Zakk Wylde Introduces Wylde Audio
Zakk Wylde has long been one of Gibson and Marshall’s most popular artists. The very idea of Zakk leaving either for another company at this stage seems utterly unbelievable. But that’s what’s happened: it’s just that Zakk hasn’t taken his considerable endorsement weight to other guitar and amp brands. He’s created his own instead. Wylde Audio will make guitars, amps, effects and all sorts of accessories. I caught up with Zakk to find out what’s what. Continue reading
Stephan Forté’s New Custom Ibanez
Check this out! Here’s Stephan Forté and Seymour Duncan’s Craig Costigan with Stephan’s newest Ibanez custom guitar – a killer 7-string with a custom Seymour Duncan 7-string rail humbucker in the neck position and an SD Pegasus in the bridge. Note the 27 frets!
NAMM: The Return Of The Talman …In Bass Form!
If you follow me on Instagram you know I’m a huge Ibanez Talman fan. I have a sparkly Talman TC825 with Bigsby vibrato that I post pretty often. My hope is that soon Ibanez will re-release the Talman, and I don’t want to jinx it but it feels like my dream may be edging a little closer to reality with the appearance of the Talman bass at NAMM. There are two models – TMB300 and TMB100. Each has a mahogany body and maple neck, 20 frets and a standard bridge. The TMB300 has a Dynamix J2 humbucker in the back pickup position and a Dynamix P1 in the front. The TMB100 has a Dynamix J1 in the back and P1 in the front. And there are plenty of colour options available.
Here are a bunch more pics! Continue reading
NAMM: BOSS ES-8 Effects Switching System
One of the notable trends at NAMM this year is the prevalence of cool stuff to stomp on. And one of the big races that will come out of this trend in 2015 will be between BOSS’s ES-8 Effects Switching System and RJM Music’s Mastermind PBC. Both are effects switchers that allow you to plug in your pedals and set them up in presets, both allow you to control MIDI units as well, and both also allow you to change channels on your amp. Each will appeal to slightly different players with different needs, and either way it’s a healthy time to be a pedal geek! Here’s the press release for the ES-8. Continue reading
NAMM: Jackson Misha Mansoor HT6 & HT7
PRESS RELEASE: Jackson is proud to announce the latest addition to its Artist Signature series instruments, the Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT6 and HT7 guitars. Misha Mansoor is acclaimed for his masterful guitar work in fashioning the progressive metal of Periphery. Now, the esteemed Djent-leman himself and Jackson have collaborated closely on the Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT6 and HT7 guitars, brand-new models like nothing else Jackson has ever seenor heardbefore. The instrument is crafted with a distinctive Jackson body shape inspired by the Dinky, with sleekly scalloped horns, a comfortably contoured neck heel and a gorgeous AAA quilt maple top on trans-finish models. The bolt-on quartersawn maple neck is sculpted with Mansoors own custom profile, and features graphite reinforcement, ivoroid binding and heel-end thumbwheel truss rod adjustment. Continue reading
NAMM: ESP 40th Anniversary Exhibition Limited 2015 Collection
ESP celebrates its 40th Anniversary next year, and they’ve unveiled the 40th Anniversary Exhibition Limited 2015 collection of very special guitars and basses designed to showcase the skills and creativity of their craftsmen and the quality of the materials they work with.
Taylor Expression System Baby Pickup
PRESS RELEASE: For the ultimate on-the-go, plug-and-play experience, Taylor Guitars is announcing the addition of the Expression System Baby™ pickup to its line of popular travel guitars, the Baby Taylor Series. The Expression System Baby, or the ES-B, is based on Taylor’s patented behind-the-saddle pickup, the Expression System 2, which features three uniquely positioned and individually calibrated piezo sensors.
NAMM: Joe Satriani JS25ART Limited Edition
Check THIS out! Ibanez and Joe Satriani mark the 25th anniversary of the JS series with a limited edition run of 50 guitars, each individually drawn, scribbled or otherwise arted upon by Joe himself in extraordinarily bright colours. These look really amazing in person and they’re going to go quickly, even with a recommended price of $7,999.99.
NAMM: Marshall Woburn Bluetooth Music Speakers
PRESS RELEASE: Named for locations in London that are significant to the history of Marshall Amplification, Marshall Headphones has produced a range of portable music speakers with high quality audio reproduction and the classic look of Marshall amps. Just like the glory days of rock ‘n’ roll the Woburn signifies freedom – the freedom to play your music wherever you want, in multiple ways. The largest in the Marshall music speaker series, the Woburn can really rock the place. It’s built to thrill. Continue reading
NAMM: Ibanez Iron Label Multiscales
Check out these Ibanez Iron Label Multiscale prototypes in 7 and 8-string versions, with EMG pickups. This is exactly the kind of thing Ibanez should me making right now, if you ask me. Although I’d put a Seymour Duncan Pegasus and Sentient in there.
Continue reading
NAMM: Carvin Jason Becker ‘Numbers’ Guitar
YES! Carvin are releasing this beauty, Jason Becker’s newest signature model, based on a custom axe he played back in the day. it has Jason’s Seymour Duncan Perpetual Burn humbucker in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck position. These will be available from February 1.
NAMM 2015: New Supro Amps
PRESS RELEASE: Building on the breakout momentum generated by their triumphant return to the guitar gear scene, Supro USA is now set to launch another trio of vintage-inspired amp models with reverb and tremolo at the 2015 Winter NAMM show. These new, American-made, vintage-derived combo amps feature independent bass and treble controls, tube-driven spring reverb and power-tube tremolo. The authentic Supro circuit topology found in these models puts the tremolo after the reverb, re-creating the ethereal, haunting shake of amplitude-modulated reverb that is central to the unique character of the original Valco/Supro designs. These vintage-styled, all-tube amps feature custom-voiced, US-made speakers, distinctive Blue Rhino Hide tolex and most importantly, the stunning atmospheric quality of the mid 60s Supro reverb amps.
1650RT Royal Reverb: This 2×10″ vintage reissue with Reverb and Tremolo is the heavy hitter of the bunch with headroom to spare and a huge, punchy tone. The Royal Reverb’s stout 6L6 output stage can be configured for Class A or Class AB power at 35, 45 or 60 watts with selectable 5U4 tube or solid state rectifier modes. Street price on the Royal Reverb is $1499 USD.
1648RT Saturn Reverb: This 1×12″ future-retro combo with Reverb and Tremolo is both lightweight and easily coaxed into raucous tube overdrive. The Saturn Reverb shares the same 6973 based, Class-A power plant as the top selling Supro Dual-Tone amplifier, but a slightly lower power rating of 15-watts due to its use of a vintage-correct 5U4 tube rectifier. Street price on the Saturn Reverb is $1399 USD.
1622RT Tremo-Verb: This 1×10″ combo with Reverb and Tremolo is the ultimate compact vintage tone machine. Small and lightweight enough to carry around town, the Tremo-verb reissue uses 6973 power tubes to push 25-watts of pure vintage American Class-A tone. Despite its small size and single 10″ speaker, this modern incarnation of the Tremo-verb is easily loud enough to keep up with a drummer and be clearly heard in a club setting. Street price on the Tremo-verb is $1299 USD.
Adrian Belew and members of Snarky Puppy will join Supro president David Koltai at 3:30 pm on Friday at Booth 5218 to make a special announcement from the NAMM show floor. Stay tuned for more new product info from Supro!
For regular updates on the rebirth of Supro, stay tuned to:
Official Supro Website: www.suprousa.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/suprousa
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SuproUSA (@SuproUSA)
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
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