Solid Cables
Dynamic Arc Ultra
Looking for a guitar cable that doesn’t fall apart after a few months? Solid Cables say they have an answer. They bill their Dynamic Arc Ultra as the world’s toughest guitar cord, designed to be “extremely rugged, gig friendly, abuse proof” and offer “exceptional tone.” Solid Cables also say the Ultra can pull an object weighing up to 10,000 pounds without breaking!
Victoria Amplifier Co.
Electro King
Naperville’s Victoria Amplifier Company’s new amp, the Electro King, was a labor of love re-creation of the 1950s-era Gibson GA-40. The Eisenhower-era cathode-based 6V6 tubes supply a modest 15 watts of power, which make it suited for small-club and recording environments.
Digidesign
Mbox 2 Micro
In their aim to imbed a ProTools software chip in the back of every musician’s neck, Digidesign’s USB flash drive-sized Mbox 2 Micro shows they’re serious about making music tools in increasingly smaller recording packages until they’re the size of dust mites.
APPLE
MacBook Air
Mac fanatics have been anticipating a sub notebook that would match the specs of mini-notebook laptops from PC makers Sony, Fujitsu, and Toshiba. They were rewarded last month when Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the MacBook Air, a 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen laptop that weighs three pounds and is about 3/4-inches thick.
Once again it has been an interesting and exciting year for new products and musical gadgets in the world of “Gear.” Here’s our list of 2007’s best stuff.
1. Alesis
iMultiMix 8 USB
(May) We’re fans of new music products that yolk old-school design with new technologies, and Alesis‘ MultiMix series with iPod connectivity (spearheaded by the ingenious iMultiMix 8 USB) fits the bill.
GIBSON
Les Paul Robot Guitar
A friend once told me he couldn’t attend shows at a certain Chicago venue because the bands that generally played there “couldn’t tune their damn guitars.” The Gibson Les Paul Robot could change that.
CHEVROLET
2008 Express Series Cargo Van
We spend alot of time talking about new music equipment in this column, yet in eight years writing “Gear,” we’ve never discussed how to haul it around.
APPlE. Inc
iMac
Somewhat lost among the hoopla of the iPhone and the new-generation iPods, Apple Computer “quietly” introduced its newest iMac last month.
Crate
V-Series Tube Amplifiers
Crate have come a long way from their humble beginnings in the late ’70s, and their acclaimed and newly freshened V-Series tube amplifier series is a prime example of their progress.
DigiTech
Vocalist Live 2
DigiTech’s Vocalist Live 2 harmonizer aims to make “chipmunk” harmonies a thing of the past by employing musIQ technology, which reproduces multi-part harmony by analyzing guitar chords.
Fender
Electracoustic Series Guitar
After seven years of the status quo, Fender have redesigned their Electracoustic Series.
TASCAM
MP-GT1
Tascam is finally shipping its MP-GT1 Guitar Trainer it introduced with much fanfare at the Winter NAMM Show. The company calls it “the first MP3 player designed for musicians.”
ALESIS
iMultiMix 8 USB
Alesis have come up with an impressive addition to their popular MultiMix series, spearheaded by the ingenious iMultiMix 8 USB, which features an iPod mounting dock that records directly to any second-through-fifth generation iPod.
In honor of International Guitar Month, “Gear” takes a look at some of the newest guitar pedals hitting the market in 2007.
“Gear†will run as a web-only column this month, but will return to print next month.
SOURCE AUDIO
Hot Hand
Source Audio’s wireless guitar-effect system is a unique ring-controlled unit that communicates with a floor pedal to create weirdness previously only heard in a recording studio setting.
