Search

Summer is officially done for another year, but just because we're putting away the summer wardrobe, it doesn't mean we have to stop having fun, right?

July is peak festival season. Perhaps you've already braved the British heatwave to attend a festival this year, but now is the time to start bulk-buying suncream in preparation for the cool upcoming events happening this month!

Whether you're chasing the crushing riffs of Killswitch Engage, the razor-sharp clarity of Bullet for My Valentine, or the ambience-soaked epics of Architects, the classic Metalcore guitar sound is instantly recognisable.

Over the last 20 years, Metalcore has evolved as many of the OG bands of the genre are now filling arenas around the world, but its raw, pummelling aggression still lies at the heart of its sound.

Expression pedals allow us to unlock some extra potential from our gear. We’re going to break down how expression pedals work, how to connect them to your delay or reverb unit, what parameters you can typically control (this will vary from pedal to pedal), and learn some pro tips to get the most out of your delay and reverb soaked tones.

Whether you're chasing the ultimate amp-live overdrive, perfectly swirling modulation, or velvety delay trails, the components inside your stompbox all contribute to your final sound. One often-overlooked component with a surprisingly big impact is the Capacitors.

A wet/dry/wet rig is a style of setup that involves using 3 separate amplifiers at the same time. One of the amps (usually the centre one) will be your dry amp, meaning it will have no effects added, and the two outer amps will be your wet amps. which is where the effected signal will get sent.

Throughout the history of guitar pedals, there are certain pedals that have stood the test of time and become iconic pieces that most guitar players will own, or have owned, at some stage. One of those iconic pedals is the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff.

When John Frusciante returned to his role in the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1998, he helped usher in one of the most celebrated periods in the band's history...

Take a deep dive into Josh Homme's guitar gear and tone on Queens of the Stone Age's 2002 pocket rocket of a release, Songs for the Deaf.

Sleep Token IV's full guitar rig breakdown, including the tuning he'd prefer to keep under wraps...

For many gig-goers and musicians, June is one of the highlights of the year, kicking off a summer of music festivals. Discover this month's highlights.

During May, we start preparing ourselves for the biggest shift in the live music calendar... festival season!

Here's a round up of some interesting events to seek out this month.

If you were asked which guitar player the most musicians have tried to emulated the tones and style of in the last 20 years, and you answered John Mayer, you'd probably be correct...

In 1991, Metallica released an album that would change the musical landscape for metal musicians. The self-titled album, best known to the masses as The Black Album, was the band's 5th offering and it launched Metallica to international superstardom.

In 2005 the electric guitar was beginning to regain popularity and a new wave of heavy bands were emerging. One of the bands leading the charge from the UK was South Wales-based Bullet For My Valentine. 

Very few albums have left a mark on the history of recorded music like Abbey Road has. Recorded and released in September 1969, it was the last Beatles album to be recorded.

Picture the scene... you've just spent some time dialling in your dream high gain tone. You've got the amp cooking, stacked the overdrive pedals and achieved that perfect balance between saturation and clarity... but now there is an overwhelming hiss coming from the amp that threatens to derail your tone. What do you do?

Lamb of God’s Ashes of the Wake isn’t just a landmark Metal album — it’s also a masterclass in modern Metal guitar tone.

Released in 2004, the record’s tight, articulate riffing and aggressive sound helped the band on their path to becoming one of the most influential modern Metal bands.

The Boss DS-1 Distortion has been on the market for almost 50 years and has become a staple on pedalboards around the world. Find out what makes it tick - and why it is so popular.

Although various iterations of the Ibanez Tube Screamer exist, there is no mistaking that classic green overdrive pedal that we've seen on countless pedalboards, from pub gigs to arena shows.

When it comes to modern clean guitar tones, few players have carved out a niche for themselves as recognisable as Cory Wong.

"March is where the musical year really begins to get going"...

It's safe to say that the Rat has become one of the most recognisable guitar pedals of all time. Known for its aggressive tone which pairs perfectly with an overdriven amp, every guitar player should try a Rat at least once!

The Timmy first appeared on the market in 2004 as the refined successor to its bigger brother, the Tim – one of the OG boutique guitar pedals. All the initial Timmy models were sold by Paul Cochrane directly through his Myspace page (remember Myspace...?). The Timmy typically uses the JRC4559 chip for the gain, although for the early V2 units Paul switched this out for an LM1458 chip, which he felt gave a smoother tone.

The guitars, amps and effects behind Iron Maiden's Somewhere in Time (1986) – from the custom Jackson superstrat to the Gallien-Krueger 250ML.

At the centre of the Rage Against the Machine sound was guitarist Tom Morello – a player who showed you didn’t need a wall of effects to push boundaries. Instead, he built a simple rig and utilised unconventional techniques for out-of-this-world sounds.

By now, the beginning-of-the-year gear releases are in the hands of the players, tours are getting into full swing, festival announcements are getting us hyped for summer, and most important of all, the rain is finally coming to an end!

Through the recording of Nevermind, Kurt Cobain used some basic gear that is now synonymous with the sound of the era. Let's dig into this and find out more about what Cobain used to create this decade-defining album...

Pedalboard hum can be one of the most frustrating and annoying issues to deal with and diagnose.

Let's set the scene. You've just spent hours building your ideal pedalboard, plugged everything in ready to dial in your dream tone and as soon as you hit the power switch on your amp, you're greeted with a loud hum.

How you build your live pedalboard can change your entire experience onstage in the heat of battle - but consider a well built pedalboard as an extension of your instrument and part of your performance, and you'll be onto a winner!

We are absolutely thrilled to welcome our newest brand onboard, Lichtlaerm Audio. And if you don't know these guys already, you're in for a treat...

Led Zeppelin IV was the closing chapter in the band's initial four-album offering over the first three years that kick-started their career. This album contains some of the band's best known songs, including "Stairway to Heaven", and is one of the bestselling albums of all time, having shifted over 37 million copies to date.