Guitar World

Most Expensive Guitars

2010-08-07T06:57:00.000-07:00

The limited edition guitars sometimes are very expensive. These very expensive guitars usually be consumed by guitar collectors. Here are the most expensive guitars in zzounds.com:

1. EVH Eddie Van Halen Frankenstein™ Replica Guitar ($25,000), check latest price

Eddie Van Halen (EVH) collaborate with Fender to make the EVH brand guitars. This limited edition guitars are made only 300 instruments.

Ash body, maple bot-on nek, schaller tuning machine, 21 jumbo fret, 25.5 inch length.. more details

2. Gibson Jimmy Page Les Paul Custom VOS Signed by Jimmy Page ($25,000), check latest price

The result is this stunning “Black Beauty” with a slim-profile neck, Page BurstBucker pickups, gold Bigsby vibrato and an innovative six-position toggle that lets you isolate the neck and bridge pickups, or add the middle in any combination.

This signed guitars are very limited guitar. Only 25 guitars are available with the signed edition. more details

3. Gibson Johnny Winter Firebird Electric Guitar ($7,699), check latest price

The Gibson JOHNNY WINTER FIREBIRD 6-String Electric Guitar. Gibson custom shop recreation of the slide guitarists 1963 Gibson Firebird V.

Gibson custom shop recreation of the slide guitarists 1963 Gibson Firebird V, A tribute to a true blues master, Crown inlays, 2 humbucking pickups, Tune-o-matic bridge. more details

Latest News / Fernandes Guitars

2010-08-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

Revolver Classic,The Legacy Returns

Hailing from the land of the raising sun, cradle of Fernandes’ name and legacy, a classic breed of guitars reappears.

Reviving the legendary craftsmanship of early Fernandes models from previous decades, the Revolver Classic Series brings superb finesse and playability to all music styles.

Loaded with the popular Seymour Duncan Distortion humbucker in the bridge, Cool Rails in the middle and the Fernandes Sustainer in the neck position, Coil Tap switch, Bone nut, Pearl pickguard, Gotoh tuners and Wilkinson Vintage Tremolo, you have all the tools necessary to play, look and sound like a pro.

Features 5A Quilted Maple top, Alder body, Maple Bolt-On neck, Rosewood fretboard, 25 ½” Scale, 22 Frets, 1 5/8" Bone Nut, Gotoh Magnum Lock SGM-07 tuners, Wilkinson VG300C Vintage Tremolo, 5-Way Lever Pickup Selector switch, 1 volume, 1 tone, Coil Tap switch, Sustainer ON/OFF & Mode switches.

Available in 6 beautiful finishes: See-Thru Black, See-Thru Red, Lemon Drop, Natural, Tobacco Sunburst, See-Thru Amber. In Stores Summer 2010.

For pricing and ordering information, contact your Fernandes dealer today!

Venom's Iconic Leader Plays The Tremor

Another addition to our metal artist roster, Cronos, leader and frontman of VENOM. Coming to prominence towards the end of the 'New Wave of British Heavy Metal', VENOM's first two albums – Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982) – are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. VENOM's second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of an extreme metal subgenre: black metal. Cronos left the band in 1988 to pursue a solo career and occasionally featured in many other bands, including Cronos, Enthroned, Cradle of Filth, Warpath, Massacre, and Necrodeath. He also produced some of the albums for other bands. VENOM tried to continue without Cronos but only managed a couple of releases before calling a halt on their efforts in around 1993 due to lack of sales and poor concert attendances. Cronos reformed the original VENOM line-up in 1995 and headlined the Dynamo Festival in 1996 to 90,000 fans. In 2000, the band went on to headline the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany and play a one-off show in Holland before they were forced to take a break after Cronos was injured in a climbing accident in 2002, which left him unable to play bass or sing for a few years. He took to the computer to pass the time and studied games programming, learned 3D software skills and worked as the main multimedia engineer for the computer companies K-Class Systems and Globalfibre.tv. Cronos again reformed VENOM in around 2003 with his brother Antton on drums and recruiting Michael Alan Hickey. After the next couple of years of planning and intensive rehearsals, VENOM released their latest album 'Metal Black' in early 2006 on the Sanctuary Group label Castle Music, and they embarked on a sold out world tour. Cronos also appeared on Dave Grohl's heavy metal side project Probot in 2004, and guest starred on the track Knights of the 21st century on HammerFall's 2005 album Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken. Check out the photo gallery at metalshots.com, and rockfoto.nu where he's seen playing the VENOM classics at several European festivals with his Tremor

Bob Wotton And The Tennessee three play Retrorocket

We welcome to our family one of the most legendary guitarists of American music, Bob Wooton. He joined Johnny Cash's backing band, The Tennessee Three, after original lead guitarist, Luther Perkins, died in a house fire. Bob had been a lifelong fan of Cash's and played his songs religiously until he had perfected the boom-chicka-boom style known as Cash's unique sound. At one of Cash's shows, a flight cancellation left only Cash and drummer W.S. Holland onstage, and Bob was asked to fill in and stunned the audience, particularly Cash himself, with perfect renditions of every song. Cash mentioned in passing that he might one day call on Wootton again, but within days asked him to join the tour as new lead guitarist. One of the next performances, perhaps the most notable of Bob's career, was at San Quentin State Prison where Cash's live album was recorded. Bob continued in the band with only a brief respite until Cash retired in 1997. From 2006 to 2007, he performed with Cash's original drummer, W.S. Holland, his wife Vicky and daughter, Scarlett Wootton, as The Tennessee Three. In 2006 the band released their first album since Cash's death, a loving tribute titled "The Sound Must Go On." The Tennessee Three was scheduled to perform at Folsom Prison in January 2008, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Cash's Folsom show. Bob eventually withdrew from the concert project, which was later scrapped following disputes between prison officials and show promoters. Bob continues his touring as The Tennessee Three with drummer Derrick McCullough, Vicky, Scarlett, and Montana Wootton to appreciative crowds across the globe.

As tribute to Bob's lifetime work, Fernandes made him a custom black Retrorocket guitar, same specs as Deluxe model, except featuring The Tennessee Three logo, Bob's name on the truss rod cover, TN3 inlay in the 12th fret and Seymour Duncan NS/APS/NS pickups.

Summer NAMM 2010 Report ,jun 30

As every year, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) hosted the 2010 Summer NAMM Show in Nashville, June 18th-20th.

Flood relief efforts, music education support were main themes for three-day event. "In addition to some of our industry's largest manufacturers and distributors, Summer NAMM appeals to the new and emerging companies, and there were 70 brand new NAMM exhibitors this year," said Joe Lamond, president and CEO, NAMM. "During the show, the independent dealers, along with the largest buying and marketing groups, were able to see exciting new products to stock in their stores for the fall and holiday selling seasons."

“Fernandes generated quite the buzz at Summer NAMM with the Japan-made Classic Series, the Shin Series and the Limited Edition Spalted Maple Series." stated Jack Thompson, Fernandes and Musical Distributors Group, Sales Manager. "Everyone was talking about the quality and playability of the Revolver Classic. Overall a great time was had by all!"

Fernandes extends a big thank you to Musical Distributors Group, all our dealers, business partners, artists and visitors who made this show a great event.

Fernandes Auff Deutsch
jul 29
Fernandes Germany has launched it's new official website, featuring an impressive layout and exclusive content in German language, local artists and news. If you are in the area, make sure to sign up for the newsletter on the top of the homepage to receive updates. Thanks to our distributor in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and Denmark; Ahead Music.

Visit fernandesguitars.de

Matt Bellamy's Signature Guitar Going For 2nd Run
Apr 15
Mansons Guitar Shop in Exeter, UK, has announced a second run of the MB-1 Matthew Bellamy signature model, which is already sold out. Next run wont happen until late 2010 or early 2011. Probably the most technologically advanced signature guitar on the planet and based on Bellamy's own cracked mirror M1D1, the MB-1 features a 101 Sustainer circuit and an X/Y MIDI controller pad. The first run, not surprisingly, showed to be as innovative and in demand as the great MUSE frontman himself. The Sustainer system is mainly used in this guitar to keep the strings ringing, to produce the keyboard-like sounds Matt is known for. The band's fifth studio album The Resistance was released in 2009, topping the album charts in 19 countries. MUSE will be headlining the Glastonbury Festival 2010 and the 2010 Hovefestivalen, as well as T in the Park 2010 and Oxegen. Check out the picture gallery of guitars made for Matt at Mansons website, where you can see an interesting array of Sustainer configurations: mansonguitars.co.uk. Please visit Mansons' main site

Vortex Delux Limited in Stores This Summer
Mar 29New eye-catching Red and Snow White Bevels have been added to the Vortex Deluxe, now you can have a stylish accent to this bestselling bodyshape's contour with the same top quality and features. Alder body, Mahogany body and neck, neck-thru construction, 24-fret Ebony fingerboard, Abalone binding diamond-shape inlays and Tune-O-Matic bridge. Equipped with a pair of EMG 81 and EMG 85 active humbuckers for full metal attack, and ultra-comfortable body shape. Vortex Deluxe Limited is available in Black Gloss with Red Bevels and Snow White Bevels. Hitting stores this summer!

Build your own electric guitar-Step 8

2010-07-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

step 8SUMMARY

Now that you have made it through, if you chose to build a guitar, you are probably going to want to make more. Hopefully some of the info as well as links I have provided has helped to get you started in the right direction. Guitar building is fun and chalenging at the same time, and if your like me you will always want to improve your skills and find something else to try out on your next project. I have added some pictures of some of the guitars that I have made down at the bottom so you can see my progression. So here's to having fun and building a piece of art that you don't just have to look at. Though they do look good hung on a wall!

This is the first guitar I ever build from scratch. I tried a totaly origional design but it ended up looking like a fish for some reason.

gbuilder

Build your won electric guitar-Step 7

2010-07-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

step 7ASSEMBLY AND WIRING THE ELECTRONICS

ASSEMBLE Now you can put it all together! By this time you'll be so excited you'll forget about the electronics and start to string in up before you get the electronics in but it's ok, we'll get there. Start with bolting on the neck in the same fasion that you did when you test fitted everything. Then follow that with the tuners, bridge and pickups. Don't forget to run the wiring for the pickups when you put them in.

SHEILDING Sheilding is good to use if you want to minimize that annoying buzz you can get from surrounding interference that electronic components such as amps can produce. You can use sheilding paint that is a bit more expensive but easier to apply than copper tape . All you do is paint it on and let it dry. It also gets into the areas tape can't reach. To install the tape you basically just apply it to the inside of the control cavity and solder up any seams that might let the interference through. The soldering can be a little tricky since you have to lay down a long bead of it along the seam. Kind of like welding. Here are some futher instructions After this is done you can install the pots and switch. Be careful when tightening them down not to scratch the finish. Add the knobs and get out your schematic for wiring it up.

WIRING Lay your beautifully finished guitar on a soft towel so you don't scratch it and cover the back with a cloth as wel so you don't splatter solder on it. How you wire you guitar up depends on the layout you have chosen. Mine was a simple one tone, one volume and three way switch set up. I have gone with the Les Paul set up on other guitars which is a two tone and two volume before as well. What ever set up you go with just follow the schematic that either came with you pickups or get one from Seymour Duncan . They also have instructional videos that are done by Seymore Duncan himself on Strats and Les Pauls. I recomend watching these if its your first time wiring a guitar.

Build your own electric guitar -Step 6

2010-07-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

step 6PAINT AND POLISH

PAINT INFO Remember to stick with the medium that you have chosen to finish the guitar with. Never mix lacquer with water base. This will lead to a cracked finish or lifting up off the clear coat. For my guitar I used a lacquer based paint that I got from an auto shop for one project and just plain white lacquer paint that i got from Home Depot. The waterbased paints and clear coats tend to be more expensive so that's why I chose lacquer. Make sure the surface has been cleaned and is dust free before you begin to paint. Try to find cans that have a fan nozzel because it makes it easier to get an even coat.

I use a coat hanger wire to hang the body and neck from when I paint. It keeps the guitar from touching any thing and makes it easier to move from one place to another. I like to dedicate one place for painting and another for drying to avoid any free floating particales from landing on the wet paint. I use a shed for painting and hang the guitar to dry in my garage.

SPRAYING TECHNIQUE Spray the body holding the can 6 to 8 inches away, moving either up and down or right and left depending on how you have set the nozzel. Start spraying from 2 inches outside the body and finish the stoke the same way. Don't stop or start the spry right on the body because you will end up with an uneven build up or paint drips. It is also good to spray a light "tack" coat first and let that dry for 45 min before laying on the thicker coats. This lets the paint adhere to the body better. You can also mount the guitar body to a square wooden stick that will fit inside the neck pocket so you can hold the guitar flat while you paint the top of it. This lets the coats build up thick and even, but watch for drips on the side.

After you have good coverage, let it dry for a few days or until it has hardened up enough. Inspect the surface for and runs or imperfections. If there are any runs them you can wet sand them flat with 800 grit wet sand paper and a sanding block. Usualy you will be able to see if there is any grain showing that you might not have filled up when you preped the body. If there is them apply a few more coats to cover it up and wet sand it to make it level.

RACING STRIPES Once you have checked out the color coat and are satisfied with the results and have let it dry completely, you can move straight to clear coats or add some racing stripes... or any other design you feel comfortable painting on. I did a paint splatter on the guitar I'm currently working on and it looks awsome. Plus it was realy easy. I just sparyed some black laquer paint in a pan, dipped a brush in it and splattered it on to my liking. For racing stripes make sure you get auto masking tape so you don't get any bleed through when you paint. Decide where you want you lines to go and tape them off. Use a garbage bag to cover the rest of the guitar and make sure all the other areas of the body are covered and taped off to prevent any unwanted spray from getting on the guitar. Spray just enough coats of paint to cover up the base color. You don't want it to be too thick because you will lay daown a clear coat on top and wet sand to level out the finish. If it is too thick it will take much more coats of clear and more sanding than you will want to do just to level it out.

CLEAR COAT Stew Mac sells nitrocellulose lacquer that works realy well for guitar finishing but if your like me you can't afford $10 a can for paint. Or you can check out reranch though I haven't used any of their products they are a little cheaper. I use Deft spary lacquer. You can get it at Wal-Mart for under $5 a can and it works great. Use the same basic steps that you used when you sprayed you color coats, keeping in mind that you want enough coats so you don't cut through the clear top coat when wet sand and polish it out. Now comes the waiting. The paint has to set for several days to a month to let the solvents that are in the paint to rise to the top and harden. The paint will feel dry but you will notice that it might feel a little sticky or soft when you touch it. I like to do a "nail" test on mine. I use my finger nail and push it into the painted area in the neck pocket to see if it is still soft. No one will see the inside of the neck pocket so it's ok if you scratch it. Once it has cured completly you shouldn't be able dent the finish. It could take longer than a month for certain finishes to harden completely but trust me, you will be glad that you waited. For more information about all the different types of lacquer or clear coats products that are out there and how to choose what may be right for you, check out the drum foundry they have some great info.

WET SANDING You can wet sand with 600 or 800 grit wet sanding papers that you can get from the hardware or auto body shop before you apply the clear coats. You can get precission paper from Stewart Mac Donald that are suppose to cut better, last longer and yeild a better result, but I have never tried them so that's up to you. When wet sanding there are a few things to keep in mind. First you will need to soak the paper overnight in water. You can add a little Murphy's Oil soap to it. It will act as a lubricant and help it cut better. You could even soak the paper in a solvent if you use a laquer finish but I use water because it cleans up easier and dosen't smell. Next be sure not to overly soak the areas that you have drilled holes in. If the water get in the wood it can cause a lift in the lacquer that could lead to cracks in the finish. This is why some people choose a solvent to sand with because it is more forgiving in that area. Start wet sanding with a 600 to 800 grit paper and gradually work your way up to a 2000 plus grit. If you use water you may experience a condition in you finger tips that comes with a prolonged exposure to it called "raisoning". Just let them dry out for a while and get back to work!

POLISHING Once you have completed the wet sanding you wil have a pretty smooth surface that is almost a dull shine. You can either hand polish the finish or use a polising attachment to buff it out. Stew Mac has a polishing pad that attaches to you drill. Or you can get 6" foam bonnets from an auto parts store that will fit over the sanding disk attachment you may already have. It is best not to use any thing made from cotton because it will cut through the finish. Stew Mac also has polishing compounds that you will use in order working you way down to the swirl remover. It's on the expensive side so I use McGuires polish that you can get from the auto shop. If you use a buffing attachment make sure that you uae a different attachment for each grade of polish. Don't use the same pad for each one. Also remember to wait 10 minutes after buffing before you wipe off the surface. The lacquer gets hot and soft after buffing so give it time to cool. You will have to hand polish the cutaways, don't attempt to use the buffer on the edges of the guitar or cutaways because you will burn though the finish.
I finished my last guitar in this pattern:
Wet Sand 800/1000/1500/2000 grit,
Buff Down using an orbital sander that had a "hook and loop" base or velcro that I had attached a polishing pad that Gator Grit makes and McGuiars step 1 cleaner polish
Hand Buff with McGuiars step 2 swirl remover
It took less time than previous finishes and looked awesome.
Once you have finished polishing, clean off the residue the polish left behind with a clean cloth ie: an old t-shirt, look closely to admire the shine and get that piece of broccoli out from between your teeth.

STAINED FINISHES Check out the master Dan Erlewine put a stained finish on a guitar with out the use of spray equipment or buffing arbor.

Build your won electric guitar- Step 5

2010-07-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

step 5PREP THE BODY

PLUG THE PORES What you use to prep the body for paint depends on the chosen finish that you will go with. For a solid color finish you will want to fill any of the pores with a wood filler or Bondo glazing putty. I prefer Bondo because it dries quickly and sands smooth. Use one of those plastic speaders that you can get for mud at a paint or hardware store and press the filler firmly into the pores and gaps in the wood. Cut diagonaly accross and against the grain to fill the pores and gaps better. Use a sanding block and a 220 grit paper and after the filler dries to ensure an even flat surface. Only use your hands to lightly sand on the rounded edges or hard to reah areas of the guitar. The roundness of your fingertips can cause depressions in the woods surface so stick with the sanding block on the flat areas. Inspect the surface to see if any pores or gaps remain and repeat the steps if needed. Then clean the surface with a tack cloth to remove any dust.
Stewart MacDonnald has a great finishing schedule that I would recomend reading before you start the painting process. You shouldn't need to fill any pores on the neck because necks are usualy made from maple which is a tight grain wood. All that's need for it is a sanding with 220 grit paper unless you want to leave the neck natural and unfinished. I recomend using at least a few coats of sanding sealer of clear gloss laquer to protect the wood fromdirt and grime that comes from playing.

Build your own electric guitar-Step 4

2010-07-29T22:06:00.001-07:00

step 4DRILLING THE HOLES AND SHAPING THE BODY

DRILLING THE HOLES Now is a good time to drill the holes for the neck, pick up rings, bridge, string furreles, the control plate and cavity. Here is where I wish I had a drill press but I don't, so I just use a hand held drill. It doesn't matter wher you start drilling you holes, just make sure you use the right size bit for the screws that you will put in them later. To figure this out I compare the thickness of the screw minus the threading. A good rule of thumb is to start off with a bit that will produce a hole that is smaller than the screw. If the hole is too small when you try to screw in the screw then you can move up to the next size bit an re-drill. Be careful of the depth that you drill you hole to as well. A good way to do this is to size up the screw with the bit and mark the bit with a peice of tape. This will help you to keep from going to deep.

DRILLING THE NECK HOLES ON THE BODY Before you do this you can carve down the back of the neck area if that is something you were going to do. If you are just going to leave it flat then that's ok too. The first step if you are using furreles is to map out where you want to place them and then mark the center of the hole where the screw will go. Then take your forstner bit drill enough to fit the furrele inside. Usually you can tell how deep to go if you drill a little at a time, and place the furrele in it to see if it is just low enough in the hole not to see the top of it if you look at the body horizontally or it is flush with the wood. After doing this you can drill the holes for the screws. Use a bit that has the same circumference as the screw including the threading so when you put the scre into the hole it just passes through with out you having to screw it in. Drill in the indention that was left by the tip of the Forstner bit, keeping the drill as straight as possible.

ATTACHING AND DRILLING THE NECK For this you will want to use a clamp to hold the neck firmly in place while you dril the holes. Attach the neck to the body and clamp it lightly so you can set it in the right possition before drilling. Make sure you have some protection between the clamp and the body so you don't leave any indentions in the wood. A soft piece of plastic or a soft rag will work nicely. Use a long ruler to allign the neck to the position of the bridge. Do this on both sides of the neck to see that you get it centered. Tighten down the clamp a bit more until the neck doesn't move. Drill the holes as straight as possible with a smaller bit that you used on the body. If you can't reach all of the spots that you need to drill at because the clamp is in the way, take a couple of the furreles and neck screws and screw them into the neck. Once you have done this you can finish drilling the other holes with out the clamp.

SHAPING THE BODY This is totaly up to you. You can carve down the body however you want. For my project I chose to carve down the body as close to the way the guitar I was modeling it after was. I used a verity of different sanders. I used a belt sander for the arm contour on the top back of the guitar, a dremmel tool with a sanding attachment for the small carve down under the neck, a 6" sanding disk attachment on my drill for the body contour on the back of the guitar, and a Black and Decker mouse sander for the neck area and smoothe down of all the other areas that had previously been carved. One rule of thumb is to only sand with a 220 grit when carving the body down. This will prevent any deep scratches any lower grit will cause. Don't use any electric sander on the falt parts of the guitar either, like the top or the back. Use a 220 grit paper with a sanding block to smooth out those areas. You can also run a slightly dampened cloth along the surface of the body and let dry before the final hand sanding. This will raise the small grains in the wood so they can be cut by the paper easier. Sand in the direction of the grain.

FINISH DRILLING THE HOLES After you have shaped and carved the body and the neck holes are drilled and the cavities routed out, you can preposition all of you parts and drill the last of the holes. Start with the pickup rings. It is good to assemble them first and then drop them into the cavity so you can line them up and mark where you will need to drill. Make sure they aren't crooked when you line them up. I like to have the neck bolted on so I can line them up with it. I do the same thing with the bridge. Be sure to check that the scale length is correct and that it is lined up with the neck as well. Drill the holes for the mounting screws and then the string through holes. Try to keep the drill as straight as possible when you do this because you will be going all the way through the body and if they aren't straight you will see it on the other side. This is the time that I wish I had a drill press.
Next you can move on to the holes for the control cavity. Use the washers that come with the electronic components to find out what size bit you will need. I use the 1/2" forstner bit that used on the neck to drill the input jack hole. It makes it straight and smooth.

TEST FIT It is a good idea to go ahead and test fit all the parts on the guitar before you move on to prep and paint to make sure that everything is in the right spot and that there is nothing that needs to be corrected.

Build you own electric guitar -step 3

2010-07-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

step 3ROUTING THE BODY AND CAVITIES

THE BODY This is where your guitar starts to take shape. After you have finnished your design you will need to trace it onto the wood that you are going to use for the template or body. A solid blank of tonewood that you can get from online retailers like Catalina Guitars can run anywhere in the price range of $70 to $250 depending on what wood you use. Some people will tell you that different wood will produce a different tone. While this is true in some cases like the crisper higher pitch tone of Mapel and the warmer fuller tones of Mahogany, you probably won't be able to tell the differnce between using a lower grade wood versus a higher grade more expensive wood. The only time that I would splurge and buy expinsive wood is if I was going to use a clear finish on the body and all the other parts of the guitar were going to be high end quality parts. For my project I didn't have a lot of money, much less the expensive tools to work with to produce a result that I would want to break the bank on.

MAKE YOUR OWN BODY BLANK Another neat trick to create your own body blank for $10 is to get a 3/4" thick peice of Birch Plywood that comes cut into a 4' by 2' board. Simply cut out two rectangular sections of the board that will accomodate your desing and wood glue them together. Be generous with the glue to make sure there aren't any spaces between the boards when you press the two together, clamp and stack weights on top of it so the two peices are joined firmly and let dry overnight. This gives you a a 1 1/2" thick body blank that is rigid and works great for electric guitars. You will have to go with a solid color paint when you finish it but you won't be able to tell the difference between it and the solid wood blank. Plus you'll save a good chunk of change that you can use towards good pickups and hardware. If you want to make the body a little thicker, you can get a 1/4" peice of birch and glue it between the two thicker peices. It's also a good idea to prerout any wire cavities in that 1/4" peice before you glue them together. That way you don't have to worry about drilling them later and ruining the top of your guitar body with the drill.

MAKING A TEMPLATE Once you have traced out your design to the wood you can start routing. I recomend making a template first for the body rout out of 1/4" hard board or something equivalent to that. The professionals use cnc machines to carve and rout the bodies but smaller shops will use templates made from acrylic. The hard board works just fine, but might not last as long. You can also rout the body by hand and forget the template but if you mess up there's no going back so be carefull if you do.
I cut my template with a jig saw and a fine tooth blade to make sure it kept a straight edge. Then i mounted it to the body blank using small screws in the ares that would be routed out later like the neck cavity area and where the pick ups would be. You will want to start routing a bit outside your line or the edge of the template so you can get you router bit to the depth it will need to be at for the ball bearing to follow the template. I use a 1/2"x1" bit with a ball bearing guide on top.I make several passes around the body, lowering the router 1/4" at a time for smooth easy cuts. Once you have made your pass were the bearing runs along side the template, it is much easier to rout and you will end up with a nice squared edge to the body.

ROUTING THE EDGE I like to use a 1/2" round over bit on the edge of the body to give it a nice even curve. You dont have to do this butit is good to round the edges of the body a little bit at least. It's easier to polish the body after you gloss it and you don't risk burning through on those sharp edges.

THE NECK POCKET The next step is to rout the neck pocket and body cavities. For the neck pocket I like to use a 1/4" bit and leave the scrap wood edge around the body to give the router the extra support it needs when routing the neck area. To find out how deep you will have to rout the pocket measure the total thickness of the heal of the neck. Then measure the hieght of the bridge from the bottom to the top of the groove the string will sit in on the saddle and add about 1/8" to it. That allows for the string clearence over the frets. The subtract that from the overall thickness that you came up with when you measured the heal of the neck. That will give you a pretty accurate depth that you will need to carve the pocket down to. Be very careful when you rout the neck pocket! You don't want to make it too big otherwise you end up with gaps between the neck and the body and you don't want to go too deep because it can be impossible to fix. Rout a little bit at a time, and set the neck in each time to make sure you get the proper fit. It shouldn't fit to tight and the pocket should be slightly lager than the heal of the neck because you will have paint accumulation in it which will shrink it a little.

PICKUP CAVITIES Same basic thing here. Be careful routing as you don't want to go outside you lines. The pickup rings tend to be thin along the outter edge, so if you go outside you lines it will look like there is a hole in the body of the guitar once you fit the rings on. Determine the depth that you will need for the pickups you are using. This is usually based on the length of the mounting screws. You will need enough room for them to fit. I use a 1/4" bit for this as well. You can use a template if you want but I do it free hand because any imperfections will be covered by the pickup rings.

THE CONTROL CAVITY Routing the control cavity is just as important as the neck pocket but with a couple more steps. The best thing to do is to cut out the plastic cover. Trace the pattern that you came up with for it on the plastic then cut it out with a jig saw. Use a fine tooth blade to prevent the plastic from chipping and will also yeild a smoother cut. Once this is done, take your template and reverse it, trace the patern on the back side of the body. Next set your router to a depth that is the same as the thickness of the plastic plate and rout the cavity working out to the line you drew. I do this free hand since the first cut is too shallow for a template. Be careful when you do this and test fit the plate you cut to make sure you get a goo fit. Then you will draw another line about 1/4" along the inside of the cavity you routed out, leaving extra room in areas for the screws you will use later on to secure the control plate. Rout this area out in the same way, working out to the line you drew. When you start to get close to the half way point in the wood start to think about how much wood you need to leave at the bottom. Usualy 1/4" is good but make sure you are careful! I miscalculated once and ended up going all the way through the body. Bad experience.

Build your own electric guitar-Step 2

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step 2DESIGN AND PLAN

PRE-DESIGN INFO Before you can design your guitar you must know a few important rules to building guitars. The first and most important is "Know Your Scale Length".

SCALE LENGTH What is a "Scale Lenght?" The scale lenght is the lenght the string travels between the nut at the top of the fretboard and the bridge at the mid section of the base of the guitar. To determine the scale length of your guitar you would measure from the front part of the nut where it meets the fretboard to the center of the 12th fret on the neck and multiplying that by 2. Add about 3/16" to that on the low e string and taper that to about 1/16" added to the high e string. This is called compensation and that is why you see that tapered line on a bridge. Go to Stewart MacDonnald for more info. They also have a Fret Calculator that helps you determine your particular scale length in addition to a page dedicated to helping you out with tons of free info for your guitar building projects.The fret is the metal of nickle wire that is raised up off the fretboard. I would suggest buying a neck that has been pre made from a manufacturer that fits the design concept that you want to go with. I bought mine from Guitar Parts USA for about $70. You can pay anywhere from $50 to $300 for a neck at online retailers, but surf around and make sure you are satisfied with what you get. Guitarpartsusa will tell you to buy an expensive neck if you are building an expensive guitar, not a $70 neck. But for mine the $70 neck works just fine. Once you get the neck in and you determine what the scale length is you can lay it all out on paper. I recomend buying all your hardware, pickups and knobs before you draw your final template. This will allow to place everything where you want it and know what size holes to drill for the electronics and how big the cavites will need to be for them and the pickups.

DESIGN AND PLANNING It is best to pre-plan your design concept so you can correct any mistakes on paper before you get to the wood and can't go back. Sketch out some design concepts on paper then, once you have decided on something,lay out a couple of pieces of poster board to draw the body shape out on. You can let you imagination go wild or if you perfer stay with a more traditional design. For this particular guitar I built, I chose to go with a PRS style body design. To get the measurment correct, I pulled a picture of the guitar I was modeling it after from a guitar catalog that was taken straight on and not from the side. I then scaled up the guitar by marking out a grid on the picture and transposed it to some poster board that I had drew a larger grid on. I knew that the pickup rings measured 3 1/2" by 1 1/2" and thats what I used to scale the picture up and get the proportions correct. Another method is to project the image on a wall and trace it to the poster board if you happen to have a projector but I like to draw my template out freehand. You don't have to use this method for the design if you want to come up with you own unique style. Just make sure that take all the parts that will go on to your guitar into consideration first like the neck postition, pick ups and knobs.

PLOTTING OUT THE PEICES Once you have drawn out the shape of the body you can then locate and draw the cavaties that the pickups and electronics will go and set you bridge placement. It is good to know wher the center of the guitars boy is so you can make sure that the pickups and bridge are in good alignment with the neck pocket. I like to take a piece of poster board and trace the fretboard of the neck on it and cut it out, that way I can properly place my bridge according to my scale length.
For the neck pocket you will want to trace the heal of the neck where you want it to be placed. For this guitar I had to extend a peice of the body to attach the neck to since I was copying a PRS which uses a set in neck. I was using a bolt on and didn't have much of a neck pocket to work with.
Next, make sure you give yourself enough room in the electronic cavity to fit all the potometers and switches. Also remember to add about 1/4" of a lip that the control cover will sit on.
After your design has been properly plotted out on the poster board you can cut it out with an exacto knife. Make sure you stay as true to your lines as possible so you have a nice clean line to trace once your ready to. Then lay out the template on body blank and trace away. I like to cut the piece of poster board the same size as the body blank I am using. It makes it a lot easier to line everything up that way. Now you're ready to move on to the next step.

Build your own electric guitar Step-1

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step 1TOOLS, PARTS AND SUPPLIERS

Tools Needed

Plunge Router and Router Bits
(I use a Skill router with a 1/4" bit, a 1/2" bit with ball bearing guide and a 1/2" round over bit)
Drill and Drill Bits
(A basic electric drill and bit set with an optional 6" sanding disk for carving down the body, and a 1/2" Forstner Bit for counter sinking the neck ferrules.)
Jig Saw
(Any good jig saw and fine tooth blade for cutting the plastic control covers)
Belt Sander (optional)
(For carving down the top back body contour)
Mouse or Orbital sander (optional)
Dremmel tool (optional)
(Use with a sanding attachment for hard to reach areas that need to be sculpted)
Drill press (optional)
(I wish I had one, it makes drilling perfectly straight holes much easier)
Clamps
(Good to have if you need to laminate your own body blank. A small one is good to have for holding the neck inplace when you attach it)
Soldering Iron and Solder
Flux and Wire
(Both for the electronics)

Basic Parts and Electronics

Premade Neck
(Trying to build your own neck is difficult and requires more tools that you might be willing to buy.)
Body Blank
(Make your own out of Birch Plywood or buy a blank from a retailer)
Bridge
(I tend to go with a hard tail type bridge since it can be easily bolted on. Not much to it.)
String Ferrules
(These are used to hold the string in the guitar and are placed in small holes drilled in the back. You won't need these if you decide to go with a Gibson style bridge and tail piece.)
Tuners
(It's a good idea to get high quality tuners since the cheaper one don't stay in tune as well)
Screws
(You will need pick guard screws for the control cavity cover and other various size screws for pickup rings and truss rod cover. Your bridge should come with screws but check and make sure in case you need to order any)
Ferrules
(For the neck and strings. You can use a neck plate instead of ferrules but I like the clean look and tight fit that you get with the ferrules.)
Pickups
(This depends on the type of sound you want and how much you are willing to spend. Shop around for good deals.)
Pickup Rings
(Most come with screws when you buy them but if you decide to go with all gold hardware you might want to buy gold screws separately.)
Plastic
(You can get a sheet of black plastic from Stewart MacDonald and use it to cut the cover for the control cavity.)
Control Knobs
(These can be bought from many online retailers. Get the style that best fits your guitar design. Shop around for the best deal)
Potometers
(Uses for volume and tone control you typically need between two and four depending on the type of sound you want. They come in different sizes and values so the best thing to do is look up a wiring schematic online for the set up you want to see what kind to use. Seymour Duncan has great schematics.)
Capacitors
(They also come in different values so find out what you need from your schematic)
Input Jack
(I like to use a long shaft input jack. All you have to do to install it is drill a hole. Pretty easy)
Control Switch
(These come in different styles also. Fender Strats use 5 way switches while Les Pauls use 3 way ones.)

Parts and Suppliers
Stewart MacDonald
Seymour Duncan Pickups
Guitar Parts USA
Guitar Fetish
Guitar Parts Central
Guitar Jones USA
Guitar Parts Online
DJs Guitars
Catalina Guitars
EBAY

There are tons of different online retailers and ebay stores that you can find a great deal on parts and supplies, but those were just some of the ones that I have purchased on and been satisfied with their service and parts. NOTE: Do your research when it comes to parts and the quality of the parts you buy. I like to get feedback and reviews from Harmony-Central . You might not be able to get reviews on everything, but it helps you out allot.

Latest guitar product

2010-07-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

Cort VX Series 2X Ibanez Prestige Team J. Craft Jackson SLS-MG
CDN$449.99 CDN$749.99 CDN$749.99

Dillion DXC-61 Midnight Black Dillion DXC-58 White Dillion DXC-58 TV Yellow
CDN$329.99 CDN$329.99 CDN$329.99

50 Greatest Guitar Albums

2010-07-29T08:39:00.001-07:00

50 Greatest Guitar Albums

50) The Doors, 1967 (The Doors)
49) Ashes of the Wake, 2004 (Lamb of God)
48) Boston, 1976 (Boston
47) A Night at the Opera, 1975 (Queen)
46) Metallica, 1991 (Metallica)
45) Badmotorfinger, 1991 (Soundgarden)
44) Hate Crew Deathroll, 2003 (Children of Bodom)
43) Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, 1973 (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
42) Follow the Leader, 1998 (Korn)
41) Highway 61 Revisited, 1965 (Bob Dylan)
40) Electric Ladyland, 1968 (Jimi Hendrix)
39) Disraeli Gears, 1967 (Cream)
38) Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, 1995 (The Smashing Pumpkins)
37) Elephant, 2003 (The White Stripes)
36) Vulgar Display of Power, 1992 (Pantera)
35) 1984, 1983 (Van Halen)
34) The Joshua Tree, 1987 (U2)
33) Toxicity, 2001 (System of a Down)
32) Mafia, 2005 (Black Label Society)
31) Passion and Warfare, 1990 (Steve Vai)
30) British Steel, 1980 (Judas Priest)
29) Reign In Blood, 1986 (Slayer)
28) OK Computer, 1997 (Radiohead)
27) Moving Pictures, 1981 (Rush)
26) Alive!, 1975 (Kiss)
25) Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?, 1986 (Megadeth)
24) Rising Force, 1984 (Yngwie J. Malmsteen)
23) Who's Next, 1971 (The Who)
22) Wish You Were Here, 1975 (Pink Floyd)
21) Rage Against the Machine, 1992 (Rage Against the Machine)
20) Surfing with the Alien, 1987 (Joe Satriani)
19) Exile on Main St., 1972 (The Rolling Stones)
18) Blood Sugar Sex Magik, 1991 (The Red Hot Chili Peppers)
17) The Number of the Beast, 1982 (Iron Maiden)

Top 21 Strangest Guitar

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1)Guitar Theremin
2)Air guitar

3)Birdfish

4)Ibanez Heart Tripleneck

5)Ibanez Tripleneck

6)Scary Guitar

7)Skater Guitar

8)Nano Guitar

9)Guitar & Bass

10)Heat Hawk

11)Electric harp guitar

12)Wangcaster Guitar

13)Naked Lady Guitar

14)Satan Angel Guitar

15)Harp Guitar

16)Toilet Seat Guitar

17)Cigar box guitar

18)Jeweled jesus Guitar

19)Pikasso Guitar

20)Flipout Guitar

21)Gun Guitar

Top 10 Electric Guitars

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Are you ready to pick your electric guitar? Here are 10 choices of what we believe to be ten of the top electric guitars available:

1. Gibson Les Paul Guitar

This is one of the best solid-bodied electric guitars of all time. Gibson, one of the leading guitar makers, decided to take Les Paul, a renowned jazz guitarist, to be one of their consultants. The result was an expensive-looking hollow-body electric guitar with improved basic elements, such as glued-in neck and a body shape that’s perfectly curved. The choice of black was known to be Les Paul’s choice, to give it a classic look.

2. Gibson ES-335 Guitar

The Gibson ES-335 is the first semi-hollow body guitar that is sold in the market. Produced by Gibson, this electric guitar has an amazing switch control. It’s two tone, two volume, and three way. Its exterior is made of levant hardshell painted with smooth black, while its interior case is charcoal plush. It has ’57 Classic humbuckers for its pickup.

3. Danelectro DC3 Guitar

It’s one of the all-time favorites among retro rockers, because of the sound it produces as well as the look of the electric guitar. They’re also ideal for those who are in tight budget for electric guitars, as Danelectro DC3 is priced on midrange. It’s also very easy to set up, convenient for those who have a number of continuous gigs in one night. Moreover, they are known to be durable. In fact, you can enjoy playing it for as long as 40 years.

4. Rickenbacker 381 V69 Guitar

Rickenbacker has been known to be making the best types of guitars these days, and the Rickenbacker 381 V69 is one of them. It has an old-school look, complete with glossy fingerboard, which makes the guitar very convenient to play. It also possesses a luscious finish. When it comes to sound, you can play sultry blues and shift to your well-loved rock song. It doesn’t get tired easily. You can even play it for 24 hours, and it will still sound so great.

5. Gibson SG Guitar

During 1961, one of Gibson’s electric guitar, the standard Les Paul, received minor changes. Its body had become thinner and horns were more emphasized. Most of all, it attained a new name, thus, the Gibson SG. Besides the body, the pickguard was smaller while the hardware, which is nickel plated, is reminiscent of its first 1961 model.

6. Gretsch White Falcon Guitar

At first, it wasn’t meant to be a functional guitar but more of a trade guitar, something Gretsch can show off. However, because of its beauty and its sound, the Gretsch White Falcon immediately found its way into the hearts of rockers. For one, it looks so different from other electric guitars, with its gold trim and white paint. It is also quite big, with size spanning 17 inches.

7. Suhr Classic Guitar

Suhr Classic sports a chrome finish for its hardware. It also features a steel block tremolo and an arm that’s actually a push-in type. This means this guitar is a friction fit. It also fits perfectly with your tremolo plate, so you can definitely feel the electric guitar’s response to your every pick.

8. Fender Stratocaster Guitar

The Fender Stratocaster is one of the long-standing electric guitars of all time. It’s more referred to as Strat or Stratocaster, after many electric guitar makers tried to create their own “Strat” guitar. Its back is beveled so it can accommodate the arms and chest of the player. There are also two cutaways in the guitar so it will be easier for the player to reach the higher frets. The synchronized tremolo and custom contour body made the guitar much more endearing to rock enthusiasts.

9. Stardust Elite Venus Guitar

This is a very beautiful double-cutaway electric guitar, especially for girls. It looks fancy and totally fitting for the punk rock princess, but the truth is it’s actually priced in midrange. Moreover, it features humbuckers that are totally superb when you’re in for some bad-ass rock-and-roll music.

10. Luna Andromeda Guitar

Luna is considered to be a true-blue rock girl’s electric guitar. It is famous for its locking tremolo and a small neck, which is only ideal for those with smaller hands.

Top 10 accoustic guitars

2010-07-28T01:47:00.000-07:00

Morgan CCK
The Morgans, are a family tree who have developed a reputation of manufacturing the best acoustic guitars by hand. The magical skills of Morgan family have indeed developed some of the most amazing and beautiful sounding guitars in the history of this industry. The Morgan catalog contains a magnificent instrument, by the name Morgan CCK. This guitar is one of the most beautiful instruments to be ever produced by the company. The abbreviation CCK stands for Concert Florentine Cutaway Koa. The different parts of a guitar are made up of different varieties of wood, which make the tone highly versatile and unique. No other guitar sounds the similar, due to the varied but compatible wood that is used to make the instrument. For example: the fret board of this guitar is made up of ebony while the neck is made up of South American mahogany. The 6 strings of this guitar are elixir phosphor bronze light gauge strings. The CCK is a box guitar, that has a cut in the lower half of the sound box. The fret board has 20 frets and the wood carries a gloss polyester finish. This combination gives a clean and clear tone which is accompanied with a very good balance.

Schwartz Advanced Auditorium Acoustic Guitar

The Schwartz Advanced auditorium acoustic guitar, is Schwartz model, that has plenty of ebony in it. This guitar has a very beautiful tone and the music seems to flow out of the instrument. The specialty of this instrument is that a lot of compatible ebony has been used in the construction of this guitar. The exceptional tone and the extreme melody helps the player to create beautiful chord and scale patterns accompanied by enchanting arpeggios. Another very special feature of this guitar is that it has a dove-tail mechanism to join its neck and body.

Matsuda Nylon String Model

The Matsuda nylon string model is one of the best examples of classical guitars, that are being produced in the modern era. The nylon string model has an astoundingly beautiful tone playing capacity, and produces very beautiful legatos. This guitar has a very simple construction and is principally made up of spruce and rosewood. People who are addicted to finger plucking of classical acoustic guitars would certainly find this guitar very exciting.

Alvarez MD 80

Alvarez MD 80 is another master piece by the company. This guitar is made up of solid mahogany, spruce and rosewood. This nice combination of wood has, given the guitar a superior and melodious tone that can be capitalized by playing simple chords, rhythms and also different harmonics. The natural finish of the wood of this guitar adds to the tone.

Gibson Epiphone AJ- 500R Masterbilt

Gibson, which has been known to produce highly effective guitars, has come up with an instrument so beautiful that, a musician would fall in love with it at the first sight. The Masterbit, is made up of solid rose wood and has many significant features that are being used by the modern musicians. This guitar has an exceptionally versatile yet beautiful tone and balance with a pure acoustic sound.

Martin D-50 Kao Deluxe

Martin and Co. are said to be the kings of the acoustic guitar industry. The magic behind the success of the manufactures of such a beautiful instrument, is the music that flows out makes the listener 'feel' the music. The Martin arsenal is full of powerful sounding guitars, but one guitar that tends to catch the eye and ear of every person is the D-50 Kao deluxe. The surprising tone of this guitar and the spell bounding acoustics make it the ruler of any performance, wherever played.

Ovation Folklore Contour

Among the list of noted manufacturers, the name Ovation should never be left out. The model folklore contour is a very interesting model that has a very beautiful wood work on it. This model has a very beautiful yet simple design and body that gives it a very nice and pleasant tone.

Larrivee OM- 03R

The OM- 03R, is a very beautiful model that has been produced by Larrivee. This guitar has a very beautiful mahogany neck and can churn out spell bounding music. The material that is used for other parts of the guitar is sourced from many locations all over the world. The use of such varied materials makes it a very special and beautiful guitar.

Yamaha LL-6

Yamaha is one of the biggest and also one of the oldest manufacturers of guitars. Though this is a hand crafted guitar, it is relatively cheap and can also be easily purchased by beginners. The beauty of this instrument is the simplicity of it's construction. One must note that this guitar is a very entertaining instrument.

Fender GA43SCE

An acoustic master piece by the conventional guitar manufacturer, GA43SCE, shares the same features as its electric counterparts like the Stratocaster and Squire. The GA43SCE, is a guitar that provide a very beautiful and melodious music when played. Again like the Yamaha LL-6, this guitar can be purchased by armatures.

One must always remember that before purchasing a very costly guitar, he must have an extensive practice on an inexpensive one. The real beauty of a guitar is not its features, but in the music that comes out of it. The person playing the guitar and the ones listening, must deeply feel the music and emotions behind the melody.

10 best guitar brands and some information

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1.) Gibson

The Gibson Guitar Corporation, of Nashville, Tennessee, USA, is a manufacturer of acoustic and electric guitars. Gibson also owns and makes guitars under such brands as Epiphone, Kramer, Valley Arts, Tobias, Steinberger, and Kalamazoo. In addition to guitars, the company makes pianos through its Baldwin unit, Slingerland drums, as well as many accessory items. Company founder Orville Gibson made mandolins in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the late 1890s. He invented archtop guitars by using the same type of carved, arched tops in guitars. By the 1930s, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, which were used and popularized by Charlie Christian. In the early 1950s, Gibson introduced its first solid-body electric guitar and its most popular guitar to date—the Les Paul. After being bought by the Norlin corporation in the late 1960s Gibson’s quality and fortunes took a steep decline until early 1986, when the company was rescued by its present owners. Gibson Guitar is a privately held corporation (company stock is not publicly traded on a stock exchange), owned by chief executive officer Henry Juszkiewicz and president David H. (Dave) Berryman.

2.) Fender

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Scottsdale, Arizona is a manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers, such as solid-body electric guitars, including the Stratocaster and the Telecaster. The company, previously named the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, was founded in Fullerton, California, by Clarence Leonidas “Leo” Fender in 1946. Leo Fender also designed one of the first commercially successful solid-body electric bass, the Precision Bass (P-Bass), which has become known in rock, jazz, country, funk and other types of music.

The company is a privately held corporation, with the controlling majority of its stock owned by a group of its own company officers and managers. William (Bill) Mendello is Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer and Richard Kerley is Chief Financial Officer.

Fender’s headquarters are in Scottsdale, Arizona with manufacturing facilities in Corona, California (USA) and Ensenada, Baja California (Mexico).

3.) Ibanez

Ibanez (pronounced /ˈaɪbænɛz/ or /aɪˈbænɛz/) is a guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki and based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in the United States and Europe.

4.) B.C. Rich

B.C. Rich is a manufacturer of guitars and bass guitars founded by the late Bernardo Chavez Rico in 1969 and the early 1970s. Currently, most B.C. Rich guitars are manufactured in Asia, but luthiers of the company’s custom shop continue to hand-make instruments. Hanser Music Group now operates the Southern California B.C. Rich custom shop. As of 2001, no member of the Rico family is involved in the production of B.C. Rich guitars.

5.) Charvel

Charvel is a guitar brand originally founded by Wayne Charvel in Azusa, California and then later, Glendora, California (only the PO Box was in San Dimas); they were made popular by famous rock guitarists such as Edward Van Halen (Van Halen), Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi), Warren DeMartini (Ratt), Dave Mercado (Lazarus), Jake E. Lee (Ozzy Osbourne), Vinnie Vincent (KISS), Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister) and George Lynch (Dokken). The main Charvel models were (then) unique custom revamps of the Fender Stratocaster – often consisting of a Strat-shaped body with a single humbucker and Fender style tremolo bridge system. Many other custom creations were available as well.

The company is best known for its hot rodded Strat designs, known by many guitar gurus as superstrats.

6.) Epiphone

The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Music Company in 1957 who also had owned Gibson Guitar Corporation. Epiphone was Gibson’s main rival in the archtop market. Their professional archtops, including the Emperor, Deluxe, Broadway and Triumph, rivaled (and some contend surpassed) those of Gibson. Aside from their guitars, Epiphone also made bass guitars, banjos, and other stringed instruments. However, the company’s weakness in the aftermath of World War II allowed Gibson to absorb it.

The name “Epiphone” is a combination of proprietor Epaminondas Stathopoulo’s nickname “Epi” and “phone”, Greek for “sound”.

7.) ESP

The first ESP Guitar was made in Japan in 1976. The ESP Company (Electric Sound Products) actually started up a year earlier but only provided guitar replacement parts at that time. ESP guitars and replacement parts continued to be sold exclusively in Japan for nearly a decade before moving into the U.S. market. In 1983 their replacement parts were made available in the U.S and in 1984 their guitars made their American appearance.

In 1984/85 ESP guitars were attracting some attention from great guitarists such as Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones), Vernon Reid (Living Colour) and Bruce Kulick (Kiss).

he ESP guitar is still very popular today. At the 2008 Winter NAMM show, ESP introduced over 50 new guitar and bass models. They also have a great selection of high profile guitar players on their roster including James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom), Wayne Static (Static-X), Will Adler (Lamb of God), George Lynch, Ron Wood and newest member Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi). With the great quality of guitars ESP produces, they sure look like they are going to be around for many years to come.

8.) Jackson

Jackson is a guitar manufacturer originally owned and operated by Grover Jackson, a partner of Wayne Charvel of Charvel Guitar Repair. It started with the creation of the “Rhoads” V model guitar, originally designed and used by guitarist Randy Rhoads (and then used and promoted by Vinnie Vincent of KISS/Vinnie Vincent Invasion after Rhoads’s accidental death. Grover put his name on the Rhoads rather than the Charvel name because he felt the design was too shocking for Charvel’s regular customers. This model inspired Grover to start the Jackson guitar company.

Wayne Charvel sold his interest in the Charvel name to Grover Jackson on November 10, 1978. The shop was located in Glendora, California (while using a PO Box in neighboring San Dimas) and manufactured guitars in this location from 1979 to 1986, when the Company merged with IMC (International Music Corporation), a Texas based importer of musical instruments. The factory then moved to Ontario, California.

9.) Kramer

Kramer Guitars(KRAY-MUR) is an American manufacturer of electric guitars and basses. Kramer produced aluminum-necked electric guitars and basses in the 1970s and wooden-necked guitars catering to hard rock musicians in the 1980s; Kramer is currently a division of Gibson Guitar Corporation. Kramer was one of the most popular guitar brands of the 1980s and the best-selling brand of 1985 and 1986.At the height of its popularity, Kramer was considered a prestige instrument and was endorsed by many famous musicians of the day, including Eddie Van Halen, Richie Sambora, Mick Mars, Jennifer Batten, Tom Morello and Vivian Campbell.

10.) Yamaha

For the next 40+ years, Yamaha’s company made organs, pianos, harmonicas, furniture, phonographs and finally their first acoustic guitar in 1942. In 1965, a year after The Beatles made their legendary Ed Sullivan Show appearance, Yamaha began production of solid body guitars. In 1966, they started to make the electric bass as well.

By the 1970’s, Yamaha started to grab the attention of major artists such as Carlos Santana and Bob Marley because of the instruments great quality and design. The Yamaha guitars were being built to produce a powerful warm tone with amazing sustain. Also, the “Broad Bass” was introduced in 1977 and quickly caught the attention of famous bass players throughout the world including Paul McCartney.

By the end of the 80’s, Yamaha opened up a factory in North Hollywood, California. Here they started making guitars where they called on some professional guitar players to help them out and advise them on what they would like to see in their guitars.

One of the reasons behind the success of the Yamaha guitar is the targets that they shoot for in their design. Every guitar must have a balanced tone and response and the bass and treble must complement each other.

Types of guitar

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Acoustic guitar

Di Giorgio Amazonia classical guitar from Brazil

The acoustic guitar is found all over the globe and this cultural adoption and historical evolution has led to many variations in design and purpose. The ukulele, which was based on the four-stringed braginho or cavaquinhos from Portugal is an example of an earlier small-sized European guitar being introduced to a different society; the word ukulele is Hawaiian for “flea”. There are two kinds of acoustic guitar: steel-string and classical. Classical guitars have a wider neck and use nylon strings. Steel-strings have a defined and sharp sound that is a distinctive component of a wide range of popular music styles; country and rock are two examples. The nylon strings of the classical guitar allows the guitarist to play complicated arrangements and barres with ease. Both types of guitar can be played using a plectrum (pick) or finger-style. The steel-string acoustic is sometimes referred to as a flat top. The word top refers to the face or front of the guitar. The front is also sometimes called the table.

The body of any acoustic is large and hollow; acting as a resonating chamber which amplifies the strings. Larger bodied guitars with bigger curves tend to have a deeper or heavier tone, while guitars with a smaller body tend to sound brighter. Acoustic guitars sometimes have cutaways, similar to the cutaway on the Gibson Les Paul shown in the picture below, which allows greater access to the higher frets but this also changes the tone. Acoustic guitars have a weaker sustain than electric guitars but master-built classical or steel-string guitars often feature very good sustain and excellent overall performance. There are many entry-level acoustic guitar models that are manufactured to a high standard that are entirely suitable as a first guitar for beginners. If you wish to buy something more expensive then it is important that the table should be made from a single piece of wood (not ply) and closely grained.

The timbre (pronounced tam - bre) of the acoustic guitar lends itself to a variety of tasks and roles. It's a songwriter's tool because of its portability and ease of use and its gentle harp-like arpeggios and rhythmic chordal strumming has always found favour in an ensemble setting. When the performance is in a personal setting or amphitheater, the acoustic guitar can be heard with no additional amplification because the resonating chamber of the guitar itself creates acoustic amplification. In some situations the acoustic guitar is not loud enough to be heard by all the people in an audience and amplification is required. An acoustic guitar can be amplified by placing a microphone several inches from the sound hole or by installing a pickup designed for acoustic guitars. The need for guitars that retain their acoustic qualities when plugged into an amp or PA has led to the invention of the electro-acoustic guitar.

Electric guitars

Gibson Les Paul.

The electric guitar is the workhorse of rock music and is also used extensively in blues, jazz and pop music. Electric guitars need to be plugged into an amplifier to be heard adequately. They are usually solid-body guitars but archtop electric guitars with hollow bodies are available which gives them some acoustic resonance (see below). The timbre of the electric guitar is not comparable to the timbre of an acoustic guitar. The pickups are vital to the sound of the guitar. The pickups and amplifier used with a solid-body electric guitar creates a sound that is metallic with a lengthy decay (sustain).

The design of the electric guitar is not determined by the need for a deep resonating body that acoustic guitars must possess and this had led to the development of contoured and thin electric guitars which can be more comfortable to play. The design variations amongst electric guitars allows them to produce a wide variety of tones. The two most popular basic shapes of the electric guitar are the Fender Stratocaster design and the Gibson Les Paul design. The strings of an electric guitar are thinner than the strings of an acoustic and closer to the neck; therefore less force is needed to press them down. The electric guitar is capable of producing sounds and effects that would be difficult on an acoustic. The ease of bending strings sometimes used in combination with a whammy bar has created some of the greatest modern guitar solos. Fret-tapping is an electric guitar technique that has led to a different way of using the fretboard; allowing chords and melody lines to be played that would have been impossible using the standard technique of strumming and fingerpicking.

The choice of amplifier is fundamental to the sound created and should be regarded as the second half of the guitar. See the Buying an Amplifier section for details. Seven-string electric guitars have a string above the low E string which is tuned to a B and lower in pitch than the low E. They are popular with guitarists who play metal music.

Electro Acoustic Guitar

Electro-acoustic guitars have pickups specifically designed for the subtle nuances of the timbre of the acoustic guitar. This allows electro-acoustics to be plugged into a PA and they are essential for many guitarists who rely on using the house PA when they gig. The Ovation range of electro-acoustics is a prime example of th e departure in design from ordinary acoustics. Ovation guitars use under-the-saddle piezo pickups and a synthetic bowl-back. Purists were derisory of Ovation's innovations but professional musicians found that the synthetic bowl-back provided a tough construction that stands up to the rigours of the road. Ovation were the first company to provide on-board equalization and this is now a standard feature found on most electro-acoustics. Electro-acoustic pickups are designed to sound neutral with little alteration to the organic acoustic timbre. Another famous electro-acoustic brand is the Taylor guitar range. Taylor uses the traditional all-wood construction and the necks of these guitars have a reputation for superb action and playability.

Twelve-string guitars

Two electric 12 strings. A Shergold Modulator 12 (top) and a Maton Magnetone TB36/12 (bottom); the latter is a copy of the Rickenbacker 360/12

The twelve-string is usually an acoustic though twelve-string electric guitars are available. Twelve-string guitars are not the same as double-neck guitars. Double-neck guitars are essentially two guitar necks bolted onto one body. Twelve-string guitars have the regular six strings and a second set of thinner strings with each string of the second set corresponding to the note of its regular string counterpart. The second set of strings are tuned an octave higher. The strings form pairs; so you still play the guitar in the same manner as a standard six-string.

Twelve-string guitars produce a brighter and more prominent tone and are harder to play than a standard six-string guitar. They are usually confined to niche roles, such as rhythm guitar. The additional strings require more pressure to press down and bending notes also requires an extra muscular effort. Twelve-string guitars are more expensive to buy than the standard acoustic or electric and may need more maintenance because of the strain the additional strings place on the neck.

Archtop guitars

Epiphone Emperor, an archtop design

An archtop is a hollow or semi-hollow acoustic or electric guitar which uses steel strings. The arched top creates a unique timbre and other elements taken from the design of the mandolin or violin also add to the distinctive tone of the archtop guitar. The body of the archtop guitar, whether hollow or semi-hollow, has a sound block in the middle and they also have violin f-holes cut into the table.

Archtop guitars may be acoustic or electric and can look very similar with the only distinguishing feature being an electromagnetic pickup. One problem with archtop hollow-bodied guitars is that when played through an amplifier they tend to generate feedback. The semi-hollow archtop was developed to make feedback less of an issue. Archtop guitars have been particularly popular in jazz music because their thicker strings add tone.

Some solid-body electric guitars have a body shape which includes the arched top but the name is usually reserved for the hollow/semi-hollow body form.

Steel guitars

KayEss Steel guitar in the Dobro style.

The steel guitar is unusual in that it is played horizontally, either across the players knees or on its own stand. There are two main varieties of the instrument, which are played using the metal slide, or 'steel' from which the guitar takes its name. The steel is held in the left hand, when used by a right-handed player. The two main variations are the lap steel guitar, which typically has six strings and the pedal steel guitar which can have more - sometimes two or even three separate sets; each tuned differently. Pedals and knee-levers are used to alter the tuning on particular strings whilst playing, which along with the sliding action of the steel, gives the pedal steel its distinctive voice which is most often heard in country music.

Resonator guitars

Often also called 'steel' guitars due to some models possessing metal bodies. The acoustic resonator guitar is distinctive in not having a regular sound hole. Resonator guitars have a large, usually circular—plate which conceals the resonator cone. The cone closely resembles an audio loudspeaker and is made from spun aluminium. The bridge of the guitar is connected either to the centre of the cone or to the edge by an aluminium 'spider' and the strings' vibrations are thus amplified and projected outwards through the perforated plate on the guitar's top. The most common resonator guitars have a single cone, although the original model has three. Resonators possess a loud, bright voice, making them easily heard in a large room or open air performance. They are popular with blues musicians and country players and can be played in the conventional style or with a metal or glass slide.

Bass guitars

The bass guitar has a longer scale-length and thicker strings than a standard guitar. These factors create a range of notes that are pitched an octave lower than the guitar. Often the bass is considered part of the rhythm section but there are some players whose skills are comparable to any other soloist. Acoustic and electric bass guitars are available but the electric bass is more common. The standard bass is the four string bass though five and six string basses are also manufactured. The four strings of the bass correspond to the lowest four strings of the guitar an octave lower.

Double-neck guitars

The double-neck guitar is basically two different kinds of guitar sharing one body. This design allows the guitarist to easily access and switch between either neck. Made famous by Jimmy Page, the double neck guitar typically will have a standard six-string neck and a twelve-string neck. Other combinations exist, such as a six-string and bass or a six-string with frets and its fretless version. Steve Vai has been known to play a triple-neck guitar. The double-neck guitar came about in the 1970s because of the changes in recording technology. The recording technology of the 1960s relied on only 4 tracks and multi-layered guitar parts, though possible, were not frequently used. The bands of the 1960s would usually have two guitarists and this achieved the desired affect. The invention of 8 track recording meant more freedom to create complex guitar parts. The guitarist could lay down the rhythm track using a twelve-string guitar and then record onto a separate track, the lead break using a six-string guitar. This left the problem of how a single guitarist could perform these parts live without stopping to change guitars and the double-neck guitar provided the solution.