I’ve watched this B.B. King video live from Sing Sing Prison numerous times, and it gets me every time. It has elements of everything that has made B.B. so great for so long: his charisma, his singing, and his guitar playing. It has everything in about five and a half minutes.

I wish I could have been in the audience to see this: Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Joe Bonamassa, and Derek Trucks paying homage to Freddie King and playing “Going Down” at King’s introduction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame:

(via The Guitar Buzz)

Perhaps the cutest new products at NAMM were the Fuzz Face mini models introduced by Dunlop. These are pedalboard friendly versions of the traditional Fuzz Face style pedal. They look just look like the original model, but shrunk down. There are three mini models, a Hendrix model, a Germanium model, and a Silicon model. At a street price of $99, these will likely sell like hotcakes.

Premier Guitar met up with Dunlop during NAMM to get a demo of these pedals as well as a few more new products:

The Fender Custom Shop is introducing the Eric Clapton “Brownie” Stratocaster, modeled after Clapton’s famous two-tone ’50s sunburst Strat. The guitar is limited to a 100-piece run and will be made available at Guitar Center Platinum stores on March 21, 2013. Some people don’t like these kind of tribute models, but I think they’re an interesting way to pay homage to classic guitars and guitarists.

Clapton himself seems impressed by the reproduction:

Filmmaker Tim Edwards takes an inside look at Collings Guitars with his new documentary “Instrumental” (2010). The 12 minute film takes us into the heart of Collings’ culture, touching on everything from Bill’s inspiration to build his first guitars to his success as an internationally recognized luthier. Exclusive interviews with shop employees and Collings loyalists give insight into Bill’s determination to build the world’s finest guitars and mandolins.

I can’t help it. I love videos like this.

This is a fantastic video with Mark Knopfler talking about six of the guitars that have meant the most to him over the years. It’s nice to see Mark talk about the guitars and play some of the licks that made the guitars noteworthy.

GUITAR STORIES : MARK KNOPFLER from eld76 on Vimeo.

(Many thanks to Guitar Lifestyle reader Chad S. for letting me know about this video.)

This is an interesting video by Mike Collins about Frank Ford and Richard Johnston, founders of Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, CA. I’ve heard good things about Gryphon, although I haven’t yet purchased anything from them. The passion that Ford and Johnston have for guitars is evident in the video.

Gryphon Strings from Mike Collins on Vimeo.

Jon over at Guitar Noize recently linked to this video of a tour of the Wampler Pedals factory. It’s interesting to see the combination of machinery and hand wiring that goes into their pedals.

Black Country Communion are set to release their third album, Afterglow, on October 30. Here’s what vocalist and bassist Glenn Hughes says about the new release:

In terms of content, Afterglow expands upon the progression that took place between ‘BCC’ and ‘BCC2’. “It’s a deeper album, musically, than our first two albums, but it does not step away from the genre we’re in,” said Hughes, who wrote the bulk of the album’s 11 songs after BCC’s Summer Tour in 2011. “I wanted this album to have more acoustic moments than the previous two. I wanted to hear more of Derek [Sherinian] and I wanted an angelic side to the vocals as well as the more aggressive one, like on the songs ‘Crawl’ and ‘Midnight Sun’. Above all, I wanted more drama.”

Here is a trailer for the new album:

Michigan State University’s Bob Albers and a crew of students from MSU’s College of Communication Arts & Sciences have created an hour-long documentary called Elderly Instruments: All Things Strings about Elderly Instruments, a music store based in Lansing, Michigan:

Go behind the scenes with the quirky and knowledgeable staff, into workshops with guest musicians, and into the funky office and mind of Stan Werbin, co-founder and owner of Elderly Instruments. It’s wall to wall music, with guest appearances by Dave Shelton & Jeff Wilmore, Frog and the Beeftones, Honest D and the Steel Reserve, Jen Sygit and Sam Corbin, and more.

I’ve personally purchased several instruments as well as a number of accessories from Elderly and have been pleased each time.  I’ve never actually been to the shop, so it’s interesting to get a glimpse into the store. Note that the documentary is online only for a limited time, so watch while you can.