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Gibson Officially Announces Slash ‘Appetite For Destruction’ Les Paul

Cary — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:00:10 +0000

Well, they’ve been talking about it off and on for months, and a few photos have even gone around the web, but Gibson yesterday officially announced the release of their new Slash ‘Appetite For Destruction’ Les Paul, and based on the photos it’s a real beauty (take a look at that wood grain, yum…)

To honor the Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revolver guitarist, and apparently based on classic Les Paul Standards circa 1958-1960, this latest Custom Shop creation will sport the aformetioned gorgeous two-piece “reverse-chevron” Grade AAA figured maple top, which has been finished in a nitrocellulose “Unburst” lacquer, and fastened on top of a chambered, or “weight-relieved” mahogany body.

Electronics will include a pair of Seymour Duncan Signature Series Alnico II Pro Slash humbuckers, which are meant to recreate Gibson’s highly-prized PAF humbuckers from the late ’50s and early ’60s, along with traditional 3-way pickup switching, individual Tone and Volume knobs for each pickup, and a Switchraft 1/4″ output jack.

Other stand-out features are expected to include a single-piece, Grade A, quarter-sawn neck of mahogany w/slim ’60s neck profile, a rosewood fretboard (12″ radius) with 22 jumbo frets, trapezoid fret marker inlays, TonePros Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece, Tone Pro Kluson-style Crème Key tuners w/press-in bushings, a high-density Corian nut, and a custom Slash graphic on the headstock.

The Gibson Slash Appetite for Destruction Les Paul will ship in a plush-lined black Gibson hardshell case with a silk-screened Slash logo on the front and an owner’s manual, and is currently selling for a street price of just over $2800… actually surprisingly cheap compared to some other recent Gibson Custom Shop creations.

1 comment

Slash Talks About The Gibson ‘Appetite For Destruction’ Les Paul

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Gibson Unveils 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD

Cary — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:01:16 +0000

Well, I was thoroughly entrenched at San Francisco International Airport, anxiously awaiting lift-off for New Orleans (and Mardi Gras, baby!) when Gibson announced their latest Custom Shop extravaganza –– the new 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD.

That was nearly a week ago, but today I finally got a few minutes to do some research on it.

Like other recent editions from Gibson’s venerable Custom Shop, this beauty appears to be well out of range of your average guitarist (myself included,) with MSRPs hovering in the mid-$5,000 to low-$6,000 range… but it’s a looker for sure, and I have no doubt it’s something to behold… Just wish I could afford to play one.

According to Gibson, the ES-335 changed quite a bit over the course of 1960, but to celebrate the Golden Anniversary of this classic guitar the Custom Shop has chosen to reproduce the so-called “fast neck profile” model –– arguably the most unique version of the 335 to come out that year.

Among other things, the 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335 will feature a laminated-maple body (top, back and sides,) with a solid maple centerblock, choice of three different VOS-aged nitrocellulose finishes (Antique Natural, Antique Faded Cherry, and Antique Vintage Sunburst,) period-correct hardware, and a one-piece mahogany neck with maple spline and 12″ radius rosewood fretboard.

Electronics are expected to include traditional “insert” Tone and Volume knobs, bumble-bee capacitors, a 1/4″ Switchcraft output jack, and a duo of Gibson’s accurate PAF reproductions –– the 57 Classic humbuckers.

Additionally, according to Gibson’s write-up the neck on the ES-335TD has been totally re-tooled for accurate truss rod profile and channel depth, utilizing scans of by the Custom Shop’s Engineering Team.

The Gibson 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD will ship with a silk-screened Custom Shop hardshell case with black pleather exterior, charcoal plush interior, a Certificate of Authenticity, and all the usual goodies and documentation. Prices range from $5645 to $6115.

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Gibson Announces Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul Standard

Cary — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:27:49 +0000

Well, it looks like Gibson is releasing yet another Custom Shop reproduction of a much-coveted classic Les Paul –– this time in three different versions to capture three distinct personalities of the transitional 1960 Les Paul Standard.

Dubbed the 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul Standard, the guitars will feature period-accurate accoutrements including the now classic tonewood combination of carved maple top with solid mahogany back, old-school PAF-style BurstBucker humbuckers with Alnico II magnets, long-tenon neck joint, a back-angled headstock, and a traditional thin nitrocellulose finish.

Version One of the guitar is expected to feature a full-size, single-piece mahogany neck with rounded neck profile, top-hat control knobs, and will be available in one of two finishes: Heritage Dark Sunburst or Heritage Cherry Sunburst. It will also sport a 1960 serial number stamped into the headstock back, along with the R0 serial number of the 50th Anniversary model.

Version Two will feature a thinner, but still slightly rounded and elliptical neck profile, which was apparently based on scans of a number of ’60s LPs taken by Gibson’s Custom Historic and Engineering team. The guitar will be available in two “faded” finishes: Sunset Tea Burst or Light Iced Tea.

Version Three of the guitar will feature a classic slim-taper neck, double-band tuners, a set of gold top-hat control knobs with silver inserts, and a colorfast Cherry Sunburst finish that painstakingly recreates Gibson’s finishing process from the later part of 1960.

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul Standards will be built in a limited run of just 500 instrument all together, and will ship with a hardshell case and a 50th Anniversary Certificate of Authenticity. MSRP is currently set at $8,504.

6 comments

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Fender Busts Out With Acoustic/Electric Hybrid: The Acoustasonic Tele

Cary — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:38:48 +0000

Wow… I definitely didn’t see this one coming, and I have to say I love the design. Check out that rosewood Telecaster bridge! Very cool looking guitar. And Fender has apparently built a truly usable Electric/Acoustic hybrid guitar if word from the NAMM demonstrations are any indication.

According to Fender, the new Acoustasonic Tele packs both traditional Telecaster tone and feel (note the Custom Shop Twisted Tele pickup in the neck position,) and a believable acoustic guitar component (via a Fishman Piezo Pickup and on-board Aura pre-amp,) into a single, and rather traditional looking Fender package.

The guitar is built utilizing a chambered Ash body with a Spruce wedge center block, and sports a modern “C” shaped maple neck with satin finish (25.5″ scale length,) a rosewood fretboard (9.5″ radius,) and 21 MJ frets.

Of course, the real stand-out here is in the electronics department: as mentioned before the Acoustasonic Tele sports a Twisted Tele single-coil at the bridge, but raises the bar with a full suite of acoustic guitar sounds via an under-saddle Piezo pickup, active Tone control, a trio of PC-board mounted trim pots for volume adjustment, and and 18-volt bridge-mounted pre-amp with four pre-sets emulating various acoustic guitar tones.

Interestingly, while I don’t see it mentioned on Fender’s official website, according to a product write-up at one of the big online guitar retailers, the Acoustasonic Tele sports a “braceless graphite composite top with a directional woodgrain-like pattern that reacts and sounds like spruce.” Huh?

The guitar comes in your choice of Olympic White or 3-Color-Sunburst, and ships with a Deluxe gig bag. It’s currently selling for a street price right around $1,000. I’ll get you more info as it becomes available.

5 comments

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Gretsch Pays Homage To Eddie Cochran With Custom Shop Tribute G6120

Cary — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:11:53 +0000

It never fails that as soon as I think it’s safe to peruse Gretsch’s website again they announce yet another gorgeous instrument designed to steal my hard earned money from me.. Argggh!

Case in point: the company this week announced an incredibly limited run (just 50 instruments) of G6120 hollowbodies, in tribute to early guitar legend Eddie Cochran.

According to Gretsch, the guitar, which is being built by master luthier Stephen Stern and his team at the Gretsch Custom Shop, will be a faithful replica of Cochran’s original, though modified, 6120 –– now residing in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

Dubbed the G6120EC Eddie Cochran Tribute, the guitar will feature a laminated maple top finished in Vintage Western Maple stain, laminated maple back and sides with parallel tone bar bracing, single cutaway body shape, three-piece neck of Maple/Walnut/Maple, and a 9″ radius rosewood fingerboard.

Some stand-out features will include inlay markers of “Cactus, Steerheads & Fences,” multiple body, headstock, and fretboard binding, a pearloid Steerhead and Gretsch logo inlaid on headstock, bound F-holes (oversized,) translucent plexi pickguard, gold “Painted” aluminum Bigsby tailpiece, Relic’d gold-plated hardware, and an aluminum nut.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the Eddie Cochran Tribute G6120 though lies in its electronics–– as per the original, which was apparently modified by Cochran, the guitar sports not a pair of DynaSonic single-coils, but just one single-coil pickup at the bridge position and a dog ear p-90 at the neck.

The guitar will ship with distressed hardware, distressed (read Relic’d) nitrocellulose lacquer, and a premium white western case. Only 50 Cochran Tribute guitars will be produced world wide. List price is currently set at $12,000.00

Care to comment?

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Fender Reveals New ‘American Special’ Line Of Guitars

Cary — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:37:34 +0000

Well, it’s NAMM time again folks, and that means new guitars and gear coming out of the woodwork. For its part, Fender this week announced the release of a whole new line of guitars, dubbed the American Specials.

Comprised of the American Special Telecaster, American Special Stratocaster, and American Special Stratocaster HSS, this latest edition to Fender’s line-up is apparently aimed at the mid-market, bringing American Made quality to the sub-$1,000 price range.

All three guitars are decked out with alder bodies finished in gloss urethane, modern “C” shaped maple necks (9.5″ radius,) 22 jumbo frets, ’70s-style oversized headstock decals, and Texas Special singlecoil pickups (with the HSS Strat sporting an Atomic humbucker at the bridge.)

They also feature Fender’s Greasebucket tone circuit, allowing you to roll off the high-end with out adding copious amounts of bass (a really nice feature IMHO.)

Other features of the line-up will include an old-school string-through-body bridge with three brass saddles on the American Special Telecaster (the guitar comes in your choice of Olympic White or Three-color Sunburst.)

And the American Special Strat will be armed with a “vintage style” synchronized tremolo (the guitar is finished in either Candy Apple Red or Two-color Sunburst,) while the Stratocaster HSS will sport a rosewood fretboard, synchronized tremolo, and of course that Atomic bridge humbucker (the guitar comes in either Black or Three-color Sunburst finish.)

The guitars will ship with Deluxe gigbags, and are currently selling for a street price of hovering in the $800 range… a great price for and American made Fender… I’ll be interested to see how they handle.

3 comments

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Gibson Unveils Jimmy Page ‘Number Two’ Les Paul Replica

Cary — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:27:50 +0000

Lordy, they’re trying to kill me… Gibson this week finally pulled the veil on their latest super-high-end Custom Shop re-creation (read: cha-ching!) –– a painstaking replica of Jimmy Page’s iconic “Number Two” Les Paul.

Based on Page’s original ‘59 Les Paul ‘Burst –– which was massively modified by the guitarist in order to explore its full tonal capabilities –– the Jimmy Page ‘Number Two’ Les Paul will sport a number of custom features, including a switching system built to re-produce the numerous coil splitting, series/parallel, and phase-reverse options of Page’s original instrument; all via push/pull pots on the four control knobs, and a pair of hidden switches beneath the pickguard.

Other custom specs will include a one-piece body of genuine mahogany capped by a “uniquely figured” two-piece Eastern maple top, a single-piece, quarter-sawn mahogany neck carefully grain-matched to the body for improved tone and sustain, and a pair of Jimmy Page BurstBucker pickups; covered version at the neck, uncovered w/black bobbins at the bridge.

The guitar will also feature a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets and a 12″ radius, aged acrylic trapezoid inlays, and tortoise side dots, while top shelf hardware will include 12:01 ratio Grover tuners, a tune-o-matic bridge, light-weight aluminum stop bar tailbar, and a period-correct antique bell truss rod cover.

As with previous high-end Custom Shop Replicas, the Gibson Jimmy Page “Number Two” Les Paul will be made available in extremely limited quantities, and will come in three different finishes: 25 guitars will be aged by Tom Murphy and signed by Jimmy Page, 100 guitars will be simply aged, and a final 200 will be available in a VOS model.

The guitars are expected to sell for a street price of $25,882, $15,294, and $11,176 respectively, and will ship with a black pleather Custom Shop case silkscreened with Page’s signature, an interior of maroon crushed velvet, and a leather-bound Certificate of Authenticity.

6 comments

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‘Vintage Guitar’ Reviews The Marshall 1974X And 2061X Handwired

Cary — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:43:39 +0000

Ooh, there’s a nice in-depth review of the 1974X and 2061X amplifiers –– each a part of Marshall’s high-end handwired series –– over at Vintage Guitar Magazine’s website.

I’ve spent a small amount of time with the 1974X (basically a handwired version of the popular Bluesbreaker model,) and I absolutely loved it, but so far I haven’t managed to get any time in on the 2061X.

Vintage Guitar has nothing but good to say of both of these models, and i’m not surprised… the handwired series has been getting rave reviews all around. According to their review, the 1974X, with its growling overdrive and sustain, is probably more suited to rock than the 2061X, which doesn’t produce as much gain, and is probably better suited for blues.

Both amps were built to produce classic Marshall tone at volume levels that mere mortals can attain (though not necessarily at “living room” volume,) and both models feature “extremely well-crafted” cabinets built of high-grade birch plywood and authentically vintage gold-fronted Marshall logos.

The 1974X is currently fetching a street price of around $2300, while the 2061X head plus cabinet is selling for around $2500. For more info check out Vintage Guitar Magazine’s full review.

2 comments

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Gibson Releases Les Paul Tribute 1952 Goldtop

Cary — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:02:39 +0000

Hot on the heels of their Epiphone branded Les Paul Tribute Standard, Gibson this week announced the release of a high-end Custom Shop model –– the Les Paul Tribute 1952 –– in honor of the legendary musician/innovator behind the name, Les Paul himself.

Billed as the closest match yet to Les’ original specs, the guitar looks to be a beauty of classic styling and guitar-history nostalgia… even the brass trapeze tailpiece and top-wrapped bridge (a Les Paul patented creation,) are present and accounted for.

According to Gibson the Les Paul Tribute 1952 is being built around a two-piece mahogany body (Grade-A) that’s been topped with a two-piece maple top (Grade-C,) and glued together with super-strong Franklin Titebond 50 glue.

And as per the earliest LP models, the guitar will be hand-finished with Gold nitrocellulose on the top (90-sheen lacquer –– no poly here) while the rim, back and neck have been left to show off that Grade-A mahogany grain, and coated with a high-gloss lacquer.

Other stand-out features will include a solid quarter-sawn Grade-A mahogany neck with ’50s neck profile, headstock with Gibson logo inlaid in mother of pearl and“prototype” stamped into the back, and a 22-fret fretboard of Grade-A mahogany (12″ radius,) with acrylic trapezoid inlays and antique neck binding.

Electronics will include a pair of cream-colored single-coil P-90 pickups, dual Volume controls with Gold Speedvolume knobs, dual Tone controls with Gold Speedtone knobs, 3-way pickup switching via toggle switch, and a Switchcraft 1/4″ outback jack. Tuners are vintage-style, with press-in bushings.

The Gibson Les Paul Tribute 1952 will ship with a hardshell case and Certificate of Authenticity, including a photo of Les Paul and detailed specs of the instrument. It carries an MSRP of $5,581.00.

5 comments

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Gibson Giving Away Tickets To Les Paul Tribute Concert, Plus A Les Paul Studio

Cary — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:46:02 +0000

Sweet… according to Gibson this morning the company will be giving away ten pairs of tickets to the upcoming Les Paul Tribute Concert –– to be held November 19th at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN –– with one lucky winner receiving a grand prize of not only two tickets to the concert, but also a wine red Les Paul Studio.

The concert, commemorating the music legend, recording innovator, and namesake behind Gibson’s iconic guitar, will feature Les’s band The Les Paul Trio as house band, along with musician Steve Miller –– they’ll apparently be playing a mixture of Les Paul’s music and instrumentals.

According to Gibson––

Joining Steve Miller for the show will be rock’s elite including Ace Frehley, Zakk Wylde, Charlie Daniels and Jennifer Batten. Joining them will be contemporary artist Josh Kelly and Nashville’s own country hit-makers John Rich, Emerson Drive, JD Souther and Steve Wariner…

While the company doesn’t give official specs for the guitar they are giving away, a photo at the bottom of the official Gibson Les Paul Tribute Concert Giveaway page suggests the instrument will be a standard Les Paul Studio in wine red finish, decked out in gold hardware… Good luck!

Care to comment?

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Vintage Guitar Puts Fender’s G.E. Smith Tele Through Its Paces

Cary — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:10:38 +0000

When Fender first announced its G.E. Smith Signature Telecaster back in early 2007 I immediately attempted to get my hands on one for review, but alas, these beauties just aren’t that easy to come by.

I’ve been particularly intrigued by the instrument’s body-mounted bridge pickup, which should help mitigate traditional Tele feedback issues in high-gain situations (something I’ve wrestled with at times with my Tele Thinline,) while also adding a bit of mid-range thickness to this famously twangy guitar.

And hey, those lap steel-inspired fretboard inlays are pretty sweet too.

Fast forward to October 2009, and Vintage Guitar Magazine has managed to publish a full online review of the G.E. Smith Telecaster over on their website, including an insightful interview with Smith himself discussing the details of his Signature Tele––

What was the inspiration behind the unique features of your signature Telecaster?
I think a lot of it was playing my ‘48 Fender lap steel. I was looking at it one day, and I could just see how Leo could have looked at that, and birthed the Telecaster from it. The pickup, knobs, and finish in many ways make it look like a little Tele. That’s where it all started. Playing the ‘48 and just digging its sound – very fat.

You can find the interview with Smith, along with the review of Fender’s G.E. Smith Telecaster in its entirety, over at Vintage Guitar’s impeccable website. Check it out.

2 comments

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Epiphone Announces Suped-Up Emperor “Swingster” Hollowbody

Cary — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:18:54 +0000

Epiphone this week announced the resurgence of their classic Emperor Hollowbody in a new suped-up package officially dubbed the Emperor Swingster.

The guitar (shown here in Wine Red) is expected to feature a newly updated set of pickups designed specifically for the Swingster (Epiphone SwingBuckers?) along with a push/pull tone knob for tapping standard and parallel wiring schemes, a “pinned” tune-o-matic bridge with rosewood base and roller saddle, and an old school Bigsby B60 vibrato tailpiece armed with traditional-style “wire” arm.

The Emperor Swingster will also sport a short 24-1/2″ scale length, for easier fingering of unwieldy jazz chord inversions, a fairly flat 14″ neck radius (arguably a boon for quick jazz comping,) and the whole thing will apparently be topped off with 5-ply headstock, body and neck binding.

Standard features will include an arched top made of select spruce, body of laminated maple & birch, a three-piece maple neck, rosewood fingerboard with 20 medium-jumbo frets, and electronics including dual volume controls, dual tone controls, push/pull coil tapping, and 3-way pickup switching.

The Swingster will be available in three different polyurethane finishes: Wine Red, Sunrise Orange, and Translucent Black, and is expected to sell for a street price of just under $700.00, sans case.

1 comment

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Gibson Announces Limited Run Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood

Cary — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:05:38 +0000

Well, it’s that time again folks… time for the boys and girls with the big bucks to throw down some serious scratch on yet another pre-destined collector’s item––Gibson’s new limited run Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood.

All right, while I’m fairly sure I myself will never purchase one of these Artist Replica-type instruments, I can certainly see the appeal… it just seems a real shame that most of them will never actually get played, and will more than likely while away their years on a collector’s wall.

Then again, next to some recent forays into big name replicas (remember Fender’s $24,000 Blackie replica?) the Jeff Back ‘54 Oxblood looks almost affordable at an MSRP of $8235. Hahaha.

Based on the heavily modified ‘54 Les Paul that Beck picked up at a Memphis, Tenn. music store back in the ’70s, the Jeff Beck Oxblood will feature a deep chocolate-brown finish (apparently Oxblood in the right light,) a pair of Gibson’s top-of-the-line Burstbucker PAF reproductions (the guitar had it’s original P-90s swapped out before Beck even purchased it,) and a slightly thinner rounded ’50s neck shape (another pre-Beck alteration.)

Other features will include a single-piece light mahogany back, accurately-carved maple top, mahogany neck with long-tenon neck joint, and a light-aluminum wrapover bridge.

And if that weren’t enough, here’s the final skinny from Gibson––

Available in very limited numbers, the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood from Gibson Custom will come in two different series. The first 50 of these historic guitars will be carefully aged by the master luthiers at Gibson Custom to look exactly like Beck’s original, then personally hand-signed, numbered and played by Beck himself. The next 100 guitars will be prepared with Gibson Custom’s pioneering V.O.S. finish, bringing the total run to just 150 rare instruments. Each one also comes with a specially produced Gibson Custom case with Beck’s signature silkscreened on the top, a custom care kit and a certificate of authenticity.

I’m happy to note that unlike some previous big name replica sales, Guitar Center doesn’t appear to be the exclusive dealer for the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood (exclusivity on this scale just seems a bit un-democratic to me)––but don’t quote me on that.

8 comments

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Gibson’s New 1937 L-00 Legend… A Boy Can Dream, Right?

Cary — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:35:59 +0000

Okay, so I’ve been playing a lot of acoustic guitar recently (mostly fingerstyle blues and general Americana,) and I’ve developed a serious crush on this new re-issue from Gibson — the 1937 L-00 Legend.

Talk about a looker… check out that striped tortoise shell pickguard! Sure, I’d love an original L-00, but unfortunately I don’t have a spare $25,000 lying around, so I have to look elsewhere.

Still, I recently figured out that at a whopping $6880 list price, if I put aside $10 a week, every week, in another decade I can buy myself one on my 50th birthday! Hahaha!

Seriously though, I’ve spent a fair amount of quality time with the lower-cost (but still steep,) Gibson Blues King, and while I love the general feel and sound (yeah, I’m a sucker for a slim waisted guitar!) the L-00 Legend shares all that tone and vintage vibe, but in a much prettier package.

Next up on my list is the Martin 000-18: also highly drool-worthy.

So — what’s your dream acoustic guitar?

4 comments

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PRS Gets Back In The Amplifier Business

Cary — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:16:19 +0000

I’m still catching up on all the news coming out of the 2009 Winter NAMM show, but one of the bigger stories this year was that PRS Guitars is getting back in the business of amplifiers.

Apparently they’ve been collaborating with amp guru Doug Sewell for nearly four years to bring three new high-end guitar amps to market.

And they appear to be covering all the basses, with The Dallas and the Original Sewell producing a more traditional ’50s American amp tone, and the Blue Sierra harkening back to classic British tones with a bit of what PRS calls “Texas attitude” thrown in to boot.

Each of the new PRS amps are available as a 50-Watt Head, 100-Watt Head, 50-Watt 1×12 Combo, or 2×12 Comb (50-Watt or 100-Watt,) and as far as I can tell they are all tube-driven, as expected.

You’ll get a choice of EL34 or 6L6 tubes, and cabinets will be solid pine, available in closed back and open back configurations. No word on pricing or availability at this point.

I’ll be very interested to see how these pan out in the long run. Keep an eye out for a hands-on review if/when I can actually get me greedy paws on one.

2 comments

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Fender Shows Off ‘Road Worn’ Series, New Amps @ NAMM 2009

Cary — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:18:14 +0000

Yep, it’s that time again… Winter NAMM 2009 is now in full swing, and even though difficulties in my offline life have kept me from attending for the last two years straight, I’m certainly there in spirit!

The big news from Fender this season (at least as far as electric guitar enthusiasts are concerned,) is the official release of their new Road Worn Series of guitars and basses.

These instruments are basically lower-cost Relics –– coming off the assembly line looking like they’ve already seen a few decades of sweaty, grimy, nicotine-stained bar band mayhem.

The Road Worn Series guitars –– made up of the ’50s Strat, ’60s Strat, and ’50s Tele –– are all selling for less than $1,000, while the ‘50 P Bass, and ’60s J Bass are hovering in the $1200 range.

At this point I haven’t heard where these are being built (though Fender’s Mexican factory seems likely,) and I’ll be interested to see how they stand up to the Custom Shop Relics when it comes to authenticity. Still, Fender went back to a Nitro finish on these babies, so who knows?

The other big news is the release of the Band Master VM Head, Band Master VM 212 cabinet, and the Deluxe VM Combo… both amps are suped-up versions of their all-analog predecessors, now boasting traditional Blackface tube-amp goodness mixed with essential onboard digital effects, including reverb, chorus/vibrato, and delay.

No word yet on pricing or availability.

11 comments

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Sweetwater Gets Exclusive Limited Edition Silverburst Les Paul

Cary — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:32:14 +0000

Okay, I still get some many questions about Gibson’s gorgeous Silverburst that I thought I’d best point this out to you all before the stock is all sold out.

Online instrument retailer Sweetwater (no affiliation,) has apparently received a shipment of just 25 exclusive Limited Edition Silverburst Les Paul Standards––and at last check they still had 21 of them left.

Based on the photos (and yes, in typical Sweetwater fashion there are individual photos of ALL 25 guitars,) this exclusive edition is sporting a truly intense teardrop shaped burst pattern on front and back, plus all the usual bells and whistles you’d expect from an LP Standard.

The guitar also features Gibson’s new “weight relieved” body (read: strategically chambered,) a pair of ‘57 Classic humbuckers, ’60s neck profile, trapezoid fingerboard inlays, dual Volume & Tone controls, 3-way pickup switching, stopbar tailpiece, tune-o-matic bridge, and of course a “Les Paul” signature on the headstock.

Sweetwater’s new exclusive Gibson Silverburst LP is selling for a retail price of $3199.00.

5 comments

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Fender Giving Away An Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster

Cary — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:38:00 +0000

Okay all you hair-metal-heads (are there any of those left? Quick, show of hands!) here’s your chance to win a frighteningly scalloped Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Strat––signed by the madman himself.

This is apparently a PR move to bring some awareness to the upcoming release (November 28th, 2008) of the new Fender Custom Shop limited edition Yngwie Malmsteen Tribute Series “Play Loud” Replica.

However, make no mistake; Fender isn’t giving away the new replica… it’s the older Signature Series Strat that is up for the offering. Still––a free guitar is a free guitar, right? Also, it’s no longer a matter of just giving Fener your e-mail and mailing address: now you have to create a Fender Profile.

Check it out at Fender’s Official Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster Giveaway page.

9 comments

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Reader Poll: Who The Hell Are You?

Cary — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:41:19 +0000

Funny, Electric Guitar Review has been in existence for over three years, and to be honest, other than the fact that most of you are rabid guitar freaks and gearheads, I really don’t know jack about any of you!

So, I thought it might be high-time I did a reader poll to learn a little more about you… I hope this will help me better target my content to your needs, and maybe make us all feel a bit more connected (okay, maybe that’s a bit too “touchy feely” for you.)

Anyway, you’d be doing me a great service if you’d take a few seconds to fill out theses polls…

It’ll be nice to see just who it is I’m talking to!

{democracy:3}

{democracy:2}

{democracy:4}

{democracy:5}

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Gibson Unveils 50th Anniversary Line

Cary — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:42:13 +0000

Well, the info on their website isn’t complete yet, but Gibson is apparently releasing a 2008 50th Anniversary line, just in time for the Holidays. Say hello to the 50th Anniversary Korina Explorer, ES-335, Les Paul Figured, and Korina Flying V… more information as it becomes available.

P.S. That ES335 is gonna’ kill me… please, stop me before I spend again!

7 comments

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