Guitar

I met the guy that’s building these during NAMM and I like what he’s doing. Go take a look at his ideas and support the project.

Pauline France at Fender.com

There are tons of guitar riffs out there, but only a few have become deeply ingrained and ubiquitous in pop culture. Our Top 10 Instantly Recognizable Guitar Riffs all have something in common: They’re the ones you can’t wait to learn how to play; the ones you catch yourself humming; the ones that are revered worldwide by musicians and non-musicians alike.

There are so many riffs to chose from — Pauline picked some good ones.

Such great stories behind these guitars.

I want this guitar.

A reader emailed me about these this morning and the workmanship in these handmade guitars looks incredible. I also watched the video clip on Bill Wise, the guy who makes them — definitely worthwhile if you have a few minutes.

These guys know what guitar amps are all about. You owe it to yourself to have a listen to these, no matter what type of music you like. Personally, I like the Zé Limited Run.

With 29 incredibly detailed Variax instruments—plus the ability to virtually tune down a whole octave without impacting playability or intonation—JTV-89F shatters the limitations of traditional guitars. The Floyd Rose licensed double-locking tremolo system by Graph Tech, high-gain humbucking pickups and lightning-fast fretboard combine to make JTV-89F the perfect instrument for players of heavier, high-gain styles.

A modeling guitar with a Floyd Rose is very interesting.

I saw and heard this new series at NAMM and it was really interesting. They model different power valve responses, which is a really interesting way to shape the tone.

I talked to one of the guys doing these straps at NAMM last week and he said everyone had the same look I did when told they were made of wood. He said they were very comfortable though. As you can see, Santana uses one.

This started out as a page turning app for the iPad, but they adapted it for guitar. I saw it today at NAMM and was impressed.

Every year I walk away from NAMM with a product I felt was the best at the show — I saw that today. It’s called the Sound Control 6 from DiabloFX. […]

I attended a Fender VIP party last night and took some shots of the guitars they are showing off at NAMM. […]

Personal, I like Fender Strats the best. I don’t think of them as an acoustic company.

Chris Broderick Pro Series Soloist 6 and 7

When Chris Broderick joined a revitalized Megadeth in 2008, fans were awestruck by his chops. Jackson now honors this metal stalwart with the Chris Broderick Pro Series Soloist, in six-string and seven-string models.

That is beautiful.

To commemorate Gretsch’s 130th anniversary, the Gretsch Custom Shop introduces the beautiful new U.S. Custom Shop 130th Anniversary Hollow Body guitar.

I bet that sounds nice.

Graham Cochrane put together a great video on what phase issues can do to your recorded guitar tone.

I visited the Fender Custom Shop last year and it was an amazing place.

I’ve spent the last month or so with the Jackson 7-string Soloist — my first 7-string guitar. I must admit to being a bit nervous about picking up a 7-string for the first time, but this guitar lived up to everything I’ve come to expect from Jackson. […]

I have a love/hate relationship with delay pedals. I love how they can sound, but trying to get that perfect delay results in failure more times than I ever see success. […]

Great sounding amps. Check out the videos on the page for some tone samples.

You know as an iOS guitar amp modeling app, but now AmpKit is available on the Mac. I’ve been playing around with this for a little while and it’s really nice. I’ll have a full review soon, but I’m sure you’ll like it.

I started off this review a while ago by focusing on AmpliTube Slash and iRig Stomp. However, I quickly realized that IK Multimedia’s products are more than their separate parts to me. […]

This looks impressive. I’ll definitely be trying this out today.

I want one of these to go with my Zakk Wylde Overdrive. For me, MXR is like Boss was back in the day — trusted and indestructible.

I have quite a few analog pedals in my gear collection, but none quite like Zoom’s Multistomp. It has the form factor of analog pedal, but the guts of a digital stompbox. […]

Metal Guitar Gods is an expansion pack for EZmix 2, focusing solely on amp and cab simulation presets for guitar and bass. It comes with everything from rhythm, lead and clean sounds to settings for acoustic guitar and bass.

EZmix is a great plug-in that makes it quick and easy to get a great sounding mix. Basically, you pick a preset and you’re done. You can fine tune it if you want, but they usually sound pretty good as they are.

I don’t own a V guitar, but the King series looks nice.

That’s funny.

Anthony Stauffer is a great blues player and teacher. I thoroughly enjoy watching his guitar lesson videos.