Category Archives for "Guitars"
- in Gear , Guitars by Bobby Owsinski
Take A Look At The Recently Discovered 1967 Gibson Factory Tour Video
Recently some employees at Gibson Guitars were looking through the company’s archives and stumbled upon a canister of film. Much to their surprise it was a tour of the Gibson factory dating back to 1967 that’s been unseen until now. Watching the film I was struck by how much has remained the same in the […]
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Want That Back In Black Guitar Sound? This Is The Secret
I’ve posted this one 4 or 5 years ago but since I’m getting questions about the AC/DC Back In Black guitar sounds again, I thought it was appropriate to repost it again. When we listen back to those great early AC/DC albums like Back In Black and Highway To Hell we think of what may be […]
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The Making Of A Hofner Beatle Bass
One of the most iconic and identifiable instruments in the world is the Hofner 500/1 violin bass, sometimes called the “Beatle Bass.” That’s because Paul McCartney used it on all his early tours and recordings and during most of his Beatle’s career. He still uses on when he tours. One of the reasons Macca was […]
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Yes, Counterfeit Guitars Are Still A Thing, Unfortunately
I think just about everyone would agree that when you make a gear purchase you want to feel like you’ve gotten what you paid for. Regardless of the price, if it’s the real deal we feel justified for laying out the big bucks. The problem is when you buy something that turns out to be […]
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The History Of The Humbucking Pickup
If you’re around electric guitars at all (and who isn’t), you’ve probably encountered your share of Gibson electrics with a humbucking pickup. But did you ever wonder how the humbucker came about as compared to the much simpler single coil ones that Fender used? There’s more to the story than you might think, but this […]
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Has The Guitar Pickup Been Reinvented?
There are some audio devices that haven’t changed much in a hundred years. Loudspeakers and microphones come to mind, as while they’ve evolved and gotten better, they still basically work the same way as ever. Although not quite a hundred years old yet, you can put the guitar pickup in the same category – until […]
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Can You Spot What Makes This Les Paul A Fake?
There are many unscrupulous manufacturers all over the world that make fake musical instruments and audio gear. It’s one thing if they’re open about making a clone, but if they pass it off as the real deal then they’ve taken the rip off to another level. It’s bad enough when a classic American company is […]
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Gibson Leaving Memphis But Back At Winter NAMM
Gibson is making news again, although not all for the negative reasons of the past. First of all, the company announced that it will be moving its Memphis manufacturing back to Nashville, and that the company will return to the upcoming NAMM show after a very obvious absence last year. When the company announced that […]
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Who Are Today’s Guitar Buyers?
While the typical guitar player of yesterday couldn’t wait to join a band, that’s not so much the goal of the guitar player of today according to the latest study by Fender. The consumer research done by the company actually indicates the guitar market is finally looking up after many years of decline, but maybe not […]
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Take A Rickenbacker Factory Tour
I love the sound of Rickenbacker guitars and I love factory tours, so the following video is pretty awesome (IMO) because it contains both. Rickenbacker is actually a very interesting success story in that the company knows its limitations and does its utmost to stay within them. That means that the demand constantly outstrips the […]
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Building A Hofner Beatle Bass
We all know the Hofner 5001 violin bass guitar thanks to Sir Paul McCartney, and if you’ve ever played one you know that it’s a unique instrument. First of all it’s extremely light – kind of the anti-Les Paul in that you can wear it all day and your shoulder won’t get tired. It also has […]
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Does 50 Years Make A Difference? Comparing A Vintage With A Modern Guitar Amp
Every day we’re presented with a choice – whether to use or buy a vintage piece of gear versus it’s modern equivalent or clone. Most of the time there’s a difference between them, although to many it may be small enough not to matter. In other cases it’s so blatant as to make the modern […]
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The History Of Electric Guitar Distortion
Ah, guitar distortion. It seems like we can’t get enough of it. From the very first time it appeared on records in the 50s, we’ve been hooked. I’ve posed a little about the history of guitar distortion in the past, but the video below takes the history back even further to Bob Willis and his […]
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Gibson Tries To Start Anew With Some New Less Expensive Guitars
Gibson has certainly had it’s share of self-inflicted troubles over the last few years, but it’s possible that the company finally got the message as it tries to get out from under bankruptcy. Gone is former co-owner and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz (the hunt for a new CEO is on), and the company is trying hard to get […]
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6 Myths Guitar Players Think Are True
Most of us in the production side of the music business have picked up a guitar at one time or another, so it seems like everyone considers themselves a guitar player on some level. Even if you don’t play, you most likely encounter guitar players in the studio, so the more information you have about […]
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