All about guitars and vinyl – Joe Hoyle
Looking for a guitar that’s a bit different? Like alternative body shapes? Fender’s new Duo-Sonic and Mustang guitars and basses could be right up your street. Over the years both models have been released with various modifications. The latest versions benefit from a range of updates which include a string-through-body hardtail Strat bridge on the guitars.
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Close friends and family know that I have lusted after a Fano guitar for a very long time. Recent trauma in my personal life caused me to re-evaluate much and made me realise I need to cut loose and enjoy myself a bit more. So I splashed some cash and bought a Bull Black Fano Standard JM6. I’ve had the guitar a few weeks now and have gigged with it. It’s an absolute joy.
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Fender and Transport for London are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Stratocaster guitar and London’s famous Routemaster bus. The two companies are partnering on a bus emblazoned with Stratocaster imagery, which will serve London’s 24 bus route, and 25 limited edition Stratocaster guitars, which incorporate key design features of the iconic double-decker.
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In 2009, Suhr released the Shiba Drive. My son recently bought the “reloaded” version, which is an update to the original pedal, tweaked to create something more amp-like, with a tighter low-end, focused mids and 50% more gain than the original Shiba Drive. The Reloaded version is a great overdrive pedal for players of Blues, Jazz and Rock.
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I have long been a fan of the Fender Jazzmaster. I love its quirky circuit switching, offset waist and range of tones. But I don’t own one for the simple reason that the bridge is a bit crap. Its the only weakness in an otherwise stellar guitar. Recently, however, a chance encounter led me to discover the Offset Mastery Bridge, a beautifully engineered replacement for the stock Jazzmaster bridge. All of a sudden, the acquisition of a Jazzmaster makes perfect sense.
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Finally, after all these years, Gibson introduces undercut, fret over binding. This will be available on all 2014 models – except the Les Paul Traditional. I have never been a fan of nibbed frets, which have been a key feature of Gibson’s bound-neck guitars for generations. They present a number of problems.
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Just released, the Gretsch Rancher G5034TFT has got to be the most distinctive looking guitar I’ve seen in a long time. An acoustic with Fideli’Tron™ pickup and a Bigsby® B70G tailpiece with a “wire” trem arm – completely mad, but utter genius.
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The Fender Custom Shop has announced its custom collection models for 2014.
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I just spent a wonderful weekend in Paris with friends. We were there to attend the “Vigneron Independant”, a trade fair for indepenedent winegrowers. But while in Paris I took the opportunity to visit Guitars Rebellion, where I met CEO Vincent Beinis and played a glorious Fano JM6.
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Little Hurricane is a “dirty blues” duo from San Diego, California. Formed in 2010, the band consists of Anthony “Tone” Catalano, on lead vocals and guitar, and Celeste “C.C.” Spina, on drums and backing vocals. Their songwriting is faultless, their hooks are catchy and their sound is exquisite.
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Fat Sound 