Every limited-edition pack also gives players a chance to win a Martin 000-EC 30th Anniversary guitar--a beautifully crafted instrument with a retail value of $4,999, inspired by the Martin guitars Eric played during his legendary MTV Unplugged performance. The guitar will be awarded to one lucky winner who finds a special ticket inside a pack of strings.
Fans can also enter a second-chance giveaway online for more opportunities to win exclusive prizes, including a Martin guitar strap, poster, collectible lanyard with three custom patches, or even a year's supply of strings.This contest is open to U.S. residents only and ends March 31, 2026. No purchase necessary.
Enter now and learn more at martinguitar.com/eric-clapton-giveaway.
The anniversary release also coincides with the upcoming arrival of Unplugged: Enhanced Edition on vinyl and CD, available May 9. The iconic installment of the MTV Unplugged series--and the greatest-selling live album of all time--returns over 30 years later in an all-new extended, remixed, and remastered version. Featuring never-before-heard commentary from Eric recorded just before the original 1992 performance, the release offers fresh insight into the inspiration behind the songs and includes tracks not featured in the original MTV airing.
Crafted from 92/8 phosphor bronze, Clapton’s Choice Signature Strings are known for their warm, rich tone, smooth feel, and long-lasting performance. They're the same strings Eric uses in the studio and on stage--including during his current eight-night residency at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo--and he calls them "the sound that I demand."
Whether you're chasing Eric's iconic tone or simply looking for strings that deliver great sound and playability, now is the perfect time to pick up a pack--available in a music store near you or online at
martinguitar.com--and celebrate two decades of signature sound.
Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst have been making music as Shovels & Rope since 2008. The husband-and-wife duo from South Carolina specialize in rootsy, bluesy rock, Americana, and alt-country, but they don’t confine themselves to traditional two-piece arrangements. They switch off on vocal, guitar, percussion, and synth duty throughout their shows, orchestrating a full-band ruckus with all available limbs.
Their seventh full-length, Something Is Working Up Above My Head, released in September last year, and while touring in support of it, they stopped at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl in late February. PG’s John Bohlinger caught up with Trent before the gig to see what tools he and Hearst use to maintain their musical juggling act.
Brought to you by D’Addario.Black Bird
Trent’s not a guitar snob: Generally speaking, he plays whatever he can get his hands on. While playing Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Fest, someone loaned him this Gretsch Black Falcon, and he fell in love with it. He likes its size compared to the broader White Falcon. It’s also the band’s only electric, so if it goes down, it’s back to acoustic. Hearst takes turns on it, too.
Trent loads the heaviest strings he can onto it, which is a set of .013s. It lives in standard tuning.
Ol' Faithful
As Trent explains, he and Hearst have done some DIY decorating on this beautiful Gibson J-45—it’s adorned with sweat droplets, stains, and fingernail dust. It runs direct to the venue’s front-of-house system with an LR Baggs pickup. This one is strung with Martin heavy or medium gauge strings; lighter ones are too prone to snapping under Trent’s heavy picking hand (which holds a Dunlop Max-Grip .88 mm pick). And it rolls around in an Enki tour case.
On Call
These second-stringers—a Loar archtop and an LR Baggs-equipped Recording King—are on hand in case of broken strings or other malfunctions.
Need for Tweed
Trent doesn’t trust amps with too many knobs, so this tweed Fender Blues Junior does the trick. It can get fairly loud, so there’s a Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box on hand to tame it for some stages.
Shovels & Rope's Pedalboard
Because Trent and Hearst trade off bass, guitar, keys, and percussion duties, all four of their limbs are active through the set. Whoever is on guitars works this board, with an MXR Blue Box, Electro-Harmonix Nano Big Muff, EarthQuaker Devices Hummingbird, and Boss OC-5, plus a pair of Walrus Canvas Tuners for the electric and acoustic. Utility boxes on the board include a Walrus Canvas Passive Re-Amp, Radial J48, Livewire ABY1, and a Mesa Stowaway input buffer.
A Roland PK-5 MIDI controller, operated by foot, sits on the lower edge of the board. It controls the board for “Thing 2,” one of two MicroKORG synths onstage.
Thing 1 and Thing 2
There’s no one backstage helping Hearst and Trent cook up all their racket; they handle every sound themselves, manually. During the first few sets of a tour, you’re liable to see some headaches, like forgetting to switch synth patches during a song, but eventually they hit a rhythm.
Affectionately given Seuss-ian nicknames, this pair of microKORGs handles bass notes through the set, among other things, via the foot-controlled PK5. “Thing 1” is set up at the drum station, and runs through a board with an EHX Nano Big Muff, EHX Bass9, EHX Nano Holy Grail, and a Radial Pro DI. A Walrus Aetos keeps them all powered up.
The board for “Thing 2,” beside the guitar amps, includes an EHX Mel9 and Bass9 powered by a Truetone 1 SPOT Pro, plus a Radial ProD2.
Photo by Miranda McDonald
Inspired by Shawn’s go-to vintage Martin and featuring classic Shawn imagery, every detail of this guitar was designed and created in collaboration with Mendes for his official signature model. This edition is crafted with 100% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified tonewoods in a 000 Junior-sized, 14-fret instrument and comes with a gig bag made from recycled ocean plastic that meets the Global Recycled Standard. The Shawn Mendes Signature Edition marks the largest production run of 100% FSC-certified guitars Martin has ever completed, and it is the first time a Martin guitar has been paired with a gig bag made from recycled ocean plastic.
The Jr. size and 000-body depth are intended to make this guitar extremely comfortable for any player. And with Fishman Sonitone electronics included, it's designed to sound great on stage. A sample of Shawn’s lyrics is hidden somewhere inside the guitar. You might find one laser-etched on a brace, or under the bridge, or even under the rosette. Some of the phrases include: “We lay under the same stars,” or “You’ll never be alone.”
As part of the partnership, Martin will be supporting Mendes’ goal of making music accessible to everyone. Martin will be making a contribution to the Wonder of Music Program at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) presented by The Shawn Mendes Foundation. SickKids, affiliated with the University of Toronto, is Canada's most research-intensive hospital and the largest center dedicated to improving children's health in Mendes’ home state. The Wonder of Music Program Presented by Mendes aims to fund music therapy activities that are accessible to young patients at the Toronto hospital, with activities including songwriting, first exposure to music, heartbeat songs for families of patients, and lullabies.
Shawn Mendes is a Grammy-nominated, Toronto born, multi-platinum singer/songwriter who has released four straight #1 studio albums. The international superstar has won 18 Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) awards, twelve Juno Awards, eleven MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA), eight iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards (MMVA), five BMI Awards, three American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and the Allan Slaight Honour from Canada's Walk of Fame.
$799 USD. Connect with Martin Guitars and Martin Strings on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. More info at martinguitar.com.
