Another year, another dazzling parade of pedals, guitars, amps, modelers, and accessories that made our noggins spin.
Fractal Audio Systems AX8
Fractal Audio System’s rackmount Axe-Fx units awakened many players to the possibilities of digitally modeled amps, cabinets, and effects. The AX8 puts Fractal’s realistic modeling technology into the pedalboard format and provides plenty of juice for most applications. The ruggedly built unit sounds stellar, and if you invest the effort to get acquainted with this open-ended device, you’re likely to be inspired.
$1,299 street
fractalaudio.com
This year’s Premier Gear Award winners are, as usual, an eclectic set—full of old-school vintage homage, leading-edge digital developments, and imaginative meetings of those worlds. Dig in and dig it as we revisit the gear that fired the enthusiasm and wonder of our editors and contributors in 2017.
foxpedal
friedman-amplification
meris
echo
dunable-guitars
warehouse-guitar-speakers
curtis-novak
godin
bigfoot-engineering
chase-bliss-audio
reviews
vibrato
ba-ferguson-guitars
fender
electro-harmonix
delay
titan-guitars
way-huge
gurus-amps
winfield
gear-award-2017
svisound
universal-audio
hilbish
dunlop
pinter-instruments
weber-speakers
fractal-audio
lunastone
earthquaker-devices
december-2017
darkglass-electronics
effects
coppersound-pedals
g7th
mu-tron
sandberg-guitars
aer
epifani
fuchs
ovation
bass-gear
multi-effect
milkman-sound
fuzz
victory
guitars
island
rivolta-guitars
headrush-electronics