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.
During NAMM 2017, we met up with Andrew Yeghiazarian of Catalinbread to get a peek at what the pedal purveyors are putting out in 2017. In addition to the new Fn55 providing hot-rodded tweed tone, the popular Belle Epoch delay is getting two siblings in the Belle Epoch Pre and Belle Epoch Deluxe! Small but incredibly mighty, […]
We stopped in at Korg’s booth during NAMM 2017 and got a one-on-one tutorial on the Korg Monologue and volca kick from Nick Kwas of Korg USA. In the video above, Nick walks us through making a beat on both synths, and highlights some awesome features like the Monologue’s key trigger and hold functions, and the […]
There was a lot to see at NAMM 2017. Like, a ton. Thankfully, we’ve boiled this year’s NAMM show down to its sweet essence, bringing you our top picks from the show. These are, in no particular order, the instruments and gear we’re most looking forward to seeing more of in 2017 and beyond. And if […]
With NAMM fast approaching, the rumor mill and teaser train are running at full speed and musicians are buzzing about what might get shown at NAMM and what already has been announced. We’ve compiled all that we’ve found out so far into this handy guide, organized alphabetically for your convenience. Check it out and be sure […]
Update: This mystery guitar was unveiled some months after publication to be the Gibson Modern DC, produced by the Gibson Custom Shop. One cool feature we didn’t realize at the time is that the Modern DC features a neck volute — this technically not-so-modern feature helps prevent the headstock from snapping off the neck. Still, […]
A guitar familiar to anyone who has seen Nirvana’s famous 1993 MTV Unplugged session is in the middle of a nasty ownership battle, and its fate could be determined in court. A 1959 Martin D-18E which once belonged to Kurt Cobain is currently in the possession of Isaiah Silva, the estranged husband of Cobain’s daughter, Frances Bean. […]
To close out 2016, we’re taking a look at some of the gear we think made a big impact among musicians this year. We’re not saying this gear was the “best” of the year, but whether they intrigued us personally or stirred up a bunch of discussion on forums and Facebook groups, this gear definitely made […]
When it comes to tuner pedals, most guitarists agree that the absolute most important quality is accuracy. If you can’t trust your tuner, you have nothing. Thankfully, just about any tuner you find today is going to be accurate to a degree of under 1 cent. That’s pretty darn precise — for reference, there are 100 cents between each half-step, […]
If you stumbled upon the Velcro Lewis Group online, perhaps through their single “Bernadette,” which was featured on an episode of Showtime’s Shameless, and assumed they were a lost relic of a band from 40 years ago chosen by a music director steeped in rock ‘n’ roll gems, it would be hard to blame you. But listen closer and […]