Archive for September, 2009

MusicMan Stingray Bass Guitar

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

The MusicMan Stingray Bass Guitar is an electric bass guitar produced by MusicMan Inc. This company was actually founded by two former employees of Fender, which was then one of the leading guitar manufacturers. Along with Walker and Sterling Ball, Leo Fender designed the MusicMan Stingray Bass Guitar in 1976.
MusicMan Stingray Bass Guitar
The MusicMan Stingray Bass Guitar is similar in appearance to the Fender Precision Bass Guitar, but features great innovations. One of the innovations is the “soapbar” humbucking pick-up, along with the Stingray’s 3-band equalizer. This equalizer enables the MusicMan Stingray Bass Guitar to boost, low, mid range, and high frequencies. This was indeed a major breakthrough for the Stingray since no other electric bass guitars without active preamps have this capability before.

MusicMan Stingray Bass GuitarAside from these electronic advancements, the MusicMan Stingray Bass Guitar has a classic, heavy satin finish on the back of the neck for the players hand to conveniently slide up and down while playing. Moreover, the MusicMan Stingray Bass Guitar comes with a separate control plate and a pick guard that is egg shaped. Apart from these physical features, the most prominent physical feature of this guitar is the “3+1” headstock with which the three tuning machines are situated.

Over the years, modifications on the MusicMan Stingray Bass Guitar were made. One of the primary modifications done was the omission of the string-through-body stringing at the bridge, and the adjustable string mutes. However, for the 30th anniversary in 2006, MusicMan produced a Stingray which features the string-through-body design. Furthermore, it uses solid mahogany for the body with a Crimson Red Transparent finish.

Other modifications of the MusicMan Stingray Bass Guitar include a 5-string version with a distinctive truss-rod neck adjustment using a highly rust and corrosion resistant washer. These modifications made the neck adjustment of the Stingray easier.

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Yamaha Signature Series Electric Guitars

Friday, September 18th, 2009

Known simply as the Signature Series, this line of Yamaha produced electric guitars has become one of the most well known in the recording industry. Each and every single one is designed in coordination with an artist and introduced to the world.

Sammy Hagar Yamaha Signature GuitarOne such version was developed in Hollywood, California with the help of Sammy Hagar. It features a solid body and two humbucker pickups. There is a standard Yamaha neck and the bridge pickup is a Seymore Duncan JB. There are separate volume controls as well as a rosewood fretboard with a Cabo Wabo on the 12th fret.

Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit has also helped to develop a Signature Series Yamaha guitar. While in his earlier years in the recording industry he had an official endorsement with Ibanez, they soon asked him to modify one of his guitars so they could market it which ended the relationship. Through his collaboration with Yamaha he was able to design his own guitar from the ground up which became a Signature Series.
Yamaha Signature Guitars
There are also several lines of Signature Series basses such as one poduced with the help of Billy Sheehan. Sheehan is known for his work with such names as David Lee Roth, Mr. Big and Steve Vai. This particular design features a body composed of alder and a neck made of maple. It has 21 frets and Hip Shot detuners. It also comes complete with 2 DiMarzio pickups. Each one of them has their very own output. Since Sheehan prefers bolt-on necks, this particular line does not make use of a through-neck design.

Michael Anthony from Van Halen also has his own Signature Series bass. It uses the neck-through design which is commonplace on the BB series only it has been streamlined. The body too has been smoothed out and features deeper cutaways then the standard models. For pickups, this bass uses an Alinco Split single coil, an Alinco V Soapbar and HipShot detuners.

Even Nathan East who is known for his work with names like Eric Clapton, Phil Collins as well as Stevie Wonder has his own Yamaha Signature Series which is a five-sting design with a double cutaway body made of both maple and alder. It comes with a 24 fret neck composed of maple and mahogny as well as two stacked Alinco humbucker pickups. There is also a bridge pickup that has individual saddles to allow for a better inotation. Featuring several control knobs as well as an equalizer, this Signature Series has a lot of versitality.

The Signature Series are aptly names as such. Each one stars out it life as a dream instrument from a big name in the recording industry. Through the effort and collaboration of the recording artists and Yamaha, this dream becomes a reality. Not only does the musician get their dream instrument, but anyone can too. They are a perfect match of style and functionality making them a highly sought-after instrument by many.

Fender Precision Bass Guitar

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

One of the bass guitars that made an immeasurable contribution to popular music for the last 50 years is the Fender Precision Bass Guitar. This guitar is the first ever electric bass guitar to be made widely available for the consumers.

Fender Precision Bass GuitarThe Fender Precision Bass Guitar was patterned after the electric bass guitar personally designed by Leo Fender and was introduced to the market in 1951.

The Fender Precision Bass Guitar is a solid body instrument which comes with a single split-coil humbucking pick-up. Moreover, the fingerboard is made of rosewood or maple and is composed of 20 frets. The Fender Precision Bass Guitar is also famous for its one-piece neck made of maple. To date, the Fender Precision Bass Guitar is one of the best selling electric basses.

The important variations of the Fender Precision Bass Guitar include the Standard P-Bass which consists of a 3-ply parchment pickguard. This bass guitar has a tinted maple neck with a fingerboard made of maple or rosewood. Among its other features are a return to the knurled chrome flat-top control knobs and a split-coil pick-up for hum cancelling.

Another Fender Precision Bass Guitar variation is the American Standard. This bass guitar carries three models of this kind including the American Deluxe, which features a J-style humbucking pick-up; Highway One; and American Vintage.

The Road Worn is the last among the variations of the Fender Precision Bass Guitar. The Road Worn has a 1-ply gold anodized pick-up, and a synthetic bone nut. The body is designed as a distressed alder body and comes with a nitrocellulose lacquer finish.

The Fender Precision Bass Guitar is known for its use of frets which produces the distinct timber very different from the double bass guitars. The precision bass guitar is more focused and has a less percussive thump.

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Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

It was during the 1950s that the Les Paul solid-body electric guitar was first introduced to the music industry. It was desined by Ted McCarty and officially endoced by guitarist Les Paul. Les Paul was not just a pop star, but he was also an electronics inventor and a very accomplished jazz guitarist.
Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar
It was created to compete directly with the very popular Fender Telecaster which was quickly becoming the most popular guitar in the industry.

Ted brought Paul into the company and a consultant and as an endorser of their new line of solid-body electric guitars. Les Paul up until that point had been experimenting with creating the perfect guitar for quite some time and had already produced his own which he called, “The Log”. This particular design was accredited as being the first solid-body Spanish style guitar, which was in contrast to the lap-steel guitar of the time.

In an attempt to get Gibson to produce The Log, he was quickly rejected. However, Ted McCarty determined that it would be in the company’s best interest to bring Les Paul on board to develop a guitar that could compete.

Gibson Les Paul Electric GuitarOf course there is a bit of controversy surrounding the input into the design of the Gibson Les Pall by the artist. Some accounts insist that he played a crucial role in the guitar’s design while others insist that there was none or very little. The most controversial aspect is that of two contributions which includes the color preference of the guitar and the tailpiece design. At the same time, Gibson’s president, Ted McCarty also insists that Les was only brought on to endorse the design and nothing more.

There have been a number of model variations of the Les Pall produced over the years. These include the original two designs that includes the Goldtop and Custom. The Goldtop was the standard version while the custom came complete with upgraded hardware as well as a more formal look with regards to the body’s finish. In no time the Melody Maker model was introduced which was one of the cheapest versions of the Les Paul produced. While not bearing the namesake, it was none the less a Les Paul. Gibson also chose to introduce the Les Paul Junior which was a retro design based on the original upmarket version.

Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar StockAlso, over the years many new color options have been introduced. While it is the body lines and shape that set the Les Paul apart from the rest of the Gibson’s, there was a need to introduce color options such as Classic White, Ebony, Wine Red, Alpine and Fire Burst so as to make it attractive to a larger audience.

A number of well-known names have used the Les Paul including Paul McCartney who has been known to play a 1960 version of the left-handed cherry-burst. Neil Young’s Les Paul has been dubbed, “Old Black”. And many other big names have used one at some point during their career.

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Fretless Bass Guitars

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

In the real sense of the term, fretless bass guitars are electric bass guitars with no frets. Unlike the guitars with frets, the fretless bass guitars operate in such a way that the vibrating string length runs from the bridge to the point where the strings on the fingerboard are pressed by the fingers.

Fretless Bass GuitarOne thing that is advantageous for fretless bass guitars is that these guitars are not limited to certain temperaments or tuning systems. For this reason, fretless bass guitars can play music that is not only in 12-tone scales, which are very typical of experimental music. Moreover, fretless bass guitars are capable of absorbing energy from the vibrating strings much faster, thus producing a distinctive sound. This causes the pizzicato of fretless bass guitars to sound more damped than the other guitars.

According to most musicians, the fretless bass guitars sound similarly to the double bass guitar which are more popularly used in Jazz, R&B, and Funk music genres. This is probably the reason why there has been a great demand for these types of guitars leading to its widespread popularity.

Most fretless bass guitars have fingerboards that are made of hardwood. Epoxy coating is applied to these fingerboards to lessen the wear caused by the round-wound strings. On the other hand, other strings can also be used to lessen the wear, such as the ground wound, nylon tape-wound and flat-wound strings.

Although it is quite difficult to use fretless bass guitars which require more training for the exact positioning and shifts of the fingers, a lot of famous guitarists prefer to use these guitars. Some of these important guitarists are Juan Alderete who is the bassist for the Mars Volta, Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, and Jaco Pastorius who is considered as the most influential fretless bassist of all time.

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Gibson Thunderbird

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Gibson Corporation is one of the leaders in guitar production. Over the years, it has managed to set new trends in guitars, and produced the firsts of their kinds. One of its major successes, is the Gibson Thunderbird electric bass guitar.
Gibson Thunderbird
The Gibson Thunderbird was first introduced in 1963, together with the Firebird guitar which basically resembles the Gibson Thunderbird in design and construction. The main difference is that the Thunderbird is an electric guitar. Although the Gibson Thunderbird fell behind twelve years from the Precision Bass which was produced by Fender, the Gibson Thunderbird definitely did not fall short of any expectations.

The basic design of the Thunderbird is that of a neck wood that went through the entire body of the guitar, which is being glued in place. The production of the Gibson Thunderbird with a scale of 34 inches, is an improvement over the previous Gibson bass guitars which have only a scale of 30 ½ inches. There were originally two models of the Gibson Thunderbird, these being the Thunderbird II, with one pick-up; and Thunderbird IV, with two pick-ups.

Gibson Thunderbird Electric Bass GuitarThe design and construction of the Gibson Thunderbird underwent a revolution, as its design was changed in 1966 due to a lawsuit that was filed by Fender because of its resemblance to one of its products, the Fender Jazzmaster. This has caused the design of the body of the Thunderbird to be changed to ‘non-reverse’, as opposed to its original reverse body design. However, the production of the revised Gibson Thunderbird guitars was discontinued in 1969. In 1976, the Thunderbird, in its original reverse form, was reissued as a bicentennial edition, and continued production until 1979. It was again discontinued since then. However, in 1987, the Gibson Thunderbird models were introduced again, with the Thunderbird IV, and the Nikki Six Signature Thunderbird IV in its line. Both of these models have two pick-ups and have retained the reverse bodies.

Perhaps, the most attractive feature that the Gibson Thunderbird models have is the high pick-up that they possess, enabling these guitars to produce a stronger signal than the other active basses. Moreover, the Thunderbird pick-ups are said to be indestructible, thus no replacement pick-ups are released in the market by Gibson Corporation. Today, the current Gibson Thunderbird, represented by Thunderbird IV is made from either mahogany or walnut. To form its body, wings made from mahogany are attached to it.

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Acoustic Bass Guitars

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

Acoustic bass guitars are basically similar to the steel string acoustic guitar in appearance only that the hollow wooden body of acoustic bass guitars is somewhat larger. Like any other bass guitars, the acoustic bass guitars also have four strings, and have the same tuning pitch as the electric bass guitars.

Acoustic Bass GuitarqHowever, it is difficult to hear acoustic bass guitars if these are not amplified, such that these are employed with pick-ups. These pick-ups can either be piezoelectric, magnetic, or both. The pick-ups enable these bass guitars to be amplified with a bass amplifier. These bass guitars and their variations are significantly featured in the traditional music of Mexico.

Some of the famous variations of these acoustic bass guitars include the Baja sexto which has 6 pairs of strings, and the deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic bass guitar called the chitarrone. The chitarrone guitar is used in the renowned Mariachi bands. These guitars have definitely gained popularity for the deep-voiced melody that these produce.

There are various designs and forms produced for acoustic bass guitars. Generally, these bass guitars have low mass plates and bridges. Although these have the same construction with the flattop acoustic guitars, which results to similar formant peaks of these guitars, the acoustic bass guitars have smaller bodies. Today, the appearance and form of these guitars have become popular because of media exposure. These media exposure include the Unplugged Series of MTV, where bands are generally playing acoustic instruments. Due to these exposures, these guitars are now classified as standard instruments.

With the widespread popularity of acoustic bass guitars, a number of famous guitars makers have extended their line to accommodate these guitars. Some of the most famous guitar manufacturers of acoustic bass guitars include Alvarez, Applause, Crafter, Warwick, Taylor, Fender, Gibson, Tanglewood, and Ibanez among others.

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Washburn Electric Guitars

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Back in 1883, the Washburn Guitar Company first opened its doors in Chicago, Illinois. It was during the Delta Blues Movement of the 1920s that Washburn made a true name for themselves. The African Americans moving into the Chicago area of the time led to this movement. It was the Delta Blues Movement that changed the way that blues was played and eventually played a pivotal role into the development of rock and roll.

Washburn Electric Guitar

All the musicians at the time who were using the American-made Washburn Guitars because they were of high-quality and very close. Today, the Washburn factory is located only a few blocks away from the infamous Maxwell Street in Chicago. They make a lot more then just Delta Blues Guitars too.

Washburn Guitars today is known for their many lines of high-quality musical instruments which includes acoustic and electric guitars as well as electric and acoustic basses, mandolins, banjos and much, much more. From the instruments to the accessories, Washburn makes everything a true musician needs to become great; other then talent.

Washburn Electric GuitarIn recent years, Washburn has been getting increased recognition in the recording industry. An increasing number of bands; both well known and garage bands have begun turning to them for their instrumental needs. From the punk and hard rock scene to the country music aficionado, Washburn offers just about anything that any musician could want.

Of course they are still highly sought after with regards to their guitars; especially the electric ones. They have a number of lines today to choose from. The currently available Washburn electric guitars include the Chicago Series and a wide-range of hollow-body guitars. There is also the Ian, Idol and Maverick Series to choose from as well. For the rock fans though, perhaps the most popular Washburn electric guitar is the Paul Stanley Series.

Most of these models come standard with Humbucker pickups that also feature a Voice Control Contour; which is only available with Washburn Guitars. This is a uniquely tapped coil that allows the musician to blend any number of possibilities from a warm and thick sound to a thin sound; with a simple twist of a knob.

Washburn has been known for a making a number of advancements in the industry including the VCC as well as the Buzz Feiten Tuning System to name a few. They were also the first to offer an official endorsement to members of the recording industry that included a custom designed and built guitar in exchange for their endorsement of the Washburn Guitars. To date they have had a number of big name endorsements including Nuno Bettencourt, Paul Stanley, Nick Catanese, Dan Donegan, Dimebag Darrell as well as Steve Stevens.

When it comes to a high-quality, American made guitar that features more then a century of history in the industry, Washburn Guitars are the people you are looking for. They have played an active role in almost every single music genre since their establishment.

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Epiphone Electric Guitars

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

It was back in 1873 when Anastasios Stathopoulos founded Epiphone. It would later be owned by the Gibson Guitar Company until 1957 when it would become part of the Chicago Music Company.
Epiphone Les Paul Electric Guitar
Until its purchase by Gibson, Epiphone was the number one competitor to their archtop lines of guitars which included the Deluxe, Emperor, Triumph, and Broadway.

The Epiphone was considered to not only be a top contender in this industry, but also was considered to be far surpassed with regards to both the quality of construction as well as sound reproduction. Until their absorption into Gibson following World War II, Epiphone also had a number of lines of banjos and many other stringed instruments.

The Ottoman Empire which today is known as Izmir Turkey was where Anastasios Stathopoulos first started developing his stringed instruments starting with lutes and fiddles. After his immigration into the United States back in 1903, he returned to what he knew best which was the manufacturing of high-quality stringed instruments. These were produced by hand in his Long Island workshop until 1915 when he died and passed on his legacy to his son.

Epiphone Electric GuitarsIt would not be until 1928 that the very first Epiphone guitar line would be produced. They continued on throughout the next few decades as a leader in the guitar industry until Epi Stathopoulos’s death back in 1943. With his brother in control of the company, it would soon begin to falter due to their lack of managerial skills. Eventually World War II would sink in a final blow and the company would be bought out by their rival, Gibson Guitars.

Shortly after Gibson took over the name, the Epiphone Casino would be introduced; quickly becoming a hit among musicians. It was manufactured into the same shape as the Gibson ES-330, but featured a very heavy sound to it which was extremely popular amongst the rhythm players. This guitar was a hollow-bodied electric guitar that made use of the P90 pickup.

The first big name musician to pick up the Epiphone Casino was none other then Paul McCartney of the Beatles. Soon afterwards, John Lennon and George Harrison would also grab one. After the solo in Taxman was played by Paul using a Casino, the entire world soon followed suit and sought out the Epiphone guitar.

This included Japan and throughout the 1970’s, Epiphone produced a number of lines especially for sale in the country. While these were not produced in the States, they were none the less just as fine of quality. The company which manufactured these Epiphone guitars under a license with Gibson continued to produce them in Korea until just after the start of the new millennium.

There have been a number of excellent lines manufactured under the Epiphone name including the Zephyr, Emperor, Sheraton, and Riviera which were available in North America. In China, North Korea as well as Japan, a number of unique models was produced through several different manufacturers

Today these guitars are highly sought-after by collectors around the world. The Epiphone guitars are still manufactured today and are still considered to be of the highest quality possible.

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Ibanez Electric Guitars

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

In Japan, you can find the company Hoshino Gakki which has become known for their line of electric guitars known as Ibanez. It was back in 1908 that Hoshino Gakki entered into the music industry when they first began by selling musical instruments for Hoshino Shoten.
Ibanez Electric Guitar
However, it would not be until 1929 that the name Ibanez would become known. It was at this time that the company began to import Spanish-made guitars known as the Salvador Ibáñez. Unfortunately, soon afterwards the Spanish Civil War broke out and the factory was destroyed.

It was at this time that Hoshino Gakki made the decision to purchase the brand name rights so that they could begin the production of thier own. By 1935, the Ibanez Salvador was being sold throughout Japan.

It was in 1957 that the modern era for Ibanez Guitars would come to. During this time they began creating some of the wildest designs available on the market. While many of the other Japanese guitar manufacturers were simply copying European designs, Ibanez stood out fo their radica, unique and interesting designs.

Ibanez Jet King Semi HollowBy the mid-1960’s the Ibanez designs began to follow suit with those of the American’s like Fender and Gibson as a means of staying competative. This was the same era that the first Japanese motorcycles and other japanes made products would become widely available in the the Western World. Because of this the company faced a number of lawsuits for copying the designs of the big name manufacturers and so they chose to begin making their own designs. Ever since the 1960’s every single Ibanez guitar has been designed without any influence from their competitors.

It would be the 1980’s that Ibanez would really make a name for themselves thanks to the relationship between Hoshino Gakki, the parent company, the famous guitarist Frank Zappa. This relationship led to the creation of the Ibanez IEM as well as Universe. While based on the earlier designs of Roadster and Iceman, they were none the less a very successful design.

Ibanez Guitars also moved into the acoustic guitar industry whenh they began producing their own lines of both nylon as well as steel-stinged guitars. The Tama acoustic guitar was produced from 1974 until 1979; at a drum factory of all places. In 1979 Their guitar line was changed to the Artwood Series.

The same factory which Ianez produced the vast majority of their electric guitars also became the home for Roland synthesizers. The FujiGen factory produced the Stratocaster-style Roland G-505, the Ibanez X-ING IMG-2010 as well as the twin humbucker Roland G-202.

Today Ibanez produces a number of lines of electric guitars, bases, acoustic guitars, amps and much more. Their continuing commitment to excellence in the music industry has iven them a spot amongst the greatest names in guitars like Fender, Gibson and even Yamaha. Their older lines have also become quite a bit of a collectors item with fans seeking them out in Japan to bring back to their home country.

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