Nashville, TN (January 10, 2020) -- For the past 126 years, Gibson has been synonymous with creating and shaping sound. The new Gibson era celebrates the iconic models of the Gibson Golden Era while leaning into the future with instruments that nurture new players across generations, genders, and genres of music. In 2019, Gibson emerged as the legitimate leader again by offering new, relevant and award-winning guitars. Combined with a re-energized brand and renewed commitment from all Gibson artists, 2020 is set to take Gibson to the next level as they showcase the new line-up, launch history-making new collections and artist collaborations during Winter NAMM 2020 in Anaheim, CA (January 15-19).
The Gibson Original Collection brings classic design, innovation and authenticity back into the hands of Gibson fans. These include the legendary Les Paul Standard 50’s and 60’s. “Less than one year ago we launched the new Original Collection as a way of going back to the 50’s and 60’s, to pay tribute to our iconic Golden Era bringing those classic designs back into the hands of Gibson fans” says Cesar Gueikian, Chief Merchant Officer of Gibson.
“The Modern Collection reflects a new era of innovation, something Orville Gibson started in 1894 and Ted McCarty fueled in the 50’s and 60’s. It incorporates many contemporary updates that players have embraced, such as lighter-weight bodies, push-pull systems to switch between the Burst Bucker and P90 sounds, innovative slim-taper necks with asymmetrical profiles, shaved heels for effortless access to the highest frets,” adds Cesar.
Gibson is expanding the Original Collection with new 70s-style Flying V and Explorer. The iconic ‘70s Flying V has been redesigned with a bound rosewood fingerboard, slim taper neck, and a pair of uncovered ‘70s tribute burstbuckers all hand-wired with orange drop capacitors and available in classic white finish with matching headstock, silver reflector knobs and chrome hardware. The ‘70s Explorer has traveled stages the world over. Now featuring a pair of ‘70s tribute burstbuckers, hand-wired with orange drop capacitors, this new Gibson Explorer begs to be played loud. With its classic white finish, bound rosewood fingerboard, black speed knobs and chrome hardware, it looks as iconic as the generation of music it helped create.
Gibson is adding to the Modern Collection with a new Les Paul Special Tribute in two configurations of pickups (Humbucker and P-90) at an entry point of $999 and made in USA by the same hands that make the sister Original Collection Les Paul Special TV Yellow guitars.
“The Gibson Custom Shop is the pinnacle of craftsmanship, quality and sound excellence. Each instrument celebrates Gibson’s legacy through accuracy, authenticity and attention to detail,” says Cesar. “We recently created the Murphy Lab at the Gibson Custom Shop with Tom Murphy as Master Artisan. Together, we are re-imagining and implementing new ways of delivering the Gibson Custom Shop historic experience to our extended fan base of guitar enthusiasts.” Tom will bring his expertise, authentic style and his passion for building historically accurate guitars to Custom Shop to shape the future of the Murphy Lab and cement his legacy.
2020 will introduce new 60th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul Standards in three versions. Those made in the first third of the year (V1) share the same specs as their 1959 peers, while the middle third (V2) have thinner neck profiles, different knobs and brighter colors. The final third (V3) feature even thinner neck profiles. Each version inspires generations of players in different ways, making music history all the while.
The Gibson Custom Shop is launching a new Historic Reissue ES Collection -- with True Historic parts, authentic dimensions and contours scanned from priceless vintage originals.
The Custom Shop will also be showcasing a new and limited run of historic reissues in a rainbow of custom colors. These include iconic models such as 1963 and 1964 Firebird V, 1964 SG Standard, 1965 Non-Reverse Firebird V, 1967 Mahogany Flying V, all with w/Maestro Vibrola, 1963 SG Special with Lightning Bar and the modern Les Paul Special Double Cut. The custom colors include Pelham Blue, Candy Blue, Frost Blue, Olive Drab, Classic and Polaris White, Inverness Green, Heather Poly, Silver and Gold Mist Poly, Kerry Green, Cardinal Red, Ember Red, Sparkling Burgundy, Purple Metallic, Black, Pink and others.
2020 will also bring multiple, limited-edition artist collaborations including a Trini Lopez Standard as a Core Historic Reissue model and the iconic Tony Iommi “Monkey” SG. “Tony Iommi's iconic riffs, heavy tones and massively-influential albums created the blueprint for Heavy Metal and many other genres to follow,” explains Cesar. “Having the opportunity to work with Tony to recreate his original 1964 SG is the ultimate honor for all of us at Gibson.”
“Recently I was invited to Nashville by Cesar and JC who I must tell you are so enthusiastic and passionate,” explains Tony Iommi. “I had the opportunity to go to the factories, meet the people that work there, and I saw how dedicated they all are. Gibson guitars have lifted a million times, with the new team being totally involved and that’s what’s been missing in Gibson for a long time now. There’s no stopping them, which is great for all of us guitar players,” adds Iommi.
Tony Iommi’s career, like the man himself, is universally loved and revered. And while his innovative tuning and playing styles were a major part of his monstrous tones, a Gibson SG named "Monkey" was at the center of it all. This heavily-modified 1964 SG Special was used extensively with the original lineup of Black Sabbath and heard on every album and tour of the 1970s. Thanks to the meticulous reverse-engineering and painstaking attention to detail employed by Gibson Custom Shop, 50 exact replicas have been created, 25 right-handed and 25 left-handed like the original, each signed and numbered by Tony Iommi himself. No detail was overlooked in the construction and aging, telling the complete story of the “Monkey” from the zero fret to the stop tailpiece bushings to the legendary pickups, which were hand-made in the U.K. by the apprentice of the late John Birch. Each guitar will even include an exclusive replica of Tony's silver cross necklace with a coffin case, a replica of Tony's leather touring guitar strap and a 1960s replica case.
The Gibson Custom Shop is also working with legendary and multi-talented Tool guitarist artist, sculptor, special effects designer, videographer and producer Adam Jones on recreating his original 1979 Les Paul Custom Silverburst that can been seen live on stage with Adam today in support of their world tour and blockbuster new album Fear Inoculum. More details to come on this project later in 2020.
“2020 brings a renewed focus on our acoustic guitars, just like we did with our electric guitar portfolio, applying the same principles of craftmanship. We are recalibrating our acoustic portfolio into Original and Modern Collections and launching an Acoustic Custom Shop with Historic and Modern Collections,” explains Cesar. “Our acoustic guitars have defined sound for 126 years and we intend to leverage that heritage and bring new iconic instruments to the hands of new generations of players.”
Gibson is pleased to announce the newly created Gibson Acoustic Custom Shop based in Bozeman, Montana. “With the Acoustic Custom Shop, we are bringing back all the acoustic icons in their true historic form with the Historic Collection and leaning into the future with our ornamented Modern Collection,” says Cesar. The Acoustic Custom Shop Historic Collection includes a 1942 Banner J-45, 1942 Banner Southern Jumbo, 1934 Jumbo, 1936 Advanced Jumbo, 1939 J-55, 1952 J-185, 1957 SJ 200, 1960 Hummingbird, Pre-war SJ 200 Rosewood and more.
The Acoustic Custom Shop Modern Collection will explore the push and pull between classic designs and modern materials with bodies designed for comfort and modern voice, easy-playing slim-taper necks and a flatter fingerboard radius for enhanced feel. It includes a J-45 Deluxe Rosewood, Songwriter Chroma with Quilted Maple, Hummingbird with Custom Koa and many more.
The Acoustic Custom Shop recently launched the most highly customized Country Western in Gibson’s history. Created for Sheryl Crow and based off her own Country Western, the features of this signature model are designed to deliver the sweet voice of our classic Country Western with the added punch created from our 1930's Advanced bracing pattern. The Thermally Aged Sitka spruce top and hide glue provide additional projection and increased expression with a wider dynamic range.
Gibson Acoustics continues the success of the new G line of acoustics--high-quality, USA-made guitars built by the same hands that make the J-200 and J-45’s with a price point for younger, or newer, “generations” of players. The new Gibson Generation line’s offerings, the G-45 Studio and G-45 Standard, priced at $999 and $1299 respectively, feature solid Sitka spruce tops and walnut back and sides and exquisite finishes. “We are energized by the success of the Gibson Generation G-45 guitars, we can’t make enough of them!” says Cesar.
Adding to the new artist collaborations, Gibson worked closely with Frank Hannon guitarist, songwriter and co-founder of the multi-platinum band Tesla, to bring fans a new “Love” Dove in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of “Love Song,” and Kazuyoshi Saito on a signature J-45.
“Teaming up with Gibson to create the timeless Love Dove acoustic guitar has been a joy because of the love that the Gibson team has for music, and the artists who make it,” says Frank Hannon of Tesla. “I recorded many of Tesla’s classic acoustic driven songs with an original 1970s Gibson Dove, and now we have together created the Love Dove acoustic guitar in its glory to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Tesla’s ‘Love Song’.”
By leveraging its iconic past and leaning into the innovative future, Gibson has set the stage for the next era of shaping sound for present and future generations.
For more information:
Gibson
There’s nothing cooler than using a Leslie cabinet in the studio, and few things worse than having to lug one to gigs. The famed Leslie 981, for example, weighs nearly 150 pounds. Enter the rotary speaker pedal—an easy-on-the-back alternative for players who are looking to conjure Leslie-derived guitar sounds employed on classic records by Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, and others.
California Roller
There are a lot of good options for on-the-floor rotary pedals between $99 and $549. At $299, Keeley Electronics’ new I Get Around Rotary Simulator falls in the middle of the pack on pricing but has an array of functions that make it competitive with costlier examples. The I Get Around is part of a collaboration between Keeley, JHS Pedals, and Benson amps, dedicated to creating five limited-edition effects in tribute to the Beach Boys. I can’t recall many Beach Boys tracks with Leslie-style guitar, but Brian Wilson did use the effect on brother Carl’s guitar on 1965’s “You’re So Good to Me,” and a year later on the song “Pet Sounds.”
At 5" x 4" x 2", the I Get Around is a little larger than the average stompbox, but that’s necessary to accommodate the three big dials on top (blend, drive, and speed) as well as the on/off (which also works to select true bypass or buffered mode) and slow-fast switches, plus the stereo inputs and outputs. Using two amps in stereo makes the flutter and warble of the rotary sound more pronounced and immersive. It’s truly psychedelic. There’s also a toggle that adds a 4.5 dB mid-boost, which fattens and tightens the tone enough for me to simply want to leave that boost engaged all the time.
How I Got Around
I ran the I Get Around—powered by a 9V barrel connector at 130 mA— through a pair of Carr amps, playing a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a PRS SE Silver Sky, and blended the pedal with overdrive, fuzz, and delay as I experimented. I love the extra-large size of the speed control, which let me adjust the rate of simulated rotation at a whim with my shoe. The speed’s range is .06 Hz to .6 Hz, with 1 Hz being one revolution per second, and all the speed settings sound great and conjure the vibes you’d want from a Leslie, from velvet-painting dreamscapes to edgy, breathless Robert Ward- and David Gilmour-style psychedelic blues. Add a little delay and the sound becomes spongier and stranger, but too much, of course, can turn things to muck, as can an overbearing fuzz.
The drive control is a subtle overdrive that simulates a pushed 6550 and 12UA7 tube. At moderate amp volume, it doesn’t add much discernable grit until about 9 o’clock. Past 2 o’clock it rolled off enough top end to make my guitar sound less potent. But between those demarcations lies a very sweet spot for adding beef. The blend control starts being effective at about 8 o’clock, when the first hints of the rotary sound become a backdrop for the guitar’s voice, and then it's just a matter of turning up to taste—including cranking all the way clockwise to entirely eliminate your core guitar sound in favor of the rotary effect alone. For my taste, the best overall sounds were achieved with subtle-to-pronounced blends, between 9 o’clock and a bit past 2, that added rotary effect to my always-present basic guitar tone, thickening, supporting, and swirling behind it.
The slow-fast switch is all about drama. It allows toggling between two speed settings, and when it’s held down it stops the rotating speaker effect, which resumes when the switch is pressed again. The ramp rate can be customized as well. I like it slow, so the activation of the swirl is audible.
The Verdict
Keeley’s new I Get Around Rotary Simulator commands all the essential sounds you’d want from an actual Leslie. Unlike some pedals in its price range, it’s got stereo outs, which, to my thinking, are essential, because the rotary effect sounds best through guitar amps run in stereo. Also, the deep functionality beyond the basic adjustments of the three topside dials is attractive, adding more Leslie-like realism. There are cheaper alternatives, but to find competitive or better examples, you’ll need to reach deeper into your pockets.
Keeley I Get Around Rotary Simulator Pedal - Sweetwater Exclusive, Limited Release
Many, if not most, musicians I know suffer from something I call music dysmorphia. As people who suffer from body dysmorphic disorder torture themselves with an overwhelming preoccupation of their perceived flaws, be they real or imaginary, musicians often listen back to their musical performances and only hear what they don’t like. (Timing is rushed, tone’s too thin or too bassy, note choice too cliché or too weird; it’s never quite right to their ears). I know a ton of players who are way better musicians than I will ever be, yet they genuinely don’t like the way they play. It’s not false modesty, it’s the inability to process reality accurately.
I see it come up often during Rig Rundowns. Usually, players begin the interview by playing a 15- to 45-second improvised introduction. Often, they’ll be playing, it all sounds great, then they hit something they don’t really like. They get a frustrated look on their face and ask to take it again. But now they are in their heads. The second take usually feels a bit self-conscious, not as free and flowing as the first take. You can almost hear their thoughts: “This will be online forever, evidence of my poor playing.” You rarely hear a second take that has the magic of the first one because they’re thinking about being judged.
The author with one of Nashville’s finest, Tom Bukovac.
Photo by Chris Kies
I know there’s a disparity between the music that I hear in my head when I’m playing and the music I’m actually playing. I often phone-record songs on my gig to gather some evidence of what I actually sound like: check the tone, timing, note choice. There are gigs where I feel ashamed of what’s coming out of my amp, but when I listen back, it’s fine, sometimes even good. Other times, I think I’m killing it, but when I hear the recording, I feel a crushing pain of disappointment combined with deep shame.
I suspect we all sound the best when nobody is listening. When you have an audience, then you judge yourself because you think you are being judged. Why should we care? Music is not a contest, it’s art.
“People respond to reckless abandon in art.”
There is no agreed definition of what constitutes art. Art is subjective. There are no wrong decisions with art, so we should be cool with whatever we play. Sadly, that’s not the case. I suspect that’s because music means so much to us. Playing music is not just something we do, it’s who we are. When I was younger, I worked a wide variety of jobs, but I never felt bad about being a terrible roofer, waiter, factory worker, or teacher, because this was just something I had to do for money—it was not my life’s goal. But being a musician is not only my passion and my job, it is how I am wired. Music is my identity. So when I play and it sounds like I can’t play, my sense of self is called into question: What am I doing with my life? Who am I? Performing for others means putting our tiny, naked heart in our hands, and offering it to God and everybody to be judged. That’s a scary, vulnerable position.
I was jamming with Austin Mercuri, a great bass-player buddy of mine, and I asked him if he thinks music dysmorphia is a thing. He agreed that it totally is a thing, and he gave an interesting insight. Austin said, “Ever notice when you record something comedic, like a parody, it turns out so great musically? Because it’s tongue-in-cheek, any mistakes or oversteps just make it better, so you go for stuff beyond what you’ve done before, take crazy chances fearlessly, and they work.” That’s the trick: Don’t care, then you can explore without any second guessing or fear of judgment, because you’re just goofing off. People respond to reckless abandon in art.
As a musician, you’re probably not going to find happiness by comparing your playing to others, which is pretty much impossible. For example, my friend Tom Bukovac and I moved to Nashville around the same time. I’ve watched his career take off and felt the sting of envy for years. But now, I listen to Buk play and the only thing I feel is inspiration and awe. With innate talent and an obsessive work ethic, Buk developed this ability to tap into music, where it flows through him, unhindered by doubt or self-consciousness. Why should Buk’s brilliance, or anybody else’s, make me feel bad about my thing? Get back to why you started playing in the first place. Stop thinking, just play.
Building upon the legacy of the 1966 Arbiter Fuzz, the Orbiter Fuzz enhances this classic circuit with advanced fine-tuning circuitry.
Key Features:
- Vintage Tone: The Orbiter Fuzz delivers smooth, musical fuzz tones with cutting sustain, offering immediate inspiration.
- Vintage Power: Our unique power circuit internally converts modern wall power to emulate the draw of a vintage carbon zinc battery.
- "Sweet Spot" Dial: An internal mini potentiometer allows you to dial in the perfect impedance response for your favorite pickups.
Versatile Controls:
- FUZZ: Adjusts the overall amount of fuzz by shaping the signal’s waveform from triangular to square as the knob is turned clockwise.
- GAIN: Increases the amount of signal entering the circuit, pushing it into harmonic clipping for smooth overdriven fuzz tones.
- BIAS: Modifies voltage to the matched pair of transistors, unleashing a wide range of vintage fuzz tones. Lower voltages produce spitty Black Keys responses, while higher voltages create smooth American Woman fuzz.
- Compact Design: Optimized for pedalboard space and easy integration with any standard pedal.
- Durable Construction: Crafted for reliability to withstand rigorous touring conditions.
Technical Specifications:
- Input Impedance: 500 kOhm
- Output Impedance: 10 kOhm
- Power Requirements: External 9V DC center-negative power supply
- Dimensions: 4.75" x 2.50" x 1.5"
- Weight: 0.8 lbs
- Bypass: True bypass
Design Details:
- Custom Artwork: Retro space-age design that pays homage to the Arbiter’s flying saucer enclosure.
- High-Quality Housing: Durable reinforced steel enclosure with a vintage metallic blue hammered finish.
Why You Need the SoloDallas Orbiter Fuzz Pedal:
A great fuzz pedal is essential for every guitarist and bassist. The Orbiter Fuzz offers the smooth, singing fuzz tone every musician dreams of, combining musicality with the reliability you need. If you’re looking for a pedal that excels in both sound and style, the Orbiter Fuzz is a must-have. Complete your search for the perfect fuzz pedal with the Orbiter Fuzz.
Arriving on Planet Earth 9/1/24! The Orbiter Fuzz will be available for purchase exclusively at SoloDallas.com starting September 1, 2024. The first 100 orders will include a SoloDallas swag pack guaranteed to impress. All SoloDallas orders ship within 24 hours.
Price: $249 USD.