The best gear of 2018: Guitars, pedals, amps and accessories
Even in these uncertain times, you can still rely on the primal thrill of wood and steel and the sheer unadulterated joy of making music. The year has been a very good one indeed for new gear, but there were a few pieces that really caught our eye and perked our ears.
Over the following week, we’ll be revealing the best electric guitars, acoustic guitars, pedals, amplifiers and accessories of 2018, as chosen by our panel of expert reviewers. So check back to find out the winners in all 11 categories:
Best guitar accessory/recording
From studio tools to actual tools, you might not ‘play’ these, but one way or another, they’ll all make you play guitar more. Our nominees for this category are:
Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box
Two Notes Torpedo Captor
Pinegrove Leather GS25, GS60 & GS61 straps
House of Tone Tru PAF Humbuckers
MusicNomad The Octopus & GRIP Winder
Best bass gear
From portable heads and powerful combos, to classics reborn and new brands explored, it’s been another great year for four-string fun. The nominees are:
Orange Terror Bass
Fender Player Precision Bass
Auden Bowman Bass
Blackstar Unity 250 & 500 Bass Amps
Fender American Original ’50s Precision Bass
Best affordable effects pedal
The stompbox is one of the easiest ways to take your tone to new places – and a lot of fun doesn’t have to cost a lot of cash, as these pedals prove:
Walrus Audio Emissary
Marine Layer Reverb
Monty’s Guitars More!
MXR Sugar Drive
Fender The Pelt
Electro-Harmonix Op-Amp Big Muff Pi
Way Huge Russian Pickle Mk III
Keeley El Rey Dorado Distortion
Best premium effects pedal
Modern boutique pedal makers have knocked it out of the park in 2018. Here are eight of the best:
EarthQuaker Devices Westwood
Beetronics Royal Jelly
Old Blood Noise Endeavors Alpha Haunt
Meris Polymoon Delay
Jackson Audio Prism
Stone Deaf Syncopy
Thorpy The Dane
Fuzzrocious Cat King
Best affordable guitar amplifier under £1,000
Whether you need a gigging sidekick or a studio stalwart, if you need a proper amp in your life, this quintet will see you right:
Marshall Origin 20C
Blackstar 10th Anniversary Artisan 10 AE
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe IV
DV Mark DV ‘Raw Dawg’ EG
Orange Rocker 15 Terror
Best premium guitar amplifier under £1,500
Here are the supercars of the guitar-amp world:
Lazy J J10LC
Supro 1685RT Neptune Reverb
Swart Antares
Rift Amplification Hawker
Bartel Amplifiers Roseland
Black Volt Amplification Crazy Horse
Two-Rock Bloomfield Drive Combo
Fractal Audio Systems Axe-Fx III
Best affordable acoustic guitar under £1,300
Having a good-quality affordable acoustic in the house is essential. Here are our picks of 2018’s best boxes:
Alvarez AD60
Eastman E1D
PRS SE T40E
Faith Legacy Neptune
Art & Lutherie Legacy Tennessee Red
Best premium acoustic guitar over £2,400
Five of the finest acoustic guitars that money can buy, released over the last 12 months:
Larson Bros Prairie State OM Style 2 VS 1900
Breedlove Frontier Concerto E
Martin D-41 Reimagined
Lowden S-35 12 Fret Acoustics
Taylor Builder’s Edition K14ce with V-Class bracing
Best affordable electric guitar under £1,000
Whether you’re in the market for your first serious guitar, or a dependable backup, here are the best sub-£1,000 electrics from 2018:
Sterling Axis AX3S
Jackson X Series Marty Friedman MF-1
Gretsch G5420TG Electromatic 135th Anniversary Ltd
Shergold Masquerader SM04-SD
PRS SE Bernie Marsden Signature 2017 LTD
Fender Player Telecaster
Best mid-priced electric guitar under £2,000
You can get a lot of guitar for £1,000 to £2,000 these days, and 2018 brought you more
inspirational choices than ever before. Here are six of them:
B&G Guitars Little Sister Crossroads Midnight Ocean
Manson Guitar Works MA-25 Anniversary Edition
Maybach Albatroz 65-2
Rivolta Mondata Standard
Fender American Original ’50s Stratocaster
Eastman SB59/v-GB
Best premium electric guitar over £2,000
If money is no object, your shopping list starts here, with our must-try electrics from £2,000 upwards:
Friedman Vintage-T
Collings I-30 LC
Xotic California Classic XSC-2
PRS Silver Sky
Gretsch G6118T-135 Anniversary Limited Edition
Lowden GL-10 Koa
Frank Brothers Arcade Model
Vigier Expert Classic Rock
Check out all the previous Gear of the Year winners here.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
