It would be difficult to imagine modern music without the electric guitar.  Starting with jazz and big band as early as the 1930s, amplified guitars became necessary in order to be heard over the rest of the band.  The earliest amplified guitars were basically hollow body guitars with microphones placed inside them.  Crude, but effective given the technology at that time.  Today’s electric guitars generally rely on magnetic pickups to convert the sound from the strings into an electrical signal that can be amplified.

With a Mahogany body/neck and stunning overall appearance, it is not hard to see where its design cues come from. The Collings 290 differentiates itself from the Les Paul Jr with a Tone Pro “tune-o-matic” bridge and contours for the stomach and the leg that make it comfortable to play sitting down. The 290 also has an entirely different feel to it. The LP Jr has a simple slab body with a neck glued to it whereas 290’s curves and contours give it a very slick appearance, downright sexy if you ask me. The 290 feels like an updated, refined version of the Les Paul Jr without overdoing it or completely changing the original idea behind it.

Let’s have a how-it-works discussion of one of my favorite effects: the tremolo.  This is a classic sound that goes way back to the late 1940s and was incorporated into several popular amplifiers beginning around that time. It’s an absolute staple of surf rock, but it’s also great at weaving dreamy guitar sounds.

Video Review!

I first heard the name “Ugly Amps” at the 2008 LA Amp Show. I was immediately drawn to the name, I mean who in their right mind refers to their own product as “Ugly?” And that is when I was first introduced to Steve Oboyle, and his range of amps. One of the most interesting things you will learn about Steve is that he is in fact not a guitar player, but a drummer!

My extreme excitement at the arrival of a large, well-packed, fully-stocked box of Danelectro goodies was tempered somewhat by the reaction of nearly all the musicians I know. Their immediate sneer and was typically followed by, "Don't get too attached. Their pedals fall apart if you breathe on them wrong."

Get them.  Get them now.

The folks at Stashpicks were kind enough to send me home from NAMM with a Stash Tin- a handy designer tin that includes their entire line of picks, 9 different types in all (http://www.stashpicks.com/tin.php).  I put them to the test this week with a glut of rehearsals on multiple guitars and basses.

Have I got a deal for you. That Les Paul Custom you always wanted is now on Craigslist for 1300 bucks!  It's a mint "White Beauty" that "plays like butter" and has only been used once by a friend who used to know Zakk Wylde's bartender. Tough economic times have forced another laid-off Wall Street big shot to sell quick and cheap... his loss is your gain!

From the Sundance Film Festival's Film Guide:

“There are guitar players, and then there are rock stars. It Might Get Loud is an epic, exhilarating backstage pass into the world of the latter. Over the course of one day, three generations of electric-guitar phenoms come together, crank up their amps, and let it roll."

Documentarian Davis Guggenheim gives us so much more than an all-star jam session (that would make even the gnarliest of rock geeks giddy); he leads us to these artists' inner sanctums and illuminates the paths each one traveled to forge a sound all his own. We begin to understand how a one-time furniture upholsterer from Detroit, a London studio musician, and a…

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Feeling a lot like the last day of summer camp, the fourth and final day of NAMM 2009 was a quieter, more subdued affair.  Vastly fewer bodies in the convention center meant we got a chance to visit some of the bigger booths that had been packed all weekend.