Fender Custom Shop introduces the limited edition Tom Petty Kingman, a black dreadnought with Strat style headstock. Related Feature:Fender Kingman Pro Custom Bolt-On This acoustic and Stratocaster hybrid is built to reflect the style and specs preferences of the artist, bearing his signature on the soundhole label and on the back of the headstock. Best known as the lead vocalist for the Heartbreakers, an as a founding member of the Traveling Wilburys, Tom Petty has quite a number of hits under his belt. With a career that now spans five decades, it should go without saying that he knows what he wants when it comes to his guitars. Now Fender and Tom have come up with a premium signature acoustic guitar, set for a very limited production run. According to the press release, all of Petty’s proceeds from each instrument sale will benefit the non-profit organization Heal EB, an organization dedicated to researching and identifying treatment strategies for Epidermolysis Bullosa. The guitars are also meant to help raise awareness of the disease. As expected, Petty’s signature Kingman is quite the eye candy, with a dreadnought body wrapped in nitro gloss black finish. The body is built using premium tonewoods, featuring

Fender introduces the new Brown Derby Resonator, combining traditional design with a Tele-shaped headstock. Related Feature: Fender Tom Petty Kingman Signature This new guitar is part of the two new acoustic models that the company added to their resonator line, which now offers six models to choose from. As the name implies, this particular model comes with a brown stain finish that gives the guitar a vintage appeal. Unlike traditional Resonators, this one retains the playability of regular acoustic guitars. This reduces the learning curve required to play the instrument and makes it ideal for guitarists that want to try Resonators, or want to add its sonic palette into their music. While the sound of this instrument is truly distinct, the C-shaped mahogany neck wand rosewood fretboard with 16″ radius is designed to be familiar and comfortable for guitarists of all levels. With its 25″ scale length, 20 vintage style frets and 1.73″ nutwidth, minimal if not zero adjustment to your fretting hand will be required to play this guitar properly – unless ofcourse you’re learning to play the slide. And speaking of slide, the maple-topped body comes with a special Eastern European “Continental” cone that is built using hand-spun

The Fender Tim Armstrong HC, Rancid guitarist’s signature acoustic-electric, is now available in limited edition Ghost White finish. Related Feature:Fender Tom Petty Kingman Signature This guitar follows the style of ’60s era Fender acoustic that Tim Armstrong himself used to write many of the classic punk rock songs of the now iconic West Coast punk band Rancid. This Ghost White finish version does not stray far from the design and specs of the other Hellcat (HC) acoustic-electric models. It features the same concert-style body and carryies over the same raw materials, build techniques and aesthetic elements. More importantly, this signature guitar comes with the same affordable price tag as the original model. To give the guitar a warmer tone that fits rock and punk – Fender and Tim Armstrong opted for a solid mahogany top supported by thinner than usual scalloped braces. The back and sides are crafted from laminated mahogany, which form the “concert” style body shape of the Hellcat series. This combination results in improved top resonance, enhancing the overall tone of the instrument. The body is wrapped in aged white binding to give it a vintage appeal. The guitar has a maple neck, carved into “C” shape

Fender introduces the Wayne Kramer “Royal Tone” Dreadnought CE acoustic-electric guitar, co-designed by the MC5 guitarist himself. Related Feature: Fender Kingman Pro Custom Bolt-On This affordable instrument has a vintage appeal, featuring a classic vintage sunburst finish, aged white binding and the white pearloid Filgree inlays. Wayne was going for a classic look when they were designing his signature acoustic, as evidenced by the finish that he went with, vintage sunburst top with dark brown stained back and sides. He also looked at old Fender headstock shapes until he found one that he was happy with. The resulting instrument successfully hides its modern production genesis with its classic appeal. The body of the guitar features laminated spruce top with laminated mahogany back and sides, combined into a familiar dreadnought with cutaway shape. Aside from the aged white binding, the guitar features specially a designed rosette on the top, and a rope line on the back – both adding to the guitar’s visuals. The neck is made of mahogany and is carved into a soft “V” profile. Kramer specified that the guitar should come with a rosewood fretboard, having a nut width of 1.69″, fingerboard radius of 11.81″ and scale length

Willcox Guitars introduces “Atlantis” acoustic-electric guitar, featuring innovative LightWave optical pickups. Related Feature:Best Acoustic Guitar Amps! Instead of using conventional magnetic pickups, mics and piezo electronics, this special pickup system utilizes infrared light technology to capture guitar tone. It will be put to the test and will be on display at the upcoming Summer NAMM Show 2015 in Nashville, TN. Wilcox Guitars have been developing this guitar and optical pickup technology for years now, its latest incarnation is now ready to take the spotlight and be inspected by curious industry people and participants at the coming 2015 Summer NAMM Show, which will be held from July 9 to July 11, 2015. Their proprietary pickup design is interesting because it can sense string vibration via infrared technology, utilizing the resulting shadow to detect movements of the strings, and transforming these movements into acoustic guitar tone. The company says that this results in a “rich, natural amplified acoustic guitar sound, rich in harmonic content – without the feedback of mics or the harshness of piezo pickups.” Another important distinction that the LightWave Optical Pickup brings is its enhanced sensitivity and wide dynamic range. This allows the pickup to capture subtle nuances and

Washburn Guitars introduces the latest addition to their Vintage Series, the WJ130EK jumbo acoustic-electric guitar. As part of the Washburn’s Vintage Series, this guitar is designed to recreate the look of old Washburn guitars manufactured in the late 19th and early 20th century. The vintage tone of this big bodied guitar is supplied by its traditional Sitka Spruce top using quartersawn scalloped bracing for support. The soundhole features an abalone rosette and the body is wrapped by a cream multi-lam binding that come with rope purfling details. Just by looking at the pictures, you can see that aesthetics is an important aspect of this guitar’s design. Rosewood seems to be a good part of the guitar’s motif, the guitar has a rosewood capped headstock, a rosewood bridge, and its 24.75″ scale mahogany neck is topped by a rosewood fretboard. These rosewood elements are embellished with pearl designs, including the Washburn logo and the matching pearl snow flake inlays that grace the instruments 20 fret neck. Adding to its vintage look is its Distressed Wilkinson brass butter bean tuners which were purposely selected to match the guitar’s “aged” finish. It also has bone compensated saddles and a bone nut. Finally, the