NAMM 2012: Black Veil Brides signature BC Rich models
Black Veil Brides guitarists Jake Pittz and Jinxx both have new BC Rich guitars and they’re both pretty freaking cool! I checked them out at NAMM 2012 and was most impressed. These two axes tap into the essential sig guitar criteria of being attractive to people who aren’t fans of the band as much as to those who are (BVB inlays notwithstanding, but even then they look kind of cool).
NAMM 2012: Jackson Custom Shop 7 and 8 strings
Thought the Charvel 7-strings were cool? Well you were right. But check out these gorgeous Jackson Custom Shop 7-strings by Pablo Santana:
Huh? Close-ups? Sure.
Ah, but we all know that just as seven strings are better than six, eight are better than seven. So I give you this prototype, with EMG pickups and a killer natural finish.
NAMM 2012: Parker Maxx Fly Bass
Here’s the fretless version from the NAMM floor. Scroll to the end to see a press shot of the fretted version.
The MAXXimum In Basses
The new Maxx Fly Bass represents the culmination of Parker’s finest work in a bass. Sacrificing nothing in terms of design and aesthetics, this bass is the ultimate in its class and is a powerhouse of features. It is a bass that a professional musician will turn to time and time again. It will be debuted at Winter NAMM 2012 and be available for $5999.99.
The body is crafted of swamp ash. It’s built to sound big, featuring an EMG® ‘P’ Split-Neck pickup, an EMG® ‘MMCS’ bridge pickup, and an EMG® Piezo Buffer. The Parker designed Hipshot® Bridge also houses the Ghost® Piezo saddles. It is available in a gloss finish, with colors including dusty black, 3-tone sunburst, and candy lemon yellow.
NAMM 2012: EMG artist signing schedule
Here are the NAMM signing times for EMG artists Mike Keneally, Tosin Abasi, Gary Holt, Alexi Laihi, Wayne Static, Adam Dutkiewicz, Stu Hamm, Rex Brown, Evan Brewer, Steve Smyth, Rusty Cooley, Michael Keene, Mike Inez, Tony Campos, David Ellefson, Richie Faulkner, Stephen Carpenter, Eric Peterson.
REVIEW: Ernie Ball Music Man Luke True Gold
Steve Lukather is unquestionably one of the world’s finest guitarists, from his work with Toto to his countless studio sessions and his brilliant solo work. (He’s also a great interview and a hilarious dude). Luke’s guitar requirements are quite demanding and he swears by his Ernie Ball Music Man signature models. The Limited Edition BFR (Ball Family Reserve) True Gold is only available to dealers within EBMM’s Premier Dealer Network, a select international group of high-end retailers with access to special instruments. This guitar is limited to only 200 instruments, each hand-signed by Lukather himself. The thing abut Premier Dealer Network instruments is you really have to be on the ball (pun not intended but gleefully acknowledged) when it comes to ordering one before they’re all snapped up, but each instrument made available to the Premier Dealer Network is a fine showcase of EBMM’s craftsmanship and designs. For instance, this BFR Luke True Gold gives you a great overview of the Luke model as a series, as well as what you can expect from an instrument sold through the exclusive Premier Dealer Network. So if they’re all sold out by the time you scape together the cash, despair not – use this review as a guide to what to expect from a Premier Dealer Network instrument.
The Luke True Gold’s body is made of alder, with a high-gloss polyester finish bringing out the awesomeness of the finish. The bridge is the standard Music Man floating two-point fulcrum design, made of hardened steel with bent steel saddles. The tuners are Schaller M6-IND locking models. Unlike the first incarnation of the Luke model many years ago, there’s no locking trem: these days Luke feels that a vintage style tremolo bridge and locking tuners are more than stable enough for his whammy needs.
REVIEW: LTD James Hetfield Snakebyte
Metallica‘s James Hetfield has used many different guitar models over the years, but during Metallica’s big commercial breakthrough era in the early 90s he had an ESP signature model based on the classic Explorer shape. This was a very popular axe at the time, but rumour has it that the owners of the Explorer design weren’t too happy, and ESP discontinued the model and tweaked its Explorer-type guitars into the more aggressive EX shape. Whatever the truth, pretty soon prices for the ESP and its similar models on the used market skyrocketed.
COOL GEAR ALERT: Charvel Desolation series
Charvel is really putting a lot of muscle behind its new Desolation series. Check out the range here: nice range of price points, active pickups (including EMGs on many models), compound radius fretboard on most models, some cool colour options and great choice of body shapes: single cutaway, double cutaway and… holy crap, is that the Surfcaster? It is!!! The criminally overlooked Charvel Surfcaster shape has been resurrected in the form of the Desolation Skatecaster. Check it out!
Really gotta hand it to Charvel for bringing back this shape. It’s way too cool! Charvel, if you’re reading this, how about a model similar to the old black/pearl/binding/lipstick-pickups version, but with a Floyd Rose and covered humbuckers?
Here are the other shapes. Really digging the double cutaway model too.
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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 and The Brag. I started I Heart Guitar in 2008. I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18 (I'm 33 now). I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week) and a setup tech. I live in Melbourne, Australia. You can check out my guitar playing at Reverbnation or on YouTube.
You can email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com