Oakland Axe Factory unveils the Falcon, a customizable headless electric guitar available in 6/7/8 string configurations. Related Feature:Electric Guitar DIY Kits Like their previous offerings, the Falcon is available in open selection where you can put together your preferred pickups and hardware to build your own personalized electric guitar. With it’s headless design, this electric guitar is as efficient and practical as it gets without sacrificing playability and tone. Compared to regular electric guitars, the Falcon will look stripped down, but this is only true of the wood mass, weight and size because the company aims to provide the same functionality, playability and tone. According to the company, “The goal behind the Falcon was to make a guitar that pushes the boundaries, yet feels familiar and comfortable…” To achieve this, Oakland Axe Factory decided to use a sleek shallow C-profile neck, and paired with a deep contoured body. To ensure comfort, the top of the body is carved while the back has rounded edges. The body shape is designed to avoid any hard edges, especially in places where the guitar comes into contact with your forearm or your body. Even the belly cut is designed to hug your chest, along

Dean Zelinsky Guitars unveil the John Winter Signature, a dual humbucker guitar with custom engraved top. Related Feature:Great Electric Guitars for under $500 This is based on the same guitar that Zelinsky made for the popular blues guitarist, which Winter used on many of his performances, until his untimely passing in July of 2014. The most notable feature of this signature guitar is its highly engraved flame maple top, which was specially designed for Johnny. The top looks like a fine piece of furniture with wood carvings, and has his name prominently engraved on the part where the right arm meets the body. It’s hard to miss the details of the carvings, which makes this instrument visually stand out when compared to conventional guitars. The engraved Canadian rock maple top is set on top of a thin mahogany body that follows the shape of traditional single cutaway electric guitars. This thin body is described as being really light, while still having the look and appeal of old heavy instruments. Finally, the body is wrapped in high gloss dark walnut finish to complete the signature guitar’s earthy appeal. Dean Zelinsky shared the story behind the signature guitar, he said, “I am

PRS Guitars introduce the McCarty 594, a core production version of the February guitar of the month Private Stock 594. Related Feature:PRS John Mayer Private Stock Super Eagle The McCarty 594 gets its name from its distinct scale length of 24.594″, a departure from the usual 25″ and 24.5″ scale necks that they use on many of their popular guitar models. PRS describes the new McCarty 594 as vintage inspired, and this is justified with the the guitar’s cosmetics, attention to details and its four knob configuration. And this classic style control configuration, along with the coil split capable circuit and the use of a shorter scale length makes this guitar distinct from other PRS models. They also describe the McCarty 594 as having modern playability, and this can be attributed to the two 58/15 LT pickups that are wired to push/pull coil taps on the tone control. This means that you can enjoy both humbucker and single-coil sounds, without the inherent hum and noise found on regular single-coil pickups. The dedicated volume and tone knobs also allow for more control over the sound of each pickup, and allow for interesting blends. The resulting tone is described as having a

Guild reintroduces the Starfire VI, the flagship model for their double cutaway semi-hollow electric guitar line. Related Feature:Guild Starfire V with Bigsby This new release is part of the continued expansion of the Starfire line, and showcases the company’s renewed interest in developing their electric guitar line up further. The Starfire models are obviously inspired by another popular guitar maker, but they are subtly different, enough for vintage specimens to be highly sought after. Even popular guitarists like John Mayer have used them on stage, and so having them reproduced today as production models is an easy call for the company, especially since they are now under Cordoba. As expected, the new Starfire VI follows after the Newark St. Collection’s Starfire V production model, carrying over the same double-cutaway body shape but with more cosmetic bling. The body itself is crafted from AAA flamed maple top, back and sides, which means that each plank is chosen for their grain quality. Following traditional semi-hollow designs, it comes with a solid centerblock. The neck is crafted from a three-piece maple/walnut/maple combination with a bound rosewood fingerboard. There is no mention of the neck profile yet, but if it follows that of the

The RJ Super Vintage is an electric guitar that can switch between five popular guitars without built-in DSP modeling. Related Feature: Best Semi-Hollow Guitars The guitar company from the Philippines designed this new 5-in-1 model to reproduce the tone of five iconic guitars that cover multiple musical styles, including the Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Fender Jazzmaster, Gibson Les Paul, and the Gibson ES335. The story goes that this guitar was released locally in 2014, and is now getting a worldwide release this year in time for the 2016 NAMM Trade Show. This move to export the guitar is said to be inspired by UK endorsers and positive user and expert reviews. The RJ Super Vintage guitar itself looks pretty straightforward, but it does have a unique appeal to it. What makes it special however are the special switching electronics and custom hand wound pickups that allow for on-the-fly voicing changes. Instead of copying the look of the five guitars that it is trying to reproduce, the guitar looks more like something inspired by Rickenbacker, with a semi-hollow double cutaway body. The body is crafted from locally sourced Philippine mango wood, which may not be a popular tonewood, but it does

Knaggs Guitars introduce the Severn X, their latest hand-built Super Strat style guitar with proprietary Hinge tremolo. Related Feature:Best Electric Guitars for under $1000 This new guitar is based on the original Severn model, carrying over the same body shape with some adjustments and improvements done to the hardware installed and the neck playing feel. The company describes this new release as a modern update to the Severn model, designed to challenge other Super Strat style guitars in the market with its versatile tone, improved sustain and fast string action. And since this guitar is built by Joe Knaggs, you can expect it to be quite a challenger, considering his experience with similarly designed guitars. Joe was once part of PRS, and not just a part, but the head of their R & D department for some years. He even became the head of PRS’ Private Stock department, which meant that he had a hand on almost every Private Stock the company built during his time, as evidenced by his signature being found on the COAs and headstocks of these guitars. As expected, the Severn X guitar carries some PRS elements with it, but it offers important distinctions that helped

PRS unveils limited run guitar in time for the 2016 Experience PRS event, it features an expanded control layout with mini-switches for coil splitting. Related Feature:PRS McCarty 594 This guitar commemorates the 8th Experience PRS Event, incorporating the intuitive switching system found on the PRS 408 model into the Custom 24 design, hence the name Custom 24-08. The Custom 24 is easily the most easily identifiable PRS guitar, it debuted at the first NAMM Show the company attended in 1985, and has since evolved into different variations. The Experience PRS 2016 Custom 24-08 is the latest iteration of this design, a limited run release that is meant to commemorate the recently concluded Experience PRS 2016 event. The most curious feature of this guitar is the addition of two mini-toggle switches that let you control the coil splitting of the two 85/15 Multi-Tap pickups. This in conjunction with the 3-way blade pickup selector switch expands the pickup combination that you can get from this guitar to eight, which is quite a lot for a dual humbucker equipped guitar. You can go from humbucker to single-coil and mix them as you please via the switches. PRS Guitars President Jack Higginbotham said, “As

PRS unveils their August Guitar of the Month, the Private Stock Custom 24 8-string with Seymour Duncan Alpha and Omega pickups. Related Feature:PRS SE Mark Holcomb Signature The Private Stock department of PRS was born after the company finished their “Guitar of the Month” special releases in 1996. So it is only fitting that they celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Private Stock with a year long release of limited run Guitar of the Month models, which include this new Custom 24 8-String. The new PRS Private Stock Custom 24 8-String guitar is inspired by the 8-string that PRS co-designed with one of their artist endorsers, Mark Holocomb of Periphery. It will only be available within the month of August, and only 8 will be produced for the month, so it sure will be an exclusive release. PRS Director of Private Stock Paul Miles said, “When we were building Mark Holcomb’s 8-string model, the Private Stock team knew it was something special that we wanted to explore in The Guitars of the Month program. With each Guitar of the Month model, we celebrate our 20th Anniversary of Private Stock by exploring new designs and exceptional materials. The results are heirloom quality

The new CE 24 Standard Satin is PRS’ follow up to the bolt-on neck model that they re-introduced earlier this year. Related Feature:PRS CE 24 After almost a decade of absence, PRS has brought back the CE 24 guitar, with its bolt-on neck design. The announcement and release was made earlier this year, but it looks like they are not yet done because before the year even ends, a second model has already been announced, this time carrying a different finish and a more traditional wood configuration. While bolt-on necks are nothing special for many manufacturers, especially in the entry level market, it is a rarity among PRS guitars. So when they finally brought back the bolt-on neck model earlier this year, many were interested, so much so that PRS had to release a second model after just a few months. PRS mentions that their breed of bolt-on neck guitars are meant to deliver sound and feel of traditional bolt-on guitar, while introducing their level of sound quality and playability. And it’s not surprising that many were interested, especially when considering that many guitar players learned on traditional bolt-on neck guitars themselves. The PRS CE 24 Standard Satin carries over

PRS Guitars introduces the new Mark Tremontii Baritone Limited Edition model, with a longer 25.5″ scale length. Related Feature:PRS SE Mark Holcomb Signature Longtime PRS endorser Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alter Bridge fame gets another signature guitar under his belt – a long scale “Baritone” guitar variation of his original signature guitar that makes the instrument viable for down-tuning to C#, which is Mark’s preferred tuning. Much of this limited version is based on Tremonti’s signature PRS model, including the body shape and the hardware used. But what sets it apart is its longer 25.5″ scale length which prevents buzzing when tuning down the guitar. To be specific, this configuration will let you swap out the “wound” G string for a thinner non-wound one, and do so without encountering unwanted buzzing and fret noise. And since the G-string is now non-wound, the Tremonti Baritone LE configuration allows for bending the 3rd string, much like you would on a standard tuning guitar. This translates to more solo and riff options for Mark, and other guitarists who will get perfect fit with an aggressive, articulate tone limited run instrument. The guitar’s body is crafted from mahogany and figured maple for the

PRS introduces the SE Mark Holcomb Signature, a 25.5″ scale guitar with Seymour Duncan Alpha & Omega pickups. Related Feature:PRS John Mayer Super Eagle This guitar is based on the previously released US-made PRS Mark Holcomb Limited Run, following its shape and specs, albeit produced in a way that’s more cost efficient. This release makes the signature guitar more accessible and affordable, giving more guitarists and fans of the artists the chance to take one home. Mark Holcomb is known for his “Djent” metal guitar style with his band “Periphery”. He is known to employ complex rhythmic patterns and interesting melodies into their tracks, and does so on his PRS guitar. Thanks to Periphery’s popularity, a relationship between PRS and Mark has formed, resulting in a premium limited run instrument. This time around, the company and the artist have joined forces yet again to create this new production line model. This signature guitar extends the brand’s reach into metal music territory further, especially with the lower price point. And it serves as a testament to how versatile the brand can be, able to provide instruments for artists that play widely different styles. According to Mark Holcomb, “With my SE signature