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The Year in Gear 2019

The 60+ guitars, amps, pedals, basses, and accessories that stood out from the crowd and earned our coveted Premier Gear Award this year.

Bogner Ecstasy Blue Mini


After introducing his Ecstasy amp decades ago, Reinhold Bogner became an in-demand builder for hard rock and metal guitarists. Now he has packed essential elements of his Ecstasy circuit into a compact pedal. With its active 3-band EQ, “variac” switch, 3-way gain toggle, and multiple EQ profiles, the Blue Mini offers inspiring sounds for not only metalheads, but also those who dwell on the lower end of the gain scale.

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$199 street, bogneramplification.com

Plus! December Premier Gear Award Winners!
Read the full reviews on the pages indicated below!

1. Peavey Invective.MH$699 street, peavey.com
2. Chase Bliss Dark World$349 street, chaseblissaudio.com
3. Comins CGS-16 $2,399 street, cominsguitars.com
4. Ernie Ball Music Man Short-Scale StingRay$1,999 street, music-man.com
5. EBS MicroBass 3$349 street, ebssweden.com


New Epiphone inspired by Gibson Custom Collection features eight new guitar models with Gibson USA pickups, high quality electronics, rosewood fretboards, world-renowned Gibson open-book headstocks, one-piece necks, new vintage gloss finishes, and premium design builds.

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ENGL, renowned for its high-performance amplifiers, proudly introduces the EP635 Fireball IR Pedal, a revolutionary 2-channel preamp pedal designed to deliver the legendary Fireball tone in a compact and feature-rich format.

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We are excited to share that Mod® Electronics is launching a new line of Vintage Amplifier DIY kits,beginning with five models.

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J Mascis is well known for his legendary feats of volume.

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