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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.

Victory V4 The Kraken


The full-size/featured Kraken amplifier is a monster. But placing that amp’s preamp section in the form of the tube-driven V4, The Kraken stompbox enables switching between the savage preamp saturation of the Kraken amp and the clean tone of say, your Fender Deluxe. The ability to route it through an effects loop also makes it fantastically flexible. Love clean-to-evil tone options? V4 The Kraken is your ticket to cross the Styx.

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$449 street, victoryamps.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


This legendary vintage rack unit will inspire you to think about effects with a new perspective.

When guitarists think of effects, we usually jump straight to stompboxes—they’re part of the culture! And besides, footswitches have real benefits when your hands are otherwise occupied. But real-time toggling isn’t always important. In the recording studio, where we’re often crafting sounds for each section of a song individually, there’s little reason to avoid rack gear and its possibilities. Enter the iconic Eventide H3000 (and its massive creative potential).

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A live editor and browser for customizing Tone Models and presets.

IK Multimedia is pleased to release the TONEX Editor, a free update for TONEX Pedal and TONEX ONE users, available today through the IK Product Manager. This standalone application organizes the hardware library and enables real-time edits to Tone Models and presets with a connected TONEX pedal.

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The luthier’s stash.

There is more to a guitar than just the details.

A guitar is not simply a collection of wood, wire, and metal—it is an act of faith. Faith that a slab of lumber can be coaxed to sing, and that magnets and copper wire can capture something as expansive as human emotion. While it’s comforting to think that tone can be calculated like a tax return, the truth is far messier. A guitar is a living argument between its components—an uneasy alliance of materials and craftsmanship. When it works, it’s glorious.

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Two Iconic Titans of Rock & Metal Join Forces for a Can’t-Miss North American Trek

Tickets Available Starting Wednesday, April 16 with Artist Presales

General On Sale Begins Friday, April 18 at 10AM Local on LiveNation.com

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