In this video, Eric Johnson talks about the thinking and design behind his new Eminence EJ1250 guitar speaker. He also samples some of the different sounds from the speaker:

This is a clever video by Walk Off the Earth covering Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” using only one acoustic guitar and all five band members playing the guitar:

This is an interesting BBC documentary about Vox Amps and about how they got started in Dartford, Kent, UK:

Part I:

Part 2:

Joe Bonamassa and team have published an official trailer for his upcoming DVD release Live at the Beacon Theatre, which you can now pre-order on Joe’s site. The concert was filmed this past November and features guest spots by Beth Hart, John Hiatt, and Paul Rodgers. As a Free fan, I’m particularly interested in seeing Joe and Paul Rodgers performing together. Check out the trailer below:

These videos are from a PBS documentary about Roy Buchanan. In addition to providing a lot of background information about Buchanan, the documentary features some excellent live footage of Buchanan.

Fender have introduced a new series of amplifiers called the Pawn Shop Specials. The series currently has two models: the Excelsior and the Greta:

Meet Greta™ and Excelsior™, Fender’s new and coolly unconventional Pawn Shop Special amplifiers. The two stylish amps resemble the esoteric finds you might discover in a pawnshop or second-hand store, and make for the most distinctive addition to any musician’s collection.

Housed in the playfully diminutive form of a vintage tabletop radio, the Pawn Shop Special Greta model is quite possibly the most unusual Fender tube amp ever (in fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find the name “Fender” anywhere on it). It’s a charming two-watt tabletop beauty with a 4” Special Design speaker, old-school VU meter with “clean to overload” indicator display, simple volume and tone controls, and a 1/8” back-panel auxiliary input perfect for iPod or other media player use.

Its vintage-style enclosure has front and rear wood panels finished in bright red, gold-finished metal top and sides for increased shielding, “Greta” script badge on the front panel and tabletop feet. Under the hood and on the back panel, Greta features a single 12AT7 output tube and 12AX7 preamp tube, with a ¼” instrument jack and ¼” line out jack (for preamp use with another amplifier).

Undoubtedly one of the most distinctive tube combo amps produced in Fender history, the alluringly refined Pawn Shop Special Excelsior harbors tones from polite, to raw and raucous. Its brown textured vinyl covering, smartly stylish “E” grille design and bold crossed-swords front-panel badge convey a decidedly stately vibe with a marked air of cold-war cool.

The 13-watt Excelsior elegantly encloses a single 15” Special Design speaker, with bottom-loaded primary chassis and top-loaded control chassis for operating convenience and low noise (powered by two 6V6 output tubes and two 12AX7 preamp tubes). Distinctive features include “instrument,” “microphone” and “accordion” inputs that each have individually optimized circuitry; tremolo circuit with speed control, bright/dark tone switch (for treble or bass emphasis), volume control and ¼” internal speaker disconnect that lets the amp drive an external speaker enclosure.

For playing at home, smaller gigs and studio sessions, the Excelsior is a class act that brings a fresh and unconventional new vibe to your playing.

I love the look of these new amps, and they’re priced right with the Excelsior having a street price of $299 and the Greta having a street price of $199. Premier Guitar is at the NAMM show and was able to get this demo video of the amps:

This is a wonderful video featuring Jay Lichty, a luthier I have discussed several times on here. One day, I plan on creating my own guitar from scratch. Until then, I’ll enjoy watching videos like this for inspiration:

If you’re looking to build your own guitar, too, Lichty even offers a guitar-building workshop.

Rich Murray has found the full-length (12 minute) documentary about the recording process for Oz Noy’s latest album Twisted Blues Vol. 1:

I enjoy getting the background information on albums, and this documentary is an interesting look into how Noy recorded his latest album.

“I love playing music, and these are tools to play music on. That’s all they are really.”

This is an excellent Paul Reed Smith interview with Harmony Central from 2009. He talks about his repair days, how he came up with the familiar PRS guitar shape, their process for dealing with wood, and why PRS started making their own pickups.

I always seem to have something going on when Oz Noy performs here in Nashville. This year was no exception, so I missed his performance a few weeks ago. As I say every time, hopefully I’ll be able to catch his show the next time he travels through town. In the meantime, check out this video of Noy performing here in Nashville with Michael Rhodes on bass and Keith Carlock on drums: