2017 Digital Issue 12 December

Longtime readers know that at the end of each year we highlight the gear that blew our minds over the last 12 months—stuff that wowed us so much in terms of tone, flexibility, build/design, and value that it earned a minimum of 18 out of 20 possible “picks” in our ratings categories. This issue is no different, with our cover story celebrating the tonal ecstasies of 72 guitars, basses, amps, effects, and accessories. On the artist front, this issue we talk to Tetrarch shredder Diamond Rowe, Death from Above bassist Jesse Keeler, Thee Oh Sees’ John Dwyer, and slide genius Jerry Douglas. We also have tablature song transcriptions (print only) for Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Dark Necessities,” Iron Maiden’s “Wasted Years,” and the Black Crowes’ “Twice as Hard.” Our gear reviews this month include Fender’s ’64 Custom Deluxe Reverb, the Hughes & Kettner Era 1, Radial Engineering’s Texas Pro, the SviSound Techno-FA phaser, Hahn’s 112 solidbody, the Vertex Steel String, Yamaha’s BBP34, Stomp Under Foot’s Alabaster, Jackson Audio’s Prism, the Island Anzol, the Boss GT-1B, and Walrus Audio’s ARP-87.