Wow, have you seen this thing? Once again, Electro-Harmonix produces another stimulating, informational, and just plain fun video demo of one of their new pedals — the Voice Box Vocal Harmony Machine & Vocoder.

Yeah, before seeing this demo the chances of me purchasing any kind of vocoder was pretty damned slim, but I have to admit I’m now feeling pretty intrigued. At the least it looks like a really fun toy for the studio, or your local open-mic night… instant 4-part harmonies? Sweet.

The Electro-Harmonix Voice Box is currently selling for just over $200 at internet retailers.

Off the top of my head I remember two other official Ritchie Blackmore Stratocasters coming out of Fender in the last decade or so… there was a 1997 MIJ Limited Edition version with set-neck construction, and a lower-cost MIJ production version with a bolt-on neck.

This latest incarnation will feature a bolt-on neck as well, but other than the fact that the 2009 Ritchie Blackmore Stratocaster will be built in Mexico (as I understand it,) I’m not really sure if there are any other significant differences.

This guitar is expected to feature an Alder body (poly-finish Olympic White,) Maple U-shaped neck and graduated scalloped Rosewood fretboard (7.25” radius,) 21 vintage-style frets, vintage-style synchronized tremolo, and Fender/Schaller vintage “F” style tuners.

Among other things, the guitar will sport a pair of Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Flat SSL-4 single-coil Strat pickups (reverse wound/reverse polarity in the bridge position,) a disconnected dummy pickup in the middle, over-sized ’70s headstock, ’70s style decal, Bullet truss-rod adjustment nut, 3-bolt neck plate with Micro-Tilt neck adjustment, and a synthetic bone nut.

I’ve only found a handful of these online, but retail prices seem to be hovering around $1200. A bit steep to be shipping it with a Deluxe Gig Bag, don’t you think?

Matching what we discovered from the poll we took on this very model a few months back, the folks at Premier Guitar seems to be up in the air on whether they like the aesthetic design of the Starla (author Chris Burgess gushed about it, others not so much,) but overall review is glowing.

The Starla got high marks for its playable wide-fat neck, truly usable push/pull coil-tapping (quiet and toneful –– not so easy to find, in my experience,) and Paul Reed Smith’s new Starla pickups, which are apparently inspired by classic FilterTrons, and stand out for their balance, warmth, and sparkling high-end.

Low marks were few, with the number one complaint being the rather infamous tuning instabilities of the included Bigsby B5 vibrato tailpiece… apparently the price you pay to capture a serious retro vibe.

When searching for after-market pickups most of us will never get a chance to try out multiple different units in the same guitar, with the same settings, same amp, and hence really get a good idea of what the differences are.

That’s why I love these “shoot-outs.”

Vintage Guitar has done the hard work for you, testing out nine different attempted PAF humbucker re-creations, including Gibson’s own Burstbucker 2 and Classic ‘57, the venerable Duncan ‘59 and Seth Lover models, the Lindy Fralin Vintage Hot, and a few others.

All pickups are tested against what is arguably the true gold standard of Gibson tone––the neck position PAF humbucker in an original 1956 Les Paul.

VG stops short of picking a favorite, but give a nice run down of the general tone and response characteristics of each of the contenders.

If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time you probably know I’m a huge Electro Harmonix fan, and I can’t resist getting a chance to take a closer look at their stuff. Actually, it’s been fun watching them over the past year or two, because they’ve really been pumping out some great new pedals.

Anyway, here’s a user-demo I came across while researching the newly revised Big Muff Pi with Tone Wicker, and it gives you a good idea of how much more versatile this venerable distortion pedal is with the addition of a few extra controls.

Check it out.

But seriously, I’m a sucker for these contests, and they’ve made this one exceedingly easy to get in on: you just text the words “LPburst” to Gibson’s hotline.

I’d give you their number here, but for legal reasons it just seems better if you get it from Gibson’s official Giveaway page––that way you can read the rules (you DO read the rules, don’t you?)

Anyway, this really is a gorgeous instrument, and I think I’d just about re-mortgage my house to have one. But don’t take my word for it… check out that burst. Stunning.

All right, while I’m fairly sure I myself will never purchase one of these Artist Replica-type instruments, I can certainly see the appeal… it just seems a real shame that most of them will never actually get played, and will more than likely while away their years on a collector’s wall.

Then again, next to some recent forays into big name replicas (remember Fender’s $24,000 Blackie replica?) the Jeff Back ‘54 Oxblood looks almost affordable at an MSRP of $8235. Hahaha.

Based on the heavily modified ‘54 Les Paul that Beck picked up at a Memphis, Tenn. music store back in the ’70s, the Jeff Beck Oxblood will feature a deep chocolate-brown finish (apparently Oxblood in the right light,) a pair of Gibson’s top-of-the-line Burstbucker PAF reproductions (the guitar had it’s original P-90s swapped out before Beck even purchased it,) and a slightly thinner rounded ’50s neck shape (another pre-Beck alteration.)

Other features will include a single-piece light mahogany back, accurately-carved maple top, mahogany neck with long-tenon neck joint, and a light-aluminum wrapover bridge.

And if that weren’t enough, here’s the final skinny from Gibson––

Available in very limited numbers, the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood from Gibson Custom will come in two different series. The first 50 of these historic guitars will be carefully aged by the master luthiers at Gibson Custom to look exactly like Beck’s original, then personally hand-signed, numbered and played by Beck himself. The next 100 guitars will be prepared with Gibson Custom’s pioneering V.O.S. finish, bringing the total run to just 150 rare instruments. Each one also comes with a specially produced Gibson Custom case with Beck’s signature silkscreened on the top, a custom care kit and a certificate of authenticity.

I’m happy to note that unlike some previous big name replica sales, Guitar Center doesn’t appear to be the exclusive dealer for the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood (exclusivity on this scale just seems a bit un-democratic to me)––but don’t quote me on that.

Talk about a looker… check out that striped tortoise shell pickguard! Sure, I’d love an original L-00, but unfortunately I don’t have a spare $25,000 lying around, so I have to look elsewhere.

Still, I recently figured out that at a whopping $6880 list price, if I put aside $10 a week, every week, in another decade I can buy myself one on my 50th birthday! Hahaha!

Seriously though, I’ve spent a fair amount of quality time with the lower-cost (but still steep,) Gibson Blues King, and while I love the general feel and sound (yeah, I’m a sucker for a slim waisted guitar!) the L-00 Legend shares all that tone and vintage vibe, but in a much prettier package.

Next up on my list is the Martin 000-18: also highly drool-worthy.

So — what’s your dream acoustic guitar?

If you’ve ever wished you could easily run two heads into a single cabinet and switch between them effortlessly, or you need to be able to switch between (or combine) dual effects loops or cabinets, you might want to check out Vintage Guitar’s Review of the Radial Loopbone, Cabbone and Switchbone pedals.

As I understand it, with the Loopbone, and a few select effects, you can coax what is effectively two channels (or even three, if used in combination) out of your single-channel amp –– a nice trick to have in your arsenal. According to Vintage Guitar––

This go-round with the Radial ‘Bone pedals reinforced what we found in our previous tests; they deliver as promised, giving a player extremely usable switching and effects options that simply haven’t been previously available. By combining the Loopbone with either the Cabbone or Switchbone, the options are numerous.

Me, I don’t like to carry around any more equipment than I have to, but if you’re the type who can never get enough tonal combinations out of your rig, you might want to check it out.

Apparently they’ve been collaborating with amp guru Doug Sewell for nearly four years to bring three new high-end guitar amps to market.

And they appear to be covering all the basses, with The Dallas and the Original Sewell producing a more traditional ’50s American amp tone, and the Blue Sierra harkening back to classic British tones with a bit of what PRS calls “Texas attitude” thrown in to boot.

Each of the new PRS amps are available as a 50-Watt Head, 100-Watt Head, 50-Watt 1x12 Combo, or 2x12 Comb (50-Watt or 100-Watt,) and as far as I can tell they are all tube-driven, as expected.

You’ll get a choice of EL34 or 6L6 tubes, and cabinets will be solid pine, available in closed back and open back configurations. No word on pricing or availability at this point.

I’ll be very interested to see how these pan out in the long run. Keep an eye out for a hands-on review if/when I can actually get me greedy paws on one.

The big news from Fender this season (at least as far as electric guitar enthusiasts are concerned,) is the official release of their new Road Worn Series of guitars and basses.

These instruments are basically lower-cost Relics –– coming off the assembly line looking like they’ve already seen a few decades of sweaty, grimy, nicotine-stained bar band mayhem.

The Road Worn Series guitars –– made up of the ’50s Strat, ’60s Strat, and ’50s Tele –– are all selling for less than $1,000, while the ‘50 P Bass, and ’60s J Bass are hovering in the $1200 range.

At this point I haven’t heard where these are being built (though Fender’s Mexican factory seems likely,) and I’ll be interested to see how they stand up to the Custom Shop Relics when it comes to authenticity. Still, Fender went back to a Nitro finish on these babies, so who knows?

The other big news is the release of the Band Master VM Head, Band Master VM 212 cabinet, and the Deluxe VM Combo… both amps are suped-up versions of their all-analog predecessors, now boasting traditional Blackface tube-amp goodness mixed with essential onboard digital effects, including reverb, chorus/vibrato, and delay.

No word yet on pricing or availability.

Online instrument retailer Sweetwater (no affiliation,) has apparently received a shipment of just 25 exclusive Limited Edition Silverburst Les Paul Standards––and at last check they still had 21 of them left.

Based on the photos (and yes, in typical Sweetwater fashion there are individual photos of ALL 25 guitars,) this exclusive edition is sporting a truly intense teardrop shaped burst pattern on front and back, plus all the usual bells and whistles you’d expect from an LP Standard.

The guitar also features Gibson’s new “weight relieved” body (read: strategically chambered,) a pair of ‘57 Classic humbuckers, ’60s neck profile, trapezoid fingerboard inlays, dual Volume & Tone controls, 3-way pickup switching, stopbar tailpiece, tune-o-matic bridge, and of course a “Les Paul” signature on the headstock.

Sweetwater’s new exclusive Gibson Silverburst LP is selling for a retail price of $3199.00.

This is apparently a PR move to bring some awareness to the upcoming release (November 28th, 2008) of the new Fender Custom Shop limited edition Yngwie Malmsteen Tribute Series “Play Loud” Replica.

However, make no mistake; Fender isn’t giving away the new replica… it’s the older Signature Series Strat that is up for the offering. Still––a free guitar is a free guitar, right? Also, it’s no longer a matter of just giving Fener your e-mail and mailing address: now you have to create a Fender Profile.

Check it out at Fender’s Official Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster Giveaway page.