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Gear of the Year 2017

Another year, another dazzling parade of pedals, guitars, amps, modelers, and accessories that made our noggins spin.

Curtis Novak Jazzmaster Widerange Set

Two designs once relegated to oddball bins of Fender’s history—the Jazzmaster pickup and the Seth Lover-designed Wide Range humbucker—were re-imagined by Curtis Novak, builder of some of the best Wide Range repros available. This splendid set retains traditional Jazzmaster looks, with less noisy, meatier, Wide Range-style tonalities.

$150 (each) street
curtisnovak.com

Click here to read the full review

This year’s Premier Gear Award winners are, as usual, an eclectic set—full of old-school vintage homage, leading-edge digital developments, and imaginative meetings of those worlds. Dig in and dig it as we revisit the gear that fired the enthusiasm and wonder of our editors and contributors in 2017.

See and hear Taylor’s Legacy Collection guitars played by his successor, Andy Powers.

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Our columnist’s silver-panel Fender Bandmaster.

How this longstanding, classic tube amp design evolved from its introduction in 1953.

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- YouTube

Axe-wielders Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss take us through their current gear garages.

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Guitarist William Tyler, a restless sonic explorer: “I would get bored staying in the same place.”

Photo by Angelina Castillo

The expansive instrumental guitarist/composer pushes himself out of his comfort zone, beyond the boundaries of his neo-Americana wheelhouse on Time Indefinite.

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