The future of valves

ACOUSTIC GUITARISTS OFTEN get left out of the world of effects. However, about a decade ago, ToneWoodAmp appeared. It was a dedicated device that enabled acoustic players to enjoy effects through thei

IN 2001, ROBERT Keeley, a top-flight engineer out of Oklahoma City, founded Keeley Electronics. His goal was — and still is — simple, and he explains it like so: “If a player can become more expressiv

Mike Zaite explains how a background in electronics and a front-row seat to the British Invasion of the 1960s led to the formation of Dr Z Amplification – and why the sonics always lead the schematics

Fender’s Custom Shop had a precarious start in the mid-1980s, but the story of its formative years is full of big ideas, some bizarre instruments, and a queue of famous guitarists

Nearly 40 years on from the Custom Shop’s inception, its creations are more ambitious than ever. Find out how the team walks the tightrope between ‘canon’ and ‘cannot’, and where its guitars are heading next

If guitars are actually getting better by the day, us modders will have nothing to improve. Is it the end of the line, wonders Dave Burrluck, when he gets a new guitar on the bench