General Interest

$399/£379, walrusaudio.com

Being on top of the world is great, but then the world moves and you fall off. Walrus Audio knows this. It’s been half a decade since its Mako Series D1 was crowned Guitar.com’s pedal of the year, and a lot has changed in that time – notably the rise of weird, glitchy, low-fidelity delay pedals. So where does that leave the king of non-weird, non-glitchy, high-fidelity delay pedals?

• READ MORE: Walrus Audio Fundamental Ambient review – is this the best budget reverb pedal on the market?

Of the four stompboxes in the Mako Series, the D1 was perhaps the one that needed a MkII version most. And here it is, with a new interface built around an LED screen… and a new emphasis on lo-fi soundscaping adventures.

Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII D1 – what is it?

First up, Walrus Audio is an Oklahoma City pedal company with an expansive product range and a cute logo. The original Mako Series was its first leap into high-end multi-mode stereo effects using SHARC digital processors, with the D1 delay leading the line – followed soon after by the R1 (reverb), M1 (modulation) and ACS1 (amp and cab simulation). The D1 had an upgrade in 2022, but don’t confuse v2 with MkII – this is a much more significant evolution of the whole line.

This new Mako generation is mostly about the interface, with the three toggle switches across the middle replaced by that two-inch LED display, which is controlled by a row of digital encoders (basically knobs without pointers) above it. This allows for a much deeper level of control, with all the advanced parameters accessible via a couple of prods and tweaks.

But there are also new models – and in the case of the D1 that means ‘grain’, an algorithm that chops up your signal and spits it out in all directions with the option of an octave up, an octave down or both. If you’ve got an itch for the glitch, here’s where you’ll find your sonic scratching stick.

The rest is as before: the top row of knobs covers delay time, repeats and mix, the right-hand footswitch is for tap tempo, and you can hit both footswitches together to move through three presets. Again there are three banks of those (now accessed from the screen), so you can store and recall nine different sounds in total – or 128 if you connect a suitable MIDI device. And one more important feature is unchanged: the little walrus logo at the bottom.

Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII D1 – in use

This was never going to be an ultra-simple device… but the display has added a layer of versatility without adding a layer of complexity, and that’s quite a feat in itself. The whole interface is clear, logical and easy to get your head around – as long as you’re not the sort of person who panics at the sight of a third knob on a fuzz box.

Here’s the key: while the Mako Series is all about presets, navigation of the main controls is no harder than it would be with a fully manual pedal. Turn the central encoder to pick a delay mode, adjust the three top knobs to get the basics how you want them, and you’re never going to be far from where you want to be.

On the default screen, the two outer encoders are also ready to be deployed right off the bat: the left one for adjusting modulation rate, the right one for BPM. Yes, this is the same as delay time, but presented in a way that allows you to sync it to a backing track. That’s smart, that is.

And to get to the other variables? Simply push down on the left encoder to cycle through the six options: modulation depth, rate and wave shape, plus age (signal degradation), tone (progressive filtering) and stereo spread. You get a few more by pushing the right encoder; these vary according to the delay mode.

Pressing the middle and left encoders together takes you to the preset banks, and the only other thing you need to know is that there are master settings – bypass mode, screen brightness and so on – accessed by pressing middle and right. And when I say “need to know”, I mean “don’t really need to know”.

Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII D1 – sounds

In terms of conventional delay sounds, there wasn’t a lot wrong with the old D1, especially after the v2 update, so it could be argued that the MkII model doesn’t have a great deal of work to do here. Sure enough, there’s nothing noticeably new about the core tones in digital, modulated, vintage, dual and reverse modes. They’re big on clarity, low on background hiss, and superbly convincing at pretty much everything they do. The reverse effect in particular is as good as I’ve heard.

But what’s really striking is how much of a difference that enhanced interface has made. Having independent control over modulation rate and depth allows this pedal to get closer to the sound of a real Deluxe Memory Man than the old one did – like, uncannily close – while those extra fine-tuning powers open up interesting new possibilities in the dual and reverse modes. It’s a shame the attack knob has been sacrificed – this was a nice way to give repeats a softer edge without making them dull – but I’ll be honest, with so many other factors to mess about with I almost didn’t notice it was gone.

And so we come to the granular delay. Your extra variables on the right encoder here are grain size, mix (between normal and messed-up repeats) and pitch, and this latter includes five options: standard, octave up, octave down, reverse (with no pitch-shift) and random (bouncing between up and down octaves). It might have been nice to see one or two other intervals on offer – fifths are always a giggle – but what really matters is that the sounds are all good, and all usable.

The obvious reference point here is Walrus’s own Fable ‘granular soundscape generator’ – but while that pedal’s all-mono algorithms have a tendency to get somewhat mushy, there’s none of that going on with the MkII D1. Just try the octave up effect running into two amps with stereo spread at maximum – it’s fluttery, skittery, ear-bewitching magic.

Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII D1 – should I buy one?

It’s hard to see how this pedal could be any better in terms of the quality and tweakability of its effects – most notably the faux-analogue and reverse delays, and most rewardingly when used in stereo – but you could argue that what really sets it apart from most rivals is that it packs all of those sounds into a genuinely compact enclosure.

And while it can’t match a dedicated glitch machine when it comes to the eccentric stuff, the new grain mode adds an extra dimension of real substance. I’d love to hear that taken further with more manipulation options – something for a future firmware update?

Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII D1 alternatives

If you’re after a multi-mode all-rounder, the D1’s main rivals include the Strymon TimeLine ($449/£399), Source Audio Nemesis ($329/£299) and Boss DD-500 ($406.99/£379). But if you just want the strange and unearthly stuff, a better starting point might be the Pladask Elektrisk Baklengs ($255), Red Panda Particle 2 ($329) or Chase Bliss Audio Habit ($399).

The post Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII D1 review – the do-it-all high-fidelity delay pedal gets glitchy appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Are you looking for a flexible amp modeler for the stage, studio, or home? In this in-depth demo, PG contributor Tom Butwin takes you through gigging, practicing, and recording with two compelling options: the touchscreen-powered Hotone Ampero II and the tactile, amp-style Blackstar AMPED 3.

Hotone Ampero II Amp Modeler and Effects Processor Pedal

Blackstar Dept. 10 AMPED 3 100-watt Guitar Amplifier Pedal

Following his historic three-night stand at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom earlier this year — hailed by BILLBOARD as “a religious experience” and moving NPR to rave “Paul McCartney has so much swag it’s ridiculous” — Paul McCartney and his acclaimed Got Back Tour will make their wildly anticipated return to North America this fall.

Got Back’s 2025 run of 19 newly announced dates marks Paul’s first extensive series of shows across the US and Canada since 2022. The tour kicks off September 29th with Paul’s Greater Palm Springs area live debut at Acrisure Arena and runs through to a November 24-25th finale at the United Center in Chicago. Got Back 2025 will feature Paul’s long-awaited return to Las Vegas, Denver, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Tulsa, New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Montreal, and Hamilton – plus a few cities that will be hosting their first-ever Paul McCartney concerts, Albuquerque and the aforementioned Greater Palm Springs area.

General on sale for these Got Back tour dates will begin July 18th at 10am local time. For further information, pre-sales etc., check paulmccartneygotback.com.

Irrefutably one of the most successful and influential singer-songwriters and performers of all time, McCartney’s concerts bring to life the most beloved catalogue in music. With songs like “Hey Jude,” “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” “Let It Be” and so many more, the Paul McCartney live experience is everything any music lover could ever want from a rock show and more: hours of the greatest moments from the last 60 years of music – dozens of songs from Paul’s solo, Wings and of course Beatles songbooks that have formed the soundtracks of our lives.

Paul McCartney launched his Got Back tour in 2022 with16 sold out shows across the US that led up to his history-making set at Glastonbury in June 2022. In 2023 Paul performed 18 shows as Got Back rocked through Australia, Mexico and Brazil. In 2024, Paul amazed capacity crowds at more than 20 dates spanning from South America and Mexico to the UK and Europe.

Paul and his band have performed in an unparalleled range of venues and locations worldwide: From outside the Colosseum in Rome, Moscow’s Red Square, Buckingham Palace, The White House and a free show in Mexico for over 400,000 people to the last ever show at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park where The Beatles played their final concert in 1966, a 2016 week in the California desert that included two headline sets at the historic Desert Trip festival and a jam-packed club gig for a few hundred lucky fans at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, two Glastonbury Festival headline slots, rocking the Bowery in New York City for a week of spontaneous club shows, and even one performance broadcast live into Space!

Featuring Paul’s longtime band – Paul “Wix” Wickens (keyboards), Brian Ray (bass/guitar), Rusty Anderson (guitar) and Abe Laboriel Jr (drums) – and constantly upgraded state of the art audio and video technology that ensures an unforgettable experience from every seat in the house, a Paul McCartney concert is never anything short of life-changing. The Got Back Tour also features the Hot City Horns — Mike Davis (trumpet), Kenji Fenton (saxes) and Paul Burton (trombone) — who first joined Paul in 2018 to perform at Grand Central Station ahead of embarking on the Freshen Up World Tour in the same year.

PAUL McCARTNEY – GOT BACK 2025

September 29 — Palm Desert, CA — Acrisure Arena
October 4 – Las Vegas, NV — Allegiant Stadium
October 7 – Albuquerque, NM — Isleta Amphitheater
October 11 – Denver, CO — Coors Field
October 14 – Des Moines, IA — Casey’s Center
October 17 – Minneapolis, MN — U.S. Bank Stadium
October 22 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
October 29 – New Orleans, LA — Smoothie King Center
November 2 – Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
November 3 – Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
November 6 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle
November 8 – Columbus, OH — Nationwide Arena
November 11 – Pittsburgh, PA — PPG Paints Arena
November 14 – Buffalo, NY — KeyBank Center
November 17 – Montreal, QC — Bell Centre
November 18 – Montreal, QC — Bell Centre
November 21 – Hamilton, ON – TD Coliseum
November 24 – Chicago, IL — United Center
November 25 – Chicago, IL — United Center

Following his historic three-night stand at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom earlier this year — hailed by BILLBOARD as “a religious experience” and moving NPR to rave “Paul McCartney has so much swag it’s ridiculous” — Paul McCartney and his acclaimed Got Back Tour will make their wildly anticipated return to North America this fall.

Got Back’s 2025 run of 19 newly announced dates marks Paul’s first extensive series of shows across the US and Canada since 2022. The tour kicks off September 29th with Paul’s Greater Palm Springs area live debut at Acrisure Arena and runs through to a November 24-25th finale at the United Center in Chicago. Got Back 2025 will feature Paul’s long-awaited return to Las Vegas, Denver, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Tulsa, New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Montreal, and Hamilton – plus a few cities that will be hosting their first-ever Paul McCartney concerts, Albuquerque and the aforementioned Greater Palm Springs area.

General on sale for these Got Back tour dates will begin July 18th at 10am local time. For further information, pre-sales etc., check paulmccartneygotback.com.

Irrefutably one of the most successful and influential singer-songwriters and performers of all time, McCartney’s concerts bring to life the most beloved catalogue in music. With songs like “Hey Jude,” “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” “Let It Be” and so many more, the Paul McCartney live experience is everything any music lover could ever want from a rock show and more: hours of the greatest moments from the last 60 years of music – dozens of songs from Paul’s solo, Wings and of course Beatles songbooks that have formed the soundtracks of our lives.

Paul McCartney launched his Got Back tour in 2022 with16 sold out shows across the US that led up to his history-making set at Glastonbury in June 2022. In 2023 Paul performed 18 shows as Got Back rocked through Australia, Mexico and Brazil. In 2024, Paul amazed capacity crowds at more than 20 dates spanning from South America and Mexico to the UK and Europe.

Paul and his band have performed in an unparalleled range of venues and locations worldwide: From outside the Colosseum in Rome, Moscow’s Red Square, Buckingham Palace, The White House and a free show in Mexico for over 400,000 people to the last ever show at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park where The Beatles played their final concert in 1966, a 2016 week in the California desert that included two headline sets at the historic Desert Trip festival and a jam-packed club gig for a few hundred lucky fans at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, two Glastonbury Festival headline slots, rocking the Bowery in New York City for a week of spontaneous club shows, and even one performance broadcast live into Space!

Featuring Paul’s longtime band – Paul “Wix” Wickens (keyboards), Brian Ray (bass/guitar), Rusty Anderson (guitar) and Abe Laboriel Jr (drums) – and constantly upgraded state of the art audio and video technology that ensures an unforgettable experience from every seat in the house, a Paul McCartney concert is never anything short of life-changing. The Got Back Tour also features the Hot City Horns — Mike Davis (trumpet), Kenji Fenton (saxes) and Paul Burton (trombone) — who first joined Paul in 2018 to perform at Grand Central Station ahead of embarking on the Freshen Up World Tour in the same year.

PAUL McCARTNEY – GOT BACK 2025

September 29 — Palm Desert, CA — Acrisure Arena
October 4 – Las Vegas, NV — Allegiant Stadium
October 7 – Albuquerque, NM — Isleta Amphitheater
October 11 – Denver, CO — Coors Field
October 14 – Des Moines, IA — Casey’s Center
October 17 – Minneapolis, MN — U.S. Bank Stadium
October 22 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
October 29 – New Orleans, LA — Smoothie King Center
November 2 – Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
November 3 – Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
November 6 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle
November 8 – Columbus, OH — Nationwide Arena
November 11 – Pittsburgh, PA — PPG Paints Arena
November 14 – Buffalo, NY — KeyBank Center
November 17 – Montreal, QC — Bell Centre
November 18 – Montreal, QC — Bell Centre
November 21 – Hamilton, ON – TD Coliseum
November 24 – Chicago, IL — United Center
November 25 – Chicago, IL — United Center

This Fujigen-built import required emergency surgery after an unfortunate break.

Have you ever broken a bone? Strange question, I know, but my son, on the second day of football practice, broke his big toe. They were doing “bear crawls” on all fours when his left sneaker flew off and his big toe drove into the gym floor. It’s such a bummer since he loves sports, and he’s going to be recovering for most of the summer. But as we were sitting in the ER, it occurred to me that I’ve never broken a bone. I’ve had torn ACLs and other knee issues from playing sports, but never busted a bone. My mom used to say that if you could separate me in half, I would be two normal-sized people! Maybe my bones were built to hold two people or maybe I’ve been lucky, especially given how many contact sports I played into my 20s.

It all made me think of vintage-style guitar-neck profiles. If you’ve ever held or played a guitar from the ’40s, ’50s, or early ’60s, you know that there was great variation in neck depth and shape in those days. Back then you’d find wide fretboards and deep-V shapes—all sorts of interesting feels, in comparison to the standard-sized necks we experience today. Even if you want a guitar with a so-called ’50s profile, it’s still not often a true representation. When you examine the early import guitars, especially from Japan, you’ll see a wide variation that can give rise to nice little surprises if you’re looking for something different.

Quite often, the wood factories that were churning out guitars back in the day were simply converted furniture plants. They knew how to build stuff right. I know, because my literal superpower is breaking stuff, and I’ve never broken a single Japanese import neck on any guitar I serviced, except for the guitar presented here.

“The VN-4 hails from around 1964 and was among the first electric guitars made by the two Japanese factories.”

Many of these early imports had weak and ineffective truss rods, or even no truss rods at all. Rather, the neck thickness and wood quality provided sufficient strength. Adjustability? Well, once you understand neck angle, a few shims in the neck pocket can get you rockin’. All this stuff I learned from my favorite guitar tech, Dave D’Amelio. He showed me most of what I know about neck issues, but I always lacked his finesse. And while trying to adjust the neck on this Lindell VN-4, the headstock just snapped off, a truly awful feeling. (Imagine that happening to a vintage Les Paul!) Maybe it was because these old Fujigen-made guitars employed a 27" scale on any model that used four pickups. Why? Because the designers thought that a longer neck with four pickups simply looked more pleasing. (That’s information told to me from the actual designers.)

This Lindell-badged guitar had its wood made at the Matsumoku factory in Matsumoto City. Then the guitar was finished at the Fujigen factory, which was also in Matsumoto. Switches galore and pickups that carry a punch, the VN-4 hails from around 1964 and was among the first electric guitars made by the two Japanese factories. These “clam-shell” tremolo units are kinda awful, but I really like the raised metal pickguards, which help cut down on noise. The plates that house the electronics (complete with on/off for each pickup and two roller volumes) act as a great ground for everything and I sometimes wonder why the idea fell out of favor. I mean, raised pickguards like these minimize wood removal. You can use a standard guitar body and simply attach any pickup and electronics configurations. Then again, I have weird tastes, so…

Right now I have a few of these sitting around in my basement studio. I would always save parts and guitar bits and simply reuse everything to create something new, which I believe every player should try. I think of Eddie Van Halen and Brian May and their handiwork. My son has a six-week recovery ahead, and I was thinking about projects for us. Maybe I’ll enlist him as an apprentice in my guitar laboratory. At least it’s safer than football!

Proper bus routing and submixing techniques will increase your efficiency in the studio and raise your DAW’s tracking power.

Nothing can make you sweat quicker than having computer-related issues when tracking an artist or a band: millisecond delays in headphone mixes, plugins lagging, glitchy performance from your DAW. Even if you’re tracking only yourself, it is frustrating and breaks your creative flow. For this Dojo, I want to give you some tips for staying in the flow and keeping your cool.

Harnessing the Power of Buses and Submixes.

For the modern guitarist venturing into home recording, your computer’s power and your DAW can be both a blessing or a bottleneck. As creative possibilities expand, so does the strain on your computer’s CPU. Fortunately, one of the most powerful tools for optimizing your recording workflow and CPU usage comes from the tried-and-true, old-school, analog domain: proper bus routing and submixing techniques.

Efficient Signal Flow
In the world of digital recording, a bus is essentially a virtual pathway that allows multiple audio tracks to be routed to a single auxiliary (aux) track. This aux track can then be processed with effects like reverb, delay, EQ, or compression, applying the same settings to all routed tracks simultaneously. For guitarists, this is particularly useful when layering rhythm tracks, harmonies, or ambient textures that all benefit from similar effects.

Why Use Buses?

1. CPU Efficiency: Instead of inserting the same reverb plugin on five different guitar tracks, route all of them to a bus with a single reverb instance.
2. Consistent Sound: Buses help glue multiple guitar tracks together, ensuring a cohesive tone.
3. Simplified Mixing: Adjusting levels or automation on a single bus affects all associated tracks, saving time and effort.

Submixes: Organizing Your Sonic Palette
Submixes are essentially buses with a specific organizational role. In larger sessions, creating submixes for instrument families (e.g., drums, guitars, vocals) helps maintain clarity and control. For home-recording guitarists, a common approach is to create submixes for:

• Clean guitars
• Overdriven/distorted guitars
• Ambient or effects-heavy guitars

Each submix can have tailored processing chains appropriate to the tone and role of those particular guitar parts. For instance, you might apply light compression and stereo widening on clean guitars, while distorted parts could benefit from dynamic EQ and multiband compression.

“Another great trick if you’re running low on CPU power with a large track count is to bounce or ‘render in place’ any finalized parts.”

Practical Setup Example

• three rhythm guitar tracks (L, R, center)
• two lead parts with delay
• one ambient swell track

Then set up three stereo buses and route rhythm guitars (three tracks) into stereo bus one, leads (two tracks) into stereo bus two, and finally the ambient guitar to a more generic stereo bus that will be used by other tracks in your mix and to bring some cohesion.

Lightening the CPU Load
Modern plugins can be CPU-intensive, especially convolution reverbs, amp simulators, or complex modulation effects. Routing similar instruments through buses allows you to:

• Use one amp sim plugin on a bus during the writing/mixing phase
• Print or freeze tracks with final effects before the mastering stage
• Automate bus bypassing when a group isn’t active in a section to reduce processing

Another great trick if you’re running low on CPU power with a large track count is to bounce or “render in place” any finalized parts. Once you’re happy with a guitar tone, turn it into a static audio file, removing the need for real-time plugin processing.

Classic Techniques
Finally, in classic pop production—think the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, or Michael Jackson—engineers relied on submixes even in the analog domain. Drums, guitars, vocals, and backing vocals were often premixed to stereo stems to facilitate real-time mixing without modern automation.

Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound famously involved routing dozens of instrumental layers into a single bus and feeding that into a reverb chamber. The result was a lush, unified soundscape. This same idea applies today: Guitar tracks layered for harmonic richness can be routed into a reverb bus to achieve that enveloping texture.

Smart Routing, Better Results
Creating buses and submixes may seem like advanced engineering, but it’s simply smart organization. For the home-recording guitarist, this practice not only streamlines workflow but also ensures a more professional-sounding mix. By mimicking tried-and-true studio practices as well as optimizing for CPU load, you can focus less on troubleshooting and more on making music.

So, whether you're recording your next EP or collaborating online, harness the power of bus routing to bring clarity, control, and character to your guitar tracks. Until next month, namaste.

Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning was a triumphant success, with a pantheon of metal legends gathering at Villa Park to pay one last tribute to the Brummie legends who spawned the genre to which they owe everything.

The day saw performances from the likes of Alice In Chains, Gojira, Mastodon and Lamb of God, with sets from heavy metal A-listers later on including Metallica, Pantera and Slayer.

• READ MORE: “F**k off you’re not marrying my daughter”: Ozzy Osbourne’s hilarious reaction when Slipknot’s Sid Wilson proposed to his daughter Kelly during Black Sabbath’s final show

And for those of us guitar nerds out there – which you may very well be, reading this website – the day saw the guitar legends present showcasing a number of six-string gems, including Kirk Hammett, who among his usual rotating lineup of electric guitars, played a guitar built by Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian.

We’ve known about the Metallica guitarist’s close relationship with Gibson’s head honcho for some time – the two have worked together on several signature releases, including the “Greeny” 1959 Les Paul Standard. 

So it’s perhaps no surprise that the CEO4 – the one of a kind Gibson SG built by Cesar Gueikian himself – found its way into Hammett’s hands during Back to the Beginning.

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A post shared by Cesar (Gibson) (@gueikian)

Perhaps we should have seen this coming though, given Gueikian’s Instagram post on 24 May, in which he wrote: “CEO4 is finished! It’s now with one of my Hermanos who will be playing it on stage in July at a special show!”

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A post shared by Cesar (Gibson) (@gueikian)

The silver SG only made an appearance for one of Metallica’s six songs on the night – a cover of Sabbath’s Hole in the Sky, from 1975’s Sabotage. The thrash legends’ set was rounded out by Creeping Death, For Whom the Bell Tolls, a cover of Sabbath’s Johnny Blade, Battery and Master of Puppets.

And the CEO4 is set to land in the hands of one lucky guitarist out there, as it’s headed to auction some time later this year, according to Gibson. 

Given its provenance – and the elite hands and events through which it has passed – we expect it to command a pretty high sale price. Proceeds from the sale will go to charity via Gibson Gives, though, so this is certainly a good thing.

The exact date of said auction is yet to be determined, but we’ll endeavour to keep you in the loop as we know more.

Back to the Beginning also highlighted Gibson’s commitment to charitable causes, as two Gibson SGs – one in Ebony and another in Cherry Red – signed by Tony Iommi also went up for auction.

The Ebony model ended up with 51 bids and sold for £14,750, while the Cherry Red one had 29 bids and sold for £20,666. We’re sure the final bidder on that one placed those final three numbers on purpose.

All proceeds from both sales went to three charities chosen by Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath for the event: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorns Children’s Hospice.

According to Tom Morello – who served as the events musical director – Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning raised a staggering £140 million for charity. Not bad stats at all for a band who gave birth to an entire genre, too…

The post Kirk Hammett used a guitar made by Gibson’s CEO for Metallica’s Black Sabbath farewell performance – and it’s heading to auction appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

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Snark ST-8 HPT High-precision Guitar and Bass Clip-on Tuner

With upgraded processing power, anechoic shielding, and a vibration sensor, the ST-8 HPT high-precision clip-on tuner takes Snark’s trusted form factor to the next level. These upgrades bring a new standard of accuracy, driven by refined software that creates an ultra-tight, in-tune window for precise tuning every time. The patented anechoic shield blocks ambient noise, isolating your instrument from room interference for cleaner readings. Meanwhile, pitch calibration — defaulted to A440Hz — allows you to toggle between multiple tuning references. Fully wireless and rechargeable, HPT tuners are a go-to accessory among Sweetwater performing musicians, especially considering their bright, high-visibility LCD. With the ST-8 HPT, keeping your instrument perfectly tuned has never been easier or more reliable.

In what might have been the biggest breaking news to us of the year so far, 50-year-old Jack White has never owned a cell phone – until now.

How an American can go five decades without owning a cell phone – particularly in the digital-, internet-first landscape of the last couple of decades – beggars belief, quite frankly.

• READ MORE: “I got away with murder!”: Is Mark Knopfler a ‘guitar hero’? He certainly doesn’t think so

But we’re all so glued to our phones that the White Stripes man was probably doing himself a favour.

In a new post on Instagram, White reveals that his shiny new iPhone was a present from his wife Olivia Jean.

“Well, y’all, it’s either all over for me now or just the beginning,” he writes. “I am now the reluctant owner of a cellular telephone for the first time in my life! A lovely 50th birthday present courtesy of my gorgeous and thoughtful wife Mrs. Olivia Jean.

“I’ve been saying that my days were numbered for years: can’t listen to my music in my car, can’t park at a parking lot by myself because of QR codes, etc.

“And I guess Olivia decided to be kind and put me (and all my loved ones) out of my misery! I thought if I could make it to 50 years old at least without ever having one that I could be proud of myself, and I am. Can’t wait to talk to you all soon. My phone number is the square root of all of our combined social interaction x Pi.”

So there you have it – get ready to hear from Jack White on social media a lot more now that he’ll have phone-ready access to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and wherever else artists share their daily musings. We can’t wait to see what he has in store…

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A post shared by Jack White (@officialjackwhite)

Elsewhere, Jack White recently shared that he was looking for the Gibson ES-120T he sold as a teenager.

Sharing the news on Instagram – how he posted that without a phone raises more questions than it answers, but let’s gloss over that – the guitarist shared his regret at selling the six-string many years ago, launching an appeal for anyone with information regarding its whereabouts to come forward.

The post Jack White has gone 50 years without ever owning a cell phone – until now appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.