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
Steve Vai Australian Tour Announced
Steve Vai is about to return to Australia with his full solo show for the first time since 2004. Sure, he’s been here quite often lately – with G3, with Zappa Plays Zappa and to give a Masterclass – but it’s been nine years since Vai played an entire show dedicated to his particular and peculiar brand of musical madness. I spoke to Steve this morning and that interview will be up on the site in a couple of weeks (we talked a lot about 7 and 8-string guitars, by the way). But in the meantime, here are the tour dates: Continue reading
Jackson Custom Shop SL2H Dakota Red
Check out this bad boy from the Jackson Custom Shop: the SL2H Dakota Red. I don’t know if it’s purposely designed to recall that cool Soloist Steve Vai used in the film Crossroads – there are a few differences here, particularly the bridge colour and the electronics layout – but they’re similar enough to make me want to pick one up and wail on Eugene’s Trick Bag. As of this writing there’s one on Amazon.com here
NAMM: GJ2 Guitars Green Meanie
I have plenty of GJ2 Guitars pics and info to post over the coming days, but I thought I’d give you this teaser: the GJ2 Guitars Green Meanie! It’s limited to 36 guitars worldwide: 12 in the USA (which were all snapped up instantly), 12 in Europe and 12 for Asia/Australia/etc.
Contact G2J or your local dealer for info. And good luck!
Music Radar previews 2013 Ibanez line
Wow! Didn’t expect these to be announced so soon, but Music Radar has the scoop on several killer new Ibanez models for 2013, including the RG550-XH, effectlively a new version of the RG2011SC, the 30-fret beast released a few NAMMs ago (and used in the studio by Dragonforce, according to Herman Li in my April 2012 interview), the new Iron Label series and … a Premium version of the venerable ‘green dot’ Universe 7-string!!! The UV70 features DiMarzio Blaze pickups and the same basic styling as one of the most missed early Universe models. Get the lowdown here.
Steve Vai uses Emerald Ultra Guitar on tour
Remember the cover of Steve Vai’s The Ultra Zone album?
Years ago, Emerald Guitars of Ireland saw that axe and thought it was a shame that it didn’t actually exist. So they did this:
And now Steve’s using it on tour! Check the tour dates here.
Here’s the press release. Continue reading
REVIEW: DiMarzio Gravity Storm Steve Vai humbuckers
Steve Vai has used various signature DiMarzio pickups over the years: the Evolution, the Breed, the Blaze, Evolution 7 and Evolution 2 (as well as the set made exclusively for the transparent acrylic 20th Anniversary Jem). And his pickups have something in common with his music: they all seem to be designed to explore and address a specific sonic question. The Evolution is bright, middy and somewhat hyper, for instance, while the Breed is warmer and more vintage. Steve’s new Gravity Storm set comes from a different place to the Evo, Blaze or Breed. Continue reading
INTERVIEW: Steve Vai on The Story Of Light
Steve Vai needs no introduction.
Your new album The Story Of Light is a bit of a departure and it’s been a while since you’ve released a studio album of new material. Where did this one come from?
I guess it came from the same place the other ones came from, but maybe a little bolder. I searched my inner ear more and I gravitated towards things that excited me, as opposed to some things that I thought should be on there. And it’s also the second instalment of a trilogy of records that have a story to it, and as a result the songs are built around characters and situations and events in the story. So when you have something like that to go by, it can inspire you to do certain things that you may not ordinarily do if you just sat down to write a song.
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