Fans that attended a film shoot in London were among the first to hear the expected new material from AC/DC's Black Ice, their first release since 2000's Stiff Upper Lip
We have a clip featuring a guy dressed up as Brian Johnson and doing a fairly funny impression of the AC/DC front man. Check it out after the jump...
Source: news.com.au
Apparently £62,000 (about $115,600 USD) worth of Orange amplifiers have been stolen from Orange's Borehamwood headquarters. The amplifers were in a container when they were stolen in a daring raid on August 16th where the robbers used torches to cut into a steel container.
The container had 141 Orange Tiny Terror Combos (£439/$818) amps that represented the first shipment in the UK of the new amplifier that was just launched this year.
Orange has announced there is a £3000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the thieves. They've also posted the serial numbers of the stolen amplifiers on their website, so you can trace that one you just bought off Craigslist for a steal.
Our fascination with Guitar Hero
Blake Peebles, from Raleigh, North Carolina, is by all accounts a "sick" and "very talented" player. His parents were, thankfully, adverse to the idea of dropping out of school, but have decided to home school Blake while he pursues his new career.
We wish Blake all the success in the world and hope that one day he decides to pick up a real guitar and find out what it's really all about.
Having your guitar "plek'd" refers to a fret dressing machine built by a German company called, surprisingly, Plek. We mention this because we've noticed some of the guitar manufacturers have been advertising the fact that they set up their guitars with Plek technology.
Gibson has recently added the Plek to their Gibson guitars in April 2008 (although the Custom Shop has had one since Dec. 2005), Framus was a recent addition but Martin and G&L have had theirs for a couple of years now, though I'm not sure which guitars receive the Plek and which don't.
The Plek is a computer controlled machine that very precisely measures the fret and fretboard height under each string, taking 132 measure points (for a 22 fret guitar) to create an very accurate map of the fretboard. From there the robotic arm machines the frets to 1/100th of millimeter tolerance to create a perfectly setup fretboard.
Chet Atkins was a guitarists' guitarist. He wasn't enormously popular when he was live but real guitarists (like, for example, the Mark Knopflers of the world) loved him. He won 14 grammy awards (including a lifetime achievement award) and is considered one of the best fingerstyle guitarists of all-time. While Merle Travis is considered the inventor of the fingerpicking style, many would say it is Chet Atkins who perfected it.
Lately at Fretbase we have been listening to some of Chet Atkins' early recordings. The Essential Chet Atkins seems like an awfully good place start. It could quite possibly inspire you to go out and get some thumbpicks.
The Essential Chet Atkins (Amazon)
The Essential Chet Atkins (iTunes)
Continue reading "Treat Yourself to Some Chet Atkins This Weekend" »
Let's get ready to rrrrrrrrrumble! In one of the biggest title matches of the year we have the ever iconic classic - the Fender Stratocaster. From the hands of Buddy Holly to Jimi Hendrix onto Stevie Ray Vaughn, this guitar has seen and done it all. Truly a classic with three single coils and a 25.5" scale length.
In the other corner we have the relatively young Paul Reed Smith Single Cut, first released in 1998. The PRS Single Cut is reminiscent of the Gibson Les Paul...in fact so much so, Gibson sued PRS over the design in 1998, a decision that ultimately PRS won. The PRS Single Cut comes with two humbuckers and a 24.5" scale length.
Check out the video of both guitars compared...
Continue reading "Face-Off: Fender Strat vs. Paul Reed Smith SC" »
A little while ago (OK, a long while ago), Acoustic Guitar Magazine ran a story on the 100 Essential Acoustic Guitar CD's. I came across the list again recently. Here are some of my favorites that made the Acoustic Guitar Magazine list. (Links take you to the MP3's or CD's on Amazon.)
I think it's a good list but can't understand for the life of me how it's possible that not one Robert Johnson recording made the list (maybe RJ's recordings weren't out yet?). For the full list, check out the original story on the Acoustic Guitar Magazine website.
The Essential CD Collection (Acoustic Guitar Magazine)
Subscribe to Acoustic Guitar Magazine
Which CD's from the last 12 years do you think should be on this list? Let us know in the comments.
Continue reading "100 Essential Acoustic Guitar Recordings" »
We were pretty intrigued last June when Martin announced the Steve Earle M-21 Custom Artist Edition guitar. The guitar - which combines jumbo (0000) body style with 000 depth - looks like a wonderful guitar for strumming and fingerpicking. The guitar was designed by Steve Earle and Matt Umanov and blends Martin Style 18 and Style 28 appointments.
We're even more curious about this guitar now that it is available for pre-order. The guitar is expected to ship in September.
No videos yet of the guitar, so in the meantime please enjoy a great video of Earle playing an acoustic version of his song Tennessee Blues on a dreadnought after the jump.
Have you played the guitar? Please let us know how you liked it in the comments.
Pre-Order Martin M-21 Steve Earle Acoustic Guitar (Musican's Friend)
Continue reading "Steve Earle Custom Artist Edition Martin M-21 Guitar Available for Pre-Order" »
I am more than willing to be upfront about my feelings for Neil Diamond. I love the guy. He has written many of my favorite songs and there is nothing like that baritone voice. I also have to like a huge rock star who has a song on an album at the peak of his career entitled "Kol Nidre/My Name Is Yussel". (The album is The Jazz Singer for you Kol Nidre fans.) His original Hot August Night album is one of the best live albums of all-time.
So needless to say I was excited to read the New York Times' profile on Neil Diamond. I'm really glad he's still going strong and not surprised he is still playing to packed houses. The man puts on one helluva show. It also seems incredible that his most recently released album Home Before Dark was recently #1 on the Billboard charts. I consider it a crime that he is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
As best we can tell, Diamond usually plays Gibson or Epiphone acoustic guitars. Epiphone released an all black Neil Diamond Gibson Epiphone Signature Guitar with diamonds on it a few years back. That is the one he's playing in the photo.
The Marathon Man of Pop (New York Times)
Neil Diamond Home Before Dark MP3's (Amazon)
Photo Courtesty of Whiper via Creative Commons License
Gibson's latest Guitar of the Month (GOTM) for August 2008 is the Shred V.
The Flying V could be one of the most iconic body shapes ever for an electric guitar. Gibson manufactured the first prototypes way back in the late '50s and had a short production run from 1958 through 1959.
However the Flying V rose up again like a phoenix once guitar players like Albert King and later Jimi Hendrix began using the guitar. Gibson began making the Flying V again in 1967 with an updated design and has kept them in the line up since.
The Shred V is a metal guitar player's axe with two screaming EMG 85s and a Khaler 2215K temolo system that can dive bomb from 35,000 feet. We've heard through friends that Skwisgaar Skwigelf has one in his arsenal.
Gibson Shred V Product Page (Zzounds.com)
