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.
Moog’s latest synth, the fully-analog, semi-modular Mother-32, is here! Ideal for synth neophytes, the Mother-32 requires no patching, but has that functionality if desired. Its 32-step sequencer can be instantly shifted in octaves or steps, and there are a slew of tonal and rhythmic adjustments to make via the low- and high-pass ladder filters, attack, decay, pulse […]
Intrigued by Walrus Audio’s lineup of overdrive and distortion pedals, but don’t know which is right for you? We recently conducted a shootout between four of the Oklahoma-based boutique pedal-crafters’ finest: the Voyager Preamp Overdrive, Mayflower Overdrive, Iron Horse Distortion, and Jupiter Fuzz. Check them out in the video above to hear their varying shades of […]
Editor’s note: Victor Baker is no longer working on D’Angelico’s Master Builder guitars, but we’ve kept this interview up because it serves as a look into the intricate craftsmanship that goes into these guitars. It’s a New Yorker made by the hands of a New Yorker in New York. To clarify, that’s a D’Angelico New Yorker archtop […]
I was pretty shocked to discover that Khruangbin is just a little band from Texas. I first discovered their track “A Calf Born in Winter” on Bonobo’s Late Night Tales compilation and was hooked by their gorgeous reverb-sapped guitar tones. When I dug a bit deeper into the band’s catalog and heard their more Daptone-influenced […]
Our friend Adam at Novation recently shared with us some reasons the new Launchpad Pro sets the standard for grid controllers. A few folks in the office already have Launchpad Pros and love them, so we didn’t need any convincing! If you haven’t tried one out yet, read up on what Adam says below, or check out […]
Today, we’re throwing back to our interview last summer with Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen. We discussed the band’s latest album, Like Clockwork, Troy’s chameleonic signature Fender Jazzmaster, and his early, Pre-Queens days in bands like Failure. Speaking of Failure, Troy recently contributed some guitar work on tracks for The Heart is a Monster, released […]
The Tyranny of Distance is the second album from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and it sounds absolutely huge. From the distant, feeding-back guitar that kicks it off, all the way through the ending featuring just Ted and his ES-335, it’s a monumental work. I’ll talk about all that comes in between in a moment, but let’s go […]
This post is part of a “Shure Week” (August 6-13) series celebrating the release of the new MOTIV line of USB and iOS microphones and interfaces. Check with us through the week to learn more about Shure! It’s hard to believe that a company over 90 years old still has some surprises, yet dig into […]
This post is part of a “Shure Week” (August 6-13) series celebrating the release of the new MOTIV line of USB and iOS microphones and interfaces. Check with us through the week to learn more about Shure! You’ve probably heard tales of — or experienced for yourself — the almost-mythic durability and resilience of Shure […]