Category Archives: Newswire

Classical guitarist Scott Tennant will stage a performance using seven guitars owned and played by the Romero family, June 1 at showroom of Guitar Salon, Santa Monica, California. The guitars – an 1886 Torres, 1970 Miguel Rodriguez reverse-fan, 1919 Santos Hernandez, 1958 Miguel Rodriguez flamenco, 1969 Hermann Hauser, the 1973 Miguel Rodriguez churchdoor known as [...]

An event dubbed The Jeff Hanneman Memorial Celebration will take place May 23 at the Hollywood Palladium, in Los Angeles. It will be free and open to the public. Hanneman, who passed away May 2 at the age of 49, co-founded Slayer with fellow guitarist Kerry King, bassist Tom Araya, and drummer Dave Lombardo in [...]

The Seymour Duncan Nazgûl pickup was designed for high-output, chug-heavy distortion. The company calls its tone “heavy and aggressive” but says it retains articulation and provides precise pick attack. “The Nazgûl gives chords heavy saturation and produces a lightning-fast response… Perfect for all high-output metal needs in which sonic obliteration needs to be accomplished.” The Nazgûl [...]

Dunlop’s MXR Prime Distortion pedal is designed to provide a hard-clipping signal that is highly responsive to player attack and with an articulate sound that is easy to dial in. It has controls for Output, Tone, and Distortion, and an all-analog circuit that uses low-noise op amps. It will be available exclusively at Guitar Center [...]

The Les Paul Foundation supports Guitars For Vets, a program headquartered in Milwaukee, by providing funding so Guitars for Vets can purchase guitars requested by veterans who graduate from the program. Throughout his life, Les Paul was interested in music education, engineering, and medical research. For more, visit guitars4vets.org and lespaulfoundation.org.

J.C. Harper’s 40th Anniversary Buck Dharma signature guitar has an alder body with a forearm bevel and “tummy cut.” It has a maple neck, walnut fingerboard, mother-of-pearl dot inlays, a 25½” scale length, 24 stainless-steel frets, 16″ fingerboard radius, 1 11/16″ bone nut, a custom BOC Kronos inlay on the headstock, and Dharma’s signature on [...]

A team of engineering students at Rice University has designed a new capo for guitar they say allows players to more easily make certain chords without cramping their fingers. The attempt was inspired by John Jaggers, a Rice alumnus who plays in an acoustic duo. “I thought, ‘This is a mechanical-design challenge,’” Jaggers said. “So I [...]

Nick Lowe has confirmed a string of solo acoustic headlining tour dates starting late this summer. The tour will kick off in Philadelphia August 8 and cover the northeast. On all but two dates, fellow Yep Roc recording artist, Kim Richey will join Lowe as an opener. Richey is a two-time Grammy-nominated Nashville-based singer/songwriter who [...]

AXL USA’s Hand-Aged Bulldog has a solid mahogany slab body and one-piece set neck, a Lindy Fralin P-90, TonePros Featherweight wraparound bridge, CTS pots, Orange Drop Capacitor and TonePros Kluson vintage-style tuners, and the company’s Bite Switch, a push/pull pot that bypasses the tone pot. The guitar is assembled in California. Learn more at www.axlguitars.com.

Busker Bags covers are U.S.-made from a lightweight, breathable polyester that protects instruments from dust and other hazards when they’re not being played. They fit most stringed instruments and have a corded closure. Machine washable, they can also be used as a polish cloth. Learn more at www.buskerbags.com.