GUITAR BUYER’S GUIDE 2022

Personal Effects

Not every guitarist gets into using effects pedals

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Simulation Theory

Manson and Cort’s collaboration continues with the most faithful, affordable Matt Bellamy signature model to date. Time to check out a tech-loaded newborn

Big Deal

Fender’s entry-level valve combo gets a limitededition run that’s more affordable than the standard model. It might just be the bargain of the year…

Mini Magic

Practice has never been so much fun with this more compact Spark that piles on the features

Mahogany Marvel

Fender’s initial American Acoustasonic Telecaster launch has spawned quite the range of innovative instruments. And now, here’s the latest…

Cream To A T

Eric Clapton adjusted his guitar’s knobs to get that signature sound, and now it can be yours by stomping on a footswitch

the Wishlist

Dream gear to beg, borrow and steal for...

Shore Thing

Well known for his hugely detailed and exquisite custom builds, Seth Baccus is now expanding his output starting with this bolt-on Shoreline. What’s going on?

New Direction

There is more than a whiff of change in the UK’s guitar-making landscape. Seth Baccus is riding the wave… but it’s been quite a journey

Juliet Bravo!

Romeo signalled a change of direction for the classy Chinese manufacturer, moving away from building recreations of well-known shapes and styles, to crafting new and exciting originals. Juliet continues that theme

The Second Act

It was only a matter of time before Juliet followed Romeo as the second wave of Eastman’s original design programme

Good Vibes

J Rockett has upped the game of the classic analogue Uni-Vibe and added a spring reverb emulation for that extra vintage flavour

Gas Supply

Our pick of the month’s most delectable and wallet-bothering new gear

ALSO OUT NOW...

BARE KNUCKLE UNITY £157.20 Following the success of

Fretbuzz

A monthly look at must-hear artists from all corners of the guitar world, from the roots of their sound to the tracks that matter most

Albums

The month’s best guitar music – ahand-picked selection of the finest fretwork on wax

Tones Behind The Tracks

New release Common Ground sees Robben Ford going shoulder to shoulder with jazz sax player Bill Evans for the second time…

Listermania

Neville Marten recently got to try his P-90 LP through Aynsley Lister’s high-gain wet-dry rig, and relive the wonders of the ‘dodgy’ 70s Strat

Necks Best Thing

This month Alex Bishop eschews technology and turns his attention to hand-carving a pair of guitar necks

Minor 6ths

Richard Barrett takes the minor route this issue, and helps demystify the naming conventions for chords

Feedback

Your letters to the Guitarist editor. Drop us a line at guitarist@futurenet.com

HUGH CORNWELL

The ex-Stranglers guitarist shares his fondness for Telecasters and reveals more about a nice ’n’ sleazy deal on a ’64 Silvertone

THE NEW WAVE

The humble P-90 gets an active makeover thanks to Fishman and Greg Koch. Dave Burrluck goes in search of the Gristle-Tone…

Speaker Drivers

Huw Price gives us the lowdown on the tone-shaping powers of speakers

Gibson Les Paul/SG TV

A close relative of the Junior that appeared in several guises

Guitarist Nextmonth

PHOTO BY S HOLZ ‹ UZANNE VEGA Looking

GUITAR BUYER’S GUIDE 2022

• AHAND-PICKED SELECTION OF OVER 130 BEST-BUY ELECTRICS & ACOUSTICS •

DOM MARTIN

As buzzes on the street go, the one we’ve been hearing about Dom Martin has been at a significantly rich decibel level. We meet the Belfast-born guitarist who may just be Rory Gallagher’s musical inheritor...

THE GREATEST PEDALS OF ALL TIME

Pedals have provided some of the most viscerally thrilling guitar sounds in history, from Purple Haze to Comfortably Numb. To celebrate decades of stellar sounds, we asked over 40 top players to name the pedals they couldn’t live without. We also join Dan and Mick of That Pedal Show to discuss some of history’s most revered stompboxes – and how to get the best from them...

ALL TIME GREATS

Dan Steinhardt and Mick Taylor of YouTube hit That Pedal Show join us to talk about some of the most legendary pedals ever made – do these stompboxes deserve their notoriety or did they just get lucky? And how do you get the best from them? They also pick out some pedals that may deserve ‘legend’ status but have, so far, slipped under the radar…

SIX OF THE BEST

Dan and Mick’s studio is home to hundreds of top-drawer pedals, including many milestone vintage effects. Here are six of the most influential we found there…

DRIVE TIME

If you’ve lined up your dream pedalboard but still aren’t getting the results you want, Zilla Cabs’ Paul Gough suggests you consider your speaker choices

SUPERSONIC BLUES MACHINE

Guitarist invites the members of L A’s superstar blues collaboration to join us for a round table of discussion, from the worldwide blues scene, competition on the live stage, to the new age of guiar stars, and what really sets an audience alight

GIBSON ES-225

The ES-225 can be viewed as a short-lived transitional model or a significant yet overlooked milestone in the evolution of Gibson guitars. Either way, it is one of the few non-student model Gibsons from the 1950s that is still just about affordable

LIVE FOREVER

The project to replicate Noel Gallagher’s iconic 1960 ES-355 resulted in Gibson’s ‘best ever’ new electric, according to those who worked on it – at least, definitely maybe the best…

Blues Headlines

Richard Barrett is on a mission to make you a better blues player – with full audio examples and backing tracks

Electric Guitars

No aspect of the gear world is more

Under £500

HARLEY BENTON FUSION-T HH ROASTED FNT £319 Affordable

Under £500

SQUIER CONTEMPORARY SERIES JAGUAR HH ST £419 This

From £500 to £1,000

IBANEZ AS73G-PBM £509 The AS73G-PBM brings home the

From £500 to £1,000

GOLD PRS SE STANDARD 24-08 £620 PRS’s SE

From £500 to £1000

FRET-KING COUNTRY SQUIRE SEMITONE DE LUXE £729 This

From £500 to £1,000

EPIPHONE BB KING ‘LUCILLE’ £849 BB’s main squeeze

From £500 to £1,000

GOLD IBANEZ AS113-BS £899 Packing a spruce top

From £1,000 to £ 2,000

CHARVEL PRO-MOD DK22 SSS 2PT CM £1,119 This

From £1,000 to £ 2,000

VOX BOBCAT V90 BIGSBY £1,299 The standard Bobcat

From £1,000 to £ 2,000

YAMAHA REVSTAR RSP02T FROM APPROX £1,599 With an

From £1,000 to £ 2,000

YAMAHA SA2200 FROM APPROX £1,829 Handmade in Yamaha’s

From £ 2,000 to £3,000

EASTMAN T64/V-GB £2,039 This Chinese-made ES-330-style hollowbody features

From £ 2,000 to £3,000

CHARVEL GUTHRIE GOVAN MJ SAN DIMAS SD24 CM

From £ 2,000 to £3,000

NIK HUBER PIET FROM €3,295 The Piet is

From £3,000

GIBSON ES-335 JIM JAMES £3,099 Not all signatures

From £3,000

PRS MCCARTY 594 £4,000 The PRS 594 first

Acoustic Guitars

Welcome to the section of our 2022 Buyer’s

Acoustics

PRS SE P20 £455 This parlour-sized Tonare comes

Acoustics

SHEERAN BY LOWDEN S03 £995 Compared with a

Acoustics

FENDER AMERICAN ACOUSTASONIC TELECASTER £1,749 In basic terms,

Acoustics

FURCH YELLOW DELUXE FROM €2,758 The Yellow Deluxe

Acoustics

MARTIN 000-18 MODERN DELUXE £3,575 While none of