The hottest new gear releases you need to know about – May 2025

From a shock amp firm takeover to fresh battles in the modeller scene, catch up on this month’s hottest releases

Another month has come and gone, and May 2025 was far from short on gear news. Here, we get you up to speed with any big stories you may have missed. From industry changes to new gear releases, we’ve got you covered.

Thomann acquires Hughes & Kettner

Not content with just owning budget gear champions Harley Benton, online music retailer giant Thomann has bought out beloved amp firm Hughes & Kettner. Founded in 1984 in Neunkirchen, Germany, its amps have been championed by everyone from prog wizard Steven Wilson to fusion maestro Al Di Meola and Kiss' Tommy Thayer.

In an official statement, Thomann says the acquisition will see the firm continue with “fresh ideas” and “expand its market presence”. A spokesperson also confirmed that the move only affects the Hughes & Kettner brand and its products. Its HK Audio division, which predominantly deals with PA systems, maintains its independent status.

“We have been offering H&K products since 1995 and deeply appreciate the brand’s innovation and quality,” says Managing Director Hans Thomann. Through this acquisition, we aim to ensure that H&K remains a brand with a strong character and a clear identity.”

Kemper rolls out next-gen modellers

To say the modeller market is hotly contested is an understatement. Kemper was a market leader when it first launched in 2011, but everything from the Quad Cortex to Fender’s Tone Master Pro and the Positive Grid Spark series has seen its prominence diminish.

It hopes its new MK 2 range, which promises “more power, more flexibility, and more of everything you love from the Profiler” will help reverse its fortunes, but it’s sweeping changes seem hit and miss.

Sure, the prospect of a greatly improved processing engine now means it can load up in a rapid 20 seconds is cool. As is the fact its amp modelling software has had a serious glow-up, with “more than 100,000 individual frequency points meticulously analyzed [resulting in] the most precise amp recreation ever achieved.” But the loss of a colour screen, and, despite it now being made with lightweight aluminium will help transportability, there is a feeling that its competitors won't be too threatened by Kemper's evolution.

Check out Kemper for more info.

A gig rig for £80/$80?

If Kemper's update doesn't whet the appetite, Valeton's new GP-5 might. That's because it features a full gig rig – including amp modelling, impulse responses, effects and signal chains, a tuner, and a sizable amount of recallable presets – AND it fits in your pocket.

Very much gunning for the ToneX One's crown, it is headlined by a Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) for believable amp captures, and is flanked by a simple-but-effective interface, Bluetooth wireless connection and a partnering app (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android) for a more involved tone-building process. As far as budget releases go, this might just be one of 2025's biggest.

“The GP-5 tears down the boundaries of traditional multi-effects units, packing the sonic punch of a flagship processor into a palm-sized enclosure,” say its makers.

Check it in greater detail over at Valeton.

JHS pedal kerfuffle

In early May, JHS released its second build-it-yourself pedal, the Notadümblë. Following the IKEA chic of its successful Notaklön stompbox, its younger brother was meant to deliver two channels of classic Dumble amplifier sounds. But there was an issue.

“In 2019, I left a John Mayer rehearsal in Los Angeles with two extremely rare Dumble units in my backpack to reverse engineer,” JHS chief Josh Scott says in a confessional video.

“The first of these is the Dumble BBC1, which I turned into the [currently unreleased] Basic Boost. The second is the A Box Later ... and I turned that into the Box It Later."

The A Box Later, essentially an effects loop that can be used as a clean boost, was intended for the clean channel of the Notadümblë. But, in a twist of fate, Mayer's double Dumbles were mislabelled and the BBC1 was copied instead.

By his own admission, Scott says the copied amp is much rarer, and so a limited number of the wrongly made/sold pedals are still available for a limited time. We reckon they'll be worth a bomb on the second hand market soon enough.

Check out JHS for more.