Three weekends in a row of beautiful weather must mean summer is here. We hope you're all enjoying it! Here's what you have to look forward to on your next visit to Parkway while you're out and about.
Taylor have relaunched their 700 series and narrowed it down to two, gorgeous, Koa models - The 724ce, and 722ce. We wrote up a full deep-dive on what you can expect from the series which you can read right here: Koa 700 Series Blog.
The Gibson Lzzy Hale Signature Explorerbird is now in stock! This guitar is killer. If you're an oldschool Gibson fan, you'll love the '70s inspired humbuckers. If you're a modernist, the eye-catching body shape, gold hardware, and Cardinal Red finish may be right up your alley. Whichever kind of Gibson you love, I think we can all agree that this one stands out as a true original, just like Lzzy.
Of course no badass electric guitar or bass is complete without a great-sounding amp. The new Boss Katana Bass amps have started to flow in! We currently have both models, the 110 and 210 combo, in stock. If you're a vintage bass tone fanatic, you'll want to check out this '70s Sound City Bass 150 Head. It sounds great on guitar, too! Speaking of guitar, the Twin Sister Combo from Friedman is now here! If you love the Dirty Shirley, but you find it's not quite enough for you, then this one is for you as the Twin Sister pairs two Dirty Shirleys together with two highly-sculptable channels. It's a certified ripper.
If you're the type of player that prefers their amp sounds to come from their pedalboard, Universal Audio have dropped a series of pedals just for you. The Ruby '63 Top-Boost Amplifier seeks to replicate classic British valve amps. It features built-in amp vibrato, too! If classic American tweed amps are more your flavor, the Woodrow '55 Instrument Amplifier is what you're after. Whether you're looking for smooth cleans, or grungy dirt, it's there for you. UA have capped off the series with the Dream '65 Reverb Amplifier, a stompbox that aims to faithfully replicate the classic Fender Deluxe Reverb. Of course, they've included the amp's famous built-in reverb and vibrato. Each of these pedals comes with excellent speaker emulations, but you can download UA's UAFX Control app to customize them even further!
No trip to Parkway is complete without heading upstairs. Let's take a look at what's new in the Pro-Audio and Drum departments.
Modular synth wizards Qu-Bit have released their newest module, Aurora. It's a true-stereo spectral reverb, kind of. Aurora is built on top of a unique phase vocoder audio engine which separates your input signal's time and pitch. The result is anything from shimmery verbs, metallic deconstructions, endless whale songs, or straight up sounds you've never heard before. It's a tool that begs you to discover and explore and it sounds damn good. Aurora has been flying out of here with a pretty quick pace, but never fear, we have more on the way if you miss this first batch.
If straight-ahead synthesis is more your vibe, Roland have released the JD-08 Boutique Sound Module. The Roland JD-800 was one of the most sought after synths of the '90s with a distinct sound and workflow. The JD-08 expertly replicates those vintage features and adds a ton of modern embellishments including expanded polyphony, a two-part polyphonic sequencer, loads of new presets with 256 memory slots for your own sound explorations, MIDI I/O through USB-C or full-size interface, an external clock-input for syncing with your Eurorack rig or other hardware synths, and more. At $399, this entry into the Roland Boutique line is a lot of bang for the buck.
The drum department has seen a lot of great, high-end, snare drums come into inventory. We've got options from DW, Ludwig, Rogers, and PDP to name a few. Maybe the coolest addition to the snare department this week, though, is a Tama S.L.P. Dynamic Bronze snare signed by Animals As Leaders drummer Matt Gartska. Not only is it an excellent sounding snare, but a pretty cool collector's piece.
I'd like to close the week out with an honorable mention. Last Monday, we covered a special set of pedals from Electric Love Pedals. To recap, this is a hand-built trio of pedals consisting of Fuzz, Drive, and Delay. The profit from every sale goes directly to funding cancer research. To learn the full story, and how you can get involved, check out that blog post here: Electric Love Pedals Blog.
That does it for this week! We'll be back next Sunday with a fresh batch of gear. Until then, enjoy the warm summer air, see some friends, and have a wonderful week. As always, thanks for hanging!
-Buddy