NEW GEAR 11/24: Charvel Superstrat, Martin Acoustics, Keeley Drive and Korg Modwave MKII

Top Martin SC-18E and SC-28E acoustics

Great sound, timeless design and new technology combine in a pair of electroacoustic models SC-18E and SC-28E, following in the footsteps of the revolutionary SC-13E version first introduced by C.F. Martin three years ago. Both luxury instruments have a body shape with a cutaway, Tone Tension X internal bracing, spruce soundboard and an ergonomically shaped joint for convenient access to the higher positions of the ebony fretboard. There's a choice of Fishman Aura VT Blend or LR Baggs Anthem pickups, and the strings are anchored in a Modern Belly-style bridge. The SC-18E features a mahogany back and sides, while the SC-28 variant uses East Indian rosewood. Prices including the hard case: SC-18E approx. USD 3,600, SC-28E approx. USD 4,000.

Charvel Super-Stock DKA22 2024: a limited edition for everyone

The Fender subsidiary returns to the Super-Stock line this year with the DKA22, which will be especially appreciated by players who prefer modern instruments to vintage aesthetics, whose main plus points are consistent tone and comfortable playability. The DKA22 should deliver both thanks to its ergonomics, proven materials and quality electronics and hardware. A carbon-reinforced roast maple neck with a fast profile is bolted to an alder body with a milled back edge at the bottom corner via a rounded joint, and a variable radius ebony fretboard carries 22 jumbo frets. A pair of Seymour Duncan Custom and SH-1 ('59) humbuckers were chosen, along with a Gotoh 510 vibrato with vintage stones and locking mechanisms. The price of the instrument in black piano lacquer is around 1100 euros including gig bag.

Keeley Muse: overdrive by Andy Timmons

Effects guru Robert Keeley and guitarist Andy Timmons are the creators of a versatile pedal, bringing boost, overdrive and fuzz functions. The pedal partly utilises the Blues Driver Boss circuitry, which unlike the classic BD-2 is fitted with a clipping section with operational amplifiers, JFETs and germanium or LEDs, between which the 'drive' can be selected via the AT/RK switch, whose twin can also be found at the tone shutter, where the AT position represents Timmons' favoured voicing with clean, precisely articulated bass, while the RK position functions as a Phat Boost particularly suited to guitars with single coils. The footswitch can operate in buffered or true bass mode, and with a longer press of the switch it's possible to switch between these modes.

Peavey Classic 20 112 electronic combo

The 20-watt Peavey Classic 112 combo with Celestion Midnight 60 12" speaker offers the characteristic sound of previous models in the well-known Classic series, but in a more compact size and with significantly less weight. The two-channel preamp, equipped with a modified distortion circuit, is combined with a tail section with 2x EL84 tubes and an attenuator reducing the power to 1 or 5 watts. There is an integrated effects loop, reverb, 2x footswitch input, impedance switch, headphone jack, speaker mute, T.S.I. system monitoring tube status and MSDI (Microphone Simulated Direct Interface) emulation circuit with XLR and USB output.

Rattlesnake Retro Coily instrument cables

American Rattlesnake Cable Company, a renowned manufacturer of professional instrument cables, has introduced the latest addition to its portfolio – Retro Coil cables with spiral construction, vintage aesthetics and premium functionality. This is supported by proven Neutrik NP2X connectors in straight and sinuous designs with nickel or gold finishes, 0.64mm oxygen-free copper conductors and durable PVC jackets in matte red, black or white. The cable can be extended from the original length of 1.15 m to the standard 7.6 m. The Retro Coily series is hand-assembled in Montana and offers a musical, rounder tone with pleasing highs, typical of vintage cabling.

Ibanez SRD900F and SRD905F fretless semi-hollow basses

The four- and five-string SRD900F and SRD905F models from the Bass Workshop edition have a semi-hollow body in Brown Topaz Burst Low Gloss lacquer, consisting of an okoume wood base and flame maple top with a trio of oval soundholes. The neck, glued together from five layers of walnut and maple, is attached to the body with six screws, and the fretless exotic pango fretboard with abalone inlays has a total of 30 positions marked, allowing the player to reach the cis2 note in the high registers. An Aerosilk MR5 fretboard, lightweight tuning machines, a pair of Nordstrand Big Break pickups, as well as the company's piezo sensors with small trimmers to adjust the sound are used. The electronics are completed with an active preamp with two-band EQ and separate volume controls for the magnetic pickups, and a level plus tone shield for the piezo system.

Signature Schecter Justin Beck Ani and V Ani guitar and bass

Schecter built two instruments straight out of the box for musician, composer and member of New York's nu-metal crew Glassjaw: an Ani super-string and a V Ani bass in the style of a modern Precision. Both models have swamp ash bodies in Gloss Natural lacquer, maple necks and fretboards with black block markers and "1993" inlay at the octave position, solid X-Jumbo frets, Graph Tech XL Black Tusq nuts, Thin-C neck profiles and black pickguards and hardware. The bass with passive electronics features a Schecter USA MonsterTone-P half pickup and a MonsterTone-J single-coil bridge. The Strat, with a three-position switch unconventionally placed in the top corner of the body, offers two Schecter USA Apocalypse split humbuckers, classic tremolo and D'Addario Auto-Trim L locking mechanics.

Flexible Tech 21 SansAmp XB Driver

The bass preamp/drive/DI box combines the key elements of the Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI, Para Driver DI, Q\Strip and dUg Pinnick Ultra Bass 1000 models. At its core is an analogue preamp with a pair of Clean/Drive channels equipped with separate volumes and three-band EQs with parametric mids. The sound can be fine-tuned with infinitely adjustable hi-pass and low-pass filters, and the Dual Amp/Bi-Amp concept, a 60s-style FET compressor and knobs with crossover, presets and Pre/Post functions are integrated. Of course, there's a patented emulation circuit with equal response to which external IR pulses can be added, an effects loop, a line XLR output, a trio of footswitches (Bypass, Clean/Drive, Mix), etc. The SansAmp XB Driver, powered by the included 18V DC adapter, is likely to hit the market during May or June.

Tama Imperialstar IP50H6WBN-BOB full kit

Tama looks back to 1974, when the first kits of the Imperialstar series began leaving the factory, the smallest modernized representative of the series. Labelled IP50H6WBN-BOB and finished in Blacked Out Black matte finish and Black Nickel hardware, the kit features bodies glued together from 6 layers of poplar with a total thickness of 8mm, offering a smooth, frequency-balanced sound with clean projection, warm bass and softer highs and mids, which can be a suitable combination for most styles. The compact kit consists of a 20 "x16" bass drum, 14 "x5" snare, 10 "x7" + 12 "x8" toms, 14 "x12" floor tom, Stage Master rack assembly, MTH600 tom holder, Iron Cobra 200 bass pedal, trio of Meinl HCS cymbals (14" hi-hat, 16" crash, 20" ride) and drum stool. The attached video demonstrates a larger version of the Imperialstar IP52H6WBN.

Wavetable synth Korg Modwave MKII

Along with the KingKorg Neo, the company also introduced the Modwave MKII wavetable synth. The second-generation follow-up to the DW-8000 version from the mid-1980s transforms the predecessor into a modern instrument, offering high-end oscillators, a range of filters, flexible modulation, unrivalled polyphony, complex pattern sequencing and practical controls including easily customisable sounds and phrases. The developers have also equipped Modwave with Kaoss Physics and Motion Sequencing 2.0 units, for creating dynamic motion with modulatable game physics and organic, constantly evolving patterns with multiple lines and real-time recording. With 60-voice polyphony and an estimated price tag of around 900 euros, Synth can, among other things, load custom samples, import wavetables in standard formats or create sounds using the free WaveEdit software.