THERE WAS AN ONSLAUGHT OF NEW GUITAR PRODUCTS RELEASED OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS. THESE ARE THE ONES THAT HAD US ALL TALKING
Words by AMIT SHARMA
JANUARY 2024 PAGE THIRTY-EIGHT
FENDERTONE MASTER PRO $1,699, fender.com
THE WORDS “FENDER” and “digital floorboard” hadn’t really existed in the same sentence until October, when the guitar giants dropped a bombshell: they’d be entering the multi-effects processor market with a new invention, the Tone Master Pro. Granted, it’s an area other companies like Line 6, Boss and Neural DSP have been dominating, but the Big F are claiming theirs to be “the ultimate guitar processor in terms of tone, dynamics, power and user-friendliness,” offering “staggeringly accurate recreations of the world’s most beloved amps.” Featuring eight processors, which is twice the amount of Neural’s Quad Cortex, it comes loaded with more than 100 amp and effect models, including the first-ever fully licensed EVH 5150 III Stealth. On top of that, you get more than 6,000 Fender-captured IRs, 500 user preset slots, 10 fully configurable footswitches, a 60-second stereo looper and a seven-inch color touchscreen. It’s a revolutionary product in every sense, as a few of us lucky ones got to see in September in NYC.
MARSHALLPEDALS $249, marshall.com
GIVEN HOW MANY clones there’ve been of Marshall’s long-discontinued Bluesbreaker pedal — most famously the $325 Analogman King of Tone that comes with a four-year wait — it’s a wonder the U.K. amp giants took so long to reissue it. The big news finally came in February, when it was revealed they would not only be resurrecting the Bluesbreaker, but they’d also be bringing back the Drivemaster, Shredmaster and Gary Moore’s primary stompbox for Still Got the Blues, The Guv’nor. Hand-built at the Bletchley, England, factory just like the originals, the new units feature almost exactly the same circuitry and components. Featuring near-identical topologies, the Drivemaster and The Guv’nor are closely related, the main difference being the latter’s send/return loop. As its name suggests, the Shredmaster is the darkest-sounding and most metallic of the four, whereas the Bluesbreaker replicates the sound of the legendary 1962 model that rose to prominence, thanks to a 1966 album called Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton. We might be talking more about that album in our next issue, by the way…
JACKSONAMERICAN SERIES VIRT
