Jimmy Page Gibson Les Paul No 2

(Video below - www.guitarheroesgear.com)

Jimmy Page is probably the most famous Les Paul player in history. Gibson have now replicated his No.2 Les Paul. Jimmy Page has 2 1959 Les Paul's, 2 holy grails, and not only that, only he had the balls to modify them both, but the value of a Les Paul owned, played and modified by the grand master himself is definitely worth more than an original Gibson Les Paul 1959.

Gibson being the company they are have done it again, now having replicated both of Jimmy Pages Les Paul's.

"the artist's hallowed "Number Two" Les Paul is available to mere mortals"

 Even though this Les Paul is amazing Gibson as always get criticized again for it's through the roof prices, and claiming that its available"mere mortals" has been received with negativity, as the cheapest VOS version comes to a whooping $11,176. Well, I like many are still just dreaming about getting a Les Paul full stop, let alone this masterpiece, and when I do get a Les Paul maybe dare to get the pickups looking like Page's and some Grovers.

Jimmy modified both his guitars to have push and pull knobs and extra switches to enable coil splitting and phase-reverse options, the fact that these kind of knobs are available is due to Jimmy Pages informativeness for search of tone through his favourite guitar. Other mods include Grover tuners, Page claims that they are more sensitive and stable, and with the extra weight on the headstock it gives a bit more sustain.

After seeing Gibson's new release I found a clip of Jimmy talking about his No 1 1959 Gibson Les Paul, theis video has been around for a while dunno how I missed it before:

White Hofner Violin Icon Bass Limited Edition

(Video below - www.guitarheroesgear.com)

Has anyone seen a Hofner violin bass in white? Hofner violin basses from the 60's have gone up in value, same as alot of vintage guitars. The Hofner violin bass was made famous by Paul McCartney from The Beatles and anyone who uses it can't escape the comparison and announcing that they are a Paul McCartney fan when using the Hofner violin bass.

I first saw a WHITE violin shaped guitar from Paul Gilbert who asked Ibanez to make him one, of course he was influenced by Paul McCartney's original sunburst Hofner Violin bass aswell. Hofner produced it's icon series and produced alternative colours as limited editions, one of the colours was white, and with the pearloid like scratch plate, I had to get one. The picture is of my personal bass which I just got. I'm so proud and excited about my purchase I wanted to tell the world, so I'm using this site, hope everyone doesn't mind.

Why I got the White Hofner Icon violin bass
After joining as the bassist for a band I needed a bass, and wanted something to stand out. My first thought was for a Fender P bass, it's a classic and can't go wrong, but it's so common I wanted something different, sure the playability and tone of the Fender P bass was gonna be a sure bet, but it wasn't for me. The next iconic bass that came to mind was Musicman stingray bass, now this is a seriously cool bass, but as I just started as a bassist I didn't want to fork out so much money, I haven't even got my Les Paul yet! Then thinking back to my bass heroes I looked up Hofner violin basses and came across the Limited Edition Hofner icon bass in white. No hesitation, bought it, in the post, and now arrived. Love it.

As I mentioned the Paul Gilbert white violin 6 string by Ibanez, and after all the site is about guitar heroes and there gear, heres a video clip:

Gibson Dusk Tiger - Marble Wood?

Gibson are stepping it up with their robot guitars, and seem like the only company that's releasing new ones relentlessly, Gibson guitars are definitely trying to get the market for robot guitars before everyone else jumps on board. Has anyone seen the new Gibson Dusk Tiger Les Paul!!!! Without even knowing about what it can do, it looks gorgeous!!

ToneWood
The choice of wood that Gibson chose for the Dusk Tiger Les Paul is no doubt due to it's looks, marble wood top, not commonly used on guitars, it reminds me of a tiger that's for sure, it must be able to give a decent tone aswell, Gibson wouldn't be that stupid to use that wood just for looks would they? Luckily the back is mahogany(more of a traditional tonewood) to retain the more tried and tested tone you would expect from a high quality guitar.

The rest of the updates apart from the looks are electronics, from a quick read of the Gibson website the tweaks are hard to judge without playing it and knowing what the previous robot guitars can do, I predict a slow and steady progress for the usability and function from the electronics and eventually when looking back at the first gen models we'll be wondering how we did without these new features. Just like when I got the original Zoom 505, I thought it was the most amazing thing ever (and it's still good), but now technology has developed so much that the original Zoom 505 is obsolete. Well anyway congratulations to Gibson for developing the way guitars are made.

John Petrucci 2009 gear and interview - Black Clouds and Silver Linings

(Video below - www.guitarheroesgear.com)

Guitar World give us a another great interview with a shredding hero, John Petrucci. John Pwtrucci talks about how he gets ideas for riffs and songs for his new album"Black Clouds and Silver Linings" and the gear he used in the new album. Guitar consist of his signature Musicman's, now he has a standard version, baritone version and a 7 string version that he can use, so for any sound he wanted he could use his signature guitars. For amps John Petrucci used Mesa Boogie Mark C2+ for most the album.