Fender Australia roadshow
The Fender Australia Roadshow is hitting town once again, featuring the inimitable Mr Greg Koch. Each night a Fender amp will be given away, and of course you’ll be able to get your hands on a huge selection of Fender guitars and amps, including Fender Custom Shop models. Koch will demonstrate the gear in his brilliant fashion with the Australian All Stars Band (James Ryan, James Gillard and Hayden Meggitt), then you’ll be able to get your paws on it to check it out for yourself.
Entry is free but numbers are limited. To register, email register@fender.com.au
Dates:
SYDNEY
SUN FEB 19
NIDA PARADE THEATRE 6-8.30PM
BRISBANE
MON FEB 20
JUDITH WRIGHT CENTRE 7-9.30PM
MELBOURNE
TUE FEB 21
THE COMIC’S LOUNGE 7-9.30PM
ADELAIDE
WED FEB 22
THE PROMETHEAN 7-9.30PM
PERTH
THU FEB 23
THE BAKERY 7-9.30PM
NAMM 2012: Fender Custom Shop goodies
Hands down, one of the best things about NAMM is seeing all the sweet Fender Custom Shop stuff in one room.
How about this: Jaguar with select Alder body, Oval C-shaped neck, 7.25″ fretboard radius, vintage frets, Vintage ’62 Jaguar pickups, binding and block inlays. MSRP $9,700.
NAMM 2012: Year Of The Sea Foam Green
One thing that really, really stood out to me at NAMM this year was the prevalence of Sea Foam Green. It’s not quite blue, it’s not quite green, but it’s definitely cool this year. Hell, Steve Vai seems to like this shade so much that it features on his new signature Ibanez Jem70V Premium model and his new Carvin Legacy III amplifier. See?
NAMM 2012: New from EVH Gear
Eddie Van Halen and his EVH Gear team have got the really hard work out of the way – designing the flagship EVH Wolfgang and 5150III amplifiers – and now they seem to be really having fun with it. Case in point: this 5150III. It’s still a 5150III as we know it, but slightly more Van Halenized. Dig the matching logo on the cabinet too.
Note the 1X12 speaker cabinets under the for the 5150 III 50 watt head. It’s rated at 16 ohms and is loaded with a 30-watt Celestion® Heritage speaker. It’s exactly 25 percent of the cubic size (by volume) of its 4×12 big brother and is available in black and ivory. I played through this rig at the Fender party the other night and it sounds INCREDIBLE. Very responsive, very raunchy and very, very rock.
NAMM 2012: Fender VG Stratocaster & GK-Ready Stratocaster
Check out this latest partnership between Fender and Roland! Scroll down for a great Premier Guitar video featuring Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter.
FEATURES
Since pioneering the GR-500 guitar synth in 1977, Roland has been dedicated to developing the ultimate electronic guitar. A perpetual and continuous quest for the next-generation guitar led to electric-guitar giant Fender®. Now, collaborating with Fender, Roland proudly introduces a new era of electronic guitar: V-Guitar!
Today I met a legend!
Today I went to the Fender factory and Visitor Center at Corona, California. Had a great time checking out the Custom Shop and all the cool stuff at the Visitor Center (did you know you can design a guitar there at the Fender American Design section, with whatever finish you like, and probably get it much sooner than a Custom Shop instrument?). I’ll post a full factory tour article soon, but in the meantime, here’s a highlight: I met Abigail Ybarra, who was hired by Fender in 1956, and she still winds pickups in the Custom Shop today. Awesome. Abigail is living Fender history and many players proudly proclaim that they play pickups wound by her.
NAMM 2012: Fender Mustang Floor multi effects unit
Fender is a pioneer of effects – their old spring reverb tanks, the Fender Blender fuzz – but here’s something they’ve never done before: the first ever Fender multi-effect unit. Check it out!
PRESS RELEASE
FENDER® INTRODUCES ITS FIRST-EVER MULTI-EFFECTS UNIT, THE MUSTANG FLOOR
Floor unit offers pro-level amp modeling, effects and artist preset sounds
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Jan. 17, 2012) — Fender is proud to announce the debut of its first-ever multi-effects unit, the Mustang Floor. The Mustang Floor is a user-friendly, versatile and high-performance floor unit that delivers professional caliber modeling and effects in a richly varied wealth of musical styles.
A natural offshoot of our Mustang series amplifiers (in essence, a Mustang amp without the power amp and speaker), the Mustang Floor is designed for a variety of applications, only one of which is a great multi-effects unit for any basic guitar amp that puts more than three dozen digital effects at your feet.
FEATURED REVIEW
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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