Jun 18, 2013

Brandon Reihana is an Ibanez endorsed guitarist who is perhaps best known for his contribution to the band Blindspott, as part of the line-up that produced the certified Platinum album End The Silence. He has toured and played alongside internationally acclaimed acts such as Metallica, Linkin Park, Tool and Deftones. Previously a part of critically acclaimed...

Jun 14, 2013

I was recently invited to write a promo article on a very special little piece of gear – the H&K Tubemeister! The article is currently available nationwide (in print! I was so excited – I think it’s the first time my writing has actually been printed) at all NZ Rockshop branches near you… but if you’re not in NZ, or just...

Jun 2, 2013

Okay… let me confess this straight up. I am a HUGE Richie Kotzen fanboy. Since bursting onto the Shrapnel-era shred scene with his blinding technical ability, he has been a major creative force in two huge bands – Mr Big and Poison – and matured into an amazing frontman and vocalist in his own right, with a singing voice reminiscent of a...

May 28, 2013

This week we have a very special guest reviewer – Mark Hunter, the lead guitarist of up-and-coming hard rock band Setting Fire to Stacey, a band that is currently making waves in the local music scene with their first single “Something Out of Nothing”, currently airing on radiowaves near you… Hey folks! Let me start off with an...

May 19, 2013

I am like a goldfish. I buy guitars that I think will be a cool project, then lose interest and forget about them. 99% of the time they end up getting sold off without any work being done on them. Recently, when I bought an old Model series Charvel, I figured I was probably in the same boat. I had a vague idea of doing a Van Halen-style 5150 stripe job on it,...

May 18, 2013

This afternoon I spent some time at NZ’s home of boutique amps, The Amp Shop, with the intention of spending some time with a very special little amp from boutique makers 65 Amps – the London Pro.  Here’s a short blurb about it: 65amps introduces its new Red Line of amplifiers with the first model in the series, the London Pro. Like its...

May 5, 2013

How is it that no one has ever thought to combine an overdrive and a delay pedal together? Well, Mad Professor from Finland have done just that – and by god, it’s a game changer. As the name implies, the Golden Cello is meant to give you sweet, smooth, violin/cello style lead tones, packed with singing harmonics, and with a lush tape echo/delay...

Apr 29, 2013

Continuing 6SS Year One Birthday Week coverage, we’re bringing you a bit more coverage of homegrown NZ talent. Read on! Setting Fire To Stacey is an emerging hard rock band, arisen from the rubble of Christchurch City through sheer force of will and stubborn determination. Their brand of driving hard rock recalls diverse influences such as Tool, System of...

Apr 28, 2013

Hell yeah. It’s our birthday! Hey you know what?! I got an email reminder saying that I had to renew my ownership of the Six-String Samurai domain… because it’s officially been ONE YEAR that we’ve been going!! I’m just totally psyched with the way the site’s been growing, and the massive support we’ve had from the...

Apr 28, 2013

The ID: Series represents the culmination of more than seven years technical research and development by the same team that designed Series One, Artisan and HT Venue. The unique controls allow you to custom design your own sound, store it and then have the confidence that the amp will perform in a live environment. By using the unique Voice control, patented...

Apr 26, 2013

Hi guys! My band Saving Grace is currently on tour in America for a month and I thought it would be fun to share our experience and show you some cool things we have been doing. We’ve been extremely fortunate to have support from some great companies and brands, so I thought first off it would be fun to go through the back line and gear we picked up when...

Apr 18, 2013

As many of you may know, I recently up and moved halfway across the country to a brand new city… to the bright lights of Auckland.   So I figured, what better way to start exploring the city than to go do one of my favourite things as a musician – go see some rocking live music! As luck would have it, I got an email from one of the...