| Leap in guitar sales as Arctic Monkeys fuel trend
SALES of guitars in the UK have risen by 18 per cent over the past year to £120 million, as the popularity of rock bands such as Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys persuades the nation to get strumming. The number of guitars sold has more than doubled since 1999 as City bankers hunting trophy guitars and young would-be rock stars flock to guitar shops such as those in Londons Denmark Street. .
The Water Cooler: They should go to 11 - and start with 1
Nigel Tufnel, to put it kindly, seldom has come across as the sharpest guitar pick in the box, but he clearly has his admirers at the University Interscholastic League. A brief review, for those of you unfamiliar with the legendary Spinal Tap lead-guitar player: Tufnel, being interviewed for "This Is Spinal Tap" — a 1984 chronicle of the band's American tour — explained to filmmaker Marty DiBergi why the volume switch on his guitar's amplifier went to 11, rather than the customary 10. DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder? Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not 10. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at 10. You're on 10 here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on 10 on your guitar.
An 'Idol'-ized songwriter
MELANIE CONNER/ Morgan Grace Practicing at home Move over, Kelly Clarkson: Oregonians have their own "American Idol." And ours actually writes music, plays instruments and sings. Late this summer, 29-year Portlander Morgan Grace won first place in the pop category of "American Idol Underground's" songwriting contest for "The Rules of Dating." The cash prize for her catchy pop tune? A cool $10,000. In her basement practice space, Grace recently spoke about the contest and performed the winning song. How did you hear about the contest? The contest sent a mailer to CD Baby (a Portland-based online music store) asking for independent artists, and I thought, "Oh, that might be cool," and then forgot all about it. A year later, I saw a link for it on MySpace and uploaded my song and forgot about it again.
Kustom Celebrates 40th Anniversary With Introduction Of Limited ...
Kustom Amplification proudly celebrates its 40th Anniversary with the introduction of two series of Limited Edition guitar amplifiers. Sporting cool racing-style stripes, the 40th Anniversary Coupe® Series consists of three models while the new '66 DART™ takes Kustom's popular 10-watt guitar amp platform and gives it a full-on "Tuck n' Roll" visual treatment. The 40th Anniversary Coupe Series amplifiers will be available in 1x12 (36-watt) and 2x12 (72-watt) combo amp formats as well as a 2x10, 36-watt version - a new configuration for the Coupe Series. In keeping with the Anniversary theme, only 40 of each model will be manufactured. The padded Tuck n' Roll panels of each Anniversary Coupe are crafted using the original Uniroyal® Naugahide material but with a bold racing stripe added and a special "1966 - 2006" embroidered logo stitched directly onto the colored panel.
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