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Why Semi-Acoustic Guitars Rock

Why Semi-Acoustic Guitars Rock
Is there really something special about them? Does it actually matter, when you have two pickups directly sensing the vibration of metal ...

Rhythm Guitar and Other Reggae Secrets

Rhythm Guitar and Other Reggae Secrets
Whilst, through history, there’s been a tendency for some musicians to look down on reggae, the style remains one of the most difficult fo...

The Rise of the Guitar Effects Rack

The Rise of the Guitar Effects Rack
Watch an old live rock performance from the 1970s, and in the backline you’ll see amps. Just amps; no effects. Right up until the end of t...

UK Punk Guitar: A Style Defined

UK Punk Guitar: A Style Defined
Whether or not punk rock’s guitar style had a definite beginning is open to lively debate. And for good reason. The punk genre might have ...

Those Who Can’t… Confessions of a Private Music Tutor

Those Who Can’t… Confessions of a Private Music Tutor
Before the market for music tuition was revolutionised by free options online, it was possible for many local and decidedly average musici...

Shadow MIDI Guitar Synthesis in the 1980s

Shadow MIDI Guitar Synthesis in the 1980s

The Aria APE-2 – The First Guitar Multi-FX?

The Aria APE-2 – The First Guitar Multi-FX?
Let me start with a question… What was the first integrated, programmable multi-effects unit for the guitar?… Easy: it was the Boss ME-5 ...

Welcome to Planet Botch

Welcome to Planet Botch
The Vintage Ultima is one of the Virtual musical instruments made for the VST environment by Planet Botch. Planet Botch is a blog/websit...

The Boss MZ-2 Digital Metalizer

The Boss MZ-2 Digital Metalizer
Original UK ad for the Boss Digital Metalizer (early 1988). "Putting the Metal to the Pedal!". The late 1980s couldn’t be accuse...

Marlin Sidewinder - The Forgotten Legend

Marlin Sidewinder - The Forgotten Legend
Take a middle-aged UK guitarist on a trip back to the summer of 1986 for a look at the popular equipment of the time, and chances are their ...

Stomp King Guitar Amp Free VST Plugin

Stomp King Guitar Amp Free VST Plugin
The Stomp King SK-5 GuitarAmp is a belter of an all-in-one guitar amp simulator for the VST environment. This blazing hot virtual pedal h...

Stomp King SK-4 Anacho VST Analog Delay

Stomp King SK-4 Anacho VST Analog Delay
The Stomp King Anacho is a departure from the boredom of clinical and precise digital delays. Instead, it takes your echo sound back to t...

Stomp King SK-3 F-Cycle VST Effect

Stomp King SK-3 F-Cycle VST Effect
The Stomp King F-Cycle is a hybrid effect which sits somewhere between a phase-shifter and an analogue type filter. Indeed, the ‘F’ in F-...

Mid 1960s Vox AC30 Guitar Amp

Mid 1960s Vox AC30 Guitar Amp
This model of amp has an extensive history with eminent stars of rock, pop and other modern music. Many guitarists say they first learned ...
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Remember This Lot?

1980s Guitarist Magazines Malmsteen? Sickened by Vinnie Moore? Surely not?... Let's re-live the full, gossip-filled story of the UK guitar press, circa 1980s and 1990s. Nostalgia galore in The Rise of the British Guitar Magazine... Read article...

The Vintage Reissue Story

Vintage Reissue A trip back through time to discover how the vintage guitar market started, and when the vintage reissue concept was born... Read article...

Guitar Pickup Calibration

Guitar pickups What is pickup calibration, and do we really need it? ... Read article...

The Birth of the Relic

Fender Stratocaster Relic in Sea Foam Green The back-story behind Fender's Relic concept, from underground to mainstream... Read article...

Hidden Secret of the Fender Esquire

Fender Esquire in Butterscotch Blonde An article begins with the question of why a single-pickup Fender Esquire has a pickup selector., and ends with a profound secret from Fender history.. Read article...

Get Great Tone With Poor Pickups

Guitar strings Some long lost secrets from electric guitar string history, that explain why '70s guitarist got great tone with poor pickups... Read article...

Confusing History of Olympic White

Olympic White guitars Was Olympic White actually white, or cream? And what was "Vintage White"?... Here's an end to the confusion... Read article...

The Classic '80s Yamaha DX Synths

Vintage Reissue They put session musicians out of business, from bassists to harmonica players. Here's the story of the synths that changed the way music was made.. Read article...

Telecasters of the Late 1960s

Paisley Telecaster Fender didn't anticipate the 'Hendrix Effect', and opted to make the late 1960s all about the Telecaster. Here's how they pumped their innovation budget into the Tele, only to discover the world wanted Strats after all... Read article...

Free Tonewheel Organ VSTi

The Seductress tonewheel organ VSTi Direct download for this classic tonewheel organ simulator with built-in dual-spin rotor and twin-manual drawbar control - all splittable across a single input keyboard... Download page...

Stratocasters in the 1970s

1970s Stratocaster Firemist Gold Were 1970s Fender Strats good, bad or ugly? Here's an article that separates the truths from the myths... Read article...