James Farmer

James Farmer

James is a freelance writer and former Junior Deals Writer at MusicRadar. Before writing, James worked as a guitar salesman at a local music store, so he knows a thing or two about matching people with their perfect instruments. James also has experience working in other areas of the music trade, having worked for the online music distributor, RouteNote. James is a guitarist, bassist and drummer and has also toured the UK and Europe with his old band Hypophora. 

Articles by: James Farmer

Signature Fender guitar on a gold background

Best budget signature guitars: sound like your guitar heroes for less

By Chris Bird last updated

From a PRS for Mark Tremonti fans to a Slash-approved Epiphone, these are the best cheap signature guitars around

Blackstar Fly 3 sitting on top of a Blackstar Artist 15 amp with a Fender Lead II leaning against it, in front of a cream-coloured wall

Blackstar Fly 3 review

By James Farmer published

  • £59
  • €69
  • $69

Three surprisingly loud watts of pure practice amp happiness, with a few tricks up its sleeve

A collection of single and double Tama Iron Cobra pedals on a silver corrugated metal sheet

Best bass drum pedals: single and double bass pedals for every budget

By Stuart Williams last updated

Put your best foot forward with our guide to choosing the best bass drum pedal for you, with expert picks from DW, Pearl, Tama and others

TC Electronic SCF Gold pedal

Best chorus pedals: premium digital and analogue chorus effects for guitar

By Alex Lynham last updated

The chorus is back! Find out why with our pick of the best chorus pedals you need to try today

Neural DSP unit on a blue background

Best high-end guitar amps: Our pick of the best, for experts and pro players

By James Farmer last updated

Find the best premium guitar amps, heads and combos for rock, metal, blues and beyond

A fully-loaded pedalboard on a concrete floor

Best guitar pedals for beginners: 9 great pedals for a versatile pedalboard

By James Farmer last updated

Expand your tone and explore new sounds with this collection of the best beginner effects pedals for guitarists

Electro-Harmonix Canyon delay pedal on wooden floor

Best delay pedals 2024: add dimension to your tone with pedals from Boss, Strymon, Electro-Harmonix and more

By Amit Sharma last updated

Explore the best analogue and digital delay pedals for all budgets

PRS SE Mark Holcomb electric guitar on top of a flightcase

Best metal guitars: 13 riff machines for any budget

By Amit Sharma last updated

Top-tier tones and build quality from the best metal guitars that are tailor-made for world-conquering heaviness

Close up of an electric guitar bridge and electric guitar bridge pickup

Best electric guitar pickups: Single-coil, humbucker, P-90, and active pickups for all styles

By Rob Laing last updated

Upgrade your electric guitar tone now with the best pickups from Seymour Duncan, EMG, Bare Knuckle and more

Guitar Rig Pro 6 deal

Get 50% off Guitar Rig Pro 6 while offer lasts!

By James Farmer published

For only $99.50/£89.50, you can upgrade your guitar recordings with this killer Native Instruments plugin deal

Three Squier Starcaster semi-hollow models, including the Squier Classic Vibe Starcaster, on a wooden background

Best semi-hollow guitars: 10 killer semi-acoustics for all styles and abilities

By James Farmer last updated

Want that unmistakable semi-hollow sound? These guitars are the very best at every price point

Thomann Universal Audio Deal main image

Bag £980 of free plugins when you buy an Apollo Twin or Apollo Solo Heritage Edition interface at Thomann

By James Farmer published

Grab one of the greatest audio interfaces available right now, as well as a killer plugin bundle, and make your tracks sound better than ever

Plugin Boutique and Loopcloud deal

Loopcloud launches its best-ever sale! Save a massive 50% on all annual plans

By James Farmer published

Get access to 4 million sounds for as little as £30 for a full year and take your tracks to new heights

Close up of PRS SE P20E Parlour sound hole

Best acoustic guitars under $500/£500 in: expert picks for budget-conscious players

By James Farmer last updated

Great sub-$500/£500 acoustics from the likes of Martin, Taylor, Fender and Guild that show you don’t have to spend much to get a quality guitar

Abbey Road Waves plugin deal

Channel some legendary studio magic with cut-price Waves Abbey Road plugins - now only $29.99 each

By James Farmer published

Get a huge 90% off every single Abbey Road plugin for a limited time, and choose up to three free plugins when you spend $120

Fender 'The Bends' compressor pedal on a wooden floor

Best compressor pedals: Make your clean tones really stand out

By James Farmer last updated

Our experts pick 10 of the best compressor pedals available for all budgets, including an option for bassists

Best Positive Grid Spark deals: Positive Grid Spark Pearl on a table in front of a window and a plant

Best Positive Grid Spark deals April 2024: Save on the Spark, Spark Pearl and Spark Mini

By James Farmer published

These are today’s best prices on one of the coolest practice amps on the market

Stratocaster vs Telecaster: Fender American Professional II Strat and Telecaster

Stratocaster vs Telecaster: how to choose between Fender's iconic electric guitars

By Ed Mitchell published

Fender's Strat and Tele changed the world. But which one will be your next electric guitar? We can help with that...

Shure and AKG microphones on a grey desk

Best XLR microphones: Superb sound for studio and stage

By Simon Fellows last updated

Capture the very best-quality, noise-free performances with these XLR-equipped mics from AKG, Aston, Neumann, Røde, Sennheiser, Shure and more…

Native Instruments iZotope deal

Save over £800 on Komplete 13 and iZotope Music Production Suite 4.1 with this epic plugin deal

By James Farmer published

Until March 22nd, you can make huge savings on a killer collaborative production bundle from Native Instruments & iZotope

Roland TD-1DMK electronic drum set on a white background

Best Roland TD-1DMK deals April 2024: find the best prices on a beginner-friendly Roland electronic drum set

By James Farmer last updated

We’ve got the top Roland TD-1DMK deals available right now in one place, plus everything you need to know about this affordable all-mesh electronic drum kit

Yamaha Pacifica 112V electric guitar on a white background

Best Yamaha Pacifica 112V deals April 2024: find the best prices on this killer beginner-friendly electric guitar

By James Farmer last updated

Everything you need to know about the legendary Yamaha Pacifica 112V and where to find the best deals

Alesis Nitro Mesh electronic drum set on a white background

Best Alesis Nitro Mesh deals April 2024: make big savings on our number one budget electronic drum set

By James Farmer last updated

These are the best Alesis Nitro Mesh deals you'll find online right now, plus everything you need to know about this beginner-friendly e-kit

IK Multimedia deal main image

Get up to 60% off the legendary tones of Hendrix, Slash, Dimebag and more with IK Multimedia's Presidents of Tone sale

By James Farmer published

This AmpliTube Krazy Deal sees huge discounts of up to $60 on signature collections of gear - and you can save 40% on AmpliTube 5 too

TrueFire deal main image with Music Radar deal tag

Save an epic 30% on TrueFire guitar lessons and learn from stars including Steve Vai, Joe Bonamassa and Ariel Posen

By James Farmer published

With this exclusive discount on your next TrueFire purchase, there's no excuse not to learn guitar right now

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