Instruments & Gear Reviews & Tutorials

Find out how Marshall, Fender and Peavey, three kings of the guitar amplifier world, stack up against each other. Learn which amps are best for which genre and level of guitar player.

The hydraulophone is an interesting instrument. Pressurized water moves through a tube and out of a series of holes. Placing a finger over a hole produces a sound.

Check out my review of the Marshall DSL40C guitar amp. It’s a powerful, versatile tube combo from a legendary name in the guitar world.

You are looking for building a home recording studio, but your budget is tight? Here are a few affordable ideas...

Learn the difference between a tube amp and solid state amp and decide which best meets your needs as a guitar player.

Everyone loves a Fender Telecaster, but not all Teles out there are made by Fender. Here are 5 of the best makes of Tele out there which are not Fender guitars.

If you've always wanted to own a Telecaster, and have a maximum of five hundred dollars to spend, then this information is for you. Here are 5 of the single best options.

Here are the 10 best bass guitars under $200 for beginners, top-quality instruments and some of the best bass guitars for the money.

Compare 5 of the best bass amps for beginners, top-rated amplifiers from some of the biggest brand names in the bass guitar world.

Check out the Best Gibson Les Pauls for metal, plus options from Epiphone and amazing Les Paul alternatives for heavy metal and hard rock.

Check out the best acoustic guitars for beginners, all under $200 and from some of the top brands in the guitar world

In this buying guide you’ll learn how to choose the right guitar for extreme metal, hard rock, classic metal and shred. Get advice on 7-string guitars, pickups, tonewoods and more.

All mahogany dreadnoughts offer a great counterpoint to the typical spruce top guitars. They have a unique voice too. They are most especially great for a singer songwriter who loves to play rhythm.

Check out some of the best Flying V guitars! This review looks at the classic Gibson Flying V and alternatives from Dean, Jackson and ESP LTD.

Here are 5 of the best Fender Stratocaster models available. 4 are signature series or Artist series. Hendrix is dead, you know - and one is the new HSS Shawbucker, something desired widely.

Check out this review of the Epiphone Les Paul Custom PRO. Compare to Gibson and discover if it's the right guitar for you.

Learn to choose the best guitar strings for electric and acoustic guitar, plus get tips for beginners on changing strings and guitar maintenance.

The Gibson ES-335 debuted in 1958, and instantly became one of the world's most desired guitars. It was the first semi-hollow body electric with an arched top. Here are 5 of the best signature series ES-335s.

Tonewoods are a key selling point for electric guitars, so why do some guitar players say they don’t even matter?

A pair of spoons can be used as a folk and percussion instrument. A variety of playing techniques are possible and a range of rhythms and sounds can be produced.

Jumbo sized acoustic guitars were created for folks who wanted even more volume out of their acoustic guitars than the large dreadnought design could offer. These are some of the best of the best.

The Epiphone vs Gibson Les Paul debate has been going on for years. This review will help you decide which guitar is better for your budget and needs. Here you can compare construction, quality and sound between Epiphone and Gibson, and even learn a little history.

These five small body acoustic guitars are outstanding instruments of tremendous value, but they are instruments for the serious amateur or professional only.

Dreadnought guitars crafted from Brazilian rosewood are highly sought after, very expensive, and absolute treasures to own and enjoy. Here are my pics for the best of the best of them.

Check out the best acoustic guitars under $300! Perfect for beginners and intermediate guitarists, but good enough to impress the veterans!

Bob Dylan's earliest recordings were made using a small all mahogany Martin 00-17 guitar. This guitar is no longer in production, but the very very similar Martin 00-15 is inexpensive and available.

When it comes to vintage American guitars the big three will always come to mind. Now, everyone has heard of the big three American automobile companies, but we Americans have a big three for guitars as well, Martin, Gibson, and Fender. C.F. Martin...

Find out what other guitarists say makes an electric guitar sound good or bad and cast your own votes in this online guitar poll.

These 5 essential guitar effects pedals are classic must-have stomp boxes, found on the pedal boards of some of the best guitarists in history.

The Telecaster has always been associated with country and western music, and in the mid-1960s, country rock. There is no limit to what music can be created with one.

Here’s a review of the Fender Standard (MIM) Telecaster. This guitar might be made in Mexico, but the MIM Tele is a real Fender through and through.

One of the 4 most iconic solid body electric guitars in the world, the Gibson SG is far less expensive than the other 3. This is also the most successful guitar Gibson has ever produced

Learn about the difference between the Epiphone Les Paul 100, Special II and Studio and find out which electric guitar is best for you.

The Gibson Les Paul Studio is a great guitar, but how does it match up with the Les Paul Standard or Epiphone Les Paul? This review explains all!

At some point or another most people who are into music wish to play an instrument, or see if they can - and the guitar is the most common instrument found in modern music. Here are five of the very best acoustic guitars for under five hundred dollars. These guitars are all very good instruments that won't need to be replaced until a musician reaches a higher skill level, and even then these are guitars that are keepers for a lifetime if they are properly cared for.

The mbira is a traditional African instrument that is played in North America. An instrument based on the mbira can be used to detect the presence of counterfeit medicines.

Learn more about the Standard Precision Bass by Fender, a quality Mexican-made version of a classic bass guitar.

Review and compare 5 of the best bass combo amps under $500 for small gigs and practice, from some of the biggest names in the industry.

The best and most famous Fender Stratocaster players in rock history played Strats as unique as the guitarists themselves.

Recording software is notorious for costing even more than some instruments, but that doesn't have to be the case. Here are five digital audio workstations under $100 that will do the job just fine.

Here is a list of the top 20 guitars for metal.The best heavy metal and hard rock guitar has to not only look the part, but sound amazing too. Learn which instruments made the cut, and how to choose the right guitar for metal.

The Les Paul guitar by Gibson is a iconic electric guitar. But they make so many different ones it can be hard to know which is best. Here are 5 of the best across a range of price and style.

All over the world mahogany body dreadnought guitars are sought after for their bright, woody tonality. These are the cream of the crop in mahogany body dreadnought guitars.

Read my hands-on review of the Gibson Les Paul Studio Faded T electric guitar and decide if this affordable instrument is right for you!

Learn the difference between classical and acoustic guitars and discover the pros and cons of each for beginners.

The world of the acoustic steel string guitarist is totally in love with the Martin D-28 Herringbone guitars. It has been this way since the 1930's, and it will be this way for long to come. While there are many different varieties, makes, and models of the high X D-28 from various and sundry manufacturers, this article examines five of the best without trying to encourage breaking the bank and spending someone's inheritance

Mystical and mysterious, the life and death of Robert Johnson are legendary. He became the king of the delta blues, and inspired countless singers and guitarists. Did he make a deal with the devil? You be the judge. He played a Gibson L-! guitar, and here is the rest of the story.

Which guitar brand is best for metal: Jackson, Ibanez, ESP LTD or Schecter? Compare construction, quality, sound, specs and more.

Learn the difference between a maple or rosewood fretboard for guitar and decide which is better for your sound.

If you're looking for the best heavy metal guitar under $500 here are the top electric guitars you need to consider.

You always want an all solid wood construction dreadnought if you can afford one. Mahogany is a bright tonewood with a very woody sound, excellent for all styles of music. Here are 5 of the best.

Conch shells come from large sea snails and are used as wind instruments. The shells are played at ceremonies and in jazz. They produce a loud and eerie sound.

Discover the best heavy metal guitars under $300, great options from brands like Jackson, Schecter and Ibanez.

Learn whether a beginner should choose an electric or acoustic guitar when starting out, and discover the differences between each type of guitar

There are a lot of distortion pedals out there, but not every one of them is a classic. These five are what I consider to be the five true classics.

Here's my list of best bass guitars for under $500. If you are a bassist on a budget here are the top basses for the money. They're affordable, they sound great and they are made by some of the best bass guitar companies of all time.

If you want your 6-string guitar to sound like a 12-string guitar, this may just be the guitar effects pedal for you.

Small bodied acoustic guitars with mahogany tops were the guitars of choice for most during the great depression. Well, they sound great today too. Here are five of the best mahogany top small bodies.

We can't all afford a $1500 Les Paul Standard, but with a bit of time and money, we can make a cheap guitar sound less... cheap.

The Gibson Marauder and S-1 guitars were crossover instruments where Gibson tried to steal some market share from Fender. These are somewhat rare birds, but very fine instruments should you find one.

This is a review of the BlumWay USB Cassette to MP3 Converter, a player that digitizes audio and stores direct to a USB flash drive without a computer or software.

Compare the Fender Mexican (MIM) Player Strat and American (MIA) Professional Stratocasters and decide which guitar is better for you and your budget.

Choosing an electric guitar with the right type of bridge for your needs is a key part of getting the sound you want from your instrument.

Learn the history of the Fender Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jazzmaster and Jaguar and why they are known as some of the most iconic guitars in the world.

Check out this list of the 10 best sounding acoustic guitars for under $1000, amazing instruments from the top guitar makers in the world.

If you’re trying to choose between the Gibson SG and Les Paul this article can help you sort out the differences and decide which is better for you.

Confused by guitar specs when it comes to buying your first beginner guitar? Read this guide to basic terms and definitions.

A Gibson Les Paul Custom with 3 pickups is forever an extremely desirable and also expensive guitar. Here are 5 of the best available.

Learn the difference between the Ibanez RG and S Series and decide which guitar is better for you and your music.

Check out the top rock guitar builders, companies that have proven themselves as the best of the best over the decades.

If you play electric guitar and want to start building a pedal board, here are some tips on where to start.

Compare the best small guitar amplifiers and find the top amp for home use and practice. Beginners and pros alike love these little powerhouses.

In the 1970s Gibson guitars relaxed their quality standards and sold some things they should not have. The Japanese took notice and started building Les Paul copies. Here are five of the best brands.

This Fender Standard Jazz Bass review takes a look at a Made-in-Mexico (MIM) version of a classic instrument.

Learn the difference between the Fender Stratocaster vs the Telecaster and decide which guitar is best for your needs.

Buddy Guy and Jimmie Vaughan are long-time warriors of the blues guitar. Both have Fender Artist Series Stratocasters made for and after them. Here's the story on both.

There are lots of things to consider when buying a guitar. Here's a bunch of them.

These are five top notch and less expensive solid wood alternatives to a Martin D-28. Rosewood and spruce in a dreadnought design is something very desirable, but not all can afford a D-28.

The best portable guitar amp combines cool features with great sounds in a small, battery-powered package. Here are 5 awesome choices.

Compare the top electric guitars that are best for intermediate players and guitarists who are just beginning their climb to the top.

This guide can help you find the best guitar amp for the money. Beginner or pro, you need the right amp for your budget and style.

The magical sounds that come from the harmonica are nothing short of a mystery. How do they do it? This article explores some of the masters of this tiny musical instrument.

Here's a detailed list of the 36 best guitar brands. Anyone looking for the top electric or acoustic guitars in 2019 will find this guide useful.

The name "piano" is just an abbreviation. But what was it called originally - and where did it come from in the first place? What happened to the rest of its name?

Learn how many watts you need for a guitar amp based on your goals. Get advice on amplifiers for home use, playing in a band, recording and more.

A great parlor guitar will always be small, and never be cheap. These are not backpacking or travel guitars, but fine fine small acoustic guitars for serious players and consumers.

Gibson Les Paul or Fender Stratocaster? Read this review to help decide which guitar is better for you based on sound, quality and differences.Learn about affordable versions of each and how to choose between them.

Every guitarist needs an acoustic/electric which is good enough to use in the studio and on stage. But a working musician also requires affordability in their road worthy guitar. Here are five.

The Martin D 18 acoustic guitar is less expensive than the Martin D 28, D 35, and D 45 - it's FAR less expensive than the D 50 or D 100 - but the Martin D 18 may very well be a BETTER guitar than any of it's more expensive cousins.

Compare the Epiphone G-400 PRO to the Gibson SG Standard when it comes to sound, construction and value and find out which SG is right for you!

In live situations, you may prefer to use a pitch shifting pedal for drop tunings rather than bringing along an extra guitar. That’s where the DigiTech Drop Polyphonic Drop Tune Pitch-Shift Pedal comes in.

Check out this review of the Schecter C-1 Platinum, Hellraiser C-1 and Omen 6, all great guitars for metal and hard rock.

Is Squier a good guitar brand? This review takes a look at Squier by Fender and lays out the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Gibson Les Paul is known as one of the greatest guitars in the world and with good reason. Here are 10 of those reasons!

Learn about the pros and cons of the Floyd Rose tremolo bridge, one of the most significant inventions in the history of electric guitar.

You’ve heard headroom is important for bass and guitar amplifiers. Find out how it affects your sound as a bassist or guitarist, when you should care about an amp’s headroom, and when you shouldn’t.

The Martin J-15 is a discontinued model from historic C.F. Martin & Company. Here is the rest of the story.

Check out this list of best bass guitar brands for 2019 and get help finding an instrument that’s perfect for you.

In this review you'll discover why the Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster is among the top electric guitars for the money.

This review takes a look at the Gibson SG Special vs Standard and Faded models, and can help you decide which guitar best meets your needs and budget.