The convenience of a high quality handheld multitrack recording device cannot be understated for the modern day singer/songwriter, content creator, production sound mixer or foley artist.  Imagine if Paul McCartney hadn’t had the ability to rush down to Abbey Road when inspiration struck, quickly picking up a guitar or jumping behind the piano, the in-house engineer hitting record and voila, another Beatles hit captured just in the nick of time! The all too familiar story of songwriters having a melody, rhythm or whole composition just appear in their mind’s ear like dealing in a radio st ..read more

The Jackson American Series has seen the brand pump a considerable amount of effort into filling the gap between the Jackson Pro series import line and their flagship USA Signature, Custom Select, and Custom Shop models. Jackson American Series The American Series Soloist SL3 was the first off the mark, with the American Series Virtuoso following last year. Now in 2024, we have the next installment in the line with the Jackson American Series Soloist SL2MG. Read more gear reviews here. The American Series Soloist SL2MG offers an alternative to the aforementioned SL3 model for players wh ..read more

Guitar strings are a seemingly unexciting prospect, but ask a guitarist and they’ll gush about the strings they’ve been playing since day dot, the balance of their tuning of choice and the gauge of their chosen pack. They’ll tell you about the trade off between uncoated strings and the tone, at least for a fresh set, as well as how the coating has become an essential part of their playing style and feel, all the while retaining clarity, tone and the response of their guitar overall. MarkBass understand that it seems strings are actually an exciting prospect to most! Known worldwide for amplify ..read more

Tom DeLonge is famous for a few guitars that he’s had strung across his shoulders in the last three decades or so. Having been a founding member of blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves, DeLonge has indelibly left his mark on guitar, Fender more recently recognised this with a Seymour Duncan Invader-loaded Stratocaster. While he has a few signature models to his name, there was one that popped up since rejoining blink-182 in 2022: the Starcaster. Tom DeLonge Starcaster The Starcaster is of unique makeup, combining multiple famous designs into one. The Starcaster is an offset, semi-hollow electri ..read more

What would be more useful than the beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones? A studio workhorse, production mainstay and possibly the most comfortable headphone on the market? A limited edition version of their 770 PRO X of course! From microphones to headphones in both the pro audio, gaming and consumer spaces, beyerdynamic are a trusted name in the industry for good reason. They’ve built their company on the back of loyalty from their customers, the loyalty earned from a century of world-class products. 2024 sees 100 years since Eugen Beyer began producing loudspeakers for film palaces. The celebratio ..read more

Gretsch’s popular Jim Dandy series is back and packed with more vintage Americana charm than ever. Inspired by Gretch’s mail-order line of ‘Rex’ student models from the 30s-50s, the Jim Dandy series features plenty of quirky old word charisma and fantastic tone at an incredibly affordable price. Front and centre in this year’s enticing new lineup is a new twist on old favourite, the Deltoluxe Parlor guitar.  Gretsch Deltoluxe Parlor An excellent example of what the Jim Dandy line stands for, the new Deltoluxe Parlor is an exceptionally stylish, functional and affordable instrument that wh ..read more

The Gretsch fan-favourite acoustic series, the Jim Dandy line, has been newly expanded this year to include an exciting new addition; a budget-friendly Dreadnought model. Originally launched in 2006 as the limited-run ‘Americana Series’, Gretsch’s loyal followers have loved these guitars ever since for their affordability, throwback aesthetic and balanced sound. Now, all that same Jim Dandy swagger is available in a bigger, more versatile shell; the body shape to rule them all, the Dreadnought. Gretsch Jim Dandy Gretsch have become ever more competitive in the acoustic world of late thanks to ..read more

The roots of the Gretsch Musical Instrument Company can be traced way back to 1883 when  German immigrant Friedrich Gretsch set up shop in New York shortly after his arrival to the United States.  The following years saw Friedrich develop quite a reputation for producing high-quality musical instruments including Banjos, Drums and Tambourines, a craft he continued to perfect until he passed away in 1895. After acquiring the company in 1916, his son Fred Gretsch Sr. upscaled the business and ramped up production. This led to Gretsch becoming one of the prominent manufacturers of elect ..read more

Alesis has once again bridged the gap between electronic and acoustic drumming. The rhythmic powerhouse ascends back to the top of the electronic instrument industry with 2024’s Strataprime, an electronic drum kit promising to knock the socks off any percussionist ready to take it on. Alesis as a group has been igniting the electronics industry since the 80s, with recent models of drumkit such as the Nitro Max setting the standard for the field… but the battle between acoustic and electronic is as old as time (or at least the late 80s!) Never has an electronic kit claimed to have gotten quite ..read more

If you’ve seen more than 30 seconds of Ed Sheeran performance footage, you’ll know that he is a master of looper pedals; a “Super Looper”, if you will. In 2017 Sheeran was forced to defend himself against sceptical fans who saw him adjusting his microphone while the strumming of his acoustic guitar continued to play in the background, accusing him of “miming” and playing to a backing track. Sheeran explained via Twitter, now X, that “… everything I do in my live show is live, it’s a loop station, not a backing track.” Ed Sheeran Looper + The thing I respect most about loopers is that they enco ..read more