Don't miss the latest and greatest gear finds for your acoustic!
Walden Guitars B1E Baritone
"I love this thing, I can't put it down. It's kind of like having a piano in your lap, you got all the low end for bass lines, and you got chords that you can strum on top, even alternating simple bass lines. There's all kinds of fun you can have with this thing!" ~ Sean Harkness, NYC
Typically tuned to B, the Baritone provides a clear low end response perfect for soloists, singer-songwriters, percussive finger-style players, or guitarists who crave a walking bass line while comping chords.
With its offset soundhole, side-port, and solid Sitka spruce top with innovative low-mass bracing, the Walden B1E sounds sonically excellent while incorporating the more comfortable Grand Auditorium body shape. A graphite reinforced Mahogany neck contribute to stability and its 27″ scale length and 1-13/16″ nut width contribute to the B1E Baritone's transparent playability.
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Shubb CAPO ROYALE C1G
Adding to the company's line of premium capos, Shubb has introduced the new Capo Royale Series, featuring durable gold finishes that deliver long-lasting beauty.
Available in two lustrous finishes – Gold and Rose Gold – the Capo Royale Series brings a distinctive visual flair to Shubb's famed capo design, revered since 1980 for its ability to provide flawlessly clean fretting while keeping the instrument in tune.
For many years Shubb has received requests for a gold plated Shubb Capo. While gold is undeniably beautiful, it is not at all durable; it will wear off far too easily and quickly. It is also famously expensive. Now, Shubb has developed a high-tech technique for creating a gold-toned titanium finish. It possesses all the beauty of real gold, but is as durable as any metal finish in the world.
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Guild F-240E
Guild's most affordable jumbo yet! The F-240E is a tone cannon at a player's price. Built with a solid spruce top, mahogany sides, and an arched mahogany back, the full-bodied and powerful voice of this Guild Jumbo provides guitarists with historically-Guild acoustic tone and voicing. Guild's signature arched back design allows for enhanced volume and projection, long sustain, and a lush, full sound. The F-240E features Guild's Fishman-designed AP-1 electronics, a pau ferro fingerboard and bridge, bone nut and saddle, mother-of-pearl rosette, period-correct tortoiseshell pickguard, and a satin polyurethane finish.
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Levy's Hemp Vegan Guitar Straps
The New MH8P Series Vegan Hemp Series guitar straps by Levy's come in four new beautiful motifs and measure 2"/51mm in width. These organic straps are cruelty-free using sustainable materials and extend from 37"/940mm to 62"/1572mm via silver-colored tri-glide sliding adjustment. Natural hemp webbing and durable 2-ply cork ends safely support your instrument, along with pinhole stitching on both ends to prevent stretching. To address the issue of pick dropping encountered by almost every gigging guitarist, the MH8P Series comes equipped with a convenient 2.5"/64mm inside pocket to provide quick access to extra picks. Hand-crafted in Novia Scotia.
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NUX Stageman II (AC-80) Battery-Powered Acoustic Guitar Amplifier
NUX Stageman II Battery-Powered Acoustic Guitar Amplifier features a pure analog preamp with NUX's iconic Core-Image post-effects. It has specific EQ scenes for finger-style as well as strum-style in channel 1, and you can engage built-in Acoustic IRs with a dedicated mobile APP. Acoustic IR is the new trend to make your acoustic sound as natural as micing. Stageman II keeps Drum & Loop, you can control by the original NUX NMP-2 foot-controller. And the built-in rechargeable battery can let you busk on the street for 4 hours.
Highlights:
- 80-watt rich warm sound acoustic amp with 6.5" premium speaker and 1" tweeter
- Rechargeable battery for 4.5 hours outdoor performing
- Built-in Acoustic Impulse Response
- 2 independent channels with routing adjustable post-effects
- Mobile APP for editing and control
- Drum & Loop (60s phrase loop)
- Bluetooth Audio Stream
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Jared James Nichols Signature JJN P90 Silencer
Jared James Nichols burst onto the scene as a throwback to the P90 playing power trio titans of the 70s. To deliver his signature sound, he needed a P90 that was voiced with limitless range that could cover everything from sparkling cleans to barking dirty tones. In his own words, he needed something “delicate and strong, like a grizzly bear and a paper airplane landing.”
After years on the road playing different venues coast to coast and abroad, he’s encountered a variety of unique hum inducing sources. Having a pickup that could retain the quintessential tone and appearance of the classic P90 pickup without hum was a must. The JJN P90 Silencer was custom voiced specifically to Jared’s unique tone without the hum. The pickup is a drop-in replacement for any standard P90 route.
“Simply put, the Seymour Duncan Jared James Nichols P90 Silencer is my dream pickup.”
P90 Silencer
NECK:
P90s have always been somewhat of an insider’s pickup. Those in the know recognized the P90 as the bridge between single coil and humbucker tones. With the bright and articulate treble tones you’d expect from a single coil and, due to their shape, also the warmer rounded tone that gets close to what you want from a humbucker. But, because P90s are single coils, they also bring the noise. The innovative noiseless design of our P90 Silencer neck pickup retains all the tone and appearance of the classic P90 pickup without the 60-cycle hum. The output for this model is matched to the vintage spec. These pickups are drop-in replacements for most standard P90 routes.
Pair this model with any of the P90 Silencer bridge pickups for a well-balanced set and classic P90 tone.
HOT (Bridge and Set):
P90s have always been somewhat of an insider’s pickup. Those in the know recognized the P90 as the bridge between single coil and humbucker tones. With the bright and articulate treble tones you’d expect from a single coil and, due to their shape, also the warmer rounded tone that gets close to what you want from a humbucker. But, because P90s are single coils, they also bring the noise. The innovative noiseless design of our Hot P90 Silencer retains all the tone and appearance of the classic P90 pickup without the 60-cycle hum.
The Hot P90 Silencer is a hotter version offering a more aggressive sound. These pickups are drop-in replacements for most standard P90 routes.
VINTAGE (Bridge and Set):
P90’s have always been somewhat of an insider’s pickup. Those in the know recognized the P90 as the bridge between single coil and humbucker tones. With the bright and articulate treble tones you’d expect from a single coil and, due to their shape, also the warmer rounded tone that gets close to what you want from a humbucker. But, because P90’s are single coils, they also bring the noise. The innovative noiseless design of our Vintage P90 Silencer retains all the tone and appearance of the classic P90 pickup without the 60-cycle hum.
The output for this model is matched to the vintage spec. These pickups are drop-in replacements for most standard P90 routes.
For more information, please visit seymourduncan.com.
The Catalinbread STS-88 flanger and reverb isn’t designed to be associated with any one genre or style. But pairing a 2-knob flange effect with a preset reverb is a strong stance. It’s as if Catalinbread were saying, “These tones are supposed to go together, deal with it.” Rather than provide a bevy of tweaking options, the STS-88’s simple 4-knob/2-effect design removes the potential for sonic option anxiety. It also arguably eliminates some possibilities. But shoegazers and space rockers should listen up.
Simple and Stripped Down
Using a stripped-down pedal can be refreshing, and advanced flangers and reverbs can both be more complex than fun. The STS-88, though, does not suffer from that malady. Instead, flanger control is limited to just two knobs, depth and rate, both of which have a nice, wide range. The STS-88’s flanger tone is warm, and I had no trouble conjuring airplanes and ooze as soon as I plugged in. But the limited nature of the pedal’s controls does mean a lack of sculpting nuance that I’ve enjoyed in some other flangers. Players who aren’t flange freaks, though, will probably find most of what they want in just two knobs.
I was compelled by the idea of a 1-knob reverb. It’s a bold move! And the STS-88’s lush reverb is perfect for washing out the gooey flange. But with just one knob, you can only select less reverb or more, and I couldn’t help imagining what else I could do if I was given just a little more control over decay or tone. The fourth knob is a wet/dry mix, which I’m surprised to say is my favorite option on the STS-88. I’m normally all in on flangers and content to go pretty wet with my tones. But having the ability to dial-in my mix allowed the STS-88 to play a bit better with other effects, which is, I believe, essential to its mission.
With the mix around 11 o’clock and a Fuzz Face clone cranked, I struck a balance between gnarly, cutting fuzz and washy flange and reverb that mixed into a booming, shoegaze-y slurry.
Mixin’ It Up
Catalinbread’s pedals always feel well-thought-out and unique. So, despite my desire for more control, I knew there must be something a little deeper behind the simplicity of the design. If this flanger and reverb are meant to live together within these parameters, what’s the angle? The mix knob, I found, is the key.
Take the way the STS-88 plays with fuzz. I’m a sucker for fuzzed-out flanger tones in the Dinosaur Jr. vein, but I don’t always love the way flangers play with fuzz. But the wet/dry mix on the STS-88 is an easy and elegant solution, and when I ran a fuzz through the pedal, I found my bliss. With the mix around 11 o’clock and a Fuzz Face clone cranked, I struck a balance between gnarly, cutting fuzz and washy flange and reverb that mixed into a booming, shoegaze-y slurry. Messing with the mix is rewarding, and I found many fuzzy, spaced-out sounds throughout the range of the flanger controls with this pairing. A noise gate on the wet side of the flanger circuit also helps the STS-88 pair more effectively with high gain. I also enjoyed overdrive sounds with the STS-88, but to my ears, the STS-88 really thrives with fuzz, and that’s what sells the pedal. In that setting, the limitations the designers built into the pedal make a lot of sense.
The Verdict
Option fatigue can be a real thing with feature-rich pedals, so I’m usually happy to have my options limited. It would be cool if Catalinbread built multiple versions of the STS-88, as they do with their Belle Epoch delay, which also comes in a more complex Deluxe version. Maybe it could include a searing fuzz circuit as well as a time or tone control for the reverb.
As is, the STS-88 is a fun and totally useful addition to a pedal collection. As a flanger, it’s less about Prince-style tones than space-rock sounds. The biggest hangup will probably be whether you like the reverb tone or not, or whether you miss more control. Considering the pedal’s $209 price, that’s worth researching, because it’s going to be a personal taste kind of thing. But if you dig it, the STS-88 sure is fun.
