Tone

Tweaking guitar pickup configurations from maker presets can involve breaking out the soldering iron and lots of experimentation. The HyperSwitch uses the power of a smartphone and a Bluetooth connection to simplify the process.

Some 20 years ago, IK Multimedia gathered a complete guitar rig into a software platform and named it AmpliTube. After infusing it with AI power last year, the company has now launched an all-you-can-eat tone box called the ToneX Pedal.

Paul Reed Smith Guitars has tapped into the Woodstock spirit for two new rig additions to its HXDA family, the PRS HX100 and HX50 amplifiers, which are inspired by a newly documented Jimi Hendrix touring amp circuit.

IK Multimedia's Axe I/O guitar interface now has a baby brother. The Solo is a cheaper, more compact bus-powered version of its impressive sibling, with two inputs and three outputs, instrument tone shaping and music production software bundled in.

IK Multimedia has drawn key tone-shaping features from its mighty Axe I/O instrument interface and put them into the Z-Tone Buffer Boost preamp pedal for gigging and Z-Tone DI active box for studio work.

Back in 2008, Tolgahan Çoğulu developed a guitar that allowed the player to make microtonal adjustments across the whole of the neck. And now he's done it again, this time using Lego and a 3D printer.

There can be a huge difference in the tone of an acoustic guitar when played through an amp via a pickup. LR Baggs is looking to narrow the gap with the help of a floor stomp and a smartphone app.

R&M Tone Technology has developed a new line of patented active guitar cables to help players inject some life into their guitar sound. Each PowerWire cable comes with a built-in preamp that boosts the signal direct from the pickups instead of at a pedalboard or amp.

Toggling a pickup selector mid-song can dramatically change the sound of an electric guitar, but available tones can be fairly limited. The Custom Collection 50 Deluxe offers multiple tone options – selected by combining the 4-way blade switch positions with push/pull volume and tone knobs.

Recording guitarists who want to fatten up a guitar sound can record multiple identical riffs and layer them up to give richer tones. In a live setting, such things are not so easy. Denmark's TC Electronic is promising authentic monster tones every time from its Mimiq Doubler stomp.

​Tweaking your tone by changing the pickups on your six-string studio workhorse isn't the easiest of tasks and can be a real time sink. Australia's Pratley Guitars has designed a quick change system that could have you rocking new pickups in as little as 30 seconds, without removing any strings.

A few years ago, Korg released a nifty practice tool called the TM-50 that combined tuner and metronome in one unit, allowing musicians to keep time and stay in tune. Now the company has added the ability to analyze and improve tone and technique with the release of the TM-50TR.