Gibson has recently released the 2011 Gibson Firebird Studio Non-Reverse guitar, which is modeled after the non-reverse Firebird models of the late 1960s. This new model features a mahogany body, three coil-tapped P-90s, five-way pickup switching, and a thin neck profile.

The idea of coil-tapped P-90s is interesting to me. It sounds like tapping the coils takes the pickups from the growl of a P-90s to the spank of a thinner single-coil pickup. It could make for an interesting tonal mix when matched with the mahogany body.

I’ve always been a fan of the Firebird body shapes (both reverse and non-reverse), so I like the idea of a non-reverse Firebird Studio model. It looks like the street price on these are $1389, which isn’t bad for a USA-made Gibson these days.

This is an interesting five-part video series by Accordo.it featuring John Suhr of Suhr Guitars giving a shop tour and discussing how they make guitars and amplifiers.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

(via The Gear Page)

Rick Lockhart, founder of Flatline Guitars, is raffling off one of his Delta 90 T-style guitars that has been signed by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Proceeds from the raffle will benefit the Swedish Medical Center Patient Assistance Program in Seattle, near wear Flatline is headquartered. The raffle is in honor of Rick’s mom, who was treated by Swedish Medical Center before losing her battle with cancer in 2007. The cost of a raffle ticket is $10, and only 500 tickets will be available, so you’ll have a good chance of winning. You can purchase a raffle ticket from the Flatline Guitars website. This looks like a chance to win a cool guitar and support a good cause while you’re at it.

During this year’s Summer NAMM show, Gibson/Epiphone announced the new Epiphone ES-339, which is modeled after the Gibson version of the same guitar. As you may know if you follow my Twitter feed, I’ve been looking for a small-bodied semi-hollow guitar for a while. I’ve been looking at the Gibson ES-339, but I couldn’t justify the price. This Epiphone may suit my needs very nicely. It will have the same basic features as the famous ES-335 guitar, but, like the Gibson ES-339, it will have a body that is just slightly larger than a Les Paul. It will be available in four colors: Ebony, Cherry, Vintage Sunburst, and Natural. I haven’t been able to find a release date yet, but I’m looking forward to checking these out in more detail when they become widely available.

In addition to the basic model, they will be releasing an “Ultra” version of the ES-339 that has some interesting features, including a built-in tuner and a Nanomag pickup, which you can use to get acoustic-like tones that can be blended with the humbucker pickups on the guitar. The humbucker pickups are modeled after Gibson’s BurstBuckers, and include push/pull coil tapping. Another feature of the Ultra ES-339 is the ability to plug the guitar directly into a computer via a USB port on the guitar. Being able to plug the guitar directly into your computer could be useful for recording quick demos or song ideas. I’ll be interested in seeing how well this works in practice.

I’ve had hit-and-miss experience with Epiphone guitars in the past, so I’ll reserve judgment until I’m able to spend some time with one of these, but I think this is a great addition to Epiphone’s lineup and one that is particularly intriguing to me.

Here’s the text of the press release announcing the ES-339 guitar:

The Epiphone ES-339 is Here! Epiphone introduces the much anticipated ES-339 – a NEW instrument with its roots planted firmly in the classic era that helped define the Epiphone and Gibson Kalamazoo factory as a leader in cutting edge instruments. Today, this new semi-hollowbody from Epiphone turns back the clock while simultaneously rocketing the player-favorite into the future.

The Birth of a Legend: Introduced in the late ’50s, the ES series became an instant classic by bringing the feel of an archtop to players who had wholly embraced solid body classics like the Les Paul. The first in the ES series, the ES-335 became an instant success but for many players, it’s body was slightly too big.The new ES-339 is the perfect remedy, featuring body dimensions that are smaller while still retaining the bell-like tones of all ES series guitars as well as the classic shape.

Classic Construction: The Epiphone ES-339 features a reduced size laminated maple body with a solid center block. The SlimTaper ‘D’ profile 24.75-inch mahogany neck has 22 jumbo frets with a 1-11/16-inch nut and is hand-set and glued with a mortise and tenon neck joint with Titebond glue.

The 12-inch radius neck also features a rosewood fingerboard with mother-of-pearl inlays, much like the original. Single ply cream binding on the fingerboard and body completes the classic look and looks superb on all the ES-339′s finishes which include cherry, ebony, natural and vintage sunburst.

Epiphone Barrier Breaking Electronics: The new Epiphone ES-339 pickups are set up to provide a huge variety of sound choices for the modern guitarist. For those who are used to carrying two guitars to gigs, the ES-339 will solve that problem once and for all. Now, you can play any gig and any style with just one guitar – the Epiphone ES-339.

The ES-339′s fabulous ProBucker humbucker pickups can make an infinite variety of tones thanks to the three-way pickup selector which features a push/pull coil tap. The neck pickup volume pot and the bridge pickup volume pot each feature an easy-touch push/pull coil tap, making it easy to switch back and forth between single coil or classic humbucker sounds.The all-metal heavy duty Epiphone 1/4-inch output jack gives you a lifetime of worry-free use.

Epiphone Hardware You Can Trust: The classic Epiphone hardware you’ve come to know and trust makes the ES-339 a must-have guitar. Featuring Epiphone’s LockTone Tune-o-matic bridge and LockTone Stopbar tailpiece, the ES-339 sports all nickel hardware along with Wilkinson 14:1 ratio vintage machine heads with tombstone buttons.

Epiphone Guarantee: Like every Epiphone, the ES 339 features our Limited Lifetime warranty backed by world famous 24/7/365 day Gibson Customer Service. If you want a versatile, professional instrument designed for live performance or studio and capable of crunch, rock, jazz, country, and stinging blues, come back home to the Epiphone ES-339!

These are a couple more nice videos by Premier Guitar of the acoustic and electric guitar factories of Godin Guitars. I really enjoy watching videos about how guitars are made. It seems each manufacturer has their own unique take on things, and Godin is no different.

Godin Guitars Acoustic Guitar Factory Tour:

Godin Guitars Electric Guitar Factory Tour:

Premier Guitar’s Jason Shadrick recently visited with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at the House of Blues in Chicago to talk guitars, pedals, and amps. Grace and guitarists Scott Tournet and Benny Yurco give Jason a tour of each of their rigs:

As a side note, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the band live a number of times now, and each time has been better than the last. I highly recommend seeing them live if you get a chance.

Matt Proctor recently wrote me to let me know about his guitar company, M-tone Guitars. I’ve never played one of Matt’s guitar, but they definitely have a unique vibe to them, likely due to Matt’s 15-year stint as a sculptor. I like his philosophy:

I remember when I was ten years old in Santa Fe, NM, looking in a pawn shop window at a beat up blue paisley Jaguar and getting a gnawing, excited feeling that never went away. Thinking about that guitar 35 years later still fires me up, and I try to build guitars that make me feel like that over and over again. My guitars play like a dream and feature top of the line electronics and hardware, but most importantly they are sexy and fun and can make you remember why guitars are important to begin with. The world always needs more cool guitars.

He makes a point of mentioning that he does all of the work himself and doesn’t rely on robots or computers to help him out. He also chooses not to use plastic whenever possible. For example, he uses steel for pickguards, which I think add to the funky vibe of the guitars.

I can’t attest to how they play or sound, but Matt’s guitars certainly look cool:

Read more about Matt’s guitars at the M-tone Guitars website.

“Once you’ve discovered you enjoy playing the guitar, you can’t stop playing the guitar.”

In his article “Building the Guitar You’ll Keep” for Wired.com, Chuck Squatriglia offers an excellent glimpse into Richard Hoover and his company, Santa Cruz Guitars.

It’s an unhurried place. Guitars are built one at a time, by hand, a process that takes eight weeks or more. Almost every guitar in the joint is already spoken for, and if you order one today you won’t be playing it until this fall.

I’ve had the opportunity to hear Hoover speak about wood, and I would venture to say that there are few people that know tonewoods as well as Hoover does. The story of his company is, for me, perhaps even more interesting, and Squatriglia does a good job of profiling both Hoover and the company. Hoover clearly has a passion for building high-quality guitars. And, if you’ve ever had the pleasure of playing a Santa Cruz Guitar, you know that Hoover’s passion manifests itself in some of the highest quality guitars made today.

As an added bonus, the article features some excellent photography of the Santa Cruz Guitars shop taken by Jim Merithew.

(Thanks to Darren M. for pointing me to this article.)

This year, Fender is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Fender Telecaster. Many things have changed in the past 60 years, but the Telecaster remains largely unchanged from its original design, which is a real testament to Leo Fender’s original design. Fender has created a video featuring a number of artists who have come together to discuss their appreciation for the Telecaster:

Fender has recently added a virtual guitar builder to their website that allows you to design and customize a Stratocaster with a variety of options. Even if you’re not in the market for a new guitar, it’s a lot of fun just to play around with the options.