After Gibson purchased Epiphone in 1957, nearly every Gibson guitar had an Epiphone equivalent. Until Epiphone became an import brand in the 1970s, all Epiphone guitars were made by the same Gibson employees at the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Riviera was the Epiphone counterpart to the Gibson ES-335, but while the ES-335s were […]
With the recently released SC-13E, Martin proves that they can push technological boundaries while maintaining a rich legacy. Constructed with a solid Sitka spruce top and attractive koa back and sides, the SC-13E fuses the genuine Martin acoustic sound with modern playability and features — expanding what you thought you could do on a traditional […]
Cast forth directly from the palms of powerful tone sorcerer Jamie Stillman comes the third age of Afterneath! The EarthQuaker Devices Afterneath was a darling of NAMM 2020 with a third pedal version being announced, along with a potent Eurorack module. Stillman recounts crafting the rack module and stumbling upon a rather interesting feature, “Drag.” […]
In our demo video, we review the features of the Chameleon Labs 7721 VCA compressor, then put it through its paces on drum submixes and stereo mixes. Grab your headphones (or turn up your studio monitor speakers) and hear how the 7721 adds punch, loudness, and acoustic “glue” — resulting in tracks that sound tighter, […]
In the early 1960s, a well-known car designer by the name of Ray Dietrich retired to Kalamazoo, Michigan. He had done some styling work in the auto industry for manufacturers like Packard and Lincoln as well as designing some custom luxury vehicles. Soon after he had moved to Kalamazoo, Ted McCarty, then president of Gibson, […]
If you had to name just a few guitar players who reinvented the electric guitar, nay, created a whole new school of guitar itself, then Eddie Van Halen would be an obvious choice. Instantly recognizable, his style and sound became forever synonymous with shred guitar as we know it today. Some even say that without […]
Serve up classic “bi-amped” bass tone, without a van full of gear! The Orange Bass Butler splits your signal in two — with one end handling clean, fat low end, and the other emulating a guitar amp, tackling mids and top-end, while adding just the right amount of gain. The result is a finely tuned, […]
Victory designs amps with modern versatility that sound like vintage classics. We put three of their top varieties to the test here at zZounds. Listen to the video above to hear The Duchess, The Countess, and The Kraken in action for yourself! Plus, shop our guide on zZounds to see even more Victory Amps! All […]
Matthews Effects makes some truly unique pedals with designs that cater to the player who craves versatility on stage. We put their current roster of five pedals to the test — check out our video demos below to hear what these Matthews Effects pedals can do! Shop All Matthews Effects → The Architect V3 Overdrive/Boost […]