Episodes
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In 1981 Gibson introduced one of its pointiest guitars yet. With an Explorer headstock and a slightly offset superstrat-style body, the team in Kalamazoo was ready to meet hair metal head-on. So they marketed the new instrument to - country musicians… It’s hard to say exactly what contributed to its poor showing, but the Victory was gone almost as quickly as it had arrived. Lucky for all of us in the present day, the Victory has been reissued! We dove under the hood to see what we could see. Enjoy!
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Once a major provider of parts, bodies and necks to brands like Kramer and Schecter (which it ended up buying), ESP now occupies valuable territory in the metal world of guitars. Admittedly, we are less-than-familiar with these beasts, but we gave it our best shot this Horizon, which ticked all the boxes. Enjoy!
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Missing episodes?
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Scandal is a Japanese band that holds the Guinness World Record for longest-active all-female band that still has all its original members. So it’s no wonder that they’ve all got signature guitars, including this 2014 Mami Sasazaki Jazzmaster, affectionately known as the “Stratomaster” - Enjoy!
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Jack White has carved out a place of distinction for himself. His approach to music is at once considered and no-holds barred. He knows what he wants to hear, and has never stopped looking for it. We’re big fans over here at High Gain HQ. So when we got our hands on the new Fender Jack White Triplecaster Telecaster, we had to take it for a ride. Enjoy!
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Greco was among the many brands created to capitalize on the guitar boom of the 1960s. These instruments were mostly copies of well-known American brands, and were made in Japan by a variety of manufacturers, including Teisco and Kandai. The Shrike, however much it might have owed to Rickenbacker, was an original design. Enjoy!
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Dan Armstrong was an original thinker. As a musician he toured with Van Morrison. He was one of the creative forces behind the Ampog SVT amplifier. Who else, then, in the late 1960s, could come up with the idea of a guitar made out of Lucite? Enjoy!
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In 2013, Yamaha was looking to make a splash with a new guitar design. They wanted something that looked both old and new, but not too out there. Taking cues from their own past designs, as well as Cafe motorcycle culture, the came up with the Revstar series. Enjoy!
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When CBS sold Fender to a consortium of employees, the US factory was not included in the sale. So, while the new owners figured out where their new home would be built, production moved to Japan. That was when the Contemporary Series of Stratocasters and Telecasters was introduced - the first set of Japanese instruments to bear the Fender name on the headstock, instead of Squier. Enjoy!
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When Guild decided to enter the solidbody guitar game, in 1963, they did it by introducing a series of instruments with funny headstocks and curves cut into the bottoms; some even had built-in kickstands. The least of these was the S-50 Jet-Star, a single-pickup affair targeted at the student market. It boasted a single pickup, a volume and a tone. That’s it. To our modern eyes, it is a triumph. But how does it sound? Enjoy!
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The Pacific NW is proud to call itself home to some amazing makers of guitars, pickups, effects and more - they grow well in the rain up here. For 30 years Joe Riggio has crafted guitars of singular distinction. And for those in the know, his refinish work is impeccable. We’ve seen guitars that Joe has brought back to life, and we are amazed every time. We got a hold of a Tango in black, and enjoyed the hell out of it. Hope you do, too!
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When guitar builder Dennis Fano was looking to expand the reach of his designs, he partnered up with Eastwood Guitars to create Rivolta. Incorporating design elements from vintage guitars, these overseas guitars are still distinctly Fano, somehow. We got our hands on a Combinata, and found it to be a pleasure to play. Enjoy!
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Justin Motander Jones is making some wonderfully inventive guitars down there in San Diego, CA. He’s been experimenting with creating effects by controlling the pickups themselves, as opposed to simply feeding their output through an effect. He calls this idea the Ardweirdo, since the brain behind all of this is the Arduino open-source electronics platform. The guitar we got to play around on was kindly loaded with every kind of tremolo sound you could want. Enjoy!
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Gibson introduced both the J-45 and J-50 acoustic guitars in 1942. Wood was scarce, and production in Kalamazoo was severely curtailed in favor of war-related endeavors. A few “banner” J-45s were made, but the J-50 would not be reintroduced until 1947. At that time, the J-50 was little more than a J-45 without the paint job. Our example is from 1968, after many of the design “improvements” had been rolled back. Enjoy!
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Fortunately for all of us, impeccable, handmade boutique guitars are easy to find; no one is wanting for choice. We are truly in an instrument-building renaissance. Dan Strain of Danocaster Guitars is one such builder, and his focus is all about having a guitar feel like it’s been yours for years, even if you’ve only just picked it up. We were fortunate enough to pick up an Offset and give it a whirl. Enjoy!
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We are torn here at High Gain HQ about the Starcaster that Fender released in 1976. All these years later, it has experienced a rehabilitation of sorts in the indie crowd. Now that the Tom DeLonge Starcaster has been introduced, will those on either side of the great Starcaster debate find common ground? If so, we smell a Nobel Peace Prize for Tom Delonge. Enjoy!
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In the immediate aftermath of WWII, the founders of Teisco would get their guitar bodies from a milkman who built instruments on the side. By the 1960s they were responsible for a large chunk of the Japanese import market, coming up with wilder designs as they went along. They mostly built for third parties; case in point this Silvertone bass, made for Sears. Enjoy!
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It’s been 5 years since we met Justin Abernethy of Abernethy Guitars, and he’s been very busy making top-shelf instruments. It seems like more and more we’re seeing Justin’s guitars in the hands of brilliant musicians. And there’s a reason for that. Like the Sonic Baroness baritone we enjoyed while catching up with Justin. Enjoy!
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It’s been quite a while since we had the pleasure of talking to Florian at Millimetric Instruments. He’s one of the most thoughtful designers out there, and his guitars reflect the care he puts into everything he does. We’ve been fortunate enough to play several Millimetrics, and have loved every one of them. And now, Ed has his own! We took it for a spin, and allowed ourselves to ogle all over it. Enjoy!
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Recently, Gibson added a new Les Paul to its lineup. It’s got hot pickups and slim neck, and sports a simpler, no-frills design. And, it’s very light! Is all this enough to convince Ed? Enjoy!
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In the early 1980s Fender briefly found itself without a factory. The company had been bought from CBS by a consortium, and the factory wasn’t included in the deal. So, they set up shop in Japan. At the same time, the Hair Metal Onslaught™ was in full bloom. What’s an instrument manufacturer to do? Make a guitar shaped like a samurai sword, that’s what. Enjoy!
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