MSG bassist Rev Jones - "I myself could not believe how bad Schenker played": The Michael Schenker Group - about to implode.

Blues guitarist dies in Cleveland: Robert Lockwood Jr, RIP.

Dean's Leslie West USA Signature Guitar

Dublin celebrates electric guitar: The instruments of some of the biggest names in rock, Rory Gallagher's 1961 Fender Stratocaster amomg them, have gone on display as part of the RockChic Exhibition in the National Museum at Dublin's Collins Barracks.

Harrison guitar set for auction: A guitar played by Beatle George Harrison in 1963 is expected to fetch more than £100,000 at a London auction. The guitar is an Australian-built Maton, which was loaned to Harrison whilst he was having his Gretsch Country Gentleman fixed.

Guitar Heaven: Paul Reed Smith Makes Guitars: interview with ol' PRS himself.

Exclusive Steve Vai masterclasses at the London Guitar Show: Legendary guitarist Steve Vai will be hosting two exclusive masterclasses at the London Guitar Show on Saturday, April 28th, 2007.

William Kanengiser smashes stereotypes of classical guitar

Paul Weller Launches Giant Guitar Campaign: Paul Weller has helped launch Gibson GuitarTown London - a charity music and arts campaign which will create a limited series of ten foot guitars, each endorsed by different a British guitar player, including Weller and Queen’s Brian May.

Air guitar T-shirt rocks for real: Australian scientists have created a T-shirt that allows air guitarists to play real music - without resorting to a real guitar. Motion sensors built into its elbows that pick up movements and relay them wirelessly to a computer which interprets them as guitar riffs. Meanwhile, scientists in Florida have taught dolphins to sing the Batman theme. Is there some kind of international wackiness competition going on in the scientific world, I wonder?

Guitarist Steve Hackett comments on Genesis reunion

AXL Introduces Marquee Series Electric Guitars: a couple of variations on the usual Tele and Strat designs from this budget guitar maker. Nice move!

Van Halen name new bassist: Wolfgang Van Halen: Van Halen keeping it in the family!

At 81, B.B. King remains a guitar hero

New El Toro Guitar Pack Introduced By Behringer: Complete pack includes guitar, modeling amp, tuner and other accessories. Whatever happened to that USB guitar they were bringing out?

Police guitarist visits city: Andy Summers is in Norwich promoting his autobiography, One Train Later.

Hendrix family disputes song sale: The family of late rock musician Jimi Hendrix has threatened to take legal action over a $15m (£7.9m) sale of some of his best-known songs.

Can guitarist Michael Karoli dies unexpectedly at the age of 53
Edit: Apologies to everyone. This is an OLD news story. I've no idea why my news source gave me this as supposedly being current.

Stewart Copeland: Guitar Fan?: Legendary drummer/composer talks about his new film, his old band and guitars! (And who else remembers his alter-ego from the early 1980s, Klark Kent?)

My guitar...: a bunch of rockers share stories of their most prized possessions.

Sting wins with lute 'pop songs': Rock singer Sting has made a big impact in the charts with an album of 16th century lute music.

Dan Armstrong - The Man and his Guitars

Regular readers will know of my fondness of plexiglass guitars (see my Sanox Sound Creator "Strat", for example). Dan Armstrong - The Man and his Guitars is a fascinating and detailed website all about the original see-through guitars and their creator. (Via The Fretboard Journal Blog)

Bands drive up guitar sales: Sales of guitars in the UK have reached an all-time high with £110 million being spent on guitars in 2005.

Far North guitars to the world: Ten guitars created by a New Zealand guitar maker have inspired an ambitious plan to put 10,000 guitars, likely to be made in the Far North, into the hands of children around the world.

French exhibition highlights guitar heroes: There's a whole bunch of famous-name guitars and audio-visuals celebrating the guitar, over at the at the Cite de la Musique in Paris. The exhibition runs until 14 January 2007.

Suddenly, everyone wants to play guitar: Sales of guitars have trebled in Northern Ireland, reports the Belfast Telegraph.

Guitar Buyer Magazine interviews the legendary Les Paul

Strat-O-Blogster Guitar Blog: I can't believe I haven't already recommended this self-proclaimed "world's most ridiculous guitar blog". Check it out, it's a good read!

stolen guitars .org | database of stolen guitars: Further to my last post, if you are unfortunate enough to be the victim of theft, it can't harm to register your stolen guitars here. Websites like this are a great idea.

Please be on the lookout for some stolen Flying V guitars, ripped off from a guy called Roger Bleck. Here are the details in his own words:

Due to a theft that happened last week, it doesn't look like I'll be recording for a while.... My recorder & 6 of my guitars were stolen.... People get what they deserve, I'm counting on that.... I try to be a good person, so I believe that in the long run, good things will happen to me.... People thet set out to do evil, well, I hope they get what's coming to them....
I know it's a long shot, but if anyone hears of the following items out there, let me know, they're mine...

- #229 Medallion Gibson Flying V, cream-colored
- ESP Gibson-style block marker Flying V, white
- 1975 LE oval-serial# Gibson Flying V, natural finish
- 1989 '67 re-issue Flying V, w/ a custom neck (no serial#), white
- 2001 Faded Red Gibson Flying V, w/ crescent-moon inlays
- 1970's Ibanez Flying V, bolt-on neck, cherry finish
- Fostex VF80EX-8 multitrack recorder

If you do see some suspect guitars for sale and want to compare them, check out the pics on Roger's MySpace page. Please feel free to copy this post. Thanks, and keep 'em peeled!

The Epiphone Guitars interview with Twisted Sister's Jay Jay French

Guitar-Gear Blog: a great blog for the gadget-obsessed guitarist!

Custom ESP Guitars for Tomi Koivusaari and Esa Holopainen of Amorphis (another metal band from Finland, in case you didn't know).

Volkswagen Cars To Feature First Act Guitars: Drivers in the USA who buy or lease specialized versions of six VW cars (Jetta, Jetta GLI, GTI, Rabbit, New Beetle and New Beetle Convertible) will be handed a First Act GarageMaster electric guitar, playable through the car's stereo system. Each axe will feature the VW logo, will display its corresponding car's vehicle identification number and be fitted with coloured pick guards matching the exterior of the car.

[Pictured right: Dweezil Zappa demonstrates the First Act GarageMaster]

Counterfeit Guitars Swarm Auction Sites: wise words from guitarsite.com.

I've more or less given up checking the eBay guitar listings because there are so many fake auctions and counterfeits on there. When I tried selling a Fernandes guitar earlier in the year, the auction was hijacked by a Taiwanese "seller" up to eight times. I was able to change my photos to include a wanring message and my real details on each image, and as the hijacker had just copied my text and image references wholesale, the doctored images showed up in his sale too!

So, my tip for sellers is to superimpose your eBay ID and email address onto each image you use to discourage it being copied.

Incidentally, the Fernandes eventually went for a ridiculously low price. I'm sure that buyers were put off by the confusion.

EBAY - ISN'T IT ABOUT TIME YOU GOT YOUR ACT TOGETHER?

Up for auction: Elvis Presley's 1958 Isana Black Pearl Acoustic Guitar

Dallas-based "Heritage Auction Galleries" plans to auction a 1958 Isana Black Pearl Acoustic guitar once owned by Elvis. The guitar was purchased during his stint in the army. "Heritage" says it was one of less than 150 made that year and is believed to be the only guitar used by him while in the service. Years later it passed into the hands of friends and was eventually used to pay for tutoring fees by one of Elvis' secretaries. It's been on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and at the Rock N Soul Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, for the past two years. Heritage Auction Galleries will hold their upcoming Signature auction on October 6 & 7, 2006, at their headquarters in Dallas, TX. The reserve amount is $150,000.

Building the Ergonomic Guitar: This is a fascinating blog written by Robert Irizarry, a Repetitive Strain Injury sufferes, in his quest to build the perfect ergonomic guitar.

My latest guitar - Ovation Breadwinner

I've been after one of these vintage 1970s solid-body Ovations for a while now, and I finally tracked this beauty down for quite a nice price.

It was sold to me as being an Ovation Deacon but I'm not quite sure. The Deacon was the "posher" version of the Breadwinner and generally had a natural finish, bound fingerboard and "double diamond" inlays on the fingerboard.

Now, whilst my guitar (pictured above) has the smaller scratchplate that adorned most Deacons, it doesn't have the bound fingerboard, diamond inlays, and is a solid black in colour.

My inclination is that it's a Breadwinner with the smaller scratchplate, but I'm not 100% on this.

Any Ovation fans out there? Does anyone have any more info for me?

Link: The Ovation Breadwinner Fanpage

UPDATE: OK... the guys over at The Ovation Fan Club are pretty insistent that it is a Breadwinner, albeit a bit of an unusual one. It looks like they may have mixed and matched parts at the factory. (1 Oct 2006)

BJ & Byrne Guitars Ltd. unveil five new electric guitar models: I can't find out much about this company, but unearthed this on a guitar forum: "There's a new company in London making phenominal hand made electrics called B.J. & Byrne Guitars it's the only all British and Made in GB guitar company and the guitars are not only a pleasure to play, they also are not terribly expensive, considering that they have a life time guarantee. They start at about £500 and go to about £800. They use a selection of Bare Knuckle pick-ups which are hand wound and are w/out a doubt the best pick-up I've ever played with."

Blues guitarist Etta Baker dies, aged 93

If you're on MySpace, add us as a friend. Go to: www.myspace.com/guitarzblog

Guitarist Al Casey dies, aged 69. Casey concocted the funky riff on Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Are Made For Walkin', played on Campbell's By the Time I Get to Phoenix and the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations.

You don't hear guitars solos like these anymore: John Sinkevics, writing for The Grand Rapids Press, asks "Whatever became of the rock guitar solo?"

Behringer Ships iAXE393-USB Guitar With Native Instruments Software

The Left-Handed Guitar Players That Changed Music

Strawberry Alarm Clock's surfboard-inspired Mosrites

eBay: 1967 Mosrite Vintage Strawberry Alarm Clock Guitars
(item 120026471951 end time Sep-14-06 12:30:00 PDT)

Blimey! The now legendary trio of unique Mosrite guitars as used by Strawberry Alarm Clock are up for sale on eBay! One of my very first posts on this blog was about these very guitars. (Thanks to Music Thing for the heads up.)

Local guitar makers put great care into their craft: Article about the Mexican town of Paracho, where everyone is a luthier. (Via Fretboard Journal)

Epiphone Offers a Wide Range of SG Guitars: something for everyone! Even 13-year old goth girls.

Patent bomb-jammer inspired by Jimi Hendrix! Jimi Hendrix turned feedback into an art form – sticking his guitar close to a speaker so that it picked up its own sound and generated deafening shrieks. Now a US inventor is patenting a way to defeat remote-controlled explosives using the same trick. A series of transmitters would create a self-sustaining bubble of radio frequency noise to prevent terrorists from sending a trigger signal to a hidden bomb. (More...)

Solving the mystery of the Web guitarist: Who was that masked man?

The Pikasso 42-String Guitar Even Intimidates Jimmy Page

Pat Metheny's eye-boggling multi-stringed Pikasso guitar has been featured in lots of blogs recently. I originally blogged about it almost 4 years ago! (Some people take a long time to catch up, don't they?) Anyway, if you can't imagine how on earth he'd play it, see this YouTube clip of Pat Metheny playing this beast (although it appears to have lost the upper headstock):

Pink Floyd have best guitar solo ever: Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb' has been voted as having the best guitar solo of all time.

Radio station Planet Rock conducted the survey, and came up with the top 40 guitar solos. Pink Floyd beat the opening riff from 'Sweet Child O'Mine' by Guns 'N' Roses into second place, while Lynryd Skynyrd's 'Freebird' took third place.

The top ten in full:

1. 'Comfortably Numb' - Pink Floyd
2. 'Sweet Child O'Mine' - Guns N'Roses
3. 'Freebird' - Lynryd Skynryd
4. 'Eruption' - Van Halen
5. 'November Rain' - Guns N' Roses
6. 'Stairway to Heaven' - Led Zeppelin
7. 'Sultans of Swing' - Dire Straits
8. 'Aqualung' - Jethro Tull,
9. 'Hotel California' - The Eagles
10. 'Child In Time' - Deep Purple.

U.S. guitar makers rock Japan market: Why Gibson is big in Japan.

The Bettie Page Strat: hand painted by Pamelina H.

Michael Kelly Guitars Introduces The Hybrid Guitar: a unique guitar capable of ripping electric tones as well as sweet acoustic sounds.

Seen on eBay.co.uk: Gonzo's Famous Muppets Ukulele,(item 140017038968 end time 17-Aug-06 04:00:00 BST). As played on the original 120 Muppet Shows, recorded at ATV, Borehamwood from 1976 ~ 1981. It was the original instrument played by Martin Kershaw for all sketches, which showed GONZO playing his ukelele on the Muppet Show.

The Epiphone Blues Custom 30 - Great Tone, Killer Looks And Superb Quality: Designed and engineered in the USA by Gibson, the amp features an al tube signal path and tube rectifier for the ultimate in pure tone.

Arthur Lee, RIP: Arthur Lee, singer and guitarist of the influential 1960s band Love, has died in Memphis at the age of 61 following a battle with acute myeloid leukaemia.

Ibanez Limited Edition 2670RE Artwood Twin Electric Guitar: Ibanez announce the most expensive guitar in their history, a re-issue of their 70s-era double-neck 12+6 guitar with a list price of just under $10,000.

Johnson Introduces the Grooveyard Electric Guitar, a semi-hollowbody electric guitar with vintage tones and a 60's-inspired design.

Jackson Mark Morton Signature Model Guitar: Now, that is a bit different. I was expecting a variation on the usual superstrat.

Hamer Newport 90 Electric Guitar

Roland Cube-30X, Cube-20X and Cube-15X Guitar Amplifiers: The new Cubes offer great new features such as Power Squeezer for maximum gain at low volumes, a fully equipped guitar tuner in the 20X and 30X, a mini jack aux in for playing along to MP3 and CD players, and award winning CUBE sound.

Fender "Soups-Up" the Highway One Guitars and Basses

Washburn Damen Idol Electric Guitar

Brian May Red Special Artist Series Pedal: All those classic Queen guitar sounds. In a pedal.

B.C. Rich Introduces Metal Top Axes

Gretsch G6130 Roundup Guitar with Western Leather Trim

Modern Guitars Magazine: Guitar Makers to Participate in The Search for the Perfect Guitar Tone Video Series

Pink Floyd's Barrett dies aged 60: RIP, Syd.

Optek Music Systems Introduces Acoustic/Electric Fretlight

UPDATE: Andy Manson's Mermaid guitar, which we reported on in this item back in March, is now up for sale on the www.shop4thelot.com website. Manson is looking to raise six figures and donate half to the Harvest Help charity that has been working for over 20 years with farmers and their families in rural Africa.

Forget luaus and Tiny Tim, ukuleles are hot: Long-ridiculed instrument stages a tuneful comeback.

Beatle's first guitar auctioned: Paul McCartney's first guitar, a Rex acoustic, is going up for sale later this month at Cooper Owen's Music Legends auction at Abbey Road Studios in London on 28 July, and is expected to fetch more than £100,000.

www.MeteoriteGuitarPicks.com: Plectrums from outer space! These picks are made from 4.5 billion* year old meteorites. At prices in the $135 region you'll need to remember to hang on to them and not chuck them into the audience at the end of a gig.
(* That word "billion" always confuses me. Is that the real mathematically-correct 1,000,000,000,000 or the modern Americanised 1,000,000,000, i.e. a thousand-million?)

Yves Carbonne Official Web site: this guy plays a fretless 10-string bass (that's individual strings, not strings grouped together in courses), and apparently he's getting a couple of 12-string basses built next! Check out also Jerzy Drozd who build these monster basses.

Can't afford a Trussart?

How about a much cheaper alternative? Introducing the OLP McSwain Tin Top guitar featuring a "real light-up industrial style gauge". What's that all about then?

Metallica to appear on The Simpsons: Wow! Homer and family will look positively three-dimensional next to them.

BB King bids farewell to festival: BB King has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland for the last time, having played there for more than 20 years.

Harmos Lap Steel and Electric Guitars

	Harmos Lap Steel and Electric Guitars: The "21st Century carbon fibre space frame" adds innovative tonal resonance to your music (so it says on the website) supposedly by accentuating the overtones rather than absorbing them into a solid body as on most other guitars. I don't know about the science behind it but they certainly do look fantastic! Pictured to the left is the Americana lap steel guitar, and below is the new MATRAX electric guitar.

Get rich quick: buy a guitar and don't play it: The Guardian looks at the phenomenom of guitars as investment.

Guitarist who inspired Hendrix dies at 67: Johnny Jenkins supposedly inspired Hendrix by playing his guitar behind his head and indulging in various other "acrobatics".

Cosmic Psychos guitarist Robbie 'Rocket' Watts dies: Robbie 'Rocket' Watts, guitarist for Australian rock act the Cosmic Psychos, died in Melbourne on Saturday morning (July 1), aged 47. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Crook Custom Guitars: Custom-built guitars and a whole host of custom paisley finishes! Fab! It almost makes me yearn for the days when I had a matching paisley pink Tele and Strat.

Jazzgitarren: dedicated to German Archtop guitars.

Guitar strings together pieces of Canada's history: The Six String Nation Guitar combines pieces of wood from Pierre Trudeau's canoe paddles, Paul Henderson's hockey stick, the Golden Spruce and the St. Boniface museum where Louis Riel went to school, as well as dozens of other pieces of Canadian history.

Queen guitarist to become doctor? Brian May is writing a thesis on astronomy. I should have guessed it'd be astronomy, after all he's mates with Patrcik Moore, isn't he?

Hello Kitty Limited Edition Fender Guitar for sale at record price: No, this isn't the model you've already seen, it's a really posh one with what looks like a peraloid scratchplate, "Hello Kitty" inlaid into the finderboard, and three lipstick pickups. Made for the Japanese market, of course!

Modern Guitars Magazine: Photos from the 2006 Tokyo Guitar Show

CigTone.com - Cigar Box Guitars and a hub-cap banjo too!

Jef Sarver tries for longest guitar solo: he'd been playing for over 40 hours at the time of the news item.

Liverpool guitarist Sam Mitchell dies, 56

Chris Eccleshall Guitars: new website featuring some very classy guitars from this Devon luthier.

Fretlight USB Guitars Go Pro: Optek have announced that they are adding high-end "professional" models to their existing electric and acoustic-electric guitar offerings.

5th annual Tokyo Guitar Show

The Top 10 Guitars For Girls are rated and reviewed over at Electric Guitar Review. I don't really get the author's beef at Gibson and Squier for dumbing down their girl guitars by equipping them with less control knobs. I always thought that a single volume knob (and pickup selector) is all you really need. Tone controls on guitars are usually just a big waste of time. Who really uses them? Perhaps what Gibson and Squier are saying in reducing the knob quota on their girl guitars is that women are more practical and less likely to be impressed by a vast array of virtually useless controls.

78-year-old Ontario man cashes in his 1953 Gibson guitar for $16,750

Gary Kramer releases the Tomcat Guitar, the newest version of the American Delta Wing guitar series: Tomcat is the ultimate guitar for its new ergonomic contour, DiMarzio pickups and Delta Wing's patented "Recessed Tuning" system.

Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi answers fans questions

The Story of Mosrite Guitars: now in three parts over at Modern Guitars Magazine.

Pete Townshend vows not to smash another guitar

Pete Townshend: "I will never smash a guitar up again!": The 61-year-old has now decided this trademark has become a cliché, and he has decided to auction the last guitar he smashed up to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in America's Gulf Coast region. Fans can enter a lottery on website InTheAttic.tv to buy the shattered instrument, signed by Townshend, that the guitarist trashed onstage in Japan in 2004. Here's the video of that final guitar smash:

Whiteman Guitars introduces the Drop Shoulder Cutaway Classical Guitar

G&L Custom Shop Introduces 25th Anniversary Model Guitar

Frank Zappa's Gibson Les Paul Goldtop to be Auctioned: please click this link for full story and more photos of Zappa's well-customised Les Paul!

Also up for auction at Cooper Owen is the remnants of one of Pete Townshend's smashed Gibson SGs. I always feel sorry for guitars like that - if it got into my hands I'd say bugger the historical significance and give it to a luthier to rebuild.

Check out the girls of Epiphone: "When most people think of a guitarist, they picture a guy standing feet spread apart with low slung Les Paul and a mean guitar face. But there's much more to our cult club than the shredding guy with a beard or gotee. In fact, some of the finest players we know are not guys at all. Women players are popping up in all genres of music and we are proud to be associated with many of them."

Yeah, not too sure about the inclusion of an unamusing cartoon character though.

D'Addario Offers Seven Free Online Guitar Lessons From Workshop Live With Select String Sets

The Tritare: A guitar with Y-shaped strings: read all about it over on Music Thing. Personally, I think it's pretty daft, although I appreciate the desire to experiment with ideas such as these. For the rest of you interested in getting some of these kind of sounds, get yourselves a resonator.

Gibson Guitar Salutes Les Paul on his 91st Birthday

New Martin Guitars at Summer NAMM 2006

Thai musician turns rifle into guitar on peace mission

Cars Guitarist In Bus Accident

Girl, 17, beats all the guys in electric guitar contest

Epi Les Pauls, Built To Perform, Night After Night, Gig After Gig: a bit of PR from Epiphone.

Iner Souster and the Experimental Instruments He Lives With: This is a fascinating blog showing the creations of this possibly quite eccentric Canadian guy and his even more eccentric instruments! As he says: "This is a collection of instruments that I have been building since the year 2000. Some of them are functional, some just plain suck."

They include a few guitar-like stringed insturments... well, vaguely guitar-like, I suppose. There's a fair few other non-stringed instruments too.

They all look fantastic from an artisitic point of view. How musical or playable they are is another matter that I couldn't possibly comment on!
(Via Fretboard Journal)

Master Class - Guitar Builder Wayne Henderson: arguably America's greatest guitar builder, he says he favourite tool is his penknife!

Reverend expands the Stage King Series with the Club King 290 electric guitar

"The Club King 290 combines the acoustic richness of a full size semi-hollow with the clarity and bite of a 25-1/2" maple neck. The body is built from one slab of mahogany which is routed from the top, and then capped with a solid spruce top. Excellent sustain and attack are coupled with substantial resonance, for a thick tone that's suitable for blues, jazz and rock."

I wonder if they do one with a Bigsby on it?

Brazilian guitar pioneer da Silva dies: Horondino Jose da Silva, better known as "Dino Sete Cordas," or "Dino Seven Strings," for the instrument he pioneered, died Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. He was 88.

www.ItsOnlyRocknRoll.com: Ace Frehely's KISS era guitar up for grabs in charity auction; items from Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Who and others also available.

Ashdown are now shipping the AAR 212 acoustic amp designed for rock bands using acoustic guitars

Finnish monsters rock Eurovision: Lordi - a Finnish "horror rock" group who dress in monster costumes - have pulled off a surprise win at the 51st Eurovision Song Contest in Athens. I think it's a brilliant victory for rock music. What's the betting we'll see a lot more guitar bands in next year's contest?

Award for 'pioneers' Led Zeppelin: The surviving members of Led Zeppelin have received an award recognising them as "great pioneers" of rock music.

Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell says "I hate metal music": Is he in the wrong job, I wonder?

Elixir introduces the Custom String Shop For Electric Bass

Spector launches the ARC6 electric guitar line at Norm's Music in Brooklyn

The Ovation Breadwinner Fanpage: here's a website about a guitar that I have secretly coveted for many years. I'd love to buy one, I just don't think I can justify doing so.

Jim Reed Guitars - The Handle

Jim Reed Guitars - The Handle: an innovative new design in carbon fibre. I think it looks great, but then regular reader will already know how I love guitars with holes in the body!

Read the press release on Modern Guitars.

MILLS Acoustics Introduces THe Afterburner 412B-400 Electric Guitar Cabinet

Attention vintage tube amp enthuiasts!

I'm selling my JMI-era VOX AC30 piggy-back amp and cab on eBay! Grab yourself a piece of history!

• Vox AC30 amp head
  
• Vox AC30 speaker cab with 2x Celestion G12M speakers

Music thing reports on the epic story of Prince's 'Cloud Guitar'

Annihilator - Win the first Jeff Waters Signature Series guitar: You need to add him as a MySpace friend first, see www.myspace.com/annihilatorofficial.

Langcaster Introduces The Ultimate-Lo Three-Pickup Strat Kitset: You too can upgrade your own Strat or Strat-style guitar in an easy and inexpensive way to a custom built boutique instrument. It's gotta be cheaper than buying a Langcaster guitar made of 35,000 year old wood!

Guitar Player Magazine Launches First Internet-Based TV Station for Guitar Players

Michael Davis, MC5 bassist, injured in motorcycle accident: How rock'n'roll is that?

Chris Isaak offers riffs about guitars: Chris Issak offers a quick buyer's guide for dummies. Which is nice of him.

Ax Man: Randy Parsons is plugged into what rock stars like in their guitars: Jack White gets himself a custom built guitar courtesy of the man who is creating a line of "high-end electric guitars built from recycled car tires, newspapers, non-endangered woods and ceramics." Blimey!

Scott French Introduces The SF3 Singlecut Progression Electric Guitar: a compact, lightweight electric guitar with a 12th fret body extension/strap button location for great balance.

Scratch Pad Introduces Guitar Finish Protector: Scratch Pad is an attractive, non-adhesive finish protector which is easily applied, removed and re-applied to another instrument in seconds.

Campbell American Guitars: They look quite tasty to me. I wish I'd paid more attention at the London Guitar Show this weekend, because somehow I missed these beauties.

Bill Nelson and the Campbell Transitone at the London Guitar Show, 6th May 2006: Bill Nelson and the prototype guitar he designed.

S'cuse Me While I Kiss Goodbye...: Hendrix film is doomed.

Go-Betweens frontman dies in sleep: Grant McLennan, one of Australia's most acclaimed singer-songwriters, has died in his sleep, aged 48.

While a guitar owner not-so-gently weeps: "Oh, my Lord, she's backed over my guitar."

Godlyke Introduces The Deity 10-String Bass Guitar: Featuring a light-gauge 5-string arrangement (tuned B to G) with matching octave strings, the Deity-10 offers an extended frequency range not found on other instruments.

No brain surgery for Stones star: Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards does not need brain surgery after suffering a head injury.

Taylor takes you inside the machine shop in new Factory Friday video

Ex Mike Oldfield and Marc Bolan Telecaster on eBay!

"This guitar is the original 1967 Fender Telecaster used by Mike Oldfield and was the only electric guitar sound source on his breakthrough Tubular Bells debut LP. The guitar was formerly owned by Marc Bolan, it was originally white, has had refins and was then stripped to natural. The middle pickup is a Bill Lawrence, routed and fitted by Mike Oldfield and his father in their garden shed."

UPDATE: The auction ended at £7,501.00 - Reserve not met (i.e. unsold). I wonder what the reserve was? I'm guessing it was in the region of £10,000.

Adrian Belew interview: I was rather alarmed to hear he'd supposedly played on a Mariah Carey record - turns out it was a sample.

Rolling Stones Guitarist Recovering: So, he was picking coconuts, eh? A likely story.

Pupils 'choose to pick up guitar': In the UK, the guitar has become the most popular musical instrument to learn for children aged between eight and 11, an education department survey suggests.

Guitar Wizard: "YOU CAN PLAY THE GUITAR IN A DAY THE NEW WAY!" Blah, blah, blah, etc. I saw this just now on a shopping channel on Cable TV and thought it was pretty funny. It's basically a guitar method for people who can't be arsed to learn how to play. OK, for people with hand disabilities, it's fair enough, but for everyone else, it's a bit of a cheat, isn't it?

Washburn Introduces The B52SW Solid Wood Travel Guitar of the small-bodied acoustic variety.

Ace Frehley guitar pick sells for $1000!

SoundTech Lightsnake: This LightSnake cable is a 1/4” to USB cable which is ideal for guitars or other musical instruments. The LightSnake instrument cable is basically a "sound card on a cable" and with this cable you can record audio directly onto your computer. Connect the 1/4" mono plug of the LightSnake cable to your instrument and then connect the USB end to one of your computers USB ports.

Wow, all that, and it lights up too!

Guitar Center announces Gibson Jimi Hendrix Psychedelic Flying V guitars sell out in seven days

Triggerman 60DSP Amplifier - Clear Value: a feature-packed amp from Epiphone and with classic retro styling.

Suzuki Guitars: a blog dedicated to - the name says it all - Suzuki guitars!

Happy Easter holidays, Guitarz readers!

Tony Iommi guitar on eBay is a fake: interesting background story. Someone likes writing fiction, it seems.

The Beat's Dave Wakeling donates his guitar to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Madonna Taking Guitar Lessons: so she can play "The Sound of Music" for her kids, apparently. Strange thing is, didn't she play some guitar on her last two tours?

The Performance Guitars of Elvis Presley: Never mind how good a guitarist he was (or was not), feast your eyes on this little lot.

How To Make a Guitar/Bass Pickup: "...using neodymium magnets, a couple Popsicle sticks, and some wire. Total cost for this project will probably be less then $5 (depending on the materials you have available)."

Marilyn Manson guitarist unveils new project: John 5 reveals details of his new band, Loser.

"The Taylor Neck" - A New Factory Friday Video From Taylor Guitars

Swineshead Pickups Offers New Graphic Options: I like the glow in the dark oprion. Imagine being int he dark and playing a guitar installed with those with an EBow. Instant light show!

Reverend Introduces The Warhawk HB Electric Guitar: another one of their more affordable Stage King series. Looks great to me.

PRS awarded 'Best Electric Guitar': The Paul Reed Smith 513 model guitar has won the "Best Electric Guitar of the Year", awarded by the Musikmesse International Press, and marking the second consecutive year PRS has won the prestigious award.

KISS Instructional Guitar DVD Now Available

Variax 300 Steel and Nylon String Modeling Guitars

AC30 Brian May Custom Limited Edition Electric Guitar Amplifier

RKS Guitars introduces The Wave Custom Electric Guitars: Options for customizing The Wave will include a spectrum of vibrant colors and graphic applications, and bare models offering a do-it-yourself painting experience.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

I went to see them on Wednesday night. Absolute GENIUS! Mind you, they come with a health warning - their version of "Wuthering Heights" has to be heard to be believed, and I laughed so much that it was painful. All in all, a great mix of music and comedy. Go see them if you can, but be quick - their shows regularly sell out fast.

USB-Guitar iAXE393 from Behringer: "The ultimate electric guitar with built-in USB port to connect straight to your computer. Jam and record with killer modelling amps and stomp boxes." Apparently it's going to be nice 'n' affordable. The excellent MusicThing blog has mentioned a price of just £93, which is alarmingly cheap.

iCoustic Guitars - "Making the Best Even Better": This is a curious idea. It's a marriage between the acoustic guitar and portable digital devices such as the iPod. The multitrack function sounds useful, but the "MP3 mode" in which the guitar acts as a portable speaker for the songs in your iPod, is one of the silliest ideas I have ever heard.

All-time guitar solo favourite: Any guesses? C'mon, you know what it is already.

Rare Guitar Signed By All Four Beatles Added to April 1st Auction

Allparts Introduces The Tremol-No: The Tremol-No is the new user-friendly device that can be added to most tremolo equipped guitars, giving the player the ability to turn their tremolo system 'on' or 'off' in seconds. There is no drilling, no routing, and no permanent modifications to the guitar. Players can now switch between Hardtail, Dive-Only, or Full Floating modes on their favorite guitar, all within seconds of each other.

Lenny Kravitz To Play Jimi Hendrix?: another bio-pic is mooted. The cynic in me thinks it could all go horribly wrong. I just don't trust Hollywood to do an honest portrayal.

Ukulelia: Your Passport to Four Stringed Paradise: "The World's Greatest Ukulele Weblog!", it says, and who am I to argue?

Fretboard Journal Blog: another great guitar and music blog.

Mermaid hand-crafted guitar is a work of art: Luthier Andy Manson has decided to put this instrument up for sale. It has taken more than three years to create, is made of 15 types of wood and has one of the most unique appearances of any musical instrument in existence. But is is a sculpture or a musical instrument? See the gallery and decide for yourself!

New website from AXL Guitars

Self-Tuning Guitar: Synthax Tronical Powertune: most cunning, but it means a lot more metalwork on your headstock.

Reproduction of Dimebag Darrell's Cowboy From Hell guitar from Dean Guitars

Reverend Expands Stage King Series With the Club King HB Electric Guitar: Excellent sustain and attack are coupled with substantial resonance, for a thick tone that's suitable for blues, jazz and rock.

Martin's Felix the Cat guitar!

Epiphone announces sale of low-serial numbered John Lennon Casinos

Making music out of menace: A Colombian musician has fashioned guitars out of rifles to help spread a message of peace. (via Music Thing)

The Excalibur guitar

Feline "Holy Panther" Strat

Check out my latest guitar, courtesy of Feline Guitars. It features an American ash body from a 1970s Fender Stratocaster - the holes are there partly to decrease the weight (its still very heavy though) and partly because they look cool. Other features are Seymour Duncan pickups (2xSSL1, 1xCustom5), Gotoh bridge and machine heads. It sounds fantastic, and has a versatile and very useable range of sounds all available via the 5-way selector switch.

I should also add that the neck was built by Feline and is attached to the 70s-era Fender body using four bolts rather than the three that the body would have originally been drilled for. You can't see it in the photos here, but looking very very closely at the area surrouding the bridge, I think I can detect an area where routing for a Kahler-style trem system has been filled in with timber before re-spraying.

The guitar is currently set-up with the vintage-style trem locked down, seeing as I do not like or use trems on Strats.

G L Wilson

Eastman Guitars introduces Otto D'Ambrosio-designed El Rey series guitars

Godin Guitars releases Performance Series LG and Freeway guitars with EMG pickups

Bono's Guitar Gift Strikes Sour Note: Bolivians upset after Bono is presented with a Charango in Chile.

Reverend Introduces Chrome Elite Series For 2006: These American made guitars feature vintage-influenced body art, sandblasted onto smoked chrome aluminum.

Here's a rather eccentric thing to do to a poor unsuspecting acoustic guitar - put a computer inside it!

Hottie Amps Introduces The Custom GT Guitar Amplifier: why would you have wheels on a toaster?

Johnson Introduces The Swamp Stomper Wood Body Resonator

Curt Sheller Publications Releases Ukulele For Guitar Players Instructional Book: I've gotta confess, I've got a soft spot for the uke!

Retro-King Introduces The Plexi 18 Guitar Amp: A class AB cathode biased amp and replica of the hard to find 1966 Marshall™ 18 watt lead combo amplifier, but in a head version with two channels (4 inputs) with a tremolo unit operating on channel two.

Ex-Beatle still owes £20 on guitar he bought in 1961: seeing as the Beatle in question is George, I don't think the debt's going to get paid, somehow.

Guitar phone: pathetic.

Rock guitarists play heavy-handed Les Paul tribute

Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham want Phil Lynott statue erected in Birmingham

CEO's plans for Gibson Guitar go way beyond strings and pegs: interview with Gibson's Henry Juszkiewicz.

Fender Jaguar Bass: I'm amazed they hadn't thought of this before. There's also a Jaguar Bass VI model.

The other kind of guitar music: I don't see the need for the segragation, personally.

Guitar and Bass Unite, Eat your heart out Dr Frankenstein!: so it says here. However, it's just another variation on the "tap guitar" concept, and nothing new at all really.

Kurt Cobain's guitar goes up for auction: the only known example of a Mark V style Mosrite Gospel model, allegedly.

Slash auctions guitar to aid tsunami victims: The guitar legend has put a signed Cherry Blossom Gibson Les Paul Standard up for sale on Ebay. Bids for the item are already exceeding £5,000 with more than four days to go.

Godin Introduces The LaPatrie Hybrid CW Nylon String Guitar

Bono to donate guitar to Brazil hunger programme

Rock stars, modern artists, and Dean Guitars team up to pay tribute to Dimebag Darrell

Seagull releases S6 Original with new slim neck

Breedlove Guitars teams up with Joe Craven for a tenor guitar

Ailing guitarist Les Paul, aged 90, wins Grammys

AC/DC guitarist Angus Young to make cameo appearance in upcoming football film: well, you know how he likes wearing shorts. (Sorry, it must be a slow news day in the world of guitars.)

Gibson Custom Shop Introduces The Vintage Original Spec Series: the headline says it all. No doubt they won't come cheap!

Cream plan further reunion dates: Legendary rock trio Cream are to reunite again for a handful of city concerts, according to bassist and singer Jack Bruce.

Traben Teams With Bootsy Collins For The Bootzilla Signature Model Bass: Bootiful!

Michael Kelly Introduces Patriot Vintage Electric Guitar: a more affordable Les Paul alternative.

Art Guitar - The ultimate fusion of music, art and technology: any photograph, artwork or digital image can be recreated in limited edition onto virtually any guitar body. The image is actually a painted layer permanently applied to the front or back of the guitar.

Win an Epiphone Zakk Wylde Buzzsaw LP Custom

Valentine's Day Gifts for Musicians and Music-Lovers - Daisy Rock Guitars: well, there's a new marketing angle for their Heartbreaker series!

Kiefer Sutherland talks music and guitars: the star of 24 is a guitar aficionado and collects vintage Gibsons.

Hospitalized guitar legend Les Paul says 'worst is over'

B.B. King offers guitar as reward for his missing dog

Six String Sonics: Ah, those wacky Japanese! Don't you just love them? Why have one six string guitar when you can have six people each playing a one-stringed guitar? Add to that a giant two-man bass guitar and then get all the musicians to perform on a great big climbing frame! Check out the video! (photo by Naonori Kohira)

Recording King Introduces Señorita Acoustic Guitar: featuring graphis depicting the beauty of the Southwest and a lonesome rider, the Señorita from Recording King is part of a limited edition series of art guitars. Each package features original box art and comes with an embroidered guitar strap, "Songs of the Wild West" songbook, and a signed certificate of authenticity.

USB JamMate UG-1 Electric Guitar Pack: No amp needed: your computer is the amplifier!

Canvas Guitars Takes Chinese Manufacturing To The Next Level With Solid-Top Electric Guitars: they won't be to everyone's taste, but I quite like the design of the non-cutaway models. According to their website these are guitars aimed at lead singers in bands.

Brian May Limited Edition Vox AC30 Combo

Gibson Digital Guitar: There's been a lot of a hullaballoo for the last year about this. In case you've been on another planet, here it is again.

G7th Introduces Performer 12-String And Performer Classical Capos

Fender Victor Bailey Signature Model Fretless Jazz Basses

Fender Tony Franklin Signature Fretless Precision Bass Guitar

Squier "OBEY" Instruments With Graphic Designs By Shepard Fairey

James Burton Signature Model Telecaster: Fender introduces the newly re-designed James Burton Signature Model Telecaster guitar with a hot rod paisley flame finish.

Marshall Debuts Limited Edition, Handwired Jimi Hendrix Signature Stack

Jimi Hendrix Experience Artist Series Effects Pedal: errrrmmm... I bought one of these last year at the London Guitar Show (in May?), so I'm not sure why it's being shown at Winter NAMM '06.

Stephen Carpenter Baritone 7-String Signature Series Guitar from ESP

Hellraiser Avenger Electric Guitar

NAMM '06 Oddities: unlike the guy who compiled this, we've all seen double-necked guitars with a neck on either side before, haven't we readers? (See here and here). Other than that there's nothing really outrageous here, but it's an interesting selection all the same.

Krappy Guitars: "Our instruments are built for frugal people who aren't very concerned with regard to quality, construction, materials, or safety. The instruments are crafted from whatever we find suitable. Pedigree of wood is not a priority for us. We might get it from a local hardware store, or use some old shipping crates, or skids. Who knows??!!"

Rickenbacker Doubleneck project: here in pictures is a very brave project by members of this prog rock tribute band, who take a saw to two perfectly good Rickenbackers and then stick them together as a doubleneck!

Elloree Guitars: great looking acoustic and electric guitars, dulcimers and mandolins from this builder in West Monroe, LA.

60th Anniversary Limited Edition Guitars and Basses: New from Fender - the same old guitars, again.

Gretsch Introduces The G6122 Country Classic 12-String: this is a pretty gorgeous looking Gretsch 12-string semi. hefty price tag though.

Fender Hello Kitty: Fender take on Daisy Rock and Epiphone's Emily strange model in an attempt to appeal to the girls with this range of Hello Kitty Squier guitars.

Reverend To Unveil Stage King Guitars At Winter NAMM: these look great - more affordable guitars from Reverend, made in Korea (of course).

Hiwatt To Debut Custom 7 Range Of Guitar Amps At Winter NAMM

Schecter To Introduce 30th Anniversary Collection Guitars At Winter NAMM

RainSong To Introduce A-WS1000NT At Winter NAMM: the first Advanced Series model to sport a Natural Carbon/Graphite soundboard.

Ron Hoag Releases K-Max Optical Guitars: The optical pickups in these guitars have more audio range than other pickups and are more responsive to the touch. It's a pity the guitar itself is as ugly as sin.

Epiphone Musical Instruments - Three New Models Available Now: Ltd. Ed. "Black &White" '67 Flying-V (set-neck), Wildkat-Deluxe (TransWhite with Gold Hardware) and SPECIAL-II "Zebra".

Justin Timberlake learns guitar: please, NO! Is nothing sacred?

Gibson Custom Shop Announces "Inspired By" Series Guitars: Hendrix's psychedelic Flying V is the first.

Who guitarist's deafness warning: Pete Townshend says studio headphones caused his hearing problems, rather than playing loudly on stage.

Hamer build Rick Neilson ANOTHER five-necked guitar!

Vintage Gibson Guitars History & Prices: another guitar blog to add to the list! Nice one!