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Guitar
Native Instruments announces Komplete 6 bundle for music creation
By Paul Ridden
16:06 September 13, 2009 PDT
Native Instruments has just announced a recession-busting update to its impressive arsenal of digital musical instruments and effects - Komplete 6. The bundle not only comes with improved versions of amp and effects simulator Guitar Rig, the powerful sound manipulator Absynth and over 44Gb of sampling joy in the form of Kontakt, but it's also being offered at a significantly reduced price too. Read More
Guitar pioneer Les Paul - 1915-2009
By Paul Ridden
21:40 August 17, 2009 PDT
Genuis. Pioneer. Innovator. Words that don't even come close to describing the revolutionary thinking of one Lester William Polsfus. Better known as Les Paul, he had such a huge influence on the world of modern music that it's difficult to sum up his achievements in such a short piece. I use the past tense because sadly the Wizard of Waukesha died in a New York Hospital on August 13th. Read More
VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Leonard Grigoryan tests Paul Kinny's Stereo Acoustic Guitar
By Loz Blain
01:43 June 3, 2009 PDT
The regular acoustic guitar is such a familiar and effective shape that it's hard to get past the bizarre looks of Paul Kinny's 'Stereo Acoustic' guitar - but rest assured, it's built that way for a good reason. While standard acoustics have a sound hole that faces forward, projecting the sound to a listening audience, the Stereo Acoustic's two sound holes are pointed directly up at the player. That means that it's an instrument you play for yourself, sitting right inside the sound, enjoying a huge dynamic range and the natural stereo and chorus effects it produces. We took the opportunity to put these unique - and remarkably affordable - acoustics in the hands of classical guitar god Leonard Grigoryan for a video review. Then we locked Lenny in a cage of microphones to take some studio recordings and demonstrate the gorgeous sounds these oddball guitars can produce on tape. Read More
For sale: second-hand 1952 Gibson Les Paul Guitar (with history)
By Mike Hanlon
14:26 March 7, 2009 PST
An auction next week in London will see a guitar of quite remarkable lineage go under the hammer. The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was once owned and made famous by cult UK blues legend Duster Bennett, the “One Man Blues Band”. The guitar was given to him by Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac who got it from Eric Clapton. Clapton received it from the blues king BB King, who acquired it from Muddy Waters. Remarkably, the guitar is only expected to sell … Read More
Less is more (expensive): Gibson's Holy Explorer
By Loz Blain
22:12 February 23, 2009 PST
You can often tell a lot about what a guitarist is about to do just by looking at the axe he's chosen for the gig. If it's a Flying V, he's here to rock, and he doesn't care who knows it. If it's got a big round wooden face with f-holes and a scratch plate, he's here to jazz out with some fruity 13-chords. If it's a seven-string Ibanez with a whammy bar and it looks like it's been dragged backwards through a paint shop, he's gonna shred and finger-tap until somebody's face falls off. But what can you say about a guy who turns up with a Gibson Holy Explorer? Read More
Gibson recreates the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood
By Mike Hanlon
02:39 January 24, 2009 PST
There are as many modified electric guitars in the world as there are guitarists who play them, but rare is the modified “off-the-shelf” guitar that is elevated to iconic status by the artist who played it. Such is the case with Jeff Beck’s “Oxblood” Les Paul, a guitar from the heart of tone history. Gibson has unveiled an accurate recreation of this legendary instrument: the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood. The guitar joins a range of signature Les Paul guitars from the likes of Jimmy Page, Slash and soon, Michael Bloomfield. Read More
Taylor T3 semi-hollowbody electric guitar
By Mike Hanlon
17:25 January 15, 2009 PST
January 16, 2009 One of the highlights on the first day of the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show yesterday was the release of Taylor Guitars’ first purely electric semi-hollowbody guitar, the T3. Taylor is well known for its ultra-high-end guitars which are used by some of the world’s best known musicians, but it’s the company’s relentless innovation we’re most impressed with. Melding the sleek lines and shape of the T5 into a semi-hollowbody, the T3 will also come in a T3B model with an authentic Bigsby Vibrato (model B70). The T3B incorporates a roller bridge for high performance, allowing the player the independence in setting the intonation of each string and eliminating the "dragging string" sound so commonly found in fixed bridges. Read More
Disney Star Guitarist: Guitar Hero with a real guitar
By Tim Hanlon
13:01 January 14, 2009 PST
US Music Corp., parent company of several music brands including Washburn Guitars, have partnered with Disney to create the Disney Star suite of applications - which unlike console-based music games, will teach children to play a real guitar or piano using familiar songs from Disney franchises like Hannah Montana and High School Musical. Read More
GarageBand '09 will teach you how to play guitar and piano
By Tim Hanlon
10:52 January 6, 2009 PST
Today at MacWorld 2009, Apple unveiled the next feature to be added to their entry-level music production application GarageBand, that is sure to capitalize on the mass of budding musicians created by games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. The software ships with nine included lessons for the guitar and piano, and an integrated store that allows you to buy "Artist Lessons" from famous musicians such as Sting and John Fogerty. Read More
Guitar Hero World Tour vs Rock Band 2
By Tim Hanlon
22:21 December 7, 2008 PST
After initially shunning the idea of the full band game, Activision caved, and decided to bring the Guitar Hero franchise up to par with the release of Guitar Hero World Tour - just in time to compete with MTV's sequel to Rock Band, the game that brought music video games to the next level last November. We've spent (far too much) time with both games to bring you this in-depth comparison. Read More
Gibson Les Paul Dark Fire - every imaginable guitar sound
By Loz Blain
00:47 November 24, 2008 PST
Gibson Guitars have pushed the envelope forward again - barely a year after the release of the self-tuning 'Robot Guitar' in 2007, the company has announced its next-gen technology with the Dark Fire, which incorporates an upgraded Robot tuning system and adds a piezo neck pickup system to let the player blend acoustic and electric sounds for a much broader tonal range. Gibson sees the Dark Fire as a guitar that tunes itself in seconds and offers such a wide range of tone that you only need the one axe for the whole gig - but how will this progressive instrument be received by the market? Read More
Logitech's premium Guitar Hero controller
By Darren Quick
19:55 October 23, 2008 PDT
In news for lounge-room Rock Gods, Logitech has announced the Wireless Guitar Controller Premiere Edition for the PS3 and PS2. The premiere edition of the Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller is the first in Logitech’s planned line of premium peripherals for the Guitar Hero franchise. Officially licensed by Activision, the guitar is compatible for all Guitar Hero games, including the highly anticipated Guitar Hero World Tour. It features a wood neck, rosewood fingerboard and metal frets and tuning peg handles to provide that little bit of extra realism for belting out your favorite tunes. Read More
The humble guitar-stand gets a clever revamp
02:44 October 15, 2008 PDT
While they are a must have on stage, most guitar stands out there are either so over-designed that you almost need a trailer to transport them or, more commonly, so flimsy that they won't support your axe and inevitably fall apart - and even then they are an awkward shape to lug around when folded down. This design from RKS solves the problem. Read More
Gibson's stunning Robot Les Paul tunes itself in seconds
By Loz Blain
19:52 January 9, 2008 PST
January 10, 2008 Some of the best guitarists have an amazing ability to pick out which of their strings are out of tune and adjust them mid-song – for the rest of us, the tuning process can be an annoying time-waster – particularly on stage. We've written before about Transperformance's bolt-on self-tuning systems, but Gibson has recently become the first company to release a ready-made axe with the ability to adjust itself perfectly to a number of common tunings at the touch of a button. The Gibson Robot Guitar, which just received the NEWSTIPS "Best of Show" award at CES, also makes replacing strings and setting your intonation an absolute breeze. At US$2499, this intelligent Les Paul deserves to be a huge hit. Read More
Terotech
- November 21, 2009 @ 19:38 UTC
