Move over, boys. Girls with guitars are leading the new rock revolution: article from The Independent.
Who's Guitar? Gibson recreate Pete Townshend's "No.1" Les Paul Deluxe guitar complete with the added middle pickup and 2 mini toggle switches to tap it and put it out of phase.
Guitar Karaoke from Fender: Fender announce the World's first guitar digital entertainment centre with built-in effects and instrument backing with drum beats and bass lines.
Saturday 29 January 2005
Schecter Banshee 'Modern Vintage' Electric Guitar: I like the styling of this one. It looks familiar but different at the same time.
Friday 28 January 2005
LGM launches Leviathan Series Electric Guitars: it's just the ticket u=if you like 'em pointy pointy pointy!
Deep Purple’s legendary guitarist and his wife craft ancient melodies: Ritchie Blackmore swaps Stratocaster for a hurdy-gurdy.
Thursday 27 January 2005
Ibanez AEF20CSNERLG Nylon Acoustic-Electric: Nice name... Sorry, that's me being sarcastic. I hate these awkward model numbers and codes. Give it a name that everyone can remember! Having said that, it looks to be an instrument that I wouldn't mind having in my collection: nylon-electric with a slim neck, medium-sized body. Sounds great!
Archtop P90 Goldtop Added to Hamer's XT Series: reminiscent of a Les Paul double cutaway, and nicely priced too!
Takamine's LTD2005 Model Unveiled at NAMM: just what we've all been waiting for... a guitar with a picture of a bullrush embedded in the top. Weird. It's probably a nice guitar though.
New "Truckster" James Hetfield Signature Model from ESP: personally I can't see why anyone would want a guitar with a crappy finish like this, but I suppose the Metallica fans will like it.
Dave Mustaine Axxion Joins ESP Signature Line: New signature series guitar recognizes 20 years of Megadeth. Another weird shape from ESP.
ESP Introduces New Guitars for 2005: there's a spiky one, there's a knobbly-looking one, and there's a lop-sided looking acoustic. All in black.
Epiphone and Nick Valensi Team Up for Signature Riviera: he's the guitarist for The Strokes apparently. Nice guitars though!
DigiTech Introdudes GNX2000 Guitar Workstation: Allows guitarists total creative freedom for stage and studio, with features like XLR outputs for plugging directly into PA systems, and a USB interface for hard disk recording applications.
Epiphone Announces Guitar Of The Month Program For 2005: I've linked to a news story about this already, but here we get the low down on each of the models from Epiphone themselves!
Wednesday 26 January 2005
Nuno Bettencourt and Washburn launch N5 and N6 guitars: I've not heard that name for a fair few years!
Epiphone recreates Hendrix's Psychedelic Flying V guitar: where's the photo? I wanna see what it looks like!
New Michael Schenker Electric and Acoustic Models from Dean: I'm disappointed that the acoustic isn't Flying V shaped.
Tuesday 25 January 2005
Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham - "The D Word (Death) Never Came Up": Scott Gorham talks about Phil Lynott and the final days of Thin Lizzy.
H.R. Giger Limited Edition Guitars from Ibanez: limited edition guitars feature graphic designs by the influential modern painter and sculptor (and creator of the Alien in the Alien series of movies).
Washburn Pilsen Idol Series Electric Guitars: I always liked their Idol guitars. This "Pilsen" version seems to be more beefed up, something along the lines of a Les Paul.
Fender Time Machine '66 Stratocaster: the new Time Machine series 1966 Stratocaster guitar is an exact reproduction of one of the most rapidly collectable Stratocaster guitars around, right down to its nitrocellulose-lacquered alder body with a WLS undercoat.
Monday 24 January 2005
A Guitar A Month: Epiphone launch a new series of limited edition electrics - one for each month of 2005.
Yamaha RGX320FZ and RGX520FZ Electric Guitars: Yamaha Guitars announces its first true double cutaway set-neck guitar at Winter NAMM.
New T5 Thinline 5-Way Guitar from Taylor: There are electric guitars, there are acoustic guitars, and now, there is the new Taylor "T5" - a little bit of both, and a whole lot more. Allegedly.
New Artcore Semi-Hollow Guitar from Ibanez: First-ever semi-acoustic with tremolo but no backplate tremolo cavity (not including guitars with Bigsby style trems, obviously).
Ibanez Debuts First SZ Prestige Guitar: Ooh, it looks to be quite nice. I've never liked Ibanez guitars before.
Washburn debuts Timbercraft Solid Wood Acoustic Guitars: The five models have solid spruce tops with solid wood backs and sides, as well as one piece mahogany necks.
Sunday 23 January 2005
Saturday 22 January 2005
RKS Shows Unique Hollow Body Electric Guitars and Basses: it's a hollow body, Jim, but not as we know it.
Brian Moore Guitars debuts iGuitar.USB at Winter NAMM: "The iGuitar.USB is the first guitar to offer on-board, Class Compliant USB audio to streamline the guitar to computer connection eliminating the need for an external audio interface."
Friday 21 January 2005
New Squier Master Series Electric Guitars: although these include some new non-Fender bodyshapes, I still like the Thinline Tele.
Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster: A long time coming for some, Fender has officially announced an Eric Johnson signature model, constructed with a contoured 2-piece Alder body, maple neck, and custom pickups.
Thursday 20 January 2005
Schecter redesigns TSH-1 and TSH-12 semi-hollow guitars: is it just me or do these have a Danelectro vibe about them?
Luna Guitars ... Engaging, Passionate & Uniquely Feminine: Armadillo Enterprises proudly introduces Luna Guitars, a line of guitars and basses designed uniquely for females of all ages. See: www.lunaguitars.com
Wednesday 19 January 2005
Tuesday 18 January 2005
Ex-Bread guitarist Jimmy Griffin dies: Former guitarist for 1970s pop group Bread and Academy Award-winning songwriter Jimmy Griffin has died. Griffin co-founded Bread who were responsible for hits such as "Make It With You", "Everything I Own" and "Baby I'm-A Want You".
Reissue Hagstrom Guitars Start Shipping: The legendary Hagstrom line will be officially relaunched at the 2005 Winter NAMM Show. The classic brand, now being manufactured and distributed by American Music & Sound (AM&S) under license from AB Albin Hagstrom, has just begun shipping. See also the new website: www.hagstromguitars.com
Monday 17 January 2005
Statue of punk guitarist unveiled: A bronze statue honouring late punk guitarist Johnny Ramone was unveiled before hundreds of celebrities and cheering fans at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Friday 14 January 2005
Lennon 'almost gave up on guitar': John Lennon almost gave up playing guitar after just two lessons, one of his early bandmates reveals.
Thursday 13 January 2005
Wednesday 12 January 2005
Electric Guitar Signed by More Than 30 Music Superstars Goes Up for Auction on eBay: Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Rod Stewart, Tim McGraw, Lenny Kravitz and others sign 'Today' show Toyota concert series guitar to raise money for the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation. See the guitar here.
Damageplan guitar up for auction: The Blitz WBZX 99.7 (www.wbzx.com) are auctioning off a Washburn Dime V guitar (signed by all members of Damageplan, including late guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott).
Switch guitars: these guitars are interesting. They claim to feature Vibracell technology. I believe this refers to the stuff they're actually built from, that is, some kind of plastic resin. Interesting they have both electric and acoustic models in their catalogue. I like the ones that look as if they've been styled after the Burns Flyte guitar.
Monday 10 January 2005
Peavey to Introduce 6505 Amplifiers and Carina Guitars at NAMM: there is life after their association with Eddie Van Halen!
Guitar man's tsunami aid plan stalled: A man tries to sell Garth Brooks signed guitar on eBay to raise money for the tsunami survivors, but is it real or is it a fake?
Sunday 9 January 2005
Saturday 8 January 2005
This Gibson Les Paul Standard signed by Slash is being auctioned on eBay as part of The Sun's Tsunami Appeal Auction. Update: the winning bid was for £6,900.
Thursday 6 January 2005
Wednesday 5 January 2005
Tuesday 4 January 2005
Legendary guitarist Hank Garland dies at the age of 74: He performed with Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers and Patsy Cline among others.
Gibson Debuts Americana Series with Chambered Body Design: Gibson USA's new Americana Series features the Pioneer, a round-shouldered, cutaway dreadnought, and the Ranger, reminiscent of the L-00 design. The guitars are based on the Chet Atkins SST solidbody acoustic concept and have a new body chambering process for extra resonance.
Les Paul Standard Gets Faded Finishes: these look great. It's a pity that they aren't in the same budget price range as Gibson's 2004 Faded series.