Category — Guitar Accessories

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!

This is a slight departure from last week’s Funky Video Friday.  While this isn’t Hendrix rocking, I have a pretty good feeling that 99.99% of all you gentlemen out there.  You all remember the scene in Risky Business, Tom Cruise sliding across the floor, air guitarring his way into cinematic history.  Some of you might have even seen the newest version with famous basketball players recreating the scene.  I have a pretty good feeling some of you have also seen this version, but for all of you who haven’t…You’re Welcome.

This week’s Funky Video Friday is none other than top supermodel and TV host Heidi Klum recreating that very same famous scene.  Sliding across the floor?  Check.  Long button up shirt?  Check.  Guitar Hero Guitar?  Check.  Guitar Hero, your marketing people are genius.

Without further ado, enjoy this week’s Funky Video Friday!  Have a great weekend and we’ll see you Monday!

These days it seems like just about everyone on the planet either has an iPhone, knows someone with an iPhone, is going to get one, or just wants one.  The fact that it’s rapidly becoming the predecessor to the iPod is no secret any longer.  What some of you might not know, however, is that you can turn that handy do-it-all device, or other, similar styled phones, into a sweet air guitar.  Who says you can’t rock ALL THE TIME now?!

That’s right, according to the article I just found, there is a new mobile phone application on the block, and this one looks to take portable rocking to new heights.  According to reports,

“The software, dubbed ZoozBeats and launched this week, monitors a phone’s motion and plays a corresponding sound. For example, you might play a rhythm based on a snare drum by beating the air with the phone as if it’s a drumstick. Or you could strum with it to play a sequence of guitar chords.”

Wow.  I’m sold.  The coolest thing, to me, is that it doesn’t ONLY require a phone with a built in accelerometer.  If your phone lacks that feature, like many popular mobile phones do, the software can also use the phone’s camera lens to base sounds on movement, or even use the built in microphone and tapping to generate beats based on the patterns.  Impressive doesn’t really sum this up.

Bottom line, no iPhone, iPod or any other device will ever replace the feeling of a real 6-string in my hands, or 4 string if you’re of the Bass Persuasion.  If you DO want to get a little rocking in and you don’t happen to have the guitar on hand, I fully recommend this alternative.  Why not keep rocking?

If you’re a bassist, you probably already know that you’re going to be carrying a much bigger case than anyone else, you’re probably going to have the heaviest and largest instrument that can actually be held on stage, and you’re a much  more integral part of the band than you probably get credit for.  You probably already know that you’re going to need more tools and gadgets than a regular guitarist, but what kind of things should you always have on hand?  What, in short, is the shortlist of tools you need?

I’m glad you asked.  I just found a pretty insightful little post that aims to tell you just that, what You need in your tool kit as a bass guitarist.  The tools are easy to come by, easy to find and you should have no trouble outfitting your bass case with them in no time at all.  Here, according to the article, are the most important items for your bass kit:

# “A philips (cross-head) screw driver.
# An allen key or two (hex key).
# A good set of wire cutters.
# A flat-head screw driver (if you have an older bass).”

What is great is, there are actually full guitar kits, like this one by GIGmate that give you all the tools you need in one fell swoop.  Not too shabby, not too shabby at all!  Toss in a few extra sets of strings, a cleaning cloth and extra straps and picks and you should be always prepared for whatever hurdles a live gig can throw at you!

Halloween has come and gone, that much is true, but the spirit of Halloween is still lingering.  Maybe it hides in the old pumpkins on our porch, or the left over candy, but nevertheless it’s still here.  That said, I thought today would be the time to share with you the best Halloween guitar I’ve ever seen in my entire life.  Ever.

Now, I’ve seen a few different rad guitars that had dark or evil themes, but this guitar I just stumbled upon clearly raises the bar to unreachable levels, and looking at the picture above, can you not agree wholeheartedly?  As mentioned in the article I just read, the folks over at McSwain Guitars and they mentioned the following sweet facts about this guitar:

“Frankenstein is a chambered Mahogany body with a Maple top and a 3 piece Mahogany neck. The fingerboard is Ebony, Maple and Purple Heart that is stitched together with Leather cord! The border (can’t really call it a binding) is also stitched over black epoxy and red leather dye. Apparently this guitar is owned by Ben Moody, co-founder of Evanescence…”

Bottom line, if you’re a fan of awesome themed guitars, I think you couldn’t do much better than McSwain Guitars, and if you’re a fan of Halloween or anything freaky and frightening, you can’t do much better than a Frankenstein guitar.  Now, if only I could afford something like that!

The fact that Guitar Hero is one of the most popular video games to EVER hit the market should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone out there.  The moment it was launched, millions of kids and adults alike were able to live out their rock and roll fantasies all in the comfort of their own homes, and all without any actual musical ability whatsoever.

Now, all of us who are STILL living out those fantasies with each subsequent Guitar Hero release, get to live it out even more, in the form of a few new “Download Packs” that are coming out in early November.  All I need to say to get people extremely hyped up for these extra songs is two words:  Jimi.  Hendrix.  Enough said.  Word is, “The Jimi Hendrix Track Pack, arriving November 13, features “If 6 Was 9,” “Little Wing,” and a live version of “Fire.”” Count me IN.  The cool news is that at the very same time, they will be also throwing out a Raconteurs Track Pack a week later that gives you the ability to rock on songs like “Salute Your Solution,” “Hold Up,” and “Consoler of the Lonely.”

It looks like all of this will go for the price of about 440 Microsoft Points, which loosely translates into $5.49 on the PlayStation Network.  Not too shabby to Rock like Jimi.

Veteran rockers Iggy and The Stooges have had all of their gear stolen yesterday (August 4th) in Montreal, just outside the Embassy Suites.

The band’s gear was parked outside in a truck, and the entire truck with all the gear was stolen somewhere between 6:30 and 7:30am. Inside was an insane amount of gear worth tens of thousands of dollars if not more. Everything from electric guitars, guitar amps, drum sets, effects pedals and accessories were inside the truck.

For more information and a full list of the gear you can go here. This really sucks, I hope for the bands sake they get it all back, some very serious pieces of equipment have been lost. In the meantime, they will be playing the remainder of their shows on rented and/or new gear.

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Guitar Blog has a great piece up (dated July 28th, 2008) about the inappropriate use of decals on guitars. In it, several points are mentioned about how it is not only deceiving to mark a guitar with the incorrect decal, but also an insult to the guitar you may currently have..

The most commonly used decals are Fender’s, these are put on everything from strat knock-offs to guitars that don’t even closely resemble a Fender. Squier guitars are common victims of the fake decal routine but as stated at Guitar Blog, you shouldn’t be ashamed to play a Squier Guitar as some of them are great guitars in their own right.

The desire to want guitars beyond your means is something every guitarist goes through. It is only after you  see many of your musical idols performing with cheap gear that you realize the instrument isn’t usually what makes them so good, it is their playing and that is what is most important.

Music Rising, a charity co-founded by The Edge of U2…is seeking to revive music culture in the Central Gulf region of the U.S. in the wake of all the natural disasters that have occurred there. To raise money the organization is holding its 2nd annual “Icons of Music” charity auction.

You can bid on all sorts of random items (including guitars, basses, etc…) from, essentially, a list of some of the most famous performers of all time…

Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, Foo Fighters, Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, the Beach Boys, Madonna, Otis Redding, Led Zeppelin, the Who, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, Ramones, Queen, Bo Diddley, Steely Dan, KISS, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, Blondie, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, Frank Zappa, Metallica, Oasis and more.

“Among the more interesting items: a hat worn by Bono, moccasins worn by Buddy Holly, a Patti Smith self-portrait, a cricket bat used by Queen’s Brian May, a bass played by Kurt Cobain, a guitar signed by Oscar-winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, The Sea Inside), a painting of Sid Vicious by Dee Dee Ramone, a trumpet played by Miles Davis, a wooden spoon signed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Madonna’s high school yearbook, and a toaster Elton John received as a wedding gift.”

Check out the site here for a more comprehensive list of items going up for auction.

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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.

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