Guitar Fact – Page 3 – six stringed awesomeness!

Ibanez Soundgear GSR200 Bass Guitar – Black

For this months GuitarFact bass guitar review we’re going to have a closer look at this Ibanez bass

Quite a good looking Ibanez bass for sure; black on black underlying it’s rock credentials, but how does it play?

PHAT II active bass boost offers additional
low-end power on all GSR200 models
GSR offers famous Soundgear pro comfort and playability at “entry level” prices
The GSR series includes the most affordable 5- and 6-string basses of any major brand
Phat II active bass boost adds additional low-end power to the affordable GSR200 models.
GSR200’s powerful Powersound pickups deliver full tones and strong low-end.

GSRs offer famous Soundgear sleekness, comfort, tone, and playability. GSR Mikro basses are perfect for anyone who needs a compact axe or the comfort of a smaller neck.

Great for rock, superb for metal, this Ibanez has to be played to be believed!

Typical Price: $200 (Check price here)

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Vintage Guitars as Investments

The Hollywood Vintage room, LA. Most of the guitars on this wall were priced in the range $8,000-$80,000 (Aug 2008)

Why do people collect guitars? They are usually guitarists, of course, but not always. For some, the guitar is art: displayed on walls, or free-standing as scultpure. For others, it is an exercise in preservation, or museum curation. But increasingly, people are buying guitars primarily as a financial investments.

Vintage guitars made by the likes of Martin, Gibson and Fender, can make great investments, with the right guitars gaining in value more than many stocks and bonds. The guitar investment market is subject to very different forces than the stock market, and investment companies are reportedly turning to instruments as part of a balanced portfolio.

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Best Beginner Guitar

What is the best beginner guitar? OK, theres no such thing. There are hundreds of entry-level guitars, all basically doing the same job, in pretty much the same way, with most of them sounding pretty darn good. But today I put forward the proposition that the best beginner electric guitar is the Fender Squier Affinity Strat.

Squier by Fender BulletStrat w/Trem, Brown Sunburst

Basswood body with gloss polyurethane finish
Maple neck with 9.5 in radius rosewood fingerboard with 21 medium jumbo frets
3 Single-Coil Strat Pickups
Synchronous Tremolo with Cast Saddles
Master volume with 2 tone controls with 5 position pickup selector switch

Our Bullet Strat with tremolo is a simple, affordable and practical guitar designed for beginners and students. Classic styling includes the added benefit of a single humbucking pickup/ two single-coil pickup configuration. Other features include five-way switching, synchronous tremolo and a maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and 21 frets.

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Seagull Entourage Mini Jumbo Review

Figure 1 – The Seagull Entourage mini jumbo

Seagull (by Godin) produces some of the finest acoustic guitars for under $500. The Seagull Entourage Mini Jumbo is currently priced around $400. Not bad at all.

This guitar was hand crafted in LaPatrie, Qu’bec Canada. Lets take a look at the features:

Body: Mini Jumbo
Top: Solid cedar
Back: Wild Cherry
Sides: Wild Cherry
Neck: Silver Leaf Maple
Fretboard: Rosewood, 21 frets
Bridge: Rosewood
Finish: Rustic Burst Semi-gloss
Nut: Tusq®
Saddle: compensated, Tusq®
Nut Width: 1.72″
Upper Bout: 11.59″
Lower Bout: 16″
Waist: 9.53″
Body Length: 2.0″
Body Depth: 5″

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Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child – Best Guitar Riff of All Time

Nearly 40 years after Hendrix’s death, he still remains as the most influential guitarist of all time. “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” has been voted for having the best guitar riff of all time.

Here is the top 20 greatest guitar riffs of all time (according to musicradar.com)

1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
2. Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine
3. Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love
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The Fender PT-100 Guitar Stage Tuner

Figure 1 – The Fender PT-100 chromatic guitar tuner

I think i’ve found one of the most useful pieces of equipment any guitarist can own! Such statements shouldn’t be made lightly, but in this case I stand by it. If you need a new tuner you really should consider this one. In the PT-100, Fender have a solid, durable and, most importantly, easy to use tuner that works for guitar and bass. It does the job, and it does it well.

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John Lennon Limited Edition Casinos by Epiphone

Figure 1 – The John Lennon 1965 Casino

In the 1960s Epiphone Casinos were ‘in’. And John Lennon wasn’t the only Beatles to own one. In fact Paul McCartney and George Harrison both had Casinos, as did Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. But it was Lennon who became most associated with the instrument, most famously playing it on the infamous rooftop appearance of 1969.

The Epiphone John Lennon Casino

Fast forward to November 1997, and a team from Epiphone visit “The Dakota” in New York to examine John’s Casino. They took measurements of the neck and body, studied the components and photographed everything, in order to create a guitar as close to Lennons original as was possible to acheive.

As a result and in cooperation with Yoko Ono, Epiphone proudly introduced the Limited Edition John Lennon “Revolution” and “1965” Casinos.

The “John Lennon 1965 Casino” is a reproduction of the guitar as John originally purchased it with the sunburst finish and stock hardware.

The “John Lennon Revolution Casino” is a reproduction of the “stripped” guitar featuring one coat of nitro-cellulose lacquer, gold Grover tuners and no pickguard.

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Gibson ‘Inspired by’ Dave Grohl DG-335

Gibson 'Inspired By' Dave Grohl DG-335

Figure 1 – The Dave Grohl DG-335.

2007 has seen a wide range of guitars leave the Gibson factory doors; from the standard instruments that are the companys bread and butter, to limited-number special-edition instruments: the Guitar of the Week range, numerous historical reissues, and of course the Inspired By range.

This is a series of instruments “inspired by and built to the exact specifications of passionate musicians and artists” – among them are Les Pauls (John Lennon and Warren Haynes), Flying Vs (Jimi Hendrix and Zakk Wylde) and three thinlines; the Roy Orbison ES-335, Keither Sutherland ES-336 and best of all the Dave Grohl DG-335.

So it’s a 335? Not quite……

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Bass Guitar Strings

A new set of strings can do wonders for a bass. If the old set have been on for a while, the sound they produce will be dull and lifeless. Old strings can be the cause of fret buzz and intonation problems, and in a worse-case scenario could snap during performance. Bass guitar strings last longer than guitar strings, but a new set can really invigorate your bass

How long a string takes to become ‘old’ depends on several factors: how much it is played, whether it is wiped down after use, and even how corrosive the perspiration of the player. Top players may change their strings nightly; only fresh strings give them the sound they want, whilst a bass that spends very little time in use – perhaps avoiding gig situations – will be fine for months or years.

So, now you’ve decided to treat your beloved bass to a new set, how do you decide what to buy? There are a lot of choices, but which ones are right for you? Long scale? shortscale? roundwound? flats?

This article describes some of the main types, to help the reader identify the best bass strings for them…

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Gibson SG Reissue Bass

Some designs just don’t go out of fashion. Its been 46 years since Gibson redesigned the Les Paul, giving it those batwing cutaways and characteristic translucent cherry finish – and they haven’t looked back. Be it guitar or bass, the SG has attitude, and plenty of it.

Although the shape has seen continual use on guitars, Gibson didn’t produce a bass version for over 20 years. That was until 2005 when they launched the SG reissue bass.

But it hasn’t stopped there – as well as Cherry, White, Ebony, Canary Yellow, Coral Pink, Coral Blue, Silverburst, and faded finishes, there is the maple flamed-top SG Supreme, and a Supreme Fireburst.

Its not just looks that make a guitar; the SG reissue bass is proving a big hit for its sounds and playability too.

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