Guitar

Although guitar legend Eric Clapton has auctioned off instruments from his personal collection before, next year's sale will mark the first time that he's made some of his amps available, too. Players looking to grab a slice of Slow Hand tone, fans of the man they called God, or music memorabilia collectors will all get the chance to bid on over 70 of the icon's own guitars and 70 of his amps. Donations from other famous musicians will also go under the hammer, with all profits going to the substance abuse center in Antigua that Clapton founded in the late 1990s.  Read More

For many people, learning to play guitar is only half the battle. Once you've mastered the basics and maybe even developed your own style, you need a sound to set you apart from the rest. There are numerous amp and effects pedal combinations that can help in this regard, but swapping out the pickups on that cheap guitar for better quality ones can add a whole new dimension to the way the instrument sounds. Seymour Duncan has introduced a new system that not only helps guitar technicians to swap out pickups in record time, but also means that bedroom guitarists needn't become a skilled soldering iron operator. All you need is a couple of screwdrivers, and maybe a pair of tweezers.  Read More

The rhythmic fretwork of the bass guitarist is almost always an essential element in modern music, but when it comes to effects processors, most pedals seem to head for lead guitar stardom. DigiTech is about to treat the rich and versatile electric bass sound to a new multi-effects unit that puts hundreds of sounds, effects, amplifiers and speaker cabinets at a bass player's disposal.  Read More

Gizmag's Paul Ridden recently took a look at the Castiv Guitar Sidekick, a smartphone mount that puts your small screen digital device right where you need it – at the end of the fretboard. Since then we've been putting the Sidekick to the test – read on to find out how it performed.  Read More

Anyone who owns an electric travel guitar will know that it can still be a bulky item to carry around. Chopping away huge chunks of the body helps keep its footprint down, but there's not much you can do about the neck. Daniel Mapp's solution is to cut the neck in half and fold it down into the body – allowing it to fit nicely into a backpack. He's also abandoned the trusty wooden fingerboard in favor of futuristic-looking fretless aluminum, which is said to give it long-lasting sustain and a unique tone.  Read More

Guitarist and songwriter Peter Frampton – of Humble Pie fame – has put his name to a new Megawah effects pedal built by Gig-fx. Designed to meet his exacting specifications, the signature analog pedal features four settings to produce the established Megawah sound, but with a slightly warmer high end and more defined lower end response. Players can also choose a classic crying wah, an adjustable funky envelope wah and a variable rate autowah.  Read More

Like the Rock Lock we featured last month, the Guitar Hanger is one of those wonderfully simple ideas that you wish you'd thought of first. It provides a temporary storage solution for players who suffer from limited floor space or just need to get their treasured electric saxophone out of harm's way. As you can see from the gallery, the device has two parts – a double-hooked hanger where one end locks to a U-shaped bracket and the other is slung over any closet or rack rod that happens to have some space.  Read More

Imagine the embarrassment of a talented guitarist losing out in a shredding battle with someone who can't play a note. Since the launch of games like Rock Band, such things can and do happen. Now there's a chance to level the playing field somewhat, with the forthcoming release of a game controller that's also a genuine Fender Squier Strat. Of course, as well as introducing a whole new level of gameplay to virtual axe grinders, they can also benefit from learning to play an actual instrument. Rock 'n' roll...  Read More

Now this is something that won't come along again. It's the favorite guitar of Jimi Hendrix. Voted by everyone from Rolling Stone to Time as the best guitar player ever, Hendrix favorite guitar was this vintage Epiphone FT79 and was “used for almost everything he composed" whilst he was in the United States. Given to a friend just before he died, it was subsequently on numerous recordings and film soundtracks including those by Dusty Springfield, Walker Brothers, Blue Mink, Paul McCartney and on David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs. It's coming up for auction, and is estimated to fetch GBP80,000-120,000, which seems incredibly cheap for such a piece of musical history.  Read More