modeling

Ted’s favorite gear guru, Dolly, has a nose finding the worthwhile.

How many guitars, pedals, and amps do you need? Enough to make you happy. But window shopping alone has its own benefits.

I just got back from the NAMM show, and I am suppressing the nervous twitch of desire. My eyes and ears were flooded with all kinds of great gear, from cutting edge software plugins to microphones to—my favorites—pedals, amps, and guitars. With so much new gear around, G.A.S. was so abundant you could almost smell it hanging over the show floor. (Sorry, I could not resist.)

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Plexi inspiration makes this tiny 50-watt amp a clean-to-crunchy overachiever.

 

Ratings

Pros:
Excellent high and high-mid detail and note definition in low- to mid-gain settings. Crazy light. Super-small footprint. Intuitive controls.

Cons:
High-gain tones can be sizzly. Still needs a nice cabinet or cabinet emulation to extract the best sounds.

Street:
$239

Hughes & Kettner Spirit Nano—Spirit of Vintage
hughes-and-kettner.com


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Boss packs heavy-duty DSP horsepower into a multi-effects processor built for busy pedalboards.

Ratings

Pros:
A mind-boggling selection of great-sounding effects and amp sims. Versatile connectivity. Well-engineered and -executed, user-friendly design. Solid value.

Cons:
Amp simulations could be more realistic.

Street:
$699

Boss GT-1000CORE
boss.info/us



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