Gretsch has announced the release of its G6120 Eddie Cochran Signature Hollow Body guitar. A single-cutaway instrument with western motif, its features are based on Cochran’s Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins hollowbody. Cochran (1938-1960) played the Atkins hollowbody he bought new in 1955, at age 16, on hits such as “Summertime Blues,” “Twenty Flight Rock,” “C’mon

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Billy Grammer, a renowned country-music guitarist and singer, died August 10. He was 85 and passed from natural causes. A member of the Grand Ole Opry, he is arguably best known for his hit “Gotta Travel On,” which reached the Top 5 on the country and pop charts in 1959, the year he was inducted.

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Charvel ‘s new Desolation series includes  four single-cutaway “DS” models, three double-cutaway “DC” models and three Skatecaster “SK” models loosely based on the Charvel Surfcaster of the early 1990s. All have mahogany bodies and necks, dual humbucking pickup configurations with three-way toggle switching, solid and transparent finishes (with flame maple veneer on trans finishes) and black nickel hardware. Most feature compound-radius

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Burriss Amps’ Boostiest 2.5 combines two gain pedals in a single enclosure. On the input side, is an adjustable-gain preamp. On the output side is a “TS”-flavored overdrive circuit. Burriss  also offers the Dirty Red and Royal Bluesman heads, the Shadow combo tube amps, and the Boostier & Chaloopa foot pedals. For more, go to burrissamps.com.

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Marshall Grant, original bassist for Johnny Cash’s band, the Tennessee Two, died August 7 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. He was 83. A resident of Hernando, Mississippi, he was in the area to attend the Johnny Cash Festival, a charity event that raises money to restore Cash’s childhood home. After a rehearsal for the event, Grant apparently suffered

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The Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar pedal uses guitar signal to produce a polyphonic lead voice and tunable sympathetic string drones that react to a player’s dynamic touch. It allows the player to create custom scales for the sympathetic strings while setting the decay time for the lead voice. Used with two expression pedals (it has inputs

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Fender’s Acoustasonic 100 Combo and Acoustasonic 150 Combo amps are equipped with a new Voicing control that can be turned off for pure amp output response. The feature also supports acoustic players who double on electric guitar. It includes Blackface, tweed, and British amp settings, which makes a second amp just for electric guitar unnecessary. The Acoustic 100

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BC Audio has introduced 1×12 combo versions of its tube guitar amps, including the No. 7 and “hot-rod plexi” No. 8. Amplifier No. 7 is a 15 or 25 watt non-master volume amp featuring Bright and Normal channels and Presence, utilizing 6V6 or 5881 output tubes, a 5Y3 or GZ34 tube rectifier and 6SL7 octal preamp tubes. Amplifier No. 8 is a

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  ArtGuitar gathers more than 20 artists from Colorado to create art from damaged and unusable guitars donated by Guitar Center of Denver. Their work is up for bid, with proceeds benefitting the Copper Environmental Foundation, an employee-funded non-profit organization that supports and funds environmental projects and programs in Colorado’s Summit and Lake Counties. Last year’s

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Classic rock will meet classical music when Steve Miller joins the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra for the premiere of Rock Symphony at the Steve Miller Amphitheatre at the Fender Center in Corona September 17. The stage was named in Miller’s honor for his decade of work on behalf of the Fender Center’s Kids Rock Free music education program.

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