I get the opportunity to try out quite a few guitars. Some are good and some are not. I have found that when it comes to guitar models in the $100 - $500 range which are made by not so well known companies, most are substandard beyond even being playable. However, every once in awhile there is a gem that seems to come out of nowhere. In this case, my newest surprising acquisition came in the form of a CraigsList guitar that caught my attention recently.
This particular guitar is a copy of the ever popular Les Paul style guitar. The strange thing is that I can not seem to find any information about the manufacturer. This guitar is called the "Panache" and says San Antonio, TX on the headstock. I searched for a website for this company and came up with a single webpage that simply said "Coming Soon". Further research revealed that these guitars have been getting rave reviews from players who own real Gibson Les Paul's. Everything I read told me that this guitar had the sound, playability, and feel of the real deal. It also seemed that the price paid for these guitars was ranging from $150 - $350. The strange part is that nobody seems to know who is making them, or if they are really coming out of San Antonio, TX as the headstock implies. I use the word imply becasue it does not say “Made in San Antonio, TX”. There is nothing anywhere on the guitar with the country of origon.
Based on the reviews I read, I decided to get this guitar to check it out. I have to admit that I was very surprised by the quality. For a guitar in this price range it definitely went beyond any expectation that I had. I wouldn't put it on par with a LP, but it is a great guitar nonetheless, and at a fraction of the cost. The low E string had an intonation problem, but a simple setup would take care of that. Also, the tuning keys and one scratchy pot were the only hardware issues I found. The tuners seemed a little lackluster in quality and seemed to slip a little on the mid range strings. These are easily replaceable with higher quality machine heads. The scratchy pot will be easily replaceable if contact cleaner does not work to solve this issue. The pickups had great output, and overall the guitar sounded incredible. The action and playability were awesome.
I would be interested in finding out who is behind this instrument. Whoever they are, they are turning out a great guitar, especially if you take the time to do a few small and relatively inexpensive upgrades. I do have to admit that I have a hard time believing that a guitar company could be building a guitar of this quality in this price range in the United States. The mystery remains unsolved. If you have any further details or contact information for the San Antonio Guitar company, please feel free to pass it on to me.
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Over the years, I have been a steadfast advocate of protecting your musical equipment investment. I have reviewed several items on this site specific to safeguarding guitars and other gear from the rigors of the road as well as minimizing the risk of blown electronics due to power surges and overloads. One area I have never touched on however is insurance policies that cover your instruments on the road, and in your studio.
About a year ago my wife and I cataloged all of the equipment I had in my studio and gear testing facility. I then took the list and figured out how much it would cost to replace all of these items in the unfortunate event such as a fire or flood. The final number was mind boggling to say the least. Being that my studio is home based, I always thought my homeowners insurance would cover me adequately, but the truth of the matter was simply that using my entire policy for only my studio would not even scratch the surface of what would need to be replaced.
With this new found knowledge I called my insurance company to find out what I could do. The result was an offer for a separate and very complicated policy to cover just my studio and gear. The special rules that would be a part of this policy would also place an incredible amount of restriction to my studio space. For instance, I would not be allowed to let anyone in my studio even if I was present. Therefore I could not record any other musicians, even for my own projects. In fact I could not even have a few guys over for a jam session.
My wife recently did a search for insurance companies that specialized in policies specific to the entertainment industry. The companies she found have policies for home studios, offsite studios, tours, and regular gigging musicians. Some policies even cover the recordings you do in the studio for other bands in the event that data is lost or compromised.
I have contacted all of these insurance companies with a request to do an interview to talk about these policies and get more information for those of you who may be interested. These types of policies are probably not as important to the hobby player with a single guitar and amp, but if you were to catalog your gear and add up replacement value, many would probably be astounded by how much you have spent over the years.
Very few people ever think that anything will happen happen, but the flooding in New Orleans and the more recent flooding in Nashville should be a wake up call to all of us that things beyond our control can happen in an instant and it could end up being quite costly.
I can not count the times that I have bought an amplifier only to find that the footswitch was sold separately. To add insult to injury, the local music store does not carry the footswitch and needs to order it. What about about the effects pedals that are designed to run on batteries or a power cord, but the power supply is not included. Often times the power supply will cost up to a quarter of the price of the pedal, and once again, it will need to be ordered.
While I do understand the position of the manufacturer who offers these parts as additional equipment so they can make more money, I also wonder if they realize how often such a minor detail can cost them the sale of the main item. For instance, if I am going to pay $1000 or more on a high end amplifier, I want to be able to use it to its fullest potential when I get it home. I don't want to wait for a footswitch to be shipped. Sure, I can change channels via the front control panel on the amplifier, but who really does that? You have to quit playing to reach down and make the change. It's just not efficient.
In the last few years I have found a few companies who have gone against the grain and included additional equipment in the package. A few examples would be "Crate" which includes footswitches with amplifiers that are designed to use them. "BBE Sound" includes not only the power supply for their effects pedals, but also a new battery waiting to be hooked up in the battery compartment. I recently received an effects pedal from "T-Rex Engineering" that even came with a power supply that had interchangeable blades to fit almost all power outlet styles from US to European styles. All of these mentioned companies offer their main products at around the same price point of their comparable competitors. In reality, there just does not seem to be a price increase for the extra options.
Here is my call out to musical instrument manufacturers around the world. If you build an amplifier that is designed to switch channels with a footswitch, then give me the footswitch. If your effects pedal is made to run on batteries or a power supply, then give me the power supply. It is my choice if I want to use it or not, but at least I have the option. I won't go so far as to ask you to throw in the first battery too, but I really appreciate that BBE Sound does that for me. You might want to think about that if you are trying to get my business.
There is a lot of good musical equipment on the market today that I find myself passing up because they are not fully functional out of the box. There are too many other companies that seem to understand this frustration of consumers like myself. These are the products that I find myself leaning toward these days. When possible, I will usually support the manufacturer that gives me what I need to use their product offerings to their fullest potential right out of the box.
I have been a fan of Fender® guitars since the beginning of my guitar playing journey. My first guitar was a butterscotch Fender® Telecaster® which worked well in the beginning but was just a little to limiting to the multitude of styles I desired to play. I traded the Tele® in for an MIM Fender® Stratocaster® which became my go to guitar for the next ten years. This guitar is still in my collection today, but in recent years I have upgraded to a couple more American made Stratocasters®.
Over the years I have watched Fender® and the new instruments introduced. Most of these instruments are upgrades of their timeless Tele® and Strat® lines. Every once in awhile however, Fender does introduce new models that stretch the boundaries of traditional guitar design. For instance, the introduction of their Stratacoustic(TM) and Telecoustic(TM) models from several years ago. These are not really my thing, but I do understand the concept, and they seem to be very popular with other players.
It was this year when I was putting up the Fender NAMM press releases when I saw a new product that really made me wonder what they were thinking. This new guitar is called the Acoustasonic Tele®. It is basically a chambered Telecaster® body that is made to sound like a regular acoustic guitar. I realize that electric guitars with piezo bridges for acoustic tones are not exactly new. The difference is that these are usually guitars that function as electric guitars with magnetic pickups, but have the option of dedicated or blended acoustic tones in addition.
The press release however states that this guitar has none of the signature Telecaster® tone. In fact it has one function only, and that is to sound like an acoustic guitar. It utilizes the increasingly popular Fishman® Aura(TM) system to create the full bodied sound of an acoustic. From what I can see, this guitar has no magnetic pickups for any kind of electric sound options.
I can certainly understand the use of an electric guitar with acoustic sound as an option, but if the guitar is only for acoustic sound, I think I would personally prefer to play a regular acoustic guitar. An electric with only acoustic sound makes about as much sense to me as if I were to see a player like Zakk Wylde on stage shredding on an acoustic guitar that sounded like a highly overdriven electric guitar. It would just be odd.
I am by no means trying to put down Fender® and I am willing to admit that this guitar may do well with other players. In fact, I may contact Fender® to see if they would send me one for review. Perhaps actually playing this guitar would help me wrap my brain around the concept and I would understand it better. I would be interested in any thoughts or comments from other readers. Does a product like this peak your interest, and can you see it as a long term product?
Sometimes comething comes along that is just mind blowing. Although it looks like this video has been around for awhile, I had never seen it until it was recently sent to me. This is absolutly amazing, and I thought I would share it with you. Here is a little history of this amazing device you may want to read before you watch the video.
Turn your sound on for this. Read this first, then watch. This is almost unbelievable. See how all of the balls wind up in catcher cones.
This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa.
Amazingly, 97% of the machines Components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft, Iowa… Yes, farm equipment!
It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video but as you can see it was WELL worth the effort. It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.
On November 17th, 2009, the Gibson Guitars Massman Rd manufacturing facility was raided by Federal agents from the US Fish and Wildlife Service along with local law enforcement officers. The seized guitar, computers, wood, and boxes of files. It seems that Gibson is under investigation of being a part of a scheme to import endangered rosewood from Madagascar, thus violating the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act is a vital part of environmental law. The sale of Madagascar rosewood and ebony has also been linked to international criminal activity.
It seems from what I have heard so far, Gibson's role in the scheme is unclear, but it is thought that they were a part of a bigger plot which was having this endangered wood shipped to Germany, and then on to the United States. Most of the details as far as I can see are unclear and somewhat hazy. No Charges have been brought against Gibson at this time, and a representative of Gibson stated that they were fully cooperating in the investigation. Being that Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz sits on the board of the Rainforest Alliance, the implications of this investigation could be far reaching.
As more information is made available, I will try to update this blog. I can only hope that this is a mistake, and that Gibson is able to clear their name. It would be a shame to see an icon of the guitar industry involved in such an act, especially given their ties to environmental groups. For more details and to read more on this story, please see the NashvillePost.com article at http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/200 … son_guitars_raided_by_fbi
When GuitarGearHeads.com was just getting off the ground, it was extremely difficult to get companies to work with us. This was understandable since we came out of nowhere and virtually nobody in the musical instruments industry knew who we were. It took a few years, and a few good people in the industry to give us a chance. One of those people who welcomed us and our ideas from the first time I spoke with him was Wayne Freeman.
I just learned today that Wayne Freeman passed away on Thursday November 11th, 2009 due to a massive heart attack. Wayne is survived by his wife Carol, as well as Julia and Jennifer, their two daughters. Our hearts go out to his family and friends on this sad day, and I only wish that we could offer more comfort to all who knew him.
I met Wayne about five years ago when he was with "Marshall Electronics" (Mogami Cables, and MXL microphones). He was one of the few people who always returned my phone calls and e-mails, and always made me feel like he was glad to hear from me. It seemed that anytime we talked, I came away with new knowledge about the industry and ways to approach the goals we had set out to accomplish with GuitarGearHeads.com. His advice was invaluable, and his positive attitude was always infectious. I could always count on a great conversation, and positive reinforcement from Wayne when we visited at NAMM shows. Although it has been way too long since I last talked to Wayne, I will personally miss him and his friendship. He was truly one of the good guys of the MI industry.
We all know that strings eventually loose their brightness as they corrode over time. Those rust spots can really dull the sound, and most players will opt to buy a new set of strings when they reach this point. For the guitar player, this is a relatively small investment, but for the bass player this can be fairly expensive depending on the brand and style of strings they choose. Here is a recipe to get more playing time out of your bass strings.
Ingredients: 1 pot of boiling water 1 set of corroded strings
Steps: Once the water is at a full boil, place the rusted strings loosely in the pot. Let water boil until the corrosion has worked loose and come off the strings. While the water is still boiling, carefully remove the strings from the water using a long set of tongs. The air will cause the hot water on the strings to vaporize almost immediately leaving the string completely dry and for the most part free of corrosion. Put them back on your guitar, and play your heart out.
When doing this process, you do not want to coil the strings up before adding them to the water. This will allow water to be trapped between the coils when they are removed, and this water can quickly cause rust to appear again. Keep them as loose as possible. Also, if you let the water cool before removing the strings, it may not vaporize completely, and the remaining dampness will also cause corrosion to quickly appear once again.
This boiling process will make your strings once again sound newer and brighter. It is by no means as good as a brand new set of strings, but it will give you more playing time for your invested money. While I recommend this mostly for bass strings, I have heard of guitar players who have used the same process, but for me personally, guitar strings are inexpensive enough to just buy a new set.
As an added note, I have heard of one player who adds a little cooking oil to the water. He believes that the oil coats the strings giving them even longer life. I am not convinced that this works, and I do not recommend it personally, but I am willing to hear from others who may have tried this extra step, and their experiences with it.
Lately I have been feeling as if my practice time has been somewhat stale. It seems that no matter how hard I try, my fingers want to go back to playing the same old chord or note progressions. I have tried various guitars and effects trying to break habitual playing patterns to little avail.
Recently I was browsing the musical instrument section of the local CraigsList. It has seemed that in recent months there has been very little in this section that interests me. This time however, hiding between all the unimpressive items was an ad for a US build Fender Princeton Chorus amplifier. At $130 USD, it seemed to be a very good deal, so I did a little research to see what the going price on this amplifier was. I found a few that were around $250 USD, so I quickly sent the seller an e-mail and met up to pick up the amplifier a few hours later.
I have been looking for a good sounding clean solid state amplifier to add to my collection of mostly tube amps. I had heard good things about the Princeton Chorus, although I had never experienced one in action. Most reviews seem to hone in on the clean channel of the Princeton Chorus as being it's strongest character, but most also say the overdrive channel leaves something to be desired without spending a lot of time fidgeting with the limiter. I was not too worried about the overdrive, so I took it home and plugged it in.
I had spent many of my early playing years through solid state amplifiers, mostly because of their affordability, but once I got my hands on my first tube amp, I had never looked back. I have to admit that the Princeton Chorus has extraordinary sound and tone for a solid state. The clean channel is very smooth, and the built in chorus speaks volumes in its quality. What was the most interested was the fact that I found myself experimenting with chord patterns that were way out of my usual playing patterns in recent months. The new sound was actually inspiring me to push into different areas in my playing. A new amplifier with a new sound was really all it took to break out of my old routine.
Sometimes a new piece of equipment can inspire a person to take steps forward in their playing, no matter what instrument or style they play. Even more interesting is how these new inspirations can translate back to the equipment you normally play on. It is similar to the heavy rock guitarists that I read about who write their songs on acoustic guitar or piano.
Last weekend I decided to catch up on some guitar restringing. I noticed that the strings on my G&L ASAT Special Semi-Hollow Body were getting a little rough from the corrosion on the unwound high end. I grabbed a set of strings from my stash and proceeded through the changing process. As I got down to the last string (the high E), it became apparent right away that something was wrong. As I reached into the paper envelope to pull out the string, it didn't feel quite right. When I looked at the string, there were spots of rust colored corrosion in different areas along the entire string. This was a brand new string right out of an unopened package.
I have to admit that I was slightly frustrated, but not overly so. I realize that things like this can happen, even if I only had this set of strings for a couple months. Since I did not have another set of the same strings on hand, I unstrung the entire guitar and threw the whole set away. I am kind of a perfectionist, and I don't like to mix string brands or gauges. I grabbed another set of string of a different brand which had the same plastic sleeve packaging with paper envelopes holding two strings each.
I was getting these strings out of the package while thinking about what could have happened to cause such a rare case of brand new string corrosion. This time I didn't even get the flap opened on the paper sleeve when I saw it. I immediately noticed a somewhat circular rust colored stain on the outer packaging paper. I was stunned! I pulled the string out of the sleeve only to find that this one was even worse than the string from the previous set I had just thrown away. I went back to my music room and started going through the rest of the strings I had with this same unsealed plastic sleeve packaging. Out of the five sets on hand, only one set was good.
My music room is a very dry place, and there is not a lot of humidity in the area. There is no reason whatsoever that I can think of in which two month old strings would corrode like this, especially in the environment they were stored. I am not sure what went wrong, but I can tell you one thing. I will only use strings that come in sealed packages from this point on. I made this decision based on the fact that I have fifty or so sets of D'Addario strings which are packaged in vacuum sealed plastic bags. I have had some of these sets for over two years, and these were what I ended up using on this guitar in the end. They were in perfect condition, as if they had just come off the factory floor.
This blog is not meant to be an endorsement of D'Addario strings. I understand that there are a lot of great strings on the market, and many players prefer different brands. It is my opinion however that some string makers need to rethink their packaging methods. They need to realize that even though their product is relatively inexpensive in comparison to other guitar products, in the long run, an average player will probably spend as much on strings as they did on the guitar itself. No player deserves to open a set of bad strings unless they spilled liquid on them, or stored them improperly. I just threw out about twenty-five dollars in bad strings from two different companies. I have purposely not mentioned the companies here, but I assure you that I will be sending them my complaint in writing.
