All Entries in the "Gear" Category

Gear: May 2012

It’s been a few years since “Gear” reported on the new crop of commercial vans that could haul your gear and your bandmates. Since that time, Nissan and Chrysler got in the game. Here’s our wrap-up of this year’s models:
Nissan NV SERIES
Thumbing its nose at the iconic Ford E-Series and the Chevy Express, Nissan joined [...]

Gear: April 2012

If Joe Strummer, Thurston Moore, and Kurt Cobain can have their have their own signature guitars, why not Jeff Tweedy?

Gear: March 2012

Rumors that San Diego-based Taylor Guitars was gonna dip its big toe in the deep end of the amp business had us excited us to no end. Unfortunately, Taylor has made its ES Guitar Amplifier part of their limited-edition Builder’s Reserve series as a guitar/amp package (limited to 30 amps) called the Expression System. The [...]

Gear: February 2012

Paul Stanley of Kiss has evidently put down his paintbrush long enough to partner with Washburn Guitars and release the cool-looking (and sounding?) PS21012 Starfire signature guitar.

Gear: January 2012

Of the dozens of musical gadgets we preview and review every year, a few stand out as “the best of best.” As we look back at 2011, we present Gear’s best of, uh . . . Gear!

Gear: December 2011

If you’re somewhat obsessive about backing up your hard drive on your iPad or laptop, but have a problem constantly reconnecting cables while shuttling between work, home, or the recording studio, Seagate may have an answer with its wireless Goflex Satellite, a wi-fi version of its backup hard drive.

Gear: November 2011

Nady Systems
AxeHead Portable Amp
Despite a flurry of portable guitar-amp apps aimed at iPhone and Android users, Nady Systems believes its new AxeHead portable amp has a place in your pocket.

Gear: October 2011

When Nevermind was released by Nirvana 20 years ago, a North Side guitar-store owner told me Kurt Cobain’s Jaguar guitar was a piece of crap and Nirvana sucked.

Gear: September 2011

More Love From Nashville

Last month we previewed a slew of new guitars from NAMM’s Nashville music trade show, where guitars seemed to be making a comeback as the instrument of choice. On the electronics side, accessories for the home-recording crowd – including iPad users – also took a majority of floor space. This month, “Gear [...]

Gear: August 2011

From Nashville With Love

NAMM’s Nashville music trade show seemed to get back to a “guitars are king” theme not seen in 10 years at the summer event, leaving the button pushers and their iPhones and iPads to last year’s devices. Gear happily takes a look at some of the convention’s new introductions.

Gear: July 2011

Cerwin-Vega
XD3 Studio Monitor

With the explosion of home-studio creations being churned out by would-be recording artists and ProTools boffins, Cerwin-Vega saw the need to marry an above-average studio monitor with an affordable computer speaker that delivers clarity, accurate imaging, and over-the-top bass. Cerwin-Vega claims the XD3 “fulfills this monitoring mandate by transforming any desktop work area [...]

Gear: June 2011

Digitech
Whammy DT Guitar Pedal

DigiTech’s new Whammy DT guitar pedal does the original model one better by adding capabilities including drop tuning, capo tuning, and true bypass coupled with original features like pitchshifting effects.

Gear: May 2011

ChicBuds
RockBoom Keychain Speaker
ChicBuds made its name selling earbuds for girls in 2006, and though the female demographic is their target audience, they’ve finally found a speaker with the ball(s) to appeal to their male audience.

Gear: April 2011

Since its birth in the mid-’70s, the guitar synthesizer has taken the long road to respectability. Brave, early adapters were troubled by technical glitches and Moog-like novelty tones, more aligned to experimental music than mainstream sounds.

Gear: March 2011

Roland
R-05 Digital Recorder

In the past several years, the competition in the hand-held digital-recording business has become extremely cluttered with dozens of contraptions to capture your music in a portable format. www.roland.usMost major manufacturers (Tascam, Korg, Boss) have released multitudes of cellphone-sized recording devices that recorded HD-quality sound onto an SD card or onboard flash drive. [...]