Gear Award 2020
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The products listed here received 90-percent or higher cumulative ratings for relevant categories (tones, playability or ease of use, build/design, and value) in reviews published during the 2020 editorial cycle, thus earning them Premier Guitar’s coveted Premier Gear Award.
ARTICLES
Danelectro Back Talk: The Premier Guitar Review
July 2, 2020
A welcome reverse delay reissue is a mind melt in a box.
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JHS PG-14: The Premier Guitar Review
June 22, 2020
Paul Gilbert’s signature stomp offers impressive midrange control and surprisingly blown-out tones at its extremes.
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Martin SC-13E: The Premier Guitar Review
June 5, 2020
A unique and responsive acoustic with an electric soul.
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One of Portland’s Most Esteemed Luthiers Paves a Path to Boost/Overdrive Bliss
May 29, 2020
The PG Koll High-Rise review.
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Ear-Twisting Textures Are the Cherry on Top of a Superb Analog Delay
May 22, 2020
The PG Jam Pedals Delay Llama Xtreme review.
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Epiphone Joe Bonamassa 1960 Les Paul Standard “Norm Burst”: The Premier Guitar Review
May 1, 2020
Deliciously vintage details distinguish an affordable Les Paul that delivers authentically old-school performance, too.
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Klon vs. Klone: 5 Affordable Stomps Go Head to Head with a Gold Original
April 17, 2020
Hear how close the EHX Soul Food, J. Rockett Archer, NUX Horseman, Wampler Tumnus, and Way Huge Conspiracy Theory come to nailing the tone of a legend.
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Melt Faces with a Muff-y Machine Made for Mascis
April 9, 2020
Ram’s Head-style circuit meets germanium treble booster in a stomp built to deliver Dinosaur Jr.’s wall of sound: The PG Wren and Cuff Garbage Face review.
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One Boost Pedal to Rule Them All?
April 1, 2020
Yeah, it does “pristine,” but it also offers ferocious, incredibly touch-sensitive fuzz—minus the noise. The PG ThorpyFX Heavy Water review.
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Wampler Terraform: The Premier Guitar Review
March 19, 2020
Myriad tones, from classic to tweaky, lurk in this one-stop modulation shop.
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J. Rockett APE: The Premier Guitar Review
March 17, 2020
Liven up your lame digital delay with the ultimate EP-3-style booster.
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Breedlove Wildwood Concert Cutaway CE: The Premier Guitar Review
March 12, 2020
Sleek, stylish, affordable, and balanced, this compact, all-solid mahogany flattop excels in amplified performance situations.
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Fender American Ultra Jazzmaster: The Premier Guitar Review
March 9, 2020
The Jazzmaster finally gets an upscale modern facelift—with enhanced playability and expressive potential as the payoff.
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Danelectro The Breakdown: The Premier Guitar Review
March 8, 2020
Tone freaks, take note: It’s badass—but not just for the usual “bang-for-buck” reasons.
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AC30 Tones for the 21st Century
March 3, 2020
A lighter, more flexible take on a British-voiced ’60s stalwart: The PG Victory VC35 "The Copper" review.
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Ernie Ball VPJR Tuner: The Premier Guitar Review
February 28, 2020
When it comes to obvious pedal combinations, could tuning and volume control be the new peanut butter and jelly?
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Strymon Iridium: The Premier Guitar Review
February 26, 2020
Intrigued but also daunted by sophisticated amp modelers? Strymon's latest brilliantly bridges the gap with a simple stompbox-style interface boasting a handful of stellar amp emulations.
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Source Audio Collider: The Premier Guitar Review
February 21, 2020
The greatest hits from a powerhouse digital reverb and an equally potent digital delay are distilled into a single, super-convenient space-and-time manipulator.
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Dean Thoroughbred Select Quilt Top TCS: The Premier Guitar Review
February 18, 2020
Flashy and fabulously playable, this single-cut boasts a surprising number of tonal personalities.
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An 18V Mistress for the Rest of Us
February 13, 2020
Looking for a Gilmour-esque flanger? Here's a compact and buttery-sounding take on the Pink Floyd legend's Animals-era modulation machine. The PG Retro-Sonic Flanger review.
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