Fretboard

Epiphone 1962 Wilshire Re-issue in White

Kenny — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:14:36 +0000

The Epiphone 1962 Re-issue in White is the second in Epiphone’s Custom Historic USA guitars, following the cherry red Wilshire 1962 Re-issuelaunched in January.

Like that model, the white version will be very difficult to get hold of, only 100 are being made. The cherry red Wilshire Re-issue sold out immediately, so you really will have to be quick.

At $4,832 it won’t be on everyone’s shopping list, but it’s sure to be a collector’s item. Made in gibson’s Nashville factory, the 1962 Wilshire re-issue in white has a Peruvian Mahogany body and glued-in set neck. Its rosewood fretboard has 22 frets with pearloid dot inlays, and the headstock is set at 17 degrees with three Vintage Kluson machine heads on each side.

The pick-ups are soapbar P-90s with adjustable pole pieces and there’s a three-way selector switch with volume and tone controls for each pick-up.

In addition to a fantastic guitar, lucky owners will get; an original style hard case, numbered certificate of authenticity, vintage-style colied guitar cord, commemerative picks, a commemerative t-shirt, and a 1962-style thin leather strap.

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BB King Exclusive interview in Guitarist

Kenny — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:16:45 +0000

From Guitarist: BB King Exclusive: “We recently caught up with a full-on legend; BB King. We’ll be featuring our interview in a future issue of the mag but if, like us, you just can’t wait, there’s a decent chunk of it up on Music Radar.”

(Via Guitarist.)

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Hendrix ‘was murdered by manager’

Kenny — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:38:27 +0000

Chris and Danny both have posts on a claim made by James “Tappy” Wright, a former roadie for Jimi Hendrix, that Hendrix was murdered by his manager, Michael Jeffrey. According to Wright’s claims, made in a new book, Wright had an insurance policy on Hendrix’s life and killed him to cash in. Wright says Jeffrey confessed to him afterwards.

Three things strike me about this claim:

1. Wright has a book to sell and nothing sells books like a controversial claim about a well-known and much-loved figure, particularly when it involves a conspiracy theory about that person’s death.

2. Jeffrey is dead and therefore can’t defend himself or be libelled.

3. Hendrix’s death has, despite the official verdict that he choked on his own vomit after consuming alcohol and barbituates, long been shrouded in mystery.

Seems to me that if this were true, Wright would have mentioned it before now. He could have made a fortune by writing on it and appearing on TV shows to talk about it, yet he chose to wait nearly 40 years before telling anyone. It may be true, but I have my doubts.If you liked this, I’d also recommend:

Epiphone Les Paul 1956 Gold top

Kenny — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:10:50 +0000

Epiphone 1956 Gold top, originally uploaded by Wouter Duijndam.

According to Epiphone’s website, the 1956 Gold Top has been discontinued, which is a great shame as by all accounts it’s a lovely guitar. It’s certainly on my list of Epi’s I’d buy – although, I don’t really need a another Les Paul.

So, to mark the passing of a great guitar, I thought I’d post some pics of the Les Paul 1956 gold Top from Flickr.

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New Epiphone Guitar on the Way

Kenny — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:52:24 +0000

This post on the Epiphone blog paves the way for what looks like a new Wilshire in white. No details at the moment, I’ll post more as soon as I have it.If you liked this, I’d also recommend:

Video Guitar Lesson: BB King – Thrill is Gone

Kenny — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:01:35 +0000

I’ve said it many times before on Fretboard, but BB King is one of my favourite guitar players. In fact, if I was forced to choose my No. 1, I reckon BB would get the nod. There’s just something about that lovely warm tone from his Lucille, the way he strips it right down to just the clean note and uses vibrato to wring everything he can from the strings. I’ve seen him live a couple of times, and he’s sensational.

There’s no song which better illustrates his playing, and his wonderful singing voice, than his signature tune, Thrill is Gone, so as a fan I figured it was about time I learned it, start to finish, every note.

Now, there are numerous ways to learn a new song, from the way we used to do it by putting on a record or tape listening, moving the needle back or rewinding the tape and listening again, and again, before practising it painstaking phrase by painstaking phrase, to books, and even DVDs.

But to my mind, the single greatest tool for learning any well-known song is YouTube, and here’s the proof. BB King’s Thrill is Gone from the guys at GuitarJamz. Enjoy and give it a go. I will.

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Epiphone Contest – Win Les Pauls!

Kenny — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:27:32 +0000

Epiphone is currently running contests to win three Les Pauls. There’s a Zakk Wylde signature Les Paul Custom, Standard Plus-Top Trans Blue in conjunction with and autographed by The Jonas Brothers, and a Prophecy LEs Paul GX with a year’s subscription to GuitarTricks online guitar lessons.

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Epiphone Riviera P93 back on 8 May

Kenny — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:31:19 +0000

The Riviera P93, which was discontinued last year will be back in stores from 8 May.

If demand is anything like it was last year, however, it won’t be available for long, so better get those orders in now. The Riviera P93 has three ‘dog-ear’ single coil P-90 pick-ups and a Bigsby trem and tailpiece. The Bigsby, along with the polyurethane finish and gold hardware make this one good-looking guitar.

The laminated maple body and top, glued-in mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard and trapezoid inlays mean that the Riviera P93 sounds and plays wonderfully, too. The Tune-O-Matic bridge complements the Bigsby perfectly.

On the head there are Grover tuners and on the body, a 3-way pick-up selector and tone and volume controls for the neck and bridge pick-ups. The three P-90s give that extra crunch for rockabilly and blues, but the Riviera P93 is also very well-suited to jazz, and the Bigsby makes it perfect for country playing.

Reviews of last year’s Epiphone Riviera P93 were great. On Guitar Center, cguitarist929 said ‘This guitar is AMAZING for the price! My brother just got it yesterday and I never thought epiphone would make such a nice guitar. This guitar has a thick warm tone on clean, great for blues. But when distorted, it can play from classic rock to punk.’

And on the Musicians Friend, Sgtpeppere64 said ‘It’s got that woody tone that threatens to retire my Fender 72 deluxe, American Mahogany HSS,Variax 700 and Nashville Tele. I road tested it for days, on a Vox DA5 practice amp, and was mesmerized!! I don’t know how to describe the experience thru my Mesa Boogie!’

You can buy the Epiphone Riviera P93 for $17/month now at Music123

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Free Guitar Rig Mobile

Kenny — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:24:45 +0000

Epiphone is running a promotion where, by purchasing any Epiphone guitar costing $500 or more, tyou can claim a free copy of Guitar Rig Mobile 3.

Guitar Rig is a highly acclaimed guitar amp modeller and the Mobile version incorportaes a ‘light’ version of the software plus a USB 2 I/O interface.

So what are you waiting for? Get along to your local Guitar Center
or other participating retailer and buy that Epi you’ve always wanted.

No Payments & No Interest for 15 Months at GuitarCenter.com! (exp. 5/31/08) If you liked this, I’d also recommend:

How to play slide guitar in Standard Tuning | Learning Guitar Now

Kenny — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:09:46 +0000

I love slide guitar, particularly blues slide. And some of my favourite players played slide, from Elmore James and Muddy Waters, to Duane Allman and Bonnie Raitt. I have to confess, though, I’ve never mastered bottleneck slide, and I’ve only ever tried it using open tunings. In this lessson, however, John Tuggles demonstrates How to play slide guitar in Standard Tuning.

As always, John makes it look easy. But I’m certainly inspired to give it another go.

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