Gearbuds

You asked for it, you got it - a new listener challenge!

Big thanks to our friends at Blackworm Instruments for the idea, what a blast; Dave and Hank had to put together boutique rigs - no spoilers but we rustled up some cool stuff. No big brands, no vintage, and no tuner pedals. Obviously.

Also discussed: major Strymon updates, beta testing new Lewitt modular microphones, the Wampler Metaverse delay, EVH stories, new all-star band Ozzy, Macca at Glastonbury, and Machine Gun Kelly.

Had to yarl at the end there a little bit.

G’mornin! Hope everyone is keeping it together; not an easy task these days.

This week the buds keep it simple (with Dave out of town) and plenty of new gear to discuss: Fender going All-Hog with their new Acoustasonics, Jack White’s Fender Custom Shop gear, a unique new fuzz from Anasounds, Palmer jumping into the pedalboard game, and digging deep into the Dirtywave M8.

Also discussed: moving pianos, crummy Craigslisters, more Yousician news, Teenage Engineering’s Pixel app, Waves moving to V14, Tears for Fears

Shout, shout, let it all out.

Hello buddies - wanna talk about some fresh gear?

Good thing that, because this week we’ve got all sorts of new and ole gear, big numbers for big boys, and rim bims on a Bass VI.

Also discussed: Metallica partnering with Yousician, PayPal offering payment plans, JT selling his song catalog to Hipgnosis, Big Star, Reverb My Collection with Classick Studio, Vertex debuting their first amplifier, Gibson Lizzy Hale Signature guitar, the Moog Mavis synth, EHX Synth9 strings pedal, Ciari travel guitars, and Eminent Technology debuting the Model Twenty flat cabinet.

They were just literally ghouls!

You asked for it, you got it; this is a NAMM 2022 recap of beefer proportions, and we even managed to fit in a gear-centric thought experiment!

Some of the pieces we touched on: Neve’s new 88m interface, Imperial Electrical launching their first two pedals, new stuff from Bixonic, SoulPedal insoles, Chibson rocking the Klontar with Daredevil Pedals, Sully Guitars, and Masters of Shred, Inzane Skinz, and the mini SLO from Soldano.

Also discussed: Shirk Studios mic hacks, Dave in the North Woods, Elk Audio deals, Kaizen updates, and the Sex Pistols.

We love hypotheticals.

Happy Monday, buddies! Who’s ready to talk about some new NAMM gear?

Your favorite neighborhood Gearbuds are, that’s who, and that’s what we do this week. We also dig into a few of our favorite brands, Gibson and Dean, who have resolved their lawsuit… but who really won?

Also discussed: Ernie Ball teaming up with Tosin Abasi for a new line of guitars, Focusrite’s new Vocaster and Clarett+ Octopre, Bluguitar AMP-X, the Hercules “Saved by Hercules giveaway, the Artiphon Orba 2, Taylor shaking up their leadership team, the passing of Dave Smith from Sequential Circuits, and Bleeding Audio - a documentary about The Matches.

Have you ever tried Miracle Berry?

Hi friends - we know, we know, we’re a day late; your buds took a little holiday so we’re getting this week’s episode out to you on a Tuesday instead of Monday. Please forgive us.

That said - a handful of instruments were auctioned recently and we got to thinking: what are the most expensive guitars ever sold? Hang out until the main topic this week and you’ll find out! Spoiler: it’s mostly 3 brands.

Also discussed: Monserrat stories, Dave at the Jackhammer, Drake losing money, big Reverb updates, Rush docs, shimming the vintage 330’s bridge P90, eBay woes, Oeksound Soothe update, Gibson teaming up with Guitarwrist, new Universal Audio amp pedals, and Electronic Audio Experiments’ update on the Dude Incredible.

Hope everyone (in the States) had a positive Memorial Day.

Dave played a gig!

This week your buds run down the hot and spicy performance from Hot Bloods’ first gig at Golden Dagger in Chicago. It was juicy!

Also discussed: Gibson EB-0F Fuzztone, JoBo bought the Burst, Carol Kaye honored at NAMM, Taylor Hawkins, George Martin’s Caribbean studio, the new collaboration between Balthazar Amps and Black Bobbin, Korg’s acquisition of Darkglass and their new NTS-2 Oscilliscope, Meris continuing the delay pedal renaissance with the new LVX, Teenage Engineering releasing the new OP-1 Field.

“We’re the Gearbuds Podcast, we’re not the Livebuds Podcast.”

We did it buddies! Three years of this ding dang show!

After talking a brief trip down memory lane, the main story today is about a recently unearthed Burst found in the UK - they still exist friends. What a gem.

Also discussed: Hank’s secret Reverb deal, Apple’s final iPod, Fender NFTs (big groan), George Harrison the Formula 1 stan, Alice in Chains, our neighbors at Harden, Roland’s AIRA Compact series, new Seymour Duncan pickups, Oberheim’s OB-8X, and the MINIM Sand Caster.

Should Gearbuds make a book? “A thick book for thick boys.”

Buying vintage gear can be a gamble even for the most knowledgable of experts. We’ve noticed a trend happening recently that we wanted to talk about: unscrupulous folks are pillaging parts from valuable old gear and returning it - BUYER/SELLER BEWARE.

Also discussed: Liam Gallagher, Daredevil Pedals teaming up with zZounds, TWA Pedals’ new Scott Henderson signature, new Epiphone Cantrell sigs, new Electrical Guitar Company, Mutable Instruments closing down, Reaper check-in, Facebook killing podcasts, Dave’s juicy pedalboard dilemma, Chuck Rainey, The Brian Jonestown Massacre recovering stolen gear, and flatlining NFT sales.

Please note: episode image is not about buyer beware, we still love the ES-330. Just thought it was a nice family pic. :)

Ask and ye shall receive: while The Buds spent last week’s episode pondering the fate of one of our favorite brands, DigiTech, this week we really blow the lid off… they’re back folks! Celebrate Cort Guitars!

Also discussed: Right to Repair rolling out in the US, RIP Cynthia Plastercaster, Billy Squier, deep dark secrets, Pro Tools moving to subscription only, Cr8Audio NiftyKeyz, the new Moog Etherwave Theremin, and new signature guitars for Billy Organ and Wes Borland.

Beware the Ides of… May?