band, her jaw-dropping custom Martin – and why she’s taking her sound beyond bluegrass

With a diverse new album full of amazing playing, there are changes afoot for the Grammy Award-winning acoustic-guitar virtuoso as she takesafew steps away fromher bluegrass roots

Guitar World

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MusicRadar

"They may be the spiritual successor to Sony’s Scheps-approved mixing cans, but they tread their own path": Sony MDR-M1 review

Sony’s new studio cans nod to the legendary MDR-7506, swapping forensic mids for balance you can wear all day

Guitar World

“Though this 15W combo is technically advertised as a practice amp, it can churn out some serious sonic damage”: EVH 5150 Iconic Series 15-watt 1x10 Combo review

This may be the smallest amp in the Iconic series, but it sure packs plenty of firepower

Guitar World

“A very clever original design, albeit one that could easily have come out of the Gibson factory in the early ’60s. That’s not easy to do”: Ivison Dakota Standard review

Used by big names such as Richard Fortus and Audley Freed, and made in the UK, Ivisonguitars recall the lost art of the ‘goldenera’ but in very original dress

Guitar World

“It might be a slightly different hue, sonically speaking, but the build and sound quality is all there”: Taylor Builder's Edition 514ce Kona Burst review

We take a look at the new Builder’s Edition 514ce to examine its upgrades and refinements. A worthy alternative? Let’s take a look

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MusicRadar

"For a player who sits in the crossover between vintage tone and modern playability, it’s hard to imagine a guitar more perfectly suited": Fender American Ultra Luxe Vintage '60s Stratocaster review

Fender introduces the American Ultra Luxe Vintage, aiming to bring the playability of the Ultra II line to a player who prefers the aesthetic and tone of a more traditional character

Guitar World

“Some purists will find the mix of vintage and Ultra spec sacrilegious, but working players will have waited for a Tele exactly like this”: Fender Ultra Luxe Vintage ’60s Telecaster Custom review

Fender's new high-end range is lightly aged and heavily priced

Guitar World

“Three guitars with pretty much the same sonic range: which is best? Well, that could lead to quite a discussion”: PRS Special Semi-Hollow, S2 Special Semi-Hollow and SE Special Semi-Hollow review

Along with its 40th Anniversary specials, PRS is cranking out the new releases, including three-pickup Special Semi-Hollow models in the S2and SE line. We compare them with the Core version

Guitar World

“With our in-house pickups, we’ve now got real control of how our guitars sound”: PJD Guitars founder Leigh Dovey on the evolution of the UK’s most exciting electric guitar brand

The return of one of our favourite PJD models and a decade and a half of UK guitar-making needs a bit of a celebration. We pop a cork with PJD’s founder, Leigh Dovey

Guitar World

“The Core preserves much of what made the original Expander such a useful tool”: Boss WAZA Tube Amp Expander Core review

The Boss Tube Amp Expander – can the full quart fit into a pint-size box?

Guitar World

“A Katana killer? The jury’s still out, but one thing’s for sure – this is a great addition to the ID range”: Blackstar ID:X 50 review

Blackstar is gunning for the Katana crown and has launched a new modeling amp that it thinks will be worthy of the title

Guitar World

“From the simplest reverb to complex shifting ambiences, there’s something here for everyone”: Electro-Harmonix Oceans Abyss review

Electro-Harmonix releases its most ambitious reverb pedal to date – and it goes way beyond ’verb to offer myriad sound-sculpting opportunities

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