Jimmy

Finding the best electric pianos for the money in is harder than it looks. After our team spent six weeks testing eight models side by side in our home studio, we found that “value” means something different for every player. A beginner needs reliable key action and lesson-friendly features, while an intermediate player cares more … Read more

I still remember the first time I tried to record my Martin acoustic in my bedroom closet. I propped up a cheap dynamic mic, hit record, and played what I thought was a beautiful fingerstyle passage. What came back sounded like a kazoo trapped inside a dumpster. The strings buzzed, the room rang, and the … Read more

Choosing the best music production software for PC can feel like standing in front of a wall of mixers with no instruction manual. I have spent the last three months bouncing projects between DAWs, recording vocals, sequencing patterns, and freezing tracks until my CPU begged for mercy, all to figure out which software actually delivers … Read more

Jazz guitar lives and dies by tone. The clean, warm, slightly compressed voice of an archtop through a valve amp is the foundation, but a few well-chosen pedals can add dimension without destroying that core character. After spending years gigging with hollow-body and semi-hollow guitars in smoky clubs and on festival stages, our team has … Read more

When I started woodworking a few years back, my first big purchase was a band saw, and I made every rookie mistake in the book. I bought something too small, struggled with blade drift, and spent a weekend wondering why my cuts wandered. After testing dozens of machines alongside our workshop team, I can confidently … Read more

A DJ controller for a laptop is the most cost-effective way to learn to mix, gig at bars and weddings, or livestream a set. You plug the controller into your laptop over USB-C (or Bluetooth on a few), open your DJ software – rekordbox, Serato DJ, Engine DJ, or djay Pro AI – and you … Read more

I spent three months A/B-ing 8 different pickup sets across the same Mexican Strat to find the best guitar pickups for stratocaster players in . The stock pickups on most MIM and entry-level American Strats sound flat and lifeless compared to what a quality set delivers, so the upgrade is worth it. After more than … Read more

Short-scale guitars and slim-neck full-size models make learning easier when your hands are small, your fingers are short, or you’re buying for a child. We spent six weeks testing ten beginner electric guitars for small hands with three petite adult testers and two kids (ages 8 and 11), measuring scale length, nut width, neck profile, … Read more

Shopping for the best cheap DJ controllers under 100 dollars in feels like hunting for treasure in a bargain bin. After three months of testing 8 controllers side by side in our home studio, I can tell you the budget tier in is better than it has ever been. We ran mix sessions, scratched vinyl … Read more

Two summers ago, I watched a friend crack the top of his Martin dreadnought after gate-checking a thin plywood hardshell on a regional jet. The latch had popped open, the TSA agents had forced it shut, and the impact from the cargo hold did the rest. That single flight cost him a repair bill and … Read more