NAMM « Lone Phantom

Posts Tagged ‘NAMM’

NAMM News: Paul Reed Smith SE Mike Åkerfeldt signature guitar

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

I know NAMM is now well and truly over, but another announcement that got me really excited was the long-awaited PRS SE Mike Åkerfeldt signature guitar. The Opeth frontman has been playing PRS guitars for quite some time now, and I think it is only appropriate that he gets his own signature model.

From the moment I first heard Opeth I was in love with the tone that Åkerfeldt has had. No over the top buzz-saw death metal tone, just beautiful, and at the same time deadly tone with great dynamics. I’m sure the PRS guitars he’s been playing over the years have contributed to that greatly.

The specifications of this guitar are pretty tasty (taken from PRS Guitars site):

Body
Body Wood	Mahogany
Top Wood	Maple with Flame Maple Veneer and Opeth “O” Logo
Neck
Number of Frets	24 Jumbo Frets
Scale Length	25″
Neck Wood	Maple
Fretboard Wood	Ebony
Neck Shape	Wide Fat
Fretboard Inlays	Original PRS Birds
Hardware
Bridge	PRS Designed Tremolo
Tuners	PRS Designed Tuners
Truss Rod Cover	PRS
Hardware Type	Gold
Treble Pickup	SE HFS Treble Humbucker
Bass Pickup	SE Vintage Bass Humbucker
Pickup Switching	Volume and Tone Control with 3-Way Toggle Pickup Selector

I love the colour and the flame maple veneer, and the gold hardware looks very classy. Some might be turned off by the Opeth “O” logo on the body, but I think it sits quite nicely with the rest of the guitar.

I would have preferred the guitar come with the wide-thin neck shape, but that’s just me. The wide-fat is still a very nice neck to play on.

Now some may be concerned by the fact that these are not built in the US, but I’ve played a number of the SE series guitars, and the quality and tone has always impressed me. I’ll be curious to see how much they are when they arrive in Australia. I hope they will be not too much more expensive than the regular SE lines.

Tags: Åkerfeldt, guitar, Mike, Mikeal, NAMM, Opeth, Paul Reed Smith, PRS, SE, signature
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NAMM News: Blackstar HT-Venue series

Monday, January 18th, 2010

This past weekend was the annual winter NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants). Held at the Anaheim Convention Centre in California, USA, NAMM is what musicians the world over can’t wait for by to find out what tasty new gear is announced by their favourite manufacturers.

I’ve well and truly become a proponent of Blackstar since getting my HT-5 head back in August. I am amazed at what Blackstar have pieced together into such a cheap, low-power amp. The HT-5 is a little powerhouse that punches well above it’s weight.

You can imagine my excitement when I caught wind of the new Blackstar HT-Venue series of amps. I had always thought that if Blackstar could package the HT-5 tone and price sensibility into a slightly larger amp it would be a phenomenal thing. My dreams have come true, and then some!

From the original HT-5 5watt wonder, through to the 100watt HT-Stage head, Blackstar have created HT tone for every need. I’m personally GASing over the HT-20 Studio head. If I find that my HT-5 isn’t quite cutting it for jams and gigs I’ll definitely be looking to get one. I hope to write a review on the HT-20 Studio, and compare it to the original HT-5.

Blackstar have also produced a range of HT-Venue cabinets. There are 1×12, 2×12, and 4×12 cabinets available, all fitted with Celestion Seventy 80 speakers.

Blackstar have put together some great demo videos showcasing how awesome these amps sound. I cannot wait to try them out.

HT-20 Studio combo