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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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Guitar WorldGuitars

“We’ve never been a Strat band or a Marshall band. It feels a little too on-the-nose for what a rock sound should be”: Troy Van Leeuwen on turning his Custom Shop 12-string into a Squier signature, and channeling Robert Fripp for the new QOTSA record

September 15

Since its launch back in 2020, Fender have described the Squier Paranormal series as a line of “unconventional and unique” instruments that “combine classic features with unexpected twists.” Similar terminology could be

Electric guitars & amps

Read at Guitar World ↗

“Her soloing is wild, well thought out, and performed with ease and abandon. It reminded me of playing with Jason Becker”: Marty Friedman’s 12 favorite guitar collaborations from his Japanese variety show channel

Guitars“Her soloing is wild, well thought out, and performed with ease and abandon. It reminded me of playing with Jason Becker”: Marty Friedman’s 12 favorite guitar collaborations from his Japanese variety show channel Guitar World

“He bought it on a trip with Noel Gallagher, a day or two after they first met. Johnny said, ‘Let’s go for a sandwich. Never buy guitars on an empty stomach”: Johnny Marr’s most iconic guitars, the stories behind them – and why he’s selling them now

Guitars“He bought it on a trip with Noel Gallagher, a day or two after they first met. Johnny said, ‘Let’s go for a sandwich. Never buy guitars on an empty stomach”: Johnny Marr’s most iconic guitars, the stories behind them – and why he’s selling them now Guitar World

GuitarsFormer Custom Shop head takes aim at Fender with new firm’s S-style design Guitar World

Guitars“I remember looking at it on the floor going, ‘That can not be The Smiths' guitar’”: The Johnny Marr guitar hidden in an iconic Oasis photoshoot Guitar World

“Classical guitar is under-appreciated in heavy music. No-one would think it could hold a drop A# tuning”: Alt-rock nomad Emma Ruth Rundle on channeling Smashing Pumpkins, her nylon-string awakening, and what made her sell her beloved Gibson SG

Guitars“Classical guitar is under-appreciated in heavy music. No-one would think it could hold a drop A# tuning”: Alt-rock nomad Emma Ruth Rundle on channeling Smashing Pumpkins, her nylon-string awakening, and what made her sell her beloved Gibson SG Guitar World

“Slayer’s Kerry King saw Mustaine rip it up on this guitar, leading to him accepting the offer to join Megadeth… for three weeks”: Dave Mustaine’s life in guitars – how the Megadeth main man weaponized the Flying V

Guitars“Slayer’s Kerry King saw Mustaine rip it up on this guitar, leading to him accepting the offer to join Megadeth… for three weeks”: Dave Mustaine’s life in guitars – how the Megadeth main man weaponized the Flying V Guitar World

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