EVH Gear introduces the EVH Striped Series, affordable production models of Van Halen’s famous striped Frankenstrat. The Mexico made EVH Striped Series made waves at the 2013 NAMM Show, making EVH’s stamp of approval more accessible to his legions of fans. Some call it an answered prayer, fans call it a granted wish and some even call it a dream come true, EVH guitars finally gave in to the Striped guitar request. In addition to finally seeing the stripes back, the production models come at a relatively affordable price – finally staying true to what made the Frankenstrat popular in the first place – a cheap personalized instrument that made great music. The Stripe Series come with a Stratocaster-style basswood body that features Eddie Van Halen’s Striped Graphics in three variations. The three color schemes include a neat looking black with yellow stripes, a white with black stripes and black pickguard model, and the more popular red with black and white stripes finish. Black with Yellow Stripes The body is connected to a reinforced maple neck that features a compound-radius maple fingerboard (12″-16″) built to Eddie’s preference. It has 22 jumbo frets, black dot inlays and a Thumbwheel truss rod

Greg Howe gets a new signature guitar from Carvin Guitars called the GH24, built to the virtuoso’s specifications. Related Feature:Carvin NZ624 Neil Zaza Signature Described by Greg as the coolest guitar he has ever owned, the GH24 is built by the company’s USA based Custom Shop following exacting details as he requested – from the chambered body, to the pickups, and down to the special metal alloy fret wires. Unlike other signature guitars where the artist only provide some input if not only giving their approval, the GH24 is built as a true personalized guitar for the Greg. He mentioned that this is the first time that he worked extensively with a custom guitar company that is willing to address all his detailed requests. The guitar starts off with a super strat inspired design, featuring a double cutaway alder body with a bolt-on maple neck. But as expected, the design is not as straightforward as conventional builds, having unique features that will set it apart from other similar shred friendly axes. First off its unique features is the chambered body design, something that’s not usually done on alder body guitars. According to the company, this chambering is added to help

Gibson introduces the Peter Frampton “Phenix” 1954 Les Paul Custom, only available in very limited numbers. Related Feature:Gibson Brian Ray SG Standard This guitar is a limited run reproduction of the Grammy winning guitarist’s 1954 Les Paul Custom, considered by many as among the most recognized in rock guitar history, having been the guitar he used in the popular “Frampton Comes Alive!” album, along with the many other albums of which Peter was the session player. Interestingly, this signature guitar would have never been possible because Frampton’s original and heavily modified 1954 Les Paul Custom was presumed lost when the cargo plane that it was traveling on crashed in Venezuela in 1980. Thankfully, Peter got the guitar back after 22 years, and was restored. Gibson Custom then got the permission to precisely measure every detail of the guitar, and proceeded to painstakingly re-create it along with the appearance of age. They came up with 35 collectible guitars, that according to the company are, “the closest you can possibly come to owning one of the world’s most iconic Les Pauls.” The guitar’s body is crafted from mahogany, finished in black, following traditional Les Paul Custom designs. To faithfully reproduce the burns,

Reverend Guitars decided to coat their versatile Gil Parris Signature Guitar in transparent red for a limited release.   There will be sixteen of these red axes produced, with all of them numbered and available to from their dealers worldwide. The Gil Parris Signature from Reverend Guitars were created to match Gil’s versatility. Since his style fuses jazz, rock, funk and country – he wanted a guitar that can handle all of this styles – this resulted in a very versatile instrument.   Gil wanted an affordable, unique looking signature guitar that will meet his needs – it has to have a standout look, it has to be versatile and gig ready out of the box – and it should sell for less than $1000. And the genie behind Reverend guitars gave him what he wished for. To create a versatile guitar, Reverend went with two humbuckers and a Lace Sensor single-coil middle pickup. The Lace Sensor pickup works well with the humbuckers and gives you a wide variety of tone options – like having a Les Paul and Strat hybrid. The guitar also features a 5-way pickup selector and a bass contour knob that widens your sound even further.

Inspired by the technology, style, and spirit of the famed Italian “supercar” manufacturer, Blackbird Guitars' brings you the limited-edition Ferrari-branded “Rider”. The ultra-rare Ferrari Blackbird guitars were sold at Ferrari Stores worldwide and signed by F1 drivers Philipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. Based on Blackbird Guitars' high-performance Rider travel guitar, it is the first instrument fit for the Ferrari namesake. Like Ferrari, it is a study in superlatives—among the most resonant, durable and lightest guitars in the world. The Rider travel guitar is compact enough to fit in the trunk of a sports car, but it plays and sounds like a much bigger instrument. It looks like nothing else on the market: sleek, black carbon fiber speaks to the high-tech materials and construction while the exclusive Maranello Red interior, accented red A string, and Ferrari Scuderia emblem highlights the passion of world-class Italian motoring. Blackbird Guitars blends traditional guitar-making with design and construction inspired by Formula 1 race cars. The guitar features a one-piece, hollow neck, carbon fiber construction—and a unique sound port at the head directly influenced by F1 race car design. The high-performance Ferrari pedigree is more than just show—designer and Blackbird founder Joe Luttwak worked for the

Two new lefties from G&L – There is the L-2000 Lefty for bass players and the Legacy Lefty. Let's take a look: L-2000 “Lefty” PICKUPS 2 Fullerton-made G&L Magnetic Field Design humbucking pickups BODY WOOD Swamp Ash NECK WOOD Hard Rock Maple with Rosewood fingerboard NECK RADIUS 12″ (304.8mm) NECK WIDTH AT NUT 1 3/4″ (44.5mm) TUNING KEYS Open-back traditional tuners BRIDGE G&L Saddle Lock bridge with nickel plated die-cast saddles. CONTROLS G&L Tri-Tone active/passive electronics, 3-way mini-toggle pickup selector, series/parallel mini-toggle, preamp control mini-toggle (off/on/on with high frequency EQ boost) FINISH Natural Gloss OTHER G&L Deluxe Gig Bag included in USA (Outside USA please contact your G&L distributor for availability) Legacy “Lefty” PICKUPS 3 Fullerton-made G&L vintage style Alnico V single coil pickups BODY WOOD Swamp Ash NECK WOOD Hard Rock Maple with Rosewood fingerboard NECK RADIUS 12″ (304.8mm) NECK WIDTH AT NUT 1 5/8″ (41.3mm) TUNING KEYS 18:1 ratio, sealed-back BRIDGE G&L Dual Fulcrum vibrato with nickel plated die-cast saddles CONTROLS 5 position pickup selector, volume, PTB system FINISH 3-Tone Sunburst with Tortoise Shell pickguard OTHER G&L Deluxe Gig Bag included in USA (Outside USA please contact your G&L distributor for availability) Website: www.glguitars.com

Line 6 is offering a new recording solution package, featuring the Variax 300 Electric modeling guitar (comes in Black or Sunburst colors) and the award-winning POD xt Live. Also included is the Variax Digital Interface Cable, giving you endless possibilities for your guitar sound. Pictured: Variax 300 and POD xt Live Choose from any of the 25 acoustic and electric models built into Variax 300 Electric and combine them with any of the amp and effect models in PODxt Live. With the Variax Digital Interface Cable, your Variax 300 Electric and PODxt Live will open the doors to your creative freedom. Now you can change entire rigs, including your guitar, with the press of a footswitch – talk about convenience. You can play a jumbo acoustic guitar with some light reverb one second, instantly switching to a solid-body electric through a high octane half-stack the next. Related News: Line 6 JTV-69S Guitar Click here to see our recommended Electric Guitar Packages  

BG Pups has announced they have released three new humbucker pickup models: Smoke Stacks, P.U.F, and Lizard. “All pickups are made with the highest quality parts and the utmost care is given to the creation of my pickups. All of my pickups are hand wound and assembled by myself in my Northern California workshop” Bryan Gunsher said. P.U.F: Described as the most vintage sounding set made by BG Pups, they are modeled off a classic PAF tone. “The neck is warm with nice bloom. Great cleans and creamy lead tones. The bridge has that classic crunch with lots of definition and cuts nicley. This set is wired with single conductor vintage braided wire, uses an A4 magnet and is unpotted” states the product website. $75.99ea. Smoke Stacks: “This set is similar to my BG Bucker neck and BG Dark bridge but has more grit and attitude. They still have nice openess and split very well. This set is wired 4conductor for spliting, uses an A4 magnet and is lightly potted.” $75.99ea. Lizard “This is the warmest cleanest pup I make. Great for any type of music using clean tones. It's warm, fat and buttery. Does chord work as well as

Blade Guitars' Gary Levinson has worked as a submarine geologist on some of the most beautiful reefs in the world, from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to the reef walls of the Red Sea. Now, to celebrate the company's 20th anniversary, he has created an inlay pattern of fish and starfish that inhabit these wonderful underwater worlds. RH4-Custom with Starfish Inlay Each inlay has been hand-drawn by Gary and combined into a flowing pattern of abalone pearl to illustrate his passion for the reef. Inlaid in the finest ebony fingerboards, the Star-Fish custom inlays adorn several Blade 20th anniversary models including special editions of the RH-4 California Custom and the Durango Custom. Finished in a hand-rubbed honey lacquer, the RH-4 features a superb, solid broadleaf maple body and is supplied with a Blade High Impact Soft Case. Website: www.bladeguitars.com This is a Press Release

Peavey has introduced the new JR Special electric guitar, an exclusive Peavey Custom Shop signature model co-designed by guitarist Josh Rand of thee-time Grammy-nominated rock powerhouse Stone Sour. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the JR Special will benefit wounded U.S. soldiers via the Wounded Warrior Project. A flattop, basswood electric guitar based on the award-winning Peavey HP Special, the new JR Special is outfitted with a DiMarzio PAF Joe humbucking pickup in the neck position and a DiMarzio X2N humbucker in the bridge position, with the patented Peavey Dual Compression tailpiece and a bolt-on maple neck. Even more striking, however, is the unique artwork: the new official U.S. Army digiflage camouflage pattern with a satin finish, applied using the patented ArtGuitar printing process and the Custom Graphics portal at www.peaveycustomshop.com. “When I heard about what Peavey was doing with their new Custom Shop, I asked them to send me a couple of HP Specials, a flat top and a carved top,” said Rand. “They sounded great and felt great, and the construction was awesome. My tech and I were impressed, and I started discussing doing a signature model with Peavey. “My signature JR Special is the

Gibson introduces the Slash Signature Rosso Corsa Les Paul, a name that translates to “Racing Red”, which describes the guitar’s finish. This guitar features Slash approved specs and embellishments, along with two Seymour Duncan Slash Signature humbuckers. Related Feature:Gibson Slash Rosso Corsa Les Paul The main feature of this guitar is its Rosso Corsa finish, a deep transparent-red nitrocellulose lacquer finish that highlights the guitar’s Grade-AAA flamed maple top. This top is supported by the guitar’s mahogany body, which follows traditional LP shape and features weight relief. To better showcase the guitar’s hand-sprayed finish, the Rosso Corsa Les Paul does not have a pickguard. The neck is carved from solid, quarter-sawn mahogany, glued into the body and featuring Slash’s preferred neck profile – ’60s SlimTaper. The fretboard is made of Grade-A rosewood and features trapezoid inlays and 22 medium-jumbo frets. Both the fretboard and body are bound in vintage cream, upping the visuals some more. The headstock comes with the famous skull and hat graphic to complete the guitar’s signature look. To get the sound that he wants, Slash and Gibson equipped this signature guitar with two Seymour Duncan Slash Signature Humbuckers. These pickups are based on 50’s era PAF

The Alternative Guitar and Amplifier Company have released the Smiling Bull and Yoey guitar models. Featuring 25 inch scale heelless maple set necks, the Smiling Bull also features figured maple highlights, maple top and maple headplate. Both have solid bodies constructed from Agathis, ebony fingerboard, 2-way trussrod, tulip tuners, mother of pearl parallelogram inlays, genuine bone nut and 24 nickel frets. The Smiling Bull In addition, the Smiling Bull has a set bridge with strings thro’ body, while the Yoey features a Kahler bridge. Other common features are two EMG-HZ humbucking pickups, 2 volume and 2 tone controls, pickup selector switch, plus all chrome hardware. Finished in red, the Yoey is also available in black or ivory, while the Smiling Bull comes in transparent red, blue, amber and cherry sunburst. The Yoey This is a Press Release

Just a few months after releasing the Rosso Corsa Les Paul, Slash gets another signature guitar – the Vermillion Les Paul. Related Feature:Gibson Slash Rosso Corsa Les Paul This new release has the same specs as the previously released version, the only difference being its lighter transparent red finish. The number of signature guitars under his name continues to grow, and it got me thinking: either Slash signatures sell ridiculously well, or the guys at Gibson are ultra-die-hard fans. Either way we have to thank them because these back to back signature releases give guitarists something interesting to look at and talk about. Like the Rosso Corsa, the Vermillion follows the typical Les Paul build, featuring a mahogany body topped with carved maple and paired with a mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard. What sets it apart from the bulk of other LP models is the attention to detail applied on the guitar, both on the aesthetics and the build, in order to get the approval of the artist. The profile of the body and the neck is also the same as the Limited Run Rosso Corsa, featuring Gibson’s traditional weight relief system on the body, slim ’60s neck profile and

This guitar has been designed for those who want all three of the authentic 1954 single coil sounds, as well as powerful modern humbucker versions of that charismatic bright twang and grit. Since the 1970s, replacing the neck single coil pickup of T like guitars with a humbucker has been a popular customization. But such guitars then suffer from the loss of the original neck pickup voice. The humbucker tends to sound like a different voice. The T3 overcomes these problems by using 3 vintage replica single coil pickups, and using them with innovative control circuits to create both vintage correct T voices and closely related fuller humbucker voices. An original designed body of selected korina or mahogany hard tone-woods features a wrap-around bridge providing longer sustain and rich woody tone. The scratch-plate is 6mm solid figured maple, not cheap plastic, creating more musical resonance with long sustain as well as beauty. During development a vintage “ash-tray” style bridge was tried and had inferior sustain and tone to the chosen wraparound bridge. The T3 has 3 different voice modes. In each mode there are 3 different pickup selections from neck to bridge. 1) Vintage compatible. The neck and/or bridge pickups