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Acoustic Guitar magazine is 20 years old

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The Acoustic Guitar magazine is celebrating 20 years of service to all those die hard acoustic guitarists out there everywhere!

I’ve always found some great topics and intriguing issues in this magazine. The way the articles are phrased makes them simple to understand and the writers don’t talk down to you. I find this magazine to be unmatched and highly recommend it to any level of guitarist.

I’ve picked up some real nice little riffs and chord progressions in it that I find myself using without even realizing it! The website is just fabulous! If you have an online subscription, the guitar videos will help you become not only a much better guitarist, but a well rounded musician as well. I can’t say enough about the guys and girls that work there.

Acoustic Guitar’s 20th anniversary issue has what they consider to be the top 240 essential albums from the past 20 years. Some are from albums/guitarist that are familiar and some musicians that are very obscure to most, but in the end will help you expand your playing styles in new and exciting directions.

The anniversary installment, January’s issue, covers some great guitar and gear innovations over the past 20 years. Products like the Trace acoustic TA-100, the Kyser Quick Change capo (I’ve got one and I NEVER leave home with out one in my case), the Fishman Acoustic Matrix piezo pickup, tons of guitars and pedals. It also has a real nice article about how guitar making technology has helped change the sound of modern instruments.

Acoustic Guitar 20th Anniversary collector’s edition is out and I highly recommend that you pick this one up for either yourself or a guitarist that you know.

Keep on Jammin’ Acoustic Guitar!





Dear Santa, this is my X-mas wish list of electric guitars

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Dear Santa.

As you all ready know, I’ve been a very good little boy this year, just ask my mom, and here is the list of electric guitars that I would like, anyone will be a great reward for all the good things I’ve done so far this year! I know that time is running out but what the heck eh? Better late then never Santa.

  1. A 1957 Fender Stratocaster. This guitar is a classic! The sound that the single coil pick ups in this little beauty will bring a tear to anyone’s eyes. The neck makes it so comfortable to play that it can make anyone sound, or at least look, great! While flying around the world giving presents to all the good little boys and girls out there, see if you recognize this young lady and see if she may want to part with this one!
  2. Next is a vintage 1968 Gibson Gold Top Deluxe. The double coil pick ups (P90’s man Mr Kringle, don’t they look unique? I’m trying to make it easy for you to let it apart from other guitars!) on this guitar has a super smooth sound that is so rich and full that it’s probably bad for your heart … if you play or hear it too much that is! Isn’t everything that tastes great bad for you? Don’t worry Santa, I’ve got lots of cardiologist friends at work. Besides, it’s for the long forgotten jazz guitar player in me.
  3. Now I don’t want to be too much of a Christmas present hog so last but not least (I had to narrow it down a lot here) is the 1959 Gibson Sunburst Les Paul guitar! The sharp sound that comes out of this puppy is legendary! I’ve only held one and never actually strummed it because I was afraid that it would brake. So if you’d be so kind and find it in your heart of hearts to get me this one, then you’d really be helping me overcome my 59′ phobia!

So thank you for reading this e-mail Santa and say hi to Mrs Claus and the other little folks hanging around up there for me! Don’t worry about the dog barking, she will only lick you to death if you don’t pet her at least once!

Sing-cerly Chris

P.S. Keep on Jammin’ Santa!

The Retractable Guitar

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The newest gimmick for a full size guitar out there is called the Voyage-Air. It’s for guitarist out there that needs the extra room/space when they are traveling. The Voyage-Air appears perfectly designed to fit in the overhead compartment on an airplane.

It folds in half where the neck meets the body of the guitar. I guess you might call it the fold-and-stow guitar of the future! No I am NOT referring to the Retractable Guitar from Guitar Hero, just to make things clear! They report that the intonation basically remains the same on the Voyage-Air guitar and all you need to do is re-tune it just a little bit when you place it back into position.

I’ve just heard about this guitar while reading my favorite guitar magazine Acoustic Guitar and their review of it and it looks ok if that is what your looking for in a guitar. There are two things that bother me so far about this thing.

First is, how many sets of strings are you going to be going through when you bend the guitar back into it’s shipping position over and over again?

When I re-string my guitar, I always take the new strings out of the package and neatly place the old one into it for future use. This is just in case I can’t get to a music store to replace it. I also keep an a extra full set of backup strings as well, because Murphy’s Law is always around the corner when you least expect him!

If any of the old strings that I take off my guitar have a bend in them anywhere, I immediately throw that one out! It is rendered useless, trust my on this one.

Now considering I’ve never played or seen a Voyage-Air guitar, I can’t say with any certainty that my next concern is warranted. What will it sound like?

I don’t trust things that are gimmicky. If I want something, I buy something for one reason and one reason only! If a manufacturer isn’t focusing on what it’s really good at and then it attempts to please too many people with other less and whistles then something has to give!

Now here is my second concern, the sound quality. This particular part of any guitar that is paramount to me … the action is a close second. How will the front react to the subtle vibrations after all the tension on it, from bending the neck back and forth, be in a few years?

I realize that the Voyage-Air is relatively new on the market and we will have to wait and see it’s true potential only after a few years in the field, to judge it’s outcome correctly.

I’d love to find anyone out there that has picked up one of these guitars. Are you going through more strings then usual? Has the sound quality gone down the more you retracted it? Please let us know!

Keep on Jammin’

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