Electric Guitar Review

Demo: Fender’s Custom Shop 1960’s Stratocaster Relic

Cary — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:11:43 +0000

Fender Unveils Limited Release ‘57 Heavy Relic Stratocaster

New For 2007: Fender ‘62 Heavy Relic Stratocaster

REVIEW: Martin’s Gorgeous 000-18 Golden Era 1937 Sunburst

Cary — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:40:33 +0000

I’m going to break away from the electric side of things today and talk about a guitar that’s grown near and dear to my heart –– Martin’s 000-18 Golden Era 1937 Sunburst.

This is my current acoustic guitar of choice (I purchased one at the beginning of 2009,) and to be honest, I don’t see myself switching to anything else in the foreseeable future. The guitar is just too good to let go of.

Built as a reproduction of the classic pre-war 000-18 from Martin’s “Golden Era” (generally accepted as being the 1930s and early 1940s,) with a few minor modern-day enhancements thrown in, the 000-18 GE is not only beautiful to behold, but absolutely enchanting to play and here. It’s a vintage Martin for the rest of us, and handles as you’d expect from an instrument of its caliber and lineage.

With a street price somewhere in the mid-$3,000 range, the 000-18GE isn’t exactly an impulse buy –– for me it was the guitar I played time and time again at my local Martin dealer, and gradually fell madly in love with –– but its price, while not cheap, is right in line with the quality of the instrument, and a steal compared to true vintage Martins from this era.

Take the 000-18 Golden Era out of its hardshell case, and you’re presented with a stunning specimen of guitar artistry –– fit and finish is impeccable here, with a gorgeous glossy sunburst top fading to a deep, rich black. The tortoise-pattern Delmar pickguard is nicely beveled, and a solid black ebony bridge (1930s-style belly with a long saddle,) is flawlessly carved, and punctuated by six black ebony pins. There isn’t a speck of glue over-spill to be found.

The 000-18 Golden Era ‘37 is of course a 14-frets-clear model, with 20 frets in total, spread across a lovely solid black ebony fretboard. All frets are dressed to a “T,” and inlays are pleasant enough, though not pronounced. There are no side inlays, and I don’t find that I miss them. A vintage-style Martin headstock and logo, plus aged Gotoh open-gear button tuners (I love the feel of these,) finishes off the look of this beautiful guitar.

Of course, the real test of any guitar is its tone and playability, and the 000-18GE Sunburst excels on both of these fronts… whether fingerpicking or strumming, deep but not overly-booming bass is perfectly balanced with a shimmering high-end. There’s nothing piercing about the treble here; just sparkling clean tones, easy on the ear. The overall sound is both woody and clear, with round, bell-like mid tones. Martin’s Golden Era 000-18 is quite simply one of the nicest sounding acoustic guitars I’ve ever had the pleasure to play, let alone own.

Maybe it’s the solid 1/4″ Adirondack Spruce top (play one of these next to a standard Sitka Spruce top model and you will notice the difference.) Maybe it’s just that Martin is a very old company that has learned its lessons the hard way, and continues to refine its understanding of what makes a guitar truly exceptional.

Whatever it is, Martin hit the ball out of the park with this one… it’s no wonder that original 000-18s from the 1930s fetch a small fortune these days. It’s a timeless design that has scarcely been surpassed.

As for playability, the 000-18 Golden Era is a hard act to follow. In fact, the other acoustic guitars in my arsenal have suffered a sad fate since this gorgeous reproduction entered my home –– they are languishing in their cases. With 1-3/4” at the nut, the 000-18 is plenty wide for us fingerpickers, and the instrument’s modified v neck (with a fast satin finish,) is comfortable enough to play for hours on end without undue difficulty.

Chording is comfy and fast compared to the other acoustic guitars I own, and the smaller 000-size body sits well in my lap and puts out a lot of sound, though admittedly not as loud as a dreadnought or other larger bodied instrument. That said though, even in a raucous bluegrass jam the 000-18GE holds its ground admirably.

As an aside: Martin recommends its Studio Performance Light Phosphor Bronze (MSP4100) string set, and I’ve tried these on occasion with much success, but my current favorite strings for this particular guitar are the John Pearse 600L Phosphor Bronze Wound; a 12-53 set. Light but still meaty. Easy on the fingers and the ears. They also last for quite a few weeks with regular play, and I’ve never heard a cleaner sounding string.

All in all, Martin’s 000-18 Golden Era 1937 Sunburst gets a helluva’ lot right, while getting almost nothing wrong –– the guitar’s fit and finish are flawless, its tone and playability have few peers, and the authentically vintage vibe is just undeniably cool. The 000-18GE easily outperforms most of the acoustic guitars I’ve touched in my 20+ years of playing, and certainly puts to shame all that I’ve owned. It’s an easy recommendation to make; give one of these beauties a try –– I think you’ll like what you find.

Epiphone Giving Away A Broadway Archtop

Rare Find: One Of A Kind ’60 Stratocaster NoNeck Relic In 3-Tone Sunburst Sparkle

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Gibson Announces Dark Fire Follow-Up: The Dusk Tiger

Cary — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:40:53 +0000

I hope they aren’t betting the farm on this thing ;)

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Video Demo Of The New PRS Sweet 16

Cary — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:25:52 +0000

Video Demo Of The New Electro-Harmonix Stereo Electric Mistress

See & Hear The New Electro-Harmonix Voice Box In Action

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Gibson Unveils Three New Angus Young SG Models

Cary — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:14:24 +0000

Hell yes… Gibson this morning unveiled a whopping three new Angus Young SG models, including a standard Gibson USA production run version, plus two new Limited Edition Custom Shop versions –– in Aged and VOS (Vintage Original Spec) finishes.

Apparently not meant to be an exact replica of Young’s iconic guitar, according to Gibson the Custom Shop Angus Young SG reproduces “the tone, look, and feel of this rare specimen among a classic breed, but… updates this legendary guitar with custom modifications requested by Angus himself.”

Highlights of the Custom Shop Angus Young SG include: an ebony fretboard with lightning bolt inlays (12″ radius,) a body of solid clear mahogany with offset center seam, custom pre-worn nitrocellulose “Angus Cherry” finish, 3-piece quarter-sawn neck made of top-grade maple (custom profile; said to be similar to the cut on Young’s original ’68 SG Standard,) a genuine bone nut, chromed Schaller tuners (12:1 gear ratio,) and an ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge.

Electronics will include a pair of custom-spec’d Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbuckers (standard at the neck, with a higher output pickup at the bridge,) individual volume and tone controls for each pickup, traditional three-way pickup switching, and a Switchcraft 1/4″ input jack.

According to Gibson all hardware on these guitars will be “pre-aged” –– with 50 of them done by hand, and another 200 subjected to Gibson’s VOS process.

The Custom Shop Angus Young SG will ship with a black hardshell case lined with red fur, and a leather-bound Certificate of Authenticity with Angus Young photo insert and the details of the guitar (fifty will be signed by Young as well.) Specs for the production run model can be found here.

MSRP is currently set at $9,409 for the “Aged” version and $6,115 for the larger run VOS, though street prices should be considerably lower… pre-orders appear to already be available at some of the larger online retailers.

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Marshall’s Class5 Combo Drawing Rave Reviews… Due In Stores Soon

Cary — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:36:37 +0000

Finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel… Marshall’s latest entry into the low-powered amp market, the all-tube Class5 Combo, has been available and getting great reviews across the pond for many months, but appears to be only now starting to show up in the States — I can’t wait to get my hands on one.

Built to resemble the iconic Marshall Bluesbreaker of the ’60s, the Class5 is basically a 5-watt studio/practice/smaller-gig amp meant to produce classic British tone and overdrive at a reasonably low volume level –– though according to reviews it’s still loud enough to get you in plenty of trouble with your neighbors.

The Marshall Class5 sports Class-A circuitry, an all-tube signal-path, dual ECC83 preamp tubes, a single EL84 power tube, a top loaded “Plexi-esque” control panel –– just Volume, Treble, Mid, and Bass controls, thank you –– and a single specially designed Celestion G10F-15 speaker. It comes in at just 19.5 x 16.3 x 9 inches, and a light-weight 26.45 lbs.

I’ve been reading user-reviews and checking out the demos on YouTube for the last few weeks, but the UK’s Guitarist Magazine has one of the better written pieces on the Class5. You can check it out here, but be warned it’s a pdf, not a web page. Highly worth the read though if you’re wondering what this thing can do.

A quick search through the online retailers suggests that a few shops may have very limited supplies of the Class5, while more should be hitting stores sometime towards the end of December –– here’s hoping for a Christmas miracle. Street prices appear to be hovering in the just-under-$400 range.

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Video Demo: Marshall’s New Class5 Combo

Cary — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:25:16 +0000

Guitar World Reviews The Hand-Wired Marshall 1974X

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Gibson Giving Away Tickets To Les Paul Tribute Concert, Plus A Les Paul Studio

Cary — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:46:02 +0000

Sweet… according to Gibson this morning the company will be giving away ten pairs of tickets to the upcoming Les Paul Tribute Concert –– to be held November 19th at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN –– with one lucky winner receiving a grand prize of not only two tickets to the concert, but also a wine red Les Paul Studio.

The concert, commemorating the music legend, recording innovator, and namesake behind Gibson’s iconic guitar, will feature Les’s band The Les Paul Trio as house band, along with musician Steve Miller –– they’ll apparently be playing a mixture of Les Paul’s music and instrumentals.

According to Gibson––

Joining Steve Miller for the show will be rock’s elite including Ace Frehley, Zakk Wylde, Charlie Daniels and Jennifer Batten. Joining them will be contemporary artist Josh Kelly and Nashville’s own country hit-makers John Rich, Emerson Drive, JD Souther and Steve Wariner…

While the company doesn’t give official specs for the guitar they are giving away, a photo at the bottom of the official Gibson Les Paul Tribute Concert Giveaway page suggests the instrument will be a standard Les Paul Studio in wine red finish, decked out in gold hardware… Good luck!

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PRS 25th Anniversary Guitars Now Online

Cary — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:31:11 +0000

Just a quick note for all you rabid PRS fans –– the company’s recently announced 25th Anniversary line of limited edition guitars is now online and ready to be ogled.

There are a bunch of gorgeous instruments here, but stand-outs for me are the 25th Anniversary Carlos Santana model (check out the purfling on that figured maple top,) 25th Anniversary Mira 245 Soapbar, and of course the over-the-top but still wonderfully iconic 25th Anniversary Dragon.

You can check out the entire list here.

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Epiphone Debuts New Limited Edition ‘59 Les Paul “Burst”

Cary — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:35:40 +0000

In celebration of its 50th Anniversary, Epiphone has announced yet another beautiful reissue of the classic 1959 Les Paul Standard “burst” — this time in a strictly limited run of 1,959 instruments.

The guitar looks to be highly accurate to its nearly royal lineage, boasting a whole host of appointments you’d expect from a ‘59 LP, including a solid mahogany neck with that fat ’50s “baseball bat” rounded neck profile, a deep-set long neck tenon (for increased sustain and better tone,) solid mahogany back, hard maple cap, and the whole thing topped with a premium-grade AAA flame maple veneer.

If you ask me though, the real goods are going to be in the electronics, with the ‘59 Les Paul Standard sporting what is easily my favorite humbucker coming out of Gibson these days — the BurstBucker; a modern re-creation of the company’s highly sought-after PAF pickups. The guitar will be armed with a BurstBucker-2 (wound similar to a ‘57 Classic) in the neck position, and BurstBucker-3 (over-wound and hotter) at the bridge.

Other stand-out specs will include a set of Mallory-150 tone capacitors, a Switchcraft brand 3-way pickup switch, amber top-hat knobs w/metal pointers, Epiphone’s LockTone tune-o-matic stopbar bridge and tailpiece, a blank trussrod cover, and the guitar’s serial number stamped into the headstock back.

The Epiphone Limited Edition ‘59 Les Paul Standard will ship with a Lifton-style replica hard shell case (brown exterior, pink interior,) and the instrument will be available in your choice of Faded Cherryburst or Faded Iced Tea finishes. Street price is expected to run around $900.

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Video Demo: Fender’s ‘65 Twin Reverb Reissue

Cary — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:09:02 +0000

REVIEW: Fender’s Reissue Blues Deluxe

Video Review Of Seymour Duncan’s Twin Tube Classic Overdrive

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Audio Samples: Hear Epiphone’s New Emperor Swingster In Action

Cary — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:43:56 +0000

Emperor Swingster Demo from Epiphone Company on Vimeo.

Nice… as I noted a few weeks back, Epiphone has updated its long-standing Emperor line of jazz archtops with the new Emperor Swingster, and this morning the company published a short audio demo of the instrument, including a diagram of all the settings used, and sound samples of what the guitar sounds like in and out of coil-tapping mode.

At first blush, Epiphone’s new SwingBucker pickups sound pretty nice, and the Swingster may just prove to be versatile as all get-out considering the sheer number of parallel/series wiring options available (each pickup can be individually set.)

Too bad they didn’t include any overdriven samples. I’d love to hear how this thing sounds with some creative distortion applied. ;)

Epiphone Announces Suped-Up Emperor “Swingster” Hollowbody

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Hey, Follow Us On Twitter!

Cary — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:05:27 +0000

Hey everybody, I just wanted to write you all a quick note that you can now follow Electric Guitar Review via Twitter.

It’s Chop Shop Time! Building The BYOC Optical Compressor

Rare Find: Myrareguitars.com

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Creepy Halloween Effects Using Nothing But Electro-Harmonix Pedals

Cary — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:36:47 +0000

Hah!… with Halloween right around the corner I just had to share this video with you all. It’s Chicago musician Bill Ruppert showing you how to make a bunch of old-school monster movie sound effects using nothing but an electric guitar and a bunch of Electro-Harmonix foot pedals.

My particular favorites are the creepy “Voices from the Other Side,” and the very authentic sounding Theremin, though the theme music from The Exorcist is pretty cool, too. Check it out!

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REVIEW: Seymour Duncan’s Twin Tube Classic Overdrive

Cary — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:39:12 +0000

It’s the holy grail of the armchair guitar-god isn’t it? –– an overdrive pedal capable of producing searing, creamy, tube-driven distortion reminiscent of the great classic amp heads, but at a reasonable price-point and with a small footprint.

Add in a dose of seriously sturdy construction, dual overdrive channels, military-grade vacuum tubes, and true-bypass circuitry, and you’ve got a pedal that’ll really go the distance –– that’s the Twin Tube Classic.

Like most long-time electric guitar players, I’ve owned at least a dozen or more distortion pedals over the years, and I’ve spent real “quality time” with at least a few dozen more, but nothing has ever scratched my itch for the rich, warm, organic sound of a vacuum tube being pushed to the breaking point like Seymour Duncan’s Twin Tube does… it’s just that good.

Creamy High-Voltage Goodness

Running off a 16-volt AC adapter (as opposed to the more common 9-volt DC,) the Twin Tube Classic is pumping some serious voltage through a set of subminiature military-spec 6021 vacuum tubes, and producing a high-quality overdrive that will leave your ears truly satisfied and your fingers itching to play.

The controls couldn’t be much easier: there’s an ON/BYPASS footswitch (with true bypass circuitry) for turning the device off and on, a CHANNEL SELECT footswitch for moving between the two overdrive channels (Rhythm and Lead,) separate VOLUME and GAIN knobs for each of the channels, and a single set of BASS and TREBLE knobs for setting your desired tone. The back panel is as simple as simple can be: Input, Output, that’s it.

With two channels on-board, plus a bypass footswitch in easy reach, the Twin Tube Classic essentially gives you access to three different pre-sets –– your amp’s clean tone, the pedal’s Ryhthm overdrive channel, and of course the Lead overdrive channel… what more are you really looking for?

Seymour Duncan has managed to create one highly usable pedal in the Twin Tube Classic: the unit’s Rhythm overdrive channel easily produces anything from a slightly muddy slur to a full-on clipped and crunchy distortion, while the Lead channel can be set to produce just about anything you like –– from just a slight tweak in volume all the way up to buttery smooth wailing and crying.

Pounding Townshend-esqe power chords? Check!

Vocally expressive Warren Haynesian blues riffs? Check!

It’s ultimately an entire tube pre-amp in a floor pedal.

And I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that the Twin Tube Classic performs equally well with both singlecoils and humbuckers –– heck, the tone this thing produces when matched with P-90s (my Gibson ‘67 SG Special) is nothing short of guttural and gorgeous.

In fact, perhaps the only thing this pedal won’t do is screeching modern high-gain distortion –– Seymour Duncan built a pedal just for that: the Twin Tube Mayhem –– but when it comes to classic tube distortion, you really have to hear this thing to believe it… the Twin Tube Classic is quite simply one of the most expressive overdrive pedals I’ve had the pleasure to play, and both my Strat and SG are thanking me for sinking one of these orange beauties into my pedal board.

Get out there and try one out. You won’t be disappointed.

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Custom Shop ’50s Thinline Telecaster Relic

Cary — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:01:53 +0000

Fender Telecaster 72 Thinline

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Premier Guitar Reviews The VOX Night Train All-Tube Head

Cary — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:52:36 +0000

Well, if you’ve found yourself in the market for a reasonably priced, low-wattage, all-tube amplifier head, you might want to check out Premier Guitar’s new review of the VOX Night Train NT15H.

This rather diminutive amp (hey, it’s built to travel and even comes with a padded carrying case,) sports dual 12AX7 preamp tubes paired with a set of EL84 power tubes, all packed into a solid (not to mention damned sexy) steel chassis, and offering you the choice of either 7.5 or 15 watts of power. A BRIGHT/THICK toggle switch allows you to adjust EQ/Gain settings on the fly.

As always, Premier Guitar sets the bar for a highly readable but still informative gear review… hell, this one’s damned entertaining––

“Using the Les Paul Custom and flipping the switch to Thick, the amp shook off and shed the classic ‘60s vibe that I’d been enjoying. It snarled with an incredible Slash-esque bark. There is a very conspicuous volume increase with the switch set in this position, but in a good way. The Night Train breathes a bit better, and pushes more air. It was really strange standing in front of this little mini-stack and feeling like it was kicking me in the shins like a child in a temper tantrum.”

You can check out Premier Guitar’s accompanying video review here, or you might take a look at VOX’s own Night Train video demo.

The only thing missing from the Night Train for my needs would be a bit of on-board reverb… still, if the specs suit your needs it looks like a pretty nice unit for a rather surprising price: $499.99 at time of write-up.

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Optimizing Gretsch’s G5120 Electromatic Hollowbody

Cary — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:24:25 +0000

Gretsch Announces The New Electromatic Hollow Body

Limited Edition: Gretsch Introduces JimmyC Custom Pin-Striped G5120

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Gretsch Introduces Gorgeous Country Club Hollowbody

Cary — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:12:38 +0000

I’m sorry to say I missed any kind of “official” announcement from Gretsch, but the company has apparently released two new models of their gorgeous Country Club Hollowbody –– one in two-tone smoke gray/metallic violet finish (shown here,) and the other in bamboo yellow/copper mist.

Both the G6196TSP-2G and G6196TSP-BY Country Club are decked out in gold hardware, and will sport laminated maple bodies, a two-piece maple neck with tapered heal (Modern Gretsch shape,) rosewood fretboard (12″ radius) with 21 Medium Jumbo frets, and a 25.5″ scale length.

Electronics are to include a pair of Gretsch’s DynaSonic pickups, individual Volume controls, a single Master Tone control, and 3-way pickup switching by Switchcraft.

More unique features will include a set of Gold Grover Imperial machine heads (150Gm with stair-step buttons,) Gold Synchro-Sonic bridge w/Bigsby B6G vibrato tailpiece, over-sized and multi-bound F-holes, vintage pearloid hump-block fretboard inlays, multiple fretboard/headstock bindings, and a pearl Gretsch logo inlaid on the headstock.

The guitars will ship with a Deluxe Hardshell case, and are expected to sell for a street price of just under $2900.00. They are due in stores before Christmas.

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Vintage Guitar Puts Fender’s G.E. Smith Tele Through Its Paces

Cary — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:10:38 +0000

When Fender first announced its G.E. Smith Signature Telecaster back in early 2007 I immediately attempted to get my hands on one for review, but alas, these beauties just aren’t that easy to come by.

I’ve been particularly intrigued by the instrument’s body-mounted bridge pickup, which should help mitigate traditional Tele feedback issues in high-gain situations (something I’ve wrestled with at times with my Tele Thinline,) while also adding a bit of mid-range thickness to this famously twangy guitar.

And hey, those lap steel-inspired fretboard inlays are pretty sweet too.

Fast forward to October 2009, and Vintage Guitar Magazine has managed to publish a full online review of the G.E. Smith Telecaster over on their website, including an insightful interview with Smith himself discussing the details of his Signature Tele––

What was the inspiration behind the unique features of your signature Telecaster?
I think a lot of it was playing my ‘48 Fender lap steel. I was looking at it one day, and I could just see how Leo could have looked at that, and birthed the Telecaster from it. The pickup, knobs, and finish in many ways make it look like a little Tele. That’s where it all started. Playing the ‘48 and just digging its sound – very fat.

You can find the interview with Smith, along with the review of Fender’s G.E. Smith Telecaster in its entirety, over at Vintage Guitar’s impeccable website. Check it out.

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