In the old days we had to wait for the latest issue of a printed guitar magazine to reach the shelves in order to be informed of the latest and greatest developments in guitar gear. Thanks to the world of daily updates via social media the delivery system has changed drastically and we can now follow feeds to get news, photos and demos long before traditional media gets around to filling us in. Instagram in particular is a great, abbreviated way to keep abreast of the latest gear developments and to be aware of new stuff coming up on the horizon. We follow a number of builders, players, bands and fans on instagram but we thought we'd give you a quick run down of 5 of our favorites (although this is an ever changing list); so here are current top 5 gear instagram accounts to follow.
While your at it make sure you're following us for the latest additions to the store, sale announcements, giveaways and more: @coastsonic
1 - @geartalk
Run by Lance Seymour this is hands down one of the best resources for info and demos of new pedals as well as guitar and amp news. Quite often Lance has already played/lived with and demoed the latest gear before you even found out it existed or that it was scheduled to be released. The geartalk instagram also works as a news feed for his youtube channel, find out about a new demo via instagram and if you like what you see click through to the youtube channel for a full, robust work through.
2 - @kenttoneworks
Very similar to geartalk in the sense that it ties together Curtis Kent's youtube demoes to his instagram as a news feed. Curtis is also a master of the pedal demos and produces well explored run-downs and how-to's of the latest releases. Like Lance Seymour, Curtis is on most of your favorite builders speed dial's for getting gear out for demoing and is therefore not only a great sound resource but a great news feed as well.
3 - @gearphoria
If you haven't come across it yet check out Gearphoria.com, it is an online quarterly gear based free magazine with features on the latest gear, builder profiles and news on new and upcoming releases. The Gearphoria instagram account is a great accompaniment with behind the scenes glimpses as they put the issues together coupled with news about the latest gear.
4 - @pedaloftheday
Living up to it's name the Pedal-of-the-day instagram account covers just that - a new pedal everyday. Follow the feed to watch what pops up and when you see something that catches your interest click through to their website which showcases the full user-generated reviews. Get opinions on pedals straight from people who are actually using them. Great for quickly thumbing through to find the gear that grabs you so you can explore deeper.
5 - @beardtone
Our favorite gear type feeds to follow are the ones that showcase video demos. Since pedals are truly a sonic experience it only makes sense right? Within the scope of accounts putting out sound clips the ones we gravitate to are the ones who take the time to deliver great audio quality, clarity and vibe. After all what's the point if you can't really get a good grasp of the true tone characteristics. Wade Burden's demoes are always clear, concise and feature creative uses of the pedals he features - really showing of the possibilities of what the gear can do.
