Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Buskers of the world take note: Roland has a new battery powered acoustic guitar amplifier that comes in just under $400.00 USD. Your days of being drowned out by the din of passersby are over! Here comes the days of wine and roses, and money filled guitar cases, and maybe the occasional applause of your listeners.
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Guitar amplifiers have come a long way since the early days of electric guitars. However, innovations in technology may not have made the impact on the industry that was expected. Vintage equipment such as tube amps still reign as the royalty of the industry. Tube amps still provide the warmest sound with the highest quality. These amps are the tried-and-true favorites of most electric guitar playing musicians on Earth today. However, solid-state technology has always come in as a close second in the contest of guitar tube amp vs. solid-state.
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Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Orange is announcing new additions to the popular Rockerverb series of amps called the Rockerverb II. The new Rockerverb II builds upon the original Rockerverb by adding enhancements to the reverb, F/X loop and controls. They’ve also added EL34 valves to a 50-watt combo version of the amp.
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
Tuned in Fretbase reader Matt sent us this video. It features John Petrucci walking through what is probably the most amazing set of guitars and gear we’ve ever seen in our lives. Seriously. This guy’s rig is amazing. You’ll have to check out the video to see what I’m talking about.
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Good news for Line 6 Spider IV and Valve MkII owners. Today Line 6 announced three free updates that deliver a host of effect models and a computer-based editor-librarian to Spider IV and Spider Valve MkII guitar amplifiers: Spider IV Edit, Spider Valve MkII Edit, and Spider FX Infusion software. Free software! What’s not to like? Check out the details…
Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
As far as we’re concerned, there is no better way to ring in the new year with a new guitar. And Gibson Guitar is ringing in the new year with two. Yesterday, Brian wrote a great story about the new Jimmy Page Number Two Gibson Les Paul. And today we’re seeing the release of the Gibson Keb’ Mo’ Bluesmaster - a guitar that seems like it came straight the early 1900’s deep south - but customized for modern players like the guitar’s namesake - Keb’ Mo’.
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
A new amplifier company named Grid 1 is launching a line of amplifiers powered by rechargeable lithium batteries. Their first amp is the G1 BPT212 60-watt dual channel combo with 2 x 12 Eminence “Neo” speakers. According to Grid 1 the amp can be run for up to 4-6 hours off a single charge on the batteries and the amp doesn’t weigh more than any comparable tube amp it’s size. Your days of lugging a generator to an outdoor gig are over!!
Monday, December 7th, 2009
VHT Amps has released a new set of amps called The Special featuring 6-watts of hand-wired goodness in a combo with a minimum advertised price of $199.99 USD. Yes you read that right - a hand-wired 6-watt, tube-driven combo for less than $200 bucks. They also offer the VHT Special 6 in head and cab version as well with the head at $179.99 and the cabinet at $149.99.
The Special 6 also features a High/Low power switch that enhances low-volume tones with extra-smooth richness (when in half-power mode). It’s a great feature for recording, or for low-volume “bedroom” players. In high-power mode, it’s one of the few amps in its class that is loud enough to compete with a strong drummer.
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
Paul Reed Smith has just announced a new amplifier called the PRS 30 Combo. The new amp features four of EL84 tubes with a control layout similar to PRS’s Dallas model that was announced a year ago at Winter NAMM 2009. The PRS 30 Combo has a 12” ET65 WGS speaker, reverb and a bright switch. PRS describes it’s tone as “an English sound with an American twist.”
“The PRS 30 Combo offers classic EL84 tones with some special tweaks to the EQ section that give it a character all of its own. All this in a compact but powerful package… the PRS 30 Combo excels at everything from Country to Classic Rock to Blues,” said PRS Amplifier Business Unit Manager Michael Clark.
Thursday, November 26th, 2009
Tomorrow represents one of the most important days in the holiday shopping season and many retailers look at the 4th quarter as a make or break time of the year. To help “juice” the season Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is filled with deals and specials that can’t be found at any other time during the year.
We’ve put together a list of retailers and manufacturers that are putting on Black Friday deals as well as holiday specials to help you find that perfect gift for the musician in your life. Check it out.
