
An affordable, compact recording solution offering exclusive features for guitarists and a gateway to a new world of tone.
IK Multimedia releases AXE I/O ONE, the ultimate affordable audio interface designed for guitar and bass players. It combines the exclusive features of IK's AXE I/O family of interfaces with a massive software tone bundle, at a price never seen before.
AXE I/O ONE sports IK's exclusive Z-TONEĀ® impedance control, JFET input for warm, tube-like sound, dedicated Amp Out for practicing or reamping, pickup selector, external volume/wah pedal or switch controller inputs, and includes award-winning AmpliTube and TONEX software with access to thousands of presets, amp and pedal rig tones on ToneNET for a complete digital studio rig that sounds like a pro.
āEvery electric and bass guitar is different and AXE I/O ONE's Z-TONE input circuit allows users to dial in the perfect tone for recording by changing the impedance of the guitar input to go from a tighter/sharper tone to a thicker/bolder tone on the same instrument.
The Class A JFET input buffer adds the midrange focus, warmth, and harmonic enhancement highly sought after by guitar players. An Active/Passive pickup selector allows precise input settings at the flip of a switch while, unique to AXE I/O family, the ONE features external controller inputs to connect switches or volume pedals to control the included software hands-free, without ever having to stop playing.
The exclusive Amp Out allows players to connect directly to a guitar amplifier or a guitar rig for practicing using a hybrid setup of virtual and real guitar gear. Or it can be used for reamping, the technique of recording a dry guitar signal and using external gear for processing or even to capture one's own real rig and turn it into a plug-in using the included artificial intelligence software.
āWith both AmpliTube 5 SE and TONEX SE included, users have instant access to a huge library of thousands of gear models and presets to record and play right out of the box, and AXE I/O ONE works with any recording application.
AmpliTube 5 SE includes 80 pieces of gear that cover a wide range of stomp and rack effects, amps, cabs, speakers, mics, and rooms with complex series/parallel rig chains easily built by drag and drop to emulate any type of sound.
TONEX SE is the new and revolutionary AI Machine Modeling software that's taking the world by storm, offering not only thousands of rigs that are indistinguishable from the real thing but also the possibility of modeling any real rig and turning it into a plug-in. Users can model their amps, cabs, or pedals including distortion, overdrive, EQ, fuzz, boost, and more, and play them inside TONEX and AmpliTube.
Both software applications include access to the ToneNET online service where there are now over 6,000 AmpliTube presets and 10,000 TONEX tone models to explore, produced, and expanded daily by a thriving community of guitar and bass players.
āAXE I/O ONE is USB-C bus powered and requires no external power supply. To start recording is as easy as plug and play. Users can hit record right out of the box with the included easy-to-use AmpliTube 5 SE multitrack standalone application or, for more sophisticated composition, Ableton Live Lite software is included to take it to the next level. Everything is easy to set up and easy to use whenever inspiration strikes.
AXE I/O ONE's MIDI input and output also allow users to connect keyboard controllers or any other MIDI controllers to play virtual instruments or control the included software with external MIDI gear or vice versa. Plus AXE I/O ONE also works with the latest iPads for use with TONEX SE iOS (also included), the free AmpliTube CS iOS app, and a huge variety of compatible apps.
Great recordings require uncompromised quality and AXE I/O ONE delivers professional audio with sample rates up to 192 kHz, 108 dB dynamic range, and 9 Hz-45 kHz frequency response.
And for recording acoustic instruments and vocals via the XLR mic input, AXE I/O ONE features a PURE Class-A mic preamp with phantom power for ultra-transparent and clean recording, without any unwanted coloration, preserving the true sonic character of a vocal, acoustic guitar, piano, or other instruments.
Super compact and easy to carry in a backpack or gig bag, AXE I/O ONE can also quickly become the ideal interface for recording on the go.
āAXE I/O ONE is shipping now and available from the IK Multimedia online store and from IK authorized dealers worldwide, for only $/ā¬129.99* - including AmpliTube 5 SE, TONEX SE, and Ableton Live Lite.
For more information, please visit ikmultimedia.com.
IK Multimedia AXE I/O ONE USB Guitar Audio Interface
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.
Stretching the boundaries of reverbās realm through dynamic and pitch control.
Nice core reverb sounds. Invites cool compositional and arrangement directions. High quality.
If you lack patience, it will be hard to unlock its coolest secrets.
$329
Gamechanger Audio Auto Reverb
gamechangeraudio.com
When the first Moog synthesizer appeared, it freaked out a lot of musiciansānot least for the way it blurred the divisions between instruments and their roles. Was it percussion? A keyboard? A reed instrument? Many effects makers build from this philosophical foundation. The Latvian company Gamechanger often seems to revel in itāan attitude thatās manifest in the companyās Auto Series pedals, which includes the Auto Reverb.
Thereās no reason you canāt use the Auto Reverb in a very straightforward fashion. The plate, spring, and hall settings are all very nice digital representations of their analog inspirationsāand Iād be perfectly happy playing an instrumental surf set with the spring mode, for instance. But because you can control the parameters like the reverbās level, decay, tone, and the filter with changes in pitch and dynamics, the Auto Reverb can function in highly orchestral ways, transforming itself from subtle to outlandish as a musical piece shifts in intensity or rises from low to high keys toward a blurred, hyper-spacious climax. While these attributes make the Auto Reverb a great fit for prepared guitar and conceptual piecesāand invites many themes and compositional ideas within those formsāit can just as easily be configured to create an especially dynamic and dramatic pop song arrangement on stage or in the studio that might otherwise be relegated to automations within a DAW. Itās fun to use, if not always intuitive. But knowing its ways can expand your musical options significantly.
Black Sabbath to Reunite for First Time in 20 YearsāOzzy Osbourneās Final Performance
The original Sabbath lineup will reunite on July 5 in Birmingham, England, and be joined by Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, and more.
The concert will feature founding members Tony Iommi on guitar, bassist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward, and singer Ozzy Osbourne. Profits from the show, called "Back to the Beginning," will be donated to charities including Cure Parkinson's.
On future Black Sabbath plans, Ozzy's wife, music manager, and TV personality Sharon Osbourne had this to say (via Reuters) about Ozzy: āWhile other bandmembers might continue to make records and perform, Black Sabbath's gig at the birthplace of the band will certainly be the 76-year-old's final performance.
"For Ozzy right now, it's definitely: 'I love you and good night'," she said.
The shredder and son of legendary artist Frank Zappa gives a tour of his up-to-date gear, including a complex stereo switching system, four racks of pedals, and some of his fatherās favorite guitars.
Dweezil Zappa was always going to end up being an incredible guitarist. His dad, Frank Zappa, is celebrated as one of the most talented and creative guitarists in history, and by age 12, Dweezil was recording music produced by Eddie Van Halen. (Little surprise that heās covering Van Halenās 1981 stunner āPush Comes to Shoveā lately.) Heās been a bona fide guitar star ever since, releasing seven original solo records, six tribute records, two LPs with his brother Ahmet Zappa, and guesting on recordings across the music universe.
Ahead of his gig at Memphisā Minglewood Hall on his 2024 Rox(postroph)y tour, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of Frank Zappaās Apostrophe (') and Roxy & Elsewhere records, Dweezil gave PGās John Bohlinger a boot-to-bonnet look at his current road setup. Thereās a lot of ground to cover between his and his fatherās catalogues, and Dweezil loves the challenge, which he meets with a mix of his own gear and some special vintage assists courtesy of his dad.
Brought to you by DāAddario.Shut Up ān Play Yer Les Paul
This coveted GibsonĀ Les Paul Custom, featured on the cover of Frankās 1981 record Shut Up ān Play Yer Guitar, came out on the road this tour. Dweezil says that around 1986, his dad swapped in Dan Armstrong-made ceramic pickups. At one point, Frank installed a second input to try to use the guitar as a synth controller, but it didnāt track well enough to continue the experiment.
Along with the standard controls, the guitar includes switches to turn on different parts of the onboard preamp, which boosts the signal and adds plenty of gain. A rotary knob controls a wired-in parametric EQ set up to emulate different settings along the sweep of a wah pedal. Dweezil didnāt get much of the lowdown from his father on the complex operations; it was more trial-and-error. āYou just have to turn knobs until you find something that you like,ā he says. He connects to his rig with ZZYZX SnapJack magnetic cable connectors.
Rockin' with Roxy
Also out on the Rox(postroph)y tour is Frankās iconic Roxy & Elsewhere-era Gibson SG. Like the Les Paul, itās got a preamp circuit to boost the signal, a sweepable EQ, and can achieve acoustic, piezo-adjacent sounds. The preamp configuration in this one is red-hot; it dishes out tons of gain.
Signature Shabat
For Strat-style tones, Dweezil calls on his signature Shabat Lynx DZ, which has been used to dial in his cover of āPush Comes to Shove.ā Per Shabat, it has a ābody-mounted HSS configuration with a push/pull phase shift on the middle pickup, simplified single-knob layout, custom-cut 3-ply parchment/gold pickguard, and ā¦ a Vega-Trem VT1 tremolo."
The Lynx DZ is constructed with an alder body and a quartersawn hard maple, medium-C-profile neck with a 25.5" scale length. Itās loaded with Lollar Special S and Lollar El Rayo pickups, and the middle Special S is wired for phase shift. The Lynx, as well as the SG and Les Paul, are strung with Optima Gold-Plated 2028 FZ Frank Zappa strings (.008ā.046), and struck with DāAddario .50 mm celluloid picks. (Dweezil likes them for pick slides.)
On the Ground
Zappa keeps a significant board at his feet, which he controls with a Fractal FC-12 controller. He runs his sound in stereo, with different effects going to each side, so he keeps volume pedals for each side in front of him, plus a wah and expression pedal.
The row of pedals perched atop the pedalboard includes a TC Electronic Polytune 3 Noir, a Marshall-style prototype pedal, J. Rockett Audio Designs PXO, Union Tube and Transistor Lab, SoloDallas Orbiter, a Jext Telez White Pedal (to nab a specific tone for playing āNanook Rubs Itā), and a 29 Pedals FLWR.
In the Rack
On our 2013 Rig Rundown, Dweezil was using the Fractal Axe-Fx II, and this time around, heās upgraded to the Axe-Fx III as the basis of his sound. Given the sonic territory covered in his shows, it simply became too unwieldy and expensive to tour an analog rig.
The brains of his show are held in a rack system. A couple of out-of-sight splitter boxes help with the complex stereo signal paths, as do a pair of Voodoo Lab HEX audio switchers. The Axe-Fx III lives on the top shelf, and just below it are an Eventide H90 and TC Electronic TC 2290 that go to both sides.
The next rack down runs only to the left side, and includes a BK Butler Tube Driver, DigiTech FreqOut, Red Panda Radius and Raster, Krozz Devices Airborn Analog Flanger, and a Paul Trombetta Design Tornita! fuzz.
The level below it runs to the right side, with a āClown Vomitā fuzz, Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl, Korg FLG-1 Flanger, Chase Bliss Generation Loss, Goochfx Holy Cow, and another Red Panda Raster.
Wrapping up the rig is the bottom rack, which again runs to both sides. It carries most of Zappaās exquisite dirt sounds, thanks to a Union Tube and Transistor Tsar Bomba, Chase Bliss Automatone Preamp MKII, Goochfx Dirty Hippie, Tru-Fi Two Face, Foxrox Electronics Paradox TZF2, and a Paul Trombetta Design Rotobone that ā¦ somewhat reasonably apes a trombone sound. Paul Trombetta, we salute you.