We've reviewed a ton of cool gear over the past 12 months, but these stood above the rest and won our coveted Premier Gear Award.
This year more than 40 guitars, basses, effects, and amps from a diverse group of gear makers earned the coveted Premier Gear Award from our discerning editors. Here is our gear of the year.
GIBSON Lukas Nelson '56 Les Paul Junior
The Les Paul Junior has always been a fave of the punk rock set (or at least it was until vintage specimens became too valuable for thrashing). But as Lukas Nelson's signature take on the super-streamlined Junior demonstrates, punk isn't the only language this beautifully basic slab of mahogany speaks. Responsive pots and a P-90 with a penchant for detail means there is much nuance to extract from this light, comfortable, and delightfully old-school 6-string.
$1,599 street, gibson.com
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Gibson Lukas Nelson Signature Les Paul Junior - First Look
MXR Tremolo
When you think of MXR modulation you probably think of the Phase 45, 90, and 100. But apart from the company's underrated M159, tremolo never seemed like a point of focus for MXR. With the release of their 6-mode digital stereo trem', simply called the Tremolo, MXR seems determined to make up for lost time. A very nice take on the M159 voice is a highlight, but bias, optical, square wave, and harmonic tremolo modes mean this wee wobble machine covers a lot of groundāfrom vintage to weirdāin a compact unit that, at just $159, offers considerable value too.
$159 street, jimdunlop.com
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MXR M305 Tremolo First Look
ELECTRO-HARMONIX 1440 Stereo Looper
Looping can feel like magic. And magic is always more fun when it's easy to perform. EHX's 1440 (the name corresponds to the maximum possible length, in seconds, of a loop) isn't the most streamlined looper in EHX's expansive looper family, but it certainly strikes an appealing balance between ease of use and performance potential. Most features are just a click, touch, or twist away. But you can go deep with the 1440āaltering pitch, tempo (right down to specific BPMs), and even reversing loops to create seemingly infinite variations on basic themes that can be stacked into sound collages and complex but cohesive compositions on the fly.
$221 street, ehx.com
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Electro-Harmonix 1440 Stereo Looper Demo - First Look
WREN AND CUFF Caprid Blue-Violet Special
Few pedal builders chase Big Muff authenticity as obsessively as Matt Holl, owner of Wren And Cuff. In the shape of the Blue-Violet Special, the fruit of Holl's labors might have hit a new high-water mark. It's smooth, scooped just-so in the midrange, and walks the tightrope between hot and sweet like only a great Ram's Head clone can. Big Muff clones really don't come much prettier, spot-on authentic, or more smokin' than this one.
$324 street, wrenandcuff.com
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Wren and Cuff Blue Caprid Demo - First Look
BOSSGT-1000CORE
This compact unit packs 140 unique effects and amp sims into a compact user- and pedalboard-friendly device, making it the ultimate Boss pedal collection. There are plenty of presets ready to go, but when you want to dig deeper, it's easy to tweak settings and create, shuffle, and manipulate the complex signal chains of your dreams. The GT-1000CORE can be run into a traditional guitar amp or full-range flat-response rig, making it great for gig and studio usage.
$699 street, boss.info
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Boss GT-1000CORE Demo (From Heavy to Heavenly?!) - First Look
EVENTIDE Blackhole
It seems anyone who has worked with Eventide's powerful H9 or Space Reverb knows, loves, and uses the Blackhole mode on those units a ton. It's often as huge sounding as the name suggests, but it's also unusually organic for a digital reverb of such expansive aspirations. In dedicated pedal form, the Blackholeāif you'll forgive the astronomical backwardnessāshines just as brightly. Blackhole is more than just another shimmery enormo-verb. It can sound dirty, mangled, and twisted just as easily as it can sound pristine. And in this more streamlined package, it is easier than ever to source those sounds.
$279 street, eventideaudio.com
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Eventide Blackhole First Look
DUNLOP Cry Baby Junior
You have to be really finicky and probably unhealthily obsessive about pedalboard space to find a gripe with the Cry Baby Junior. The jacks are crown-mounted. It's just 8" long. But it also speaks in three, switchable distinct wah voicesāthe peaky GCB95, a midrange-y vintage mode, and a low-frequency setting that give this little wah a huge filtering vocabulary.
$129 street, jimdunlop.com
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Dunlop CBJ95 Cry Baby Junior Wah Demo - First Look
RPS EFFECTS Arcade Machine
If mangled, schizophrenic Game Boy tones sounds like your cup o' tonal tea, this slightly simplified take on the famous Schumann Electronics PLL will surely bring a smile to your face. The analog monophonic square-wave harmonizer lets you add up to five pitches to your core sound, while a noise-gate control, vibrato circuit, and expression-pedal input exponentially increase the possible mutation permutations.
$265 street, rpseffects.com
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CARR Super Bee
This small combo takes on hefty Super Reverb tone using two 6BM8 output tubes, rather than 6L6s, to generate an eardrum-friendly 10 watts, delivered via one 12" Eminence-made speaker (a 10" option is available). An attenuator takes the Carr down to a quiet 2 watts, while a 3-way switch selects EQ voicings, providing easy access to sparkling cleans, deep overdrive, and meaty twang. Point-to-point wiring and high-end components seal the deal, while the solid pine cabinet's retro-inspired speaker cutout adds mid-century flair.
$2,490 street, carramplifiers.com
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Carr Super Bee Demo - First Look
ORIGIN EFFECTS Magma57
Putting your ear right up next to an old Magnatone warbling away in vibrato mode can leave you thinking "there's no way anyone will ever replicate this in a pedal." That may still be true. But few builders have gotten as close to 99.9 percent of the way there the way Origin has in the Magma57. Like every Origin pedal, the Magma57 could probably survive a nuclear detonation at ground zero. But it's the sound of the Magma57āboth its ultra-rich, deep-end vibrato and thick, luxurious driveāthat is the main attraction.
$459 street, origineffects.com
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Origin Effects Magma57 Demo - First Look
DUNLOP Volume (X)8
Shrinkage has very clearly been on the minds of Dunlop's designers the last few years. But like their Cry Baby Junior, the Volume (X)8 is more than a matter of miniaturization. It also doubles as an expression pedal and has a wide, sweet sweep that makes volume swells feel a lot more nuanced and accurate.
$119, jimdunlop.com
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EPIPHONE Prophecy SG
Epiphone outfitted the SG with upmarket alterations for their Prophecy line, from Fishman Fluence pickups that offer three voices via push-pull pots on a streamlined 2-knob control array to upgraded hardware that includes Grover locking Rotomatic tuners, a black Graph Tech NuBone nut, and a LockTone tune-o-matic-style bridge and stopbar tailpiece. Despite accoutrements galore and an aesthetic that leans toward the heavy side of rock, the Prophecy SG is an affordable model with a variety of tones and musical flexibility on tap.
$899 street,Ā epiphone.com
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Epiphone Prophecy SG Demo - First Look
UNIVERSAL AUDIO UAFX Golden Reverberator
The effects available in UA's Apollo system represent a digital gold standard for many engineers. So to have access to those very same effects in a convenient and affordable pedal that can operate entirely outside of the Universal Audio environment is no small development. The UAFX Golden Reverberator doesn't feature scads of modelsāthe model ships with three Fender-style "spring" reverbs, three EMT plate emulations, and an additional three Lexicon 224-style room and hall verbs. But if the available reverbs seem slight, the realism, depth, and sonic possibilities are most certainly not.
$399 street, uaaudio.com
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BOSS Waza Craft TB-2w Tone Bender
A Tone Bender-style circuit is a simple thing. That doesn't mean it's easy to build a good oneāparticularly when you involve exacting folks like Boss president Yoshi Ikegami and Sola Sound chief Ant Macari. Their decision to partner on a version of one of the greatest fuzzes ever was no mere branding exercise. The TB-2w sounds fantastic and feels thrilling to play. Unfortunately, short supply of the transistors Ikegami and Macari found worthy of the Waza Tone Bender meant they only built 3,000. But even if you can only borrow one from some other lucky so-and-so for a day, it's a kick in the pants.
$349 street, boss.info
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Boss Waza Craft TB-2W Tone Bender Demo | First Look
DAWNER PRINCE Pulse
Digging deep into the minutiae of David Gilmour's tone recipes, Dawner Prince set their sights on the sound of Gilmour's custom-built Doppola rotary speaker when they built the Pulse. But regardless of how you feel about Gilmour's mid-'90s tones, the Pulse is delectably deep in any musical applications where organic, dimensional rotary-style tones are a fit.
$339 street, dawnerprince.com
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RADIAL PZ-PRO
The lure of a utilitarian piece of gear that is well designed, not overthought, and just simply works is always an attraction in my book. Radial's flagship acoustic guitar workhorse is a dual-channel preamp that offers a handful of pro-level features that are nearly guaranteed to make your gigging life easier. It's built for the road and offers an immense EQ section that allows you to fine-tune nearly any troublesome frequency out of the mix. Bonus: The effects loop and built-in boost make it a snap to integrate into your existing board.
$499 street, radialeng.com
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GUILD F-240E
Just about any good jumbo-body acoustic can be an extraordinary playing experience. But when you can buy a jumbo of the quality of the F-240E for less than $400āwell, that merits considering the jumbo experience on a much more permanent basis. The F-240E isn't perfect: the midrange can be a bit brash and strong. But the Guild is still a powerful flattop that you feel as much as play.
$399 street, guildguitars.com
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SQUIER Contemporary Jaguar HH-ST
If the most elemental form of a guitar is its body and neck, the HH-ST Jaguar is a fine distillate of Jaguar essence. Those who savor old-school synchronized floating tremolo, single-coils, and bass-cut switches may feel out of their element here. But if you just want to feel the compact comfort of a Jaguar body and 24" scale, and are curious about the possibilities of humbuckers and coil splitting, this is a sweet deal.
$449 street, fender.com
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SUPRO Delta King 8
Drawing inspiration from their low-watt 1950s combos, Supro deliver the fierce Delta King 8. With just 1 watt of all-tube class A power, this tiny beast is great for low-volume home recording, whether you're miking its 8" speaker or plugging the line-level output direct into your interface. While it might be too quiet for gigs on its own, you can use it to cure your backline blues by plugging it right into the input of a house amp and hearing it roar.
$449 street, suprousa.com
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Supro Delta King 8 Review Demo
MESA/BOOGIE Rectifier Badlander 50
This modestly powered addition to Mesa/Boogie's reimagined Rectifier series is both versatile and simple to useādespite what the 12 knobs and six switches might have you think. With features such as built-in CabClone impulse response, Variac setting, switchable output power, and a bias switch for swapping its EL34s for 6L6s, the Badlander 50 combines flexible functionality with a wide range of tones that span from black-panel-style vintage to hefty chunk.
$1,999 street (head or rackmount) $2,199 (1x12 combo), mesaboogie.com
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Mesa Boogie Badlander 50 Head Demo - First Look
FENDER '68 Custom Pro Reverb
Like the other models in Fender's '68 Custom series, the Pro Reverb has been revamped and reimagined to meet the needs of contemporary guitarists. This time around, the Pro Reverb features a single channelāwith tube-driven spring reverb and tremolo plus an added midrange controlāand just one lightweight 12" Celestion Neo Creamback speaker. Weighing in at a svelte 35 pounds, it's much easier to schlep than an original. And 40 watts of clear cleans and creamy cranked tones make this amp an ideal pedal platform.
$1,299 street, fender.com
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Fender '68 Custom Pro Reverb Demo - First Look
ACLAMWindmiller
In general, Pete Townshend got his aggressive early-to-mid-'60s tones with a very loud amp and craploads of attitude. But he also had a secret weaponāthe preamp from a Grampian reverb unit that, like Jimmy Page's Echoplex, sprinkled a just-right peppering of extra oomph on top of those wide-open amp tones. Aclam's Windmiller re-creates that airy, wide-spectrum drive in a fashion that makes many expensive overdrives sound comparatively thin. It may not be as versatile as those units, but the meat of the matter here is tasty stuff indeed.
$310 street, aclamguitars.com
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GAMECHANGER AUDIO Light Pedal
Spring reverbs are exciting effectsāparticularly when liberated from an amplifier and built into a more malleable (and easily abused) means of interface. (Ask anyone who has ever given a standalone Fender Reverb tank a mighty boot). Gamechanger makes much of a Fender's lively, excitable, and temperamental personality available in a really beautiful and creatively crafted stompbox. But they've added much more voicing potential by enabling control of multiple transducers and operation in multiple modes that yield trashy-to-luxurious sounds.
$349 street, gamechangeraudio.com
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Gamechanger Audio Light Pedal Optical Spring Reverb Demo - First Look
ERNIE BALL MUSIC MAN Dustin Kensrue StingRay
This guitar ships in D standard, but its exquisite build and clever pickup and switching complement make it widely appealing. There's a neck single-coil and a bridge humbucker, a concentric volume/tone control, and a mode button that routes to a mono output or taps each pickup individually and sends the signals to a stereo out for two amps or two channels on your modeler.
$2,799 street, music-man.com
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PRS Studio
Add PRS' high quality to an HSS-inspired configuration using the company's Narrowfield pickups ā¦ and the results sing. The Narrowfields deliver a tone between a full-sized humbucker, a P-90, and a trad single-coilāwith hum cancelling performance. A push-pull coil-split for the bridge humbucker and a 5-way blade switch allows seven distinct pickup settings. It's expensive, but PRS fans and newcomers will appreciate the impressive substance and versatility.
$4,000 street, prsguitars.com
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PRS Studio Demo - First Look
SPUN LOUD The Litigator
Sometimes a pedal sounds discernably more visceral from note one. When you look inside the Litigator, you can guess at why. There isn't much too it. And there's not much to suck tone away. Just about 30 clearly choice and carefully assembled components make up the circuit. That solid simplicity sums as an overdrive that's cracklingly alive, dynamic, and responsive. And while it can be sensitive, it shines especially bright when used in more immodest contexts.
$145 street, spunloud.com
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FRIEDMAN Small Box
Dave Friedman's Marshall-in-a-box is a transistorized spin on his own popular interpretation of a modified plexi: the 50-watt, all-tube Small Box head and combo. This overdrive's six familiar dials provide a very satisfying and fast track to plexi-style crunch and lead tones.
$199 street, friedmanamplification.com
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Friedman Small Box Distortion - First Look
BOSS Waza Craft HM-2w Heavy Metal
The definitive "Nordic metal pedal" gets an update. Packed with distortion power, the HM-2w recreates the original's chainsaw grind and, somehow, adds muscle and headroom for extended modern metal hijinks. Its distinctive tone is domineering, but if you're on board, the HM-2w delivers a breed of proto-metal grit that's in a league of its own.
$179 street, boss.info
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WAMPLERRatsbane
The most inexpensive RAT is still a source of surprisingly multitudinous distortion and overdrive shades. Brian Wampler's take on the RAT is predictably more expansive, with vintage-y, higher gain, fuzzier, and more compressed variations on the RAT voice. Factor in the small size and this becomes a rodent any ratcatcher can love.
$149 street, wamplerpedals.com
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SOLIDGOLD FX Imperial MkII
Jen's Jumbo Fuzz from the early '70s is not just one of the coolest looking pedals ever. It's also one the most interesting-sounding Big Muff variations. The Imperial replicates much of the original's mega-massive and smooth-to-suddenly-spitty characteristics. There's also an added a contour control that regulates the mids. The Imperial MkII doesn't sustain as much as most true Muffs, and the controls can interact in unexpected ways. But this is a big fuzz with a wild and unique personality.
$199 street, solidgoldfx.com
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PIGTRONIX Constellator
This mighty mite of an analog delay has warm sounds that equal much pricier pedals. And the mod and feel controls take tones into infinity and beyond. Though its colors and the warm degradation in repeat trails sound at times like analog tape that's been stretched, clarity and definition abound in every note.
$179 street, pigtronix.com
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EVENTIDE UltraTap
With its menu-less interface, five onboard presets, and easy-to-use editor software, the Eventide UltraTap delay is a fantastic middle ground for those who like traditional-stompbox functionality but crave some of the powerful sonics of more complex pedals like the company's famous H9. Reviewer Shawn Hammond loved that it can go from Andy Summers-esque sounds to "chopped, stuttering LFO textures, cathedral-esque valleys that seem to extend for miles, disorienting trippiness that Jonny Greenwood might have used for OK Computer, and even great small-room sounds that inspire tough Brit-rock riffing."
$279 street, eventideaudio.com
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UNIVERSAL AUDIO Starlight Echo Station
Convincingly conjures tape and bucket-brigade delays in all their anarchic glory. The Echoplex and Memory Man simulations are killer, and digital and garden-hose delays are welcome extras. Starlight has a "Goldilocks" interface: lots of tonal options without excessive complexity. Perfect for those who cherish the weird, warped aspects of pre-digital delays.
$399 street, uaudio.com
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J. ROCKETT AUDIO Clockwork
In addition to being pretty fastidious, J. Rockett has a creative streak and an ear for what makes up the heart of a classic circuit. The Clockwork is among the pedals that come closest to nailing the sound and spirit of the original EHX Deluxe Memory Man, which is no mean feat by itself. But that J. Rockett sense of craft means the Clockwork is one of the sturdiest takes on the DMM you'll ever behold. That's sweet consolation for the many DMM owners too terrified to take their OG treasure on the road.
$399 street, rockettpedals.com
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J. Rockett Audio Designs Clockwork Echo Demo - First Look
MOJO HAND FX Mister-O
Maestro's PS-1 from 1971 was among the earliest dedicated phasers. It was also one of the prettiest sounding. And as far as digital homages go, you'd be hard pressed to beat Mojo Hand's Mister-O (soon to be known as Mr. O). In general, it's a lot clearer and more adept a preserving a guitar's voice than most phasers. And while the trade-off is a little less of the chewiness that some phaser weirdos crave, a lot of guitarists will love how deep the Mister-O can sound without obscuring playing nuances.
$149 street, mojohandfx.com
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EASTMAN Romeo LA
With a sleek, curvy, offset body style and a glammy metallic blue finish, the Romeo LA is a hip-looking, unique semi-hollow that screams for attention. Its laminate spruce top, mahogany back and sides, maple neck, and 12" radius ebony fretboard make this a resonant and easy-to-play guitar, while Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P-90sāhoused in stylish gold foilāstyle radiator coversāand a Gƶldo Les Trem make it feel like a hot rod.
$1,749 street, eastmanguitars.com
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FISHMAN Fluence Greg Koch Gristle-Tone P-90
Instant access to vintage, rocking P-90 sounds, contemporary, high-gain rock textures, or immaculate country and pop tones. Batteries last about 115 hours. Vintage purists may miss some of the wild-and-wooly attitude that comes with the noise in an old-school P-90. But for guitarists who value maximum possibilities, Gristle-Tones are a load of fun and full of potential.
$169 (single), $289 (pair) street, fishman.com
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TC ELECTRONIC MojoMojo Paul Gilbert
The original MojoMojo overdrive was, and remains, one of the real steals in the stompbox universe. Its flexible EQ and voice switch made it a killer alternative to more legendary and expensive overdrives. Paul Gilbert's signature version is every bit as appealingānot least for its enhanced low-mid output that gives this newest incarnation a silkier, fuller tonality. It's also wired for higher gain and, impressively, manages to sound both hotter and more open than the original.
$79 street, tcelectronic.com
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SOLIDGOLDFX EM-III
The warm, analog-like digital delay of the EM-III is enough to impress, but SolidGoldFX add heaps of functionality beyond typical delay controls. This well-designed pedal makes it easy to choose up to three virtual delay heads, add a lower octave, or get weird with glitch and warp settingsāall deep, fun features that make this compact unit a heavy-hitter.
$209 street, solidgoldfx.com
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SolidGoldFX EM-III Multi-Head Octave Echo Demo - First Look
CHARVEL Pro-Mod San Dimas PJ IV
With a slim C-profile neck, DiMarzio DP123 and DP122 pickups, a 3-band active treble/mid/bass boost/cut tone control array equipped with a push/pull switch for passive operation, as well as pickup balance and master volume controls, the Pro-Mod San Dimas is "one of the most well-built and versatile examples I have played in a very long time," declares reviewer Victor BrodƩn.
$949 street, charvel.com
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NEURAL DSP Quad Cortex
The digital-floor-modeler space has become pretty crowded over the last few years, but Neural's new powerhouse is a compact contender that can stand up to any challenger. The richness of the amp models is inspiring and accurate, and the capture feature helps add possibilities to your customized rigs. Trading and storing presets has never been easier, either, thanks to a well-designed mobile app. Plus, the rotary knobs/footswitches are a potential game changer for those who lust after more tactile controls.
$1,849 street, neuraldsp.com
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Neural Quad Cortex Demo - First Look
EPIPHONE Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess Standard
Outfitted with splittable humbuckers and a Floyd Rose with bridge-saddle transducers, Epiphone's more affordable version of the Rush legend's signature guitar dishes out a plethora of tones with style and comfort. The mahogany body is topped with highly figured maple, while around back there's an ergonomic belly carve. Reviewer Joe Charupakorn said humbucker-and-piezo mode "generated a massive 3-D experience," while humbuckers alone were "beefy and powerful, with plenty of clarity," and single-coil sounds had impressive bite without sacrificing volume.
$899 street, epiphone.com
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Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess Standard Demo - First Look
ENGL Ironball E606SE Special Edition
With two channels, built-in effectsāfull-featured delay, reverb, and noise gateāeight available IR cab simulations, XLR output, headphone jack, effects loop, and footswitch options ranging from single-footswitch to full MIDI control, the Ironball SE is one of the most impressively outfitted high-gain mini heads on the market. It's no surprise that it serves up a great variety of heavy, saturated tones, but its powerful EQ also enables it to simultaneously offer clean sounds that stand apart from many of its competitors.
$1,450 street, engl-amps.com
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The ultimate hand-wired Tube Screamer from Ibanez is up for grabs! Enter the I Love Pedals giveaway today, and come back daily for extra entries!
Ibanez TS808HWv2 Tube Screamer Overdrive Pro Pedal
Ibanez has taken the iconic Tube Screamer and pushed it further by re-envisioning their flagship, hand-wired model. The company evaluated every component while aiming to stay true to the pedalās transparent and mid-range-focused tone. After numerous prototypes, it was concluded the JRC NJM4558 op-amp was essential to achieve the Tube Screamerās legendary sound. At the same time, this new design is capable of a wider range of sounds thanks to the addition of high-end components such as MOGAMI OFC cables, which further enhance the benefits of a hand-wired pedal. Additionally, a boost has been added to the final stage of the circuit, increasing the maximum output level by +6dB. Its look has also been revamped, giving it a high-end appearance while retaining the traditional shape.
The high priest of prog-metal guitar, John Petrucci, is still finding new territory on his instrument.
The legendary progressive-metal guitarist details the darknessāand the renewed camaraderieāthat led to his band Dream Theaterās 16th full-length record, Parasomnia.
Some very important events happened in John Petrucciās life in 2024. He celebrated an enormous milestone with his bandmates in prog-metal behemoth Dream Theater: Theyāve been a band for 40 years. Many bands arenāt destined to last a single decade, let alone four. Itās a titanic personal and artistic achievement. And yet, that anniversary paled in significance next to another major development: The band wrote and created a new full-length record with founding drummer Mike Portnoy, who had been absent from Dream Theater since 2010.
The news of Portnoyās reunion with Dream Theater rocked the metal world. Over the years, whiffs of acrimony and hurt feelings suggested Portnoyās return to the band might be a pipe dream. But in October 2023, the band revealed that they had all independently reconciled with Portnoy, a process that culminated backstage at New Yorkās Beacon Theater in 2022. Portnoy attended Dream Theaterās show at the venue and met up with the band afterward. It was the first time heād seen vocalist James Labrie in 10 years. Within seconds, 13 years melted away in the warmth of camaraderie.
āThe gear was all set up and we sat there and started playing. It was magic. It was like we never missed a beat.ā
A few months after the announcement of Portnoyās return, he and bandmates Labrie, Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess convened at the recently renovated Dream Theater HQ, their longtime creative hideout and recording studio in Long Island, to begin to create new music. Petrucci, speaking over the phone from Brazil during Dream Theaterās December 2024 tour, remembers that period fondly. āFrom the moment that we all stepped in the studio in February, the gear was all set up and we sat there and started playing,ā he says. āIt was magic. It was like we never missed a beat.ā
After shaking off the cobwebs, the first song they wrote together was āNight Terrorāāāif that gives you any indication of the energy and vibe and mood that we were in,ā quips Petrucci. Itās heavy, riffy, aggressive, and progressive, a capsule of 13 years in just shy of 10 minutes. āWe let that all out in the first couple of weeks of just being together,ā Petrucci continues. āIt was wonderful and the creative juices just flowed the way they always did. There was great brotherly chemistry between all of us.ā
Last year, Dream Theater celebrated their ruby anniversary as a band. Four decades on, theyāre still exploring the dark corners of what happens when we sleep.
The band continued to create together as theyād always done. They had some concrete ideas: They wanted to make a concept album, and it had to be heavy and riff-centric. Petrucci, who produced the record, was intrigued by parasomnia, a medical concept which refers broadly to any unusual sleep pattern, like sleepwalking, nightmares, insomnia, sleep paralysis, and more. He hadnāt experienced those nocturnal issues (the worst he deals with is snoring), but he began deep research into them. A path had opened up. āThat creative part of me just wakes up, and then that turns into it also being musically creative, lyrically creative, visually creative,ā says Petrucci.
This is how Parasomnia, Dream Theaterās 16th studio record, came to exist. Engineered and mixed by Andy Sneap, the concept album comprises a collection of suites and vignettes that center on various sleep disturbances, opening with āIn the Arms of Morpheus,ā a slowly building soundscape that sets the scene for all that follows. It soundtracks someone getting ready for bed and falling asleep, and just as theyāre drifting into a dreamstate, a musical theme starts to creep in. It heightens and gets weird before exploding into the full chaos that gives way to āNight Terror,ā the nine-minute-plus epic. Petrucciās playing on this song alone is staggering: Thereās the classic, open-string beginner riff, then vintage, hyper, ā80s-metal single-note melody work, then a truly brain-melting, lightning-fast solo that leaves your jaw open.
True to Dream Theater lineage, there are pieces of the record that feel ready to soundtrack alien drag races on Mars next to swanky sections of jazzy, hard-rocking funk-blues, like on āA Broken Man.ā Petrucci slips in and out of modes and scales like a chameleon changing its colors, each sounding as lived-in and natural as the last. His fingers just seem to know where to go. His only reprieve is the funereal interlude āAre We Dreaming?ā which prepares us for the power ballad āBend the Clockā and the devastating, scorched earth closer: āThe Shadow Man Incident.ā
Parasomnia is Dream Theaterās 16th studio record, and their first since reuniting with founding drummer Mike Portnoy.
āItās wacky,ā says Petrucci about the phenomena behind that songās title. If youāre not familiar, āthe shadow manā is a colloquial name given to a figure that appears during some episodes of sleep paralysis. People around the world have reported a similar apparition visiting them while theyāre experiencing sleep paralysisābut thereās no scientific consensus for what causes the similar visions.
āThereās something in the human brain that is unaccounted for or whatever that must be producing that, that repeated experience,ā continues Petrucci. āYou start doing all this research and going down rabbit holes online. Youāre like, āWow, for centuries, in every culture and civilization, the same thing has been happening. What is this?ā It definitely explores the depths of the human mind, but it reminds me of any sort of topic that holds your interest in a weird way, like UFOs. A song like āThe Shadow Man Incidentā is a long, epic piece of music that gives you the backdrop and license to go into storytelling more.ā
The goal was to take that storytelling beyond the normal confines of an LPāor, at least, what we think of as an LP in the streaming age. āWhat we decided to do was to make the album kind of like a Dark Side of the Moon listening experience,ā explains Petrucci. āOur hope is that people will get this record, turn down the lights, get together with some friends for a drink or whatever you do, and just listen to the whole thing like youāre watching a movie. Itās supposed to be an experience.āPetrucci even studied the music of composers like John Williams to get a bead on how to create epic, cinematic feelings in music. He displayed his research to his bandmates in the form of creative direction for certain songs, likening the process to scoring a film. āThe album or song topic presents certain imagery, and you want the music to match that imagery, so you have those tools in your toolbox, like, āOkay, I know what kind of chord movement or chordal sounds or modal things I can do that are going to make that,ā and itās going to create that flavor as opposed to just going in and writing in the typical way that you would if you didnāt have that knowledge ahead of time.ā
āWith Mike rejoining the band, I wanted to lean into the nostalgic aspect in some of the recording process.ā
A part of that soundscaping is what Petrucci describes as āear candyā: spoken-word passages, or sound effects like clocks ticking and alarms ringing. These elements help build a more profound, immersive listen, but they only work if the songs are good, says Petrucci. āYou can have all these sound connections and overdubs and voices, but if the songs suck, itās not going to mean anything. No oneās going to want to listen to it.ā
Knowing that the record would deal with all things eerie and creepy, Petrucci wanted to explore what types of tonalities could unsettle the listening experience. āFor āNight Terror,ā I use the super Phrygian mode, which is like a mode of the Hungarian minor which has a very unresolved sound that creates a lot of tension,ā he says. He also experimented with constructs like the Prometheus and Tristan chords. āThat gives you that dreamy weird thing you hear in āIn the Arms of Morpheus.ā That first 8-string chord is this crazy chord of all tritones that just makes it sound like youāre in a nightmare right away.ā
Petrucci, pictured here shredding in November 1994, broke out plenty of classic gear for the recording of Parasomnia to mark the reunion with Portnoy.
Photo by Frank White
Petrucci called on a range of tools old and new to bring Parasomnia to life. āWith Mike rejoining the band, I wanted to lean into the nostalgic aspect in some of the recording process,ā he explains. He used his 6-, 7-, and 8-string Ernie Ball Music Man Majesty guitars, in a spread of different tunings. He used his Mesa/Boogie JP-2C on everything except the recordās solos. For those, he busted out his old Mesasāa Mark III, IV, and IIC+ among themāfor a shootout and wound up choosing the IIC+ that he used on old Dream Theater records (plus his own solo release, Suspended Animation). A Roland Jazz Chorus even clocked in for some cleansāa page Petrucci took from James Hetfieldās book.
The nostalgia didnāt end there. The band reached out to recording engineer Doug Oberkircher, who engineered all of the bandās records from 1992ās Images and Words through 2003ās Train of Thought, to purchase the Neve preamp used on those albums. All the guitars on Parasomnia were recorded through that preamp.
In many ways, a production this grand and intricate is familiar territory for the band. Petrucci and Dream Theater obviously have a penchant for art that is narrative, theatrical, and grand. But Parasomnia is specially weighted with circumstance and time.John Petrucci's Gear
Petrucci and Dream Theater have managed an incredible feat: Theyāre just as excited about their music now as they were when they were teenagers.
Photo by Ekaterina Gorbacheva
Guitars
- Various Ernie Ball Music Man The Majesty 6-, 7-, and 8-string guitars with DiMarzio Dreamcatcher and Rainmaker pickups
Amps
- Mesa/Boogie JP-2C (rhythm parts)
- Vintage Mesa/Boogie Mark II C+ Simul-Class (lead parts)
- Roland JC-120 (clean parts)
- Mesa/Boogie 4x12 Rectifier Traditional Straight cabinet
Effects
- MXR Bass Compressor
- Boss CE-2W
- Boss DC-2W
- TC Electronic Dreamscape
- TC Electronic TC 2290
- TC Electronic Corona Chorus+
- MXR Stereo Chorus
- Keeley Blues Disorder
- Dunlop JP95 John Petrucci Signature Cry Baby Wah
- MXR Custom Audio Electronics MC403 Power System
Recording
- Neve 1093 Pre/EQ
- API 3124MV
- Solid State Logic PURE DRIVE OCTO
- sE Electronics VR2 + Mojave Audio MA-D (rhythm parts)
- sE Electronics SE4400a + Royer Labs R-121 (lead parts)
- Royer Labs R-121 in stereo (clean parts)
- sE Electronics RNR1 (mid room)
- sE Electronics RNT in OMNI (far room)
- Waves H-Delay Analog Delay Plugin
- Soundtoys EchoBoy
- Soundtoys MicroShift
- Soundtoys Crystallizer
- D16 Group Audio Software Repeater
- Valhalla DSP VintageVerb Plugin
- Valhalla DSP ValhallaRoom Reverb Plugin
- Radial ProRMP
- Radial J48
- EBow
Strings & Picks
- John Petrucci signature Dunlops
- Ernie Ball .10 gauge electric sets
āJohn Myung and I met when we were in middle school, so we were like 12, and I remember everything about us playing together, going over to each otherās houses after school and playing every Iron Maiden song there ever was, going to Berklee and meeting Mike when we were 18, forming the band,ā says Petrucci. āHere we are, itās 40 years later. How the hell does that happen? But the great thing is to still be playing with my brothers and my buddies, and still making music together that weāre just as excited about as we were when we were 18. Itās all we ever wanted to do.ā
All of this history isnāt just window dressing. It comes out in Petrucciās playing, too: Itās all one, long story. āBy the time I was 16 or 17, I had a handle on the kind of style of player I wanted to be, and those original elements are still there and will always be there,ā says Petrucci. āBut now, 40 years later, thereās still new things coming in. Even on the new album, thereās things I never did before. Weāre playing these shows and Iām trying to master this stuff live in front of an audience and see if I can pull it off under pressure. The challenge of it is just as much as it was when I was a teenager. I love it.
āItās a continuing experiment,ā Petrucci continues. āAs you develop new techniques and go down new roads of playing, all of a sudden you realize you abandoned some older techniques, then you go back and rediscover those things, and through the process of rediscovering the old things you used to do, all of a sudden you could do some stuff that you never were able to do before. Itās like something thatās living. Itās a living experiment of guitar playing. Itās just forever inspiring.ā
YouTube It
Last year marked Dream Theaterās 40th anniversary as a band, and the official Dream Theater fan club caught up with the group before their gig in Oslo to see how they brought the milestone tour to life.
Fifteen watts that sits in a unique tone space and offers modern signal routing options.
A distinct alternative to the most popular 1x10 combos. Muscular and thick for a 1x10 at many settings. Pairs easily with single-coils and humbuckers. Cool looks.
Tone stack could be more rangeful.
$999
Supro Montauk
supro.com
When you imagine an ideal creative space, what do you see? A loft? A barn? A cabin far from distraction? Reveling in such visions is inspiration and a beautiful escape. Reality for most of us, though, is different. Weāre lucky to have a corner in the kitchen or a converted closet to make music in. Still, thereās a romance and sense of possibility in these modest spaces, and the 15-watt, 1x10, all-tubeSupro Montauk is an amplifier well suited to this kind of place. It enlivens cramped corners with its classy, colorful appearance. Itās compact. Itās also potent enough to sound and respond like a bigger amp in a small room.
The Montauk works in tight quarters for reasons other than size, thoughāwith three pre-power-section outputs that can route dry signal, all-wet signal from the ampās spring reverb, or a mixture of both to a DAW or power amplifier.
Different Stripes and Spacious Places
Vintage Supro amps are modestly lovely things. The China-made Montauk doesnāt adhere toold Supro style motifs in the strictest sense. Its white skunk stripe is more commonly seen on black Supro combos from the late 1950s, while the blue ārhino hideā vinyl evokes Supros from the following decade. But the Montaukās handsome looks make a cramped corner look a lot less dour. It looks pretty cool on a stage, too, but the Montauk attribute most likely to please performing guitarists is the small size (17.75" x 16.5" x 7.5") and light weight (29 pounds), which, if you tote your guitar in a gig bag and keep your other stuff to a minimum, facilitates magical one-trip load ins.
Keen-eyed Supro-spotters noting the Montaukās weight and dimensions might spy the similarities to another 1x10 Supro combo,the Amulet. A casual comparison of the two amps might suggest that the Montauk is, more-or-less, an Amulet without tremolo and power scaling. They share the same tube complement, including a relatively uncommon 1x6L6 power section. But while the Montauk lacks the Amuletās tremolo, the Montaukās spring reverb features level and dwell controls rather than the Amuletās single reverb-level knob.
āHigh reverb levels and low dwell settings evoke a small, reflective room with metallic overtones from the spring sprinkled on topāleaving ghostly ambience in the wake of strong, defined transient tones.ā
If you use reverb a lot and in varying levels of intensity, youāll appreciate the extra flexibility. High reverb levels and low dwell settings evoke a small, reflective room with metallic overtones from the spring sprinkled on topāleaving ghostly ambience in the wake of strong, defined transient tones. There are many shades of this subtle texture to explore, and itās a great sound and solution for those who find the spring reverbs in Fender amps (which feature no dwell control) an all-or-nothing proposition. For those who like to get deep in the pipeline, though, the dwell offers room to roam. Mixing high level and dwell settings blunts the ampās touch sensitivity a bit, and at 15 watts you trade headroom for natural compression, compounding the fogginess of these aggressive settings. A Twin Reverb it aināt. But there is texture aplenty to play with.
A Long, Wide Strand
Admirably, the Montauk speaks in many voices when paired with a guitar alone. The EQ sits most naturally and alive with treble and bass in the noon-to-2-oāclock region, and a slight midrange lean adds welcome punch. Even the ampās trebliest realms afford you a lot of expressive headroom if you have enough range and sensitivity in your guitar volume and tone pots. Interactions between the gain and master output controls yield scads of different tone color, too. Generally, I preferred high gain settings, which add a firecracker edge to maximum guitar volume settings and preserve touch and pick response at attenuated guitar volume and tone levels.
If working with the Montauk in this fashion feels natural, youāll need very few pedals. But itās a good fit for many effects. A Fuzz Face sounded nasty without collapsing into spitty junk, and the Klon-ish Electro-Harmonix Soul Food added muscle and character in its clean-boost guise and at grittier gain levels. Thereās plenty of headroom for exploring nuance and complexity in delays and modulations. It also pairs happily with a wide range of guitars and pickups: Every time I thought a Telecaster was a perfect fit, Iād plug in an SG with PAFs and drift away in Mick Taylor/Stones bliss.
The Verdict
Because the gain, master, tone, and reverb controls are fairly interactive, it took me a minute to suss out the Montaukās best and sweetest tones. But by the time I was through with this review, I found many sweet spots that fill the spaces between Vox and Fender templates. Thereās also raunch in abundance when you turn it up. Itās tempting to view the Montauk as a competitor to the Fender Princeton and Vox AC15. At a thousand bucks, itās $400 dollars less than the Mexico-made Princeton ā68 Custom and $170 more than the AC15, also made in China. In purely tone terms, though, it represents a real alternative to those stalwarts. Iād be more than happy to see one in a backline, provided I wasnāt trying to rise above a Geezer Butler/Bill Ward rhythm section. And with its capacity for routing to other amps and recording consoles in many intriguing configurations, it succeeds in being a genuinely interesting combination of vintage style and sound and home-studio utilityāall without adding a single digital or solid-state component to the mix.
Watch the official video documenting the sold-out event at House of Blues in Anaheim. Join Paul Reed Smith and special guests as they toast to quality and excellence in guitar craftsmanship.
PRS Guitars today released the official video documenting the full night of performances at their 40th Anniversary celebration, held January 24th in conjunction with the 2025 NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants) Show. The sold-out, private event took place at House of Blues in Anaheim, California and featured performances by PRS artists Randy Bowland, Curt Chambers, David Grissom, Jon Jourdan, Howard Leese, Mark Lettieri Group, Herman Li, John Mayer, Orianthi, Tim Pierce, Noah Robertson, Shantaia, Philip Sayce, and Dany Villarreal, along with Paul Reed Smith and his Eightlock band.
āWhat a night! Big thanks to everyone who came out to support us: retailers, distributors, vendors, content creators, industry friends, and especially the artists. I loved every second. We are so pleased to share the whole night now on this video,ā said Paul Reed Smith, Founder & Managing General Partner of PRS Guitars. āI couldnāt be more proud to still be here 40 years later.ā
With nearly 1,400 of the whoās who in the musical instrument industry in attendance, the night ended with a thoughtful toast from PRS Signature Artist John Mayer, who reflected on 40 years of PRS Guitars and the quality that sets the brand apart. āThe guitars are great. You canāt last 40 years if the guitars arenāt great,ā said Mayer. āMany of you started hearing about PRS the same way I did, which is you would talk about PRS and someone would say āTheyāre too nice.ā Whatās too nice for a guitar? What, you want that special vibe that only tuning every song can give you on stage? You want that grit just like your heroes ā¦ bad intonation? The product is incredible.ā