What's New?

Perhaps Gibson’s most unexpected release at NAMM 2012 is the new Les Paul Junior Special with; yes that’s right, B-Bender. Turning a guitar infamous for its rock ‘n’ roll contributions and making it a little bit country, we can safely say we didn’t see this coming! However it could prove a quite promising concept and has already got people talking about it.

The junior has been played by names such as John Lennon, Johnny Thunders and Bob Marley so judging by its impressive credentials there is no compromise in sound for its size. The new Les Paul Special has a second pickup but keeps its pared-back ethic. So clearly adding a B-Bender was a bold and surprising move; and to those of you unsure of what it is, basically it is a device, usually a spring-loaded strap-button, that is used to bend the ‘B’ string via a lever mechanism within the guitar. Therefore when the guitar is angle towards the floor the button moves and bends the guitar to a full semitone. The effect is very similar to a lap-steel hence its popularity with country music. This feature can also be change to the ‘G’ string so a fair bit of experimentation can be done with this guitar.

The thing I like about the Gibson Les Paul Junior Special is it takes two aspects from very different styles of music and combines them in one instrument. With its versatile p90 pickups it can be used for both genres of music and it is capable of really unique things and will appeal to fans of both types. The guitar is expected to be on sale in summer 2012 so if you’re interested check out this site for more information or sign up to the newsletter and be kept posted.

Squishy Cake

Happy Birthday to me. This isn't my first guitar cake, but I still remember my first guitar cake 30 years ago. It's the kind of memory that lives on for a lifetime. Already I can't wait for another guitar cake on my next birthday. I'll say it again:
"Happy Birthday to Me".
Come & rock with me Saturday at the Blue Fox in Arden Hills. It's gonna be a great show with the whole Rock it Science crew. See you there.

Doom

One of a kind bass made by Doomedelic Guitars in Coon Rapids. This ultra unique axe is from the Scott Montgomery collection. He's sent more pictures of his customs, & I'll be posting them in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. In the mean time you can check out many of his other axes by visiting his shop Rocks n Roll Emporium in Crosby MN when you get a chance.

Orchids o' Warwick

This ultra cool Warwick Thumb NT is ergonomically adapted to the human body for maximum comfort. Crafted from selected bubinga, pommele, ovangkol, & tigerstripe ebony, you'd be hard pressed to find a nicer bass on stage in this town. Rob Awe of local group "Steel Orchid" digs this 26 fret, on-board eq, neck-through tone monger. He's been rocking this axe for six years! Check it out live in action. Hit the official Steel Orchid website for future scheduled Minneapolis appearances.

R.I P. Paul Manske

This post tributes & marks the passing of St. Paul's Paul Manske of Music Man Productions. His exit from the twin cities music scene ends a 40 year career promoting & contributing to the twin cities local music scene. Paul was was most famous for his work in the band Raggs, & also formed the Boogiemen & Hillbilly Voodoo Dolls. I'll always remember Paul as a Fender man, but this most recent pic from a gig at Neumanns bar shows Paul playing a classic Danelectro Bass. R.I.P. Paul. Your contribution to Minneapolis music was great. You will be missed. Click here for the full story in the Trib.

King of the Hill

This custom bass body is made with a maple center block & basswood bouts. The valve and the shroud taken from a propane tank were modified for fitment. The output jack is on the valve where the propane hose would connect! This has a Moses solid graphite neck with Hipshot ultra light tuning machines and an EMG HZ pickup. Thanks to Tim Reede's Custom Guitars for constructing this world class axe & submitting the picture & info. Watch for more of his fine guitars here, as he's promised to send other fantastic unique freaky creations & finely crafted instruments.

Dean V

Congrats to Chad Speck of Minneapolis on his latest guitar purchase. A beautiful 1980 Dean V will be the newest addition to the massive arsenal in his assemblage. These beautifully crafted classics were once very plentiful in these parts, but to have one come available these days is a mighty rare occurrence. If you ever had one of these in your collection you would be more than hesitant to part with it as well

Rock with me tonight at Neisen's in Savage.

It's a bird, it's a plane. . .

Freak of the Week
Don Kadair Skitz bass Keytar.
Lots more info HERE.

ESP-ecially fine

I love a good cocktail party, & my good fortune brought me a return invitation to the social event of the sticks last night. The annual south side musicians party was a huge success, & allowed me the opportunity visit with long time colleagues, talk shop, & view a portion of the vast collection of Cary Havlicek, current resident of New Prague. I snapped several pics, but this ESP purchased at Rhapsody Music in Mankato stood out as a particularly prime example for my site. The beautifully finished highly figured carved maple cap is the apex of this axe, but the recess mounted Floyd trem is world class, as is the fully bound neck & body! Check out more of his axes at Downtown Sound where he is the full time instructor to all the upcoming guitar heroes. Thanks for everything, Cary. I look forward to working with you again one day soon.

Book 'em, Dan-O

Happy New Year from Minneapolis Guitar Review.

Dan Osberg of Cottage Grove, shown here with his Jackson DK2 Dinky. Alder body with rock maple neck, bound rosewood fingerboard with 24 Jumbo frets, Seymour Duncan pickups, sharkfin inlays, & black Floyd Rose low profile JT580 LP double-locking 2-Point Tremolo. I've seen several others like this one, & these fine axes are built with a consistently that will keep them in demand for years to come.

One Big Bass - CONK

That's one big bass. If this had any more strings it'd be a piano.
I caught Jonathan Thomas doing a R&B show at the Shorewood lounge on Friday December 2nd with Ronn Easton. His bass really stands out; it's fairly unique so I snapped a pic. I had some other clubs to hit so I didn't get a chance to talk with him & ask him about his axe. You can use the comment section below to help correctly identify this hip seven string bass guitar. Jonathan plays around town with several different acts, so check his website to find out where he's laying it down.

Rock with me Friday & Saturday this weekend at St Croix Casino in Turtle Lake for our next big show on new years eve. We'll be dropping hundreds of balloons from the sky at midnight, with THOUSANDS of DOLLARS tucked inside to make this the greatest party ever. Hope to see you at the show to check what cool guitars we're using. Frosty says he'll be playing his '66 Gibson Firebird for a set, so come & party with us!

Stocking Stuffer

This guitar spatula is a great stocking stuffer for the musical chef in your family. Make a guitar player smile at breakfast time. Get it at Amazon.com. The gift that keeps giving.

Blaine Busch Whacker

Here's the latest addition to the Tom Busch collection. 2011 Gibson Les Paul. I bet you've never seen a Custom that looks like this before. Still waiting for more info on this new axe form Tom, but in the meantime we can all enjoy the pic that he's submitted. You can always click on the pictures in this website to enlarge them.

Naughty or Nice

With only one week 'til Christmas it's time to start working on getting on Santa's nice list. Who wouldn't love to wake up on Christmas morning to find this 1966 Fender Stratocaster waiting under the tree. You can always wish, but Karl Swartz of St Paul won't be giving up this vintage guitar anytime soon. He's owned it for thirty years, & you'd be lucky to see this axe on his current tour with his band "Free Fallin". Check the Free Fallin TOUR link to catch one of their upcoming shows. Want to learn to play like Karl? You can sign up for lessons at the Music Connection in Forest Lake. Happy Holidays.

In Tune in Braham

Custom Davison shark fin V with classic coffin case. Owner Jake King of Braham MN. Jake runs a music store out of his house that resembles a small Music-Go Round. Bring your trade in & do some swapping if your in the neighborhood. Here's the official In Tune Music website, & here they are on on YouTube.

...Rock with me tonight at the Dog House in Maplewood.

The Schaefer's

Need Jazz? Nothing beats Fender for the style that launched a thousand artists. This pearloid Mexi Bass owned is by freelance bassist Chris Schaefer of Brooklyn Park. }:-D-
Chris says it's got great tone, playability & comfort; & for the little bit of dough he had to shell out at Music Go Round it simply can't be beat. You can tell it makes a nice addittion to the family.

Epiphone Les Paul Ultra III

I stopped at Best Buy in Roseville on Saturday to find this futuristic LP lingering on a hook with the other guitars, but after spotting the USB port I almost expected some clerk to mistakenly stock it with the printers or routers. Note the tuner mounted atop the pick up ring. Yes, handy indeed. Other unique feature is NanoMag acoustic pick up mounted at the base of the neck. Check out this impressive demo on YouTube.

OK Corral in the UK

Wow. Let's all give kudos to Marvin Cairnes of UK for undertaking the immense task of reconstructing the famous 1970's Colt guitar from nothing more than a few parts rolling around in the remnants of his father's shop. This was no easy task, as many new parts had to be custom cast & made at a local foundry in order to properly complete this gem this year & pay homage to the original designer (his father), Jim Cairnes. Really a fine job, Marvin. Thanks for taking the time to share the picture of Colt #3. I'll post a picture of Joe Walsh's #1 when I am lucky enough to receive it. You can see a little bit of #2 in this rarely seen YouTube footage by clicking HERE. Enjoy.

BLINK 182

Daphne blue Mark Hoppus signatue Fender precision bass, featuring the unique combination of the offset Jazz style body with the traditional P style split pick ups. Note the single Volume knob (no tone control). This bass owned by the incomparable Danny Grossnickle, caught playing the low tones for the long time local entertainers, Monarch Band while doing a outdoor gig at St Tim's Summerfest in September. You can catch the next Monarch show on December 30&31 at the Champlin Legion, 8:30-12:30 pm. You may have seen Danny perform with other cool shows around town like the Rhythm Kings, Shaw-Allen-Shaw, or Beautiful Noise.

Rock with me this Saturday Dec 10th at the Main Street bar in Hopkins.

Smokin' Hot Guitar

STOLEN GUITAR ALERT
Carl Bailey lost his two tone 80's Charvel this past weekend during a break in at his home while he was away at a gig. It's has a unique burgundy & blueburst finish, with a bound neck, shark tooth inlay, & Floyd Rose tremolo, as pictured. In the mean time you can probably catch him playing his Flying V, as seen in this video on YouTube with his band Lady Luck. Spread the word about this stolen guitar & give a shout back if you have any info that will assist in the recovery.