Mason has played guitar since age 14 and has remained a charmingly amateurish musician ever since. Mason joined zZounds in 2014 and serves as editor of the zZounds Blog, as well as Accessories Merchandiser. Prior to zZounds, he earned a degree in journalism and worked as a newspaper editor and freelance writer. When not writing or editing for zZounds, you can find him playing his Strat, hosting bar trivia, and chasing his toddler around the house.
Big news in the musical industry happened on Thursday as Loud Audio, LLC announced the sale of the Ampeg brand to Yamaha Guitar Group, LLC. Established in 1946, by pianist/bassist Everett Hull and engineer and amp technician Stanley Michaels, Ampeg made its name, quite literally, with a pickup they designed for upright bass named the […]
British amplifier historians may remember or know of the oddball that was Orange’s OMEC — the world’s first digitally programmable amplifier. This solid state amp utilized transistor-transistor logic to emulate the sound of a traditional amp and even let users create and store presets — truly revolutionary stuff back in 1975. A range of OMEC […]
The creative Danes at TC Electronic have just dropped their latest device — the Aeon Handheld Infinite Sustainer. Powered by a 9V battery, Aeon features two custom-made transducers that, when held close to a guitar’s strings “excite” them or cause them to vibrate and make audible noise with infinite sustain. The concept is likely familiar […]
Owning a few key pieces of gear as a DJ can help take your set to the next level, from simplifying set-up times and keeping your gear safely secured, to giving you an advantage in hearing your mix clearly. And you can bring your own ambience and get the crowd going with a selection of […]
UPDATE: Turns out, this pedal is a one-off piece and can be yours if you’re lucky enough to win Walrus Audio’s Giveaway! Check out the instructions in their Instagram post below for your chance to win! Also…we’d like to go on record to say that we — along with several other commenters — were right! […]
The packages that Ernie Ball Slinky strings come in are nearly as recognizable as the artists whose names are listed on the back. This year, Ernie Ball is honoring both with The Colors of Rock ‘N’ Roll campaign that celebrates the legacy of their colorful packaging, and an update to the “Back of the Pack” […]
Ever feel like there’s something unseen beneath the surface? It might be dark, menacing or cruel, but you know it’s down there, and it’s definitely deep. In this video, we check out the Walrus Audio Fathom multi-function reverb. As you’ll see, one of these pedals appeared on the shores of Lake Michigan, calling our name […]
The TR-8S Rhythm Performer remixes Roland’s iconic beat heritage to create their most performance-oriented drum machine yet. Roland has gone beyond recreating iconic drum machine models from their past — on the TR-8S, you can create your ideal drum machine of the future by inserting a SD memory card and importing stereo drum samples which […]
Recently, I got a chance to visit Etymotic Research headquarters in Elk Grove Village, IL to learn about their product development and testing processes, and a bit of company history. While there, I also got a sneak peek at their latest release, the ER3 earphones. Read on and find out why the company lives up […]