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.
Year of the Supercharged Guitar: Fender American Elite Series
We’re always looking for trends at the NAMM show and this year there were quite a few. The rebirth of analog synthesizers may just have reached its peak this year with Korg’s Minilogue and Arturia’s MatrixBrute making big sawtooth waves at the show. Another thing we noticed: 2016 is shaping up to be a great […]
Jimmy Page and Les Paul “Black Beauty” Reunited?
It looks as though Jimmy Page will get to join Peter Frampton, B.B. King, George Harrison, Bob Seger, Zakk Wylde and other guitarists who have lost and later recovered iconic axes. Page’s guitar, a 1960 Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty”, was stolen in 1970 while Led Zeppelin were on tour in the months leading up to Led Zeppelin […]
Interview With Summering
Building layered songs out of equal parts grunge, post-rock, and psychedelic materials, Vancouver’s Summering is best enjoyed when you have time set aside to listen. Each track on the band’s debut album S/T takes its time developing into a lo-fi aural scene awash in reverb and echoes. Singer Paul Stewart’s voice sits at the top of it all — […]
Fret-King’s Trev Wilkinson
Whether or not you’re familiar with Trev Wilkinson’s name, you’ve likely encountered his work in a guitar or bass you’ve played at some point. Whether it was a Wilkinson tremolo system, a Roller Nut, or a set of his pickups, Wilkinson has left his mark on the guitar industry as a prolific and innovative designer of […]
The 16 Coolest Things We Saw at Winter NAMM 2016
Our crew is back from NAMM 2016 and still buzzing from all the awesome stuff we saw. There were so many photos from our coverage of the show that we wanted to condense it all into the best of the best. So here (in no particular order) are the 16 coolest things we saw at NAMM […]
Boss MT-2: 25 Years in the Metal Zone
We’ve just come out with an All-Star Gear list at zZounds of our customers’ favorite pedals, and at the top of the heap is the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone, rated at 5 stars with over 750 reviews! Reading some of our customers’ reviews on this definitive distortion pedal brought on a wave of nostalgia, and now, […]
Our Top Blog Posts of 2015
Here at the zZounds HQ, we’ve all been taking a look back on 2015, and one of the big highlights of the year has been the zZounds Blog. We launched in May, and have been steadily growing ever since. So, here’s a look back at our 10 most-viewed posts from our first year (or rather, […]
Interview with Paul Reed Smith
Few names are as important to guitarists as Paul Reed Smith. The man behind the brand has become a living legend to players in his 30 brief years since starting the company. We flew out to Maryland to tour the PRS factory and speak with Paul himself. Check out the video above for some of Paul’s insights on […]
Fuchs Full House 50 Demo
We recently got a Fuchs Full House 50 shipped to our offices and couldn’t wait to try our hands at it! Not too long ago ,zZounds started carrying the boutique builder’s line of amps and effects pedals, and though we’ve all heard great things about Fuchs amps, no one in our department had ever tried […]
