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.
zZounds Accessory Look Book: Guitar
Welcome to the zZounds Accessory Look Book! This visual guide shows off some of the most unique, innovative accessories we have to offer. In this edition, we’re taking a look at top guitar accessories that make gigging a breeze for the mobile guitarist (or bassist!) From straps to cables, stands and more, there’s a lot […]
Hall of Fame 2 Gets Fan-Requested Upgrades
TC Electronic has just announced the Hall of Fame 2, their second-generation reverb pedal, and from an early look at the features, it’s clear that the company took the wishes of its customers to heart. Their new Hall of Fame 2 reverb pedal updates one of their most popular models with oft-requested features, like a […]
Jerry Garcia’s “Wolf” Guitar Headed to Auction
A custom guitar nicknamed Wolf and designed for the late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia is headed to auction on May 31, at the Brooklyn Bowl in New York City. The guitar is currently owned by musician and avid Dead Head Daniel Pritzker, who purchased it for $790,000 at auction in 2002. Proceeds from the sale will […]
Is John Mayer Rocking Another Signature PRS?
The blog-o-sphere has been abuzz recently after John Mayer posted a photo on his Instagram from a show in Boston on April 9th. In the pic, John’s wearing a smart long coat with the sleeves rolled up, along with some very comfortable-looking sneakers, perhaps custom Kirklands? A card-carrying #kirkboy, Mayer is a known fan of the Costco kicks […]
Ernie Ball Paradigm Strings: Roundtable Review
We’ve been stoked to try out Ernie Ball’s new Paradigm line of strings ever since we first heard about them at Winter NAMM this year. And after seeing Ernie Ball’s videos featuring guitarists trying to break their Paradigm strings, and explaining the plasma technology behind Paradigm, we got really curious. Thankfully, we didn’t have to […]
Polish up on Fret Maintenance
A lot of guitarists are vigilant about changing strings and adjusting their guitar’s truss rod, action and intonation with a good setup, but there’s something to be said about keeping your gear clean. Everyone has that friend who asks to try out your guitar, then hands it back with the fretboard feeling like it was left […]
Interview with Stuart Spector
When Stuart Spector released the NS-1 bass for the first time in 1977, it was unlike anything the bass world had seen. Up until that point, electric basses were either derivatives of the popular Precision and Jazz styles developed by Fender, or were one of a handful of unique models designed by the likes of […]
PRS Reveals Reclaimed Wood Vela, CE24
When PRS reps visited zZounds HQ a couple of weeks ago, they brought along a new model that had most of the guitarists in the building drooling. The semi-hollow S2 Vela — along with a CE24 model — is part of the “Reclaimed Limited” series just announced by PRS over the weekend. The series of 600 […]
$400 Minimoog Clone? Uli Behringer Shares “D” Synth First Draft
Yesterday, Uli Behringer, founder of the musical instrument manufacturer, hopped on the Gearslutz.com forum and proceeded to drop a bombshell. Behringer analog synthesizers have been fixtures in online rumor mills in the last few years, with the DeepMind recently becoming a reality. Another whisper was that Behringer was developing an analog monosynth “clone” of the Minimoog Model D […]
