Stone Temple Pilots Record With…
…Chester Bennington of Linkin Park! Whoa, didn’t see this one coming. When news surfaced that the band was looking to work with a singer whose name wasn’t Scott Weiland, I started wondering who they might get instead. Would they go for some kind of Weiland clone? Would they get an unknown dude? Or a known singer? And if you listen to the sample of the new song Out Of Time (which you can hear in the video snippet or full Soundcloud song below), well… it sounds pretty badass! Chester is a really good fit. And now I can’t wait to hear what these guys are up to in full. Continue reading
COOL GEAR ALERT: Two Notes Torpoedo C.A.B.
Aah! This is perfect! A lot of us are huge fans of cabinet impulses in the studio but there hasn’t really been a practical way of using them live. You could take your laptop to a gig, but then what if someone runs off with it and finds your porn stash? Well the Torpedo C.A.B. will help you to retain your tone and your dignity by providing cabinet impulses in stompbox form. It’s not a loadbox (so don’t expect to be able to silently record your amp head), but it does include all the other features of the Torpedo Live (which is a loadbox), together with an input stage specifically tailored to accept pedal-level signals. Continue reading
Seymour Duncan Announces The Nazgûl
As you probably know if you follow me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, I work for Seymour Duncan in social media. It’s a really fun job and everyone at Seymour Duncan is just so friendly, knowledgable and downright cool. Something I’m super-excited about on a personal level – since I’m way into my extended range guitars – is the new selection of pickups designed specifically for 7 and 8-string players: the Pegasus, the Sentient and the Nazgûl. The Nazgûl is a passive humbucker specifically created for extreme metal styles, and it sounds brutal. In the best possible way, of course. Here’s the press release:
COOL GEAR ALERT: MXR Prime Distortion
Here’s something pretty neat from MXR: a new distortion pedal that’s exclusive to Guitar Center (both instore and online) and Musicians Friend. It’s a vintage-vibed stomper which seems quite flexible and amp-like. Check out the videos at the bottom of this post to get a feel for what this baby can do. By the way, don’t MXR do the coolest videos? I like their style. They seem to capture that whole exciting tunnel-vision vibe you get when you try a new pedal for the first time. And their videos from NAMM this year were killer too.
Here’s the press release for the Prime Distortion, followed by the videos.
Steve Vai Australian Tour Announced
Steve Vai is about to return to Australia with his full solo show for the first time since 2004. Sure, he’s been here quite often lately – with G3, with Zappa Plays Zappa and to give a Masterclass – but it’s been nine years since Vai played an entire show dedicated to his particular and peculiar brand of musical madness. I spoke to Steve this morning and that interview will be up on the site in a couple of weeks (we talked a lot about 7 and 8-string guitars, by the way). But in the meantime, here are the tour dates: Continue reading
INTERVIEW: Jim Breuer
Okay, so if you’ve been reading the site or following me on Twitter lately, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been developing a bit of an interest in stand-up comedy. I guess I need to find an interest outside of music to keep things fresh, since music is my life’s passion as well as my day job. Anyway, I was just going through some files when I stumbled upon this interview from last year with comedian and fellow metal-obsessive Jim Breuer. Hopefully some of you might like reading about someone who loves metal as much as we do, but approaches it from a different perspective. Don’t worry, I’m not turing the site into I Heart Comedy or anything. Here’s the interview: Continue reading
GJ2 Guitars Partners With Cleartone Strings
I’ve probably said this before, but it’s been really great watching GJ2 Guitars\ grow, and quickly. I’ve had the opporunity to check out many of these guitars close-up and the workmanship is flawless, but just as importantly the creative vision behind each of the designs is very unique – only two years in, you can already tell when you’re looking at a GJ2 even if it’s a model that has its roots in the past like the Glendora. They’ve just announced a new partnership with Cleartone Strings which will see Cleartones featured as standard equipment on all GJ2 guitars. Here’s the press release:
David Bowie: The Next Day (Video)
Mr. David Bowie has released the third video from his new album The Next Day and… well, it’s Bowie being Bowie. After decades of imitators pushing hackneyed symbolism and calculated shock value in the wake of Bowie’s example, he’s set about here to outdo them all. And he does – in a very knowing, sly way, which you’ll see and understand if you make it to the end of the video. This was briefly taken off YouTube and then added again with an explicit content warning, so if you’re sensitive to things and stuff, you might wanna skip it. Read my review of The Next Day here and my interview with guitarist Earl Slick here. And here’s the video: Continue reading
My Interview With Albare
I recently had a great chat with jazz guitarist Albare for Australian Guitar magazine, which you can read here. Albare is a Gibson endorser, a pioneer of Acid Jazz and a lifelong devotee of jazz. I particularly like what he had to say about improvisation: “In the Talmud it says the distance between the head and the heart is the longest in the world. So for a musician to go from the learning and the understanding back to the giving through the heart, it’s a life experience. So what goes through my head? Here’s what goes through my head: I think about my mother. I think about the sea. I think about things that calm me and take my mind away. Continue reading
Gibson Gary Moore Les Paul Standard
Gibson has offered a few different Gary Moore Les Paul models over the years, and all of them have been beautiful. But I just can’t tear my eyes away from the latest: the Gary Moore Les Paul Standard. That Lemon Burst finish just kills me. This guitar takes many cues from the legendary ’59 Burst Moore was most associated with (the one that was previously owned by Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green). There are a few twists though, which set this guitar apart from previous Gibson Gary Moore Les Pauls. 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