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· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

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How records get made in 2026 from the industry's own reports

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About

XLR is a magazine, a radar and a diary about music gear and the making of music — for the people who make records and put on shows, wherever they do it.

The name is the three-pin connector that every signal in the business passes through: the microphone on stage and in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX cable that runs the lights. Studio, stage and lighting rig share it, and so does this magazine. Every few hours XLR collects what the makers shipped, what the reviewers heard, what the studios and the touring crews are doing, which producers and collectives are surfacing and what they are saying — synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lights, the rooms and the people — from a few hundred sources in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and more, then plots what is moving. The editor writes a letter every few days. Nothing is sold here; when a link leads to a shop, that is the maker's shop, not ours.

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Ultimate GuitarGuitars

Pointy Guitars Weren't Just For Metal Players: 'A Quick Way You Could Have A Makeover,' Author Explains [News]

September 12

Gear : "Pick up a pointy all of a sudden…"

Electric guitars & amps

Read at Ultimate Guitar ↗

GuitarsNeuroscience Study Links Childhood Guitar And Piano Lessons To Stronger Working Memory [News] Ultimate Guitar

“He was for me what Elvis probably was for most other people. His style on every level was fantastic. Doing all the things we would later come to associate with Jimi Hendrix”: Buddy Guy at 90 – how the world’s greatest living bluesman transformed guitar

Gear“He was for me what Elvis probably was for most other people. His style on every level was fantastic. Doing all the things we would later come to associate with Jimi Hendrix”: Buddy Guy at 90 – how the world’s greatest living bluesman transformed guitar MusicRadar

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Latest

Pointy Guitars Weren't Just For Metal Players: 'A Quick Way You Could Have A Makeover,' Author Explains [News]

Related

GuitarsNeuroscience Study Links Childhood Guitar And Piano Lessons To Stronger Working Memory [News] Ultimate Guitar

Gear“He was for me what Elvis probably was for most other people. His style on every level was fantastic. Doing all the things we would later come to associate with Jimi Hendrix”: Buddy Guy at 90 – how the world’s greatest living bluesman transformed guitar MusicRadar

Guitars"Money, it's a gas…” Pink Floyd collaborates with the UK's Royal Mint to release $6,400 18-carat gold guitar pick Guitar Player

GuitarsCarl Martin Introduces the CM Acoustic 300-Watt Amplifier Premier Guitar

GuitarsGuitar Center is inviting players to test its new in-house guitar brand – but you’ll need to sign an NDA Guitar Player

GearThomann is hosting a massive sale on guitars right now – but these synths and drum machines are also discounted… MusicTech