blog.frugalguitarist.com

AmpliTube Fender® 1.1 Update Now Available

Will Chen — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:44:00 -0400

AmpliTube Fender® 1.1 has been released, and is available now for free to registered users of the AmpliTube Fender® full version. Addressing the requests of end users, the following updates have been included:

New Gear:

Stomp Boxes-

Fender® Compressor Stomp
Fender® "Wah" (with both "Crybaby" and "McCoy" voicings)
Fender® Tremolo Stomp

New Rack FX
Fender® '63 Reverb Tank Rack Unit

Happy Birthday Richie Sambora!

Will Chen — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 08:36:00 -0400

Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora was born July 12th, 1959.

Happy July 4th!

Will Chen — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:00:00 -0400

Steve Vai and Andy Timmons Pay Tribute to Michael Jackson

Will Chen — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:00:00 -0400

Steve Vai and Andy Timmons paying tribute to Michael Jackson with a ripping version of Beat It at the Meinl Guitar Festival in Germany on June 27th.

LACE® Unveils Alumitone® Deathbucker™

Will Chen — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:00:00 -0400

Huntington Beach, Ca- Lace® Music Products has released the high gain, full fidelity humbucker size, Deathbucker™ this week.

Using patented and patent pending Lace® “current driven” technology, the Deathbucker™ was designed by Jeff Lace, for high output with a heavy metal drive. Extreme output with thunderous bottom end, yet crisp highs allow the player the most versatile of high output pickups.

This new “current driven” technology is only available from Lace®. It is considered one of the most revolutionary concepts in pickup design today.

Celebrating 30 years this year in business, Lace® is known as the most innovative pickup company today. Products include the world famous Lace Sensor®.

“This passive design yields active pickup performance with absolutely zero noise and no need for a battery” stated Jeff Lace. “In split mode, the unique Alumitone® design is dead quite with full range” further stated Lace.

Another Deathbucker™ advantage is there is no volume drop in split mode and working as a single coil; noise is virtually eliminated in comparison to standard old style humbucker designs.

Deathbuckers™ are compatible with all guitars and other pickups. As an easy drop in replacement, the 4 conductor design needs only 250k pots. It is excellent for any playing situation from live to direct to board recording.

Deathbuckers™ are available in black and are shipping now.

For more information, please call 800 575.LACE or visit us on the web at www.lacemusic.com

Radial Hot British and First Act Cable Reviews Published

Will Chen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0400

The latest addition to the Marshall in a box roundup, Jeff's review of the Radial Tonebone Hot British Tube Distortion pedal, has been published.

For those looking for a high quality yet affordable cable, we've also published a review of First Act's MX020 20 foot instrument cable.

In other news, FrugalGuitarist.com will be slightly changing formats beginning in July. Based on reader feedback, we are shifting from a magazine style publication schedule (trying to provide a large amount of content at the beginning of every other month) to a more dynamic format publishing content at will. As a large portion of the content was staggered anyway, this seemed the obvious choice to eliminate the "coming soon" placeholder links for the staggered content. Thanks for all your support.

VHT ANNOUNCES THE NEW CLASSIC 6 TUBE AMPLIFIER

Will Chen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:56:00 -0400

BRISBANE, CA—VHT is proud to announce the release of the Classic 6, a simple, low-wattage amp with a big sound. The Classic 6 has been carefully designed and tested in VHT’s Brisbane, CA workshop.

The design of the Classic 6 was inspired by stories of famous records that were recorded with a low-wattage single-ended amp that sounded gigantic. The Classic 6 is designed for players who want a sound that they can make their own. With this in mind, VHT designed the Classic 6 with a 12” VHT Special Design speaker. The amp sounds great with the stock speaker, but VHT engineers based the design on the assumption that 12” speakers are easiest to find, which allows for a broad range of customization options to reflect the player’s personal taste. The signal path is uncluttered and simple, and the output transformer was designed so that the amp could be turned up loudly without getting fried.

The Classic 6 has two controls, Volume and Tone, and has both high and low inputs. The preamp is a single 12AX7 tube, and the power amp is a 6V6. It’s really a sweet sounding, versatile amp. If you don’t drive it much, it sounds like a classic American-style tube amp, but if you crank it, it starts to break up like an old-school British amp.

The tone control is also simple. It’s basically a high-frequency cut, so when players open up the tone all of the way, the amp produces a lot of harmonics, and players can use the tone control to carefully adjust for the harmonics they want. This amp is as simple and straightforward as possible, so players can get as much out of their guitar as possible, and it can be used comfortably and effectively for recording, practice or small gigs.

The VHT Classic 6 was specifically designed with simplicity in mind, for players who just want to plug in and sound great. It’s an amp that allows players to get the most out of their amp to enhance their individual sound. The Classic 6 lists for $549.99.

For a complete list of products available from VHT, visit vhtamp.com.

FrugalGuitarist.com will feature an in depth review of the VHT Classic 6 in July!

The Black Crowes to release Before the Frost... September 1, 2009

Will Chen — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:03:00 -0400

The Black Crowes will release their new studio CD, Before the Frost... on September 1, 2009.

A second album, titled …Until The Freeze, will be given away for free exclusively through a unique download code which is included in Before The Frost… as a “thank you” to their fans for two decades of continued support.

Before the Frost..., and its corresponding free album …Until The Freeze, were recorded over a series of five nights at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. Although both are studio albums, all the new material was performed and recorded in front of an intimate audience of the band’s fans, making them a part of The Black Crowes musical history.

The innovative technique of inviting fans into the studio as part of the process during recording is a rare experience.

Before the Frost... features eleven new and previously unreleased Black Crowes songs including Good Morning Captain, I Ain’t Hiding, Been a Long Time (Waiting on Love), and other original songs that will serve to spotlight the bands ability to make emotional connections through their music. The free album …Until The Freeze is a nine-song collection featuring eight new original Black Crowes songs plus a cover version of the Stephen Stills classic So Many Times.

A limited edition vinyl release of Before The Frost…Until The Freeze, featuring all 20 tracks, will also be available on September 1, 2009.

Chris Robinson conceived the concept of Before the Frost...Until The Freeze.
“I think we fulfilled a musical commitment to continue on the golden road of artistic independence. Approaching 20 years into our careers, we still are ambitious enough to push ourselves to create something unique that we have never done before.”

As The Black Crowes approach the upcoming 20th anniversary of their release of one of rock’s most influential records, Shake Your Money Maker, which produced such hits as Jealous Again, She Talks To Angels and Hard to Handle, they are time and again hailed as one of Rock and Roll’s best live acts.

Before The Frost… (CD Track Listing)
Good Morning Captain
Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)
Appaloosa
A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound
I Ain’t Hiding
Kept My Soul
What Is Home
Houston Don’t Dream About Me
Make Glad
And The Band Played On
Last Place That Love Lives

…Until The Freeze (Free Download Album Track Listing)
Aimless Peacock
Shady Grove
Garden Gate
Greenhorn
Shine Along
Roll Old Jeremiah
Lady Of Avenue A
So Many Times
Fork In The River

Before the Frost…Until The Freeze was produced by Paul Stacey and will be released through The Black Crowes label, Silver Arrow Records and Megaforce Records.

For more information, go to blackcrowes.com.

MySpace Layoffs Continue

Will Chen — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:56:00 -0400

If you've been following any business news over the last couple weeks, you might have heard the story that MySpace is planning to reduce it's US workforce by 30% to around 1,000. Today, multiple news sources are reporting the company will also be reducing it's international workforce by approximately 66% to 150 employees. News Corp. reported an $89 Million loss in the division which includes MySpace over the last quarter partially due to the new features on the site. And the bleeding may not be over as competition increases in the social networking sector. Recently, Facebook has surpassed MySpace as the social networking site with the most worldwide users.

Wampler's Plextortion and Super Plextortion Reviews Published

Will Chen — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:50:00 -0400

Just published the next installment in the Marshall-in-a-box reviews: Wampler's Plextortion and Super Plextortion. Jeff also included a few clips demonstrating the pedals at different gain levels into AmpliTube Fender.

In an effort to help you search our database of reviews and articles, FrugalGuitarist.com has implemented a Google Custom search tool located just below the logo at the top left of the page.

Thanks for your continued support!