Fender has recently introduced the Jim Adkins JA-90 Thinline Telecaster. Adkins is the guitarist and frontman for Jimmy Eat World. I’m not all that familiar with Jimmy Eat World, but this looks like a nice guitar! The guitar features P-90s, a semi-hollow Ash body, medium jumbo frets and comes in red or black.

(via Electric Guitar Review)

DavidGilmour.com is reporting that a Fender Custom Shop David Gilmour Stratocaster, which is modeled after Gilmour’s famous Black Strat, will be released on September 22, 2008. The release is scheduled to coincide with the release of Gilmour’s “Live in Gdansk” album, which will also be released on September 22.

Here’s what DavidGilmour.com has to say about the guitar:

In the two years that the guitar has been in discussion, a number of prototypes have been produced, and the final version was only approved when David was happy that all elements combined to make a sound that was as close as possible to his own guitar’s. The ‘Black Strat’ comes in a hard case (by G&G) stuffed with extras: Phil Taylor’s ‘Black Strat’ book, a set of GHS David Gilmour Boomer strings, a copy of the 3-disc version of Live In Gdańsk, a cable by Evidence Audio, a deluxe Fender leather strap, and a David Gilmour plectrum. The interior of the case is a plush green, including embroidered David Gilmour and Fender Custom Shop logos.

There will be two models: a relic model and a ‘New Old Stock’ model:

• The ‘Relic’, which replicates the ‘Black Strat’ as it is today with aged parts and worn paint, plus all the wear and tear of David’s heavily-used 30-year-old guitar – with no backplate.
• The ‘New Old Stock’ model, which replicates the ‘Black Strat’ as it is now – but with all-new parts, ‘new’ paint finish and an additional white plastic backplate. The NOS model should be found at a lower retail price than the ‘Relic’.

Looks nice!

* Photo credit: DavidGilmour.com

(via Strat-o-Blogster)

Solidbodies: The 50 Year Guitar War is a DVD by Guy Hornbuckle that chronicles the history of two of the earliest and most popular solidbody guitars: the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul. The DVD features interviews with some of today’s top guitarists including Joe Bonamassa, Derek Trucks, Henry Garza, Gary Hoey, and some great playing by Wes Jeans, John Roth, and Steve Selvidge. Additionally, the DVD features interviews with vintage guitar expert George Gruhn and author Richard R. Smith.

It’s obvious that Hornbuckle is a fan of the guitar. Both the Strat and Les Paul are given equal time with no real “war” being depicted other than the struggles of Fender and Gibson to become the dominant guitar manufacturer throughout the years.

The Fender story goes all the way back to when Leo Fender was repairing radios during the depression. It was interesting to find out how Fender was not really even a musician, he was just a great tinkerer and inventor. The Stratocaster was largely developed in collaboration with Fender’s employees, who were guitar players.

The Gibson story goes back to when Gibson was producing only acoustic and hollow-body guitars. I found it interesting to hear that there are two stories to how the Les Paul came about: the Les Paul story and the Ted McCarty story. Les Paul states that he went to Gibson with the idea for the Les Paul, while McCarty claims that Gibson went to Paul with a more or less finished guitar. It was also interesting to hear that during the 60s, the Les Paul was discontinued due to the agreement with Les Paul running out and not being continued. According to the movie, it was largely the result of British bluesmasters like Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck that re-sparked the interest in the Les Paul guitar. Of course, nowadays both Clapton and Beck are better known for playing Fenders than Gibsons, but they both were playing Gibsons in the 60s.

In addition to the great interviews, throughout the movie there are musical interludes and great soundtrack clips. After discussing the difference between humbuckers and single-coils, for instance, the viewer gets to actually hear the difference between the two types of pickups. At the end of the movie, Wes Jeans and Steve Selvidge play a very nice piece together with Jeans playing a Strat and Selvidge playing a Les Paul.

The DVD also features some special features: a slide show of the vintage guitars featured in the movie and a feature on vintage guitar values. These are a nice addition to the DVD; who doesn’t like looking at near-mint vintage guitars?

I really enjoyed watching this movie. You never know what to expect with a guitar documentary. Some are very cheesy. However, Solidbodies is a very well done movie. My wife, who is not a guitar player, even enjoyed watching this movie, which I consider to be a triumph since she rarely wants to watch any of my guitar-related movies. I think Guy Hornbuckle and Lightning Lab Productions have done a great job. If you like the guitar, I think you’ll like Solidbodies: The 50 Year Guitar War. You can watch a trailer for the movie at the Solidbodies Web site.