NEW GEAR 8/24: Gibson Combo Amps, Boss VE-22, Vox amPlug3 Series and Yamaha SEQTRAK Groovebox

Signature PRS Mark Tremonti 2024

PRS Mark Tremonti singlecuts, designed for the guitarist of the band Alter Bridge, have long been one of the backbone instruments of the Maryland company, which is reflected in the fact that the manufacturer tries to come up with at least partial modifications or improvements to these models almost every year. This year's Tremonti edition, in eight transparent shades, received an exclusive "Top 10" quality maple top, made from select North American maple with clear and detailed figure. The guitars come with a solid stoptail bridge or a Gen III tremolo, housed in a Trem-Up Route pocket.

In the video below, Mark Tremonti talks about the original development of his signature model, his first meeting with Paul Reed Smith, why there will always be guitars with both tremolo and hardtail bridge, and why very little has changed on his signature PRS in more than 20 years.

Ibanez Premium RGT1221PB-SWL and RGT1270PB-CTF

This year's two additions to the Premium RGT series are neck-through models with a Wizard III profile neck made of 7-ply maple and walnut, American linden body covered with poplar top, ebony fingerboard with rectangular inlays combining acrylic and abalone, 24 jumbo stainless steel frets, standard 25.5" scale and Gotoh tuning machines. The RGT1221PB-SWL version in Stained Wine Red Low Gloss finish features a Mono-rail hardtail bridge and DiMarzio Air Norton / Tone Zone humbuckers. The RGT1270PB-CTF model in Cosmic Blue Starburst Flat finish adds a DiMarzio True Velvet middle single coil and features an Ibanez Edge locking tremolo. The instruments come with a gig bag and a wrench set.

Boutique Beetronics Abelha Tropical Fuzz

An exclusive pedal from the Californian boutique brand, whose name (Abelha = "bee" in Portuguese) has partially made its way into the final sound of this vintage fuzz, offering three sound modes: the Polen – the sound of a classic germanium fuzz with a semi-discharged battery, the Nectar – a round, powerful sounding fuzz, and the Honey – a flexible register with a more closed gain. The Buzz and Loud controls adjust the amount of distortion and volume of the effect, while the HI and LO potentiometers allow for fairly detailed tone shaping. When pressed briefly, the footswitch functions as a standard bypass, while double-pressing activates the high-pass filter function, providing another sonic mode with a psychedelic timbre.

Compact Guitar and Bass amps Vox amPlug3

Vox has introduced the third generation of amPlug miniature headphone amplifiers, which have been completely redesigned and are available in 7 versions: amPlug3 AC30, UK Drive, US Silver, Boutique, High Gain, Bass and Modern Bass. The amps cover a wide sound range starting from the classic sound of Vox combos, through the clean sound of Fender amps, the traditional character of Marshall models to the massive distortion of modern amps, so guitarists and bassists of all styles will find something to their liking. Each version has two channels, up to four effects (tremolo, chorus, reverb, delay, compressor – depending on the type of amPlug) and a rhythm section. A new feature is the Aux In mini-jack input, used for connecting an external audio source or for recording.

Gibson makes a comeback with Falcon 5 and Falcon 20 combo amps

A pair of vintage '60s-style tube combos with boutique-quality construction has come out of a collaboration between Gibson and its Mesa Boogie subsidiary. Both units reference the Nashville company's vintage models and offer an American sound in a compact package, ranging from clean to slightly distorted registers with sensitive dynamic response and harmonically rich tone. There is an integrated power-reducing attenuator (Falcon 5 - 7/3 watts, 3x12AX7, 1x6V6, Class A, Falcon 20 – 12/5/1 watts, 4x12AX7, 2x6V6, Multi-Watt), a ten or 12-inch Jensen Blackbird 40 Alnico speaker, tube reverb, Normal/Low inputs, volume, reverb and intelligent tone potentiometers. The Falcon 20 version adds a tremolo with Depth + Freq controls and a footswitch input that activates reverb and tremolo.

Epiphone Rex Brown Thunderbird: Pantera bassist's model

Two years after the debut of the Gibson Thunderbird Rex Brown bass, designed for the bassist of metal icon Pantera, the subsidiary Epiphone has launched a more financially friendly alternative to the model. The four-string neck-through version in the classic Ebony finish features a neck glued from 9 layers of mahogany and walnut, a mahogany body and a fingerboard, with 20 medium jumbo frets and a brass nut, made from Indian Laurel. The high-quality hardware in golden chrome includes stylish lightweight tuning machines and a massive Babicz FCH top-load bridge allowing for quick string changes. Two of the company's passive ProBucker 760 Bass pickups are complemented by a common tone and separate volume controls, and the potentiometers are made by the renowned CTS brand. Price including hard case: approx. 1500 euros.

Studio Monitors PreSonus Eris Pro 4

The newest and smallest member of the PreSonus Eris Pro Series family of reference monitors, the PreSonus Eris Pro, uses a coaxial single-point source design for clear and accurate sound reproduction. This design ensures precise phase alignment between components and provides a wide sweet spot, detailed stereo imaging and symmetrical dispersion patterns, which all combine to provide enhanced listening benefits in a variety of environments. With superior dynamics, the Eris Pro 4 features a one-inch tweeter with a silk-dome tweeter and a 4.5-inch woven-composite woofer, offering dense and clean bass with plenty of punch. The sound of the 80W monitor can be fine-tuned using the Acoustic Tuning parameters (treble, mids, low-cut, Acoustic Space), and there is a front bass reflex and a trio of outputs (XLR, TRS, RCA).

Compact groovebox  Yamaha SEQTRAK

A compact station that is likely to become a competitor to similar, now popular models from Teenage Engineering, combines sections of a drum machine, synthesiser, sampler, sequencer and effects unit. The sample-based drum machine has 7 slots linked to a library of over 2,000 presets (SEQTRAK app). The sampler can record internally and from an external source in 16-bit/44.1 kHz quality, synthesis is supported by FM and AWM2 generators (polyphony of 8/128 voices), the 128-step sequencer works in various modes (mono, stereo, chromatic, chords), there is an arpeggiator and plenty of effects (delays, reverbs, modulation, EQ, master effects, etc.). SEQTRAK also received a built-in microphone and speaker, integrated Bluetooth module, USB-C port, MIDI, headphone jack, etc.

Multieffect Boss VE-22 Vocal Performer

Boss' new flagship vocal processor provides a range of features for editing vocal parts, with intuitive editing that allows the user to stay creative. The multi-effect can be used for practicing as well as on stage, in the studio or for online streaming. The VE-22 offers a variety of functions, from subtle tweaking of the sung tone to dramatic effects that significantly change the voice. There are three basic sections Harmony, Effect and Echo that provide access to an advanced harmoniser with auto-tuning and doubling functions and effects such as compressor, EQ, distortion, reverb, delay and special registers such as Lo-Fi, Radio, Ring Mod etc. Three round footswitches control the looper, phantom power, USB-C, microphone XLR input, stereo outputs and other connectivity.

Modular analogue synth  Stylophone CPM DS-2

Dubreq's so-called drone synth offers 2 3340 oscillators, 2 sub-oscillators and the same number of 3320-type filters, all in a fully analogue format. There is a massive LFO section with 14 waveforms, seven signal routing options and five depth attenuverters. You can use a total of 12 modular patch points and an effects section containing 8 vintage reverb algorithms (AL3201), a vintage delay (PT2399) with a modulation circuit and a mixer equipped with an aux input for external sounds. There is an integrated amplifier with a speaker, two stereo outputs and a slot for 6 AA batteries. The CPM DS-2 can be used separately as well as in the Eurorack modular system. Price: approx. 240 euros.