Peerless Monarch KA guitar

The Peerless brand has been going from strength to strength since its instruments came on to the UK market just over a year ago. The Monarch, which is just one of the models in the jazz range, is a full 17-inch single cutaway and comes in all solid tonewoods with a rosewood fretboard, tailpiece and pick guard plus quality Grover machine heads. Originally available with just the standard Peerless floating pick up, it can now be purchased with a mellow voiced Kent Armstrong unit, hence the KA, which adds a whole new dimension to the dynamics of the instrument.

Akai EW1 - 4000S

The Akai EW1 4000S (pictured right) is an extraordinary piece of kit. An electric wind controller sound module, its fingering system incorporates touch sensitive note keys based on the same fingerings as those for the saxophone or clarinet, alongside its own idiosyncratic collection of plates, buttons and shift rollers. For instance, the octave shift rollers allow a player to shift pitch through an incredible eight octave range, while the adjacent glide plate gives a portamento effect, smoothly and continuously sliding the pitch up and down.

JazzKat Guitar Amp

This neat little 110 watt amp with its angled control panel is a welcome addition to the jazz guitarist’s arsenal. With two separate input lines, loop option, XLR, phone, external speaker socket and a digital effects base, this is a serious piece of kit. There are a staggering 16 reverb settings, from Hall 1, through Chorus 2 to Rotary, many of which are actually very similar. But playing around with the various combinations and level adjustment can either confuse or delight. Yet one thing’s for sure though, you’ll need a spare hour or two to really find your sound – but believe me, it will be in there somewhere. Quality amplification requires quality speakers, and they don’t come much smoother and richer than Eminence. The JazzKat supports an 8 inch, which when fully driven conjures up smooth, liquid-y Polytones, which take you back to those jazz amps of choice for many a six stringer. We liked the clean lines and compact nature of this unit, with its clear control panel and its top set grab handle and sprung recessed heavy duty side handle. It’s also nice and light, so it won’t break your back.

Info: www.ivormairants.co.uk