This month's Gear Radar roundup features Lollar's aggressive Monolith Humbuckers for extreme playing styles, the versatile QSC CB10 Compact Battery-Powered Loudspeaker perfect for gigging musicians and DJs, and the StewMac Valve Factory 18 Amp Kit, which makes building a classic American-inspired tube circuit safe and simple.
Lollar Pickups
Monolith Humbuckers
The new Lollar Monolith humbuckers are designed to meet the needs of modern players. The alnico 8 magnets offer aggressive attack, balanced compression, full body, and an articulate midrange that is well suited for extreme playing styles such as metal. Available for 6- and 7-string instruments with 4-conductor lead wires.
Whether you've soldered for years or have never touched a circuit in your life, StewMac's VF18 is designed to demystify the world of tube amplifiers. Step-by-step instructions walk you through the entire build safely and confidently. Inspired by classic circuits from the golden age of American tube amps!
CB10 Compact Battery-Powered LoudspeakerThe CB10 is a compact, battery-powered loudspeaker system offering unrivaled audio performance and versatility. It features a 10" LF driver, a 1" compression driver, and a 3-channel mixer for microphones, instruments, and Bluetooth streaming. Ideal for DJs, event professionals, and musicians, it offers easy plug-and-play operation and customization via the QSC Loudspeaker Control app.
Ben Harper has always played in the spaces between notes. His touch is measured and deliberate—more about feel than force. It’s a style he’s refined over decades, and one that demands a guitar capable of responding as much to nuance as power. In this video, that approach comes into focus as he performs "Emotional Arson" on the new Taylor Grand Concert guitar that bears his name: the Ben Harper Gold Label 512e Special Edition.
The acclaimed singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and three-time GRAMMY Award winner has a new tool well suited for his playing technique and musical style, which has taken on a stripped-down acoustic intimacy over his last few studio albums.
Harper’s relationship with music started early, forged inside the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California—the shop his grandparents opened in 1958. He was immersed in instruments from around the globe and the music of players passing through. Harper has called it his second home, and it’s easy to hear why.
There, absorbing a constant swirl of sound, he developed a passion to play and create his own music. Ultimately, it was country blues singer and fingerpicker Mississippi John Hurt who inspired Harper to learn how to play the guitar. Harper studied and obsessed over the work of blues guitarists such as Reverend Gary Davis, Robert Johnson and Blind Willie Johnson. Later, he connected with John Lee Hooker, Chris Darrow, David Lindley, Brownie McGhee and Taj Mahal, who invited Harper on tour to play lap steel with his band.
The wide world of sound he absorbed at the Folk Music Center shaped the genre-blending strain of roots music that Harper continues to explore, perform and record. His seventeen studio albums explore a kaleidoscope of genres, including blues, folk, reggae, rock, hip-hop, soul, funk and gospel.
For years, that voice has lived across a wide range of guitars. Harper’s introduction to Taylor came in 2017 when he picked up an Indian rosewood/spruce 810 dreadnought at a music store. Soon after, he gravitated toward a pair of Taylor Grand Pacific (round-shoulder dread) models—a mahogany/spruce Builder’s Edition 517 and an Indian rosewood/spruce Builder’s Edition 717. Taylor’s designer-in-chief, Andy Powers, had recently introduced the Grand Pacific, featuring new voicing architecture, and Harper was immediately drawn in by its inspiring feel, sound and expressive potential.
“The Grand Pacific guitars,” Harper said in a previous interview, “seem to resonate even when not being played. My favorite instruments tend to do this.”
That sensitivity—to resonance, to response, to the way a guitar reacts before it’s even fully engaged—not only underpins Harper’s soulful musical storytelling but also influenced the design of his new Taylor guitar. Andy Powers approached the project with Harper’s fingerstyle technique in mind.
“He’s not digging in hard,” Powers says. “He’s relying on nuance, touch and often amplification to carry the sound. When he plays, you hear both hands—right and left. He uses techniques similar to steel players, like pick blocking and muting notes quickly to create space between them. It gives his playing a thoughtful, deliberate quality. Every note has space around it. So a guitar built to support Ben’s style needs quick response, warmth and clarity.”
That blend of responsiveness, warmth and clarity is a hallmark of the sound of the Gold Label Collection—a family of guitars designed to produce a traditional flavor of acoustic tone reminiscent of old-school flattops. The collection’s heritage-inspired tone marks a major departure from the high-fidelity articulation that’s often been associated with the Taylor sound. Gold Label models yield a warmer, deeper, more robust and muscular sound than any other Taylor.
Powers developed a range of innovations for the Gold Label Collection, including new body styles, a new neck design and a new bracing pattern. The newest addition to the collection is a non-cutaway Grand Concert body style with deeper body dimensions. Powers thought Harper’s nuanced touch and melodic rhythms would be perfectly suited for the deeper-body Grand Concert. Designed by Bob Taylor and introduced in 1983, the original Grand Concert has always appealed to fingerstyle players due to its intimate proportions and responsiveness to a delicate touch. Now, the added depth creates greater sonic push, producing a warmer, more powerful sound with slightly blended notes and enhanced low end—all while preserving the intimate feel and balance Grand Concert players expect.
While Powers and Harper collaborated on the design, Powers derived ideas about tonewood choices directly from Harper’s style of play.
“Ben comes from a background that includes Weissenborn-style playing and lap-style techniques,” says Powers. “There’s a built-in preference for direct, forward sound, more like mahogany than rosewood.”
The Ben Harper Gold Label 512e Special Edition features solid mahogany back and sides paired with a torrefied Sitka spruce top, yielding a broad dynamic range with a dry, woody midrange focus and a played-in character.
For the fretboard and bridge, Powers suggested Honduran rosewood because it transmits even more of the strings’ complexity and character into the soundboard than ebony. With Harper’s soft touch, Honduran rosewood allows the guitar to respond in an even more personal and expressive way.
Harper had grown accustomed to playing bigger-body Taylors and admits he had initial doubts about the compact Grand Concert’s sonic capabilities. As he recalls, those doubts were quickly put to rest.
“I love my Builder’s Edition 517 and 717,” says Harper. “I love my 810. So, I was really concerned about this guitar not being able to have the volume or sustain available to me. Then I heard Andy play it. There is sorcery in this guitar. From the size of the sound chamber, this guitar should not be this loud or resonant. I wanted this guitar to be exactly how it turned out.”
One other choice Harper made for his Gold Label model was the inclusion of Taylor’s new Claria™ System electronics, featuring a redesigned undersaddle pickup and a proprietary preamp with soundhole-mounted tone controls that make it easy to shape the amplified sound for virtually any live setting.
“Under-saddle pickups typically can be a pain,” Harper says, “but Claria is a game-changer for me. I tour a lot—the mid-contour control really helps me dial in a sound that I can adapt and tailor to any venue I might play in.
The deeper-body Grand Concert joins an expanding range of body shapes that contribute to the Gold Label Collection’s old-soul sonic personality, including the Super Auditorium and two deeper-bodied dreadnought-style shapes: the round-shoulder Grand Pacific and square-shoulder Dreadnought.
These distinctive body shapes are built with fanned V-Class™ bracing and Taylor’s patented Action Control Neck™, making up the sonic recipe that defines every Gold Label guitar. A variant of Taylor’s patented V-Class voicing architecture, fanned V-Class bracing unlocks greater sonic warmth, resonance and power while preserving the pitch accuracy of the original design. The groundbreaking Action Control Neck allows for quick string height adjustments, enabling players to dial in their preferred action with unprecedented ease and precision—without having to remove or even detune the strings.
Together, these elements redefine how each Gold Label guitar feels in the hands as much as how it sounds in the room. In the case of Harper’s Gold Label model, the payoff is clear. The guitar responds quickly to a light touch and holds onto warmth as notes sustain—qualities that mirror the way he plays.
Taylor has released two additional Grand Concert models in its Gold Label Collection. Players who prefer the deep lows and zesty trebles of Indian rosewood’s sweeping frequency range should consider the Gold Label 712e. Those who appreciate mahogany’s earthy midrange but favor a natural top and ebony fretboard should check out the standard Gold Label 512e.
Watch the video below to learn more about the Ben Harper Gold Label 512e and his connection to this new Grand Concert.
Taylor Guitars
Ben Harper Gold Label 512e Special Edition
Designed with GRAMMY-winning songwriter and guitarist Ben Harper
Torrefied spruce top yields bold projection and aged-in warmth
Mahogany back and sides serve up a woody midrange voice
Deeper Grand Concert body offers a comfortable feel and surprising power
Includes Claria electronics and deluxe hardshell case
From 1950s "Grail" humbucker clones to the legendary Klon circuit you can build yourself, we’ve rounded up the best new DIY kits and pickups to level up your rig. Ready to get your hands dirty?
Carondelet Pickups
OTB Ultimates
Carondelet OTB Ultimates sound and feel like the best examples of late-1950s Gibson PAF humbuckers, but calibrated for their positions (8.2K Alnico 5 bridge, 7.0K A5 neck). OTB Ultimates come as a "standard" duet with modern logoed covers; or as a "grail" set with 3D-scan created 1959 repro covers.
The classic 70's EMG P pickup that recaptures the sound and look made popular by Lee Sklar with his legendary Frankenstein Bass. Featuring the original raised logo cap design and a tweaked preamp for a potent low end and powerful output.
Fishman’s new Fluence Acoustic pickups deliver groundbreaking tonal capabilities for acoustic guitars. Available in 3 models – Rock Icon, Spotlight, and Nashville Legend – each with two unique voices. Fluence Acoustic pickups offer tone, clarity, zero hum, and versatility unmatched by any other single pickup.
Don't want to pay thousands for an original Klon Centaur? StewMac dug deep to find the identical pair of 1N34A germanium diodes just like the original. You handwire all the components for the truly authentic tone. And if you've never built a pedal—StewMac's techs are ready to help!
From long-lasting strings engineered for clarity and punch to a retro modulation mini and a 3.9-pound amp that hits 200 watts, this month's radar is stacked with gear that punches above its size.
Cleartone Strings
Power Series Electric Guitar Strings
These strings are engineered for players seeking a bigger, clearer, more responsive tone straight from the guitar. A refined nickel-iron blend delivers a natural clean boost with tighter lows, added presence, and improved articulation—making single-coils punchier and humbuckers more responsive. They’re finished with Cleartone’s patented No-Feel coating for long life.
This compact powerhouse is packed with lush modulation effects and epic sounds. It delivers a kaleidoscope of tones with a wide stereo spread. From the pulsating tremolo of the swinging ’60s to the funky phaser and U-Vibe grooves of the ’70s, MOD-mini takes you into a sonic time warp.
It fits in your backpack, weighs 3.9 pounds, and combines Sunn’s legendary Beta Lead and Beta Bass circuits while delivering 200 watts of pure MOSFET tone. This amp features two independent channels, each with its own set of controls—run them both clean or dirty, or mix and blend them for hybrid tones.
Keeley Electronics ‘NOCTURNE’ Featuring Andy Timmons’ Signature Reverb
Keeley Electronics ‘NOCTURNE’ Featuring Andy Timmons’ Signature Reverb
Effects pioneer Robert Keeley and guitar adventurer Andy Timmons reveal their newest collaboration.
Keeley Electronics’ new Nocturne reverb marks the latest chapter in an ongoing and expanding partnership between Andy Timmons, Robert Keeley, and the Keeley Electronics design group. They first teamed up in 2020 and have since developed effects such as the HALO Dual Echo (which captured Timmons' dual delay sound in a compact pedal) and Timmons’ signature Mk3 Drive. The new Nocturne reverb represents a fascinating new direction in the collaboration.
At its core, the Nocturne offers three distinct reverb modes in a single unit. Its Plate and Spring reverbs are based on bona fide classic sounds, while its titular Nocturne mode takes a fresh approach to reverb and delivers an otherworldly playing experience. It’s incredibly user-friendly, with a simple four-knob control set—Tone, Level, Decay, and Modulation—that makes it easy to shape your reverb space. Each reverb mode can be saved as a preset, so you can store your favorite sounds.
It’s an approachable, powerful pedal that offers instant gratification for just about any guitarist… even players who don’t normally use reverb. And that’s the biggest plot twist in the Nocturne story.
You see, Timmons doesn’t even consider himself a “reverb guy.”
“I've always used echo and delay instead of reverb. That's my ambience, that's my space,” Timmons admits. “Until now, there was never really a reverb that worked for me. I would use delays and try to curate them in the right way. But I had a different sound in my head, and I approached Robert to see if we could make it a reality. Now, my wall has come down for reverb. I just had to wait for the ‘Mr. Right reverb’ I guess,” he laughs.
Timmons’ “Mr. Right” reverb has arrived, and its calling card is the Nocturne reverb mode.
Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Andy Timmons at a Nocturne video shoot
Amid the pedal’s offerings, many players will view the Nocturne mode as the belle of the ball. It’s an immersive, almost heavenly reverb that sounds great when used sparingly—and sounds even better when it’s generously applied to clean, arpeggiated phrases or textural chords.
The brand-new reverb space is based on Keeley’s unique Halo delay algorithm. From subtle ambience to cinematic space, the Nocturne allows players to create that same expressive, touch-sensitive bloom that trails effortlessly behind every note, without the cross talk from echoes. It features a pre-delay echo that transforms into an expansive and engulfing reverb space. It’s difficult to describe—it simply sounds like it’s from another planet.
As Timmons says, “it creates a reverb from a different perspective. It’s not a usual reverb algorithm. It’s a fresh and different angle. I just want to sit and play in this dreamlike sound all day.”
Not surprisingly, Timmons has immediately put the pedal to creative use: “I've got a collection of songs that I've written—solo pieces called ‘The Outlier Nocturnes’—so I was basically waiting for this pedal. I'm already using it in the studio now that I have the right sound.”
Spring Fever
In designing the Nocturne, Robert Keeley and his team were determined to create a pedal that could satisfy a broad range of tastes. And for many guitarists, the first thing that comes to mind when they think of reverb is the classic reverb-drenched amp tones of the 1960s.
That includes Andy Timmons himself. “I’ll admit that I'm a closet surf guitarist,” he laughs. “I even have a surf record that's been in the can for years… I just haven't released it.When I run the Nocturne in spring mode into my dual showman and a 2x15 Fender cab, it’s just got that sound, man. It’s Dick Dale incarnate.”
Timmons’ personal passion for spring reverb and surf music helped spur the design process—but spring reverbs are fickle beasts, and notoriously difficult to replicate. To fine-tune the pedal’s Spring mode, Keeley worked closely with Aaron Pierce, a key partner in Robert’s design team at Keeley Electronics, and relied on modern technology to capture the vintage spring reverb mojo. “Aaron and I purchased a spring reverb or two and we put them through our audio analyzer. We worked hard to make it sound realistic and very drippy, just like the originals. When it comes to the iconic reverb sounds that we were searching for, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it happen. But we finally got some awesome drip going with one, and that's the one I'm most in love with.”
Left to right: Andy Timmons, Robert Keeley and Aaron Pierce prepare to shoot a video featuring the Nocturne.
Having harnessed the elusive, authentic spring reverb sound he had been seeking, Keeley and his team were determined to capture another essential reverb flavor for the Nocturne’s third mode: vintage tube-driven plate reverb.
The chase led them to Austin, Texas….
Keeley Electronics Nocturne Reverb with Robert Keeley and Andy Timmons | A REVERB YOU’VE NEVER HEARD BEFORE!
Join Robert Keeley, Andy Timmons, and Aaron Pierce for a deep dive into the creation of the Keeley Electronics Nocturne Reverb—a design shaped by collaboration, experimentation, and a completely new approach to ambient space. In this panel-style conversation, the team breaks down the ideas, sounds, and engineering choices that led to a reverb unlike anything in the Keeley lineup.
Hear the stories, explore the process, and discover why the Nocturne truly is a reverb you’ve never heard before.
A Plateful of History
Tube-driven plate reverb is one of the defining sonic characteristics of classic recordings from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Beginning with the 1957 introduction of the EMT 140 by the German company Elektromesstechnik (EMT), plate reverb quickly became ubiquitous in popular music. Each individual plate reverb has its own subtle flavor—a unique sonic fingerprint. If you’re going to create a modern digital effect based on a vintage unit, it’s crucial to find a great-sounding original specimen.
“The plate is a really exciting part of the story for me,” Keeley admits. “My plate is (based on) the one that they used at Austin City Limits since the mid-’70s. About 10 years ago (Mike Daane) got a hold of it. They (ACL) decided to stop using it to go to a digital system and it was at that point in time where we got to go down with our audio analyzer, the APX 515B, and we could study its frequency response and measure the reverb trails. We modified the frequency response of our reverb so it more closely matched the Austin City Limits plate reverb. Reverbs have a certain resonance. And if you play something percussive like a tom or a snare, you can hear the resonance in the Austin City Limits reverb—it’s a lower frequency than typical.”
This sticker shows instructions from the German manufacturer on how to safely carry the massive 500-pound reverb housing.
This particular plate reverb boasts its own historic provenance. Beginning with an October 1974 performance by Willie Nelson, the Austin City Limits TV program has hosted the crème-de-la-crème of blues, rock and country music artists for decades. Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Johnny Cash, Lyle Lovett, George Strait, Emmylou Harris, Wilco, Los Lobos, and Dolly Parton are just a few of the artists whose performances were channeled through this very reverb unit.
Timmons was enthused that the Austin City Limits reverb provided the basis for the Nocturne’s plate mode. “Every stereo tube plate reverb is gonna sound a little different, and it’s such an amazing opportunity to have the specific plate that was used on all the Austin City Limits shows for so many years. The design team could do a molecular level study of it with the amazing gear that Robert's got. I think that’s the one that took the most effort and revisions. But once Aaron [Tackett] figured out how to approach the plate, it was really exciting to hear how it turned out.”
HALO AND NOCTURNE—TOGETHER
For all of the technology and analysis that went into creating the pedal, the Nocturne is dead-simple to use: just three easily selectable reverb modes, four control knobs, plus some alt functions if you’re inclined to use them.
“And I'm not one of those that's inclined to do much tweaking,” Timmons admits. “I just want to turn something on and have it inspire me really quickly. That's what this format does so eloquently. It's encouraging, not daunting, and you feel it as soon as you plug in.”
Even though it’s an outgrowth of the Halo delay that Timmons and Keeley collaborated on earlier, Timmons says the Nocturne is designed to be used in conjunction with the Halo. “It's not meant to replace my Halo, but they work incredibly well together. I basically keep the Nocturne always on and I'm blending in the Halo occasionally. I was in the studio three days ago: I’m playing through my Keeley Mark 3 drive, the Halo, then the Nocturne into 2 vintage Marshalls. All the effects are being printed, and I'm listening back to the monitors and thinking, this is the best sound I've ever had! It's such a wonderful place to be, to be that happy with what's happening sonically. So now all I have to do is try to play to the level that the sound is allowing me to play. It's a dreamscape that I have never heard before.”
DIVE DEEPER IF YOU WANT TO
For players that do enjoy tweaking their settings, the Nocturne offers a flexible signal path with True or Buffered Bypass, Expression Pedal control, Remote Switching, and MIDI compatibility for up to 72 presets. Whether you’re running mono or stereo outputs, wet/dry, or full wet for parallel rigs, the Nocturne adapts easily to any setup.
Operation is intuitive with the Nocturne. If the indicator LED is blue then it's “wysiwyg”; the knobs set the tone or level of each reverb mode. If the LED is red, each reverb is a favorite or preset, where you can save the settings for each reverb mode. You can store and recall presets with a dedicated footswitch, and turn trails on/off.
Ultimately, Keeley and his team get the greatest satisfaction from seeing a player focus on playing, rather than tweaking. “These pedals are really near and dear to my heart,” he notes, “especially when it becomes a new platform like the Nocturne. We put a lot of time and effort into making sure that you could just walk up to this unit and not feel intimidated. just go out and have fun making music.”
With the arrival of Keeley’s Nocturne, you might have finally found your own “Mr. Right” reverb. Hear it and feel it for yourself. Plug into a Nocturne, turn up your amp and get inspired.
