As this is principally a Guitar Pedal blog, I only feature Guitar articles fairly rarely here - and when they feature something particularly special. And in recent weeks I’ve been really vowed by the Emerald Guitars Virtuo Hybrid Model.

This not only combines Acoustic, Piezo and Electric playback in a single guitar, but also gives you a 13-pin MIDI output - which allows you to control Roland and Boss guitar synthesizer pedals - which combination has to be the most potent of any guitars made...

Let me start by stating that I’m not really a fan of entirely acoustic guitars - particularly those cumbersome traditional-shaped ones. I must also say that I was disappointed with the look of PRS’s recent acoustic range - especially as everything else that PRS produces is so aesthetically refined. I see electric acoustic guitars as quite a different beast - some are really just hollow-body electrics with slightly different pickups. There are all manner of cool and modern guitars ...

If you are in the market for an electric guitar, there are actually just 3 brands which together still totally dominate and skew the entire marketplace. And while the birthplace of the modern guitar (USA) has become more open-minded towards brands from other points of origination. The UK is still very much overly skewed toward just a handful of brands. I’ve just completed watching the highlights of the BBC Big Day Out event in Hull, and the dominance of Fender, Gibson and Marshall is ...