Articles in the News Category
Featured, News »
Washburn are now shipping two production models with a cracked-mirror top.
Previously only available on the super-expensive Paul Stanley signature PS2000, you can now get this finish on the V-style WV1800CM and the Idol-style WI1800CM (the CM is, we assume for Cracked Mirror).
Both guitars have a mahogany body and glue-in neck. The Idol has a rosewood board while the V has ebony. Both feature split pearl/abalone inlays.
Randall pickups feature in both. These were designed with Randall Amplifiers specifically for contemporary rock/metal sounds.
Lastly, and this is a nice touch, both have been …
News »
What’s better than six? Seven, right? That’s one better. And what’s better than a Gibson Explorer? Well, what about a Gibson Explorer with seven strings instead of a paltry, miserly, six?
That should do it.
The Gibson 7-String Explorer has been unleashed. And it’s available in None-More-Black (sorry, I can’t help it – the Tapisms keep coming).
Effectively this is a regular Explorer in high-gloss ebony nitrocellulose with the addition of a low-B for low-down, doomy riffage. As you’d expect, body and neck are mahogany and are coupled with the usual glue-in, set-neck …
Featured, Music, News »
The bass player and singer from Blue Cheer, Dickie Peterson has died.
He passed away on 12th October in Erkelenz, Germany after a long fight with cancer. He was sixty-three.
If you’re not familiar with Blue Cheer, you should be. They are frequently cited as being the band that invented heavy metal and certainly their style of heavy blues is in a very similar vein to the other bands often heralded with the same accolade.
Formed in 1966, the original(ish) line-up comprised Peterson on bass and vocals, Leigh Stephens on guitar and Eric Albronda …
Amps, Featured, News »
Ahhh, sweet, low-wattage valve tones.
Paul Reed Smith’s efforts to take over the world continue apace with this, the Sweet 16.
We’re talking a 16 watt head powered by 6V6 valves. It’s a master volume amp with a full treble/middle/bass stack and a built in reverb. The amps are handwired (albeit to printed circuit boards) in the US.
All pots, switches, jacks, and power tube sockets are chassis-mounted which bodes well for reliability.
Tube-wise, the 6V6s are cathode biased, in push-pull, to near class A. The preamp tubes are a little unusual. There are …
News »
Fender News have a short interview with former Deep Purple and Rainbow rocker – now medieval troubadour – Ritchie Blackmore. The man in tights answers questions about his current Renaissance renaissance as well as discussing some Purple/Rainbow stuff.
Blackmore also talks briefly about the inspiration for the scalloped fingerboard on his signature Stratocaster:
“I had a classical guitar way back when I was 19 or 20. It had a pitted fingerboard, worn out from excessive use so the wood in between the frets was almost concave. It felt right. Then when I …
CDs and DVDs, Featured, News »
Frankly, we don’t have a problem plugging Waits’ new album on Guitarless. Waits’ albums contain guitar sounds and styles that run the gamut from mellow and understated to freaky, mentalist baboons, ripping apart guitars with their teeth while defecating on them with their giant red arses. Waits can do very little wrong in the opinion of Guitarless.
If you weren’t lucky enough to catch the man doing his crazy thing on the Glitter And Doom tour (I can crow because I got to see him) last year, you’ll be eager to …
Accessories, News »
If you are a Schecter player or lover, you might like to check out their new, online, merchandise store where you can avail yourself of Tees and hoodies and beanies and caps. Many things are available for men and, ahem, ‘chicks’ (their word).
There are also a selection of stuff like belt buckles and guitar straps, stickers and even a Schecter-branded Zippo. And, it’s all available internationally so you needn’t feel left out based on geographic location.
Schecterrific.
In fact, if you’re a chick, or perhaps if you know a chick, you might …
Featured, News »
PRS have had a pretty long run with Carlos Santana and it’s a relationship that has produced some nice guitars. Here’s the latest.
The Abraxas or, to give it its proper name, the Carlos Santana SE One Abraxas is, in PRS’ words ‘in celebration of Santana’s long history with PRS’.
It’s a guitar that harkens nicely back to the Les Paul Junior models. A fixed, wraparound, stoptail and a single P90-style pickup in a nice, single-cut piece of mahogany is a recipe that promises sweet tone.
The hardware is nickel and it’s got …
Featured, News »
Want to win one of these, rather spiffy-looking, Michael Kelly guitars?
Well Thirty Seconds To Mars, in association with Mr. Kelly are giving away a guitar a day for 30 days. They started on 6th of October so a few have already gone. Plenty left though.
All you need to do is use your Twitter to tweet a message. That’s it. Well, that and be drawn out of the virtual hat.
Ok, so you’ll effectively be prostituting yourself to advertise something that you may not even care about but look – shiny new …
News »
Do you own a rock-themed, novelty restaurant with walls full of crazy, rock n’ roll memorabilia and a kitchen that throws out slightly sub-par burgers? If so, you can’t afford to miss the Stars Guitars auction in Dearborn, Michigan on the 24th October.
The event will auction off guitars signed by a relatively random selection of rock legends. Well, I say legends…
Nah, I’m being unfair. There are some interesting things in here, like the Les Paul opposite, signed by Les himself. That’s ok, isn’t it? There are a few other things …