Last year, Page Hamilton released a guitar instructional DVD titled Sonic Shapes. I've mentioned before that I was a big fan of Hamilton's and his band Helmet when I first started playing guitar in the 90s. He was one of the first musicians I knew of who tuned to drop-D. On Sonic Shapes, Hamilton illustrates some of the concepts and approaches he takes when writing music for … [Read more...]
Tommy Emmanuel and Frank Vignola – Just Between Frets
Tommy Emmanuel recently released an album with jazz guitarist Frank Vignola titled Just Between Frets. This album is volume 11 in the Groovemaster series, which has featured many other excellent guitarists including Phil Keaggy, Laurence Juber, Preston Reed, and John Jorgenson. This collaboration between Emmanuel and Vignola pairs Emmanuel's inimitable acoustic guitar style … [Read more...]
Gibson Keb’ Mo’ Bluesmaster
Gibson recently introduced the Keb' Mo' signature Bluesmaster acoustic guitar. The guitar is loosely based on Keb's Epiphone Bluesmaster, which was a popular parlor-sized guitar that Gibson discontinued about 10 years ago. The Keb Mo' Bluesmaster features a spruce top, mahogany back and sides, and a bound, rosewood fingerboard. It is available in a natural or sunburst finish. … [Read more...]
Pedaltrain Jr.
One of the most popular posts on this site is "Build Your Own Pedalboard", where I link to Rob Hampton's detailed description of building his pedalboard. It seems that a lot of people are interested in building their own pedalboard. However, not everyone has the time or tools to build their own pedalboard. Enter Pedaltrain. Pedaltrain makes a series of professional-quality … [Read more...]
Grid1 Battery-Powered Tube Amps
Kevin Frazier from Grid1 recently let me know about his company's new product: a 60 watt lithium battery-powered tube amp called the G1 BPT212. The amp was launched at the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim about a week ago. It features 2 12" speakers, a lithium rechargeable battery, two footswitchable channels, and your choice of wood cabinet. The company claims to get 4-6 hours per … [Read more...]