Month: October 2013

Ken and Penny Haas, of Reverend Guitars, will conduct five guitar clinics in the coming weeks at stores in the Eastern U.S. Ken Haas hosts each event, which includes a discussion of the history of Reverend Guitars, demonstrations of select models, and a Q&A. The pair will be at Cleveland’s Guitar Riot on October 30, where they’ll be joined by Jamie and Julie Stillman, of EarthQuaker Devices. On November 6, the clinic moves to Spindrift Guitars in New London, Connecticut, followed by Monster Music, in Levittown, New York, on November 7, where endorser Gil Parris will perform.  On November 9 and 10, they will exhibit at The Great American Guitar Show (a.k.a. Fall Philly), where Parris will host a demo on Sunday.

The clinic tour continues November 12 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at Alpha Music, followed by the final clinic, at Crossroads Guitar Shop, Falls Church, Virginia, November 13.

“I look forward to this trip,” said Ken Haas. “We get to meet all kinds of people and spread the word about Reverend. What could be better?” Learn more at www.reverendguitars.com.

Janice Lynn “Jan” Kuehnemund, a rock guitarist and founder of the all-female ’80s metal band Vixen, passed away October 10. She was 51 and was battling cancer.

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Kuehnemund and singer Janet Gardner formed the band while in high school and moved it to Los Angeles in 1981, where they recruited drummer Roxy Petrucci and bassist Share Pedersen. After being signed to EMI, they recorded a self-titeld debut album in ’88 and scored two hits, “Cryin” and “Edge Of A Broken Heart,” which  received heavy play on MTV and helped them earn opening spots on tours with Scorpions,  Ozzy Osbourne, and Bon Jovi. The band’s second album, 1990’s Rev It Up, yielded two more hit singles, “Love Is a Killer” and “How Much Love.” Shortly after, the band was dropped by the label, and it broke up in 1991.

In 2001, Kuehnemund re-formed the band with Pat Holloway on bass. More recently, she performed using the Vixen name with new members, while Gardner, Petrucci and Pedersen formed JanetShareRoxyGina (JSRG) with Gina Stile.

The Deli NYC is once again organizing the annual Brooklyn Stomp Box Exhibit, hosted by Main Drag Music, in Brooklyn. An interactive display in which musicians are invited to bring guitars and plug them into an array of pedals and pedal boards, the event is free and open to the public this Saturday and Sunday (October 19 and 20) from noon to 9 p.m., overlapping with the CMJ Music Marathon 2013. All pedals are run through amp emulation and players hear the results directly into headphones, allowing for quick comparison. This year, distortion pedals will be organized in separate boards and plugged into real amps in two isolation booths.  Learn more at http://audio.thedelimagazine.com/the-delis-stomp-box-exhibit-2/.

Nicholas Harris, founder of the effects company Catalinbread, is releasing a limited edition of four of his company’s pedals in a pink color scheme to commenmorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Each pedal will be signed by Harris and numbered; he will make 25 of each and 50 percent of the sale from each will go toward his goal of raising $5,000 to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation of Oregon/SW Washington.

“In the late ’80s, my grandfather was diagnosed with a form of cancer that sometimes even doctors don’t realize is possible for a male to get – breast cancer,” said Harris. “It was a shock, but luckily my grandfather had some of the best healthcare available. He was able to find a doctor who could perform the mastectomy. He has lived a full life since then, cancer-free, and my family has been blessed with his presence.

“Fast forward a quarter-century, there is still no cure. Nearly every electronics device you could fit into the trunk of your car back then is an app on a smart phone, but still no cure. Many people have had their lives completely changed in this time. And not everybody is fortunate to have the healthcare that my grandfather had available to him.”

For more, go to www.catalinbread.com/breast-cancer-awareness.html.

Steen Guitars are made in the U.S. and have bodies made from African white limba with hand-dyed finish, satin-finished maple neck with rosewood fretboard with 12″ radius, a 10-degree-angle headstock, graphite nut, Grover tuners, CTS pots, roller bridge, Lace Alumitone pickups, and a heavy-duty jack plug. See more at www.steenguitars.com.

SolidGoldFX’s new SuperDrive Beta and Zeta overdrive pedals combine a JFET preamp stage and precise tuning of  frequency response and control ranges. The Beta is the company’s first pedal designed primarily for bassists and produces a subtle germanium clipping and tube-like drive to fit many playing styles. The Zeta’s JFET-based preamp offers a hint of sag and compression, with controls that help the user dial in light overdrive to medium-bodied saturation. Learn more at http://www.solidgoldfx.com.

Crushsound has upgraded its Farmer’s Mill random-generator pedal. Wired with true-bypass switching, the avant-garde effect is designed to “make your guitar sound  broken, set on fire, and ran through a blown amp.” Its True Random Technology is adjustable analog circuit with switches for Full Range Mill, Low Range Mill (selects only low frequencies, a TNT tube-dedicated boost, and a footswitch that can be held momentarily to engage the effect, or double-click to lock the effect. Learn more at www.crushsound.com.