GW’s Paul Riario and Alan Chaput dive into Dean’s Z Select 24 Kahler electric, NUX’s Stageman II acoustic amp and IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube X-GEAR pedals
Looking for the best new gear to make sure this summer is the hottest yet? Look no further than Guitar World’s Summer Ultimate Gear Guide.
In this sixth and final installment, Guitar World’s Paul Riario and Alan Chaput select electric guitars, acoustic amps and cool new effect pedals that are guaranteed to keep your music sizzling.
First up? Dean’s Z Select 24 Kahler in Classic White. The spikey six-string boasts a gloss natural mahogany body with five-ply body and headstock binding, and a three-piece mahogany neck topped with a 24-fret bound ebony fingerboard.
(Image credit: Dean)
There’s also exclusive Sandblasted/Parchment Seymour Duncan TB5 and APH-1 high-output humbuckers, which supply everything from modern metal high-gain sounds to glassy cleans and warm bluesy rock tones.
Other features include Grover 18:1 tuners, black speed knobs and hardware and a dual action truss rod, as well as a Kahler Hybrid tremolo system with the added new Kahler locking nut, which removes the need for a string tree with built-in break angle to avoid any pitch shifting when locking down.
On the acoustic side of things, Paul and Alan check out the NUX Stageman II acoustic amplifier. The 80-watt offering boasts two channels, both of which are optimized for acoustic guitar and microphone inputs respectively, and provide a variety of options for gigs or studio recording.
(Image credit: Nux)
The Stageman II is equipped with NUX's latest DSP technology and features two refined speakers – a one-inch tweeter and a 6.5-inch woofer – as well as flexible outputs for both stage and recording applications.
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There’s also a built-in looper and drum, both controlled via the included dual footswitch, and the Stageman II mobile app allows you to operate your amp from your smartphone, including 12 effects (chorus, delay, tape echo, modulation, reverb and more), and eight IRs simulating legendary guitar sounds from Gibson, Martin and Taylor.
What’s more, the amp is fitted with a rechargeable large-capacity lithium battery, allowing up to 4.5 hours of outdoor performing in any locale.
(Image credit: IK Multimedia)
Finally, Paul and Alan finish strong with one of the summer’s coolest new products – IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube X-GEAR pedals. Each boutique, audiophile-grade pedal features 16 different effects, drawn from the most popular AmpliTube models and all-new reverb and delay algorithms, bringing IK’s industry-leading effects out of the computer and onto pedalboards.
What’s more, they’re accompanied by an exclusive plug-in of the exact same effects. Using the plug-ins within AmpliTube 5 – the SE version is included – users can record, tweak settings and save presets back to the hardware pedal.
The new range consists of four pedals that cover the four realms of guitar effects processing: X-DRIVE distortion; X-VIBE modulation; X-TIME delay and X-SPACE reverb.
All four X-GEAR pedals share the same audiophile hardware and bleeding-edge DSP for unsurpassed sound quality.
There’s also ultra-low noise, 24-bit/192kHz converters, an extended 5 Hz – 24 kHz frequency response and up to 123 dB dynamic range for whisper-quiet operation.
Furthermore, all four pedals include a matching X-GEAR plug-in for Mac/PC, and the X-GEAR Preset Manager lets users move presets between X-GEAR pedals and AmpliTube and easily reorganize them on the hardware pedal, where up to 300 presets can be stored.
To find out more about IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube X-GEAR pedals and all this amazing gear, check out the video above.
Since 1980, Guitar World has been the ultimate resource for guitarists. Whether you want to learn the techniques employed by your guitar heroes, read about their latest projects or simply need to know which guitar is the right one to buy, Guitar World is the place to look.
