Dot On Shaft Carparelli Semi Hollowbody Electric Guitar Review

http://bit.ly/oBBAJy Carparelli S3 Semi Hollow

Over the last decade Canadian guitar manufacturers have been enjoying greater recognition in the world market. Among the guitar manufacturers, Dot On Shaft Guitar Company is rapidly becoming a well-known brand by creating instruments made with high-quality woods and featuring decoration that challenges what is found on privately hand-crafted instruments.

Dot On Shaft’s Carparelli solidbody already has a strong following among musicians who want an affordable instrument. The Carparelli S3 Semi Hollow body expands from that worldwide success. Legendary archtop tones are easily created from this specialized hollow body, and thanks to its exceptional construction and Carparelli handwound humbuckers, likewise, the Carparelli S3 is equally capable as a brawling rocker.

Dot On Shaft takes full advantage of Canada’s native supply of high-quality woods. The arched back and sides are both created from mahogany, while the top is made of AAA quilted maple. The angle formed by the blending of the arched top and the neck joint is not noticeable different from that of a solidbody guitar, so playing the S3 Semi Hollow requires no change of the player’s hand position.

The Carparelli S3 Semi Hollow is a genuine hollow body--it doesn’t have a center block. However, it does utilize a thick chunk of mahogany sustainer block positioned under the bridge. Not only does the mahogany sustainer block add stability, it mixes a warm tone into the bright maple chamber. Dual f-holes and three air slots on the upper bout allows the guitar to breath resonance. This style of guitar is among the most pricy to produce, so it’s very impressive that Dot On Shaft can sell this precision-crafted guitar under $1,500.

To smooth out the maple’s tone, the S3 Semi Hollow is a one-piece solid mahogany neck. It’s C shaped, relatively narrow taper, namely in the tradition of classic jazz guitars, so it is fairly easy to grip and fast to play. The 22 short and slender frets are also comparable to what might be found on a jazz guitar. While this slightly eliminates the instrument’s touch sensitivity, it’s outstanding for smooth transitions and complex chord harmonies.

The rosewood fingerboard adds a hint of dark and warm tone. Most of the fretboard is covered with fancy vine inlay of mother-of-pearl and abalone. Inlays are extravagant as this extra crafty-work usually cost more than the total asking price of this guitar, incredibility, the Carparelli S3’s body, headstock and fingerboard are also bound in abalone, and the inlaid logo is twisted with mother-of-pearl. As if that weren’t enough to grab attention of the audience, the Tune-O-Matic bridge, stop tail, tuners and pickup covers are plated in alluring gold.

Electronics are made up of a set of Carparelli handwound double humbuckers in the bridge and neck position, plus a three-way toggle. Because hollow body guitars illuminate so many overtones, the pickup-specific volume and tone pots are a must to dial in certain sounds and make the output to various gain levels.

The Carparelli S3 Semi Hollow is without a doubt capable as a jazz guitar, and its comfortable fast neck feels like the twig on a classic archtop. That is where the resemblance ends, though, because the Carparelli S3’s other characteristics made it more of a crossover between a solidbody and hollowbody. Resounding acoustics radiate through the body in especially tight patterns, which fight any natural propensity for feedback when high gain or distortion is added. Whereas the pickups on a jazz guitar are geared toward specific applications, the Carparelli handwound pickups make the Carparelli S3 Semi Hollow compatible with any amp. Fat and woody archtop tones are easily coaxed through the handwound neck pickup, which adds a velvety fur to each note. When distortion is applied, this pickup helps the Carparelli produce stacks of sound that are very close to Peter Stroud’s famous mix of clean and driven overtones. Through a high-gain amp, the neck pickup remains gritty but also becomes creamy and sweet. ’a la Gary Moore. By itself, the Carparelli handwound bridge humbucker can be harsh, but the guitar’s naturally soft bottom notes and bright treble bursts can be quickly compensated with a quick adjustment of the tone knob.

The End Line
Dot On Shaft’s Carparelli Semi Hollow is a visually stunning instrument, to say the least, with plethora of shell-bombing bling. At the same time, the Carparelli S3 melds traditional archtop acoustics with modern solidbody tone and playability. The axe’s focused bark adds sting to jazz styles, while the handwound humbuckers extend this guitar’s performance links to the realms of blues to hard rock. @pingfm @plerb

John Lennon Revolution Casino Electric Guitar Review

http://bit.ly/pj44f3 Used in the latter part of his career with the Beatles (most notably on the Revolver sessions) and for much of his solo work, Lennon’s Casino was a highly personalized instrument that reflected much his maverick spirit. Purchased by Lennon in 1965, the hollowbody originally had a sunburst finish and a pickguard.

By 1968, however, in the search for a more resonant sound, Lennon had stripped the finish and removed the pickguard, leaving only the natural, instantly recognizable guitar that he is so often associated with. In order to reproduce the instrument as perfectly as possible, representatives form the Epiphone company paid a visit to the legendary instrument a the late Beatle’s New York apartment, where it had been stored, virtually untouched, since his death. Precise measurements of the guitar were taken and tests performed on it, and the findings returned to Epiphone’s Nashville factory.

The results of all this research is the “Revolution” Casino, and eerily “alive” guitar that features a hollow, laminated maple body and top, mahogany neck, two Alnico V P-90 single-coil pickups and a no-nonsense control layout featuring a three-way pickup selector and two volume and two tone pots. As on Lennon’s guitar, the top-mounted screw and spacer for the pickguard are still in place, and there is even an unfilled screw hole on the bottom side of the guitar where the pickguard would have anchored. The natural satin finish feels refreshingly woody, and the 22-fret neck plays like butter. However, guitarists who like to engage in upper-register wailing should be warned that, like all Casinos and Gibson ES-330s, this guitar’s neck joint is at the 14th fret, making it difficult to play comfortably anywhere about the 17th fret.

The combination of P-90s and hollowbody construction has always yielded great results, and this guitar is no exception. The Casino has an organic, almost spongy tone that imparts clean chords with a bell-like roundness, while distorted tones are throaty and rude. The guitar’s rich harmonic content makes virtually any amp sound like it’s running in some sort of Vox-like Class A configuration, and through and old Vox the Revolution Casino would certainly sound, well—one can only imagine.

John Lennon Revolution Casino

@pingfm @plerb

Vaccaro Groove Jet & X-Ray Guitar Review

http://bit.ly/qDwUaC If you’ve seen advertisements for Vaccaro’s guitars on the internet or magazines, you may have noted their slightly confrontational slogan: “They’re not for everybody.” This statement, it seems, is absolutely true. The reactions I’ve seen when whipping one of these unorthodox instruments out of my gig bag have ranged from shock (“Where di you get that?”) to covetous (“Awesome! Where can I get one?”).

Brought to you buy the people who created Kramer’s distinctive aluminum and wood-necked guitars in the late Seventies and early Eighties, Vaccaro’s guitars feature daringly designed popular bodies, bold finishes and unique aluminum, maple and ebonol composite necks. The Groove Jet evokes the unholy alliance of a Gibson SG and a satanic dung beetle, and features two Seymour Duncan Custom ’59 humbuckers, a three-way switch pickup selector located on the top horn of the guitar, two volume controls and a master tone control. Our review model was flawlessly finished in a stunning see-through emerald green. The X-Ray, whose sleek, orange sparkle body has a space-age Rickenbacker vibe, boasts two Rio Grande Muy Grande pickups: a humbucker in the bridge and a single coil in the neck position. Both pickups are topped off with the same mother-of-toilet-seat plastic as the pickguard, adding to the instrument’s undeniable ie ne sais quoi. The X-Ray’s control layout is simple yet versatile: a three-way pickup selector, coil-tap switch for the humbucker and single volume and tone controls. The hardware on both guitars (Sperzel locking tuning machines, super-sleek Tune-O-Matic-style bridges and top-notch components) is bullet-proof. The phenolic “I can’t believe it’s not ebony!” fingerboard are smooth and natural feeling, and the well-finished frets provide a sleek, effortless playing surface.

Run through a Bogner Ecstasy head powering a vintage Marshall 4x12 cabinet, both guitars performed admirably well. The Groove Jet’s Duncans are not obnoxiously hot, yet they provide full, articulate, distorted sounds that are both aggressive and musical. Backing off the volume controls allow for dead-on bluesy “in between sounds,” and on clean settings the instrument responds exactly as a two-humbucker contender should. The X-Ray’s Muy Grande pickups (as the name so subtly indicates) have a zingy, refried Texas tone, and when the single coil is combined with the humbuckers in single-coil configuration, they produce extremely hot ‘n’ tasty Fender-like tones. These guitars may look wild and crazy, but their sound and feel are full and old-fashioned goodness.

Gear-Vault Classifieds is an eBay alternative. Come sell with us. @pingfm @plerb

New for 2011: LTD Deluxe and Standard Guitars

http://bit.ly/psefUQ ESP Guitars are boasting that the newest LTD Deluxe and Standard models are among the best they’ve ever made to date. Let’s see whether you agree or not.

The LTD Deluxe EC-1000T/CTM has that custom look that you’ve probably cherished. It’s a classic single-cutaway mahogany guitar with a traditional body shape, and is available in two finishes: Snow White and Black, with binding on the top and back of the body. Also, after many requests you’ve sent, LTD is happy to offer two new H-Series models, the LTD H-1007 and LTD H-1007FR. Both guitars are 7-string versions of LTD's outstanding H-Series guitars, with the H-1007FR also including a Floyd Rose bridge. I guess ESP / LTD Guitars thought 'awesome-ness' needed to be brought to an entirely new level. How much will these sweet lookin' axes cost? Check the prices at your favorite online guitar store below...

LTD Deluxe and Standard Guitars Prices

@pingfm @plerb

Electric Guitar Buying Guide

http://bit.ly/prJlCE Planning to get an electric guitar? Now I know this may seem like a big thing taking all the top brands and everything into consideration, however with a little research and insight you can easily get a guitar that is both suited to your needs and budget. Without further ado, let’s get started!

Getting the budget in place

Now I can imagine very well if you want to get the latest Fender which has hit the market, but seriously you are looking at expensive price tags here. High quality guitars can very easily top the $3,000 range and you are best to consider your options before you make your purchase. Having said that, I do not discourage you from buying high end guitars, by all means if you can afford one then go for it. This is extremely important because the higher the quality of the instrument, the better the experience you will have playing it. This is obviously a very personal decision and you will need to know for sure how much you are willing to spend here.

Another thing that you need to know is that cheaper guitars are not essentially poor in quality. Due to computer aided manufacturing techniques, guitars, especially electric ones are now being made at less costs without sacrificing on quality. You can get excellent guitars for $150-$250 of appreciable quality these days which would have probably cost 3 to 4 times as much about 20 years back.

Getting Round the Basics of the Electric guitar

An electric guitar produces sound via an electric pickup that is installed below the strings. The pickup collects the vibrations of the strings and transfers them to an amplifier. A pickup is essentially a small device that is made of a magnet surrounded by a very fine metal wire (at least most of them are). As the guitar strings vibrate within its magnetic field, it produces a very small electric charge which is fed to an amplifier which boosts the signal and further on feeds it to the speakers.

Because electric guitars use only a pickup they do not require a hollow body as is seen in a traditional acoustic guitar. In fact most electric guitars are made out of solid wooden or plastic body. However this does not mean that you can have an electric guitar made out of anything; the material used in the body still has a great impact on the quality of the sound that the guitar produces.

Types of Electric Guitars

There are four types of electric guitars are there for you to choose from. These are the Solid body guitars, Hollow body guitars, Semi-hollow body guitars and the Chambered guitars.

• 1. Solid body guitars: The most commonly known design for the electric guitars. These can take virtually any shape from just a neck and pickups to wild and star shaped designs. Given the kind of shapes these are available in these are also the most popular ones around.



• 2. Hollow body guitars: These guitars are generally speaking just normal acoustic guitars with pickups on them and are favored by jazz players for their full round tones, however they are best played at a low volume setting.



• 3. Semi-hollow body guitars: Best suited for a range of music ranging from jazz to punk, semi hollow body guitars have a wooden center with large holes on either sides to avoid feedback issues commonly seen in hollow body guitars at high volume settings.



• 4. Chambered guitars: Are essentially solid body guitars which have sealed chambers carved into them to both decrease the weight and also increase resonance.

Scale length

The scale length refers to the distance between the strings and the head-nut which vibrates once the strings are plucked. This length determines, to a great extent the sound that the guitar makes. Two scale lengths are most common:

• a. 25 ½”: This was the original length of steel string acoustic guitars and was adopted by Fender onto its Stratocaster and Telecaster models. Guitars made to this length offer a high tension and trebly noise. Since it is slightly difficult to play guitars on this length, most guitarists opt for lighter strings.



• b. 24 ¾”: This is the scale length of most Fender guitars. As these require a lower string tension, they do not produce as much treble. Usually guitars built to these lengths are equipped with heavier strings which produce a heavier note more suited for adding bass. The most famous guitars built on these scales are the Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, Gibson ES-335 and the Gibson Flying V.



• c. 25”: PRS Guitars has opted to make guitars on this length which produces a very unique tone and is slightly easier to play.

Pickups

The pickup that an electric guitar uses has a lot to do with the way an electric guitar sounds. We currently have three types of pickups available, these are:

• a. The Single Coil: This consists of a single bar magnet surrounded by a very fine wire which produces a small electrical current every time a string resonates within the magnetic field. These were the first and most preferred types of pickups used in guitars.



• b. Humbucker: These have two coils wrapped opposite to each other so that they eliminate the humming noise which was a common problem in single coil pickups. These also produce a smooth, round tone. Some humbuckers also give you the option to switch to a single coil mode where you can get the characteristic single coil sound.



• c. Piezo: Piezo pickups are made of a crystalline material which produces a very small electric current as compared to the other magnet based pickups. These require pre-amplification before they are fed to the amplifier. Piezo pickups are added to the guitar’s saddle.

Woods

As said earlier, the type of material used in the making of the guitar has a great impact on the kind of sound that the guitar produces. This is important because the wood with which the guitar is constructed will determine how long the string will vibrate. The common types of woods being used in the making of the electric guitar include:

• a. Maple: Is used in the making of the guitar’s neck, fretboard and top body. Maple wood is best known for its tonal qualities.



• b. Mahogany: Is dense and strong, but really hard and is used in the making of the guitar back and neck. Mahogany is a very resonant wood and tends to emphasize the guitar’s sustain.



• c. Rosewood: Is the most common wood used in electric guitar fretboards,



• d. Ebony: Is extremely hard and is mostly used in electric guitar fretboards and also in the construction of more expensive guitars.



• e. Ash: Is most commonly used in the construction of the body of solid body guitars. It imparts a high sustain and also a beautiful well defined midrange

Neck Construction

Electric guitars have three different types of neck constructions, these include:

• a. Bolt On Necks: Are attached to the body by three or four screws which run through the back of the body and into the back of the neck. These kind of necks are easy to replace and fix should something break. Bolt on necks were also pivotal in making the electric guitar cheap and affordable.



• b. Set Neck: Consist of necks which are glued to the body. These sometimes have a tenon which is an extension which reaches from the fretboard and goes deeper into the body.



• c. Neck Through: These include guitars which are built around a single column of wood which starts from the headstock all the way to the tail.

Bridges

The bridge is the part of the guitar on its body on which the strings are attached. They are used primarily to compensate for the slight differences in tones produced by the string’s length, material etc and also for using a vibrato also known as a whammy bar or vibrato arm which allows the player to bend the notes by moving the arm. Of course there are quite a few bridge designs that exist, three most popular are:

• a. Two point rocking tremolo: AKA the Fulcrum Vibrato, has individual saddles for each string, which are adjustable for tone and intonation. These are attached to a bridge that rocks on 2 bolts on the guitar. The bridge itself is attached to the body by way of a floating plate which is attached to the inside of the guitar by stretch springs which match the tension of the strings.



• b. Locking Vibrato: Similar to the 2 Point Rocking Tremolo, only it clamps the strings and works concomitantly with clamps at the head nut down. This was designed by Floyd Rose.



• c. Stop-bar tailpiece: A stop bar tailpiece is attached to the top of the guitar and provides a string terminus that gets the maximum resonance from the guitar.



• d. Tune-o-matic bridge—originally developed by Gibson in the 1950s, this is a very common design that allows for individual intonation of strings and overall adjustment of string heights.



• e. Bigsby is a specific brand of spring-loaded vibrato that appears on many vintage and vintage-style guitars. It is a large, relatively heavy device that includes a rotating bar on which all of the strings attach. Many players like the vintage vibe of a Bigsby.



• f. Six-point rocking trem—This was the original rocking vibrato designed by Fender in the 1950s. Like the two-point trem, it is through-body, spring-loaded, and provides individual string intonation and height adjustment. Some players feel that because this type of trem rocks on six screws it provides greater vibration transfer to the top and hence better resonance. It is found on vintage and lower-end guitars.

Final Notes:

Buying a guitar need not be the toughest thing in the world. As said above keep your interest in perspective and go for the guitar that you think well suits your tastes and preferences. Music can be an expensive hobby; this especially so if the hobby in question is guitars. Good quality guitars can indeed cost a small fortune so if you are an avid guitarist and would like to go in for that top quality Fender or Gibson then, by all means go in for them. Music is indeed a passionate hobby and if this is what you choose to do for a living then don’t let anything stop you from pursuing your dream guitar! @pingfm @plerb

PRS SE Santana Electric Guitars

http://bit.ly/pSDumJ


PRS Guitars’ are happy to announce the official launch of the SE Santana. Carlos Santana’s new signature model is the very first SE offered with a 24.5” scale length and is also the first SE created using the same silhouette as Carlos’s revered American-made model. Look for the model on retail shelves this fall and on tour with Carlos as he tours the US in support of his new album Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time.

Carlos’s influence as a PRS guitar player led to the development of the SE electric guitar series ten years ago, and he continues to play an integral role as an adviser, player, and endorser for one of the world’s most well-respected guitar brands. In honor this legacy, PRS Guitars welcomes players of all backgrounds and skill levels to visit a dealer this fall to try this guitar in person. The PRS SE Santana is an extremely versatile product line, and the value and quality continue to receive the industry’s praises year after year.

“It is very important for PRS Guitars and Carlos to offer this high quality Santana model in a financially accessible price point. This SE Santana offers musicians an instrument well in excess of its price tag,” commented Paul Reed Smith.

The Paul Reed Smith SE Santana features include a carved maple top, flamed maple top veneer, mahogany back, 22-fret one-piece “wide-fat” mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard with white perloid, old style PRS bird inlays. Electonics include treble and bass humbucking pickups, master volume and tone, three-way toggle switch, PRS tuners, and PRS tremolo. Check here for the hottest prices on Paul Reed Smith guitars.

Available colors: Santana Yellow, Orange, and Black

PRS SE Santana Electric Guitars

@pingfm @plerb