ScoutedBrands

🎸 Music & Audio Gear

Guitar parts, pedals, strings, mics and studio gear for people who make music, sorted by what each store is actually good for.

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2 Music & Audio Gear brands to shop

★ Scouted pick

American Recorder Technologies

Audio cables, connectors, reel-to-reel supplies, and studio accessories sold since 1977

1,537 productsCoupon available
★ Scouted pick

Guyker

Affordable replacement guitar and bass hardware: tuners, bridges, knobs, nuts and more

922 productsCoupon available268K visits/mo

About music & audio gear brands

This section is for players, not just listeners. Headphones and turntables live under Audio & Home Theater; here it's the gear you plug in, string up, bolt on or sing into.

The stores split by job. Guyker is a guitar hardware shop: pickups, tune-o-matic and tremolo bridges, locking tuners, nuts, pots and knobs, the parts you buy to fix a guitar or turn a cheap one into a good one. American Recorder Technologies is a studio supply counter: microphones, mic and XLR cable, stands, acoustic panels, strings, drum accessories and recording tape. AliExpress fills in the cheap consumables players burn through: picks, capos, clip-on tuners, patch cables, strap locks and budget effects pedals.

We only write up what the store's listing and specs support. We don't claim to have played or recorded with any of it.

How to buy music gear online without getting burned

Guitar parts: measure first. Bridges, nuts and pickups are not universal. Measure string spacing (E to E at the bridge), post spacing for tune-o-matic and tremolo bridges, nut width and slot spacing, and pickup ring or route size before you order. Metric (Asian-made) and inch (USA-made) hardware often differ by fractions of a millimeter, which is enough to mean new screw holes. Pots come in 250k (single coils) and 500k (humbuckers), with split or solid shafts that have to match your knobs.

Strings and picks are where cheap is fine. Strings are the most frequently replaced part on any guitar, and gauge matters far more than brand for how a guitar feels. Picks are cheap enough to buy a mixed-thickness pack and find out what you like.

Pedals: check the power. Most compact pedals run on 9V DC center-negative with a 2.1mm barrel. Check the current draw (mA) against your power supply, especially for digital and multi-effects units. A daisy-chain cable is fine for a few analog pedals; noisy or digital pedals usually do better on an isolated supply.

Mics: match the mic to the job. Dynamic mics (the SM58 style) suit loud stages and untreated rooms. Condensers capture more detail but also more room and need 48V phantom power from an interface or mixer. Wireless lavalier mics are built for video and talking, not for recording vocals or instruments.

AliExpress gear: know what you're getting. Budget pedals, tuners and accessories can be good value, but they are generics, not the brands they sometimes resemble. Expect 1 to 3 weeks to the US, and returns go through AliExpress Buyer Protection.

Frequently asked questions

Are cheap guitar effects pedals worth it?
Often, for simple circuits. Overdrive, distortion, chorus and delay are well-understood designs, and many budget pedals do them well enough to learn on or gig with. Check the power requirement (usually 9V center-negative), whether it's true bypass or buffered, and whether the footswitch and jacks feel solid. Complex digital and multi-effects units vary much more.
Will a replacement bridge or pickup fit my guitar?
Only if the measurements match. For bridges, compare post spacing and string spacing; for pickups, compare the format (single coil, humbucker, P90) and mounting (pickguard or ring). Metric and inch hardware differ slightly, so check the listing's dimensions against your guitar before ordering.
Do I need an audio interface to record?
To record an XLR microphone or a guitar into a computer, yes. An interface converts the signal to digital and supplies 48V phantom power for condenser mics. USB microphones skip the interface but can't be used with a mixer or other gear.
What gauge strings should I use?
Lighter gauges (9s or 10s on electric, 11s or 12s on acoustic) are easier to bend and fret. Heavier gauges give a fuller tone and suit lower tunings. If you change gauge by more than a step, the nut slots and truss rod may need adjusting.
What are the best music & audio gear brands?
Brands that stand out in our research include American Recorder Technologies, Guyker. Each has a full review covering prices, shipping and returns.
Where can I find music & audio gear deals?
397 music & audio gear items are marked down right now across the brands we cover. The deals section on this page shows the biggest discounts, synced from each store.