MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion
Is there any cooler pedal than the MXR Custom Badass ’78 Distortion? Well, maybe, but it’s a pretty tough one to top. Just listen to that thing. But the team behind that possibly-underappreciated Dude You Totally Have To Try It pedal have just announced their newest offering, the Super Badass Distortion, which allows you to further personalise your distortion sound with separate Bass, Mid and Treble controls and nice broad range of distortion levels. Jim Dunlop has a great blog post where they discuss the pedal with the design team, and you can check that out here. But here’s the press release: Continue reading
The Mighty Ibanez BTB7 7-string Bass
You might remember that yesterday I was pondering the rise of the 7-string, and how the music is dictating the development of the instrument. A similar thing happened when 5-string basses appeared on the scene. Then there were 6-string basses, which remain something of a niche instrument for jazz and prog guys, really: you don’t tend to see them in punk bands. Just sayin.’ Anyway, so as to not feel left out by the rise of the 8-string guitar, Ibanez has created the BTB7 Limited Edition 7-string bass. Compared to a regular four-string bass it adds one extra low string and two extra high ones: it’s tuned (low to high) B E A D G C F. Continue reading
REVIEW: Ibanez RGIR28FE Iron Label 8-string
Ibanez was at the forefront of 7-string guitar development when they launched the Universe more than 20 years ago, and they’ve continued to innovate in extended-range instruments at all price points, from inexpensive GIO 7-strings to J.Custom 8-strings. The Iron Label series of 6, 7 and 8-string guitars includes RG and S models all of which are designed specifically for metal players, yet the styling is clean and neat enough to appeal to, if not every player, then certainly a wide cross-section of the guitar community.
On paper, the RGIR28FE 8-string (I bought mine from Ibanez Guitar Centre) reads pretty similarly to much of the RG line: super-thin neck (in this case a five-piece Maple, Walnut Nitro Wizard-8 profile), Basswood body, Maple neck, Rosewood fretboard and Jumbo frets. Continue reading
Jackson Unveils Summer 2013 Models
Seven and eight string guitars aren’t going anywhere, by the looks of things. Sure, there’s a bit of resistance from the traditionalists (and here’s how to respond to people who say ‘Seven strings? I have enough trouble with six!) but guitarists have been tuning down for decades now and I like the idea of music dictating the development of the instrument, rather than being restrained by it. So while there’ll always be a place in my heart and guitar rack for six-stringers, I’m glad that companies like Jackson are as serious about their extended-range offerings as the players are who are using them. Jackson is releasing three new models for the summer season, and all of them have an upped string count. Here’s the press release: Continue reading
Stream The New Queensryche Album Now!
Whoa! With week left until its release, Queensryche (that’s the version featuring the mighty Michael Wilton, Scott Rockenfield, Eddie Jackson, Parker Lundgren and new vocalist Todd La Torre), have put their new self-titled album up online for all to crank. And it’s killer. I especially like In This Light: with all the talk of how heavy this album was going to be, I was hoping they’d still find room for more melodic stuff. And they have! This album feels like a very, very good start indeed for this new era of Queensryche as a recording entity (they’ve already proven themselves on the stage) and I hope they make it down here to Oz on tour some time soon. You can listen on the band’s site here.
Win A YouRock MIDI Guitar
Hey! Here’s something cool. Making Music Magazine is holding a sweepstakes for someone to win a YouRock MIDI Guitar. The MIDI Guitar is a really innovative instrument that plays just like any other guitar, but without the strings and tuning pegs. You can plug it into your computer and take lessons, play games and even add percussion to your guitar playing, plus it has countless settings. And you can see my review of it here, including a sound clip of me using one to pull off some cool sitar-sounding stuff. But more importantly, you can enter to win one here! It’s a great tool for the home recordist, especially those of us who kinda suck at playing keyboards (that would be me) but still want to add some keys to their tracks without manually drawing them into the MIDI edit window.
TC Electronic Announces Steve Vai TonePrint
Risskov, Denmark, June 11th 2013 – TC Electronic is excited to announce one of the biggest names on the TonePrint artist roster yet – Steve Vai! The creative genius has contributed a TonePrint for Hall Of Fame Reverb entitled Ocean Machine. This TonePrint is available immediately and free of charge through www.tcelectronic.com/steve-vai or through the free TonePrint app for iOS and Android phones. Steve Vai’s signature Ocean Machine reverb is a very natural sounding reverb, with a bit of chorus and Steve’s artistically precise parameter and EQ settings. Both introspective and flowing, Ocean Machine truly lives up to its name. Continue reading
Rolling Stones’ Crossfire Hurricane Comes To DVD, Blu-ray
PRESS RELEASE: Eagle Rock Entertainment releases The Rolling Stones’ Crossfire Hurricane on DVD and Blu-ray. Crossfire Hurricane is the kaleidoscopic new film that documents the key periods of the Rolling Stones’ career and their incredible journey. Directed by Brett Morgen, Crossfire Hurricane provides a remarkable new perspective on the Stones’ unparalleled journey from blues-obsessed teenagers in the early 60’s to rock royalty. It’s all here in panoramic candor, from the Marquee Club to Hyde Park, from Altamont to Exile, from club gigs to stadium extravaganzas. Continue reading
Listen To The New Black Sabbath Album Now!
Head over to the Black Sabbath artist page on iTunes to stream the 8-track regular version of their new album 13 right now! It’s incredible – lots of great guitar playing, killer Geezer Butler riffage, and Ozzy is in fine form. It’s a very dark album – y’know how Sabbath Bloody Sabbath kinda sounded like ‘Yay! We’re young and we have drugs and groupies and everything’s going to be awesome forever!’? Well this one is kind of like ‘Oh… we’re old now and we know what comes next…’ So it’s a bit of a downer. But in a good way. If you can’t be bothered wading through iTunes, go here then click View In iTunes to go straight there. 13 is out on June 11, and you can order 13 [Deluxe Edition]
IK Multimedia Releases AmpliTube 3.0 for iOS
Aaah, IK Multimedia. They just keep getting better and better. The first desktop AmpliTube was pretty darn impressive for the time (three amp models!?!) but then they released AmpliTube 2 and it really kicked ass. Then they released AmpliTube 3 and it really, really kicked ass. And similarly for their iOS offerings. The new version of AmpliTube adds a complete multi-track studio as well as new gear models, really unlocking the power of the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Here’s the press release: Continue reading
Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), Blunt, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Bandcamp or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com