The Joe Satriani signature model Ibanez guitar is constantly evolving and mutating, his latest version the JS2400, 2410, 2450 and Premium version 24P feature Joe’s latest preference of 24 frets and a single coil sized DiMarzio Satch Track pickup in the neck position. Until now the only budget version of the Satch model was the JS100, the 22 fret dual humbucker version based on the JS1000 but as of NAMM 2015 there will be a JS140 available which has an Infinity RD (H) neck pickup and a Quantum (H) bridge pickup rather than Satch’s signature set and the Edge-Zero II trem rather than the original Edge trem which Satch prefers.
So if you are in the market for a Joe Satriani signature model but can’t stretch to the Japanese or Indonesian made versions check out the JS140.
After the success of Ibanez’s mid-price Premium range it is no surprise that they are announcing some new additions and variations for NAMM 2015 including this Ibanez JEM77P Steve Vai JEM Premium which has a UK guide price set to £1059 according to Music Radar, here in Australia a current Ibanez JEM 70V will set you back around $1800 if current stocks are anything to go by and around $1500 in the US.
I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the floral JEM and really like the blue version, here are the specs:
When you look at the hardware included on this guitar, the signature Vai DiMarzio pickups, Titanium rods in the neck and Edge Zero II trem this is a bargain in my opinion.
Minified effects pedals have been around for a while and now Ibanez seems to think that in minifying one of the most legendary overdrive pedals of all time they can cash in on a few new sales. Well it’s not a bad idea, most people set and forget their tube screamers so having the smaller controls really won’t be an issue the Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini contains the exact same circuit with a JRC4558 IC chip as it’s big brother. No pricing info yet but I will update when once this information becomes available.
January 3, 2015 at 10:04 pm | Posted by Jon in Cool Guitars, NAMM
40 years, that’s a pretty amazing milestone for a guitar company if you ask me but ESP have been building their brand and keeping up with trends and the latest manufacturing processes year after year and to celebrate their ongoing worldwide success they are producing a special run of 40th Anniversary guitars.
Above are two extremely limited 40th Anniversary ESP Eclipse guitars, only 20 of each guitars are being made in See Thru Black Sunburst and Tiger Eye finishes. These limited-edition 40th anniversary models include a special hardshell case and a certificate of authenticity.
To compliment the ESP 40th Anniversary guitars are a few 40th Anniversary LTD models, as you can see an Eclipse (EC-2015) limited to 300 worldwide; the MH-2015 which is also limited to 300 worldwide and the H7-2015 which is limited to just 200 worldwide. All three models feature quilted maple tops, ebony fingerboards, real Mother of Pearl inlays, multiple bindings, EMG MetalWorks pickups and See Thru Black Satin finishes.
Another defection for 2015, legendary Metal guitarist Gary Holt (Exodus, Slayer) has switched from Schecter (his signature Schecter Damnation was announced at NAMM 2013) to ESP for a new signature model based on the ESP Eclipse, maybe he has been hanging out with Alex Skolnick lately?
As you can see the Gary Holt signature models come in a high end ESP version (ESP Gary Holt) and two LTD versions the GH-600 & GH-200. All come with Floyd Rose trem and dual humbuckers. More details to follow.
It looks like things didn’t work out with Carvin then? Back in March I posted about a new collaboration between Javier Reyes of Animals As Leaders & Carvin Guitars on a signature 8 string. Now it looks like ESP have successfully poached him from Carvin and have created not one but two signature guitars, the JR-608QM and JR-208. The JR-608QM has high-end design features like neckthru-body construction, quilted Maple top and features Reyes’ signature DiMarzio pickups and what looks to be a Schaller Hannes bridge.
This guitar is basically an 8 string version of the ESP Mystique model with custom inlays and Javier’s choice of electronics etc. Looking forward to (hopeflly) seeing some demos appear during Winter NAMM 2015 in a few weeks.
You may already know of Texas Blues Alley (or TXBA), you may know of it’s previous name StevieSnacks, and if so you will already know that Anthony Stauffer is an excellent teacher, a great blues guitarist and he creates excellent guitar tuition videos. If you are new to the site then let me give you a quick overview before I talk about this new lesson package, Jimi’s Influence.
StevieSnacks.com launched around 2007 after the popularity of Anthony’s short YouTube blues lessons that he had been uploading. A couple of years later StevieSnacks.com became a full time business for Anthony packed full of guitar lessons in the style of Stevie Ray Vaughan. This site then began to outgrow this initial niche focus and Anthony released lesson DVD packages focussing on the legendary 3 King’s, Freddie, Albert and B.B. (still available to purchase individually from http://texasbluesalley.com/). Last year Anthony decided to rebrand as Texas Blues Alley and designed/built a brand new website which makes navigating courses and lessons super easy and there is even a bonus section that describes the gear used in each of his videos called the Gear Index as well as lots of free video content about tone, gear and mini lessons.
Jimi’s Influence is the latest course from TXBA which focusses on the blues playing of the legendary Jimi Hendrix. There are two lessons, each is a breakdown of a performance from Anthony in the style of a classic Hendrix blues track, Red House and Voodoo Chile (the epic 15 minute blues track from Electric Ladyland, not Slight Return). This package is available as a download for $55 or a DVD for $65. Each lesson includes a 60 bar solo which is included as a separate video and in the lesson video is broken down into licks which are then played at full speed, half speed and then taught note by note using Anthony’s very clever over the neck camera angle combined with a close up of his picking hand. Also included with the package are the backing track minus the performance and the tabs in both .pdf and Guitar Pro’s .gpx format. Check out the Red House solo performance below:
I should also mention that Anthony has also included a bar indicator for the performance, box breakdown and lesson videos which show not only the cycle of the 12 bars but also which is the current chord being played over, eg. I IV or V. The Box Breakdown also has another graphic which overlays which box position is being used on the neck during the solo performance, a nice bonus addition.
Both lessons are packed full of Hendrix riffs and Anthony captures the vibe of each track perfectly in his performance using a Malekko Helium Octave and Dunlop QZone to get some outrageous fuzzy cocked Wah tones and his Zexcoil loaded strat through a Fuchs Blackjack 21 MkII amplifier. It seems Anthony has gathered the perfect combination of gear for the rolled back volume clean licks, through to smooth overdrive and with the Helium in the mix a raspy fuzz overdrive.
If you are a fan of Jimi Hendrix or you are looking to extend your vocabulary of cool blues licks there is a ton of material for you to absorb in these 2 lessons, each HD lesson video is 1.5 hours long, nothing is rushed and is explained in detail. Anthony is an excellent teacher who is very concise and comfortable breaking down licks into their individual component parts to really make you understand all of the techniques necessary to play in a particular style. Check out http://texasbluesalley.com/jimi for more details or to purchase this course and make sure you also have a look around the rest of the site as there are free lessons, videos about gear and tone and mini courses and content is added all the time.
January 1, 2015 at 8:35 pm | Posted by Jon in Cool Videos
Aussie guitarist James Norbert Ivanyi released a stunning debut solo album ‘Aphasia’ back in November 2013 and has just his 2nd album, ‘The Matter Circumvention‘, due for release on January 16th and available to pre-order now at http://jamesnorbertivanyi.bandcamp.com/. As you can hear from the video above track 5, ‘Thumb Trick’, is a slight shift from ‘Aphasia’ towards the more progressive side of Metal. Not to say the previous album wasn’t Progressive Metal but this has more of a Jazz Fusion element to it, I really like this direction and can’t wait to hear the rest of the album.
James mentioned in a recent video that he recorded most of the new album with his Suhr Classic Antique rather than his Suhr Modern so I wonder if there will be more of this Fusion influence throughout the record, all will be revealed in 16 days!
December 27, 2014 at 10:39 pm | Posted by Jon in Guitar Books
Hal Leonard have announced that the TAB Book for Joe Bonamassa’s excellent latest release ‘Different Shades of Blue’ (my personal favourite Bonamassa album to date) will be available in the coming weeks from halleonard.com. The book will feature precise transcriptions in standard notation and tab for all 10 original songs (Different Shades of Blue · Get Back My Tomorrow · Heartache Follows Wherever I Go · I Gave Up Everything for You, ‘Cept the Blues · Living on the Moon · Love Ain’t a Love Song · Never Give All Your Heart · Oh Beautiful! · So, What Would I Do · Trouble Town), plus his cool cover of Hendrix’s “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun).”
If you haven’t heard this album yet but want a general overview I wrote a review here.
December 27, 2014 at 10:23 pm | Posted by Jon in Cool Videos
James Norbert Ivanyi, in case you haven’t heard, is a young and very talented Australian guitarist who released his debut solo album, Aphasia in November 2013. Since then you may have seen and heard James’s playing on various Suhr demo videos such as the Suhr Cherry Modern Satin video and now James is finishing production of his follow up to Aphasia called ‘The Matter Circumvention’. Whilst James was putting the final touches to his new album he recorded the video above talking about his 3 Suhr guitars which I thought you would enjoy.
