Peter Hodgson
NEW GUITAR DAY: Ibanez Iron Label 8-String
It’s here! My new Ibanez RGIR28FE! I purchased it from Ibanez Guitar Centre after a few months of research into which model was right for me. So why 8-string? Well, I’ve been playing 7-string for about 10 years now and sometimes it just feels like my music wants to go lower than the 7 is capable of. I like to play basslines and melodies at the same time, and it’s a real bummer when you just can’t reach all the notes you hear in your head. The Iron Label series is designed specifically with metal in mind, with aggressive styling and active EMG pickups on most models (some have DiMarzios), but to be honest I’m probably not going to be playing a huge amount of death metal on mine. The eighth string seems to lend itself to lots of stoner rock and goth ideas, and the occasional Geezer Butler-style bassline, so I can imagine playing a lot of really earthy sounding stuff on this as I become more and more familiar with it. Continue reading
The Beatles ‘Help!’ Coming To Blu-Ray
My son is a huge Beatles fan. Dude is six years old and he loves them. Every now and then he’ll tell me how sad he is that ‘John Lemon’ is dead. And he loves Yellow Submarine. He’s already got (okay, I’ve already got) the previous release of Help! on DVD, but now that rather excellent film is about to be released on Blu-ray for the first time, with an hour of extra features. And I dunno about you, but this is definitely on my ‘Must own on Blu-ray as well’ list. Here’s the press release: Continue reading
Gibson Sully Erna Les Paul Studio
Now this is pretty neat: Gibson USA is releasing a Sully Erna Les Paul Studio with – get this – a built-in flanger. I love this rarely-seen-these-days idea, and I hope it’ll make its way into more guitars. In fact, I’m pretty amazed that a Tube Screamer-style overdrive circuit isn’t a standard feature in pretty much every guitar at this point. The Sully Erna model is very distinctively a Godsmack/Sully axe, with its huge pearlescent sun logo, double-star 12th-fret inlay and moon-and-star headstock inlay, so it’s probably only going to appeal to Godsmack fans, but if you happen to dig it on its own merits, I think it’s well worth checking out. Continue reading
RIP Trevor Bolder
Trevor Bolder – bass player for David Bowie’s Spiders From Mars and for Uriah Heep – has died of cancer aged 62. Man, glam just wouldn’t be the same without the image of Bolder, huge sideburns and Gibson EB-O bass, but more importantly, it wouldn’t sound the same. Just listen to his work on Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups. And Bolder remained active with Uriah Heep up until 2011′s awesome Into The Wild album. Here’s an official statement from Uriah Heep: Continue reading
COOL GEAR ALERT: Gibson Bill Kelliher Golden Axe
Well, I for one am surprised that the first signature axe of Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher isn’t a Silverburst Les Paul, but this is kinda better because it’s its own thing: the Gibson Bill Kelliher Golden Axe Explorer. Bill has loaded this baby up with all sorts of unique elements: LACE Nitro Hemi humbuckers, gold-plated hardware, a hot-stamped Golden Axe truss-rod cover, cream pickguard with hot-stamped Mastodon logo, cream binding, and Bill’s choice of Go-Gold Burst finish in high-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer. Wanna buy one? Here it is at Musicians Friend. Continue reading
New Queensryche Song – Where Dreams Go To Die
Aah, now this is cool! Check out the video below to hear another new Queensryche song, called Where Dreams Go To Die, which features a classic QR twin-guitar attack, complete with cool clean-toned verses, harmony lines and all that other fun stuff you expect from a Queensryche track. And of course it’s always great to hear Michael Wilton’s heavy rhythm work, but I’m really digging the renewed sense of vigour in Scott Rockenfield’s drumming. Scott Rock has long been one of my favourite drummers and he sounds really free and energised here. Can’t wait to hear the rest of the album! Queensryche’s self-titled album – the first with Todd La Torre on vocals – will be released on June 25. Pre-order it here. Continue reading
RIP Ray Manzarek of The Doors
I’m sad to hear of the passing of The Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek today. Y’know, I was never a huge Doors fan personally – you ever get that thing where you can appreciate the greatness of a band but they just don’t really resonate with you on a personal level? – but I loved hearing his stories when he would appear on documentaries or TV shows. He seemed to have a great memory of and appreciation for the history-changing musical and social era he arose from, and as we lose more and more of our classic rock pioneers, that sense of history is important to hold on to for all of us, especially those of us for whom music is a culture as much as a form of entertainment.
Scott Tennant Live At GSI
PRESS RELEASE: Grammy Award-winning classical guitarist Scott Tennant will be performing alive concert on June 1st, 2013 at 7:30pm. Held at the Guitar Salon showroom in Santa Monica, CA, the concert showcases seven of history’s most important guitars – all owned and played by the legendary Romero family of guitarists. The seven guitars will be brought to the venue by PepeRomero, Jr., whose livelihood as a world-renowned guitar maker continues the Romero family’s guitar tradition. He will be introducing each instrument with background, technical and historical information before handing it off to Tennant to perform with. Continue reading
Rockschool Introduces New Hot Rock Guitar Books
PRESS RELEASE: Rockschool’s best selling Hot Rock Guitar series has just been expanded with the launch of the new Grades 4 and 5 books. The acclaimed Hot Rock range brings you eight classic tracks in a variety of music genres giving you a choice of musical styles to play. The new books include songs from some of the most respected, best selling and famous bands on the planet and are an excellent tool for the ‘Free Choice Pieces’ in graded exams. Each massive new book comes complete with edited exam versions of eight classic rock songs drawn from a range of musical styles. Continue reading
Lightning Swords Of Death US Tour
PRESS RELEASE: LA-based black metal legion, Lightning Swords Of Death, are emerging for a North American tour this June. They will be supporting Melechesh alongside Vreid and Reign of Lies. The tour begins on June 16th in Los Angeles at The Joint and will wrap up on June 30th in Brooklyn. Lightning Swords Of Death’s “caustic yet otherworldly approach” (Decibel Magazine) has earned the band high praise from fans and critics worldwide with their most recent album, Baphometic Chaosium. 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