by Vince Schaljo There are two main sounds a guitar can make that really make me cringe. The first being one that’s terribly out of tune, and the second… the notorious fret buzz. An out of tune guitar is a quick and easy fix, but fret buzzing can be caused by so many different things […]
Intruducing the Airline NEWPORT. It is Eastwood’s take on the rare National Newport Val-Pro 88 from the late 50’s and early 60’s. It features two NY Mini Humbuckers and a Piezo pickup in the bridge with a 5-way swtich. Tones of tonal variations! Buy Yours Here! SPECIFICATIONS: Body: Tone Chambered Mahogany Neck: Maple, Bolt-on […]
This Imperial came out of a little piece of Dickens in Philadelphia called Torresdale Music in the neighborhood with that name, in the “near northeast” as we call it, near the Burlington-Bristol Bridge (cheapest toll bridge over the Delaware River to New Jersey and back). Torresdale was a tiny, ancient corner shop just up the street from Chink’s Steaks, a legendary cheesesteak sandwich purveyor, the name of whose establishment has been the source of some local ethnic controversy. (Really good cheesesteaks consumed while sitting in 1940s-vintage wooden booths, highly recommended.)
One of the big influences on my guitar writing “career” was Dan Forte’s writing—under the nom de plume Teisco del Rey—for Guitar Player magazine back in the 1970s and ‘80s. Dan, or Teisco, took a much more tongue-in-cheeky approach to regaling the often goofy guitar designs of the 1960s, whereas I’ve always been a bit more dourly serious about the subject, but I like to think we kept the torch burning for decades for those of us who love whatever’s whacky about guitars.
If you’re reading this, I’m sure you’ve heard or said the phrase “this guitar’s action is too low/high!” It either buzzes all over the neck, or it’s a pain just to fret a note. The reality is… Guitar parts move. With a piece of wood that’s constantly putting up with over 100 pounds of string tension, it’s understandable. Living here in Canada where the weather and humidity is ever-changing doesn’t help either!
Signal processors, effects pedals, stomp boxes… What’s in a name? That which we call a pedal by any other name would sound just as sweet! What would not sound so sweet, on the other hand, would be a-million and-one of the things plugged into your rig not knowing why they’re there or what to do […]
After a long days work it’s nice to have a peaceful, yet quick drive home to set into relaxation mode. Although, when fortune smiles against you and the drive is filled with red lights, it’s easy to get frustrated. Even more aggravating would be having to sit next to some guy with his speakers full […]
Any time you identify a “first,” there’s always some other dude who shows up to spoil the party and own the claim. However, I think it’s safe to assert that the first company to use computer numerical control (CNC) carving machines to build guitars in the U.S. was Peavey Electronics.
No matter what you think of Ovation guitars, you have to hand it to them for trying, and I mean trying hard. Their application of helicopter technology to acoustic guitars is the stuff of legends. I’m always blown away by how good the synthetic materials sound when you just don’t expect them to compare to traditional timbers. I confess Ovation’s choice of aesthetics has often been baffling, but some of that is attributable to the times in which they emerged. All of the above certainly applies to Ovation’s Quixotic attempts to break open the solidbody guitar and bass market.
Last month, we left off with a team in place to design, prototype, test, and market the new line of Magnatone amplifiers. This month we look at each series and model of the new Magnatone line and the features of each, including the world famous pitch-shifting vibrato circuit.
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