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FENDER H.E.R. SIGNATURE STRATOCASTER £1,099

If you happened to see this year’s Emmys you’ll have caught a performance of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U by American artist H.E.R. If that’s the case, you also saw one of Fender’s latest signature Stratocasters. H.E.R. aka Having Everything Revealed aka Gabriella Wilson is the first black woman to receive a Fender Artist Signature model. Specs err on the side of classic with the new model built around an alder chassis. There’s a mid-60s C profile bolt-on maple neck topped with a maple ’board. The guitar has a unique look with its beautiful Chrome Glow finish and anodised aluminium scratchplate. Pickups are Fender Vintage Noiseless. Says H.E.R.: “By designing a Stratocaster with a colour, shape and sound that is 100 per cent my own, my hope is that other young women and players from all backgrounds feel inspired to pick up this guitar, tap into their thoughts and create amazing music.” www.fender.com

EVENTIDE BLACKHOLE REVERB PEDAL £279

If you can’t get enough of Eventide’s Blackhole reverb plug-in then you’ll be pleased to know that the brand has just announced a compact pedal version of the same name. The big sizzle here is that you can have five presets under your designated pedal foot with “dozens more available via Eventide’s Device Manager (EDM) software”, says the company. In keeping with the plug-in stats, the reverb range on offer from the stompbox runs from what Eventide describes as “a cartoonishly small room to a limitless universe”. Spec is too expansive to go into detail here but you do get onboard tone controls, multiple buffer options and a Gravity control to custom-tailor the reverb tail. www.eventideaudio.com