There’s a funny thing that happens with some basses. It’s called the dead spot.
What’s A Dead Spot?
The dead spot is a particular note that won’t seem to ‘ring’. It won’t sustain and instead, the fundamental just dies away almost immediately. Sometimes you’ll hear some overtone-type vibrations of the note sustain very faintly but for the most part, the note is gone.
This tends to be most noticeable on one particular string and on one particular note but it can be evident (possibly to a lesser extent) a half-tone higher or lower …

In common with many (probably) on this side of the Atlantic, my first experience with Seasick Steve came in 2006 on Jools Holland’s New Year show; his Hootenanny. Also in common with many (almost certainly), I was blown away by what I saw.
Here was Steve, this bearded, crazy, red-neck stomping a box for percussion and playing a beat-up, three-stringed shit-box of a guitar.
And it was brilliant.
I was a fan straight away.
I’ve been lucky enough to see him play live a couple of times and that’s when he’s in his element. …

You’ve read about the new Joe Bonamassa Les Paul from Epiphone. You’ve broken open your piggy-bank and counted all your pennies. Not enough, not enough. Maybe you could take on another paper-round? But, it’s a limited edition guitar. There’s no time. What can you do?
One thing you could try is winning one.
Over at Epiphone, you can enter a competition to possibly win yourself an Epiphone Joe Bonamassa Les Paul.
Why wouldn’t you enter?
Maybe that paper-round money can go towards an amp.

So we all know that there’s never a 9V battery in your guitar case when you need it. Trailing sockets and extension leads do the trick but they do get in the way and there’s all those wall-warts and their associated knot of power cables to consider.
Sanyo reckon they have the answer. Pictured left* is the Pedal Juice (or KBC-9V3U Pedal Juice, to give it its catchy moniker). It’s a rechargeable, Lithium-Ion battery that provides 9V of clean, DC, power to your pedals. Neat.
Depending on use, it can supply up …

File under: That’s Clever, Why Has Nobody Thought Of That Before.
Check it out. This is the Rock Lock. It was designed by entrepreneur, Chris Goulet to fill what is, in hindsight, a pretty glaring market hole. Namely, something to stop that toerag from making off with your guitar while you’re having a well-earned beer at the end of the night.
As Goulet says, ‘guitar theft is typically a crime of opportunity…’ and this product helps to remove that opportunity.
The Rock Lock is a bit like a laptop lock with a clever …

You will, I’m sure have seen the Joe Bonamassa Les Paul from gibson. Quite nice, isn’t it? It’s also quite expensive.
But now, you can get the Joe Bonamassa experience from Epiphone. And it looks like it’s a well considered experience.
Based on the ’59 Les Paul, this Epi is constructed in the same manner. Solid mahogany and maple body with a long-tenon, glue in neck. Nice. It’s got the 50’s profile neck for Joe-friendly chunkiness.
Importantly, and very nicely, this Epiphone comes loaded with two Burstbucker pickups – a BB-2 …

I don’t know why I think this is really cool. Perhaps it’s the geek in me getting impressed at what the guys in Fender’s R&D department have engineered here.
What they’ve done is to take a solid block of Lucite and hack it into the shape of an Esquire. That’s nothing too unusual. However, they also hollowed out the body to enable it be filled with water.
You see, this guitar is a being auctioned to benefit NASH2O, a charity helping out after the Nashville floods earlier this year. You’ve probably seen …

The guys at the Lick Library are donning their red hats and fat-suits.
They’re launching their 2010 Advent calendar. This means that, for every day between now and Christmas they will offer a series of special offers. Like the Advent calendar thing that you might have had as a kid, each day you open a box and see what’s inside. Instead of some, slightly sub-standard, chocolate though, inside these virtual doors is some sort of Lick Library offer.
There’s no limit to how many special offers you can grab so you …

It’s occurred to me that many (I’d go so far as to say most) guitarists don’t change their strings very often. Let me clarify that a little; I mean their string brands. I suspect that, like me, many people find a brand, and usually a gauge, they like and stick with it.
It’s entirely possible this might be fine. However, there’s nothing wrong with giving things a shake now and then.
Case in point:
A while ago, I received a couple of sets of Rotosound strings to review. These were the R10 …

Take a look at that string. Notice anything?
This is from Rotosound’s Super Bronze Acoustic String set and it’s a bit different. At least from anything we’ve seen in a while. Click on the image to embiggenate.
You see, in 1974, James How, the founder of Rotosound released an acoustic string set with a difference. Those strings, called ‘Country Golds’ at the time, had the windings start a little away from the ball-end and tie – the core of the string was exposed for a short distance. The idea was that the …