August is Ernie Ball MusicMan Month

Hello! Until a few years ago, I thought of MusicMan as the company that made Stingray basses for Flea. That’s it. I had no idea about the wide variety of guitars and basses that they make.

And I am pretty sure that there are still quite a few guitarists and bassists out there that are in the same boat as me. Of course there are exceptions, such as the Eddie Van Halen signature guitars that were built years ago, but there is a lot more to MusicMan than this.

MusicMan started selling guitars basses and amplifiers back in 1974. The company was started by Leo Fender, Tom Walker and Forrest White. Sales were slow, and by 1984 were near bankruptcy.

The Ernie Ball company bought the MusicMan in 1984, and started introducing new and innovative models. All of them are built to very high quality standards, and are highly-regarded by real musicians. This has been a successful formula that continues to this day.

So, I am going to devote my blog for the month of August to these fine guitars and basses. I am a fanboy of the highest order, so this will not be a tedious task.

2008 Gibson Les Paul Standard Root Beer Flame Top!

Hi there!

Today we are looking at a lovely 2008 Gibson Les Paul Standard finished in Root Beer (now discontinued) with a flame top. It is, of course, made in the USA, and it has a rosewood fretboard.

It is an awesome guitar, in near mint condition. It has never needed repair, or been repaired in any way.

There is only a few light scuffs that are impossible to photograph, and 2 small flea-bite dings on the front. I have pictured one, and the other I could not get to photograph. No rash or fretwear, and no issues. It has not been modified, so it has the original pickups and hardware. It sounds good too!

This is in better condition than any “new” guitar you pull off the wall at Guitar Center. They’ll let ANYONE touch them. Ewww.

This one is equipped with the 60’s neck profile, according to the fine folks at Gibson (and the little sticker I peeled off the headstock).

It weighs right around 8 pounds, 2 ounces. Obviously it has a chambered body.

The serial number is: 007180330, dating this to 2008. Note that this is the last of the Les Paul Standards with normal wiring and pots.

Included is the original black Gibson hardshell case with the faux reptile covering, and a pimped-out fuzzy white interior. It is in excellent shape too. It has the Gibson inspection card and truss rod wrench, as well as the pickguard, which has not been mounted to the guitar yet, so no extra holes have been drilled.

It plays incredibly. My tech set it up with Slinky 0.010s, and it needs nothing, except for you to play it!

The list price on these was $3448, and the lowest I ever saw these at a retailer was for $2299 at Musician’s Friend, so let’s get this thing into your capable hands! Shoot me an e-mail and we can talk it over.

Author edit: THis guitar has been sold. Thank you every body for your interest!

Fender Japan Custom Shop Keith Richards Sonny Telecaster

Good day! Here is another rare bit from the Fender Japan Custom Shop: a rare 1967 Reissue Keith Richards signature Sonny Telecaster. The serial number on this one is P021121, and it is marked Crafted in Japan, which according to Fender means that this was produced between 1999 and 2002.

This guitar is expertly crafted with a white ash body, sprayed with a 3-tone sunburst finish, so that the grain shines through. A single-ply flat black pickguard is mounted.

The neck has a medium C profile with vintage frets. A late 60’s type logo is used. Gotoh tuners are used on these Fender Japan Custom Shop models for their stability, although they look really out of place on this guitar. A four-bolt F-stamped plate holds the neck to the body.

The most unique feature is that the bridge is machined from a block of brass, with six solid brass saddles. It makes a huge difference in the tone of the guitar.

Ah, the pickups. This one uses a Fender humbucker at the neck and a traditional vintage single coil at the bridge. The pickup used in the neck position has that Gibson PAF '57 reissue humbucker sound. Sweet!

The craftsmanship on this guitar is impeccable. The fretwork, nut-detailing and finish is superb. The neck pocket fit is as tight as they come. There is a good reason that these guitars are not exported to the US, as they are a tough act to beat.

It plays as nicely as it looks, and I had it set up with 0.010 Slinkies when I owned it. It is SO crunchy with the pickup selector in the neck position. And it plays as well as any Telecaster I have ever owned, even the US Custom Shop models.

QSC KSub Powered Subwoofer

You probably figured from my last review that I am pretty happy with the performance of QSC’s K8 loudspeakers. With their small size, it is not surprising that they are a little light on bass performance, which is where the QSC Ksub subwoofer unit comes into the game.

The Ksub is also a powered speaker assembly, using a built-in 1000-watt (2x500 watt) power amp. This class D amplifier powers two 12-inch drivers. The amplifier is cooled by an on-board variable-speed fan. The speaker uses a variable power supply (100 to 240 volts), and US and Euro spec connectors are both included.

Of course, the Ksub is the biggest and heaviest part of the PA system. The enclosure is 26-inches tall by 114-inches wide by 28-inches deep. It is made of birch plywood with a textured black finish. To ease transport, it has non-removable casters and nice recessed aluminum handles. This is important, as it weighs in at 74 pounds, or 33.6 kilograms (but the metric system will never catch on).

The Ksub has a 2 combination XLR/1/4” socket inputs. Also, there are a few controls, including a gain potentiometer, and a digital signal processing option switch for normal or deep modes. There is a polarity switch, in case you run into some noisy voltage. And lastly, there is a connector where you can attach a remote gain control. I could see cases where this would come in pretty handy, particularly when trying to get the speakers to blend in with each other.

The QSC folks came up with a nifty threaded socket on top of the enclosure where a speaker pole (included) can be attached. This makes for a tidy PA package, and eliminates the need for carrying around more bulky speaker stands.

As with the other QSC K-Series loudspeakers, the warranty for the Ksub is 6 years, which provides plenty of peace of mind.

The Ksub completes the package when coupled with the K8 speakers, and really kicks this mother out. It has a frequency range of 44 Hz to 148 Hz, and a peak output of 130 dB. With the separate gain contol, you can blend it well with the output of the main speakers.

The list price for the Ksub is $1199, with a street price of $1049. This is not much of a discount, and seems a little like price-fixing to me. Regardless, these are a great addition to the K8 (or K10 or K12) speakers, and it is worth your time to check one out.

QSC K8 Powered Loudspeakers

Remember the good old days, when you wanted the largest speakers you could find, because bigger was better? QSC’s K8 loudspeakers prove that this theory is as dead as Chief Gates.

The QSC K8 speakers are a miracle of modern engineering and technology. The come in at a mere 27 pounds each, including an integrated 1000-watt (2000 watt peak) power amp. An on-board variable-speed cooling fan is included as well.

The amplifier is a class D (lightweight!) unit, with 500 watts going to the 8-inch driver, and 500 watts to the 1 ¾-inch driver. It has a variable power supply from 100 to 240 volts, and US and Euro spec connectors are both included.

The enclosure is small: only 17-inches tall by 11-inches wide by 10-inches deep. It is made of ABS plastic, and there is a heavy-duty steel speaker grill. A recessed aluminum handle is built into the top.

There are plenty of input options, including combination XLR/1/4” sockets, as well as RCA jacks, in case you would like to hook up an iPod or CD player without using a mixing board. There are also line and mix level XL outputs if you wish to hook up more speakers or a subwoofer. There is a great subwoofer option, the Ksub, which I will be writing about in my next blog post.

There are also quite a few controls on the back of these speakers. You get two gain controls, as well as two digital signal processing options for low frequency (Ext Sub/Norm/DEEP) and high frequency (Flat and Vocal Boost).

For mounting the speakers, there are a couple of cool options. The standard-size speaker stand socket in the bottom actually tilts up to 7.5-degrees so you can adjust the speaker angle. Also, there are threaded sockets on the top and sides of the speakers so they are easier to mount with cables, should you decide to hand them from the ceiling (or a truss, or a tree...).

QSC stand behind their products with a 6-year warranty, which is the best I have seen on any power speakers. Just make sure that you register them with QSC, or you are S.O.L.

So, on paper these speakers look like the best thing since canned beer. They have a frequency range of 61 Hz to 20 kHz, and a peak output of 127 dB. And the real world it all comes together and these things actually work. They have small drivers, so they are little light on bass performance, but they are clear and punchy, and can be as loud as a steel foundry that is stamping out the gates of Hell. They are very even across the frequency range, and I have not found any hot spots. They are the real deal.

The list price for the QSC K8 is $759 each, with a street price of $649. But, with their sound, size, weight, power capability and warranty, they are worth every penny.

Memory Lane: KNAC

For those of us that live in Southern California, I do not need to describe the wasteland that is broadcast radio. Whenever I travel, I am amazed that other markets still have a few radio stations that play real rock, and actually play new music. It is a shame that, in the birthplace of most rock music, we do not have one decent radio station.

When I think about this sad situation, I remember the good old days when we had stations like KMET and KNAC. KNAC was located at 105.5 on the FM dial, and was based in my hometown, Long Beach, California. It always had a pretty weak signal, but worked well enough where I worked and lived.

The station had been around since the sixties, but I started listening to it in the early eighties when it was an alternative station (Rock N Rhythm!). This was where you could go to hear ska and reggae, and hear about ne bands like UB40. Not the hard-rockingest station around (we had KMET for that), but there was no shortage good stuff. You could hear the new music on KNAC long before it showed up on the more powerful KROQ.

KNAC hit its prime in 1984 when the station was sold and changed to a heavy metal format (PURE ROCK!). To get a slightly larger audience, they installed a more powerful transmitter in Dominquez Hills (a nice name for Compton). Their exclusively metal format proved to be a hit with a younger demographic, and the station actually started to appear in the Arbitron ratings for the first time. This was the only place on the radio that I could find bands like Danzig or Loudness, and really expanded my knowledge and appreciation of many different rock acts.

A funny thing about KNAC during this era: it was very popular outside of the its broadcast area. I would often t-shirts and bumper stickers when I travelled, probably because they advertised in heavy metal magazines to garner a cult-like following.

Sadly, in around 1992 the grunge movement happened, and the popularity of heavy metal waned. The program director added grunge and alternative acts to try to please more listeners, only to disenfranchise the true metal worshipers. Rating declined, and eventually the station was sold in 1995, for 10 times what it sold for in 1984. From that point on it has been a Spanish-language station that seems to play mostly Mexican polka music, interspersed with announcers shouting into the microphone.

But, it turns out that PURE ROCK KNAC is not really gone. In 1998, a group of former KNAC staffers brought the station back via Al Gore’s internet at KNAC.com. You can go there to stream live music and download podcasts. And, sure as anything, there is lot of new music. I guess the internet really is good for more than just adult entertainment.

Gibson Custom Shop Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom

Hi there! Today we are looking at the coolest-looking guitar ever made. It is a black and white bullseye Gibson Les Paul Custom Zakk Wylde Model.

For those of you who have spent the last ten years listening to Matchbox 20 and crying at Twilight movies, Zakk Wylde is Ozzy Osborne’s former guitarist, and is the founder of the Black Label Society. He is a guitar hero of the highest order, and this guitar is a fitting tribute to him and his mad skills.

For starters, it is a Les Paul Custom, so it has the traditional body shape, multi-layer binding, pearl block inlays, and gold hardware. It has a one-piece mahogany body with a carved maple top. There is nothing really out of the ordinary with these parts. But, it does have some pretty major differences

The most significant difference is the electronics package. It comes with high-power EMG 81 and 85 pickups, with two volume controls, two tone controls and a 3-way (3-way!) pickup selector switch. So, it is going to have that EMG sound, love it or hate it.

Also, these guitars come with an unfinished 3-piece maple neck with an ebony fretboard.

Cosmetically, obviously there is the dizzying bullseye paint job, as well as the special Zakk Wylde graphic on the back of the neck and the gold truss rod cover.

The guitar we are looking at here is serial number is ZW 478, dating it to early 2001. I sold it a few years back, but it was a very fun to play guitar. It brought out my inner Fonzie.

It was in excellent condition, with no issues. It was unmodified, and never needed any repairs during the time that I owned it. I had it set up with Zakk Wylde GHS Boomers (.010). Not the world’s greatest strings, but it only seemed appropriate. Rawk!

It sounded incredible (I like EMG pickups), but my favorite part of it was the maple neck. It had a great feel, and I felt that the maple neck gave it an even more aggressive tone.

So, it is cool, but here is the deal-breaker. The list price on this guitar is now an eye-popping $6880.00. The cheapest you can get them online is at Musician’s Friend for $4699.99. That is a hard pill to swallow. Perhaps it would be better to build your own, and spend the $2500 you would save on lessons.