NEWS: New Ibanez FR colour
Check out this new colour for Ibanez’s FR2620 model. At the moment this one is only available in Japan. I first saw the FR series in person at a Paul Gilbert clinic earlier this year, when he used a black FR1620 to play ‘I Still See That Other Girl.’
The FR2620 model was already available in Dark Natural Sunburst. The new natural finish really shows off the ash body, and makes the FR look more like the Telecasters that obviously inspired it.
Specs:
Neck type: 5pc Maple/Walnut Prestige neck
Body: Ash body
Fingerboard: Rosewood fingerboard
Fret: Jumbo frets
Bridge: Tight-End bridge
Pickups: CCR1 neck, CCR2 bridge
Hardware color: Chrome
CLICK HERE to buy the Ibanez FR1620 in black
NEWS: Sammy Hagar’s new video
Sammy Hagar has just released the video for ‘Cosmic Universal Fashion,’ the title track off his forthcoming alblum (released November 18). The album features Sammy’s parner in ex-Van Halenism, bass player Michael Anthony, as well as Billy Duffy from the Cult, Matt Sorum from Guns N’ Roses, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top and Neal Schon from Journey.
‘Cosmic Universal Fashion, was written in an online collaboration between Hagar and a young Iraqi band in Baghdad, and the music video is a sequel to Van Halen’s ‘Right Now.’ video. The album also includes a cover of the Beastie Boys’ ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party).’ If anyone has a right to cover that song, it’s a dude who started his own tequila company, hehe.
I’ll have a review of the album soon. In the meantime, here’s the video.
CLICK HERE to buy Sammy Hagar – Cosmic Universal Fashion
HALLOWEEN BRUTALITY – ESP George Lynch Skulls & Snakes
Here’s another one that goes back to my very first guitar magazine, the March 1991 issue of Guitar World with ZZ Top on the cover. George Lynch appeared in a Seymour Duncan ad for his Screamin’ Demon pickup, posing with this guitar. Naturally it was the coolest f***ing thing in the world to my 13-year-old self, and I’ve never stopped lusting after this guitar.
Features include a blot-on maple neck on an alder body, rosewood fretboard, 45mm neck width, George’s custom neck conour, 22 extra jumbo frets, Gotoh tuners, Floyd Rose bridge, George’s Screamin’ Demon bridge pickup, and an ESP SH-100 Rail pickup in the neck position.
CLICK HERE to buy George Lynch’s 1993 solo album ‘Sacred Groove’
HALLOWEEN BRUTALITY – ESP Shinigami
Got $20,000? Then perhaps this ESP Custom Shop Shinigami is for you. Specs are pretty hard to come by but does that even matter, with a guitar as demonic as this? Click on the image to see its evilness in greater detail. That’s no printed graphic either – this sucker is carved and painted.
HALLOWEEN BRUTALITY – Dean Dave Mustaine VMNT
Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine has had more than his fair share of signature guitars – various Jackson models, the ESP DV8 and Axxion, and now the Dean Dave Mustaine VMNT. One thing Dave’s guitars have in common is their aggressive styling – this is not a dude that you’ll see strapping on a Les Paul. The DV8 is not drastically different from the King V-based Jackson Dave Mustaine model of the 90s, and it has a few design refinements including through-body stringing and a tune-o-matic bridge (his Jackson had a fixed Kahler bridge).
Most VMNT variants also have Seymour Duncan Dave Mustaine Livewire active pickups. Voiced to sound like a Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz set but with twice as much output, these 9-volt active pickups run on low noise, discrete class A circuitry, and can be operated at up to 25 volts for extremely high headroom.
My favourite version of the VMNT is the ‘Angel of Deth’ model, but check out the double neck version of the VMNT too. I guess this one is more of a Flying W than a Flying V.
CLICK HERE to buy the Dean Dave Mustaine VMNT Angel of Deth Electric Guitar
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), guitarworld.com, Tone Deaf, 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 Reverbnation or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com