Epiphone Amplifiers Celebrate 75 Years of Great Tone
Epiphone proudly celebrates a remarkable event in our history, boasting 75 years of amplifier production. We are now the oldest amplifier company in the world currently in production, and to celebrate we’re giving you a look at our incredible history in the amplifier business. Every three weeks, we’ll give you another chapter. Here’s Part 1. Enjoy!
When Epiphone entered the electric guitar market in 1935, we also launched a new series of amplifiers under the Electar name and consequently set the benchmark for others to follow. Electar was a name invented by Herb Sunshine, an Epiphone employee who played an integral role in the development of various electronics for the company. Herb made contact with a young Nat Daniel in 1934 and employed him to design the first Electar models. The amplifiers were aimed at the New York dance bands and were produced in both AC and DC versions to accommodate lower Manhattan’s dual electric system at that time. Epiphone moved to its new location at 142 West 14th, New York, NY for the 1935 launch.
Introducing the Gibson Dusk Tiger
November 17, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Electric Guitar
You have a rare wealth of creative potential lurking deep within, but until now no guitar has had the power to fully tap into it. Enter the Dusk Tiger, simply the most astounding innovation in the history of the guitar. In the wake of Gibson’s groundbreaking Dark Fire, the new Dusk Tiger offers an unprecedented wealth of features to expand your sonic horizons exponentially, yet it brings them to you with greatly increased levels of performance and ease of use, and all at a more affordable price. And not only does Dusk Tiger offer an awe-inspiring versatility of tone and playability, it also captures a stunning new look that is arguably more refined than anything Gibson has ever produced. It retains the general Les Paul-inspired body lines, but presents them in a guitar with a flat top made from an exotic hardwood beaming with golden, amber, and dark chocolate hues. This top is coupled with a tone-chambered back, and a unique new pickguard and control layout. Under the hood, the Dusk Tiger reveals countless new features that give it even more power, along with considerable upgrades and improvements of existing electronics and control systems, and an unlimited number of sound possibilities. New to the Dusk Tiger are: Read more
Gibson Introduces All New Angus Young SGs From Gibson Custom and Gibson USA
November 17, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Electric Guitar
The Angus Young SG Standard from Gibson Custom
For more than 35 years, AC/DC has represented the archetypal “big rock” guitar sound, setting the standards for countless bands to follow. In particular, Angus Young’s incendiary lead tone and mammoth rhythm crunch have inspired wave after wave of rock guitar heroes, and he has done it all on a Gibson SG Standard. The SG replaced the underappreciated Les Paul Standard in 1961, and while the Les Paul would surface later in the decade as a rock and blues classic, the new SG (originally named Les Paul/SG) was an instant hit in its own right. Its simple yet inspired ingredients of thin, all-mahogany body and neck and two Gibson humbucking pickups gave it a snappy attack with a muscular punch, and its slim, fast neck yielded unprecedented playability. Now the Gibson Custom Shop offers its reproduction of one of the world’s most renowned SGs in the form of the Angus Young SG, a Limited Edition that captures the tone, look, and feel of this rare specimen among a classic breed, but which updates this legendary guitar with custom modifications requested by Angus himself. Read more
Gibson: The Home of Innovation
November 9, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Electric Guitar
Gibson Guitar has revolutionized the face of the music industry, whose quality, prestige and innovation have earned the loyalty and admiration of musicians the world over. Through extraordinary innovative efforts in recent years, Gibson introduced groundbreaking technology with its premier of the Gibson HD.6X-PRO Digital Guitar, the Gibson Robot Guitar, and the Gibson Dark Fire, creating some of the biggest advances in electric guitar technology and design in over 70 years.
When Gibson launched the HD.6X-PRO Digital Guitar in 2006, it coupled its long-standing legacy with a completely digital setup, allowing the isolation of individual strings and a direct connection to your computer. In the following year Gibson continued to explore new ways to bring novel features to its guitars. The Gibson Robot Guitar was the first ever integration of an analog guitar with a physical self-tuning system, becoming the electric guitar that sold faster than any other in history and revolutionized the industry. Read more
Gibson Teams With Marker Völkl For Custom Guitars
November 9, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Electric Guitar
Skiers have another reason to celebrate the opening of this season. The Gibson Guitar Corporation has teamed with Marker Völkl USA to produce a series of unique electric guitars reflecting the feel, graphic elements and quality performance of the distributor of Völkl skis and Marker bindings.
Völkl’s newly redesigned Gotama ski model serves as the inspiration for a black Les Paul Custom, while Marker’s “Rule The Mountain” slogan blazes across the Flying V model.
“We’re incredibly proud to be associated with Gibson,” said Chris Adams, Marker Völkl’s promotions director. “Their craftsmanship has always set the benchmark in quality, so to partner with them on one-of-a-kind instruments is really exciting, especially because the guitars will ultimately help some good causes.” Read more
Swing Like a Pro with the NEW Epiphone Swingster!
November 9, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Electric Guitar
Swing Like a Pro with the NEW Epiphone Swingster! World famous for making some of the best and most innovative hollow-body guitars, Epiphone conjures up some of it’s past with the NEW Emperor Swingster. Starting with the same body and neck as used on their Emperor-II guitar and made famous by the jazz master himself, Joe Pass, Epiphone swings into action and turns it into a serious twangin’, rock-a-billy slingin’, country flingin’ machine!
Classic Construction with SwingBucker Pickups! With it’s hand-scalloped arched Spruce top combined with a laminated arched-back Maple body and glued-in 3-piece Hard Maple neck, the Swingster has what it takes to satisfy any professional’s demand for great tone. At the heart of the guitar are Epiphone’s NEW SwingBucker(tm) pickups and a series/parallel electronics switching package that outperforms all others in it’s class. Specially designed for the Swingster, the humbuckers offer no hum performance and feature classic Alnico-V magnets, enamel wire and over-wound coils for the perfect combination of warmth and bite. Read more
The Guitar Store
The Guitar Store in Southampton have built on their worldwide notoriety for the shop front for their electric guitar store with a new addition to their backline – a new acoustic guitar store, modelled on a Marshall AS50 acoustic amp!
Located two doors down from their current shop in Commercial Road, Southampton, the amp has a grill-effect finish to the shutters, with the classic Marshall badge, and an exact reproduction of the Marshall AS50’s faceplate, including a light-up power switch! Having such an eye-catching front for their Electric Guitar Store, Directors Jamie & Wes Goatley knew they would have to reach the standard they already set for themselves with their last shop, and the Marshall AS50 acoustic shop was born!
It doesn’t stop at the front either – the inside is done out to look like an old fashioned guitar shed and porch, with a saloon-style counter entrance, vintage guitar memorabilia all over the walls, a corrugated roof over the main counter, and of course, a rocking chair!
The Acoustic Guitar Store is filled with all manner of acoustic instruments, from mandolins, ukuleles, and banjos through to good old-fashioned acoustic guitars. Check out our latest photo album entitled ‘The Guitar Store’ on our Myspace profile.
The Most Desirable Custom Shop Guitars
October 11, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Electric Guitar
Signature model guitars have a special allure: the aura of a certain artist’s musical magic. But which are the most alluring?
Judging by the reactions of players at trade shows, festivals, auto races, and other events visited by the Gibson Custom Shop’s traveling 40-foot exhibit trailer, the five six-string Signature mojo machines that draw the most interest are:
Zakk Wylde Les Paul Bullseye
This Bullseye beauty is a hard-core rock guitar with active pickups, an EMG-81 and an EMG-85, and an unfinished maple neck — Wylde’s variation on the Les Paul Custom. Since it was first issued in 1999 the guitar’s been a magnet for Ozzy and Zakk influenced shredders.
B.B. King Lucille
B.B. personally oversaw the development of this refined take on the classic ES-345, including the elimination of f-holes to reduce uncontrolled feedback, a TP-6 fine-tuning tailpiece, and ebony good looks. Typically these guitars are plucked off their display mounts by older players who grew up on blues, but lately the genre’s been reaching a younger audience — and so have Lucille models. This guitar sports its name on its headstock and has stereo/mono jacks. And of course there’s the Vari-Tone, a six-position midrange notch filter. The Lucille is a larger bodied guitar, yet its lighter weight and burnished tone make her loveable for fans of Les Pauls and SGs.
Johnny A. with Bigsby
This guitar is a real attention getter on its own terms and offers some fairly unique characteristics. The fully hollow body is one-piece mahogany and the inside is flat in the back to increase natural projection. The Bigsy vibrato tailpiece that A. uses is optional, but not so the guitar’s distinctive 25-inches long scale neck abetted by double cutaway horns. And the neck’s profile, at A.’s insistence, is slightly flatted in the back for easy playability. When the guitar’s on display jazz, blues and rock players all relate to its blend of tone, feel, and light weight. And this six-string, birthed in 2003, is often described as “art deco” for the modern-yet-classic look of its crown shaped inlays, angular pick guard and singularly shaped f-holes.
Slash Les Paul
Although there are several Slash Les Paul models available, the granddaddy — and big draw in the Custom Shop’s traveling display — is the dark tobacco burst model introduced in 2004. Slash, of course, was almost single-handedly responsible for the skyrocketing popularity of Les Pauls in the ’80s. But this is a distinctive beast, with a pair of Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups and a Fishman Power Bridge to provide an optional acoustic guitar sound. A mini three-way switch between the rear two pots — one a third volume control, for the level of the acoustic setting — allows toggling between acoustic and electric settings. But most players who pick up the Slash model wanna blast — and often the classic intro to “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”
Peter Frampton Les Paul Custom
When players pick up this baby, it really comes alive. The Frampton Paul has three humbuckers and a chambered, lightweight body. And it’s unusually wired to get that distinctive out-of-phase style Frampton sound. The middle pickup is always on, but has a dedicated master volume knob so it can be dialed in or out. That tone should theoretically appeal more to players influenced by classic rock, but the variety of tones this black beauty produces captures the ears of just about anybody who hears or plays it.
Full-Scale Stratocaster® Guitar Rock Band™ Controller
In a case of videogame art imitating musical life to near perfection, you can now get a Rock Band™ videogame controller that has what is in effect a real Stratocaster® guitar body.
Available as of September 2009, the Rock Band Wireless Wooden Fender Stratocaster guitar controller is an actual wooden replica of a Stratocaster guitar and is compatible with all three versions of the hugely popular top-selling game—Rock Band™, Rock Band™ 2 and the Beatles: Rock Band™ (and other rhythm and music video games). The controller was co-developed by Fender and San Diego-based Mad Catz® Inc., which is the official third-party developer of Rock Band™ peripherals and accessories.
The device is a full-scale replica of the real instrument, with a body, neck and headstock made from real Stratocaster wooden “blanks” and bridge and tuners built using genuine metal parts and fittings. The controller is assembled at a Fender facility comes in hand-painted gloss Three-color Sunburst—perhaps the most classic Stratocaster finish—buffed and applied to each model in the same manner as a real Stratocaster. The “fingerboard” boasts a high-resolution “rosewood finish” decal, concealing two sets of premium fret buttons.
On the front of the controller, the tremolo arm (or “whammy bar”) sits near the “start” and “back” buttons, which are disguised as volume and tone controls. The premium fret buttons and strum bar deliver quiet operation and reliable game play, and the traditional Stratocaster ¼” output jack can connect to an optional Rock Band™ overdrive pedal. The back of the controller has a headset jack for online play and communicating with friends.
The Rock Band™ Wireless Wooden Fender Stratocaster guitar controller (the only wooden replica controller compatible with Xbox® gaming systems) uses the same secure wireless technology found in the official wireless Microsoft Xbox® 360 controller. It connects directly to the system and doesn’t require an external dongle or adaptor. Finally, the controller comes with three AA batteries and an official Fender guitar strap.
Bob Dylan to release Christmas album for charity
NEW YORK – Bob Dylan is releasing his first Christmas album, and in the spirit of the holiday season, the legendary performer is donating his royalties to charity.
A statement by Columbia Records says “Christmas in the Heart” will be released Oct. 13. Dylan’s U.S. royalties will go to the organization Feeding America. It’s estimated that will help feed 1.4 million families during the holidays.
The 68-year-old singer says it’s a “tragedy” that people go to bed hungry, and he hopes he can bring “food security” to people in need.
Dylan also plans to donate all his future international royalties to charities overseas.
