Month: August 2010

Vox Amplification has announced an entirely new lineup of hand-wired AC15 and AC30 amplifiers. Created for the amp enthusiast, the Hand-Wired Series includes innovations to satisfy the versatility a modern player needs. Included are four combo models, plus a head and matching extension cabinet.

The ultimate take on the Vox classics, these amplifiers make use of high quality components, an all-tube design, hand-wired turret board construction, and over 50 years of Vox AC15 and AC30 refinements.

Finished in fawn-colored vinyl reminiscent of the 1960s AC amplifiers, the birch-ply cabinets feature solid, tight bracing and a natural high frequency diffuser. Matched Ruby Tubes are used throughout for an extended dynamic range. All models provide three 12AX7/ECC83 preamp tubes. The AC30 models are equipped with an EL84 quartet in the power stage and a GZ34 rectifier. Inside the AC15 models, a duet of EL84 tubes drive the power stage, while an EZ81 is used for the rectifier. The 12" speaker choices include the Celestion GM12 Greenback or Celestion AlNiCo Blue.

The models in the Vox Hand-Wired Series utilize the traditional Vox two-channel design, offering a Normal and a Top-Boost channel, with High and Low inputs provided for each. A number of important features have been added to allow modern versatility. The Normal channel is equipped with a Bright switch for added brilliance. The Hot/Cool switch (also accessible via the included VFS1 footswitch) allows the Top-Boost channel to achieve even more gain. In true "old-school" fashion, the MV/BYPASS completely bypasses the Master Volume section. Finally, the Output Power (OP) switch will cut the amp’s output power in half, making it easier to balance the need for gain against a range of listening levels. A custom-fit dust cover is included with every model.

Learn more at voxamps.com.

Guitar Center, Inc. today announced a management succession plan to be implemented during the fourth quarter of 2010. Under this plan, Greg Trojan, presently President and Chief Operating Officer, will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Trojan will also remain a member of Guitar Center’s Board of Directors. Marty Albertson, presently Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, will step down as Chief Executive Officer but will remain as non-executive Chairman of the Board.

"I am thrilled to take on the role of non-executive Chairman." said Albertson. "This will allow me to pursue many other interests and still contribute to Guitar Center in a strategic capacity."

"I asked Greg to join the Guitar Center team nearly three years ago as part of my effort to groom a successor for the CEO role, and my confidence in his ability to successfully lead the company was critical to my decision to change my role at this time. Further, Greg has a thorough knowledge of our culture, values and industry."

"I am excited to be assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer at this point in Guitar Center’s history," said Trojan. "With the company’s strong management team and with the investments we have made in both our infrastructure and our people, we are well positioned to grow online and through our brick and mortar network. Accordingly, we plan on resuming opening new Guitar Center retail stores in 2011."

Taylor Guitars has announced that the company will once again bring its fan-favorite Road Show to guitar lovers across the country this fall at over 100 in-store locations in North America. Now in its fourth year, the award-winning Road Show brings enthusiasts, Taylor clinicians and experts straight from the company’s factory in El Cajon, California together for a lively in-store gathering. At each event, Taylor’s Road Show team shares insights on the company’s guitar-making process and demonstrates how body shapes and woods affect tone. After the demonstration, players are invited to take part in the "Petting Zoo": an opportunity to pick up and play a variety of different models, as well as rare and custom Build to Order models. Admission to each Road Show is free.

The 2010 Fall Road Show schedule will kick off in early September with multiple dates along the West Coast with shows in Oregon and Washington, through the Midwest in Missouri and Nebraska, to be followed by dates in Canada and along the East Coast. Each Road Show attendee will receive a complimentary digital subscription to Premier Guitar magazine and, while supplies last, TaylorWare gear and Elixir strings. Attendees will have the chance to enter to win the grand prize, an opportunity to build their own custom guitar through Taylor’s Build to Order program.

In 2009, Taylor brought the Road Show to over 170 locations in the United States and Canada, and held over 30 events throughout Europe and Japan. The Taylor Guitars Road Show was awarded the 2008 Supplier Excellence Award from Music Inc. magazine in the category of Events for putting "the excitement of the company’s factory tours into retail dealers across the country."

For more information on Road Show dates and locations, please visit the official Taylor Guitars Road Show calendar at taylorguitars.com.

Daisy Rock Girl Guitars is donating instruments to the Covenant House California and its musical program, Running Wild in the Night.

Founded by Mötley Crüe’s bassist Nikki Sixx, the program provides participants a chance to learn, practice, and perform music.

The largest non-profit agency serving homeless, trafficked, and at-risk youth in the state, Covenant House California has been impacting the lives of more than 150,000 youths in the Hollywood area since 1988 and the Bay Area since 1998. Open all-year round and 24 hours a day, this agency not only offers those in need a bed and a hot meal, but also hope, education, job training, life skills, medical attention, mental health counseling, and many opportunities to turn their lives around. In addition to the instruments donated, all proceeds from Daisy Rock Girl Guitars’ annual charity concert event, Pretty in Punk, will also be given to the Running Wild in the Night music program.

For more, visit daisyrock.com and covenanthousecalifornia.org.

Three of the most popular, talented, innovative and musically rich guitar players and composers in contemporary music will bring their acoustic guitars together to perform and interact on stages across America this October and in January, 2011, when Eric Johnson, Andy McKee, and Peppino D’Agostino meet on the Guitar Masters tour. The 21-date/two-leg run of theaters, colleges, and clubs will feature sets by each capped with a finale where all three collaborate to offer an engaging and enlightening aural feast of acoustic six-string mastery and melodic brilliance.

The trek is sure to be an unforgettable musical experience for concertgoers that unites guitar virtuosos not just known for their awesome skills and technique but a mutual gift for song composition and melody and drawing out the full musicality of the solo acoustic guitar to near-orchestral dimensions. Creative sparks, one-time only stunning improvisations and mutual inspiration are sure to abound as they come together at the end of every show to offer a value-added concert bill that appeals to fans of many musical styles as well as guitar aficionados.

For dates and more, go to razorandtie.com.

BIO Channel brings viewers inside the story of one man, his music and the world that embraced him with the two-hour documentary special "Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child," premiering this Thursday, August 26, at 9PM ET.

Over the course of just four years, Hendrix left an indelible stamp on the world, shaping not only popular music but popular culture as well. He remains the most innovative musician of his, or any other, era having virtually reshaped the vocabulary of the electric guitar for future generations. "Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child" is an autobiographical journey that reveals the man as never before, featuring the legendary musician’s own words to tell the story of his remarkable life.

Drawing upon interviews granted by Hendrix, coupled with letters, writings and recordings, "Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child" provides new insight into one of the most enduring icons of popular culture. The special is filled with never before seen photographs and film footage from the Hendrix family archive and features a soundtrack that includes such legendary Hendrix recordings as "Purple Haze," "Hey Joe," "Fire," "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" together with never before heard live performances. Funk legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Bootsy Collins of Parliament-Funkadelic renown, is featured as the voice of Jimi Hendrix.

Directed By Bob Smeaton and produced By Janie Hendrix and John McDermott. "Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child" is produced for BIO Channel by Experience Hendrix L.L.C. Executive producers for BIO Channel are Tom Moody and Peter Tarshis.

After months of speculation, Whitesnake has announced its new bass player/singer is Michael Devin.

Devin has been playing with Lynch Mob, along with new Whitesnake drummer, BRIAN TICHY. This union completes the new Whitesnake line-up alongside guitarists Doug Aldrich, Reb Becch and keyboardist Timothy Drury for the new album in the works.

"It’s an honour to be welcomed into the Whitesnake family. I’m a big fan," said Devin. Whitesnake is notorious for exciting musicianship, David’s history is rich, and I’m very proud to be here."

The album is being recorded for release in early 2011. The band will be also returning to touring.

The Ponderosa Stomp music festival has been growing every year, giving birth to a music history conference and film series during the day before the concerts, then a record hop. This year’s Clandestine Celluloid film series moves to One Eyed Jacks, a few blocks from the Music History Conference being held in the Cabildo in Jackson Square. For film series producer Madeleine Molyneaux, Clandestine Celluloid, the second incarnation of the moving image component of the Ponderosa Stomp "will expose Stomp attendees to film subjects and archival footage that have, due to circumstances often beyond filmmaker or audience control, remained secret, silenced or submerged …until now." The two-day series, with filmmakers Les Blank, Bradley Beesley and others in attendance, includes the first ever public screening of "It’s What’s Happening, Baby!, a 1965 TV special hosted by the infamous East Coast DJ Murray the K, a sneak preview of the film-in-progress "Bayou Maharajah" about New Orleans piano legend James Booker, "Hot Pepper", the story of Clifton Chenier , and some extremely clandestine films that have been scarcely seen and hotly pursued by those who have heard the whispers. In addition to the film schedule below, the Stomp has just announced the schedule for the music history conference. For full details, go to
ponderosastomp.com.

The new new Vox AC4TVmini is based on the AC4 from the 1960s. An all-tube practice amp, it has been factory-modded with a premium transformer and select component.

This up-to-date Class A version retains the distinctive EL84 power tube of the original and features a 12AX7 preamp tube, plus an original Vox design 6.5" speaker. Adjusting the volume and tone settings can create a broad range of tones – from a sweet, clean sound to the distinctive VOX overdrive sound. Stylish, clean and classic, the AC4TVmini borrows its retro-chic "TV" front styling from the classic 1958 AC15. This vintage Vox design is still in use on today’s AC15HTV from the Vox Heritage Collection.

The attenuator switch allows the AC4TVmini’s output power to be set at four Watts, one Watt or even one-tenth of a Watt. This convenient and ear-saving feature allows the amp to create a real, musically satisfying distortion – even at the lowest power setting. An external speaker jack is also provided for connecting to the user’s favorite cabinet.