How Good are Import Guitars? Japanese vs Korean Guitars

Every guitar player, at some point or another, aspires to own one of the top brand-name instruments on the market, whether made by Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, Paul Reed Smith or anyone else. In some ways, the guitar one plays becomes an identifying symbol; Stevie Ray Vaughn, for instance, was seldom seen with anything other than a Fender Stratocaster in his hands. Not many people could pick Peter Frampton out of a lineup today, but they know he played a Gibson Les Paul. Read more

Epiphone Nighthawk Guitar: Will It Fly?

The hard-working folks at Epiphone Guitars have stomped on the gas pedal as they bring the new 2011 Nighthawk to the marketplace. Public opinion about the Gibson Nighthawk has always run fairly high, as the older models are slowly climbing the rungs of the sought-after ladder, but this new Epiphone version – for all of the interesting factory tweaks it’s been given – has one thing going for it that can be best described as compelling Read more

NAMM 2011: EPIPHONE Flying V ROBB FLYNN of MACHINE HEAD

MACHINE HEAD guitarist/vocalist ROBB FLYNN, fueled by a photo of the headstock that popped up on the Epiphone blog, and now the YouTube video with a short over-view (see the video below).

Guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn of San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD recently signed a multi-year deal with Gibson/Epiphone that will see Epiphone launching an exclusive Robb Flynn Signature series, baritone-scale Flying-V guitar.

Flynn and MACHINE HEAD drummer Dave McClain are both at this year’s NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. You’ll find Dave signing at the Yamaha booth on Saturday, January 15 at 11:15 a.m, and Robb signing at the Epiphone booth on Friday, January 14 at 3:00 p.m.

Here’s the first video revealing Robb Flynn’s Baritone Flying V guitar Read more

Epiphone LE 1956 Gold Top Les Paul Guitar

Gold tops are the coolest. There, I said it. I know, I know, ’59 Burst, yadda, yadda, yadda, flame top, whatever. Give me the gold, Baby. Of course, the coolest of the gold tops are the 50’s gold tops with P90’s, which are the original Les Paul design, as humbuckers came along a few years later. The only problem is that real 50’s Les Pauls pretty much require a mortgage to obtain, at least for most of us. Thankfully, Epiphone has come to the rescue with the Limited Edition 1956 Les Paul Gold Top. Read more

Are Xaviere Guitars JUNK pt2

Last week we wrote a piece asking, you, the reader, if Xaviere Guitars are junk. The responses we received in the comment section was significant to our research and the debate was a great success. We’ve spent some time reading through the comments and determined that a handful of folks, out of a 100+ comments, posted their bad experiences from GuitarFetish and Xaviere guitars, while many posted their positive experiences. Read more

Are Xaviere Guitars JUNK?

Guitar Blogs and Webzines normally write about all the great and positive hooptah, in regards to guitars and guitar companies, and usually shy away from talking about what really needs to be talked about. Here at Gear-Vault we believe in the “no bullshit‘ policy, which means we not only write about the good that need to be revealed, we also write about the bad and the ugly–that–MUST be exposed. Read more

Just in time for Christmas – Cheap Epiphone GT Guitars

Epiphone’s determination to build high-quality, high-standard guitars with a reasonable prices tag began many decades before our current economic situation, making the company a long-trusted foundation of “great bang for the buck” instruments. Read more

Epiphone Zakk Wylde Graveyard Disciple Electric Guitar

Zakk Wylde is one of the most iconic heavy metal guitarists of our time and has had his praises sung far and wide. From his years with Ozzy Osbourne to fronting his own band, Black Label Society, Wylde has proved his point time and again and is considered by many to be the last of the true guitar heroes. Read more

Epiphone Marcus Henderson Apparition Electric Guitar

Epiphone Guitars–Marcus Henderson, best known as the heavy-metal guitarist behind a majority of guitar riffs and solos in the highly successful video game Guitar Hero, has joined forces with Epiphone to design and create the Apparition signature electric guitar. Marcus says this dream axe is designed to be the very definition of what a 21st century guitar should be: substance with killer style, bulletproof construction, and above everything else, huge tone. Read more

Agile AL Series Guitars – Les Paul Style

[ Image: Agile AL-3000 Rootbeer ]

Agile Guitars are quickly building a reputation for high-quality instruments at super-affordable prices. One of their best offerings is the AL Series, which are classic-looking, vintage-approved Les Paul/Singlecut-style guitars that pack a lot of bang for the buck and give players access to looks and tones that had to be scrimped and saved for in previous eras.

The Agile AL-3000M features a neck-thru design with a wide profile that provides everything a Les Paul-jones-ing picker could want at a fraction of the price of a Nashville Gibson. the guitar also features a solid mahogany body with a maple cap, a one-piece mahogany set neck with an ebony fretboard and abalone inlays, and 22 jumbo frets. Electronics on board include two Type V Alnico humbucking pickups for generating warm, traditional tones, improved pots and output jack, and 18-gauge American wire to tie everything together. Read more

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