WCR AMERICAN STEELE PICKUPS Mean tone machines FOR: Rocking guitar tones. WCR founder and designer Jim Wagner knows great tone and how to create it, crafting boutique gear that answers to his own demanding ears. We tested the American Steele on an Ibanez Les Paul copy cursed with bum pickups—and if we were to say that the American Steele radically transformed this guitar into a wicked tone machine we’d be grossly understating the fact. The Steeles... 

FISHMAN SA220 SOLO PERFORMANCE SYSTEM Take yours to go FOR: Electrifying acoustics. For the past 30 years Fishman has been making its mark with an ever-increasing line of products supporting acoustic instruments onstage and in the studio. The SA220 packs that experience into a smart all-in-one PA and monitoring system for singer-songwriters. Weighing in at a mere 25 pounds, the SA220 makes for easy load-in with the included rolling bag. Sporting... 

CELESTION ALNICO G10 GOLD SPEAKERS A precious element FOR: Electrifying guitar tone. Since most guitar cabinets are designed for 12-inch speakers, many players have not spent a lot of time playing through 10s. While iconic Fender amps like the Super Reverb and the Vibrolux Reverb are shining examples of the beauty of what a 10-inch speaker can do, there are few higher-gain examples to which one can point. The 40-watt G10 puts everything we love... 

THE SWIPE GUITAR CLEANING KIT Clean up your axe FOR: The post-grunge era. The Swipe takes a stab at the age-old problem of grungy strings and the murky tone they create—and comes out shining. The Swipe kit includes a micro-fiber coated “swiper” the size of a credit card and a polish cloth. One end of the Swipe tool is raised about 45 degrees, enabling easy access under strings. A good Swiping along the entire bottom side of each string quickly... 

TECH 21 BOOST CHORUS PEDAL Chorus you can step into FOR: Preaching to the choir. Tech 21 pioneered tube amp emulation with their legendary Sans Amp. Since then they’ve rolled out a series of smart products, which now includes the Boost Chorus. In classic Tech 21 style, the Boost Chorus does a brilliant job of emulating a number of the most significant chorus pedals of yesteryear, while also providing a wide range of features to craft your own sounds.... 

UNIVERSAL AUDIO UAD-2 SATELLITE Out-of-this-world plug-ins FOR: Getting UA’s vaunted self-powered plug-ins via a sleek FireWire-driven box. Previous incarnations of the UAD required a PCI or PCIe slot, locking iMac, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini users out of the plug-in party. The FireWire-driven UAD-2 Satellite is available in two footprints—the QUAD, which features four SHARC DSP chips, and the DUO, which features two. By offloading plug-in processing,... 

SONOMA WIRE WORKS DRUMCORE v.3.0 Serious beat downs FOR: A great collection of audio loops, sampled kits and MIDI loops played by a host of killer drummers. In a word, DrumCore v.3.0 is flexible. You have your choice of dragging audio loops or MIDI files onto the timeline in your favorite recording application. The latter affords you some incredible options, like hearing Terry Bozzio laying down a fat 5/4 groove played back through Matt Sorum’s... 

PLANET WAVES MODULAR SNAKE Get wired without getting bitten FOR: Modular solutions to age-old studio cabling issues. From the quality of the build to the number of challenges it solves, we were thoroughly impressed with the Planet Waves Modular Snake. The eight-channel Core cable is available in multiple lengths, with each end terminating in a male DB25 connector. Attach the female DB25 connector of the desired “Breakout” to the Core and you... 

SKB R106 RACK CONSOLE & AV–8 19″ AV RETRACTABLE AV SHELF Your screen saver FOR: Saving space and keeping your laptop safe. The R106’s 10U slanted top rails are perfect for a rack-mounted mixer, while the 6U front facing rails are ideal for your power conditioner, signal processors and rack-mounted wireless units. Dual side-access cable ports make for speedy set-ups and the TSA-approved locks keep your gear safe under lock and key.... 

AVID ELEVEN RACK EXPANSION PACK Déjà vu all over again FOR: Fans craving new additions to this wildly successful guitar-centric Pro Tools interface. Whether you’re already using Eleven or are considering taking the plunge into the “11R” universe, there’s plenty to love about this update. Perfectly complementing the 13 amp, eight cabinet and six effects model additions, the speaker breakup emulation also takes the original models to a whole... 

RADIAL PROD2 STEREO DIRECT BOX Dual injection FOR: Studio rats and sound hogs. The Radial ProD2 is a passive stereo DI box that can be used for a number of key functions. In most cases DI (direct injection) boxes are used to convert a hi-Z unbalanced signal from a guitar, bass or keyboard to a low-Z balanced signal for a PA or DAW for long cable runs that won’t kill your tone along the way. Conveniently, you can also use the ProD2 in the opposite... 

PEAVEY REVALVER MK III.V Big tones in a small package FOR: Component-based modeling software. We’d heard about Peavey’s component-driven approach to modeling, but closer inspection leaves no doubt the company has done an excellent job of recreating amplifier dynamics in a way that modeling software has often failed to deliver. The ability to mix and match pre-amps, power amps, tubes and more provides a wide range of tone-shaping options. The... 

FOCUSRITE OCTOPRE MKII DYNAMIC Eight the easy way FOR: Anyone in need of an eight-channel mic pre with a great feature set. One of the common challenges recording enthusiasts face today is how to get enough mic inputs to track a live band or full drum kit. The Focusrite OctoPre MkII Dynamic leverages the ADAT light pipe protocol to deliver eight simultaneous tracks of lush audio. Each channel features independent level and compression controls as... 

DUNLOP JBF3 JOE BONAMASSA SIGNATURE FUZZ FACE Peachy fuzz FOR: In-your-face tone. The Fuzz Face has become nearly as much a tradition among rock’s most iconic guitarists as the wah-wah itself. Now you can add blues master Joe Bonamassa to an impressive list of Fuzz aficionados that includes the likes of Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour and Eric Johnson. A slight departure from the typical reissues of this famed fuzz box, the JBF3 was specially tuned... 

CRUZTOOLS GROOVETECH GUITAR PLAYER TECH KIT Road-worthy tools FOR: Fine-tuning. Whether you do your own setups or the occasional string change, this is one indispensable kit. The GTGTR1 Tech Kit comes with everything needed to perform a complete setup, including a convenient how-to guide. The tidy pouch conveniently holds the tools in place, has a pocket for strings and will fit in the cubby of your gig bag. What especially impressed us was the... 

M-AUDIO GSR-12 PA SPEAKERS Now hear these FOR: Playing small- to medium-sized venues. Whether you are a performer, DJ or venue owner, finding the right speakers is a unique challenge. The M-Audio GSR-12s are all-around excellent performers, blending versatility, footprint, price point and quality. Using them as front-of-house speakers, we were impressed with the four EQ presets and off-axis definition, and found the sound to be well balanced. Used... 

TAYLOR V-CABLE Precision volume control FOR: Acoustic-electric guitar aficionados. Playing an acoustic-electric in a live setting is fraught with hazards—particularly a constant danger of feedback. The smart folks at Taylor guitars have partnered with RapcoHorizon to produce the V-Cable, which features a patented in-line volume control to avoid such landmines. We found the taper on the pot (as opposed to the slider-style volume control found on... 

LINE 6 DT50 Totally tubular amplification FOR: Tube tones. Whether you’re a fan of modeling technology or not, you have to tip your hat to the folks at Line 6 for adding tube amplifiers to their array of sounds. Line 6 has been working with tube amp guru Reinhold Bogner for some time, and the resulting DT50 series amps are definitely going to turn heads. Powered by a pair of EL34 tubes, either of the DT50’s two channels can be configured on the... 

AWESOME MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PICKUP TONE MULTIPLIER Find yourself a few new tones FOR: Tone junkies. The Pickup Tone Multiplier allows you to dial up a whopping range of 35 tones from a standard set of Strat pickups. It’s a great-sounding addition that will coax tones you’ve probably never heard from your instrument. At the heart of the design are mixing and matching phase, series and parallel functions for each of your pickups. The unit we tried... 

AVID PRO TOOLS 9 Music for the masses FOR: At last, everyone. Pro Tools 9 is not only chock-full of improvements, it also marks a massive departure in strategy for Avid. For the first time one does not have to use an Avid interface to run Pro Tools—unlocking the world of Pro Tools to virtually every kind of recording enthusiast. Armed with just an iLok you can move from studio to studio, machine to machine, and can even open and mix a session without... 

SONY VEGAS PRO 10 Video and audio production suite FOR: Video that rocks. Whether it’s guerilla marketing or full-fledged video production, artists are coming to grips with the vital role that video is playing in getting out their music and message. Sony Vegas Pro is a fully featured video, DVD and Blu-ray production suite that’s all-in-one fun. Vegas Pro makes importing, editing and dragging clips onto the timeline a snap. While most other applications... 

KYSER KLASSICS QUICK-CHANGE PARTIAL CAPOS Change your tune FOR: Altered tunings without drama. From Black Mountain Side to Brown Sugar, altered tunings have inspired generations of both acoustic and electric guitarists. Each of the four Kyser Klassics Partial Capos allows you to get those classic sounds without the hassle of retuning your instrument. Partial capos are designed to be placed at specific locations on the neck where they allow a blend... 

TC-HELICON VOICETONE PEDALS Vocal control and effects at your feet FOR: Singers who want to take control. TC-Helicon has introduced single stomp-sized pedals, firmly rooted in the world’s top pro studios and patterned on guitar players’ pedal boards, for vocalists who want more of a say in the way they sound. What you might not expect from this series of stompboxes is the amount of stuff that’s under the hood. Studio quality mic pre-amps and... 

FISHMAN LOUDBOX MINI Let your acoustic guitar be heard FOR: Electrifying acoustic tones. Although Fishman is best known for its outstanding acoustic guitar pickups, over the past decade it has also been crafting a serious line of sound reinforcement products for acoustic instruments. Primarily designed to amplify acoustic guitars, the Loudbox Mini’s 60 watts pack a serious punch. Plug your guitar cable into the instrument channel and the three-band... 

COLLINGS 290 An acoustic specialist plugs in at last FOR: Tone aficionados. After 32 years of building some of the most highly regarded acoustic instruments on the planet, luthier Bill Collings decided to turn up the volume. Just like its namesake (the highway that leads to Collings’ shop on the outskirts of Austin), the electric Collings 290 is going to take you to a place filled with inspiration and musical diversity. The craftsmanship is outstanding... 

BLUE MICROPHONES SPARK Beauty is in the ear of the beholder FOR: Smoking tones in an attractive package. If you could fall in love with a mic based on appearances alone, get ready to elope with Spark—and it sounds just as good as it looks. In tracking guitars and vocals, we got the feeling that this cardioid condenser mic would sound great no matter what we put in front of it. Inserting the Focus button allows you to roll off some low end in a... 

KEITH MCMILLEN SOFTSTEP Put your best foot forward FOR: Control freaks. The Keith McMillen SoftStep is one of the most intriguing devices we’ve come across in a long time. Simply calling it a USB controller doesn’t suffice—McMillen has dubbed the SoftStep a mouse for your feet, and we’re inclined to agree. The idea of being able to arm tracks and control the transport in Pro Tools with your hands otherwise occupied is appealing enough, but... 

ART TUBEOPTO 8 Light up your audio interface with this input/output expander FOR: Tube-driven input/output (I/O). If you’re looking to expand the I/O on your ADAT-compliant interface, ART’s TubeOpto 8 features eight channels of top-class tube-driven mojo sure to cure what’s ailing you. Each of the Opto 8’s channels feature gain and output controls as well as pad, low cut and phase switches for lots of useful functionality. You can dial in... 

SEYMOUR DUNCAN DEJA VU TAP DELAY Tap tempo delay with bucket brigade tone FOR: Button pushers. Over the past several years, veteran pickup manufacturer Seymour Duncan has been rolling out an impressive line of boutique-flavored guitar effects. The Deja Vu Tap Delay blends a bevy of modern features with analog bucket brigade circuitry to create a pedal that has something for just about every delay fanatic. The D/A Blend control allows you to dial... 

DIRECT SOUND EXTREME ISOLATION HEADPHONES Isolation headphones for studio and stage FOR: Saving your ears—and sanity. Extreme Isolation Headphones were designed by session drummer John Gresko to address the challenges of audio bleeding from ’phones to mics as well as room noise competing with headphone mixes. The result: Vocalists can finally record without fearing headphone-born feedback blowing their ears out, while drummers or guitarists who... 

TOONTRACKS EZMIX Studio plug-in with optimized presets FOR: Great mixes in a snap. Toontrack master sound designer Mattias Eklund has partnered with DSP gurus Overloud to come up with a preset-based plug-in that makes dialing up killer treatments a snap. The sortable Name, Type and Instrument columns make finding what you’re looking for easy. The Shape, Blend and Level faders allow you to quickly fine tune presets, which can then be renamed and... 

AVID ELEVEN RACK Pro Tools interface for guitar FOR: Racking up a killer guitar tone. Avid’s Eleven Rack is a 24bit, 96k USB Pro Tools interface that is as comfortable on the concert stage as it is in the studio. The user-friendly interface makes accessing and modifying the healthy sampling of amp, effect, speaker and mic models refreshingly intuitive. Eleven Rack also functions as a mic pre-amp with phantom power for tracking vocals or re-amping.... 

APOGEE GIO Guitar interface for GarageBand, MainStage and Logic FOR: Stomping your Mac. The GiO puts the fun in functionality for guitarists who want to rock out with their Apple computers. First and foremost this unit is a 24-bit USB-driven audio interface for guitar, designed by AD/DA conversion pioneers Apogee. However, the real functionality is in the massive amount of control given to your feet, freeing up your guitar-wielding hands from that... 

REAMP V.2 Easily replace guitar or bass tones after capturing that perfect take. FOR: Producers, engineers and studios. While sound replacement on drums has been standard fare for decades, the Reamp brings that flexibility to recording amplified instruments. Create a safety DI track and Reamp later with your choice of mics, effects and amps. We found blending amps and cabinets to be a snap, and the polarity switch quickly eliminated ground noise.... 

ARACOM PRX150-PRO POWER ATTENUATOR Maximum tone at a minimal volume. FOR: Preserving your neighbors’ sanity. Like a fine sports car, some amps need to be opened up before they hit their stride—but the volume makes this an ongoing challenge for amp lovers and soundmen alike. The PRX took the loudest non-master volume amp we could find down to conversation level with none of the tonal compromises we’ve noticed in the other units. The PRX features... 

TECH 21 SANSAMP CHARACTER SERIES PEDALS Stacks of tone at a fraction of the price. FOR: Pedal pushers everywhere. Tech 21 pioneered direct recording for guitar and bass players with its legendary SansAmp, and with the Character Series the company has extended its footprint beyond the studio door. Each pedal in the series draws its inspiration and namesake from renowned tones that guitarists have been chasing for decades. Although you can run them... 

ORANGE AMPLIFIERS TH30 The latest colorful offering from a noted amp company. FOR: Those who want a modern take on classic British tone. Since the first models hit the stage with Fleetwood Mac in the late 1960s, Orange has been delivering classic UK tones to rock fans the world over. It is the latest in a tradition of amps that sound as cool as they look. The TH30 is outfitted with a pair of EL34 output tubes, twin channels and an effects loop.... 

UAD-2 QUAD DSP ACCELERATOR PACKAGE Universal Audio offers award-winning plug-ins that won’t drain your CPU. FOR: Plug-in fanatics. From its early origins in studio innovation, Universal Audio has continued to develop state-of-the-art tools for recording studios and engineers. The UAD-2 QUAD AC builds upon the success of the UAD-1 to deliver self-powered “analog classic” plug-ins at a fraction of the cost of their vintage counterparts. The QUAD... 

Martin’s new Performing Artist Series guitar has all the accessibility of an acoustic/electric. FOR: Acoustic performers. The GPCPA1 is made from woods selected for tone, beauty and reliability. Sitka spruce top and East Indian rosewood sides and back make for a sweet and sturdy sound that lives up to the Martin name whether plugged in or not. The Fishman F1 Aura electronics system onboard translates this rich acoustic sound for an amp or PA in... 

Applied Research and Technology M-Four offers a multi-purpose, multi-pattern mic with a twist of versatility. FOR: Recording instrumentalists and singers. The M-Four has all the presence and character expected in a tube mic, but its biggest draw is its ability to customize the perfect response pattern for whatever is being recorded. On top of the usual cardioid, omni- and bidirectional patterns, there are also six additional subtle stages between.... 

The Dean Markley UltraSound CD60 reissue is a dual-channel combo guitar amp with headroom to spare. FOR: Guitarists playing everything from rhythm guitar in a blues band to Queen covers with treble-heavy distorted leads. This is an all-tube tone machine. After years of turning knobs and hearing a broad shelving of low, middle or high frequencies, the CD60’s EQ—tuned to a guitar’s tonal sweet spots—turns on a dime. Bright and Mid-Boost switches... 

New for the iPhone: high-quality guitar recording! AmpKit is a virtual amp, effects board and recorder, and AmpKit LiNK interface plugs you in. FOR: Recording on the go. The LiNK is smaller than the iPhone, so taking it to practice or on the road is a snap. It even eliminates crosstalk, so it can be used as a very low latency preamp and sent out to speakers. AmpKit is a free app, although it is equipped with a built-in gear store for racking up more... 

The A-300PRO combines Cakewalk’s lauded software compatibility and universality with Roland’s decades of experience. FOR: Keyboard players. In the world of MIDI controllers, expressivity is key. The plug-and-play USB connection and dedicated transport controls are great features for home recording and production, but rarely do we see such responsive, musical action in a 32-key controller. Nine knobs, nine sliders and eight dynamic pads increase... 

Superior Drummer 2.0 has a revamped interface and loads of new sample libraries. FOR: Songwriters, producers and even drummers. Superior Drummer 2.0 has improved load times, dynamic and EQ controls, ADSR for sample-playback shaping and compatibility with Toontrack EZdrummer libraries, making it as straightforward or as in-depth as needed. Add the Music City USA SDX expansion for 20GB of pristine drum samples recorded in Nashville by drummer Harry... 

Taylor’s T3/B pairs the best of a hollowbody with some signature features from their SolidBody and T5 electrics. FOR: Electric guitarists in almost any genre. The neck expands on Taylor’s hollow T5 design with more substantial frets, t confidence and comfort in the fingers. The same Style 2 HD humbuckers found on the SolidBody line offer traditional three-way switching, while pulling up on the volume knob engages a coil-splitter. The tone knob... 

Perhaps the most complete entry-level studio package we’ve seen. FOR: Home and mobile recording. Fast Track has a sexy new look, with top-mounted knobs, rounded edges and monitor switching boiled down to a single button. Speaking of monitoring, the headphone output is louder than in previous builds, making it less of a hassle to find a balance between mic and instrument when recording simultaneously. The bundled Pro Tools M-Powered Essential software... 

This waterproof case for Stratocasters and Telecasters is the first injection-molded case of its kind. FOR: Traveling guitarists. SKB has spared no efforts in creating the ultimate flight case for two of the most common body styles. The polypropylene copolymer resin is designed to be corrosion- and impact-resistant, airtight, waterproof and even submersible up to certain pressures. Inside, a plush lining supports the neck and protects the guitar from... 

The S3X-H is a powered monitor that can drive a professional mix session as well as an impressive home theater. FOR: Recording studios both home and commercial, as well as multimedia. The S3X-H is horizontally configured (hence the “H”) and all the controls are mounted on the front—which is very convenient for powering up and down safely. In a good room with plenty of space between listener and speakers, the pair creates a solid aural image... 

Carbon fiber pioneers RainSong revamp their grand auditorium guitar to include more traditional design elements. FOR: Any player whose demands include stability and a cool aesthetic. The carbon fiber that gives all RainSong guitars their smoky gray coloring (set off nicely here by a thick rosette of abalone and shark inlay on the fretboard) looks sweet, but its musical characteristics are what really set the CO-WS1000N2 apart. The lack of swelling... 

Heil Sound mics are famous for their condenser-like frequency range and invincibility against clipping. FOR: Drummers and live sound engineers. Playing with Heil drum mics at a gig with decent monitoring feels close to a studio experience. That’s because the frequency coverage and seemingly limitless dynamic range of each microphone is recreating an acoustic instrument, rather than treating the sound as a gunshot to be muffled before sending it...