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Pete Prown
JHS’ SuperBolt and Morning Glory Pedals
Zep in a Box
Started with a quick repair to a Boss pedal in Josh Scott’s Mississippi apartment, JHS has evolved into a well-regarded and growing boutique pedal company thanks to offerings like their SuperBolt and Morning Glory. The SuperBolt is one of those pedals that tube hounds crave, one that reacts with a good amp rather than smothering
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Pete Prown
Vintage Visionary
The First Golden Age of Ibanez 1973-1982
Thirty-Five years ago, Ibanez was a scrappy upstart guitar company that dared to challenge the big boys at Gibson and Fender. Today, is a dominant force in the guitar universe. • Ibanez was – and still is – a brand of Hoshino, a Japanese company with a U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia. In the mid ’70s,
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Pete Prown
Ibanez Artcore AF105NT
Class Axe
Ibanez has always had two distinct personalities – first as a purveyor of shreddy solidbodies for the hard rock/metal crowd, but also as a maker of fine archtops, thanks to famous users like George Benson, Pat Metheny, and John Scofield. In the ’90s, the company started to brand many of its low-/mid-priced hollowbodies as the
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Pete Prown
Godin
Godin’s 5th Avenue CW Kingpin II and Richmond Dorchester – Funky to Fab
We’re living in a golden age of retro guitars – a period when you can barely turn around without tripping over some cool, vintage-styled plank. Granted, the retro fad has become a bit cliché. But who cares? An avalanche of rose-tinted guitars sure beats the pointy, heavy-metal binge of the ’80s or the bottomless pit
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Pete Prown
Yes
Yes fans have long been waiting for the legendary prog band to deliver a comeback album. Rest assured, this is not it. Even with platinum producer Roy Thomas Baker and a Jon Anderson knock-off on vocals, this soft-pop collection barely resembles Yes’ thundering progressive rock from 40 years ago. Heaven & Earth kicks off with
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Pete Prown
Steve Khan
After a career of close to 40 years, Steve Khan now delivers Subtext, a mesmerizing Latin-jazz offering. But don’t assume that this is just another retro-Bossa album. The compositions, chord work, and improvisations speak to the dark, complex sounds of jazz-rock, a perfect starting point for Khan’s exploratory solos. Unlike the dirty tones of his
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Pete Prown
Egnater Tweaker 40
Small, But Mighty
Egnater Tweaker 40 Price: $1,149 (approx. $800 street). Info: egnater.com Egnater has just amplified its Tweaker line with a new 40-watt, two channel, 1×12 combo. This amp has a Celestion Elite GH-50 speaker in a half-closed, birch-plywood cabinet and weighs a portly 53 pounds – though as many tube enthusiasts know, more weight often adds
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Pete Prown
M-Tone Slipstream
Delicious Curves
M-Tone Slipstream Price: $2,600 Contact: www.m-tone.com When it comes to custom, hand-made guitars, many prefer an instrument that innately reveals the work of its craftsman – the type that, instead of merely being a replica of a famous body shape, can be held and admired for its details. Matt Proctor’s M-Tone Slipstream is a good
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Pete Prown
Misa Kitara
Axe of the Future?
Misa Kitara Price: $789 Info: www.misadigital.com. The guitar synthesizer has been around for more than 30 years and made significant inroads to contemporary music, thanks to fusion heroes like Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Steve Morse, and Allan Holdsworth. The latest wrinkle is the Misa Kitara, which shifts the paradigm. Instead of a
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Pete Prown
Eventide H9
Maximum Effect
Eventide H9 Price: $499 Info: www.eventide.com. Stompbox evolution is getting to the point where huge libraries of sound are coming out of single pedals. You might say, “Well, those are just regular ol’ multi-effects pedals – big deal!” That’s partially true, but the latest twist is that now there are “studio-grade” effects that fit neatly
