Origin of the species

Electro-Harmonix releases its most ambitious reverb pedal to date – and it goes way beyond ’verb to offer myriad sound-sculpting opportunities

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

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

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

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

ThorpyFX’s latest stacks up the germanium transistors for full-fat vintage tone in a functional modern setting