Photo credit: Reverb.com A short story: Through over twenty years of gripping my guitar neck like it had murdered my childhood dog (that is to say very tightly), I’ve caused damage to my fretting wrist that makes playing standard-scale guitars a challenge. Oddly enough, I’ve had no issues with playing ukulele. The issue mostly pops up when I play power chords, but the … [Read more...]
Kala Parlor Guitar Review
Aloha! I know that I usually talk about ukuleles and ukulele instruction here, but I wanted to talk about guitars today. Specifically about what makes a good beginner guitar. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and came up with a list of what would make the PERFECT beginner guitar. See if you agree with me: 1) It needs to be affordable. This is pretty obvious, I … [Read more...]
Four New Martin Guitars and a Ukulele at Summer NAMM
Summer NAMM is next week here in Nashville, and the announcements are starting to come in. Martin has announced four new models to debut at the show: a new OM-Arts & Crafts-inspired guitar, a D-28 Bigsby guitar, a Jimmy Buffett Custom Signature Artist Edition guitar, and a D-16EPD Poker Dogs guitar. In addition to these guitars, they're also introducing a Konter … [Read more...]
Suhr Aura
Suhr is one of my favorite boutique builders. To date, pretty much their entire line involved 25.5" scale guitars, with Classic S, Classic T, and Classic JM styles as well as their Modern series. For years, fans have asked John Suhr to make a short-scale guitar. To celebrate Suhr's 20th anniversary, Mr. Suhr has answered those requests with the new Suhr Aura: It is with great … [Read more...]
Fender American Original 60s Telecaster
Fender recently announced that they're discontinuing the American Vintage line and replacing it with the American Original series. An updated version of the American Vintage series, the American Original guitars feature a modern fingerboard radius, narrow, tall frets along with features such as vintage-voiced pickups and a nitrocellulose finish. The series includes … [Read more...]