Guitar Noize

Guitar Noize March giveaway

2010-03-09T22:13:18Z

It has been way too long since the last competition here on Guitar Noize so I felt a little March Giveaway was in order, why March? Well because it is the month of my birthday, which is in fact today and that puts me in a good mood. All you have to do to be in the running for the very cool set of prizes you see in the photo above and listed below is to leave a comment stating why you should be the winner. The 2 answers that amuse me the most will win the prizes, make sure you use your real email address otherwise I will not be able to contact you to let you know you have won and therefore have to pick another winner.

The competition will close 3 weeks from today, which coincidentally is the last day of March which seems quite fitting.

Prizes
1st prize
3 sets of Curt Mangan 10 - 46 Electric Guitar strings
3 Sets of Curt Mangan 11 - 52 Acoustic Guitar strings
1 Ibanez T-shirt
Tommy Emmanuel - The Mystery CD

2nd prize
2 sets of Curt Mangan 10 - 46 Electric Guitar strings
2 Sets of Curt Mangan 11 - 52 Acoustic Guitar strings
1 Ibanez T-shirt
Tommy Emmanuel - The Mystery CD

Curt Mangan strings was founded in 2004, Curt has a 46-year history with the guitar. He played and recorded professionally for many years, worked at and owned music stores, built and repaired guitars, taught lessons, wrote music and was Director of Sales and Marketing for Ernie Ball strings for seventeen years.

http://www.curtmangan.com

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Ibanez presents Joe Satriani in-store appearances

2010-03-08T22:27:30Z

It is no secret that Joe Satriani is a massive influence of mine so it is a bloody shame this news only applies to my US readers. Yes Joe is doing a tour of music stores in the US and while the details are a little sketchy I have seen Vox will be giving away Joe Satriani signature pedals at each event and Marshall will also be giving away an MG50FX which I’m sure some kid will want, personally I’d prefer Joe’s current Marshall setup! If you are planning on buying an Ibanez JS20th you might want to wait for this event too because you will get a bonus 30 minute lesson with the Shred Maestro himself. Also if you buy a JS20th, JS2400WH, JS1600PSV, JS1200CA or JS1000BP between now and April 1 you will receive a framed, autographed print of Joe Satriani.

Here are a list of dates and venues:

March 6 - 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sam Ash
12747 S Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV 89109

March 14
1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Musican’s Superstore
9260 Sheridan Blvd.
Westminister, CO 80031

March 19 - 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Sam Ash
7780 S. Cicero Ave.
Burbank, IL 60459

March 21 - 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Cascio Interstate Music
13819 W. National Ave.
New Berlin, WI 53151

March 22 - 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sweetwater
5501 US Highway 30W.
Fort Wayne, IN 46818

March 26 - 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Sam Ash
156 W. 48TH. St.
New York, NY 10036

March 27 - 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Ken Stanton
119 Cobbb Parkway North, Suite A
Maretta, GA 30062
770.427.4291

Check out http://www.ibanez.com for more details.

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Win an Ibanez RG2228 for some Meshuggah riffage!

2010-03-07T21:39:05Z

Ibanez guitars have teamed up with Meshuggah for an awesome competition, unfortunately only for US Residents, boo! The competition is to coincide with the release of Meshuggah’s new live DVD ‘Alive’. All you have to do is head over to the competition page and enter a few details to be in the running for this monster guitar, I recently had the chance to play one of these 8 string behemoths and they are awesome.

http://www.ibanez.com/Contest/giveaway/meshuggah

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Slash’s Marshall AFD100 updates

2010-03-05T20:44:49Z

Marshall have been posting a number of updates over at the AFD100 site including a set of video interviews between Slash and Marshall’s Santiago. If you don’t know about this projects Marshall are trying to recreate the amp that was used on the Guns n’ Roses album Appetite For Destruction. Check out the AFD100 site for more info about this project and subscribe to the Inside Marshall YouTube channel.

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Slash album trailer

2010-03-05T05:02:28Z

Like him or not there is no denying that the upcoming self-titled solo album from Slash is going to be a massive release. Slash has gathered a number of big names for the record such as Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop and Lemmy but also some unexpected names such as Fergie and Adam Levine of Maroon 5, it certainly seems to be an eclectic line up. The video above is a sneak peek at the recording process of the new album with in-studio footage of Slash and co. playing some of the new tracks.

The track listing is as follows (guest vocalists in parenthesis):

01. Ghost (Ian Astbury, feat. Izzy Stradlin) (3:34)
02. Crucify The Dead (Ozzy Osbourne) (4:04)
03. Beautiful Dangerous (Fergie) (4:35)
04. Promise (Chris Cornell) (4:41)
05. By The Sword (Andrew Stockdale) (4:50)
06. Gotten (Adam Levine) (5:05)
07. Doctor Alibi (Lemmy) (3:07)
08. Watch This Dave (Dave Grohl, Duff McKagan) (3:46)
09. I Hold On (Kid Rock) (4:10)
10. Nothing To Say (M. Shadows) (5:27)
11. Starlight (Myles Kennedy) (5:35)
12. Saint Is A Sinner Too (Rocco De Luca) (3:28)
13. We’re All Gonna Die (Iggy Pop) (4:30)

Bonus tracks:

14. Baby Can’t Drive (Alice Cooper, Nicole Scherzinger)
15. Paradise City (Fergie, Cypress Hill)

Blabbermouth has more details here.

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Orange Amplification release the new Thunder 30 Combo and Head

2010-03-04T23:45:25Z

I received the following press release which I thought you would find interesting:

Storming into the New Year, Orange Amps are giving their range of guitar amps a boost with the launch of the new Thunder 30 combo and head. This replaces the Rocker 30 and will roar into the shops spring 2010.
The new Thunder 30 is an all valve class A 30 watt, twin channel amplifier, powered by four EL84 power valves (two more than the Rocker 30). It will be available in head and 1 X 12 configurations and includes an F/X loop (not featured on the Rocker 30) and the 1x12 is front loaded.
A brand new design incorporating the best of the Rocker and Thunder series, the new amps have two channels. The first is a classic vintage channel which has crystal clear clean sound and when turned up delivers a thunderous vintage power amp overdrive. The second overdrive/distortion channel, features a shape control as seen in the Thunderverb models and has a British tone crunch of numbing proportions!
The Thunder 30 combo offers the perfect balance between power and portability and is ideal for regular gigging. It’s small and light enough to be portable whilst also offering a phenomenal tonal range for use in the studio environment.
Delivering more punch, more features and more power, the Thunder 30 will blow you away when you here the sound!

http://www.orangeamps.com

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Brian Wampler demos Warehouse Guitar Speakers

2010-03-04T22:15:00Z

Check these cool videos out by Brian Wampler of Wampler Pedals, Brian knows a thing or two about tone as he makes some of the coolest effects pedals on the planet so when he has a recommendation to improve your amp’s tone I would suggest taking a look. Brian recommends using Warehouse Guitar Speakers which you can see in the Fender Bassman comparison video at the top and the Vox AC30CC2 video below it. In Brian’s own words “If you like Celestion Blues, you are going to flip your lid over these!”, and lets face it who doesn’t love Celestion Blues? The tone in the Bassman comparison has a much rounder less brittle sound which I definitely prefer and the Vox sounds great, I would like to hear a comparison for this Amp too.

If you want to learn more about Warehouse Guitar Speakers head over to their website: http://warehousespeakers.com

If you want to check out Brian’s excellent assortment of effects head over to http://www.wamplerpedals.com

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MXR Vintage ‘76 Dyna Comp

2010-03-03T22:35:24Z

The MXR Dyna Comp that was produced in 1976 has long been regarded as the ultimate stomp box compressor. There’s something inherently musical in the way it “tightens up” a guitar signal, raising the volume of quiet notes and leveling off peaks to create rich, full bodied sustain. From country twangers to metal monsters, guitarists have long relied on the MXR Dyna Comp to make their riffs stand tall in any live or studio mix. Now the MXR Custom Shop brings back that highly sought-after sound with the ‘76 Vintage Dyna Comp. Meticulously researched and superbly crafted, it features the exact same circuitry used in the original 1976 Dyna Comp, identical in its component layout, silkscreen and handmade wire harness. The key component is the old school CA3080 “metal can” integrated circuit (IC), which yields quieter operation, greater transparency and increased dynamic range. These ICs have been out of production since the ‘80s, but MXR has tracked down a stash of them - enough to produce a limited run of these little red boxes of compression bliss. With supplies limited, the MXR ‘76 Vintage Dyna Comp is destined to quickly become as ultra collectible as its noble ancestor. So get yours now. Available only from the MXR Custom Shop.

I think you will agree when you hear the demo above that this is a really nice sounding compressor. This is a really vintage tone lover’s pedal so if you are put off by the lack of LED and mains input you can get the pedal modded by your local effects specialist. If you are in Australia then Christian from Cubis Effects is your man.

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Win a set of Fervor Strat pickups

2010-03-03T21:16:48Z

GearPipe.com are running an exclusive giveaway where you can win a set of Fervor Single Coil pickups worth $225. Geoff Moore, a pickup winding guru and the founder of Fervor Pickups has been generous enough to donate a set of his handwound Classic Strat® pickups. These pickups will give you that classic Stratocaster® tone. Geoff describes them as “low/medium-output single-coils with a strong but polished, velvety-smooth tone.”

Head over to the competition page for details on how to enter and for more info on the pickups.

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Win a Jimi Hendrix Valleys Of Neptune CD

2010-03-03T20:07:05Z

Anyone who plays guitar will want to enter this awesome competition from MusicRadar.com and it is a piece of cake to enter. All you have to do is head over to their competition page, the link is on this post, answer a very simple question and fill in your details. Two grand prize winners, selected at random, will win complete catalogue packages which include Valleys Of Neptune along with deluxe CD/DVD editions of Jimi’s classic studio albums.

Check out MusicRadar.com and follow them on Twitter @musicradar for all the latest updates.

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Suhr Riot Distortion pedal demo

2010-03-02T22:16:46Z

I have played through a lot of Distortion pedals and I was eager to see why there was so much buzz around the Suhr Riot pedal. I had to wait over 3 months for delivery of this pedal because Suhr have so many orders they simply cannot produce the Riot fast enough to meet demand. Each Suhr pedal is hand built so they can’t just churn these off a production line so if you are one of the people currently waiting please just be patient, they are worth the wait. In my quest for the ultimate distortion box so far my favourite distortion has been the Way Huge Fat Sandwich which is incredibly tweakable, the Riot has all the balls of the Fat Sandwich in a much more compact and simplified unit. But don’t be discouraged by the lack of presence, resonance and internal trim pots that you get with the Fat Sandwich, the distortion, tone and a level or volume knobs are capable of creating monster tone. There is also a 3 way switch to change the EQ voicing which actually makes quite a difference from mid boosted to slightly scooped. The on/off switch on the Suhr pedals are really nice, they have a nice smooth spring loaded operation without that clunky click that most pedals have. If you are a 9v battery fan this pedal has the bonus feature that it will indicate when the battery is about to die and switches to true bypass when it does so as not to interrupt the signal path.

This pedal is incredibly high gain is designed to be used in front of a clean amp to turn it into a raging 100 watt overdriven stack and it certainly succeeds, as you will hear in my demo.

If you would like to order a Suhr Riot pedal please contact me, check out http://gearfactory.guitarnoize.com for the latest pricing info.

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Andy James Guitar Solo Contest

2010-03-02T21:26:19Z

Sacred Mother Tongue and world-renowned Guitarist phenomenon Andy James invites you to enter his Guitar Solo Contest. Showcase your guitar playing skills to the world by entering the online You Tube contest, with some great prizes up for grabs and for you guys from the UK the chance to play live at a very special concert to be held in Northamptonshire on April 13th 2010, alongside Andy and other special guests.

The Contest
Andy James has written and recorded a backing track especially for the contest for you to improvise, compose and shred your hottest guitar licks over - so don’t waste any time and get ready to rock! To enter, simply follow the instructions below:

Download the backing track from Intersales Music website
Complete the entry form
Get practising and video your best solo over the vicious backing track!
To enter your video into the contest, post it a Video Response to this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suroPx90LyI

Rules and official bits!
The Andy James Guitar Solo Contest is open to anyone, from anywhere, and of any age, gender or musical tastes!!
The video submitted should be of the contestant playing live over the backing track provided
Our select panel of judges will choose an outright online winner, and their decision will be final, and no moaning or disagreement will be accepted!
An additional 4 guitarists will be invited to play live at The Northants Guitar Night 2010.
Those selected to play live must be aged 18 or over to comply with UK licensing laws and must be able to attend the event.

The Prizes
There are numerous prizes up for grabs from Blackstar, ESP, Licklibrary, Andy James, Intersales Music and Owen Edwards. A full list of prizes will be published once they have official confirmation.

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Suhr S4 Overdrive demo

2010-03-01T22:42:47Z

This is part 2 of my Suhr S4 demo (check out part 1 here), this time using a combination of my Genz Benz Black Pearl tube amp overdrive and the Suhr Koko Boost to push the tubes a little more. As you will hear in the demo despite the classic strat styling and my vintage looking chrome humbucker this guitar is certainly capable of some great and pretty heavy rock tones due to the high output SSH+ humbucker. The single coils are, as are most single coil pickups, a little noisy with the boost but if you don’t mind a bit of hum they overdrive nicely.

I used an Audix i5 Microphone and CabGrabber to hold the mic in place off axis (edge of the cone) and an Armor Gold and a Planet Waves cable to connect the pedal to my Black Pearl.

http://www.suhrguitars.com

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AmpliTube 3 Now Shipping

2010-03-01T21:32:54Z

Check out the following press release I just received:

IK Multimedia is proud to announce that AmpliTube 3, a massive upgrade of the leading guitar and bass tone gear-modeling software, is now shipping! AmpliTube 3 raises the industry standard of sound variety, realism and creative power - with over 160 precisely modeled pieces of vintage and modern gear available in one package - it is the ultimate gear tone collection for players, producers and engineers.

More Gear, More Feel, More Power, More Tone. AmpliTube 3 gives you More!

More Gear. In fact, twice as much gear!
- Over 160 gear models included (with nearly 100 added models), more than double the amount of other packages, from the most sought-after vintage collections to modern-day workhorses
- 51 Stompbox effects, 31 Amps, 46 Cabinets, 15 Studio Mics and 17 Rack effects
- 30 brand new models for the most complete anthology of gear, ever
- 70 re-worked and superior sounding models from packages like AmpliTube Metal™ and AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix™
- A new collection of bass gear models also makes it the most complete package for recording and performance of bass by the engineer or musician
- Can be directly expanded with packages like AmpliTube Fender™, Ampeg® SVX™ and future packages
- New preset management and keyword system allows you to organize and quickly recall the massive library of included and custom preset tones

More Feel. Nothing even comes close.
- New cabinet module inside now provides double miking per cabinet, with freely movable microphones thanks to IK’s VRM™ (Volumetric Response Modeling) technology, giving you a level of control and sound accuracy never experienced before in software
- All models in AmpliTube 3 have been ultra-accurately “remastered” with our new 3rd generation modeling technology (the same found in AmpliTube Fender™), using IK’s exclusive DSM™ technology (Dynamic Saturation Modeling), then painstakingly compared with the originals in “A/B” style to ensure that the sound you hear from the software is the same sound you’ll be hearing from the gear.
- New impulse-based reverbs are now used in the entire chain, from spring reverb to room ambience, which ensures the most realistic possible representation of your recording environment
- New rotary speaker module sets the new standard for accurate emulation of these types of cabinets – until now, there had never been such a great sounding rotary cabinet in software

More Power. Unleash more creative power.
- New creative Effects: featuring the new Step Filter, Step Slicer, TapDelay, Rezo and Swell stomp and rack effects that allow you to sculpt your sound and create inspiring rhythmic patterns or amazing drone and pad-like effects
- New full-stereo path allows you to use the huge collection of analog and digital effects on your vocal tracks, keyboards and drums
- New Drag & Drop functions in the stomp and rack modules make experimenting with effects’ combinations a breeze
- New “MIDI Learn” feature allows you to assign any software control or parameter to an external controller with a simple click on the parameter’s knob
- New, integrated 4-track recorder/player allows you to capture and layer your ideas quickly and easily - right at the moment of inspiration!

More Tone. Every Sound You Can Imagine.
AmpliTube 3 is the voice for your soul. With the largest collection of ultra-accurately modeled gear, creative effects and flexible routing features, you’ll never run out of sonic possibilities. Every sound you’ve heard before, and even new ones you haven’t dreamed of yet…find them here in AmpliTube 3.

Pricing and Availability:
AmpliTube 3 is now shipping as VST, RTAS and Audio Unit plug-in formats, and also as stand-alone software for Mac OSX® and Windows®, currently available in the following versions and MSRP prices*:

• AmpliTube 3 $349.99/€269.99
• AmpliTube 3 Crossgrade $269.99/€199.99 (available to any IK registered user)
• AmpliTube 3 Upgrade $199.99/€149.99 (available to all previous AmpliTube 2, AmpliTube Metal, AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix™, AmpliTube Fender™ or Ampeg® SVX™ registered users)
• AmpliTube 3 Pedal $399.99/€299.99 (AmpliTube 3 bundled with StealthPedal™ USB/MIDI controller and audio interface)

These products are already available in the IK Online Store, and through our network of dealers and distributors worldwide.

* All prices excluding taxes.

For more information on AmpliTube 3, please visit:
http://www.amplitube.com

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For Sale: My 2008 Ibanez JS1000BP

2010-02-28T22:54:15Z

You read that correctly I am selling my Ibanez JS1000 to fund my Suhr addiction, I bought this guitar back in 2008 (September) and had a pro setup which included fret dressing and the locking stud mod. I haven’t modified the guitar in any way since buying it and it comes with an Ibanez Team J-Craft hardshell case. The neck on this guitar is incredible, a 10-14” compound fretboard means you get a cross between a vintage and modern feel as you move up the neck. There is slight paint wear on the corner of the Edge Pro trem where I rest my palm but it is minimal. The high pass filter is a nice addition on the volume pot, I used this every time I used the coil split control, pull/push the volume and tone controls.

The JS is a great, versatile guitar with amazing sounding medium output pickups that compliment the guitar perfectly. Please email me if you are interested.

Here are a couple of videos I recorded using the JS so you can hear how awesome the Dimarzio Fred is.

And here is a demo showing the bluesy side of the JS using the DiMarzio PAF Pro in the neck and the Fred in the bridge with the coils split:

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