COOL GEAR ALERT: Squier USB Strat
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (November 12, 2012) – Squier is proud to introduce an innovative new Strat guitar model that can directly connect with and record to Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or Windows-based computers.
The Squier by Fender Strat Guitar with USB and iOS Connectivity features an onboard mini-USB connector that allows players to interface directly and easily with all these devices, with no additional hardware needed – including GarageBand and other music apps on iOS. Continue reading
IK Multimedia iRig STOMP out now
IK Multimedia’s iRig was one of the first guitar interfaces for iOS devices, and while it’s a very handy little device, a few later products trumped it in features. IK have never rested on their laurels though, and they’ve hit back with what’s got to be the most impressively-specced and most player-friendly iOS guitar interface yet. It’s housed in a stompbox case, lets you plug your iDevice into your amp, gives you manual control of the input signal strength, and hell, it even lets you use the iPad in line with other pedals, which is great for incorporating guitar synth apps or other gadgetry into your guitar rig.
Here’s the press release:
IK Multimedia announces iRig STOMP: First stompbox-style guitar and bass interface for iPhone/iPad is now shipping
Take the stage with your mobile guitar rig – incorporate your mobile guitar amps and effects into your live performance
September 6th, 2012 – IK Multimedia, the leader in mobile music creation accessories and apps announced today that iRig STOMP, the first guitar and bass stompbox-style interface for iPhone/iPod touch/iPad, is nowavailable from retailers worldwide and the IK Multimedia online store.
REVIEW: Sonoma Wire Works GuitarJack Model 2
The iPad is the perfect practice tool for guitarists. Because it instantly becomes whichever app you load, it can be a warehouse full of amps, a fully-featured demo studio, a TAB reader and writer, a guitar synth, a scale library, and probably a whole bunch of other thing we haven’t even envisioned yet. But most of these functions are useless with a guitar signal entering the iPad. There are plenty of interfaces for guitar out there, and they all seem to operate in different ways. Some are simple and inexpensive, while others are a bit more pro-spec. That’s where the GuitarJack Model 2 comes in.
Rock Prodigy free for SXSW week
Wow! Rock Prodigy, the incredible guitar education app, is free for SXSW week! Head over to iTunes to check it out.
NAMM 2012: IK Multimedia iRig Stomp
Now this looks cool. To be perfectly honest I wasn’t 100% happy with the original AmpliTube iRig – I bought one from my buddies at World of Music and and it was certainly handy, but the feedback and crosstalk issues meant you couldn’t really turn it up loud enough to rock. And cranking it up loud is part of what makes rock fun! As a result I found myself looking around for other options, which I felt pretty awful about because the IK Multimedia folks are awesome and AmpliTube is one of the best things you can ever do for your guitar in a digital environment.
Well IK has solved that problem and made a more stage-friendly and roadworthy unit in the iRig Stomp. It can go on your pedalboard, it has an active circuit to improve the headroom (especially when used with high-gain amplifiers in the AmpliTube app) and this reduces feedback and crosstalk when recording. Awesome! It can be used inline with other effects pedals, or directly connected to amplifiers or PA systems using regular 1/4″ guitar cables, with no need for adapters.
More info here.
Christmas gift ideas for guitarists
PickBay
PickBay is a great way of either framing a special pick to keep with you – the pick you caught at a Steve Vai gig, the promotional one that came with your copy of Paul Gilbert’s Alligator Farm CD, the one you used at your first gig, or whatever – or for just making sure you always have a pick or three handy when you need them.
Link: PickBay
COOL GEAR ALERT: TC Electronic TonePrint App
Okay, this is too cool. Self-tying shoes and hover boards? Ha! The future is here thanks to TC Electronic!
Music Company Adds a Touch of Guitar Magic to Apple’s iPhone
New iPhone app provides musical inspiration in a revolutionary way – by ‘beaming’ a bit of magic through the speaker of an iPhone directly into the pickup of a guitar.
TC Electronic, a music equipment manufacturer, has developed a game-changing iPhone app for guitarists using its range of TonePrint® guitar effect pedals. TonePrint pedals feature an amazing technology that allows users to upload custom-made sounds created by some of the best guitar players in the world. Until now, users have downloaded these TonePrints from the company’s website and transferred them to their pedals via USB. Now, the new TonePrint App allows guitarists to simply hold the speaker of their iPhone above one of their guitar pickups to load new TonePrints into their pedals.
“Most guitarists have their pedals in a rehearsal space and their computer at home. Some may have brought a laptop, but the process still needed to be made faster and more intuitive to really take advantage of the great potential that this artist-driven concept has to offer,” says Product Manager at TC Electronic, Tore Lynggaard Mogensen. “We are proud to present a flexible solution that allows all guitarists with TonePrint pedals and an iPhone to truly explore the ever-expanding list of unique TonePrints created by some of the best guitar players in the world. Now great sounds and thereby musical inspiration can be beamed and enjoyed anytime anywhere.”
Magnetic Magic
The idea behind the technology is as simple as it is ingenious: Each TonePrint has been converted to a unique-sounding magnetic impulse, but the sound does not carry any data. So it doesn’t matter if users are in a raucous arena or a library – no other sounds will interfere with the data being sent from the iPhone. The beaming process only takes a few seconds, and all of the TonePrints are stored within the app as mp3 files, which means that no Internet connection is required.
The new TonePrint app is available now on the Apple App Store and it is completely free of charge. The only requirement to take advantage of the app is one or more TonePrint enabled guitar pedals: Flashback Delay, Hall of Fame Reverb, Corona Chorus, Vortex Flanger and Shaker Vibrato.
Currently, the TonePrint App is available for iPhone, but a version for Android phones is under development and will be available in December 2011.
NEWS: Ultimate Guitar launches guitar tools app
Oh yeah. I’m buying the hell out of this app. I’m an iPhone junkie, as anyone who’s tried to speak to me for longer than 5 minutes without my surreptitiously glancing down at the phone in my hand will attest…
PRESS RELEASE
ULTIMATE GUITAR LAUNCHES ULTIMATE GUITAR TOOLS APP
The Most Powerful Guitar Suite Ever Offered for iPhone and iPod Touch
Ultimate-Guitar.com, the world’s leading online community of guitar enthusiasts, has announced the launch of Ultimate Guitar Tools the most complete and powerful all-in-one guitar app ever offered for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Developed by the web’s most popular and trusted resource for guitar players around the globe, Ultimate Guitar Tools brings together four must-have, feature-rich mobile programs that guitarists can carry with them and rely on wherever they go, Each tool combines a user-friendly interface with state-of-the-art functionality.
NEWS: Black Label Society iPhone app
Here’s one for all of us Apple/metal geeks: a Black Label Society iPhone app. The band and Berzerkers around the globe can keep in touch with what the band are up to, send private messages to each other, rate and comment on all material posted by the band and Berzerkers, and share video, pics, audio and text. I’m downloading this bad boy as we speak.
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