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Sonic Research's Turbo Tuner Comes to MXR with Modern Upgrades
MXR has introduced the company’s first-ever tuner: the MXR Turbo Tuner is built around the core engine of the original Sonic Research Turbo Tuner, engineered to deliver the instantaneous, fraction-of-a-cent accuracy.
At its center is a big, bright true strobe display, driven by the analog signal straight from your instrument. There’s no lag and no bouncing needles. Sharp notes rotate right, flat notes rotate left, and the pattern slows to a creep as you close in on pitch.
MXR’s Turbo Tuner offers chromatic mode plus five customizable presets, each supporting up to 12 strings with ±50-cent offsets, covering everything from alternate tunings to microtonal experiments. Switchable true or buffered bypass lets you decide how it sits in your signal chain, and a USB port handles firmware updates and upcoming editor software. It’s all built with the road-ready durability that defines both Sonic Research and MXR.
MXR Turbo Tuner highlights:
- Built around the core engine of the gold-standard Sonic Research Turbo Tuner, engineered by Sonic Research
- Real-time strobe display tracks pitch with fraction-of-a-cent precision
- Five customizable presets support up to 12 strings and ±50-cent offsets
- Four brightness levels keep the display readable in any lighting
- Adds a high-fidelity buffer with three buffered bypass modes, switchable from true bypass
- Adds a MUTE indicator LED and automatic power-up mode
- Modernized LED display window
- 9V passthrough output powers an additional pedal
- USB port for firmware updates and upcoming editor software
The MXR Turbo Tuner carries a $149.99 street price. For more information visit jimdunlop.com.
MXR Turbo Tuner
MXR has introduced the company’s first-ever tuner: the MXR Turbo Tuner is built around the core engine of the original Sonic Research Turbo Tuner, engineered to deliver the instantaneous, fraction-of-a-cent accuracy.
“A whole new family of guitars”: PRS’s new Tekton series is aimed squarely at shredders
PRS has announced an entirely new range of guitars, the Tekton series, and they’re aimed at the “most technical of modern players”.
Comprising four new models – the hardtail bridge-loaded Tekton, two-point trem-equipped Tekton T, Tekton Floyd and seven-string Tekton SVN – the series introduces a completely new body shape for PRS, plus a thinner neck and flatter fretboard for speed, plus longer scale lengths and PRS-designed pickups engineered to get the most out of digital rigs.
PRS’s new Stylus pickups have been designed specifically for the Tekton series, and feature Alnico 5 magnets voiced for “clarity, articulation and character. Usable in split or full humbucking modes, these pickups are said to possess a flatter output than other humbuckers, with the objective of retaining character while catering more to digital gear.
Also notable is the fact that Tekton series guitars have the thinnest body and thinnest neck of any guitar in the standard PRS product lineup. It’s said to find a “middle ground” between the flagship Custom 24 and offset Vela models. Upper fret access is facilitated by an exaggerated scoop, while a comfortable belly carve ensures comfort during long shredding sessions.
Credit: PRS
In terms of build material, the Tekton Floyd has an alder body, while the other three have mahogany backs with highly figured mango tops.
The fretboard looks uber-sleek, with a 16” radius, stainless steel frets, plus a new simplistic inlay design with offset dots – another first for PRS. These guitars also feature Luminlay side dots for guidance in low light environments. Each fingerboard is made of Indian ebony, a material known to form mineral deposits as the tree grows. This leads to spots or streaks in the grain – known as “birthmarks” – which make every fretboard on each Tekton series guitar unique.
Every Tekton series guitar also sports a thin near “D shape maple neck, with a hormigo strength rod for support – similar to carbon fibre – and the same material found in PRS’s Chleo Herman Li signature model.
Any guitarist who has dabbled with higher speeds knows the importance of having the right string spacing. And PRS says this was a key part of the design process for the Tekton series. String spacing on the Tekton series is the same as the Silver Sky and the Fiore models, a little wider than PRS’s traditional spacing, catering to more advanced shred techniques like sweep picking, for example.
“This is not just introducing a new model. We are planting a flag for a whole new family of guitars. Since day one, PRS has been built around a combination of player feedback and our experience as guitar makers,” says Jim Cullen, Director of Sales at PRS Guitars.
“Listening to musicians while continually refining our craft has helped us create instruments that serve as tools for a wide range of players. Over the years, we have heard a growing call for more modern spec’d PRS guitars. The Tekton is our answer to that call.”
Learn more about the Tekton series at PRS.
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PRS Guitars Introduces Four-Model Family of Modern Instruments: the Tekton
Press Release
Source: PRS Guitars
PRS Guitars 
today announced a major step forward in its innovative product design: the Tekton family of four bolt-on guitars designed for the most technical of modern players. Named for the Ancient Greek term meaning artisan or craftsman, the Tekton (hardtail bridge), Tekton T (PRS two-point tremolo), Tekton “Floyd” (Floyd Rose tremolo system), and Tekton SVN (seven string) all feature a completely novel and lightweight body shape, thinner neck, flatter fretboard, stainless steel frets, longer scale lengths, and the genesis of PRS pickups purpose-built to get the most out of digital rigs. The new family brings with it a fresh color palette to complete the contemporary product launch.
“This is not just introducing a new model. We are planting a flag for a whole new family of guitars. Since day one, PRS has been built around a combination of player feedback and our experience as guitar makers. Listening to musicians while continually refining our craft has helped us create instruments that serve as tools for a wide range of players. Over the years, we have heard a growing call for more modern spec’d PRS guitars. The Tekton is our answer to that call,” said Jim Cullen, Director of Sales at PRS Guitars.
At the heart of the Tekton are PRS Stylus (Ancient Greek: an instrument used for writing) pickups, developed specifically for this family of guitars. Split or full humbucking, every position was designed to be equally useful on stage, in the studio, or at home. Built with Alnico 5 magnets and voiced for clarity, articulation, and character, Stylus pickups deliver aggressive tones without sacrificing note definition. While not “flat-response” pickups, they do have a flatter output than many other humbuckers to keep some character while catering more to digital gear. Whether paired with a traditional amplifier, a modern modeling system, or a complex recording setup, the Tekton delivers focused, musical tones that remain defined even under high gain.
The Tektons have the thinnest body and thinnest neck PRS has made in standard production. This new body style was created by finding a middle ground between the PRS flagship Custom 24 and the PRS offset Vela. The Tekton shape incorporates an exaggerated scoop for easy access to the upper frets, and a comfortable belly carve. The Tekton, Tekton T and Tekton SVN all featured highly figured mango tops and mahogany backs, while the Tekton “Floyd” is made with an all-alder body.
The fretboard features a 16” radius, stainless steel frets, and has a new, simple inlay design for PRS: offset dots. Additionally, Luminlay side dots help players keep their place on the board no matter the lighting environment. The fretboard is made from Indian ebony, a wood known to form mineral deposits as the tree grows. These deposits can sometimes appear as spots, streaks, or other variations in color. Lovingly referred to as “birthmarks” in the wood industry, these naturally occurring characteristics make every fretboard unique.
Click here to view the embedded video.
The neck is thin but with a near “D” shape so it doesn’t feel cramped. All four models are built with maple necks and ebony fretboards. The neck also features hormigo strength rods – similar to the carbon fiber rods PRS uses in acoustics and, most recently, in the Chleo signature model. These rods not only help with the stability of the neck, the added strength and rigidity are aimed at making a more resonant instrument.
The string spacing was also an important factor in the design process. The spacing on the Tekton models is the same as the Silver Sky and Fiore, which is a bit wider than PRS’s traditional spacing. This helps players with sweeping arpeggios and more precise pick attack.
For complete details on the Tekton, visit the product page for the entire family.
For all of the latest news, visit www.prsguitars.com and follow @prsguitars on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and YouTube.
About PRS Guitars:
PRS Guitars is a leading manufacturer of high-quality instruments in Stevensville, Maryland and has provided some of the world’s most renowned musicians with instruments since 1985. The PRS team of highly skilled craftspeople design and build a wide variety of musical instruments and gear for worldwide distribution, including electric and acoustic guitars as well as boutique-style guitar amplifiers and effects pedals. The PRS SE Series complements the Maryland-made PRS line by offering highly approachable and more affordable electric and acoustic guitars. David Grissom, Jimmy Herring, Mark Holcomb, Myles Kennedy, Mark Lettieri, John Mayer, Orianthi, Carlos Santana, Ed Sheeran, Rhonda Smith, Mark Tremonti and Keith Urban are among the artists currently playing PRS instruments and/or amplifiers.
Emerald Guitars just discontinued its entire product range – but it makes way for an exciting new lineup of carbon fibre guitars
Irish carbon fibre guitar specialist Emerald Guitars has made the decision to abruptly discontinue its entire product range in order to make way for a new line of instruments.
While confirmed orders of previous-generation models will be fulfilled, all 16 are no longer available to purchase. They make way for four new next-gen X20 models, plus an all-new blueprint, the X20 Noir.
The four new next-gen X20 models – the X20, X20 Short-Scale, X20 12-String and X20 Nylon – are all highly customisable, with customers able to pick between different veneer types, colours and other specifications via an online 3D Guitar Builder. The core X20 range seeks to combine “acoustic performance with beauty and customisation”, Emerald says.
Credit: Emerald Guitars
Meanwhile, the all-new X20 Noir has a more standard spec sheet. “A focused specification and streamlined production allow us to bring our carbon fibre craftsmanship to more players at a more accessible price,” the company says.
The substantial new overhaul to Emerald’s product lineup coincides with a newly completed manufacturing facility which was built to cope with growing demand, and will see “improvements to the manufacturing process”.
Core to each new X20 model is a newly redesigned soundhole that flows across the top and side of each instrument, alongside an updated neck profile, and truss rod adjustment accessible via this new soundhole, meaning a tidier looking headstock.
Emerald’s new Noir blueprint introduces a “distinct” new identity for the brand’s product lineup. Aiming for a recognisable visual character with a “straightforward buying experience”, this one isn’t customisable, but features a sculpted carbon fibre body, offset soundhole and updated neck profile, along with a distinctive Crystal Ice carbon finish and an onboard pickup, preamp and tuner.
Credit: Emerald Guitars
The streamlined buying experience and lack of customisation options on the Noir does mean it clocks in cheaper, though, at just $1,495 / €1,595 / £1,295, compared with the £4k-plus base price of the core X20 range models.
These models mark the first stage of a new chapter for Emerald Guitars, with the company eyeing up more redesigned models for “progressive introduction” throughout 2027 and beyond.
Credit: Emerald Guitars
Emerald Guitars appeared on the Guitar.com Cover earlier this year, when founder Alistair Hay told us about how his previous career in Formula 1 powerboat racing and a chance purchase of a guitar magazine while waiting for a delayed flight in 1999 led him to map his expertise onto the world of acoustic guitars.
“A racing boat has to actually work with the vibrations of the water: to flex and move. That really is the essence of a really good quality acoustic guitar too,” he said.
Learn more about Emerald Guitars’ refreshed product lineup.
The post Emerald Guitars just discontinued its entire product range – but it makes way for an exciting new lineup of carbon fibre guitars appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
How Taylor Swift’s debut album put the guitar at the heart of her artistry
The Taylor Swift of 2026 is a unique cultural force. A polarising pop billionaire whose chokehold on the modern music industry is pretty much unprecedented. In the last three years alone we’ve seen her Eras Tour redefine what an event tour could be. We’ve seen her Life Of A Showgirl album shatter records in sales, chart performance and streaming numbers. And her life has become such a matter of public interest she even managed to squeeze in the most talked about wedding of the century.
But 20 years ago this week, before she became this monocultural force – long before the term ‘Swiftie’ had entered the public lexicon – a young girl released an unassuming country-pop album that she’d written in her bedroom on an acoustic guitar.
Origin myths about Swift’s breaking into the music industry abound, but the one that we generally agree upon seems to be that she persuaded her whole family to uproot from a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania to move to Nashville to try to make it as a country singer. At age 14, she turned down a development deal with RCA in favour of signing with a brand new record label called Big Machine, and the rest is history.
In the twenty years since, Swift has reinvented herself and her sound many times over, and the guitar has remained a core part of her live artistry throughout many of these eras. Even so, it’s easy to forget how important her guitar was to her music and her identity in those early days.
Drop In The Ocean
Listening back to her debut in 2026, you’re struck by how central the guitar is to everything she does – to the point where it’s explicitly the fulcrum of the track, Teardrops On My Guitar.
The third track on her debut is an early mission statement, that uses metanarrative details to describe her own process of turning pain, in this case, romantic rejection, into art. If you’ve never listened to Taylor Swift before, brace yourself for this stunning and oft-overlooked early highlight of her career.
A melancholic country moment of teenage melodrama, Teardrops… captures everything about Swift’s creative process. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Swift acknowledged the fact that a large portion of her fanbase fixate on the “paternity test”, i.e. what the song is about and who inspired it.
But in the line “he’s the reason for the teardrops on my guitar”, she positions the man as the muse, while Swift’s pen and her own guitar create something beautiful and artistic out of hurt. At the centre of this image? Her trusty guitar was the only thing she could use to spin what she was feeling into a compelling story.
Now that she’s the most famous musician in the world, it’s easy to forget that Swift’s early success was hard-won, and based on real graft with her guitar. She’s spoken on several occasions about turning up to writing sessions with seasoned professional writers with a guitar in hand, songs half or fully written.
Practical too, was the guitar when showing off her music to impress industry folks. She handed out CDs, yes, but in the early days she’d literally play her music to anyone who would listen. The promotional cycle for her debut largely revolved around a mammoth in-person tour of radio stations where Swift would perform live on air, and she didn’t need a band or a backing track to do it.
This self-reliance helped build her brand as a young star with creative control, an important distinction which has carried through to the later years of her career.
But more so than just practicality, the image of the guitar represents something bigger and stronger in the wider Swift universe, especially in those early years. It is the instrument and her devotion to it, that allowed her agency, something which sets her apart from her peers.
Creative Control
We weren’t in the boardrooms; we will never truly know whether Swift was the first teenage girl popstar who was given full creative reign over her career, but it would be disingenuous to pretend that she was the first one sold to us as such.
Her most prescient predecessor, Avril Lavigne, was positioned as the anti-Britney and her attitude, her “I know who I am/anything but ordinary” stance, was a big part of that. Quite how much of that was just spine… well. The credits behind Lavigne’s smash debut Let Go have been contested in the years since, and Avril made no secret of the fact that it wasn’t exactly the album she wanted to make (sophomore goth-rock effort Under My Skin was much more in line with her actual tastes, and did not resonate as strongly)
Lavigne’s later career has been somewhat burdened by this, in a way that Swift’s early success and material hasn’t. There was something about the way Swift carried herself from the very beginning that made you think she knew exactly what she was doing, and what she wanted.
It’s the sort of confidence and artistic focus that made people want to take a gamble on her – an unwavering competency, dedication and self-belief which seemed to come from within, rather than a marketing campaign.
There was never any doubt that these were her songs, this was her career, and she was in charge of all of it. So much of this was communicated by her guitar, the symbol of authenticity, of ownership, of her songwriting prowess.
That realism – of being a confident, guitar-toting songwriter who wasn’t following the mainstream trends of that moment, resonated strongly with a generation of young people. It felt like we were watching our own stories play out in an authentic and relatable way.
Return On Investment
As someone who was a kid obsessed with pop music around this time, Swift’s agency felt revolutionary to me at that moment. You felt the authenticity of it, because it felt like she was in charge of her music, and in charge of how she wanted to be presented to the world – as a musician, not simply as a singer. That made it easy for teenagers to invest in her music not just in a passive, listening sense, but in more active ways as well.
The image of Swift on a bed with a guitar abounds, in the music video for Teardrops… and in countless early photoshoots and remains central to her iconography. That made it all the more natural for fans to make playing the guitar part of their own exploration of her work – there’s a reason why Swift is often cited as one of the most influential modern guitar players.
As Swift has ascended to the very top of the modern musical pantheon, her muse has regularly pushed the guitar out of the focal point. On Life Of A Showgirl the maximalist pop production of Max Martin and Shellback feels about as diametrically opposed to that enduring image of Swift as a young girl, shut up alone in her bedroom crafting songs straight from her journal entries as you can get.
Even when she leans back into moments that centre the guitar more overtly – such as the recent Toy Story 5-tie in I Knew It, I Knew You – it’s usually her more guitar literate producers like Jack Antonoff or Aaron Dessener actually picking up a six-string on record.
Yet the guitar remains an essential part of the Swift mythos to this day. The Eras Tour showed her relationship with the instrument remains strong – the carefully chosen guitars she used on stage are clear evidence of that. What’s more, Taylor’s signature Swift Baby Taylor model remains a constant part of the brand’s signature line-up, while her official store sells tie-in Epiphone acoustic guitars emblazoned with her album covers – reminding us all what an essential part of her artistry the acoustic remains.
The mixed reaction to Showgirl from fans and critics alike presents an interesting moment for Swift as she marks 20 years since she first charmed us as that girl in her bedroom with an acoustic guitar. Predicting her next move is never easy, but if her next Era finds her back with a guitar in hand again, it would be a canny move that would remind us of the innocence, but also the power and singularity which came with the early days of one of music’s most legendary and impactful careers.
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Rick Nielsen Has 700 Guitars. He's Finally Selling Some.
The checkerboard-loving collector sheds over 300 memorabilia pieces from his Cheap Trick archive including 60+ instruments and 30+ amps. Plus, Rick Nielsen jokes about why he hasn't practiced since 1967, shares the one guitar sale he regrets, and details why he had to have a 5-neck behemoth. Sponsored by: https://stewmac.sjv.io/APO2ED
Chuck Berry destroyed multiple guitars because he loved driving Cadillac convertible cars: “He lets the top down and the mechanism crushes the case”
Chuck Berry was pretty damn protective of his instruments – in fact, he once punched Keith Richards in the face just because the Rolling Stones guitarist touched his guitar. However, despite his efforts fiercely defending his guitars, nothing could protect them from his love of Cadillacs.
You might be wondering how a convertible Cadillac could possibly pose a threat to Berry’s Gibson guitar babies. Well, the top of a convertible car doesn’t just disappear – it folds up into the boot. And, if you’re an absentminded guitarist, sometimes that boot contains your shiny new axe…
In a new interview with Guitarist, Berry’s son, Chuck Berry Jr, explains how his father crushed at least two guitars in the boot of his Cadillacs. One poor victim was one of Berry’s Gibson ES-330s. “My dad had several Cadillac convertibles, and, one time, he forgot his guitar was in the boot,” he remembers. “He lets the top down and the mechanism crushes the case…”
“He did the same thing to a 345,” Berry Jr adds with a laugh.
Of course, Berry tried not to make a habit of breaking guitars. It’s a very different attitude to, say, The Who’s Pete Townshend, who apparently used to break and fix his guitar four times a day, even telling Jimmy Fallon that his axes ended up being “more glue and string [than anything else]”. Even Jimi Hendrix became a routine guitar smasher eventually, chasing the thrill of a theatrical act of vandalism. But, in the world of Berry, he had plenty of respect for his axe.
Despite the unfortunate loss of his Gibsons, Berry’s love of Gibsons is undeniable. While the rock and roll pioneer started out with a Kay and Silverstone, with his son asserting that 1959’s Maybellene (a track that, ironically, mentions Cadillacs) was recorded on a Kay, his legacy will always be tied with the Gibson brand.
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“My god, what am I going to do?”: Steve Vai and Joe Satriani are two of the greatest guitarists of all time, but these instruments made them panic
Even the most refined guitarists can struggle from time to time. Hell, Metallica’s James Hetfield thinks Master of Puppets is tricky, and Brian May describes the Bohemian Rhapsody riff as “unnatural”. But that’s what separates the rookies from the pros – a pro won’t back down from a challenge.
Steve Vai and Joe Satriani in particular have made a point of pushing themselves in their joint project, SATCHVAI. Alongside challenging riffs, they also strayed far out of their comfort zone; for the track Old Sins Have Long Shadows, Vai braved it out with a fretless guitar. “They’re not my expertise… I struggle with them!” Vai admits in a new interview with Guitarist.
Typically, Vai is known for his excellent fretboard tap dancing. Without the frets, though, he felt lost. In many ways, a fretless axe is the ultimate test for a guitarist, as scrapping the frets essentially throws all conventional chords out the window. It almost transforms an axe into an off-kilter violin. However, Vai knew that the track in questioned required a fretless guitar to capture a “ghostly” feel.
“[That was] one of the big challenges for me…” he says. “When I approached [that track] one side of me is thinking ‘My God what am I going to do?’ But to get that ghostly, weird, offbeat riff, it had to be [a fretless guitar], y’know? All the vibrato and little shakes – it doesn’t sound like a guitar. It sounds like a ghostly spirit.”
Other challenges took less intimidating forms – like opting for a nylon-stringed guitar instead of a bold electric. “The nylon string intro to The Sea Of Emotion Pt 2,” Satriani says. “When I first composed that, I had full distortion, stereo echo, chorus and I’m playing it on electric guitar… but the song made this journey from a grown man who still thinks like a 14 year old, sitting by his amplifier, having a rock ‘n’ roll moment, to seeing that I should play it on a nylon-string and leave space for what Steve did, which is that electric violin-type dreamscape.”
“It was a piece of cake on the electric, but not on the acoustic…” he laughs.
SATCHVAI’s debut, The Sea of Emotion, drops on 6 November.
The post “My god, what am I going to do?”: Steve Vai and Joe Satriani are two of the greatest guitarists of all time, but these instruments made them panic appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Walrus Audio Lüm review – one small box, three colossal reverb effects
$279.99/£259, walrusaudio.com
The story behind the Walrus Audio Lüm tells us that guitarists are a bloody nightmare. Dammit, do we want a multi-mode soundscaping reverb pedal with presets in a compact enclosure or don’t we?
When Walrus Audio decided to discontinue the Slötva because of poor sales, the answer to that question appeared to be a clear no. But then, finding itself with a bunch of leftover PCB assemblies for Slötvas that nobody wanted, it did a bit of firmware tweakage and came up with last year’s limited-edition Lüm – mostly to avoid chucking all that unused hardware away. This time, though, it did sell… so much so that the Lüm is now back as a permanent fixture of the Walrus range.
In truth, the words ‘a bit of firmware tweakage’ are probably understating the efforts that were made to turn a relative flop into such an in-demand pedal. Anyway, the Slötva is now consigned to the past – is the Lüm the future of stompbox atmospherics?
What is it?
There’s more to the story of this pedal – because before the Slötva came the Slö (similar but without presets), after it came the Slöer (excellent but far from compact), and along the way we also got a trio of more adventurous ambience generators in the Lore, the Fable and the madcap Melee. All of these, to one degree or another, have fed into the character of the Lüm.
So we’re not dealing with a simple spring-style reverberator here. The emphasis is on otherworldliness, and there are three different modes to take you away from this ghastly planet to somewhere more sublime: a ‘grain cloud’, a ‘grain verb’ and a forward/reverse reverb. That word ‘grain’ means we can expect some randomised stuff, as the reverb is chopped up into bits and spat out again.
Image: Adam Gasson
Build quality and usability
The full-production Lüm has had one major enhancement from the original limited edition: it’s pink instead of blue. This is good news because pink pedals sound better, it’s a FACT, and I will hiss menacingly at anyone who says otherwise. Mind you, it’s also available in plain black, which you might prefer if you’re all about the doom.
A low-pass filter control means you can opt for full-frequency shimmeriness or something more moody, and holding down the right footswitch makes the reverb glide up to a secondary setting at one of three speeds: almost instantly, over a second or over five seconds.
Explaining exactly what the ‘X’ and ‘stretch’ knobs do is a little more tricky, so it might be best to just stomp away and see where the celestial winds take us. Getting started is easy enough because of the three editable factory presets – just hit both footswitches to scroll through them, and use each one as a starting point for exploring the modes.
Image: Adam Gasson
Sounds
There’s one factory preset for each mode, which makes sense – and the first one uses mode 1, which also makes sense. It’s a big and dreamy reverb, with a nice bit of grainy fluttering that adds interest but feels tastefully embedded in the ethereal wash. In this mode the X knob makes those grains bigger or smaller – from bouncy to jittery – and this is very useful for getting the texture just how you want it.
The second preset – using, you guessed it, mode 2 – is not massively different, but here the grains have been softened up much more by the reverb, a bit like the rice in a well-cooked risotto, resulting in a noticeably smoother effect. And mode 3 is smoother again, combining a ‘regular’ reverb with one that swooshes around in rhythmic waves.
There’s plenty of blissed-out fun to be had with all three modes, either clean or with masses of distortion; but if you are about to fuzz things up, you have a big decision to make about pedal order. Distortion before reverb is ‘correct’, but how about the other way round? An interesting reference point here is the aforementioned Melee, which includes both effects and lets you switch them around. Here’s what I wrote about its reversed combination back in 2023: “There’s so much harmonic overload, even when playing single notes, that you end up with an almost glitchy feel to the snowballing surface roar, snatches of melody struggling to rise above the swirling morass.”
How I didn’t win some sort of award for that sentence I’ll never know. But anyway, all of that is equally true of the Lüm if you run it through something very gainy indeed. Heavy shoegazers (by which I mean My Bloody Valentine fans) will be extremely happy here.
So that just leaves the stretch knob. Its role is to alter the sample rate of the pedal, and in normal use this has a fairly minimal effect. Where it really becomes a feature, though, is as the source of the secondary setting reached by holding down the ‘moment’ footswitch: this adds a ramping pitch-shift to the wet part of the signal, which can be subtle or extreme.
I had some good times with this set to a slow rise of just a semitone or two, using my whammy bar to push the dry signal in the opposite direction for quasi-atonal strangeness… and then I had some not-so-good times trying to find any other uses for the function that didn’t feel a wee bit gimmicky. It’s a pity you don’t get more options here – say, an eternal freeze setting, or changes to multiple knobs instead of just one at a time – but as an emergency messer-upper it’s certainly worth having on board.
Image: Adam Gasson
Should I buy one?
The Lüm is a fine pedal, sure enough, but it has rivals that are arguably even finer – and I’ve listed three of them below. The only thing is, one of them doesn’t do presets and the others aren’t compact – so that’s the gap in the market where this little pink stomper fits very neatly.
I don’t think it’s a perfect ambient soundscaping device by any means – there are compromises in its design that some players will find limiting, not least the fact that you only get three modes to play with. But if you’re looking for a simple and practical shortcut to astral mind-expansion, you might not need anything more than this.
Alternatives
Anyone willing to sacrifice presets for the joy of only having a single footswitch to worry about has a top-class alternative in the EarthQuaker Devices Afterneath V3 ($249/£225). If, on the other hand, you have a bigger chunk of pedalboard space to fill up, you might as well go for something truly cosmic like the Old Blood Noise Endeavors Dark Star Stereo ($329/£339) or Source Audio Encounter ($399/£369). Those two are both stereo.
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Rock Me On The Water, Augmented Chords, And A Wedding Request That Surprised Me
October 16th. And I’m still deep in Jackson Browne territory. Last week his birthday sent me back through his first five albums – For Every Man, Late For The Sky, The Pretender, Running on Empty, Hold Out. Those records really hold up. The melodies in particular are extraordinary – and not just because they sit […]
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Tonewood Teardown: Polishing the Frets
Hello, and welcome back to Mod Garage. We are almost done with our Harley Benton project—after working on the neck last month, there’s only one final step left before the neck is completely finished: polishing the frets. This is a very important step and one of the key factors in determining the playability of a guitar. If your frets are not polished well, there will be no “sexiness” when playing, and you will have to fight for every note. Bendings and vibratos will feel very stiff and uncomfortable and make strange noises on the frets. In essence, the instrument works against you instead of for you. In addition, dull or even dirty or rusty frets don’t look very good on a guitar.
The good news is that polishing the frets is something you can do yourself and the enhancement you will receive is simply stunning. And once done as thoroughly as possible, you’ll only need to refresh this process every time you change your strings. It’s a low-investment job with a high payoff, and you can do it to every one of your instruments, whether it’s a guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, and so on. The procedure is always the same.
Many ways lead to Rome here, and there are a zillion different avenues and tools for success. I’ll demonstrate the intensive, serious polishing procedure I use in the shop, but naturally all other methods have their right to exist and will work, too. This is a time-intensive procedure, but it’s worth it; you can enhance your whole guitar armada one by one this way.
For my preferred way you don’t need very much, and you’ll likely already have some of the materials in your garage or workshop. So let’s go and make a perfect polishing job for your frets, resulting in a buttery-smooth, glassy feel and look.
Start with a basic cleaning of the fretboard and the frets, using Naphtha and a cotton rag. This is always the first step, no matter if you have a finished fretboard or one of bare wood like rosewood or ebony. To protect your skin you should wear gloves, this is lighter fluid and you don’t want to have direct contact with it. And it can’t hurt to also wear goggles to protect your eyes. An old cotton t-shirts works well as a rag; simply apply some Naphtha and clean the fretboard and the frets with it. After finishing, give it a minute so the Naphtha can completely disappear.
The next step is to precisely tape off the complete fretboard using low tack tape. This applies not only to finished fretboards like our Harley Benton one, but also to bare-wood fretboards like rosewood or ebony. The cleaning process with Naphtha will help a lot the tape will stick well on the wood. I prefer to completely tape the entire neck before I start polishing, which can be a kind of meditative work. Having a good coffee at hand and listening to some relaxing music can make this step go more quickly. As an alternative, it’s also possible to only tape off one fret, polish it, and then do the next, but I don’t recommend this method. We also want to polish the fret ends, which is a lot easier when taping off the entire neck. Using a fret guard is also not recommended for the same reason. Here’s a tip: Attach the tape as close as possible to the bottom of the frets and also mask the fretboard edge so you can polish the fret ends without any danger of disturbing the finish.
Next you have to decide what tools to use, and there are countless options. Avoid any steel wool for a serious fret polishing job—it’s not only a mess in general, but the pickups will attract the particles if you do not completely mask them. In general, the higher the grid you use, and the more grids you use in between to step up to the final grid, the higher the level of your polish and the smoother the feel. There are a lot of different polishing systems for frets from a lot of companies and they all work; my preferred way is to use Micro-Mesh soft touch pads in nine different grids, starting with 1,500 and stepping up to 12,000.
There are a lot of other options, including steel wool, abrasive touch-up sticks, abrasive sheets, Scotch-Brite, Kovax Tolecut, and others. If you already have a tool you use you can naturally stay with it, but for me, nothing beats the Micro-Mesh soft touch pads.
Now, take a small dish and fill it with soapy water as a lubricant for a scratch-free mirror shine. Simply use your finger to put some of the water on your polishing pad—don’t waterboard the pad, and avoid soaking it in water. Start with the 1,500 grid pad, wet it, and rub the fret from one fretboard edge to the other. Important: Do not polish from the nut to the bridge over the complete fretboard length, this is the correct direction for a serious polishing job. Take care to polish the complete fret down to the bottom, and take your time. You don’t need to be afraid about removing material, this is just a polishing job. After polishing the last fret angle, turn the pad approximately 30 degrees and polish the fret ends by rubbing the pad in that angle along both fretboard edges.
All done? Excellent. Take another nip of your coffee and step up to the next finest grid, repeating the entire process over and over again until you’ve stepped up to the highest grid.
I estimate that it should take roughly two hours on average to complete the whole process, including taping off the neck. Yes, it’s a long time for a polishing job. But believe me, it’s worth every minute.
You may ask—what about using machines like a Dremel or a stationary buffer to save some time? Yes, it’s possible to use such tools, but they’re a little risky to me. It’s easy to overheat and reshape the frets, and even easier to slip and hit the fretboard—something you definitely don’t want to do. I stopped using rotating tools for fret polishing several years ago and always take the long route. It’s better to be safe than sorry, especially on a customer’s guitar.
Now, the final step, which will make a big difference. For this we will need any metal polish of your choice, some Q-tips, and a piece of leather. Some advice: Wear gloves during the last step, and put some old newspapers underneath the neck.
First, put some metal polish on the Q-tip, and apply it all along the fret. With a piece of leather, polish one fret after another and, finally, the fret ends. Use the same procedure as earlier, but this time with a metal polish and a piece of leather. Using a piece of leather will not only polish but also burnish the frets to maximum shine, creating a glass-like feeling. There are special polishing leathers you can buy, but any old piece of smooth leather—like from an old leather belt—will do. Suede leather will not work properly, so stay away from that. Take your time and polish the complete fret; during the process you will feel a little bit of heat, which is a good sign that you are doing it right.
Finally, use a soft cotton cloth to wipe away any excess, and then take off the tape. When using low tack tape this should be easy; if there are any sticky areas use some Naphtha and a cotton rag to simply wipe it away. If you have an open-wood fretboard, apply fretboard oil of your choice afterwards and wipe away the excess.
And there you have it: Mirror-shine and glassy-feel frets for maximum playability. I’m pretty sure that when you experience the results on one of your guitars you will instantly undertake the same procedure on all your other instruments.
We didn’t spent any more money this month, so our budget of $100 for future investments is still available. Next month we’ll finish up our guitar project and compare the instrument to what we started with. So stay tuned.
Until then ... keep on modding!
Strymon TimeLine MX Review
The original Strymon TimeLine always possessed the power and potential to transcend a mere guitar effect. Not long after its release, I got to know a sound guy who used one at every show. I’ve also seen them in synth-filled studios where a lone guitar sat tucked away, almost as an afterthought. To me that says a lot about what the TimeLine achieved in terms of user friendliness, power, and flexibility. Did its ability to work across disciplines make it less potent as a guitar effect? No way. The TimeLine was and is a blast to use for both straightforward guitar delay applications and late-night, down-the-rabbit-hole creative meanderings that birth whole musical pieces.
The new TimeLine MX is more of the same—a lot more. So much more, in fact, that I’ve heard grumblings about its $679 street price. If you’re a guitarist happy and fulfilled by making do with a Carbon Copy, and you’re skeptical about what the TimeLine MX can offer you, I get it. Even some delay power users may be hard-pressed to justify the expense. But after a few weeks of tinkering with the MX, it’s easy to imagine how guitarists who divide their time between home studio and performance—and for whom atmosphere and the ability to use echo as a compositional prompt is critical—will get back every penny of their $679 investment, and then some. This isn’t a perspective I arrived at because I imagined myself forever probing the MX’s deepest capabilities. It’s simply because the TimeLine MX proved fun, engaging, inspiring, and full of surprises, day after day.
Exponential Explosion
To try to describe every MX feature in the space of this review would be folly. (If you think I’m kidding, check out Strymon co-founder and designer Pete Celi’s deep dive video for the unit. It’s as long as a feature film.) But there are a few new core developments that are truly big news. The most important fundamental enhancement is the twin delay architecture, which enables you to use two delays in series, parallel, or in a stereo setup that sends different delays to different destinations.
Then there are the new algorithms, which include a wobbly vintage oil can-style delay, a slice-dice-and-reconstitute spectral delay, a Binson-inspired drum-style echo, and a rhythmically-driven multitap voice. There’s also a reverb mode you can add to the mix, if the new delays weren’t enough. These new algorithms join the lo-fi, digital, dBucket, and filter delay modes (to name just a few) that were stars on the original TimeLine. I’m sure there is a formula that can calculate the tone possibilities afforded by single, dual, stereo, series, and parallel iterations and combinations of the 12 algorithms. But frankly, the enormous sum of potential outcomes is something you feel more than you calculate. Scrolling through this many voices is often just flat-out thrilling, intoxicating stuff that makes afternoons and late nights disappear.
“Scrolling through this many voices is often just flat-out thrilling, intoxicating stuff that makes afternoons and late nights disappear.”
The “feel” factor is something that works in another design dimension, and that’s the unit’s layout, flow, and functionality. For a delay capable of a virtually incalculable number of sounds, the MX is still fairly compact—a design factor that was certainly part of its appeal to the synth artists and sound people I mentioned earlier, and, needless to say, a big deal for the pedalboard set. A more important facet of the MX’s ergonomics, however, is the sense of workflow. The new screen is super clear and organizes essential information well. The seven basic controls are arranged linearly in a single row, which makes them easy to scan and facilitates the development of muscle memory. The secondary functions are easily controllable via the assignable speed and depth knobs. The value and type knobs on either side of the screen—which work as both rotary and push-button controls—interface seamlessly with the readout. The bank-up, bank-down, tap-tempo and looper controls are also dead simple. Altogether, it’s a great study in flow and how to make a complex digital pedal accessible.
Surrounded By Sound, Drowned in Sensation
Highlighting just a few of the many remarkable sounds here could take up many pages. Here are some favorites anyway: The lo-fi is much more than a dollop of EQ blunting slathered over your original signal. There are options to change sample rate and bit depth that render the output a glitchy, grotesque mess, which, when mixed low and added in series or parallel to a lush and hazy drum delay, evoke fractured deep space communications embedded in the background of a gauzy, blissful dream. The spectral delay can be tuned to foreground sugary high-octave reflections in an array of crystalline, stained-glass echoes. But that formula can be flipped on its head, turning clear glass into mystery fragments of murky, patina’d sonic terra cotta. And while the drum echo doesn’t precisely replicate the sound signature of that lunatic device’s electromechanical quirks, the ability to edit the characteristics of each “record head’s” performance (via a very clever graphical representation on the view screen) means you can craft very hazy, syncopated repeats that are a perfect match for fuzzy and scuzzy overdrive.
The Verdict
Echo might be the only truly indispensable effect in my sound world, and I find the idea of spending lots of good money on great delay sounds totally relatable. So, when I consider the $679 Strymon asks for this high-quality, thoughtfully designed echo engine room, I wince ever so briefly before smiling at the possibilities. And these possibilities are copious, indeed—certainly for the side of my creative self that loves meandering through ambient music spaces, or spending hours soundtracking the abstract films cluttering my head and hard drives.
Musicians that work these fields with more focus and discipline than I possess have even more reason to be excited about what the TimeLine MX can deliver so intuitively. So will the many rock, pop, dance, and hip-hop musicians and producers that borrow from the ambient playbook. Less patient users, and I certainly count myself among this sect, can run into some hiccups: No delay this deep and capable can be navigated by intuition alone. But the essentials can be learned via the included five-page startup guide, and you have to be pretty lazy to get lost in the weeds here.
Back to that price: It’s probably one that needs to be considered on a sliding scale. For a lot of artists, the Timeline MX could be the backbone of a desktop studio or pedalboard. For players that view the TimeLine MX through that lens, the price is a fair one or better—especially when you consider its excellent workflow.
Gear Radar November 2026
From Tony Iommi’s 100W handcrafted Laney signature head to ultra-compact modeling amps, wireless freedom, and vintage fuzz recreations, explore November’s standout guitar gear.
Eastman Fullertone Offset'62
The FullerTone Offset ’62 combines effortless comfort, expressive tone, and innovative design. Developed with input from Paul Davids, it features Tonerider goldfoil humbuckers, a Göldo tremolo, and Eastman’s two-bolt neck system for exceptional resonance, stability, and playability.
AirLock GT Wireless Instrument System
AirLock is Fishman’s wireless system for any pickup-equipped instrument. Connect guitar, bass, violin, or keyboard to your amp or recording setup and play cable-free. True analog cable tone preserves your sound, while advanced interference management cuts through noise. Over 9 hours of battery life powers you through your longest sessions.
Pulze, Pulze Jr., and Pulze Mini
Meet the Pulze family—three smart modeling amps built for inspired playing anywhere. The touchscreen-equipped Pulze delivers immersive desktop sound; battery-powered Pulze Jr. brings stereo punch through dual custom 3" speakers; and the ultra-compact Pulze Mini packs a 5W, 2" full-range speaker into a truly grab-and-go format. All three feature Hotone’s CDCM HD + F.I.R.E. modeling, wireless audio and app control, plus versatile tones for electric guitar, bass, acoustic guitar, and more.
Nobels REV-mini
The REV-mini delivers a wide range of legendary reverb simultions, every nuance in full stereo width. From classic spiral reverb, to the ethereal soundscapes, all the way to high-resolution sounds. Use the Xtra function of Freeze and Shimmer to create that moment! True or Buffered bypass. Big possibilities, small price.
The Black Keys Peach Fuzz
The Limited-Edition The Black Keys Peach Fuzz joins the new Mod Series, reimagining a beloved ’70s Foxy-style octave/fuzz pedal in a more pedalboard-friendly design. Developed with guitarist Dan Auerbach, it recreates the vintage circuit with selectable momentary/latching octave-up control and peach-colored flocked velvet celebrating The Black Keys’ 2026 release, Peaches!
Mod Series
Warm Audio debuts the NEW Mod Series, bringing its classic pedal recreations into slimmer, pedalboard-friendly designs with modern features on select models. Launching with the Centavo Mod and WA-C1 Mod, the series delivers golden high-headroom overdrive in a compact format and lush analog chorus/vibrato with an a added preamp bypass.
TI-100 Tony Iommi 100W signature head - Handcrafted in the UK
Laney Black Country Customs extremely limited run of the BCC-TI100 Tony Iommi Signature Amplifier, handcrafted in the UK. Featuring 100 watts RMS, eight 12AX7 preamp valves, four 6L6 outputs and Tony’s iconic cross livery, this collector’s amplifier delivers uncompromising British craftsmanship, commanding tone and unmistakable stage presence.
Podcast 566: Charlotte Cornfield
On today’s Fretboard Journal Podcast, we meet Charlotte Cornfield, a Toronto-based singer-songwriter who recently released her sixth album, Hurts Like Hell.
The album was recorded live off the floor at Phil Weinrobe’s studio in Brooklyn and features guitarists Adam Brisbin and El Kempner, guest vocals from Feist and Buck Meek, and lots more.
We discuss Charlotte’s writing process, how the different players left their stamp on this beautiful record, her one-pedal pedalboard, and more.
https://charlottecornfield.com
Above photo: Sara Melvin
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“He’s a nobody and he’ll always be”: Roger Waters levels bizarre rant at Metallica’s James Hetfield following recent Sphere comments
![[L-R] Roger Waters and James Hetfield](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Roger-Waters-James-Hetfield-hero@2000x1500.jpg)
Roger Waters has levelled some sharp criticism at Metallica frontman James Hetfield following his recent comments at the Sphere, where he told attendees the band was “not here to influence you with any bullshit”.
His comments appeared to address the recent spate of artists who have used their platform – including Hayley Williams and Macklemore, who was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour for doing so – to make political statements.
“Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bullshit,” Hetfield said. “Okay? We are here… no bullshit… we’re here to forget about all the outside shit, okay? “Metallica’s agenda is love, energy and heavy music, baby”
His comments drew backlash from some, many of whom pointed out Metallica’s history of making political statements in their music, including in hits like One, Disposable Heroes and Don’t Tread on Me.
Now, in a new podcast appearance, former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters has made clear what he thinks about Hetfield’s comments. And when we say “made clear”, we mean made very clear…
“Can we stop talking about this prick? I’m so bored with him,” he says. “He’s just showing that he’s a complete prick. He’s got an IQ of about three, and why we’re talking about him, I honestly don’t know because he’s a nobody and he’ll always be. He may have a few hundred million dollars or whatever, but he’s a prick.”
Waters even goes as far as to question Hetfield’s musicianship, adding that he’s “no musician”.
“I heard them playing acoustic instruments and they couldn’t. It was appalling,” Waters says.
It appears to be a case of over-exaggeration and relying on shock factor in order to make a point, as Hetfield’s acoustic playing on the likes of Fade to Black and The Unforgiven is pretty solid…
Still, they are some pretty harsh words from Roger Waters, who does have a history of making brash statements and political messages. In 2023, he drew ire from German police and the US State Department after dressing in Nazi garb at a show in Berlin.
The post “He’s a nobody and he’ll always be”: Roger Waters levels bizarre rant at Metallica’s James Hetfield following recent Sphere comments appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
We’re feeling positively fantastic about these Positive Grid deals at Guitar Center – save over $100 on a Spark amp and more!
[Editor’s note: Guitar Center deals are aimed at US customers. If you’re outside the US, you’ll be shown similar deals.]
If you’ve ever been tempted by one of the many forward-thinking gear launches from Positive Grid, well now might be the best time to get your hands on one of its clever smart amps.
Right now at Guitar Center, there are loads of deals on offer across the Positive Grid product range – you can save over $100 on one of its Spark amps, or try out its wireless Spark NEO headphones for less.
Positive Grid’s Spark GO 5W battery-powered combo amp is now under three figures at $99, saving you $50. This ultraportable smart guitar amp, integrated with the Spark app, provides pocket-sized access to amps, pedals, auto chords, a Smart Jam mode and over 50,000 tones in the cloud. We awarded it a solid 9/10 in our 2023 review.
You can also save $88 on the Spark CAB. This full-range, flat-response (FRFR) powered speaker cabinet was designed with amp sims and digital modellers in mind. It’s lightweight, portable, and ready for live performances, recording sessions, home practice and more.
If the Spark LIVE is more your thing, you can save over $100 on this four-channel smart amp & PA system right now. With four channels, a mixer and a wide collection of effects, it’s versatile for all kinds of live performances and was rated a flawless 10/10 by us.
Other offers include the Spark NEO headphones (now $199), Spark MINI amp (now $174), and the funky Spark MINI VAI version (now $188), made in collaboration with Steve Vai.
In other Positive Grid news, the brand launched its first ever floor-based amp modeller with the Spark PEDAL in September, which we awarded an 8/10. We said: “The Pedal is further proof that the Spark concept can be a fun and useful tool in almost any musical scenario, but there are some compromises here that eat into the great tones, easy usability and streamlined design of the ecosystem.”
View all of these Positive Grid deals and much more at Guitar Center.
The post We’re feeling positively fantastic about these Positive Grid deals at Guitar Center – save over $100 on a Spark amp and more! appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I can’t do this s**t anymore”: Matt Heafy nearly quit Trivium last year – here’s what made him stay
Longtime Trivium frontman Matt Heafy has revealed that he nearly quit the band last year.
Speaking to Metal Hammer in a new interview, the guitarist – who has led the Orlando metal outfit since 1999, when he was just 13 – explains how tensions led to a boiling point following a tracking session last year, likely for their upcoming album Crown in the Grave, which arrives next month.
“[Our] chemistry starts falling apart a little bit,” Heafy says. “Not from one person, not from me, but it’s just the sum of its parts. Things aren’t going right. Quiet explosion.
“I’m tracking guitars. I stand up. I leave. I call [my wife] Ashley. I’m like, ‘I’m done with this fucking band. I can’t do this shit anymore. It’s 26, 27 years of this shit that just keeps happening.”
He continues: “[I was] at [our rehearsal space] the Hangar. I just start driving home, get home, turn my phone off. Like, ‘I’m not going [back] in.’ And then Ashley lets the dust settle, and she’s like, ‘You’re not quitting the band. You can’t quit the band. You’re part of this band. You’ve got to figure this out. Go back to the studio.’”
Thankfully Heafy decided to stay in the band, but personnel changes did take place shortly after, with drummer Alex Bent leaving Trivium in October 2025.
“Sometimes, when there’s a change, when your favourite married couple gets divorced, you break up with your girlfriend, you get fired from your job, you fire someone from your company, sometimes things have to happen for the survival of the ‘whole’, or the ‘whole’ will not survive any more,” Heafy continues.
Trivium are set to release their 11th studio album Crown in the Grave next month, the followup to 2021’s In the Court of the Dragon.
Matt Heafy says all the recent changes have Trivium feeling like a band reborn. “I stopped trying to be safe and perfect at every show,” he says. “Instead, I was actually enjoying the experience and living. If I messed up, it was okay because I’m human. With all of the changes Trivium went through, it’s like a brand new band.”
Check out the album’s lead single Dead Inside of Me below:
The post “I can’t do this s**t anymore”: Matt Heafy nearly quit Trivium last year – here’s what made him stay appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Dawner Prince Eclipsa review – a new spin on the rotary speaker simulator
£499/$589.85, dawnerprince.com
There are some pairs of words we use more or less interchangeably: ‘dial’ and ‘knob’, ‘delay’ and ‘echo’, ‘bassist’ and ‘disappointment’… and also ‘rotary’ and ‘Leslie’. But this last one is complicated, because not every rotary simulator pedal wants to sound like a Leslie.
While Donald Leslie might have invented the rotary speaker cabinet, other companies later came up with their own variations on the formula. And now, pedal makers are coming up with their own variations on the variations. The Dawner Prince Eclipsa is one of them: a tribute to the near-forgotten Yamaha RA-200.
What is it?
If there’s one guitarist who can bring out the unhinged tone-freak in any mild-mannered music listener, it’s David Gilmour. And among his legion of obsessive admirers is Dawner Prince founder Zoran Kraljevic, whose love of the Pink Floyd man’s tones has already been expressed through the Boonar delay and the Pulse – which is where our ‘alternative rotary’ story actually begins.
The Pulse is based on Gilmour’s Doppola rotating speakers from the 90s (a custom-built take on the Maestro Rover RO-1 design). So the Eclipsa is a logical next step – this time recreating the sound of the Yamaha cabs he was using at the end of the 70s, as well as the Alembic F-2B valve preamps that powered them.
If you are one of those Floyd obsessives, this means what you’re looking at here is the sound of The Wall (well, some of it). If you’re not, a more significant factor is probably the RA-200’s unusual configuration, with three vertically rotating horns at the top and four fixed drivers below. Either way, this is not just another Leslie sim.
Image: Richard Purvis
Build quality and usability
The bit about build quality won’t take long: this is a Dawner Prince after all, made in Croatia to a reliably sky-high standard of workmanship. It’s fairly compact but weighty, with classy knobs and two soft-touch footswitches.
As with most rotary sims, one of those switches is for bypass and the other is for ramping between fast and slow spinning speeds. You can also hold that one down for a couple of seconds to bring the virtual horns to a stop (and then once more to wake them up again), but what happens when you hold down the bypass footswitch is more interesting: the LED changes from red to green, and this signifies that the Alembic preamp will remain active in bypass. Why? So you can use it as an always-on tone improver, and turn the rotary effect on and off without a noticeable shift in tonality or output level.
The preamp has four mini-knobs of its own – volume, bass, middle and treble – plus a bright switch. But the really important stuff is going on up top, where you’ll find the rotary controls: slow speed, fast speed, virtual microphone distance, inertia (up and down ramping speed) and blend. This latter gives you all rotary when fully clockwise, and all static when fully anticlockwise; it’s centre-notched for an even balance between the two.
Image: Richard Purvis
Sounds
Yeah, sure, making sounds is great – but wouldn’t you rather spend the evening watching three little orange LEDs flashing on and off? These represent the three horns, and they’re not quite in sync – which makes them much more interesting to look at (alright, maybe not for a whole evening) and might also create some extra-complex modulation as they constantly shift in and out of phase.
First of all, though, the Eclipsa has absolutely got ‘the rotary thing’, simulating the uniquely fruity swirl that happens when moving sound sources create a layered Doppler effect. As with a good Leslie sim, the slow mode sounds better on the bridge pickup with some overdrive, carving out a swooshy arc that’s doubly immersive in stereo; the fast mode sounds better on the neck pickup for sweet and shimmery wibblage; and the stealthily ramping transitions are weirdly mesmerising.
The next question is whether it really does sound distinct from a Leslie type. My reference here is the Strymon Lex v2, and the difference in voicing is pronounced: while the Lex has a soft, almost watery quality in the midrange, the Eclipsa is less coloured and more solid. It’s not harsh but it can get metallic, in a way that could make you wonder if it’s been hanging out with some flangers.
This isn’t categorically better or worse, but it is its own thing – and it’s not the only unique feature the Eclipsa has to offer. At times you might also notice an added element of quivering fast modulation even when it’s in slow mode – a result, I’m guessing, of the aforementioned phase shifting between the not-quite-synchronised horns. It’s subtle, but it’s very cool.
And then there’s the preamp. This isn’t an extreme tone-mangler by any means, but the three-band EQ is plenty powerful and can easily be set up to thicken the lower mids or maybe give your top end a polish. What it won’t do is bring the scuzz: push the volume and it will get much louder, but with only a moderate amount of breakup. For the full-on rotary roar, you’ll have to stick a drive pedal in front.
Image: Richard Purvis
Should I buy one?
The Eclipsa is another predictably excellent pedal from Dawner Prince, and the question of whether it’s worth getting is complicated only by its spit-yer-drink-out price. Its all-round quality is undeniable, and the sounds it makes are like nothing else out there, but if there’s only room in your life for one rotary sim pedal then you might have a hard time justifying it ahead of a cheaper Leslie-based model.
On the other hand, if you’re a serious Gilmour worshipper – or simply someone who wants all the best tones and can afford to pay for them – then you might consider this an essential purchase.
Alternatives
The Dawner Prince Pulse ($339.95/£286) is a simpler device with no preamp modelling, but its five-knob layout matches the Eclipsa. Back in Leslie land, the Strymon Lex v2 ($349/£319) and Neo Instruments Mini Vent II (€369/£295/$399) are both superb-sounding options, and the latter is also available in a more pedalboard-friendly Micro version.
The post Dawner Prince Eclipsa review – a new spin on the rotary speaker simulator appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Cardinal Black Self-Produce New Album 'Second Sign of Life'
Welsh rock trio Cardinal Black have announced their third studio album, Second Sign of Life, arriving January 29, 2027 via Thirty Tigers, alongside the release of its riff-driven lead single, “Saving Grace.”
Self-produced during a break in European touring, the record strips back the elaborate arrangements of its predecessor to capture the chemistry that has made Cardinal Black a formidable live act. The album is available to pre-order now as the band announces its biggest UK and Ireland headline tour to date.
“Saving Grace” pairs Chris Buck’s muscular guitar work with Tom Hollister’s soulful vocals and a lyric about the person who brings you back to solid ground when life becomes difficult. Hollister first recorded the song nearly a decade ago but only now found the sound and words that felt true to it.
“The foundations of the song were something I had written and recorded around 10 years ago, but it never felt right—too overworked and stylized,” Hollister explains. “I also never really had lyrics to it that had a real connection to me. This time around with Cardinal Black, it all feels much more coherent. It’s a song about being so close to someone that they’ve become an integral part of you and someone who regularly pulls you back to shore when things get a little rough at sea.” If 2025’s Midnight at the Valencia captured Cardinal Black’s proverbial 10,000 hours, Second Sign of Life captures what happens when they stop counting and trust what those years have taught them.
Midnight at the Valencia, recorded at Zurich’s Powerplay Studios with a more expansive production approach, topped the UK Official Independent Album Breakers Chart and helped launch the band’s sold-out debut North American headline tour. Rather than attempt to outdo its scale, Cardinal Black chose fewer layers, greater immediacy, and the sound of musicians playing together in a room.
The opportunity came between dates on a European tour with Alter Bridge. Cardinal Black booked nine days at Hamburg’s residential Clouds Hill Studios in June 2026, effectively living where they recorded. The band arrived after frustrating early writing sessions in Hay-on-Wye and with little time to second-guess decisions, relying instead on the musical instincts sharpened by night after night onstage.
For the first time, Cardinal Black produced and engineered the album themselves, with touring bassist and recording engineer Sam Andrews contributing to the sessions. Despite Clouds Hill’s wealth of vintage equipment, they kept the arrangements focused on the expanded live lineup, allowing only those additions that served the songs.
The result is a 10-song album that turns inward, exploring love, loss, vulnerability, growing older, and the strange isolation of life on the road. Hollister’s personal songwriting is carried by Buck’s expressive guitar and Adam Roberts’ sensitive rhythmic approach, with the space between instruments becoming part of the music.
That restraint reflects the band’s wider independence. Long accustomed to taking a hands-on role in recording, releasing and touring, Cardinal Black have made an album on their own terms, shaped by the direct connection with audiences that remains at the heart of their work.
Cardinal Black return to the road in 2027 with their biggest UK and Ireland headline tour to date, beginning March 30 in Wolverhampton and continuing through London and Cardiff. European dates follow in April and May, with North America planned for June. Fans who pre-order a physical edition through the band’s website can access the UK and Ireland artist presale ahead of the October 21st general on-sale. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit: www.thecardinalblack.com.
Second Sign of Life by Cardinal Black
1. Saving Grace
2. Take Me to The Water
3. All I Ever Wanted
4. Perfect Time
5. Higher
6. I Could Be Anything
7. Neon Lights
8. More Than Your Love
9. Growing Up
10. There Was Everything
CARDINAL BLACK – UK & IRELAND TOUR 2027
- Tuesday, March 30th – Wolverhampton, UK – KK's Steel Mill
- Thursday, April 1st – Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory
- Friday, April 2nd – Belfast, Northern Ireland – Limelight
- Saturday, April 3rd – Glasgow, UK – The Garage
- Monday, April 5th – Newcastle, UK – Boiler Shop
- Tuesday, April 6th – Leeds, UK – Stylus
- Friday, April 9th – Manchester, UK – Academy 2
- Saturday, April 10th – Southampton, UK – EngineRooms
- Sunday, April 11th – Exeter, UK – Phoenix
- Tuesday, April 13th – Bristol, UK – Electric
- Thursday, April 15th – Cambridge, UK – Junction
- Friday, April 16th – London, UK – KOKO
- Saturday, April 17th – Cardiff, UK – Great Hall
U2 Announces The Greatest Show on Earth World Tour 2027
Live Nation has today announced that U2 is set to hit the road again with Carnaval De Luz presents: The Greatest Show On Earth, a world tour that will see Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. return to select stadiums in 2027 and beyond.
The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour—in support of the band’s forthcoming 16th studio album, Carnaval De Luz—will kick off in Mexico City on February 23rd, 2027 with support from Beck, with shows also announced for São Paulo and Buenos Aires, the only three Latin American cities the tour will visit next year. Additional 2027 dates for Europe and North America are set to be announced in the coming weeks, with plans for the band’s all-important return home to Ireland in the works.
The tour announcement comes with the release of a new track titled “The Greatest Show On Earth.” Co-written by U2 and Brian Eno, it is the third single to be taken from Carnaval De Luz. A story of lovers fighting to keep faith in each other—and faith itself. The video is directed by Anton Corbijn and was shot in the Californian desert; it satirizes the band as a religious cult where women do all the heavy lifting. Watch HERE. Listen HERE .
CARNAVAL DE LUZ PRESENTS: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
WORLD TOUR - 2027 DATES (with support from Beck)
- February 23 MEXICO CITY, Mexico - Estadio GNP Seguros
- February 26 MEXICO CITY, Mexico - Estadio GNP Seguros
- March 10 SÃO PAULO, Brazil - Estádio MorumBIS
- March 12 SÃO PAULO, Brazil - Estádio MorumBIS
- March 23 BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Estadio River Plate
- March 25 BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Estadio River Plate
Acknowledged as one of the best live acts in the world, U2 has always—since their earliest days, including the industry-defining ZOO TV Tour which broke the mold in 1991—consistently pushed the boundaries of live performance, with ground-breaking stage shows that embrace the latest in technology and innovation, most recently with one of the band’s most ambitious creative projects to date, a sold-out run of 40 history-making, future-defining shows at Sphere, Las Vegas. Carnaval De Luz presents: The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour marks U2’s return to a stadium setting for a performance spectacle embracing human connection and intimacy at a grand scale, with a set list drawn from across the band’s entire catalogue; the band’s first stadium dates since wrapping the acclaimed The Joshua Tree Tour at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on December 15th, 2019, the final stop on a tour which saw U2 play to almost 3 million fans around the world.
U2 recently celebrated the band’s 50th anniversary on Friday September 25th with a very special surprise performance on Dublin’s Grafton Street for the town they hold dear. Watch HERE.
Tickets for the Carnaval De Luz presents: The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour will first be available via U2.com Subscriber Presale commencing on Monday October 19th, 2026 at 10am local time. Remaining tickets will be available starting Thursday, October 22nd at 10am local time at U2.com.
Carnaval De Luz presents: The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour is produced by Live Nation Global Touring.
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