Just a few links I found for today:

• Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott talks about the new album that is currently in progress. - I didn’t know this, but apparently they always record 4 guitar tracks on all of their albums. That’s pretty schwicked.
• Strat-O-Blogster has found a set of 3 Tom Morello videos on YouTube from a Guitar World magazine. Tom shows off how he creates some of his guitar sounds. It’s a really interesting view.

ESP Guitars is holding a contest for the best “Air Gamer”. Yeah, you know how much people love to play air guitar? Well ESP wants you to send them pictures of yourself air-button-mashing on your brand new Xbox 360. Here is the description of the contest from the website:

Send us a photo of yourself while imagining you’ve already won “Gears of War” and are busy kicking the game’s ass. You know what “air guitar” looks like? We want to see you air gaming! Get your best game face on, hold your imaginary controller, and have someone snap a pic of you. Then come back here and use the form to submit your photo. We prefer getting JPG files, please. Preferably no larger than 640×480.

We’ll pick a winner, who we’ll feature here on the ESP site as the Best Metal Gamer for the world to see! Only one entry per person accepted. Must be 17 years old or older. All entries must be received by May 1, 2007… see below for more rules and regs, and good luck!

I’m not sure on the contest end date though. In the above paragraph it says May 1st, but then when you read the fine print below that on the ESP site it says May 31st. It’s probably a typo in the pagragraph above, but just to be safe you should get yours in by the 1st if you are really interested. It also doesnt seem to restrict this contest by location either. Some times they are limited to the US of A, but I don’t see any reference to that on this contest.

The guitar itself looks to be a ESP LTD Standard AX-50 with a Gears of War logo painted on it. The guitar is an entry level guitar and I’m pretty sure that the Xbox is worth more than it is. However, it’s free, and it’s an easy and fun contest to enter. If I get around to making a photo I’ll post it here!

(more…)

Guitar Player magazine readers have recently named Peppino D’Agostino the best acoustic guitar player in the magazine’s annual poll.

So, it looks like this guy is not so “never heard of”. But I have never heard of him, so thats why he is here.

I think he needs to cinch up that guitar a little higher. He still has a little bit of movement left!

D’Agostino was born and raised in Italy. He picked up the guitar after seeing his cousin perform at church in Torino. He is self taught and cites musicians like Paco de Lucia and Carlos Santana as influences.

[Via Modern Guitars Magazine]

A guy on eBay by the name of ramses6615 is selling a Washburn Custom U.S.A. guitar signed by both Dime and Vinny at a Damageplan CD signing in 2004. As of writing this post there are only 12 hours left in the auction and 0 bids. The fact that the guitar is number two of six ever made makes it expensive to start with, but slap those two signatures on there and it goes up in price exponentially. I guess we will just have to wait and see if there is actually a buyer out there interested in this.

If I was a multi-billionaire, I would probably buy it, but, I’m not, so I wont.

The seller does his best to make it clear that he is not trying to exploit Dime’s death to make a quick buck. He says that the guitar has never been dusted and probably contains Dime’s fingerprints. I’m not sure if that makes it worth more… probably does.

The guitar doesn’t come with a certificate to verify the signatures, however, there are several pictures showing Dime and Vinny signing the guitar. I would be inclined to say that it is legit, but people have been scammed for a lot less.

Long story short, if you have $34,000 to spare, maybe today is the day you get to own a piece of metal history.

[Via Blabbermouth]

Modern Guitars Magazine is reporting that on May 17th, 2007 Dimebag Darrell Abbott will [finally] be inducted into Hollywood’s RockWalk. Dime was the highly influential lead guitarist of the 90’s metal band Pantera. Dime was at the forefront of metal as it emerged into the mainstream in the early 90’s and is cited by many of todays guitar players as an influence.

A bronze bust sculpture of Dime to be installed on the RockWalk will be unvieled at the ceremony starting at 12pm on Sunset Boulavard.

Dimebag was shot to death by Nathan Gale while playing a concert with his band Damageplan on December 8th, 2004.

[Via Modern Guitars Magazine]

Gibson has sent out an official press release to warn consumers of counterfeit guitars being sold in the United States after several people launched complaints of receiving below quality guitars. Apparently lately there has been an influx of fake Gibsons coming in from China. If you want to protect yourself, here is your best way: buy from an authorized Gibson retailer. Authorized dealers are supplied directly by Gibson and are registered. When you buy from anyone else, you can not be sure what you are getting.

Here are some pointers on determining whether you have an authentic Gibson or not:

• Make sure the size is not undersized
• The headstock and headstock logo should match those of authentic Gibson guitars
• Pearl should always be inlaid
• Les Paul Model script is always in cursive
• If the guitar has a 3 screw truss rod it is not authentic
• Check the control and pick up cavities for sloppy routing or wiring
• Real Gibson guitars use one piece necks
• Many fake Gibsons have their pickup cavities painted black inside
• If purchasing a Gibson always ask for the Gibson’s Owner Manual and Gibson/Warranty Inspection Card
• Check the wiring, if it is plastic it isn’t a true Gibson

[Via Gibson]

Edit:
On a side note, I just found this eBay guide for spotting fake Gibsons on the online auction site. This might be helpful for those of you who plan on purchasing one through there.

Himsa has completed the writing portion of their third album and are entering the studio today to start recording. This will be their first album with Century Records.

Derek Harn (bass) states: “The new album draws from the strengths of our last two records, Courting Tragedy and Disaster and Hail Horror, but this is an entirely new chapter for Himsa and our fans. Sammi Curr (guitars) wrote a lot of the music for Courting, and Kirby Johnson (guitars) wrote most of the tracks on Hail Horror (when Sammi wasn’t in the band), so the two of them have joined forces to craft a whole new level of rage. We’re looking at about 10 or 11 songs right now, and are extremely proud of them.

I look forward to this album. I loved Courting Tragedy and Disaster, and Hail Horror was really good too. I hope the new material is just as just as crazy.

The instrumental tracks will be produced by Courting Tragedy and Disaster producer Steve Carter and vocals will be tracked by Devin Townsend (Lamb of God, Darkest Hour).

[Via Ultimate Guitar]

The guitar was sold at a benefit auction held by U2’s The Edge at New York’s Hard Rock Cafe and according to Reuters brought in $400,000. Some other items that sold in the auction include former President Bill Clinton’s saxophone ($54,000) and a pair of John Lennon’s round, blue-tinted sunglasses.

The money was raised to help support musicians who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. A total of $2,436,900 was raised.

[Via Reuters]

Gibson’s custom shop has released a Zakk Wylde signature model Flying V featuring a bullseye paint job and EMG pickups. I have not been able to find anything about it on Gibson’s website, or Gibsoncustom.com. I think it should show up under “Inspired by” on Gibson Custom, but I don’t think they update their site very often. Nevertheless, I did find a post on the Zakk Wylde forums about it.

It looks like they are available now. Gibson has done a limited run of 100 of this guitar and they are quoting a MSRP of $7056.00. Someone by the handle BUHZERKER has reported that Midtown Music in GA is letting them go for $4500.00USD.

Like everything else he puts his name behind, Zakk Wylde worked closely on the development of this guitar. Zakk feels that if he can’t pick one up off the shelf and play it at a show, then he won’t back it. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of signature guitars when they have a matched “unique” paint job. However, getting a guitar that has the same physical specs as your idol is fine. When trying to mimic the sound of someone, there is no better way than to use the exact same guitar that they use.

Some people on the forums were complaining about the placement of the pickup switch. Personally I don’t really see what the issue is with that. Having it up by the neck would put it in a bad place for being hit by the pick. The only other option to me would be to have it down in the lower half of the V by the control knobs. Either way, I personally think it is a non-issue.
(more…)

Just a quick post about the BLS show on April 12th. It ruled. I went and saw them in Vancouver in May of ‘05 and this show blew that one out of the water. It was amazing. The sound was awesome, the playing was awesome. The band seemed to really enjoy themselves the whole time they were up there. I couldn’t have asked for a better show. And it was just that much better because I got to meet Zakk a few hours before.

Anyway, here’s some pictures, videos, and forum posts about the show.

Images on Flickr:

Black Label Society - April 12th, 2007 MacEwan Hall Calgary

BLS Playing Suicide Messiah

Zakk Introducing JD

That’s right. On April 12th at Guitar Works on 16th Ave in Calgary I met Zakk Wylde. Marshall held an autograph signing to which you had to enter a draw or buy a Marshall MG amp to attend. I, naturally not wanting to leave it up to luck and bought the amp.

First off, I should just say, the whole thing was a gong show from 11:30 when I showed up until 3:30 when I actually got through to meet him. The thing was poorly planned and totally unorganized. I don’t really want to get too much in it, but if you ever get the chance to meet the guy, bring something to get signed EVEN if they insist there will be no bringing in outside stuff to sign. I say that because they said there would be material to purchase to have him sign, and there wasn’t.

Anyway, the singing was supposed to go from 1pm to 3pm and you were supposed to arrive at 12pm to get an entrance bracelet. When I got there at 11:30 they wouldn’t give me one because I didn’t bring a CD to get signed. I wanted to purchase one there, but they hadn’t arrived yet. So I waited, and waited, and waited with about 20 other people for the CDs to come. Zakk showed up at about 2:30, and we still had no CD. In the end they gave us Dunlop posters for Zakk’s new guitar strings to get signed. The poster is pretty sweet, but still, not a CD.

I waited in line for about an hour after this and finally made it through the doors at almost 3:30. I was in awe just being in his presence. I cant really explain what it was like talking to the guy. He gave me a one armed hug, asked me if I was coming out to the show that night, I responded and we shot the shit for a few minutes, then he gave me another one armed hug and sent me on my way. It was awesome. I still think back on it and it seems like it was a dream. It was a great experience.

Here is a photo of the poster that I got signed.

I wanted to get a picture taken with him, but that was strictly prohibited. So I didn’t push it.