Gibson introduce Randy Rhoads Les Paul Custom

With an impressive two songs in Gibson.com’s Top 50 Guitar Solos of All Time (“Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley”) and a legion of fans still worshiping his unparalleled shredding abilities 28 years after his blazing career was cut short, Randy Rhoads is firmly established as one of the brightest stars in the metal-guitar heavens. After forming Quiet Riot while still in his teens, Rhoads stepped up his game when Ozzy Osbourne asked him to audition for his own band in 1979. Along came Rhoads, a practice amp in one hand, and his beloved 1974 Les Paul Custom in the other – and before the young guitarist had even finished his warm-up licks, Osbourne told him “you’ve got the gig.” What followed was an amazing ascent, but a too-swift ending, which earned Randy Rhoads a unique place in rock history.

To honor this achievement, Gibson Custom is releasing the Randy Rhoads 1974 Les Paul Custom, an instrument crafted in the image of Rhoads’s own much-loved, much-played instrument, and limited to only 100 hand-aged and 200 VOS guitars. Don’t be fooled by the light yellow color in the live shot. Gibson artisans have worked closely with the Rhoads family to perfectly reproduce the exact rich amber color of the original guitar. Rendered in period detail, the Randy Rhoads 1974 Les Paul Custom captures all the fire and aggression of this hard-rock favorite of the early ’70s, including numerous details that were particular to the model’s production for a relatively short period of time. Specific woods, pickups and dimensions have been painstakingly recreated by Gibson Custom, and the precise look of Rhoads’s own guitar also has been captured. One hundred examples of the Randy Rhoads 1974 Les Paul Custom will be hand-aged by Gibson Custom to match the playing wear and road abuse experienced by the star’s guitar, while another 200 will be treated to Gibson Custom’s VOS process to present the look of a gently aged instrument. All in all, this is the closest any fan, player or collector can get to owning Rhoads’s own guitar… without owning Rhoads’s own guitar. Click Here for more information

“Queen of Indie-Rock” on tour with Stompin’Bass

“Queen of Indie-Rock” on tour with Stompin’Bass

Heather’s European tour starts October, 1st in Belgium.

Heather Nova was born in Bermuda. She started her career in the early 1990s. She has played over 600 concerts, sold over 2 million albums and has a career of 20 years in the music industry.
In 1994 Heather entered the studio to record her breakthrough album. “Oyster” which received a wide release and was followed by a World tour that ended in 1996.

With the release of South (2001), she returned to the international spotlight with an appearance on the soundtrack of the John Cusack movie Serendipity, she appeared on the U.S Platinum album soundtrack to the Sean Penn Movie “I am Sam” and sung on ‘The Crow’. Its music video proved so popular that it was played on America’s MTV.

In 2008, Heather released an album called The Jasmine Flower, a solar powered acoustic album recorded in Bermuda, before touring as an acoustic tour. In 2010 she recorded a full band album and is about to tour again.

For more information please visit Heather’s website.

The Stompin’ Bass is available Online and in your local music shop

Gibson Launch John Lennon’s Ltd Edition J160E

70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E

Seventy years after his birth and three decades after his untimely passing, John Lennon’s message of peace continues to touch the masses, and his songs still resonate in the hearts and minds of fans around the world. At the request of Yoko Ono, Gibson Guitar is proud to offer three 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E acoustic guitars to celebrate the legacy of this extraordinary artist. Accordingly, only a very limited number of these handmade acoustics will ever be available.

In 1962, John Lennon was still an up-and-coming artist, and though one of two main singer/songwriters at the heart of The Beatles, was scraping by on the little money the band was bringing in at that time. For his first quality American acoustic/electric guitar, Lennon had his sights set on a new Gibson J-160E – the problem was, he didn’t have the money to buy it. With the aid of a co-signed purchase from Beatles manager Brian Epstein (who also co-signed for bandmate George Harrison’s J-160E), Lennon made the guitar his own, and put it straight to the business of making rock and roll history. Recreated by the luthiers at Gibson’s Montana acoustic guitar facility in period-perfect detail, the 70th Anniversary John Lennon models are available in three distinct versions to represent the instrument at three periods in Lennon’s life and career. The first, finished in Vintage Sunburst and limited to 500 guitars, represents the guitar as it was when Lennon first acquired it and used it on several famous Beatles recordings from 1963 to ’64, including Please Please Me, With The Beatles and A Hard Day’s Night.

The second is a stunning Custom Shop “Imagine” model in a Soft White finish personally requested by Yoko Ono to reflect the sentiment of John’s life and music during the recording of Imagine. And the third is the model as it is today, on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, with a thin, natural finish and Lennon’s famous “John and Yoko” caricature sketches, representing the appearance of the guitar during the famous Lennon-Ono “Bed-In” peace protests of 1969.

The custom shop’s second and third renditions are limited to 70 guitars each, one for every year since John’s birth in 1940, and both include a special 70th Anniversary Certificate personally signed by Yoko Ono and sent to the final purchaser by Certified Mail. As for construction, each version is an accurate rendition of the J-160E of 1962, a guitar originally released in 1954 as one of the world’s first successful “electro-acoustic” guitars, with built-in pickup and electronics and ready to hit the stage for the professional performing musician. Beloved by Lennon, and kept close throughout his too-short life, the 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E is a guitar every Beatles fan will want to make their own.