Girlschool Guitarist Dies: KELLY JOHNSON has died following a six-year battle with cancer. The British guitarist passed away from complications caused by cancer of the spine on Sunday (15Jul07).

Gibson custom shop announces the limited edition John Lennon inspired by Les Paul guitar model

Slash Returns Stolen Hard Rock Cafe Guitar: Former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash handed back a guitar he stole from a Hard Rock Café at a dedication ceremony honouring his music last week.

Eccentric but cheap guitars on eBay

This seller on eBay has a distinctly odd selection of guitars up for grabs. Novelty-factor aside, can there really be that many people wanting a quintuple-necked guitar outside of Cheap Trick tributes bands? Some of the other instruments are just as weird. I mean, a double necked fretless bass/electric banjo... I can't imagine there's exactly a big market for instruments such as this. Other instruments are just unfathomable. For instance, a stand-up 10-string lap steel guitar? How can you have a stand-up lap steel? Isn't that an oxymoron? How are you supposed to play that? Another odd one is the double neck with one regular 6-string neck and one lap steel neck. I'd understand it more if the "lap steel" neck was at the top and was angled upwards towards the player (as on a Melobar) but I can't see this being terribly playable as it is. Actually, I'd wager that the "designer" of the instruments isn't even a musician - they look fun but they are so weird that I'd question their practicality and even playability.

A Brief Hiatus

Sorry folks, there won't be any more posts for a little while, but I'll be back very soon. I'm not going to be able to go online at all for the best part of a week now as I am flying off to America tonight (unfortunately it's work, not pleasure) and I'm not one of these people who are laptop equipped. I did discover that my Traveler Pro Series guitar fits quite nicely into my suitcase - alas, there'll be no time to play it so I'll be leaving it behind. I was tempted to put it in anyway - just to say I'd travelled to America and back with it - but I suppose that's a bit silly really. Please keep commenting while I'm away.

Fender Introduces Joe Strummer Telecaster Guitar: I'm not normally a fan of these relic finishes, but this Joe Strummer tribute guitar looks just awesome!

The Aluminum T-beam Guitar: A new concept in aluminium-necked guitar. It's still early days but this looks set to be a great blog.

Whibley's Vintage Guitars Banned From Tour: SUM 41 rocker Deryck Whibley has a prized collection of vintage guitars - but he's too scared to play them during gigs. The valued instruments stay in the basement of his home, because he fears they'll get damaged on tour. He says, "I'm really into Les Paul guitars - I've got Les Pauls from 1955 to 1963. They range from $15,000 (GBP7.500) to $60,000 (GBP30,000). I used them on the new record but now they're all sitting in the basement while I'm on tour."

Mick Jones Joins Billy Bragg's guitar campaign: Former Clash guitarist Mick Jones has joined Billy Bragg in a visit to Wormwood Scrubbs prison, West London, where they are donating guitars to inmates as part of Bragg's Jail Guitar Doors campaign to encourage prisoners to take up music.

Stop Horsing About

Found on eBay: The Dobbincaster!

I love this, it's just so funny. I'd bid on it if I could justify having yet another guitar taking up room in my house.

B.B. King's summer plans include tour, performance at Crossroads Guitar Festival: the 81-year old bluesman is keeping himself busy!

Gibson Guitar Announces Acquisition of Garrison Guitars: "Gibson Guitar announced its acquisition of Garrison Guitars, a company based in St. John's Newfoundland, Canada. The acquisition will further Gibson's expansion in the acoustic guitar market offering a new series of Gibson brand acoustic guitars aimed at the median price point to be introduced at the Summer NAMM convention in Austin, Texas. Garrison Guitars are crafted using the latest technologies and innovations including the Griffiths Active Bracing System, a revolutionary method of guitar construction that took over six years to perfect. The single unit brace combines all the acoustic guitar's top braces into a single unit and allows for the resonance to have an uninterrupted path of travel throughout the instrument and provides enhanced structural stability. Offering a range of instruments in all price points, the G Series features all solid woods, hard shell cases, bolt on necks and UV finishes in a variety of wood combinations." <More on this story from The Tennessean>

News Gibson Guitars At Live Earth Concert: Gibson Acoustic creates 25 environmentally friendly Live Earth guitars to be signed and auctioned.

Prince's phallic, purple guitar may be legendary, but his Guitar is limp

Former Marshall Tucker Band guitarist George McCorkle dies

Confessions of an Army guitarist: How a musician pulled guard duty in Pakistan.