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Gear Award 2023

The octave fuzz section from the Atreides Weirding Module gets its own star turn in a buzzing bruiser that can be absurd and beautiful.

Unusually flexible and sustain-rich octave fuzz. Fat, rubbery synth-like sounds. White-hot fuzz. Versatile tone and fuzz and sub octave levels.

Canā€™t entirely remove fuzz or octave signal.

$169

Way Huge Stone Burner
jimdunlop.com

5
4.5
4.5
4.5

Way Hugeā€™s Atreides Weirding Module is one of Jeorge Trippsā€™ great gifts to the world. Itā€™s a gift that keeps giving, too. The Attack Vector phaser and envelope was its first offspring. But the newest, the Stone Burner Sub Atomic octave fuzz is a killer, maybe the coolest, and probably the most practical pedal from the Atreides family. Itā€™s an unusually useful and forgiving octave fuzz that will generate up to two sub octaves, which feature more or less prominently depending on the sub level.

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Great tones in all settings. Practical design, High quality.

Recombined tones may not be better than the originals to some ears.

$199

Keeley Noble Screamer
robertkeeley.com

4.5
5
5
4.5

Robert Keeley marries the best of two beloved green machines in one smart box.

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This downsized version of Marshallā€™s first amp still spans a sweet range of British and American tones and packs a punchā€”even in its 5-watt mode.

A well-designed, ruggedly built, and downsized update of the classic JTM45 platform. Suited for contemporary club and studio needs. Five-watt mode sounds excellent. Spans classic Brit and American tones.

Expensive for a 20-watt PCB-based combo.

$1,949


Marshall JTM Studio ST20C
marshall.com

4.5
4.5
5
4

Marshall ventured ably into smaller and quieter realms with 2018ā€™s Studio Series, which reduced the plexi, JCM, and Jubilee platforms down to a much more manageable 20 watts. The JTM45 is the latest Marshall legend to undergo the shrink treatmentā€”yielding the Studio JTM ST20C, a 20-watt, 1x12 combo that harnesses big-bottle, 5881 output tube power in an amp suited for modestly sized clubs and studios.

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Thereā€™s much more to this analog phaser than outlaw country swirl.

An inexpensive, rangy phaser with fun, interactive, and easy-to-use controls

Some whistle-like overtones in treble-heavy peaks

$129

Fender Waylon Jennings Phaser, $129 street

fender.com

4.5
4.5
4.5
4.5

When I was a kid, my mom got a cassette of Waylon Jenningsā€™ Greatest Hits, which went into heavy rotation in her Cutlass Supremeā€™s tape deck. Much was striking about that introduction to Waylon Jenningsā€”not least that voice and the frank, plain-spoken narration. Just as arresting, though, were the swirling guitar sounds that popped up on ā€œAre You Sure Hank Done It This Wayā€ and ā€œLuckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love).ā€ They didnā€™t sound like the Buck Owens or Patti Page I would hear on oldies stations, or, for that matter, George Harrisonā€™s version of Don Richā€™s ā€œAct Naturallyā€ lead. In fact, as a Beatles obsessive, ā€œLuckenbach, Texasā€ struck me as bearing a certain resemblance to the arpeggios in ā€œDear Prudence.ā€ Those phaser sounds helped make me a Waylon fan for life. So, Iā€™m tickled to see Fender honor the effect that opened up one very strange corner of my musical mind with the release of the Waylon Jennings Phaser.

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Guitars, basses, pedals, amps, and more ā€¦ high-quality gear kept arriving in 2023 at a record pace. Here are the past 12 monthsā€™ Premier Gear Award winners.

Read on to see which debut tone toys of 2023 reaped Premier Gear Awards from our editors and expert reviewers!

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