Tingly's News Thread

[Tingly]

BILLY JOEL & ELTON JOHN POSTPONE ANOTHER CONCERT

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Billy Joel and Elton John have postponed yet another Bay Area date on their "Face 2 Face" tour: a concert originally scheduled for Tuesday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. They had previously bailed out of a gig set for this past Saturday at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Organizers are working to set make-up dates for the two concerts. All ticket-holders are being asked to hold on to their tickets until more information is available regarding the proposed rescheduled engagements.

The Oakland date was postponed due to concerns over John's health — he's been battling a serious case of e-coli bacterial infection and influenza and was advised by his doctor to postpone this Oakland concert, according to promoter Live Nation. This time around, it's Joel who isn't feeling well enough to play San Jose. According to another press release from Live Nation, Joel is unable to tour due to undisclosed "medical reasons."

-insidebayarea.com

[Tingly]

RUMOR: THE WHO WILL PLAY SUPER BOWL!

The parade of classic rockers amping up halftime at the Super Bowl will continue this year with one of the biggest names in the game. According to SI.com, sources say British legends the Who will take the stage at Superbowl XLIV in Miami on February 7, marking their first trip to the big show for the band's first North American gig in two years.

If the rumor is true, the Who — which now consists of only two original members, main songwriter/guitarist/singer Pete Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey — would follow in the footsteps of such recent rock luminaries as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Paul McCartney and Prince, who have played the coveted gig in recent years.

The Who's U.K. spokesperson Julian Stockton neither confirmed nor denied the booking to MTV News, writing in an e-mail, "Am afraid at this point we know nothing about it." And the NFL told Sports Illustrated, "When we have something to announce, we'll announce it."

Traditionally the most-watched TV event of the year, the Super Bowl halftime gig is considered one of the most coveted in all of entertainment, with a variety of A-list acts filling the spot in the past, from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers to the Rolling Stones and U2, Aerosmith, Britney Spears and, famously, Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson in 2004.

According to Billboard.com, Townshend and Daltrey are working on new material for the follow-up to the band's 2006 album, Endless Wire. Townshend has also discussed another parallel project he's working on, a new concept album/musical called Floss. Neither project currently has a release date.

-MTV

[Tingly]

PHOTOJOURNALIST DOCUMENTS UNDERGROUND MUSIC SCENE IN CHINA

For Americans, the days of extreme cultural revolution have arguably subsided. The heyday of rock has come and gone, as have new wave and punk -- even post-punk -- and grunge. So it seems like we've gotten a lot of musical subversion out of our system. But, spin to the Earth's other hemisphere, and the musical revolution has only just begun. According to photographer Matthew Niederhauser, simply listening to rock constitutes rebellion in China.

Niederhauser, a freelance photojournalist based in Beijing, first stumbled into a dive bar called D-22 in 2007. It was there that he happened upon Beijing's underground music scene, and he has been documenting it ever since. His new book, Sound Kapital, shows this burgeoning scene in photos.

As he writes, "For now, China remains in a liminal state between the socialist idealism of old and a calamitous drive for wealth spurred by free-market reforms." And the rockers are rejecting both. It may be a small scene, but it's exploding. NPR's Zoe Chace went to see one of Beijing's rock bands in Brooklyn, and the line wrapped around the door. Tune in to All Things Considered today to hear the story, and check out Niederhauser's Web site to view more of his work.

-NPR

[Tingly]

NEXT EXPORT FROM CHINA: ROCK AND ROLL!

Beijing, China (CNN) -- Two of China's hottest up-and-coming rock bands -- Carsick Cars and P.K. 14 -- are taking their first steps on a whirlwind American music tour to showcase the Asian giant's latest export: rock 'n' roll.

The bands, along with a gaggle of other musical outfits, will hit nine cities -- from New York to Chapel Hill, North Carolina -- as they embark on their first official tour of the United States.

The bands, led by Maybe Mars music label co-founders Charles Saliba and Michael Pettis, want to expand their fan base and make waves with Chinese rock. More importantly, they hope to change the reputation of the Chinese music scene, transforming it from purely experimental to the capital of the "next big thing."

Yan Haisong, P.K.14's frontman, was excited and nervous before the group departed on the two-week tour. He rattled off a list of sites he hoped to see in New York, including several record shops to pick up a few LPs. As he arranged his luggage for check-in at Beijing Capital Airport last week, Yan said P.K.14's music was heavily influenced by what the New York scene has produced and hopes his band can bring a bit of Beijing to the Big Apple.

"We're going to play to a different audience and we don't know if they can accept us, especially as we will sing in Chinese, so we don't know," he said.

If buzz is any indication, Yan Haisong has nothing to worry about. The bands' arrival has generated healthy anticipatory chatter on popular American music blogs and in the media, from Time Out New York to the Village Voice. Reporters and music junkies heaped on pre-show praise, with Time Out calling the tour a "roster of artists" that is "currently at the forefront of a national movement, pushing contemporary Chinese rock toward international acclaim."

Considered to be largely underground and experimental, the Chinese rock 'n' roll scene has come a long way and is expanding fast. Just five decades ago, popular Chinese music was constricted to revolutionary songs and ballads approved by the government. Today, the scene has opened dramatically, welcoming in a variety of genres ranging from classical to heavy metal.

In fact, young Chinese flock to Beijing with dreams of making it big at small but influential clubs like D-22, the sister club of record label Maybe Mars. Run by Pettis and Saliba, D-22 is Beijing's hottest venue for up-and-coming Chinese bands, nestled in the northwest university district. This is where music lovers come to find fresh talent and where young Chinese rock 'n' roll is born.

Ricky Sixx, a young Chinese rocker sporting lace-up leather pants and teased out long hair, moved to Beijing from a small town in Hebei Province in search of a thriving rock scene.

"In my hometown, we just have one bar. It's so small, and so little people would come," he said.

When he stepped into Beijing's D-22, Sixx felt like he found a place to live the dream. Of the Beijing scene, Sixx said: "Rock 'n' roll music is not just rock 'n' roll music. It's a spirit of rock 'n' roll."

Just a few months after his arrival, Sixx is considered one of talents to watch at the club -- perhaps the next generation's version of the Carsick Cars, a group considered to be the most successful band from D-22, having captured international fans and toured with Sonic Youth in Europe.
Video: China exports rock 'n' roll

Only two years after the band's first album debuted, Carsick Cars today serves a gateway band by which many Americans appreciate Chinese rock 'n' roll. Back in China, Carsick Cars performs what label Maybe Mars says is "the anthem of Chinese countercultural youth" for its juxtaposition of catchy pop and lightly politicized social commentary.

Sixx is also reaching for the stars, telling CNN he and his band recently played in the finals of the Pepsi Battle of the Bands in Shanghai, angling for a spot to perform in Hong Kong and win a recording contract. Saliba, of Maybe Mars, is also developing the young rocker, calling him one of the freshest new talents in Beijing.

"There is a lot of amazing music being made. I'd say probably more exciting than most cities in the world," Saliba said.

However, there are also stereotypes to combat in the rapidly growing rock scene in Beijing. China has long been known for imitating Western trends from handbags to cars and even pop stars. Mainland pop music has been derided as uninventive and uninspiring, fraught with lip-synching and intense focus on image rather than music.

Nowadays though, innocuous Mandarin pop (or "Mandopop") and popular karaoke bars are no longer the only sounds in town. The rock scene is heating up, and it is fiercely original.

"We learned a lot by imitating," said Cui Jian, one of China's most famous rock stars. "But we have our own problems, our own feelings to express, so we've started making our own music."

Cui Jian is widely considered the father of Chinese rock and roll. More than 20 years since he launched his own ground-breaking career, he is trying to encourage today's young bands to be innovative and experimental with their music.

Leading a musical counterculture that is redefining what it means to be "Made in China," Cui is headlining a new show on MTV China to promote higher standards in the music industry by discouraging lip-synching and promoting his favorite up-and-coming bands.

Back across town at D-22, Charles Saliba and Michael Pettis are doing the same. To date, their record label Maybe Mars has signed 24 bands that they believe have real potential in the Chinese rock-and-roll market.

"You're looking for something that to you at least sounds new and is not a copy or a photocopy, and that's really hard," Saliba said. "I mean it's like discovering a color."

Whether China's new "color" of rock and roll will make it big in the U.S. during this tour remains to be seen, but there is no doubt that Chinese rock 'n' roll is here to stay.

[Tingly]

BUDDY HOLLY GUITAR UP FOR AUCTION

NEW YORK (AP) -- The guitar that Buddy Holly customized himself as a tribute to Elvis Presley is going to be auctioned. Christie's auction house will sell Holly's Gibson J-45 guitar.

Holly did leatherwork as a hobby and he covered the guitar in leather because
he had seen Presley play a leather-covered guitar in 1955. It's expected to sell for $450,000 to $550,000. Holly's tweed stage jacket will also be sold, and it's expected to go for at least $3,000.

Original 78's of Presley's first five singles for Sun Records will also be on the block. The auction will take place in New York on December 3.

[Tingly]

FENDER STILL MAKING THE BIG BUCKS

By Michael Hiltzik

Los Angeles Times

The sound of California business success came to my ears the moment I stepped through the door of Fender Musical Instruments Corp.'s 3-acre manufacturing plant in Corona, 70 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

It reached me as riffs and scales on electric guitar, audible over the thud of metal stamping and the grind of band saws that one might customarily hear on a factory floor.

But this is no ordinary plant. The last step in Fender's quality-control process requires an experienced musician to play every note on a finished guitar, listening for a stray vibration or tuning flaw to be corrected before any model, including the American Standard Stratocaster that is the plant's bread and butter, reaches a dealer.

Fender's Corona shop is a testament to how U.S. manufacturing -- California manufacturing, especially -- can survive in a world where even complex products such as microprocessors can be turned out by the millions by unskilled laborers overseas.

The secret is to marry assembly-line efficiency and hand-tooled precision. Much of Fender's manufacturing process, including the rough cutting of the guitar body and the stamping of the metal parts (some still based on dies cut personally by Leo Fender, the company's founder), is at least partially automated. But there's no substitute for the hand-finishing, polishing and tuning of the hundreds of American Standard Stratocasters and Telecasters, along with other high-end guitars, produced each day by a workforce of 600 in Corona.

It's rare for a week to pass without some other state trying to lure a California manufacturer with cheap real estate, tax incentives or other blandishments that this state can't, or won't, match. Fire extinguishers, sportsmen's knives, fabricated plastics and electronic components are all products once made in California and now made elsewhere.

Not even Fender is a California-only manufacturer: The firm makes most of its amplifiers and entry-level Fender-brand guitars in Ensenada, Mexico. But its executives say their core manufacturing is in California to stay.

"California is hewn into Fender's DNA," says Justin Norvell, director of marketing for the electric-guitar lines. "Leaving would never happen."

In part, that's because of its experienced workforce, which can't be casually relocated, much less replicated, somewhere else. The average tenure of a Fender employee is 15 years, and turnover is less than 1 percent, says David Maddux, the firm's senior quality-assurance technician and a 35-year employee.

Guitar-making in California also helps preserve the company's link to its late founder, Clarence Leonidas Fender, who opened a Fullerton radio shop during the Depression and tinkered with amps and electric guitars on the side. The first Fender-built guitars appeared on the market in the mid-1940s.

Fender guitars have long been identified with the California car-and-surf culture -- Leo personally gave Dick "King of the Surf Guitar" Dale one of the first Fender Stratocasters, with the directive to "beat it to death." Dale worked Fender's amps so hard that some burst into flame, according to legend.

So it's no accident that Fender's $1,590 American Standard Stratocaster, the heart of the catalog, is made in Corona. And that's not to speak of the models produced by Fender's eight master builders, elite craftsmen who can spend anywhere from several days to several months building a guitar in the Custom Shop.

Collectors commonly demand the products of particular master builders, and artists sit down with their favorite builders to extract just the right sound from the hand-tweaked electronics and build of a signature guitar.

Ask him about his work, and a master builder will respond not with an engineer's precision but an artist's subjectivity. "There's a sound in my head I'm trying to chase and yet remain true to what Fender's all about," Mark Kendrick, 51, told me. Kendrick has worked at Fender since he was 18. He struggled to put his goal into words, then said, "It's really tough to describe the tonal quality of a Fender. ... It's the very definition of rock 'n' roll."

Kendrick has made instruments for Eric Clapton and Merle Haggard. To meet a customer's specifications, he'll do everything -- hand-wind copper wire around the pickup magnets as well as select the wood of the guitar body.

"I can water the tree if I have to," he said.

A few cubicles down, John Cruz showed me the replica he fashioned from Swedish guitar-virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen's 1971 Stratocaster. It's a heroic reproduction, down to the original's cigarette burns and tooth marks, not to mention its strip of tape with the words "Play Loud" and electronics that achieve what Cruz called a "1-to-1 match" sonically.

Fender then turned out 100 replicas, sold for a list price of $12,500, to Malmsteen devotees -- plainly a group that puts the "fan" into "fanatic."

Yet you don't have to follow any individual artist to admire Fender guitars. Like its nearest rival, Gibson Musical Instruments in Nashville, Fender is part of every rock fan's heritage. Fenders have been the instruments of choice for Clapton, Steve Miller and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

I remember the great blues guitarist Roy Buchanan making his Fender Telecaster wail like a heartbroken lover on "Sweet Dreams" during a New York appearance in the early '70s. That's a white Strat that Jimi Hendrix seemed to stretch to its physical limits in his unforgettable battlefield rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock in 1969. If you're looking for "a definitively sublime Strat moment," guitar historian Tony Bacon says in "The Fender Electric Guitar Book," you could do worse than David Gilmour's operatic solo on Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."

Collectors of Strats can be as particular as collectors of Strads, endlessly debating the relative quality of those manufactured during Fender's three historical periods -- the Leo Fender years (1946-65), the period following its 1965 acquisition by CBS and its renaissance after a 1985 buyout by its CBS management, led by William Schultz, who established a corporate headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., but opened the Corona manufacturing facility and launched the Custom Shop there. (The instruments produced under cost-conscious CBS have long been scorned by experts but have lately begun a modest rise in collector esteem.)

Many guitar experts believe Fender is today experiencing its golden age, but that doesn't mean the firm is immune from economic woes. It cut back to one shift from two about a year ago, when the recession made $1,000-plus guitars look like dispensable luxuries. Executives say dealers have finally begun to report hazy indications of resurgent demand.

More important, it's facing more rapid technological change than anything the innovative Leo Fender ever saw. Aware that young musicians aren't shy about enhancing their guitar work through software, Fender brought out the VG Stratocaster, with on-board digital sonic modeling, in 2006. It didn't address a large market, however, and is now out of production, possibly to be supplanted by a second-generation version in 2011.

But to aficionados, some things never change.

"They've always been able to maintain a passionate corporate culture," says Tom Watson, a former Stratocaster trader who contributes market analysis to the Web site StratCollector.com. Norvell and other executives say the firm's history keeps that passion alive.

"Every day, we're aware that we're stewards of a legacy," Norvell says.

[Tingly]

ROBERT JOHNSON BIRTHPLACE TO BE TOURIST DESTINATION

Robert Johnson's birthplace in Hazlehurst, MS, may soon become a tourist destination for fans of the late blues guitarist who--as legend tells it--sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his guitar prowess, according to a New York Times report.

Johnson's half-sister reportedly has verified that her brother was born in 1911 in a Copiah County home built by his stepfather. The cultural affairs office of Copiah County is seeking to raise $250,000 to restore the home as a place for music fans to come pay respects and honor the influential artist.

The fabled crossroads where Johnson is supposed to have sold his soul has never been definitively located.

-livedaily.com

[Tingly]

FRESHMAN GUITARS: QUALITY AND PLAYABILITY

Freshman is well known for manufacturing acoustic guitars with good build quality and great playability.

Consistently delivering well setup guitars not only creates a good reputation, but it also creates high expectations for guitars across the Freshman range.

It goes without saying that when it comes to top end electro-acoustics and 12-string guitars, Freshman have a lot to live up to.

This month, Acoustic Magazine has been taking a look at two models within the top-end of the Freshman range – the Grand Auditorium FA400GAC, and the FA400DCE12/S.

These guitars have a very similar build which immediately impressed Acoustic Magazine's reviewer.

The high standard of wood used in these guitars, not only helps to create a good feel, but also creates a great tone.

Acoustic Magazine noted that the "solid AAA-graded Engelmann shimmering spruce top, which is key in getting their sound nice and bright."

Acoustic Magazine's reviewer was particularly keen on the metallic timbre of the FA400GAC which is "well suited to stomping riffs and desperation blues."

Strong build quality, high standard materials, impressive tones and good playability place these two models right at the top of your Christmas list if you're hunting for a high-end acoustic guitar.

"If you've had the misfortune to have missed out on playing one, then these two models in particular could be your chance to find a new stripped-down acoustic rig".

Gear4music have recently become a regional specialist of Freshman guitars, and have over 40 different models available including acoustic and electro-acoustic guitars.

As Acoustic Magazine's reviewer commented, "There are clearly some common traits among Freshman guitars with very intelligent and experienced minds getting hands-on in the production."

-gear4music.com

[Tingly]

SMARTPHONES BECOMING MORE IMPORTANT TO GUITARISTS

Smartphones loaded with Guitar Hero have emerged as critical tools for aspiring rock stars. Now comes the second wave. Call it Guitar Hero: the Real Deal.

For a growing number of actual guitarists, their smartphones — O.K., their iPhones — are suddenly as important as tuners, metronomes or recording equipment, because an iPhone can now do everything these other devices can do, for less money and with less hassle.

“I’m amazed at the quality of some of the apps out there,” said Mike Mueller, contributing editor at Guitar Edge magazine and manager of GuitarInstructor.com. “At this point it’s kind of ‘buyer beware,’ because everybody’s looking to get in on it, but this certainly has legs.”

The universe of mobile guitar software can be split roughly into three categories: those that replace traditional guitar accessories like tuners and metronomes; practice apps that simulate a fretboard; and apps that contain chords, scales and tablature. There’s even dedicated hardware for attaching your phone to your guitar, but more on that later.

With simulators like Guitar: Play and Share ($4), iShred ($5) and Guitarist ($4), players can finger chords, pick strings and hear a fair approximation of how it may sound on the real thing. These can be good for practicing when you’re way from your instrument — that is, if you can get accustomed to them.

Jon Francis Lucow, a professional musician in New York City, has used Guitarist and iShred during performances, and to “record, learn songs and jam on the subway.” He said it took him “a couple of hours of noodling” to get used to the apps.

Given that the display mimics a (cramped) fretboard, you might be tempted to try to hold the device like a guitar, but that would be a waste. The apps are designed more for two-fingered poking than for bar-chord progressions. And because they often include a broad range of sound effects, they’re great for building ideas that you can try out when you have the real instrument in hand.

Some of the more adventurous musicians, like Mr. Lucow, are even plugging their smartphones into amps and performing with them — although, as he put it, “it would be hard to make a solo look sexy. And setting your phone on fire means you can’t call a cab after the show.”

Much more useful, for a less experienced player like me, at least, were apps like GuitarToolkit ($10), TabToolkit ($10), Chordmaster ($2), Scale Wizard ($2) and, to a lesser extent, Jammit ($7).

With Chordmaster, users scroll through one of the roughly 7,800 chords in the app’s library, and it displays the proper finger placement. Swipe your finger across the screen, and the chord plays. The same is true for Scale Wizard, which includes more than 10,000 scale, mode and arpeggio shapes.

Jammit lets you play along with three well-known songs in a given genre, with scrolling tablature that you can set to different speeds. It’s nicely designed, but it can be tedious if you’re not a big fan of Alice Cooper, Deep Purple or Foreigner, the bands in Jammit’s current classic rock version.

TabToolkit has similar features, but it allows users to upload digitized sheet music and tablature, so you’re not confined to the app’s song library. That library, by the way, includes 13 songs, plus eight groups of exercises for warming up and practicing.

GuitarToolkit, created by TabToolkit’s developer, is among the most popular guitar apps, and rightfully so. It does several things well: the app includes a chord look-up feature that is at least as good as Chordmaster’s, but deeper, with more than 500,000 chords. The feature works for eight instruments, including the ukulele and banjo, and users can change the instrument’s tuning and find the correct chords for each.

The tuner is reliable and easy to use. Perch your iPhone nearby and pluck a string. The display tells you how close you are to the center of a note, and a green light flashes when you’re on the mark.

The fretboard shows how to play thousands of scales, while the metronome is accurate and flexible enough to offer a variety of sounds and an optional flash.

If you don’t need all of those functions, you can just buy tuners and metronomes à la carte. They may not come from GuitarToolkit, but fortunately, you can find them from some other highly respected sources.

Take Peterson, for one. The company, which produces a popular line of tuners, this year released its first iPhone app, iStroboSoft ($10), which gauges an instrument’s accuracy with more precision than most other tuners on the market. Peterson also sells a $13 iPhone cable so you can plug in your instrument, for even greater accuracy in noisy environments.

Among the better metronomes is the Visual Metronome ($2), which is the personal favorite of Wolf Marshall, the author of the “Wolf Marshall Guitar Method” instructional series, and a music lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles. The app’s big, clear display, he said, is especially useful for group performances.

When it comes to recording riffs or other compositional snippets, guitarists can rely on something simple, like the device’s embedded Voice Memo app. But for more serious compositions, Mr. Marshall recommends GigBaby ($1), a four-track recorder with a drum machine. “You could sketch out some ideas with this,” he said, “and you’ve got something you can hand your band.”

Most of the apps mentioned are not yet available for Android phones or BlackBerrys, although developers frequently say they are working on adding them. BlackBerry has very few, while Android has a handful of decent guitar-related apps — mostly tuners and chord libraries — but nothing yet as good as GuitarToolkit.

No matter what device you’re using, though, most of the apps pose an inherent problem for musicians: you must either prop your iPhone someplace nearby and squint toward it repeatedly, or just put down your instrument and start pressing buttons.

Which is why the Dunlop D65 is a welcome innovation. The device, a swiveling iPhone bracket that suctions to the face of your guitar, is a bit costly ($30 at guitarcenter.com), but the product comes from a company with a long line of guitar-friendly products, and Dunlop says the D65 won’t damage common guitar finishes.

The bracket also includes a quick-release hinge, just in case your next big finale puts you in the mood to channel your inner Hendrix, yet still have a phone to call a cab with at the end of the show.

Quick Calls

T-Mobile is again selling the Sidekick ($150 with a two-year contract), after a month out of circulation. The phone is popular among social networking fans, but in October a technology glitch led to Sidekick users losing all the data from their devices. The company says Microsoft’s Danger unit, which manufactures the Sidekick, has changed its systems to prevent similar problems in the future. ... If typing on a mobile phone is still a challenge for you, test out Verizon’s new Samsung Omnia II. It’s a touch-screen Windows Mobile phone with a so-called Swype technology, which allows users to type by dragging one finger from each letter to the next, instead pecking at specific letters. (See a demo at bit.ly/IrZgS). Verizon sells the phone for $200, after a $100 mail in rebate and two-year contract. ... Droid owners may now have one less reason for iPhone envy. The Dolphin mobile browser, which is free on the Android Market, has added multitouch capabilities for Droids. Early customer reviews suggest the pinch-and-zoom feature isn’t as precise as on the iPhone or the Palm Pre, and some users have complained about unexpected browser shutdowns, so be on the lookout for software updates.

NY Times

[Tingly]

INDIANA GUITAR FEST PLANNED FOR MARCH, 2010

The first Indiana Guitar Festival and Competition, which is only one of its kind in the state, will be March 27-28.

The Jacobs School of Music will host the event and plans to continue it annually. The event is in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the guitar department at Jacobs, said the department’s chair Ernesto Bitetti.

William Yelverton, director of guitar studies at Middle Tennesse State University will perform and judge the competition. Other judges include members of the Jacobs faculty.

The competition is open to performers of all ages not represented by professional management. However IU students are ineligible to compete. Prizes will be awarded at the competition ranging from $150 to $1,000.

Jacobs students will also perform and all of the events are free and open to the public.

-idsnews

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GUITARS ARE SELLING WELL FOR XMAS

Although early data on the 2009 Christmas shopping season is indicating that shoppers are keeping their money in their pockets, perhaps hoping for some last minute bargains, there are certain products which are bucking this apparent trend.

A retail research study indicates that some products are almost flying off the shelves. One example is musical instruments, or more specifically guitars. Musical instrument retailers are reporting excellent pre-Christmas sales of guitars, especially guitar kits aimed at novice guitarists. So it’s looking like Santa’s sack will be packed with guitars this year, which will make it hard for him to squeeze down various chimneys.

It is thought that one of the key reason why guitars have become such a hot Christmas gift item this year is the Guitar Hero effect. Many youngsters have become experts at the Guitar Hero video game and it would appear that this has inspired them to move on to a real guitar.

Video games are still a firm Christmas favourite with DJ Hero being just one of the games topping the popularity charts. Musical equipment retailers are optimistic that youngsters who enjoy getting to grips with DJ Hero will ultimately move on to some real DJ equipment and boost their sales of decks and mixers.

While there are a few Christmas glimmers of positivity in the retail market the overall view is very gloomy. Sales are down on last year and many stores which rely on Christmas trade are saying that if this season doesn’t improve then 2010 could mean an end to their businesses.

boosphlr.com

[Tingly]

VINTAGE GRETSCH UP FOR GRABS

Beginning today, Dec. 2, music fans have a chance to win musician Dave Stewart’s rare vintage Gretsch guitar with original touring flight case from his days with Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics.

The auction is being handled through Page Six Magazine and proceeds from Dave’s guitar will go to Stand Up To Cancer.

-monstersandcritics.com

[Tingly]

RON WOOD ARRESTED

LONDON — Aging rocker Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones was released on bail Thursday after being arrested for possible domestic assault.

Wood, known for his stinging guitar riffs and raucous private life, was picked up by police Wednesday evening near his home in Esher in southern England.

"I can confirm that there was an incident last night and that Ronnie Wood was arrested," said David Rigg, Wood's spokesman.

The arrest comes on the heels of Wood's highly publicized divorce last month. His marriage collapsed after he started dating a young Russian woman.

Police in Surrey, England, released few details about the incident, which is still under investigation. Police would not say who made the assault complaint against Wood.

Asked about Wood, police said only that a 62-year-old man from the town of Esher had been taken into custody Wednesday night on suspicion of assault in connection with a domestic incident on Claygate High Street.

Claygate High Street is a popular commercial street near Esher, an affluent town 17 miles (28 kilometers) southwest of London that was also the home of George Harrison of the Beatles.

Locals Thursday were trying to find out what happened with Wood, one of several famous rockers from the 1960s who live in the area.

Teresa Asoli, owner of the Il Corallo restaurant, said few of the facts have come out.

"Some people came around and wanted to know what we saw," she said. "But I wasn't here when it happened so I didn't see anything."

Wood spent Wednesday night in police custody before being released on bail to face further inquiries in January.

Wood's private life has been in turmoil for more than an a year since he started a high profile relationship with Russian Ekaterina Ivanova, a 20-year-old cocktail waitress.

That relationship led to his divorce last month by Jo Wood, his wife of 24 years, on the grounds of adultery.

He and Wood have two children together.

Wood has long been a guitar stalwart of the Rolling Stones, one of the world's longest-running and most popular rock bands. He joined the band in 1975 and has spent more than three decades touring the world with the band, one of the most successful live acts in history.

According to Forbes, the band recently earned about $88 million in one 12-month stretch.

In recent years he has also found some success as an artist, selling his paintings in numerous galleries.

His romantic troubles have provided ample fodder for Britain's tabloids, who have shown repeated photographs of the craggy, aging rocker cavorting with his young Russian paramour.

He also was treated for alcoholism in 2008.

-AP

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GIBSON TO RELEASE DUSK TIGER LIMITED EDITION GUITAR

Gibson, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of musical instruments, will release a limited-edition electric guitar at only 200 retail sites worldwide.

One hundred stores in the United States and 100 stores in international markets have been selected to sell the guitar. Only 1,000 of these guitars are being produced. Each store will only have five guitars. Guitar Center San Antonio has been selected as one of the companies that will sell the Gibson Dusk Tiger.

Guitar Center will host a special demo this Friday, Dec. 4 with the rock band The Toadies. Members of the band will take questions from guitar aficionados. A fan could win a guitar signed by the band.

Nashville-based Gibson manufactures acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos.

-San Antonio Business Journal

[Tingly]

MUPPETS A YOUTUBE HIT!!

London, Dec 3 : A parody by the Muppets of the classic music video of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' has become a YouTube sensation after the video-sharing website got over 8.6 million hits for the footage.

The video is the first to be posted on a new YouTube channel by the Muppets Studio- the Walt Disney Company subsidiary formed in 2004 after the Jim Henson Company sold the franchise.

Muppets Studio general manager Lylle Breier said the online push for the Muppets was designed to help reboot the franchise and quickly get new content to fans.

"When the Muppets came into real popularity was the 1970s. What was popular in the 1970s? Variety shows. That's what 'The Muppet Show' was," the Telegraph quoted Breier as saying.

"What's the Web? It's a giant variety show. That's why the Muppets fit so perfectly. Parody has always been at the heart of what the Muppets do," he added.

Breier said the Muppets singing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' had long been an idea on the back burner, but it was only recently that the idea came together.

And in the video, just about every famous Muppet character makes a cameo-Gonzo and his chickens appear in silhouette, Rowlf plays piano, Beaker supplies his normal "meep-meep-meep-meep", Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem are also there.

A Muppet version of 'Carol of the Bells' will be released for Christmas, and a handful of other videos will follow in 2010.

-ANI