Dec 18, 2012

For most of the past 2 decades, Paul Brandon Gilbert has been a dominant force in the shred scene. Paul’s story basically set the tone for the Shrapnel era of technical guitar wizardry – featured in Guitar World as a 15 year old prodigy, graduated from GIT at 18, and went on to kick the...

So, a few weeks ago I went to the Tosin Abasi clinic put on by Musicworks. It was AWESOME. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out – plenty of pictures of his sweet new Ibanez custom 8 string. At the clinic, he hinted about the fact the custom Dimarzios in that guitar might be prototypes of a...

That’s right. Warmoth Custom Guitars, probably the world’s biggest aftermarket manufacturer/seller of parts bodies and necks, will no longer be making LP-shaped bodies from now on. Apparently they’ve been threatened with legal action from Gibson, as per the statement below: In response to...

Who is Pete Thorn? Our friend Jon at Guitar Noize answered that in great detail awhile back. Suffice to say – Pete Thorn is one of the most accomplished gun-for-hire guitarists in the world at the moment, touring with a wide variety of renowned artists, as well as being one of the most respected...

Dec 10, 2012

Diary of a DIY Recording: The Grove EP If you haven’t checked it out yet, read the first post of the Diary of a DIY Recording series, written by Ben Sinclair. Ben works in the film and TV industry as a sound designer and mixer and has recently been composing music for commercials and TV...

Sigh. Et tu, ESP? It looks like ESP is also getting their brand dilution on, kind of like the Ibanez Premium rant I had earlier in the year – but to muddy waters further, they’re now looking to produce LTD branded guitars, but built in Japan. What the what? They say they want to bridge the...

Randy Blythe is one epic motherfucker. 2010: Lamb of God plays a show in Prague, and after numerous attempts by a number of fans to swarm the stage, one fan was pushed back into the crowd and reportedly hit his head, later tragically passing away. Long story short, Czech authorities held Randy responsible...

Eddie Van Halen’s solo on Beat It is one of the most recognizable solos in rock history – it’s fluid and yet aggressive, and says in 20 seconds what other guitarists struggle to say their whole lives. In a recent CNN interview with Eddie, he talks about doing that iconic solo: CNN: Did...

Dec 2, 2012

As a proponent of general guitar geekery, I hang out on a couple of guitar forums, trying to keep my finger on the pulse, but really, just to talk a bit of smack and have a laugh (y so srs?). Every so often something really awesome pops up that you just didn’t except – and this is one such...