Best guitars, amps, and effects from 2015

 Best Products To Buy from the 2015 lineup is a hard thing to dive in to, but at the same time really interesting. During 2015 I bumped in to a whole bunch of really interesting stuff, especially if  you're a guitar aficionado like myself. I love everything about guitars. It´s pretty hard to pick out the best guitars, amps, effect pedals or even a guitar pick, because the market is flooded with great things nowadays.  This is my conclusion of what is recommended when looking back in to the year of 2015. As the products of 2016 is in stores now, you can make yourself a good deal on the 2015´s menu. Enjoy

Best buy PRS Guitars
When I first came over a PRS guitar, the brand was a completely new experience to me. During the year of 2015 I tested a whole bunch of models in my home over a long period of time. I must admit that they are really fine instruments. The consistency all the way from the SE series up to the high ends are quiet unique. The quality are just flawless. The top three are:

1. PRS SE Zach Myers.
A guitar worth much more than the pricetag says. Great sounding guitar. Buy here
2. PRS SE Custom Mark Tremonti.
Another great guitar in the SE series. A tone monster that not rob your wallet. Buy here
3. PRS Signature Mark Tremonti.
The high end version with great tone a stunning playability.  Buy here

Best Buy Fender Stratocaster
Fender continous to impress with their playability, especially the strats, and I´m glad to say that they once again have straightened up in details. There are still som models that do need some improvements but overall they're back in business, especially the Mexican ones.



1. Stratocaster Jeff Beck Signature A great strat with fabulous tremolo. Great playability. Buy here
2. Stratocaster Roadworn 50´s. The best mexican made Strat ever made. Buy here
3. Stratocaster Custom Shop 70´s Relic. Fabulous looks and a great player. Buy here

Best Buy Gibson Les Paul
The innovative touch of the 2015-series did not impress me at all, but there is one guitar that I think stands out from the others. A good price to if you want a classic Les Paul.

1. Gibson Les Paul Deluxe 2015.
A representative model with great feel. Buy here

Best buy Amplification
The choice of best amps is based on how they actually sounds och Marshall really stands out here in my opinion. The Kemper thing is climbing up at top three due to the growing amount of good profiles available on the market. If you need a variety of quality sound, the Kemper is your thing. The three at the top is:


1. Marshall JVM Joe Satriani 100 w Head.
Best sounding Marshall amp in years. It practically delivers whatever you like to hear.  Buy here
2. Kemper Profiling Amp.
The best digital amp ever, way ahead the other stuff on the market. Buy here
3. Marshall 1555X Silver Jubilee.
The reissue of the long loved classic. It really sounds like that the original. Buy here

Best buy new innovative products
1. Pykmax Guitar Pick
An new interesting new way of using a guitar pick. Buy here
2. BeatBuddy -Drummachine in a pedal.
Using this pedal as your rehearing companion at home is true happiness for sure. Easy to use and it contains close to every beat you'll ever need. Great for songwriting. Buy now



Best buy guitar effects
There was tons av pedals and these two stands out in my opinion.

1. Korg SDD 3000. The pedal version of the best delay ever.
Buy here
2. Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer. A classic on every pedalboard.
Buy here


Stay Zombied !

Korg SDD 3000 Delay Pedal - Review and video clip

In 1982 Korg launched the Korg SDD 3000 rack unit and it became an almost iconic effect, not least because The Edge chose the pedal as his favorite. Now Korg has released a delay pedal based on the same functionality as the original and they have really succeeded in recreating its sound absolutely perfect. Totally flawless.

I remember there was a guy who had a studio in my hometown and this guy had a SDD 3000. We used to sit for hours and play around with clean sound and it was just absolutely amazing. So when this new pedal came in my way I just had to check it out.

A very cool thing about this pedal is the a preamp they have put inside, it puts an extra boost to the tonality. There is also an input attenuater which compensates for single coils lower signal compared to a pushier humbucker pickup.  The preamp can be overruled if you don't like it.

The second uniqueness is of course the SDD delay itself which is very true to the original rack unit. This delay is pretty much what this pedal is about. It may sound a bit geeky and corny but it's actually thoroughly good. I have not heard anything like this in any pedal out there, period. It´s musically warm and beautiful.

The pedal is extremely useful in its simplicity and if you like complex pedals, it also contains basically everything you need without compromising on usability. There are another 7 different delays to, beside the original SDD delay, which is worth the money itself.  It´s warm and not nearly sterile, even though it is digital. I will not go so far as to say it could easily replace everything on the market, there are many other fine delays out there, as the TC Electronics Flashback to mention one.

For those who like buttons and loads of "dialing in" this pedal has a lot to deliver. One can, for example, save favourite sounds in 40 banks x 2 channels, ie 80 presets, probably enough for most people.


Types of Delay
All delays can be set with parameters such as waveform, intensity and feedback.

SDD, the original from 1982. The best feature in this and it works for everything. Since you can save 80 locations, you can modify it as much as you wish.

Analog, a really good "analog" delay that behaves as it should

Tape, that creates that little irregularity as "tape" actually do ...

Modern, an excellent delay, especially for clean big sounds

Cosmic, a weird one I have a hard time finding uses for

Reverse, as it sounds, turn the signal backwards and another more or less a strange effect, if you're  not in to"weird sounds", if you are then its probably unique

Pitch, creates variation in pitch

Panning, an effect that creates the feeling of the sound moving, more effective in stereo


Any downsides?
Yes there is actually one downside. On one hand you have 80 locations to save so your favourite sonds but you have to walk up and down in the 40 banks to find the right one and it's not very user friendly in a live situation. But on the other hand it is a luxury problem, its of course  possible to organize it smart in the banks and reduce this downside. But the extremely beautiful SDD delay itself  weigh this up, no doubt.

Check out this sound sample below.