Category — Acoustic Guitars

If you are anything like me, first off, I’m sorry; secondly, your guitars probably could use quite a bit of ’spicing up’ as it were.  All of my guitars, for reasons I’m not quite sure of, are pretty basic, bland and have little, if any, decorating or customizing.  This, is unfortunate.  This, is something we should all change.  Lucky for all of us, well all of those un-lucky enough to be like me, I found something that might just solve our problems.

Three words will answer our problems:  Pin.  Up.  Girls.  Yep, you heard me right, how about slapping some classic 1950’s Pin-Up Girls onto your favorite guitar.  There is no quicker way to add some old-school style and charm to your guitar, doesn’t matter if it’s electric or acoustic, old or new.  If you’re a fan of tattoos you already know, pin-up girls just don’t go out of style, and when it comes to Rock & Roll, they’ve always been a match made in heaven.

Thanks to the folks over at Strat-O-Blogster, they supplied a few links to some awesome places to stock up on decals and stickers that can help you dig that guitar of yours out of the bland basement.  I don’t know what we’re waiting for, get some decals, and get them now!

Oh Gibson, why do you tease me so?  Why do you first show me 50th Anniversary Guitars, then come out and show me the new Dark Fire that I’ll most likely never be able to own!?  Such sadness in the house of Guitar BassMan today.  Nevertheless, what kind of guy would I be if I Didn’t report on it, and didn’t get very, very excited for any of you that will in fact, be purchasing one of these bad boys.

The new Dark Fire is already being touted by Gibson as “The Most Versatile Tone Monster Ever Made.”  Wow.  That is a lofty compliment from a company that has been making some of the best guitars the world has ever seen since their birth.  I’m impressed already, by default.  So why are they saying it’s the most versatile?  How about the fact that they’ve given it something they call “Chameleon Tone Technology?”  Here’s what they have to say about it:

“Analog or digital, the Gibson Dark Fire gives you an infinite number of tonal possibilities to let you change the tone of the Dark Fire to match your environment. And it begins with a guitar’s most basic element — the pickups. The Gibson Dark Fire combines two of Gibson’s most popular pickups — the P90h in the neck position and a Burstbucker 3 in the bridge position. Both are capped with new carbon fiber-like pickup covers, impeccably designed to match the Dark Fire’s advanced fade. “

They’ve also given the Dark Fire the ability to blend the acoustic sound from the piezo bridge with the sound from the guitar’s regular, traditional pickups.  What this means is, you can now seamlessly play acoustically into electrically with no wonky switches, sound distortions or tone loss.  WOW.

The bottom line is, they are saying it’s a guitar capable of producing “every imaginable guitar sound.”  SO I suppose no matter what it costs, you’re actually getting a really, really good deal because it’d be sort of like buying one of every single kind of guitar, right?  Maybe that’s what I’ll tell my girlfriend when she notices a HUGE chunk of money missing.

When a guitar legend like The Edge starts talking about guitars, my advice to you, is to sit still, listen quietly, and take some serious notes.  While he’s not as loud, flashy or gregarious as many rock and roll legends, The Edge has clearly earned himself a spot in the annals of Rock History.  To hear him talk about each one of his favorite guitars, the songs they’ve produced, and the love he has for them, I hate to say it but it gives a guitar lover like me chills.

First and foremost, his love for guitars is apparent.  Just look behind him during the interviews and get extremely jealous at the sheer NUMBER of guitars he has in his collection now.  Wow.  Nevertheless, a chance to hear a musician as talented as The Edge talk about and play his favorite guitars is a pretty special, not-to-be-missed opportunity.

Whoever Weezer’s PR person is, they sure do a good job of getting the band out promoting their new record and tours. Weezer has recorded a set with AOL Sessions, re-working a lot of songs with acoustic guitars, unplugged.

The band recorded acoustic/unplugged versions of “Pork and Beans” and “Troublemaker” as well as “Why Bother” from their classic Pinkerton album, which is performed very well.

The band also performed 3 Red album b-sides, which were available previously. “Miss Sweeney,” “It’s Easy,” and “King” were the songs, they also participated in a Q&A about the Red album, which I’m sure fans will find interesting.

Check it all out here.

Music-equipment company Grpah Tech is releasing its new Supercharger Kits for acoustic and electric guitars. This is something of an upgrade kit for any older guitars one might have.

“The Supercharger Kit provides a complete solution to really improve any guitar’s performance including sustain, harmonic content/richness, string breakage reduction and tuning stability.” says Dave Dunwoodie, Graph Tech’s president and founder. “For 25 years, Graph Tech has created high-performing accessories that unlock the full potential of every guitar so musicians can play with confidence. This is the first time we’ve packaged them together in a simple kit format for our customers.”

“Three acoustic kits are available and include TUSQ® high-performance saddle and bridge pins. Electric kits are available for Tele and Strat (American, Import, or Offset) and for Gibson and Epiphone style guitars. Included in the kit are Black TUSQ XL nuts and String Saver™ saddles, installation instructions, two grades of adhesive backed sandpaper for nut installation, a Graph Tech pick and a hex key. Four bridge color choices — chrome, nickel, gold, and black are also available for Gibson and Epiphone style guitars.”

This package looks like it could be something really great for people with older guitars, especially those that need constant tweaks. My only complaint is that for people with older guitars such as Fender Mustangs, Jaguars, etc…This apparently cannot be used, as the only Fender’s its completely compatible with are Strats and Teles.

Source.

So…I didn’t end up going to the show last night, so no review obviously. A friend of mine passed along this NY Times article about Martin acoustic guitars, their history, how they’re made and more. This company has been around since 1833 and makes arguably the finest acoustic guitars you can buy, (in case you didn’t already know). It is definitely worth checking out if you’re into acoustics at all.

A Journey Shaped by a Guitar

Also, the look of this page will be changing shortly, nothing major, just adding a few things.