Every week we highlight some of the most Watched gear on Reverb. It's an interesting way to see what standout items have grabbed people's attention.
Another way, of course, is to see what folks are buying. So here's a look back at some of the best-selling gear in January.
Note: As always, best-sellers are based on the number of items sold, not the total price. For this article, we're only looking at brand new sales, and we're withholding any products exclusive to Reverb, along with parts and accessories.
PRS SE Silver Sky
When the original, US-made Silver Sky beat out any single US-made Fender Strat in our 2021 best-selling guitars list, it surprised a few readers. (Only the affordable Fender Player Telecaster and Player Stratocaster sold more.)
But with such a ranking, it's no surprise that the hotly anticipated SE Silver Sky—available for half the price of the original—simply crushed its first month of sales. The single biggest-selling item on Reverb last month, the SE Silver Sky easily outsold other popular guitars like the Fender American Professional II Stratocaster, Player Telecaster, Player Stratocaster, and original Silver Sky.
Positive Grid Spark 40
The Spark 40 is a modeling amp engineered to be the perfect practice companion. With the Smart Jam app, you can stream lessons through the amp—which also offers an astounding amount of modeled tones and presets.
Positive Grid sells the Spark 40 directly on Reverb, helping make it the best-selling amp on Reverb in January. It beat runners up in the at-home amp subcategory like the speaker-less Mustang Micro and Yamaha THR10II.
Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI
Bass VIs are cool. Always have been, always will be. But we've been witnessing a resurgence in interest since The Beatles' Get Back documentary dropped in November. We've seen numerous Bass VIs hit our weekly most Watched gear, CME's exclusive Shell Pink Squier Classic Vibes sold out quickly, and nearly every model of Bass VI on the site—vintage or current—is sharing in the love.
Put this all together, and the Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI—the only current production run of the model available—was our best-selling bass in January.
Akai MPC One
Since its release in 2020, the MPC One has been a go-to option for producers and beatmakers looking for a standalone machine. A full production workstation, you can chop samples, play built-in synths, sequence other devices, and construct the same type of complex tracks you can in a DAW.
It was our best-selling drum machine/sampler in January, narrowly beating out other favorites like the Elektron Digitakt, the much more limited Korg Volca Drum and Beats, and the newly released Roland SP-404MKII.
EarthQuaker Devices Hizumitas
The face-ripping Hizumitas fuzz nearly topped our best-selling new pedals list of 2021, even though we didn't count the exclusive Reverb black colorway sales, and despite the fact that it was released at the end of the year.
In January, it was still bested by the overall best-selling pedals, the Hologram Electronics Microcosm and ProCo Rat 2, but the Hizumitas was the single best-selling new release. It was followed closely by the JHS PackRat and EHX Nano Q-Tron.
Sequential Take 5
The overall top-selling synths on Reverb are hard to beat: the Teenage Engineering OP-1, Arturia MicroFreak, Yamaha Reface CP, and others that continue to find new players all the time.
However, the best-selling newly released synth is the Sequential Take 5, and it's already winning fans and critics. The fans, because it offers Prophet-5 tones in a slimmed-down and more-affordable form. The critics, it seems, because they'd prefer a Prophet-5.
As more and more people start making music with the Take 5, it'll be interesting to see just how close it can match the classic Prophet or if it will become more beloved for its own sounds and features.
Universal Audio Volt 276
As with pedals and synths, the overall best-selling recording gear is often similar month after month: Focusrite Scarlett interfaces, Shure SM57s, and other studio staples.
When looking at the best-selling newly released gear, the Universal Audio Volt 276 stands out. One of five new interfaces from UA in the Volt, the 2-in/2-out desktop unit offers a little something special: a built-in 1176-style compressor. While more expensive than the compressor-less Volt 2, the Volt 276 is attracting buyers willing to pay a little extra for the feature.
Check back next month for a new lineup of best-selling gear. Or check the articles below to learn more.