Check out this Gibson acoustic guitar-the Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Standard

Posted on May 29th, 2010 GuitarSavvy No comments

This gorgeous looking acoustic guitar is the Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Standard. It’s actually an electro-acoustic with a Fishman Ellipse Aura pickup and preamp unit (factory installed), as well as a Sitka Spruce top, rosewood back and sides and a mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard. Tuners are gold Mini Grover Rotomatics and fingerboard inlays are mother of pearl “Diamond Eye”. This guitar looks stunning and is available in two colours: Vintage Sunburst (left) and Antique Natural (right):
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Now this is a very high spec guitar (it’s a Gibson!) so don’t be too surprised when you see the price – you can check them out on Thomann.de by clicking the preferred image above (note the Vintage Sunburst Songwriter Deluxe is marginally more expensive than the Antique Natural Songwriter Deluxe). The Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Standard acoustic guitar is here to empty your wallet and all your bank accounts but at least you’ll still have the guitar. You could always busk.

If you’re starved for details or simply want to have a look at some more lovely images of this guitar then check out the propaganda for the Songwriter Deluxe Standard on Gibson.com.

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Epiphone Emperor Swingster – Sex from a Stick

Posted on March 29th, 2010 GuitarSavvy No comments

This gorgeous piece of hardware is from those good ‘ol boys at Epiphone. The Epiphone Emperor Swingster archtop hollowbody electric guitar is a bit of alright – made from spruce and maple, this guitar looks almost too cool.

In their own words, Gibson.com say:

Of course the Epiphone Swingster looks as hip as it sounds, with a choice of finishes in Sunrise Orange, Translucent Black, or Wine Red on a body and neck with multi-ply top and fingerboard binding, block inlays, and classic Epiphone mother-of-pearl “vine” inlay on the headstock.

The Emperor Swingster has a nickel-plated Bigsby vibrato, a pair of Gibson Swingbucker pickups (a new pickup), Grover tuners and the gorgeous looks and reliability we have come to expect from Epiphone (it comes with the Epiphone Limited Lifetime warranty too). It really is sex on a… (or should that be from a) stick.

Check it out at Thomann (available NOW): The Epiphone Emperor Swingster comes in a choice of colours:

Translucent Black     Wine Red     Sunrise Orange
Click images above to go directly to that guitar page on Thomann.de

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The Joan Jett BlackHeart electric guitar from Gibson – tasty

Posted on March 19th, 2010 GuitarSavvy No comments

Gibson have introduced the Joan Jett BlackHeart guitar. The new Melody Maker signature model looks like it won’t take any shite from anyone:

Fitted with a single Zebra Coil Burst Bucker 3 and a killswitch, the Gibson Joan Jett Blackheart electric guitar has a mahogany “California shape” body and neck with ebony fingerboard (red dot fret markers with twin heart inlays at 12th fret). If you were looking for a guitar that is capable of producing the crunching riffs scattered liberally throughout songs like “I Love Rock and Roll” and “Bad Reputation” then this is the guitar for you.

Available soon from Thomann.de:

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5 new Gibson guitars on the way this year, so far…

Posted on March 7th, 2010 GuitarSavvy No comments

… and there may be more to come! So if you’ve got several g’s to burn on one of these beauties then that’s great (and I hate you ). Read on and try not to dribble…

• Slash 2010 Appetite Les Paul
• Sammy Hagar Red Rocker Les Paul
• Randy Scruggs Advanced Jumbo acoustic
• 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD
• 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul Standard

Slash 2010 Appetite Les Paul

More details to come from Gibson on this one but the Slash 2010 Appetite for Destruction Les Paul is getting a limited numbers release so if you snooze you lose. This Les Paul guitar has been designed in collaboration with Slash to recreate the unique sound of Slash’s guitar in the Appetite for Destruction era of Guns ‘N Roses. This beast is fitted with Seymour Duncan Signature Series Alnico II Pro Slash humbucking pickups and has a 1960′s style LP neck. Additional features (from Slash 2010 Appetite LP article on Gibson.com):

Traditional style weight relief Mahogany body with AAA Figured Maple top
Unique neck profile made for Slash features rounded 60’s shape
Rosewood fingerboard with trapezoid inlays
Un-burst top with faded cherry back lacquer finish
Slash signature smoking skull with top hat artwork for peghead face
New Seymour Duncan Slash Signature Alnico II pickups
Special capacitors selected by Slash for vintage tone
Tone Pro hardware with historic machine heads, locking bridge and tailpiece

Sammy Hagar Red Rocker Les Paul

This gorgeous looking red (sorry – “cabernet”) Les Paul from Sammy Hagar (frontman and guitarist with Van Halen and Chickenfoot) sports Gibson “zebra coil” humbucking pickups—neck pickup is ’57 Classic and bridge pickup is the BurstBucker 3 – great for both clean blues playing and growling rock guitar. Body is maple top/mahogany (weight-relief), neck is rosewood with 22 frets and the heastock sports the Chickenfoot logo (looks a bit like a square CND logo).
Available soon from Thomann.de:

Randy Scruggs Advanced Jumbo Acoustic Guitar

This beautiful jumbo acosutic guitar features a Sitka spruce top, rosewood back and sides (vintage sunburts finish). It also features a Fishman Matrix pickup system.

When Randy Scruggs first opened the case that contained his Gibson signature acoustic, he says he felt like it was Christmas Day. You’ll probably feel that way, too, when you first lay eyes on this gorgeous guitar, modeled after Scruggs’ own beloved Advanced Jumbo.

Gibson Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD

The ever-popular ES-335 model has had, yet more significant changes made to improve upon one of the finest semi-hollow body electric guitars available. This model features a pair of Gibson ’57 classic pickups, laminated maple body/top and a mahogany neck with 22 fret rosewood fingerboard. This guitar will be available in the following colours: Antique Faded Cherry, Antique Vintage Sunburst and Antique Natural.

Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul Standard

This guitar (which I would love to own in case anyone well off, who has got started on guitar with the help of Guitar Savvy and would like to show their appreciation – hohum) is probably one of the most collectable guitars around.

The last model from the first run of Les Pauls that debuted in the late ’50s, the 1960 Les Paul Standard model has become one of the most collectible guitars of all time, not only because of its rarity but because, in its third year of production, Gibson engineers had hammered out the best yet version of the Les Paul. This incredible guitar has now been reincarnated in the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul Standard, which is available in three limited edition models, each with a different evolution of neck width from the 1960 run.

You can check out some of the 50th anniversary Les Pauls at Thomann.de in the following colours:

• Cherry Burst
• Heritage Darkburst
• Sunset Teaburst
• Heritage Cherry Sunburst

Read the full story on Gibson.com with links to full details for these guitars here.

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The Gibson Dusk Tiger – ugly waste of dead wood or tonally-impressive beast of a guitar?

Posted on January 25th, 2010 GuitarSavvy No comments

BEST PRICE GIBSON DUSK TIGER IS £2,345 FROM THOMANN.DE

The new robot-axe from Gibson – the Gibson Dusk Tiger is here.  This Gibson guitar has a rather “interesting” appearance that has split popular opinion.  One MusicRadar.com reader pulled no punches when he or she remarked:

“…it’s the most awful looking thing I have ever seen. Looks like a roll of cheap plastic veneer has been applied to a LP Studio. Dreadful.”

What do you think?  Only 1000 Gibson Dusk Tigers are available worldwide, so you’d better be quick if you’re interested in buying one from Gear4Music or from Thomann.de. See the guitar in action courtesy of this helpful YouTube vid from Mi11:

I have to say that I’m impressed with both the looks and the sound of the Dusk Tiger – although the Music Radar reader quoted above makes a reasonable point about it’s “veneer”, I have to say that I actually quite like it. I mean the classic Les Paul lines are there, the “veneer” is actually quite eye catching, the tiger tooth fretboard markes are a nice touch and the chrome crescent moon pickguard is gorgeous, so thumbs up from me.   The tonal possibilities with a guitar like this (and the included software) make it very appealing, assuming the price tag doesn’t scare you off (retails for around £2,345 (Thomann.de) to £2,799 (Gear4Music).  This new model will hopefully address many of the shortcomings of previous robot guitars such as the Gibson Dark Fire or the Gibson Robot SG (tuning difficulties, fiddly controls, bulky headstock/tuning pegs) and the video reviews I’ve watched so far are generally positive in this regard.

I’ll have to rely on the opinion of others since sadly, my budget won’t stretch that far.  Unfortunately the friendly staff in my local music shop also know this so will take some convincing to let me have a go.

Check it out at Gear4Music or at Thomann.de now

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