During the Covid pandemic, musicians often responded to the crisis by turning inward and scaling down. For example, Matthew Stevens, guitarist for Esperanza Spalding, made the album Pittsburgh on a 1950s Martin 00-17 with no overdubs. Renowned pianist Brad Mehldau, holed up in Amsterdam, offered Suite: April 2020, a collection of short, intimate solo pieces. And Christie Lenée, award-winning fingerstyle acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter, took stock of her artistic journey in a cabin on Lake Lure, near her home in Asheville, North Carolina. But the results were not what you might expec ..read more

The Godin Session T-Pro starts with the versatility of the Session HT, and adds boutique-quality features. This guitar offers an H-S-S pickup configuration made up of Seymour Duncan SSL-2s single coils at the neck and middle positions, plus a Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Humbucker at the bridge. The SSL-2s use flat pole pieces for superior string balance and a full, rich bottom end. The Saturday Night Special features Alnico 4 magnets for a tone that is beefy and full, and can be converted to a single coil via a push-pull, for an S-S-S configuration. The middle SSL-2 is pole-revers ..read more

Tonewoods absolutely matter when it comes to acoustic guitars, right? But how much difference does the wood actually make? If you’ve tried out different guitars made from different woods by different vendors, then are you only hearing the woods? Or are you hearing the shape? The body size? The bracing? Or maybe other differences in the design and construction? Could you ever tell the difference between guitars from the sound of their tonewoods alone? That question has puzzled us, too — for years. Sweetwater reached out to Breedlove Guitars to try and answer these questions by doing somethin ..read more

PRS Guitars and John Mayer announce two updates to the popular PRS SE Silver Sky model: a maple fretboard version and the first color refresh on the rosewood-equipped model since its introduction in January 2022. The specifications of the SE Silver Sky Maple are all the same as its rosewood-appointed predecessor, except for the fretboard wood and colors. The PRS SE Silver Sky comes in a unique color palette: Nylon Blue, Overland Gray, and Summit Purple. ​“Adding a maple fretboard option to the PRS SE Silver Sky lineup is an exciting expansion for this guitar. Players have always enjoyed ha ..read more

Queens of the Stone Age will kick off their North American tour on August 3rd in Sterling Heights, MI. Queens of The Stone Age and Citi pre-sales begin Tuesday, June 6th at 10am local time, with public on-sale following Friday June 9th, 10am local time. The east coast leg of the tour will feature support from Phantogram and The Armed. Viagra Boys and Jehnny Beth will support on the mid-west and west coast dates. The End Is Nero tour is an invitation from Joshua Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore to come celebrate the end of the world, which we hear is ..read more

This is your chance to WIN the Andy Timmons Dual Echo Halo from Keeley Electronics. Enter by June 20, 2023. Keeley Electronics Halo Giveaway Keeley Halo Andy Timmons Dual Echo Pedal Andy Timmons’ mysterious sounding “Halo” effect is a modulated dual echo sound that has long been kept a secret by the tone wizard himself. Andy spent decades combining and crafting the sounds you can now get from the HALO. Notes from the HALO dance rhythmically, almost creating a reverb diffusion. Those notes are held together with tape-style effects like modulation, saturation and compression. The results are ..read more

Los Angeles-born guitar ace Nita Strauss recently announced her brand new album The Call of the The Void, out July 7 via Sumerian Records. "'Victorious' is the anthem I always wanted, a song about inspiring change, marching forward relentlessly, being willing to save yourself instead of waiting for someone to do it for you, and never backing down from a fight," Strauss shares. "Dorothy was the perfect powerhouse voice and personality to stand and deliver, and knock this one out of the park." NITA STRAUSS - Victorious ft. Dorothy (Official Music Video) Dorothy shares Strauss' enthusiasm fo ..read more

Making a living doing the thing you love is great—in fact, it’s something that so many players aspire to. But it changes the relationship between player and instrument when the instrument is a source of work. How do they stay excited about their work? And how do they get excited when they’re in a lull? What keeps their creativity flowing? These are big questions, but our hosts are both having their own renaissances with their guitars. And—surprise!—it’s because they’ve both come into some new key pieces of gear. Get 10% off from StewMac when you visit stewmac.com/dippedintone On this epi ..read more

The great guitars that Taylor produced in nearly 50 years of existence would probably justify cruising on the back of past successes. But Taylor still seems to genuinely enjoy pushing back against flattop design dogma. They’re very much at ease with the notion that their guitars are alternatives to more traditional fare and perceived in some quarters as “modern” sounding—which in Taylor’s case is generally shorthand for meticulous balance between high, middle, and low registers, immaculate intonation, and easy-on-the-engineer recordability. Taylor’s 417e doesn’t look particularly modern at ..read more

Capos are a simple tool that unlocks the most singular sound a guitar can make—open strings. Don't know where to start or maybe can't figure out what. partial capo does? Let Tom be your guide. What is a Capo?  A capo is a device that changes the tuning of the open strings on your guitar. These devices allow you to raise the pitch of any (or all) of the open strings so you can play in different keys much easier ..read more