News 96
New Gear Report: Novation Circuit
If you visited Novation’s website in the past couple of weeks, you may have seen a teaser image like this: Well, Oct. 1 is here, and so is Circuit. What is Circuit? The literal answer is a comprehensive grid-based synth, drum machine and groovebox all in one. Novation sees it as the answer to musician’s eternal […]
New Gear Report: Moog Mother-32
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 […]
New Gear Report: Dave Smith Instruments Tetra and Novation Launchpad Pro
— Dave Smith Tetra Desktop Synthesizer Dave Smith Instruments jokes that the Tetra is a sort of “mini Prophet.” Years ago, most people would say the idea of a device at this price coming close to recreating the Prophet’s unique polyphonic sound would be out of the question. The Mopho teased the idea of recreating the […]
New Gear Report: PreSonus Studio 192 & Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2
PreSonus Studio 192 USB Audio Interface I see the Studio 192 as PreSonus’ answer to the other hot rackmount audio interfaces coming out this year (see Universal Audio Apollo series; Focusrite Clarett series). Unlike those Thunderbolt interfaces, the Studio 192 is USB 3.0. And man, this thing shoves a LOT of I/O through a USB […]
PRS 30th Anniversary Celebration
30 years is a long time for anything, but especially long in the musical gear industry — a realm where players (cough, guitarists, cough) tend to be quite wary of new brands or products. The fact that Paul Reed Smith Guitars has not only survived, but has actually become known as one of the top guitar manufacturers […]
zZounds & QSC Present Battle of the Bands!
Know a sweet band you want to tell us about? Is that band your own? Together with our partners at QSC, we’re hosting a Battle of the Bands this summer! We’ll be taking submissions from across the country to find our next favorite band, and if yours is chosen, you’ll earn a gargantuan prize package — […]
Happy 100th Birthday, Les!
Today, Les Paul (born Lester William Polsfuss in 1915) would have turned 100 years old — but that’s certainly not to say that he didn’t leave a momentous legacy behind after his 94 years. Guitarists (and many non-guitarists) surely are familiar with his namesake guitar, first produced by Gibson in 1952. From those early “Goldtop” […]
New Gear Report: Epiphone Tony Iommi SG Custom & Numark MixTrack3
Epiphone Tony Iommi SG Custom This isn’t the first signature model for Tony Iommi, the founding guitarist of doom metal pioneers Black Sabbath, but it may be the the most appealing. Iommi’s past signature SGs include a limited-run Gibson Custom Shop model, and a signature version of the Epiphone G-400. But where those models fell on opposite […]
Justin’s Picks: Sandblasted Strat and Wampler Plexi Drive
Fender Limited Edition USA Stratocaster Sandblast This year, Fender has been releasing tons of new limited-edition products, but the Sandblasted Strat is particularly unique. The sandblasting is partly responsible — no two finishes will look and feel the same way. But aside from the finish, this is a solid USA-made guitar with your time-approved specs: […]
