
Amazon Prime Day is here (July 16-17). Whether you're a veteran player or just picking up your first guitar, these are some bargains you don't want to miss. Check out more deals here! https://amzn.to/3LskPRV
Line 6 Catalyst, Black, 60-Watt, 1x12
First, the Line 6 Catalyst 60-Watt 1x12 Combo Amplifier for $299.99 is a solid pick. It offers versatile tones and is built to handle anything from clean jazz to heavy rock.
MOOER SD30i Practice Guitar Amp Portable Smart Amplifier
For those who enjoy practicing on the go, the MOOER Practice Portable Intelligent Bluetooth Guitar Amplifier at $109.99 offers Bluetooth connectivity, so you can jam wherever you are.
Pyle Multi-Guitar Stand 7 Slot Display Rack
A reliable stand is a must, and the Pyle Guitar Stand at just $30.99 is both sturdy and foldable.
Positive Grid Spark MINI 10W Portable Smart Guitar Amp & Bluetooth Speaker
If you need a portable speaker, the Positive Grid Portable Bluetooth Speaker for $183 packs a punch despite its compact size, making it great for practice sessions and small gigs.
AeroBand Guitar Smart Guitar
For beginners or those looking to try something different, the Stringless Removable Fretboard Guitar for Beginners and Teenagers is a unique, user-friendly option. Designed for learning the basics without the intimidation of traditional strings.
D'addario Nickel Wound Electric Guitar Strings
Beyond Amazon, there are some fantastic deals from other retailers. Sweetwater has the D’Addario EXL110 Regular Light Nickel Wound Electric Strings 10-Pack for $38.49.
PRS Sonzera 20 20-watt 1 x 12-inch Tube Combo Amp
The PRS Sonzera 20 20-Watt 1x12-Inch Tube Combo at $1,099.00 offers those rich, warm tube tones. For a limited time, you can buy any PRS amplifier, and get a free PRS pedal of your choice, a $349.00 value.
Fender American Ultra Stratocaster Maple Fingerboard Electric Guitar Cobra Blue
The Fender American Ultra Stratocaster with a Maple Fingerboard in Cobra Blue at $1,979.99 is a bit pricier but worth every penny for its playability and tone.
Squier Classic Vibe '70s Jaguar Limited-Edition Electric Guitar Daphne Blue
At Guitar Center, the Squier Classic Vibe ‘70s Jaguar Limited Edition Electric Guitar in Daphne Blue for $349.99 is a steal.
Boss DM-101 Delay Machine Pedal
Finally, for pedal enthusiasts, the Boss DM-101 Delay Machine Pedal at $449.99 from ProAudioStar is a must-have. It's a versatile pedal that can add a whole new dimension to your sound
So, whether you’re looking to upgrade your rig or just starting out, these deals are too good to pass up. Happy playing!
It’s almost over, but there’s still time to win! Enter Stompboxtober Day 30 for your shot at today’s pedal from SoloDallas!
The Schaffer Replica: Storm
The Schaffer Replica Storm is an all-analog combination of Optical Limiter+Harmonic Clipping Circuit+EQ Expansion+Boost+Line Buffer derived from a 70s wireless unit AC/DC and others used as an effect. Over 50 pros use this unique device to achieve percussive attack, copious harmonics and singing sustain.
Does the guitar’s design encourage sonic exploration more than sight reading?
A popular song between 1910 and 1920 would usually sell millions of copies of sheet music annually. The world population was roughly 25 percent of what it is today, so imagine those sales would be four or five times larger in an alternate-reality 2024. My father is 88, but even with his generation, friends and family would routinely gather around a piano and play and sing their way through a stack of songbooks. (This still happens at my dad’s house every time I’m there.)
Back in their day, recordings of music were a way to promote sheet music. Labels released recordings only after sheet-music sales slowed down on a particular song. That means that until recently, a large section of society not only knew how to read music well, but they did it often—not as often as we stare at our phones, but it was a primary part of home entertainment. By today’s standards, written music feels like a dead language. Music is probably the most common language on Earth, yet I bet it has the highest illiteracy rate.
Developed specifically for Tyler Bryant, the Black Magick Reverb TB is the high-power version of Supro's flagship 1x12 combo amplifier.
At the heart of this all-tube amp is a matched pair of military-grade Sovtek 5881 power tubes configured to deliver 35-Watts of pure Class A power. In addition to the upgraded power section, the Black Magick Reverb TB also features a “bright cap” modification on Channel 1, providing extra sparkle and added versatility when blended with the original Black Magick preamp on Channel 2.
The two complementary channels are summed in parallel and fed into a 2-band EQ followed by tube-driven spring reverb and tremolo effects plus a master volume to tame the output as needed. This unique, signature variant of the Black Magick Reverb is dressed in elegant Black Scandia tolex and comes loaded with a custom-built Supro BD12 speaker made by Celestion.
Price: $1,699.
Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine is one of the loudest guitarists around. And he puts his volume to work creating mythical tones that have captured so many of our imaginations, including our special shoegaze correspondent, guitarist and pedal-maestro Andy Pitcher, who is our guest today.
My Bloody Valentine has a short discography made up of just a few albums and EPs that span decades. Meticulous as he seems to be, Shields creates texture out of his layers of tracks and loops and fuzz throughout, creating a music that needs to be felt as much as it needs to be heard.
We go to the ultimate source as Billy Corgan leaves us a message about how it felt to hear those sounds in the pre-internet days, when rather than pull up a YouTube clip, your imagination would have to guide you toward a tone.
But not everyone is an MBV fan, so this conversation is part superfan hype and part debate. We can all agree Kevin Shields is a guitarists you should know, but we can’t all agree what to do with that information.