Archive for July, 2009
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
5-watt amps are all the rage these days and it looks like Marshall is going to get in on the action. The amp was unveiled at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho, London, by none other than Joe Bonamassa himself, this little crusher is a class A, five-watt amp with two ECC83s in the preamp, a single EL84 power valve through a 10-inch Celestion G10F-15 speaker. Featuring simple controls with just a volume, treble, middle and bass, this little amp has totally piqued our interest.
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Tags: Joe Bonamassa, marshall, marshall class5
Posted in Amps, News, Video | No Comments »
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
TinyLick.com is a free web-based service that enables guitarists to create and share their licks online. TinyLick.com is similar to the way TinyUrl.com or Bit.ly shortens internet addresses, this site shortens guitar licks into links you can use to share your licks through usenet, email and Twitter. (more…)
Tags: Tablature, Tabs, tinylick.com, website
Posted in Accessories, Instruction, News, Reviews | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
I had the distinct pleasure of getting a behind-the-scenes look at how the folks at VHT Amplifiers build some of the best priced, best sounding point-to-point, hand wired amplifiers on the market today. For those of you not familiar with VHT the name has been around for almost 20 years. VHT has three main lines of amplifiers - the “Classic Series“, the “Lead Series” and the “Standard Series“. The “Standard Series” are their hand wired amplifiers that are assembled in Brisbane, CA just south of San Francisco, CA. We’ve written about VHT amplifiers before both here and here and at the risk of sounding like fanboys, after getting a chance to hear these amps in person only served to solidify our opinion that these are great sounding tone machines at some of the best prices available for hand wired amps.
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Tags: Amps, guitar amplifier, VHT, VHT Amplifiers
Posted in Amps, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 24th, 2009
In demonstrating proof that some great legends never sell out, Jimmy Page has ruled out the possibility of a “Guitar Hero: Led Zeppelin”. After bands like The Beatles, Metallica and Aerosmith made their likeness and songs available to the makers of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Jimmy Page has stood firm in his belief that Led Zeppelin would not translate well to video game format.
Just don’t tell him that we’ve all spent countless times in our bedrooms, guitar in hand and Led Zep blasting over the stereo, pretending we were on stage with Led Zeppelin…
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Tags: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero, Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, rock band, the beatles
Posted in Accessories, Bedroom Rockstars, News | 1 Comment »
Monday, July 20th, 2009
The twice annual NAMM show took place this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee and hear at Fretbase we’ll be working hard these next few weeks to get our loyal readers up to speed on the newest guitars and gear announced at the show. Of course, we’re big Martin Guitar fans here at Fretbase so we’ll start with a new Martin 12-string signature model. The Martin D12 David Crosby is an all solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides 12-string made the way David Crosby likes it. That means it has a long scale but only 12 frets. That also means that the top isn’t just any spruce. It is a Carpathian spruce. And the unique nature of the guitar doesn’t stop there. There is also Paua shell in the rosette.
Martin D12 David Crosby on Fretbase
David Crosby on Fretbase
Tags: acoustic, David Crosby, Martin
Posted in Guitars | No Comments »
Monday, July 20th, 2009
Want to work on your metal chops with a guy who has played in Megadeth, King Diamond, Testament and Eidolon? Canadian guitarist Glen Drover is offering guitar lessons in 30 or 60 minute sessions via Skype or MSN. You’ll need a webcam and a microphone too so you can communicate with Mr. Drover.
According to Glen online vs. in-person lessons “are really not that different. It works the same. I’ve met some really cool guys online. You can communicate the same. It’s equally as productive online as it is in-person, as long as you have a good Internet connection and a good quality web cam.”
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
If there’s one thing we’ve learned working here at Fretbase it’s that everyone loves something for free. Giveaways are hugely popular among our readers so when we’re learned about Roland giving away CUBE amplifiers we just had to post on it.
Roland’s “One in a Million” contest will give the first place winner one of every CUBE amplifier Roland currently manufactures, 14 in total. Second place will have a choice of five CUBE amps, and third place will have a choice of three CUBE amps. The only requirement to enter is to own (or borrow or steal) a CUBE amp because you’ll need a picture with you and the CUBE amp. You probably have to be a certain age too but we’ll let you dig through the rules. Creativity counts here too folks - a panel of judges at Roland will be critiquing your composition.
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Tags: amplifers, Contest, Giveaway, guitar amplifier, roland, roland CUBE
Posted in Amps, News | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Are you a fan of relic’d guitars? Lately we’ve been hearing more and more about relic guitars, especially after Fender announced the Road Worn series. One of the drawbacks we’ve noticed with the Fender Road Worn guitar is that each of the Strats and Teles all have the same wear and tear marks. You basically lose what is probably the best part of a worn out guitar - it’s uniqueness.
Well we’ve found a great alternative for you. Rittenhouse Guitars makes custom built relic guitars that individually constructed and given their own unique look and feel. In addition Abe Rittenhouse only uses top quality parts, including Lollar pickups (you can also request your favorite brand if you like).
But it gets even better…
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Tags: Giveaway, guitar, relic, rittenhouse
Posted in News | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
When times are tough, people start selling pieces of history (actually, people sell anything they can) and today comes a story about yet another guitar that sells on the auction block. At a Christie’s auction, a 1958 Hofner Senator originally played by John Lennon sold for $337,226 at auction. The guitar sold with a fax of a 1982 letter from George Harrison confirming that the guitar was owned by John Lennon and used for songwriting purposes. Lennon originally bought the instrument in 1959. My guess is that he paid less than what it just sold for.
John Lennon Guitar Sells for $337,000 at Auction (Gibson Lifestyle)
Tags: Hofner, John Lennon
Posted in Guitars, News | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
An emotional public memorial was held today for Michael Jackson at the Los Angeles Staples Center. The ceremony was attended by thousands and watched by millions across the world. Some of celebrities that paid tribute included Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson and guitarist John Mayer.
John Mayer paid tribute to Michael Jackson by performing an instrumental version of Jackson’s Human Nature. We’ve managed to already find a video of Mayer’s performance for you to watch. Check it out… (more…)
Tags: John Mayer, Michael Jackson
Posted in News, Video | 5 Comments »
