Our favorite guitars, basses, amps, effects, and accessories from the last 12 months.
Brubaker JXB Standard bass
The Fender Jazz Bass was more or less born perfect. But that hasn’t kept Kevin Brubaker from tweaking the formula to killer ends. The JXB uses a set of Aguilar hum-cancelling pickups that manage traditional smoky J-Bass tones and honky, pointed midrange sounds suited for modern mixes.
$2,499 street
brubakerguitars.com
In the years we’ve compiled our annual list of Premier Gear Award winners, we’ve probably never seen a list more eclectic than 2015’s. From high-gain monster amps and atmospheric reverbs to mini overdrives and wahs, 2015’s award winners covered all the bases.
As always, it was a joy to see how both big-time musical instrument industry players and little shops a step removed from the garage managed to haul in Premier Guitar’s prize for gear excellence. And if anyone’s counting, we’re pretty sure we also set a record for Premier Gear Award winners. So we hope you’re comfy—this list of primo gear may take some time to cover.