In these days of terminally online transactions, it can feel like there isn’t all that much going on out there beyond what’s served to us via the algorithm. That’s why I love getting out and engaging with the wider guitar community face to face. At The Guitar Show this weekend, I headed to Birmingham, UK, to get hands-on with brands big and small, trying out some of the hottest guitar gear launched in early 2026, as well as some as-yet-unavailable products due for release this year.
From custom guitar cabinets to multi-effects pedals from the biggest guitar brands on earth, there was pretty much everything you could think of at a sold-out industrial park south of the UK’s second city. Vintage guitars priced north of £50,000 took the stage alongside cheap and cheerful guitar headphone amps, and all were available for any guitar player to try out at their leisure.
As someone who regularly reviews guitar gear, The Guitar Show is a great place to get a gauge on what the guitar community is excited about, get real-world opinions on gear, and speak directly to both big and small brands about what they’ve got coming up. This year, I tried out more gear than I can remember, but these are the items available right now that stood out to me.
Matt is a Junior Deals Writer here at Guitar World. He regularly tests and reviews music gear with a focus on guitars, amps, pedals, modelers, and pretty much anything else guitar-related. A regularly gigging guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing live and writing and recording in bands, he's performed everything from jazz to djent, gigging all over the UK in more dingy venues than you can shake a drop-tuned guitar at.
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