{"id":675436,"date":"2026-01-05T12:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/675436\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:58:10","slug":"lenny-kravitz-thinks-modern-guitar-gear-and-digital-emulations-still-dont-sound-as-good-as-vintage-gear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/675436\/","title":{"rendered":"Lenny Kravitz thinks modern guitar gear and digital emulations still don\u2019t sound as good as vintage gear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few topics divide guitarists quite like the modern-vs-vintage gear debate. While digital modellers and boutique recreations promise classic tones at the push of a button \u2013 with a large and growing cohort of converts \u2013 there\u2019s still a devoted camp that insists the real things can\u2019t be replaced. Count Lenny Kravitz<\/a> firmly among them.<\/p>\n

For Kravitz, whose records are steeped in the warmth of analogue gear and vintage instruments, modern technology still falls short \u2013 even after years of rapid advancement. Speaking in the new issue of Guitar World, the rock icon explains why he remains unconvinced by digital emulations and newer equipment.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he could recreate the sound of his classic albums using modern gear, Kravitz replies: \u201cIt ain\u2019t the same, man. It really isn\u2019t the same. I A\/B test everything, and while technology has come a long way and some things are very close, they\u2019re just not close enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, there is the effect of the accumulation of one thing on top of the other, one old piece combined with something else vintage,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt begins to build up a sound that modern equipment can\u2019t reproduce. Just look at old guitars \u2013 the age of the wood, you know? That\u2019s something almost indefinable.\u201d<\/p>\n

His longtime collaborator and guitarist Craig Ross echoes the sentiment, pointing to the physical changes instruments undergo over decades.
\u201cWood ages and dries; it\u2019s almost like there\u2019s something in the air that imparts a unique sonic effect,\u201d says Ross. \u201cI think you can\u2019t deny that the pickups in old guitars age in a way that is very hard to reproduce.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair were speaking while revisiting Circus, which has recently been reissued as a 30th-anniversary expanded deluxe edition packed with bonus material.<\/p>\n

Kravitz, who remains an avid collector of old instruments, also reveals that the Les Paul Goldtop he\u2019s currently using on tour is one of his most recent acquisitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Goldtop I\u2019m using now on tour. I have several, but this one is a conversion,\u201d he says. \u201cSomeone in its history put PAFS on it and took off the tailpiece. It is the most amazing sounding guitar. I think it\u2019s from around \u201854.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not every guitarist, however, sees vintage gear through the same lens. While Kravitz swears by the character and tone of older instruments, others argue that age alone doesn\u2019t determine quality. Blues-rock guitarist Chris Buck<\/a>, for example, has been vocal about his scepticism toward the idea that older guitars are inherently better<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t subscribe to the idea that all vintage instruments are great,\u201d Buck told Guitar World, \u201cbecause I\u2019ve definitely played some dogs. Some of my favourite guitars were made after 2020, and some were made in the \u201860s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a synergy between you and a great instrument. That could be a $300 Squier<\/a> or a $5,000 Gibson<\/a>. It doesn\u2019t matter. If it speaks to you, it\u2019s the one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Few topics divide guitarists quite like the modern-vs-vintage gear debate. While digital modellers and boutique recreations promise classic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[59119,77,32919,269,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-675436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-artist","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-gear","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115842613766552635","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}