C. F. Martin & Co.® is proud to announce the release of five exciting new models that blend tradition with innovation and meet the needs of today’s diverse players. The launch includes a refreshed GPCE Inception Maple with a bold new gloss finish, the all-new non-cutaway GPE Inception Maple, two special X Series additions, and the SC-10E Spruce—a fresh take on Martin’s revolutionary SC design now joining the Road Series.
GPCE Inception Maple
Martin’s game-changing Inception Series gets a visual and tonal upgrade with the refreshed GPCE Inception Maple. Now featuring a full-body gloss amber fade sunburst finish, this model blends cutting-edge acoustic design with FSC®-certified tonewoods. A European spruce top delivers bold projection and quick response, while flamed maple back and sides provide clarity and brightness, all balanced by a black walnut wedge. Skeletonized bracing and sonic channeling—purpose-built for this tonewood pairing—enhance both sustain and amplitude. With premium appointments like a satin black walnut neck, FSC-certified ebony fingerboard and bridge, and LR Baggs Anthem electronics, the GPCE Inception Maple proves that sustainability, innovation, and striking aesthetics can coexist in perfect harmony.
GPE Inception Maple
Also debuting is the GPE Inception Maple, which brings a non-cutaway Grand Performance shape to the Inception Series for the first time. Players will enjoy the same striking tonewood pairing, premium appointments, and Martin’s innovative bracing as the GPCE model—but with a full-body design for those who prefer a more traditional silhouette. It offers a crisp, balanced tone that’s effortlessly expressive, with the added visual punch and presence of its new gloss finish. Paired with LR Baggs Anthem electronics, this model delivers a truly dynamic and versatile acoustic-electric experience.
GP-X2E Ziricote Special
Expanding the X Series lineup is the GP-X2E Ziricote Special, a limited-time Grand Performance model that blends bold tone with player-focused features. With a solid sapele top and ziricote-patterned high-pressure laminate (HPL) back and sides, this guitar is durable, stylish, and responsive. The Performing Artist neck profile and high-performance taper ensure smooth playability, while Martin E1 electronics with a built-in tuner give you full control on stage or at home. It’s an affordable, road-ready companion for players of all levels.
OMC-X2E Ziricote Special
Also new to the X Series is the OMC-X2E Ziricote Special, offering the comfort of a 000 body with a 25.4" scale length for greater projection and sustain. Its cutaway design allows easy upper fret access, and like its Grand Performance sibling, it features a solid sapele top, ziricote-patterned HPL back and sides, and Martin E1 electronics with onboard tuning. This versatile model is ideal for fingerstyle players, singer-songwriters, and anyone looking for rich tone in a sleek, stage-ready package.
SC-10E Spruce
Rounding out this launch is the SC-10E Spruce, a new addition to Martin’s Road Series that brings the revolutionary SC body shape to even more players. With its patented Sure Align® neck system and Low Profile Velocity neck, it offers unmatched comfort and unrestricted access to every fret. The solid spruce top paired with solid sapele back and sides creates a balanced, dynamic voice that excels in any genre. Finished with Martin E1 electronics and a built-in tuner, this is a modern acoustic-electric built for the stage, studio, or wherever the music takes you.
For more information on these and other models from Martin, visit martinguitar.com.
Jackson is once again partnering with Misha Mansoor to release three new signature guitars, The Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT6 in Red Crystal and Blue Sparkle and The Pro Plus Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET6 in Riviera Blue. Developed in close partnership with Misha, these Juggernaut metal guitars are built to withstand the demands of Misha’s steadfast and fleet-fingered technique. Perfect for both classic and progressive metal players, these guitars deliver the modern sound that every shredder needs to ignite their tone.
“This refresh came about because every few years we want to see what we can do…these guitars travel around the world and they need to be road ready,” said Misha Mansoor on his new signature guitars. “It’s a no nonsense guitar that looks good, sounds good, and plays good.”
Djent forefather, Misha Mansoor, has gained widespread acclaim as the mastermind behind the axe-centric progressive metal band Periphery. Based in Washington D.C., Periphery is renowned for pushing the limits of progressive metal, using detuned, extended-range instruments to craft a sound that is both technically complex and unapologetically heavy. Misha Mansoor, guitarist and producer, co-founded the band in 2005. With the same precision and innovation that defines Misha's playing, the Juggernaut signature gives players the power to transform their sound.
The premium Juggernaut models feature a 25.5” scale length, poplar body and bolt-on caramelized maple neck with graphite reinforcement, wrap-around heel and oiled back finish for greater playing comfort. With a 20” flat radius ebony fingerboard that features rolled edges, fans can enjoy blazing fast leads. These models feature 24 jumbo stainless steel frets and offset dot inlays. Lastly, the Luminlay
side-dots will guide the guitarist's path even on the darkest of stages, while the heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel allows for convenient neck relief tweaks.
Misha worked closely, as he did with past models, to develop the exceptional uncovered direct-mount Jackson MM1 pickups. Unwilling to sacrifice tone, these pickups can be shaped with a five-way blade switch, single volume control, and a single tone control with push/pull feature that allows for players to engage or disengage tone options. Designed for articulate heavy picking, the humbuckers deliver a well-balanced sonic range with rich dynamics, intentionally left uncovered to enhance brightness and clarity.
The Pro Plus Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET6 comes equipped with an EverTune F6 Model bridge, engineered to maintain perfect tuning and intonation across the entire neck, even with low tunings. Its counterpart, the Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT6, features a string-through-body hardtail bridge that delivers enhanced sustain, rock-solid tuning stability, and simplified string changes. Both bridges are built to withstand intense playing conditions, providing the unwavering stability essential for Misha's signature heavy metal style.
“We’re beyond thrilled to be partnering with Misha Mansoor on his latest signature guitar collection. His innovation and vision perfectly align with our passion for pushing the boundaries of tone and design,” said Jon Romanowski, VP of Product of Jackson Guitars. “This collaboration reinforces Jackson’s commitment of providing for players who demand nothing but the best.”
Jackson Expands Its Signature Juggernaut Range With Misha Mansoor
PRO SERIES SIGNATURE MISHA MANSOOR JUGGERNAUT HT6 ($999.99 USD, £949 GBP, €1,149 EUR, $1,899 AUD, ¥165,000 JPY) The Pro Juggernaut HT6 offers a Jackson HT6 string-through-body hardtail bridge, Jackson sealed die-cast locking tuners, Dunlop® dual-locking strap locks and a gig bag. It’s available in Red Crystal or Blue Sparkle with a matching reverse Jackson 3x3 AT-1 headstock.
PRO PLUS SERIES SIGNATURE MISHA MANSOOR JUGGERNAUT ET6 ($1,399.99 USD, £1,399 GBP, €1,649 EUR, $2,599 AUD, ¥231,000 JPY) The Pro Plus Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET6 features an EverTune® F6 Model bridge that will keep your guitar perfectly in tune and intonate all the way up the neck to handle low tunings. This 6-string Juggernaut is wrapped in a statement- making Riviera Blue finish with a color matched reverse Jackson 3x3 AT-1 headstock and black hardware. It also features Dunlop® Dual-locking strap pins for maximum stability.
Recording live at the Blue Front: from left to right, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Ryan Lee Crosby, and Grant Smith.
What would possess someone to fill a station wagon with fragile, heavy, vintage audio gear and drive 3,000 miles for an unrehearsed recording session when you could just as well fly with a laptop, an interface, and a few microphones for a fraction of the effort, time, and space?
The way I see it, if you’re traveling across the U.S. to record in the country’s oldest juke joint with the greatest living practitioner of an esoteric regional tradition, there’s no doing things halfway. I don’t want to preach a kind of analog dogma, but after years of listening to recordings of Jack Owens, Junior Kimbrough, and Fred McDowell on labels like Wolf, Fat Possum, and Arhoolie, I wanted to make every effort to produce my own sessions in the footsteps of David Evans, Bruce Watson, and Alan Lomax, which included using a portable analog setup to capture traditional music in the space where it is authentically made.
So, I brought a Tascam 22-4 reel-to-reel tape machine, several tube preamps, a mixer, and five microphones to produce two albums in two days with 77-year-old Jimmy “Duck” Holmes at the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. They are, essentially, modern field recordings done in the old style, produced in the country’s longest-running blues club—hallowed ground where legends like Skip James, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Howlin’ Wolf all played back in the day. And the feeling of the room, the location itself, is part of not only the sound, but also the atmosphere we caught on tape.
Our approach to recording was simple. Essentially, we followed Jimmy’s ethos of no rehearsals or discussions. (“That’s how the old man does it,” he said.) This was doable because I have been a student of Duck’s for years. When playing with Jimmy, you have to follow each and every note, because he doesn’t adhere to the 12-bar form. It’s truly old school. Fortunately, we also had Grant Smith on calabash, who is a world class musician and an exceptional listener, for our rhythmic anchor.
Fender electric 12-string Jazzmaster (vintage neck/modern body)
Homemade T-stye thinline
Evil Twin custom tube amp
Peavey Delta Blues
And so, over two afternoons, we worked for about four hours to produce both the new Jimmy “Duck” Holmes collection Bentonia Blues/Right Nowand my own record, At the Blue Front. The method was to do one take per song, aim to get it right the first time, and keep on going. This approach continued into mixing. I recorded and mixed the Holmes album entirely analog, without overdubs. On my album we added shakere (a West African percussion instrument), some harmonica, and a few vocal edits. I chose to do this with a DAW, for the flexibility as well as the fidelity, because although I prefer to stay all-analog whenever possible, I won’t forgo the use of a computer on principle. It’s important to do what’s best for the music and the recording, ultimately.
“I find, as a listener, player and producer, that analog can draw us into the present, into the heart of direct, physical, musical experience.”
I believe there is a lot to learn from working this way. When the tone of the album comes from live performance, then what’s compelling about the work is the spirit, chemistry, and ability of the people behind it. The tracks on these albums aren’t perfect and I wouldn’t want them to be. They are, however, unquestionably human. If I want perfection, I’ll ask AI to do it for me.
This is not my first analog project. Almost every recording I’ve made over the last 20 years has involved a tape machine, to varying degrees. I find there is something so inspiring about having the limited parameters that come with analog, and I relish working in real time, away from the distractions of a computer screen. I find, as a listener, player, and producer, that analog can draw us into the present, into the heart of direct, physical, musical experience. In short, it is all about the playing and the sound.
The editing capabilities of the computer cannot be matched, and they have their place. But I believe that nothing compares to the sound and feeling of people making music in a room together. And nothing captures this quite like tape. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be real. And, besides, isn’t perfection boring?
Are you looking for a flexible amp modeler for the stage, studio, or home? In this in-depth demo, PG contributor Tom Butwin takes you through gigging, practicing, and recording with two compelling options: the touchscreen-powered Hotone Ampero II and the tactile, amp-style Blackstar AMPED 3.
Following his historic three-night stand at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom earlier this year — hailed by BILLBOARD as “a religious experience” and moving NPR to rave “Paul McCartney has so much swag it’s ridiculous” — Paul McCartney and his acclaimed Got Back Tour will make their wildly anticipated return to North America this fall.
Got Back’s 2025 run of 19 newly announced dates marks Paul’s first extensive series of shows across the US and Canada since 2022. The tour kicks off September 29th with Paul’s Greater Palm Springs area live debut at Acrisure Arena and runs through to a November 24-25th finale at the United Center in Chicago. Got Back 2025 will feature Paul’s long-awaited return to Las Vegas, Denver, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Tulsa, New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Montreal, and Hamilton – plus a few cities that will be hosting their first-ever Paul McCartney concerts, Albuquerque and the aforementioned Greater Palm Springs area.
General on sale for these Got Back tour dates will begin July 18th at 10am local time. For further information, pre-sales etc., check paulmccartneygotback.com.
Irrefutably one of the most successful and influential singer-songwriters and performers of all time, McCartney’s concerts bring to life the most beloved catalogue in music. With songs like “Hey Jude,” “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” “Let It Be” and so many more, the Paul McCartney live experience is everything any music lover could ever want from a rock show and more: hours of the greatest moments from the last 60 years of music – dozens of songs from Paul’s solo, Wings and of course Beatles songbooks that have formed the soundtracks of our lives.
Paul McCartney launched his Got Back tour in 2022 with16 sold out shows across the US that led up to his history-making set at Glastonbury in June 2022. In 2023 Paul performed 18 shows as Got Back rocked through Australia, Mexico and Brazil. In 2024, Paul amazed capacity crowds at more than 20 dates spanning from South America and Mexico to the UK and Europe.
Paul and his band have performed in an unparalleled range of venues and locations worldwide: From outside the Colosseum in Rome, Moscow’s Red Square, Buckingham Palace, The White House and a free show in Mexico for over 400,000 people to the last ever show at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park where The Beatles played their final concert in 1966, a 2016 week in the California desert that included two headline sets at the historic Desert Trip festival and a jam-packed club gig for a few hundred lucky fans at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, two Glastonbury Festival headline slots, rocking the Bowery in New York City for a week of spontaneous club shows, and even one performance broadcast live into Space!
Featuring Paul’s longtime band – Paul “Wix” Wickens (keyboards), Brian Ray (bass/guitar), Rusty Anderson (guitar) and Abe Laboriel Jr (drums) – and constantly upgraded state of the art audio and video technology that ensures an unforgettable experience from every seat in the house, a Paul McCartney concert is never anything short of life-changing. The Got Back Tour also features the Hot City Horns — Mike Davis (trumpet), Kenji Fenton (saxes) and Paul Burton (trombone) — who first joined Paul in 2018 to perform at Grand Central Station ahead of embarking on the Freshen Up World Tour in the same year.
PAUL McCARTNEY – GOT BACK 2025
September 29 — Palm Desert, CA — Acrisure Arena October 4 – Las Vegas, NV — Allegiant Stadium October 7 – Albuquerque, NM — Isleta Amphitheater October 11 – Denver, CO — Coors Field October 14 – Des Moines, IA — Casey’s Center October 17 – Minneapolis, MN — U.S. Bank Stadium October 22 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center October 29 – New Orleans, LA — Smoothie King Center November 2 – Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena November 3 – Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena November 6 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle November 8 – Columbus, OH — Nationwide Arena November 11 – Pittsburgh, PA — PPG Paints Arena November 14 – Buffalo, NY — KeyBank Center November 17 – Montreal, QC — Bell Centre November 18 – Montreal, QC — Bell Centre November 21 – Hamilton, ON – TD Coliseum November 24 – Chicago, IL — United Center November 25 – Chicago, IL — United Center
Jackson Expands Its Signature Juggernaut Range With Misha Mansoor
