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…

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.

Who ever thought I would use a compressor in my pedal board?  Never have.  Never felt like I needed one.  I have a million pedals an no compressors.  I use compressors constantly when recording - on every instrument - vocals, bass, drums, piano, etc.  Rarely does one "need" to compress an electric guitar, especially if it's distorted.

This is the first Fender Relic I have reviewed and to be honest I had always been somewhat skeptical of them. Why would anyone want to pay extra for a beat up guitar? The web is certainly full of detractors of the Relic craze (look at any Fender forum); a lot of people just don’t see the use for it. To some extent I agreed with them, that was until I got a chance to really take one out for a test drive. I can now say that I see the reason why people love these guitars.

Not too convinced that Mr. Keeley has actually improved upon the original Rat design.  In fact, I think I prefer my non-mod version better than this one.  Even with it's shitty internal components with loose tolerances it sounds better to my ears.  Maybe that's the mojo that people like in the original?

At first glance, I wasn't so into the white paint job.  Well, the 2008 model is now available in black.  Whew!