Hard Rock's "New Year's Eve Guitar Drop" tonight in Niagara Falls !!!

Get ready to rock n’ ring in the New Year! On Tuesday, Hard Rock Cafe Niagara Falls, USA will host the city’s fifth annual New Year’s Eve Guitar Drop...

Events at the Hard Rock and nearby Old Falls Street begin at 8 p.m. leading up to the count down to 2014, as a 10-foot Gibson guitar, painted by local artist Rob Lynch and illuminated by Ken-Ton Electronics, is lowered off the Giacomo Hotel at midnight.

As part of the New Year’s celebration, Hard Rock Cafe Niagara Falls, USA will host a free outdoor concert headlined by Living Colour.




Formed in 1983 Living Colour is a rock band from New York City, The band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, hip hop, hard rock, and heavy metal. Living Colour rose to fame with their debut album Vivid in 1988. They are best remembered for their signature song "Cult of Personality," which won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1990. Living Colour was also named Best New Artist at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. For more details, visit www.livingcolour.com.

In addition, attendees can enjoy food and beverage concessions along with a special fireworks display at midnight.

A portion of the proceeds from the event benefit the Niagara Falls Firefighters Christmas Toy Fund, an organization that helps the community meet the needs of the less fortunate in Niagara Falls by providing new winter clothes and Christmas gifts for impoverished children and a festive meal for local senior citizens during the holiday season.

Carbonite Copy: The Travis Stevens Han Solo Guitar

When friends of Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody, (a Star Wars fanatic), were looking for a special present for him, they didn’t want to get him an ordinary guitar. Instead, they commissioned Travis Stevens to build a one-of-a-kind 'Han Solo in Carbonite' guitar for him.

“Ben’s friends heard about my Millennium Falcon guitar and searched the internet to find me,” Stevens says.



“They wanted something Star Wars–related, and I came up with the Han Solo idea shortly after finishing the Falcon guitar. The rectangular shape worked well as it’s similar to the Bo Diddley signature Gretsch ‘Twang Machine,’ and Han in Carbonite is one of the most iconic images from the Star Wars movies.”

Stevens downloaded all the images of that scene he could find (including a photo of Moody at the Skywalker Ranch posing with the original prop) and collected reproduction toys for reference to help him as he carved the likeness of Han entirely by hand.


The semihollow body consists of a maple top and back, mahogany sides, and a mahogany center block attached to a bolt-on maple neck. Bare Knuckle custom-configured the Aftermath humbucking pickup covers and pole pieces to match the Carbonite colors. Controls are side mounted to preserve visual aesthetics, and a multicolor LED illuminates Han’s color-changing “life-support system,” also located on the side.

Although Stevens makes his living as a music teacher in Pennsylvania, he offers his guitar customization services to anyone with an unusual idea. “Prices are dependent on parts,” he explains.



“A guitar like the Han Solo would sell for $2,000 to $3,000, but I just renovated a Pearl Harbor–motif guitar and a Boba Fett–themed Strat that each sold for $1,200.”

More details about Travis Stevens’ Han Solo guitar and other designs can be found at TravisStevensNerdCrafts.com.


Photos: Angela Boatwright

Fender rolls out the Vaporizer
New retro-styled 12-watter for 2014

After a hugely positive response to their limited-run roll out (back in early 2013), of the  Excelsior, Fender has announced a 2014 production run of their newest line of retro 12 watt amplifiers, the Vaporizer!

Revealed ahead of NAMM 2014 (January 23–26, in Anaheim, California USA), the Vaporizer is a retro-styled, all-valve, single channel amplifier with an eye-catching 'Atom age' design.


Featuring:
- 2 x 10" {16-Ohm} special design Vaporizer Speaker
- two instrument inputs
- a 1/4" speaker output
- a tidy 17" in overall height
- stripped down controls (similar to the Excelsior)
- built-in reverb
- Fender's special, 'Vaporizer Mode', (which bypasses volume and tone controls for 'unfettered access to the raw tube amp'. circuit).



The 2014 production run will be available in both Slate Blue, Surf Green, and Rocket Red, with a retail list-price of just $399 US. [$430. CND / £245. GBP].

This will likely be just the tip of the, "retro-style, boutique-y," iceberg at the Jan. 2014 NAMM this year. Retro styling is seriously big-time popular right now, and you can certainly expect to see plenty more of this sort of thing at the Anaheim, CA. show in just a few short weeks.

For more information on the Vaporizer, visit Amazon's sales page.

Detailed Specs:

Below, check out a video of 11-year-old guitarist Aidan Fisher performing "Eruption" while onstage with Steel Panther during their December 19, 2013 show at the Midland Theater in Kansas City, Missouri.

As expected, Fisher follows "Eruption" with "You Really Got Me," and the whole band, minus Steel Panther guitarist Satchel, joins in.

Apparently, Fisher challenged Satchel to a guitar duel at some point before the show, which led to his being invited on stage with the band.


At the very end of the clip, you can read Satchel's verdict on who won the shoot-out.

As always, (since Steel Panther is involved), the video below is uncensored. It features foul language - in the presence of an 11-year-old yet!

Guitar legend Jeff Beck recently announced fresh details regarding his new studio record, confirming plans for a tentative spring release...

As his official website reads, Beck took a short break after his tour with Brian Wilson and is already busy in the studio with his new band, consisting of Rhonda Smith on bass, guitarist Nicholas Meier, drummer Jonathan Joseph and Lizzie Ball on violin.


"After taking a very short well earned break post his recent tour with Brian Wilson, Jeff has been spending most of his time with his new band (Rhonda Smith – Bass, Nicholas Meier – Guitar, Jonathan Joseph – Drums and Lizzie Ball – Violin) in the studio," the announcement kicks off. "We won't say too much at present. Suffice to say - watch this space - it will be epic!"

Apart from the new record, Jeff is reportedly also involved with Wilson's upcoming effort. Beck's latest album, "Emotion and Commotion," dropped in March 2010 via ATCO Records as the guitarist's tenth studio release.

This is an amazing video... apparently the name of this guitar maker is Patron...

He uses whatever materials that he can source in his southeast Africa Malawi Refugee Camp. He uses any kind of woods available to build his acoustic and electric guitars. Patron has a only a few simple tools, but yet still manages to build guitars that look absolutely great. I wish there was more information, but at the moment all I can do is share this video!

Kiddie-pop sensation Justin Bieber dropped a shocker during a recent Power 106 radio chat announcing retirement plans saying... "I'm Gonna Quit Music."

During the interview, Justin confirmed his plans to quit the world of music after the release of his new album..... "After the new album ... I'm actually retiring man," he said. "I'm just gonna take some time - I think - I'm probably just gonna quit music."


Justin found himself in the limelight of the rock world after recently jamming out an improvised cover of Metallica's "Fade to Black" and naming a few other rock greats such as Led Zeppelin, Korn, and Guns N' Roses among his personal favorites. With these particular artists and this style of music being very far removed from his own brand of elementary school-girl kiddie-pop, it's no doubt Justin said he decided to quit.

"I like Guns N' Roses and Metallica," Justin told Q magazine. "The Beatles. I like Metallica's 'Fade to Black' and 'One.' It's edgy and emotional with those instruments and electric guitars and stuff."

In related news, Justin's ticket sales are plunging. His concert ticket sales are reportedly on a constant decline with ticket sales dropping show after show. Most experts are attributing the dwindle to Bieber's recent ridiculous attempt at having a, "bad boy image."



The news of him throwing the towel spread across the globe in a matter of seconds, but was he serious? Unfortunately, the answer to that is NO.

The truth is he thought it’d be hilarious to say that he’s retiring after the next album. Okay... Whatever. I guess somewhere there’s a 13 year old who thinks that’s funny. Meanwhile the rest of us are wondering when (please - for real) ...when will he truly do us all a favor and QUIT.

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