Fender have recently introduced a new lineup of guitars in their American Vintage Series. From their press release:

Fender’s American Vintage series introduces an all-new lineup of original-era model year guitars that bring Fender history and heritage to authentic and exciting new life. With key features and pivotal design elements spanning the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, new American Vintage series instruments delve deep into Fender’s roots—preserving an innovative U.S. guitar-making legacy and vividly demonstrating how many of the most desirable instruments of the past can be expertly recreated in look, feel and sound.

The American Vintage Series has long presented some of Fender’s best-selling guitars (their early-’80s introduction, in fact, was one of the first signs that Fender was “back” as the CBS era ended). Today, Fender has boldly cleared the slate to make way for a fresh American Vintage series with new features, new specs and the most meticulous level of vintage accuracy yet. Rather than just replacing the previous models with different ones, the entire vintage-reissue concept has been completely and comprehensively re-imagined—restoring original tooling dies, voicing new pickups, reformulating vintage colors and more—based on actual vintage guitars designers tracked down to ensure even greater accuracy.

All the new American Vintage Series guitars feature thick and slim necks with profiles and edges carefully re-sculpted to reflect even greater period-correct authenticity, with both maple and rosewood fingerboards, vintage-style frets and bone nuts; all-new vintage-style pickups wound to period-correct specs and sound to accurately reflect specific model years, and even specific periods within specific model years; retooled pickguards, parts and hardware designed to accurately reflect specific model years (and again, even specific periods within specific model years), and standard and custom-color finishes re-formulated for even greater period-correct authenticity.

The new guitars are the American Vintage ’56, ’59 and ’65 Stratocaster^® models (’56 model also in left-handed version), American Vintage ’58 and ’64 Telecaster^® models (’64 model also in left-handed version), American Vintage ’65 Jazzmaster^® and American Vintage ’65 Jaguar^®. Also, the American Vintage ’52 Telecaster returns to the fold (in right- and left-handed versions) with body, neck and pickups refined with the best features—tones, curves, perimeters, radii and more—from a handful of extraordinary ’52 Telecaster specimens examined by Fender craftsmen.

The following video shows the new models and has some great vintage scenes:

Robben Ford and TrueFire have recently teamed up to produce their Blues Revolution instructional course:

In this 6-hour, interactive video Blues Revolution course, Robben steps you through his Chicago blues influences, chord and scale vocabulary, rhythm guitar techniques, improvisational approaches and harmonic insight for crafting the fresh, contemporary lines that comprise his signature sound.

The course is divided into six sections:

1. Fundamentals
2. Chicago Blues
3. Chords and Comping
4. Scales and Applications
5. Soloing and Improvisation
6. Performances

I personally really enjoy Robben’s playing, so I’m happy to see him sharing his insights. TrueFire currently have a promotion running where you can save 10% off the course by using the offer code “REVOLUTION10″ if you decide to buy.

Here is an intro to the course:

The Foo Fighters are one of my favorite modern rock bands. Dave Grohl recently announced that they will be taking a hiatus for the foreseeable future, but fortunately there’s still YouTube. Here they are playing their latest album, Wasting Light, in full:

With the release of the new iPhone 5, Apple has finally created an iPhone that is big enough to play guitar on (fast forward to 0:36):

For your listening pleasure is this video of a live Stevie Ray Vaughan show in Nashville from 1987:

The set list from the show is:

1.Scuttle Buttin’
2.Soul to Soul
3.Look at Little Sister
4.Mary had a Little Lamb
5.Superstition
6.Cold Shot
7.Voodoo Chile
8.Life without You

Tom Bukovac is a Nashville-based session guitarist that has a great reputation among Nashville musicians. Here is is playing a fun song called “Bobble Head Blues” on a 1939 National archtop guitar. Enjoy!

(thanks to GL reader Chad S. for submitting the video)

I really dig David Grissom’s playing, and his signature PRS is one of the most versatile guitars I’ve ever played. Here Grissom is playing a cover of “Hear My Train a Coming.” Great playing and great tone from a guitarist I could listen to all day. (Note that embedding was disabled by the video uploader.)

The LA Times is reporting that Dave Mustaine had some rather interesting things to say about the recent domestic terrorist incidents here in the USA. This might be proof that doing drugs causes long-term damage. This is just a friendly reminder that, regardless of which side of the aisle you find yourself, you probably shouldn’t take political advice from a heavy metal singer.

I really dig this video of the Michael Landau Group in Prague in 2010. I believe the title of the track is “Worried Life Blues”:

I love the tone he gets out of his Strat.

I was browsing YouTube for videos this morning and found this Stevie Ray Vaughan concert where is performing at the Pistoia Blues Festival in Pistoia, Italy on July 3, 1988. The setlist for this concert is:

1. Scuttle Buttin’
2. Say What
3. Lookin’ Out The Window
4. Look At Little Sister
5. Mary Had A Little Lamb
6. Pride And Joy
7. Texas Flood
8. Superstition
9. Willie The Wimp
10. Couldn’t Stand The Weather

Check out the concert: