A good jazz hi-hat gives you a dark, warm, buttery wash with a soft yet defined chick. That single sentence is the whole brief, and it is exactly how most drummers describe the hats they keep on the stand for years. The cymbals are thin-to-medium-thin bronze, usually 13, 14 or 15 inches, mounted a fraction … Read more
The Evans RealFeel 12 inch double-sided pad is the best drum practice pad for beginners because it gives you a realistic gum rubber surface for stick rebound work, a second firmer side for quieter endurance playing, and a weighted base that stays put on a table or a lap. If you want one complete starter … Read more
Mesh heads are the single biggest jump in feel you can make when buying an electronic drum kit, and the best electronic drum sets with mesh heads in fall into three clear groups. The Donner DED-200 is the best overall pick for most beginners. The Alesis Nitro Max wins on sound library and connectivity. The … Read more
Ask anyone who shops for a first electronic drum kit and they will tell you the same thing: the good-sounding kits all cost more than you expected. That was true a decade ago. It is much less true now, and the reason is mesh heads. The best electronic drum sets under 1000 dollars in ship … Read more
A cable has ended more sets than any bad amp. You step forward for the last chorus, the cable catches the mic stand, and the whole band hears a thump followed by nothing. Even when nothing goes wrong, that coiled loop swinging between your legs is a constant reminder that you are tethered. Wireless guitar … Read more
If you only buy one delay pedal for ambient guitar, the BOSS DD-8 Digital Delay is the pick. It reaches 10 seconds of delay time, carries a shimmer mode and a built-in 40-second looper, and holds a 4.7 average rating across 622 reviews. The MXR Carbon Copy is the warmer bucket-brigade option if you want … Read more
Short answer: the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver is the best overdrive pedal for blues for most players, because it breaks up the way a tube amp breaks up and cleans up when you roll the guitar volume back. If your amp is already dirty at practice volume, or you play a Strat or Telecaster that … Read more
The best guitar pedalboards with power supplies solve one problem better than anything else in a rig: cable spaghetti. A board with a built-in supply turns eight power leads into one, and every pedal you add gets a jack waiting for it instead of a hunt for a free outlet on the strip behind the … Read more
Most people shopping for the best tube amps for home practice are not really chasing tone. They are chasing a number on a wall: how loud the amp can get before somebody in the next room starts knocking. That constraint drives every decision in this guide, because a tube amp that has to be turned … Read more
The best bird feeder for most yards is the Brome Squirrel Buster Standard. Its weight-sensitive perches close the moment an adult squirrel lands on them, it holds 1.3 lb of seed, and it has been in production long enough that replacement parts and lifetime support still exist. If squirrels are not your problem, a platform … Read more