Meet The Makers 45
Gibson CEO James Curleigh on Running an Iconic Brand
This year at Summer NAMM, the zZounds Crew got the chance to speak with James “JC” Curleigh, the recently appointed CEO of Gibson Brands. In our video interview, above, you can hear Curleigh’s vision for the future of Gibson guitars, and his thoughts on running a globally recognized brand. Of course, JC has experience on […]
Fender Tone Master Amps: The Cutting Edge of Timeless Tone
If Fender’s new Tone Master Twin and Deluxe Reverb amps only sounded exactly like their tube counterparts, it wouldn’t be enough. That’s because Fender engineers designed these amps to behave exactly the same, too. Three years of hard work designing, programming and engineering has resulted in two amps with circuit topologies that replicate the same […]
Fender Pedals: Behind The Design
At this year’s Summer NAMM show, Stan Cotey, Fender’s Vice President of Product Development, looked at 21 pedals lined up in a neat row inside the Fender booth and smiled. None of these existed about 20 months prior, and designing them was a labor of love. Fender wanted a new line of pedals that set […]
Interview with Adrian Thorpe of Thorpy FX
Housed in distinctly rugged metal bodies, there’s no mistaking the look of Thorpy FX pedals. Their formidable design and tone is the brainchild of Adrian Thorpe, the company’s founder and a pedal designer since the early 2000s. We had a chat with Adrian to talk about the history of his pedals, his background as an […]
Behind The Design: Fender American Acoustasonic Telecaster
At first glance, the American Acoustasonic Telecaster doesn’t look like an acoustic guitar. It doesn’t look like a traditional Tele, either. That’s because it’s neither…but it does take a little of both, mixing traditional acoustic resonance with electric feel and digital modeling to make something new… But, it doesn’t look like one of those futuristic, […]
Behind the Design: Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan (the company) has been producing top-tier pickups since 1976, but Seymour Duncan (the man) got his start in the late ’60s wiring pickups for the likes of Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page, and working with Seth Lover (the inventor of the humbucker) as a mentor. Seymour Duncan guitar and bass pickups […]
D’Angelico Solidbody Series
We traveled out to New York City to visit the D’Angelico showroom and got the inside scoop on the solidbody series from our pal Jimmy Lovinggood (yes, that’s his real name). Check out our exclusive video and see for yourself why the D’Angelico Bedford, Atlantic and Ludlow are some of the most interesting and refreshing […]
Origins of Fuzz with Mike Matthews of Electro-Harmonix
Founded in 1968 when the now legendary Mike Matthews quit his day job as an electrical engineer at IBM to build fuzz pedals, Electro-Harmonix has since become one of the most influential brands in effects pedals — and music in general. Their flagship pedal, the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, has seen countless iterations — and has […]
Brian and Scott Ball on the 2018 StingRay Bass
Music Man’s 2018 incarnation of the venerable StingRay Bass incorporates the best of the instrument’s legacy and adds stunning new features, like a powerful 18-volt active preamp for ultra-high clean headroom and some extra beef in the low end. The humbucking pickups have also been upgraded with neodymium magnets for increased output. And thanks to the […]
