How To Spot Fake Fender Guitars
It’s easy to get bamboozled if you’re purchasing a vintage Fender guitar. Because these instruments are bolted together, their parts can be swapped, stripped or replaced faster than you can say “rip-off.” Read more
How to Tune a 12-string Guitar and what Gauge Strings?
November 1, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
Fernandes Nomad Deluxe
October 22, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
With its Nomad Standard, Fernandes managed to pack a speaker and five-watt amp into a tiny, bean-shaped guitar body. Designed as a self-contained electric travel guitar, the Nomad Standard offered all the benefits of full-size models in a compact and portable package.
Fernandes must have a miniaturized ray in its factory, because the Nomad Deluxe manages to add on a 24-patch effects processor and an auto-chromatic guitar tuner. The result could be the world’s most versatile travel guitar—one that can easily make the transition from bedroom to studio to stage.
The Nomad’s body (what little there is of it) is machined from hardwood laminate. In addition to being cleverly shaped to hug your knee, the body balances perfectly well for strap-on action. The bolt-on neck features some substantial, tidy frets as well as a headstock that could have been designed by the cartoon-making folks over at Hanna-Barbera. You’ve got to appreciate a peghead so blobulent that it leads the whole guitar a unique wide-angle, baby elephant look. Planted along its fat curves are some solid sealed machine heads and an accurately filed graphite nut.
The Nomad’s 24 factory effects presets offer a rack’s worth of multi-dimensional sounds ranging from brutal to ambient. Among the many effects are chorus, compression, delay, distortion, doubling, flanging, fuzz, reverb, overdrive, wah, phasing, pitch-shifting, eq, amp emulations and even an acoustic guitar simulator. An easy-to-read LED shows which bank, patch and effects are active, and a handful of switches are provided to help scroll, edit and store patches and effects parameters.
It only takes a few minutes to get familiar with the system and its editing process. Up to nine of the 24 effects can be used at once and stored in any of the 24 patches. Simply select a preset, press the edit button and move sequentially through the seven effect blocks. Each block allows you to scroll through a series of preset parameters (all of them clearly tabulated in the manual) and select the one best suited to the tone you want to create. After tweaking through the chain, you can store the results. Should you ever decide to revert to the original factory presets, a few simple maneuvers will return the multi-effects unit to the factory specifications.
Although the Nomad Deluxe features a built-in speaker from which to blast its effects, the guitar also has an output jack that gives you the option of listening in private via headphones or plugging the Nomad into an amp. A second jack allows you to hook up a footswitch for hands-free bank switching, or an expression pedal to make full use of the wah and pitchshifting effects. And because the Nomad Deluxe is, in essence, a travel guitar, Fernandes has equipped it with onboard 9-volt power. They’ve also quite thoughtfully provided an AC-adaptor socket (adapter included), for those moments when you run out of batteries.
Despite its dinky dimensions, the Nomad Deluxe has easy action and a full-scale neck, allowing it to play an easily as any full-bodied electric. Both liberating in its portability and inspiring in its wealth of effects, the Nomad Deluxe is one outspoken little axe that could well make you a one-man Lollapalooza at your next barbecue.
The Fernandes Nomad Deluxe can be had at a very reasonable price at MusiciansFriend.com.
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Marc Bolan 1947 – 1977
October 9, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
On September 16, 1977, just after five in the morning, an Austin Mini carrying English rocker Mark Bolan and driven by Bolan’s girlfriend, Gloria Jones, swerved off a road in Barnes Common, England, and crashed into a tree. The 29-year-old Bolan, who had never learned to drive, was hurled from the passenger seat into the back of the car and killed instantly.
While he began his career as a trippy-hippy in an acoustic and bongo duo, Bolan is best remembered for his work fronting T.Rex, the electric-pop-boogie band that is often credited with giving birth to the British glam rock movement of the early Seventies.
On the strength of two classic albums,1971’s Electric Warrior and 1972’s The Slider, as well as a flurry of strong singles, among them “Bang a Gong (Get It On),” T.Rex enjoyed enormous success in England in the first two years of the leisure-suit decade, topping the charts repeatedly and inspiring millions of young teenyboppers to fits of frenzy unseen since the rise of the Beatles. Unfortunately, T.Rex, despite numerous attempts, were unable to repeat their success in the United States, and their popularity in the UK waned rapidly as the public grew tired of the band’s essentially stagnant musical formula.
Ironically, at the time of his fatal accident, Bolan was enjoying something of a comeback. His final album, Dandy in the Underworld, charted respectably and was proof positive that his creative juices were once again beginning to flow. At the same time, the diminutive rocker’s cred was given a huge boost when the leaders of England’s punk revolution, who had come of age at the height of T.Rex mania, frequently cited T.Rex as one of their most important influences, embracing Bolan as the “Godfather of Punk.”
After Bolan’s death, his body was cremated. His memorial plaque, along with those of the Who’s keith Moon, T.S. Elliot and Sigmund Freud, can be found at Golden’s Green Crematorium in London.
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Kirk Hammett talks about his Gear and Sound for Death Magnetic
When Kirk Hammett, the lead guitarist of Metallica, was asked about his gear and tone for their new Death Magnetic album, this is what he had to say. Read more
Fortin Bones Tube Amp
October 6, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
The BONES amplifier is a stripped down “bare bones”, single channel, all valve, electric guitar amplifier. With delicious modern styling and a straightforward & intuitive front panel layout, BONES is exceptionally versatile and completely inspirational from the first note played. It maintains all the detail of your guitar and playing dynamics as well as front-end dynamics from stomp box pedals.
The BONES front panel features consist of Input, Gain, Bass, Bright switch, Boost switch, Middle, Treble, Voicing L/M/H switch, Depth, Presence, and Master controls as well as Power and Standby switches. The Voicing L/M/H is a 3-way switch that selects between 2, 3 or 4 stages of gain. This function really changes the tone and feel of the amplifier giving you an astounding array of sounds. From succulent, vibrant cleans to blazing, cabinet erupting high gain overdrive, it’s like having three totally different amps! The rear panel includes 5 LOUDSPEAKERS, AC input, 4-Bias controls and test points, jacks and if requested, the following optional features (FX loop, Lineout with level, Footswitch & MIDI). The individual Bias controls are a powerful feature and tool for tapping into more tonal possibilities with the BONES amp. You can also mix and match different tube types together for virtually unlimited variety of tones.
BONES Chassis mounted components are wired, “flying lead” design, to a 1/8″ thick, 4oz weighted FR4 PCB. All ceramic tube sockets, sealed stainless steel shafted pots, metal jacks, metal switches, custom designed precision wound power, choke and output transformers are mounted to a rugged14 gauge brushed stainless steel chassis. Front and back panel are clear anodized brushed alloy with laser etched lettering that will not wear off. Housed in a ¾-inch birch-ply head case, accented with custom black aluminum anodized metal grills and a ¼-inch thick machined alloy logo plate. Premium components are used throughout, combined with solid, reliable design that will last several lifetimes over.
BONES FEATURES & SPECIFICATIONS:
World Mains 100/110/120/220/230/240 VAC 50/60HZ.
VOICING L/M/H selects between 2, 3 or 4 stages of gain.
4 - 12AX7s (1 x 12AT7 FX Loop) & 4 x Power tubes in any combinations of EL34, 6CA7, KT77, 6L6, 5881, KT66, 6550, KT88, KT90, KT100. Class-AB, 100 to 180 watts
4 - BIAS locking pots.
RMS, depending on types of power tubes used.
Fully regulated preamp DC heaters for an ultra low noise floor.
Optional FX Loop, Lineout w/ level control and other footswitching and MIDI options.
Marriage of PCB and Point-to-Point assembly.
Approx Street price: $2575.00
Visit Fortin Amps web site at www.fortinamps.com.
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Gibson’s Robot Guitar Wins Award
October 5, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
Hail the Gibson Robot Guitar! The Gibson Robot Guitar was awarded with the prestigious “Best Music Hardware Award” at the BT Digital Music Awards 2008. The BT Digital Music Awards now in its 7th year was held at the Roundhouse in London on Wednesday October 1st.
The Gibson Robot guitar is the world’s first electric guitar with robotic technology and beat stiff competition from the Motorola ROKR E8 and Ripserver. The Best Music Hardware Award in association with Stuff Magazine was decided upon by a panel of prominent industry judges. The Gibson Robot Guitar was sighted for its innovation, style, usability and price point among additional features.
The Gibson Robot Guitar is known for eliminating tuning problems for guitarists. The Robot Guitar automatically tunes to standard A440 tuning. In addition, it allows players to access six programmed tuning presets at the push of a button. The Gibson Robot intonates seconds after string changes, truss rod adjustments or change in weather conditions. Ultimately, with the locking tuner, single string changes or changing the entire set of strings is an automated luxury.
The annual Digital Music Awards were presented by TV’s Fearne Cotton and Rufus Hound and was filmed for ITV2. Bands performing in between the awards included Sugababes, Ida Maria, British Sea Power, Sam Beeton, Fightstar and Iglu & Hartly.
Thirteen of the 20 awards given were voted for online and the remaining seven by a panel of industry experts.
Gibson Robots official website: http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/
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B.C. Rich Unplugged Acoustic B30-C Guitar
October 2, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
When you think of B.C. rich, you think of Warlocks, Biches, Mockingbirds, and Seagulls—but not acoustic guitars. Read more
Reverend Slingshot, Spy and Commando Guitars
October 1, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
Imagine a Fender Jaguar mating with a 1950s Formica diner table. Imagine their numerous love children, tiny guitars adopted by Leo Fender and raised in the Danelectro plant in Neptune, New Jersey. Fed on the finest pickups and hardware, these unlikely creatures establish their own religion and take on names like “Avenger,” “Rocco” and “Rumblefish.” Read more
Washburn P3 and DLX Guitars with Buzz Feiten Tuning System
September 15, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
For all the advancements made in guitar design, one thing has remained essentially the same: try as you might, you can never get the damned things in perfect tune. If an open E chord sounds great, chances are a barred A will sound decidedly less so. Blame it on Pythagoras. Back around 500 B.C., the Greek philosopher and mathematician developed a formula, albeit an imperfect one, for tuning stringed instruments. His formula was popular—so popular, in fact, that it’s still in use today. Which is why your guitar relies on a design that’s about 2,500 years old. Read more
