Master Guitar Luthier Phil Petillo Dead At 64

http://bit.ly/ Phil Petillo, a master luthier, inventor, and true Renaissance man, died August 13, 2010 of a massive heart attack. Known to the world as a luthier, engineer, musician, draftsman, and scientist, Petillo is also known as the man who sold Bruce Springsteen's famous 1953 Fender Esquire. Petillo also did instrument work for many other well-known players, including Tal Farlow, Paul McCartney, and Jim Croce.

Petillo held 30 U.S. patents ranging from his Petillo Presidion Frets, Petillo pickups and strings, to surgical devices, fuel cell technology, and hydrogen generators. He was a graduate of Columbia University and also held a doctorate from LaSalle University. He was 64.

Petillo learned to make guitars by working with Jimmy Diserio, the godson of legendary luthier John D’Angelico, in his workshop in Manhattan. He absorbed all the techniques and secrets these craftsmen had to offer him and used them to create his own tradition of construction, creativity, and quality. He learned the art of boulle work, metal carvings, and marquetry from Phillip Rimmler, who inlaid the famous Orient Express train.

In the 1970’s, Petillo built the prototypes that helped to launch Kramer Guitars, including the aluminum neck design that first put the company on the map. He also designed and refined medical devices that have saved many lives, done restorations for the Smithsonian Institution, contributed to the Chinery Collection, and restored an original Stradivarius violin for the Metropolitan Museum in New York. His work is on display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit “From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen”.

People of Petillo’s caliber don’t come along very often and his passing has left an impossible-to-fill hole in the guitar world and in American life. The Gear Vault staff sends its condolences to his family in this difficult time. Hopefully, his work will be carried on by his son and only shop partner David Petillo. Visit the Petillos online at www.petilloguitars.com.

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History of Jackson Guitars

http://bit.ly/ As many know, Jackson Guitars started when the heavy metal wave was on its peak. Grover Jackson first in-scripted his name on a guitar that was designed by the late Randy Rhoads in 1980, when he was still teamed up with Charvel guitars. The reason behind this was that Jackson thought that a guitar with such design would be too shocking for the regular Charvel customers.

The success of the first guitar can be at least partially attributed to its remarkable looks - a distinct reverse headstock and a sharp, triangular body shape. It remains, however, a true favorite among heavy metal guitar players, such as Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden, Phil Campbell of Motörhead, and many, many others.

The Jackson Randy Rhoads guitar inspired Grover to create his own guitar company, Jackson Guitars. The famous Randy Rhoads model is still an icon among heavy metal guitar players and is still produced by Jackson Guitars up to date--even though the company is in other hands now.

From 1979 to 1986, the company manufactured guitars in Glendora, California, but merged with the Texan IMC (International Music Corporation) and moved to Ontario in the same state. Although merged with another company, Jackson Guitars didn’t make their fans weep in sorrow and released the famous King V model the same year. King V, originally designed for Robbin Crosby of Ratt, followed the extravagant heavy metal designs of their previous models, and was praised by musicians such as Dave Mustaine of Megadeth.

In 2002, Jackson Guitars was acquired by Fender. A subsequent move to Corona occurred. This acquisition left the company with very few endorsement deals, and a decrease in popularity followed thereafter. The down-spiral of Jackson Guitars met a quick finish, though, because guitarists saw that Jacksons were in fact still good instruments -- high-end guitars with an affordable price –- despite the fact that the company was under Fender’s control.

Today, Jackson Guitars continue to supply extreme high-quality guitar lines for their fan crowd. As the company states in its homepage, “In keeping with its breathtaking three-decade heritage of excellence, the Jackson legend continues to thrive and grow–without fear or compromise.” -
Check out the great prices and bargains on Jackson guitars!

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ESP LTD Guitars of 2010 - ESP/LTD Rocks!

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ESP is one of the O.G. Asian guitar companies and has a long reputation for producing excellent instruments. Even I, your ever-loving Gear-Vault correspondent who is dangerously obsessed with all things Fender, played a cool pink ESP Mirage Custom back in the 80’s and still longs for it at times. These days, ESP is producing a lot fewer pink axes and a lot more that suit the trends of the current guitar market. ESP are introducing a bunch of cool new models this week at the NAMM show and many of the coolest come as part of the easy-to-attain LTD line. As is our norm, your homies here at the Vault have tested, tweaked, and prodded these newbies for your pleasure and ours and are here to give you the lowdown on how these new girls do what they do.

The LTD EC-1000 gets two new finishes this year, Silver Sunburst and Metallic Gold, which makes this classic Kalamazoo-inspired axe even more appealing than it already was. There is also a complete redesign of the H-1001 and H-1001FR that includes ESP’s “F-Series” headstock shape and black binding with abalone purfling. Early comments on these call them out for appearing a bit too Schecter-like, which puts ESP on the back side of the curve rather than the cutting edge, but they still seem to pack the goods that rock and metal players require.

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Other interesting models from ESP this year include the ST-203 and ST-203FR, which are variations on the classic three-pickup Fullerton design and, even more interestingly, come in pre-aged “relic” style finishes that will instantly turn any bedroom player into a road warrior. The LTD EC-256, an affordable single-cutaway humbucker guitar, also gets the relic treatment and is available in Aged Vintage Gold. These new models causes one to ponder just big this whole relic thing is going to get and doesn’t anyone want a shiny new guitar anymore? The popular Xtone hollow and semi-hollow guitars have been merged with the regular LTD line for 2010 and this should make them easier for buyers to find at ESP dealers. Lastly, for those who think they have it like that, there is the MH-327 which packs 27 (!) frets and a Floyd Rose. For those about to rock, indeed.

In any event, it sounds like a great year for ESP and we are sure that the company’s new models will make many in our world very happy. Stay glued to Gear-Vault for more up-to-the-minute NAMM news!! Mean time, keep checking here for prices. Keep rock'n.

@pingfm @plerb

Godin LGXT Electric Acoustic Guitar Review

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While the massive guitar superpowers engage in a high-profile battle for world domination, it’s easy to overlook the fact that there are hundreds of smaller manufactures making their own equally important contributions to the world of electric guitar. Perhaps because their products don’t have to sell by the gazillion, these companies can afford to create more specialized—and even quirky—instruments that incorporate usual materials and have far-out finishes and daring designs that speak to the needs of flashy individualists, vintage, zealots and hellbent rabble-rousers.

This month’s assemblage of manufactures embodies the intrepid spirit that keeps the world of guitar fresh and vibrant—Ampeg’s faithful reissues of their Dan Armstrong acrylic guitars appear as bold today as they did several decades ago—and remind us all the craftsmanship stripped of conformity can yield glorious results. Viva la difference!

Godin LGXT

Godin’s electric and electric acoustic guitars are a first-rate example of the ingenuity and advanced thinking that typically emanate from the hotbeds of small guitar manufactures. The Canada-based luthier emerged in the Eighties as a builder of replacement necks and bodies for the electric market. Since then, Godin has put their expertise and subcontractors to the biggest guitar companies to use their own line of instruments. The Godin LGXT shows how far the company has quickly progressed, not only in their impeccable construction but in their advanced electronics as well.

The LGXT features a light maple body capped with carved hard maple for improved response. Our model was beautifully finished in a flattering high-gloss black, which echoed by the headstock’s black-trimmed locking machines. The slim and silky 22-fret mahogany neck is capped with an ebony fingerboard, and the plateless, four-bolt joint fits deep into the sleek rear contours of the arch-top body for maximum energy transfer. Typically of Godin’s electric guitars, the LGXT is idiosyncratically acoustic in its feel and tone. The guitar has a vibrant and clean playability, and there is a satisfying resonant snap and jangle in its tone rather than the high-action bark and buzz typical of electric guitars.

Where the LGXT breaks ground is in its electronics, which combine electric and acoustic sounds with guitar-synth tracking capabilities. The guitar’s electric output comes from two Seymour Duncan humbuckers with master volume and tone and a five-way selector that provides various humbucker/single-coil variations. The acoustic sounds and synth access are provided by custom L.R. Baggs undersaddle transducers located in the tremolo bridge and governed by a separate preamp (with volume, treble, mid and bass sliders) subtly mounted on the face of the upper bout. A 13-pin output allows the bridge transducers to double as a hexaphonic pickup to power any of the Roland GR series and, in magnetic mode, VG-8 guitar-synth systems. And additional three-way switch allows you to select between magnetic and bridge pickups, synth only or everything at once.

The results of the techno-orgy is simply mindblowing: you can have, for example, fat, Duncan-powered rawk blowing from a Marshall Valvestate, reinforced with shimmering acoustic tone from a SWR Strawberry Blonde combo and pumped along by a Roland synth patches that offer anything from Hammond gloop to Bootsy bass. On their own, the electric and acoustic tones are superb, and the powerful on-board tone-shaping electronics allow a vast array of different sounds. With all systems “go,” this guitar could cut an entire album, form its own band or be the first object to give a Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Yes, it’s that good and that clever.

Godin LGXT

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Sherman Custom Guitars

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Sherman Custom Guitars are manufactured in the U.S., Sherman Custom Guitars features bolt-on necks, 25.5-inch fingerboard. The guitars are available in a variety of body shapes and neck styles, and all feature the Sherman Tremolo System, each piece of which is machined from high-quality tool steel and hardened. List price varies for the Sherman Custom Guitar.

Take note of Sherman's patent Tremolo System



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EMG vs. Seymour Duncan Electric Guitar Pickups

http://bit.ly/ Electric guitar pickups are a touchy and subjective topic. Most long-time players have gone through a number of different types before they work out what is the best sound for them. Sometimes they will even prefer different styles or brands of pickups for different applications. Today, we are doing a flyover comparison of two of the most popular makes of pickups on the market, EMG and Seymour Duncan, which is really a comparison of active, or powered pickups, and passive, traditional units. These are the two basic flavors that pickups come in and provide vastly different sounds when deployed.

Most Seymour Duncan pickups are old-style passive pickups, meaning they are mostly magnets wrapped in wire. They work as pickups have worked since the dawn of time and give many variations on the guitar sounds we are all used to. Users will find normal and hum-cancelling single coils and different models of humbuckers with varying output levels and tonalities, but they will all be more similar to traditional pickups than they are different. Duncan does make actives, the Blackout series, which are gaining in popularity, but the Duncan company was built on passives and that is what the firm is still best known for. They are a good choice for players seeking enhanced versions of conventional pickup designs.

EMG makes what are likely to be the most widely used active guitar pickups on the market. Installing EMGs in an instrument requires installing a whole pickup system, which includes pots, an output jack, and a nine-volt battery, in addition to the pickups themselves. Actives allow users to also add things such as mid-boosts, active phase reversals, gain boosts, and more, which are all run off the on-board battery. EMG pickups are most popular with players seeking a more modern sound and more tonal options than can be had with passive pickups. Their classic combination is an 81 and 85 model installed in a Les Paul or other ‘bucker-based axe and this pairing remains very popular, especially in rock and metal circles.

So which guitar pickups should you choose?

Only you can answer that question. Shoppers need to consider what type of music they play, their type of instrument, and what they want to get out of a pickup swap. If Stevie Ray is your tone god, stay passive all the way to Texas. If all you hear is Metallica, go active and make it happen.

What all pickups buyers really need to do is play guitars with different styles of pickups and taste-test them for themselves, as this sort of thing is very individualized and what your guitar hero likes and uses may not feel or sound good to you in your personal guitar. Once a player has experienced for themselves what these different pickups can do, they will be in a better position to choose the right brand and model for their needs.

EMG vs. Seymour Duncan Videos

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