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XLR MAG

Signal of the week

Electric guitars & amps · 90 stories, +45 vs last week

Electric guitars & amps: 90 stories in seven days, +45 on the week before.

GearThe holy grail of hollowbody archtops returns with the Gibson Custom 1957 L-5 CES Reissue Mixdown

ScenesToneX joins the Needle In The Hay 2026 prize pool Happy Mag

Latest

DJ MagLive & DJListen to Mia Koden’s new Ilian Tape EP, ‘Decode Vol.2’ The UK DJ and producer's second EP for the Munich-based label

DJ MagLive & DJJustice compose GTA 6 original score Check out the official launch trailer for the game now

DJ MagLive & DJSix emerging artists you need to hear: October 2026 The latest and greatest DJs and producers rising to the top this month. From deep and sensual house music and fiery fusions of baile funk, dubstep and grime, to politically-charged experimental…

MixdownGearThe holy grail of hollowbody archtops returns with the Gibson Custom 1957 L-5 CES Reissue Gibson Custom has returned the L-5 to its core lineup with the 1957 L-5 CES Reissue, a recreation of one of the most celebrated archtop guitars ever made. Catch up on all the latest news here.

GearnewsGearSim’N Tonic Nome II & U-SYNC 2.0: Lock Your DAW and Hardware to a MIDI Clock Sim’N Tonic has updated its U-SYNC plugin to version 2.0, adding latency auto-detect, presets, support for more DAWs and more.

Mixmag AsiaAsiaDaft Punk’s Interstella 5555 Guitarship submitted as LEGO set idea The 686-piece model of the Flying V-shaped ship from 'Digital Love' comes with minifigures of The Crescendolls

Mixmag AsiaAsiaBlack music events are more likely to be “cancelled, shut down or restricted” than white-run events Black and South Asian-centred events in London were found to “face deep systematic and institutional barriers” by a new study

Magnetic MagazineLive & DJTwisted-Electrons FLEXfm Brings FM Synthesis Into a New Groovebox I’ve always been interested in grooveboxes that let you start with something relatively simple and gradually work your way toward an actual piece of music without having to immediately jump back into…

MixdownGearIn Focus: Fender California Deluxe Series Recently, Fender’s California line has garnered much attention amongst acoustic guitar aficionados. The combination of 1970s aesthetic and modern appointments owes more to Fender’s electric heritage…

Ultimate GuitarGuitarsFrank Zappa Relied On Bends, Sustained Notes, And Phrasing Over Pure Speed In 'Black Napkins': Why 'Zoot Allures' Is Essential For Hearing Him As A Rock Guitarist First [News] Features : And finding inspiration in the oddest of places: "Sliced turkey roll with the f**king preservatives just gleaming off of it, and this beat-up cranberry material."

Attack MagazineGearWho’s Buying All These Vibe-Coded Plugins? Vibe-coded plugins are everywhere but does that mean that they’re actually taking over the market? We look at the trend and speak with two developers working with AI as part of their process.

Magnetic MagazineLive & DJGooseberry’s “Gnash” Video Rejects The Content Playbook I spend a lot of time thinking about how artists can get more attention on their music, and I’ll be the first to admit that some of the advice out there is getting pretty ridiculous.

On the calendar

· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

On view

This week, from that corner the newest stories from the corner of the industry you picked

The wire their own posts, translated

How records get made in 2026 from the industry's own reports

Sources

Fetched every three hours, linked to the original

About

Three pins, and nearly every signal in this business passes through them.

The magazine is named after the cable: the microphone in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX run that fires the lights. Studio, stage and rig share the same cable. Most magazines pick one of the three. This one covers all of it, because the people we read do too — the engineer mixing a record on Tuesday is on front of house by Saturday.

Around a hundred and sixty sources, in English, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Italian: makers and their release notes, reviewers who put a hand on the thing, studios and touring crews, the producers and collectives surfacing this month and the scenes they came out of. Synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lighting. What the trade is talking about is counted and plotted. The editor's letter has just started; it will find its rhythm.

For each story: a headline, a short excerpt, one picture and the link out. We never reprint the article, and the picture belongs to the maker or the photographer. A German review appears in German and a Japanese one in Japanese, as the writer published it; the link goes to the original.

Nothing is sold on this site. When a link leads to a shop, it is the maker's shop, not ours.