Archive for August, 2009
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Every so often somebody (and I’m not naming names) will get interested in a certain guitar. And once that person is interested in that guitar, they want to find that guitar everywhere it is available online. But how to remember all of the great online guitar stores? Maybe with Fretbase?
To make you guitar shopping even that much easier (yes, we want you all to have the pleasure of the smell of a new guitar), we have created a single page with links to all of the top online guitar stores. Did we miss one? Just e-mail us and let us know. We’ll get it in. But we might not be able to do that right away. We might still be searching all of these stores for the perfect Martin D-18.
Fretbase List of the Best Online Guitar Stores
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
We had a friend from Monster Cable recently take a trip over to Bletchley, England to visit the famous Marshall Amp factory to take a look behind the scenes at one of the most iconic amplifier manufacturers in the world. Everyone from Eric Clapton to Zakk Wylde has been seen alongside a Marshall amplifier and we’re going to give you a peek behind the scenes where some of the most rockin’est amps ever were built.
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Tags: Amps, guitar amplifier, marshall
Posted in Amps | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
We have never been afraid to admit that we are big fans of Martin Guitars. Heck, between the two of us we own 4 of them (and we’re still working on expanding the collection). So when the company announced that it was releasing 13 new models at the Summer NAMM show, we knew we had to work fast to get them onto Fretbase. And so we did. We’re probably most excited by the new Martin D-16 Adirondack (shown at left). Lately we’re drawn to mahogany bodies and there is something about the color of Adirondack Spruce offered at a reasonable price that just gets us salivating. And of course the Martin D Flamed Mahogany is just plain good for dreaming. Read on for the full list of new Martin Models.
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Tags: acoustic, Martin
Posted in Guitars | No Comments »
Monday, August 24th, 2009
In connection with the release of the new documentary It Might Get Loud, Time Magazine music critic Josh Tyrangiel has published a list of the 10 best electric guitar players. From our standpoint, the only thing this list stands out for is its lack of originality. Still, we’re darn excited about seeing It Might Get Loud so we’re still going to go ahead and publish the list. Read on for the entire list.
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Tags: b.b. king, Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, It Might Get Loud, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Johnny Ramone, Keith Richards, Les Paul, Prince, Slash, yngwie malmsteen
Posted in Uncategorized | 167 Comments »
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
A ways back we covered the announcement that the Gibson Custom Shop was reissuing the 1962 Epiphone Wilshire with a 100 instrument run and a street price around $2,900.00 USD. Epiphone followed that up with the Epiphone Wilshire Limited Edition - an “economical” ($250 street) version of the guitar with humbuckers and block inlays and a slightly more “Fender-esque” body shape.
Now we have the Epiphone Wilshire 1966 with NY Mini-humbuckers and in Aged Cherry, Worn Cherry and Worn Black finishes for the vintage vibe.
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Tags: Epiphone, Mini-Humbuckers, Wilshire
Posted in Guitars, News | 2 Comments »
Sunday, August 16th, 2009
We’re old school here at Fretbase. When we want to play like Johnny Cash, we don’t turn on a video game. Rather, we pick up a Martin D-35 and start working on playing “Hurt.” But the tide is turning. According to Wikipedia, Guitar Hero has now earned more than $2 billion in sales worldwide and its popularity can’t be underestimated. And let’s be honest, once the Beatles started doing it you had to imagine a lot of major artists or their estates would start making their songs and likenesses available for games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
So it is no surprise that we learned from Kotaku today that Johnny Cash will be featured in Guitar Hero 5. We hope the man in black isn’t rolling in his grave. If it is any consolation, it does sort of look like him in the video.
To see the video preview, see the whole story.
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Posted in Guitar Video Games, Video | 2 Comments »
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Les Paul, jazz guitarist and famed designer of the Gibson Les Paul has passed away today at the age of 94. According to news reports Les Paul died from complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital with family and friends at his side.
Les Paul is probably best known as one of the pioneers in the development of the solid-body guitar electric guitar. Born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Les Paul began his musical career at age 8 playing harmonica and later banjo and then the guitar. Unhappy with acoustic guitars Les Paul built the now famous “Log” which comprised of a 4″x4″ piece of wood bridge, guitar neck, and pickup with Epiphone body attached for appearance. The big problem Les Paul solved with “The Log” was feedback. The solid piece of wood helped reduce the feedback that was common in hollow body electrics.
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Tags: Gibson, gibson les paul, Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, Les Paul, multitrack recording
Posted in Guitars, News, Video | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
BOSS has added the classic ‘63 Fender Reverb pedal to their line up of Fender stompbox pedals. They’ve already released the BOSS FDR-1 Fender ‘65 Deluxe Reverb Amp and the BOSS FBM-1 Fender ‘59 Bassman. Technically the FDR-1 and FBM-1 are Overdrive/Distortion pedals while BOSS ‘63 Fender Reverb pedal is a take on the classic spring reverb unit.
Fender does have a reissue of the classic, tube-driven reverb tank called the Fender ‘63 Reverb Unit. But these units for about $750.00. BOSS has managed to squeeze much of that great reverb tone into one of their stompboxes and for a fraction of the price. Check out the video with Steve Trovato demonstrating the versatility and tone of the new pedal.
Check out the video.
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Tags: boss
Posted in Accessories, Amps, News | No Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
If you’re a guitar player like me, chances are you like bringing a couple axes to the show. Besides the obvious “backup” guitar scenario, there’s always the excuse that songs require different tones and a different guitar. I mean nothing is cooler than switching from one guitar to another midset, right?
Anywho… the folks over at Mono, whose bag is bags, have developed a guitar case that lets you carry two guitars in one gig bag. Now I know what you’re thinking - gig bags aren’t gonna protect my 1960 Strat. But they’ve developed a special “Neckbrace” design that provides a level of protection worthy of the finest instruments. Check this thing out.
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Tags: gig bag, gigs, Mono M80
Posted in Accessories, Guitars | 3 Comments »
Sunday, August 9th, 2009
Now who doesn’t want a guitar with laser beams, right? Well the Talon from Basone Guitars has decided that putting a 10 milliwatt military-grade laser embedded into the headstock is just the thing to make your next solo “killer” or at least blindingly good.
Basone Guitars, a Vancouver based company, builds hand crafted guitars as well as doing repairs and customizations. For this half guitar, half weapon they’ve used chambered Honduran Mahogany for the body and carved Maple top along with a special body-to-headstock connector thing-a-ma-jig. Check it out.
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Tags: basone, lasers, talon
Posted in Guitars | No Comments »
