Fender, Gibson offer online resources for guitar lovers in quarantine

As more than one billion people have been asked to stay home in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the music community is coming together to entertain and support self-isolated fans.

In an effort to keep aspiring musicians busy at home, Fender is now offering three months of free guitar, bass and ukulele lessons through its Fender Play platform.



“With everything happening in the world, music has the power to connect us. We want to do our part to see you through, the way we know how. We’re all going to be spending more time inside, so we might as well make some noise,” the guitarist brand wrote on its Twitter announcement.

The new three-month offer is available to the first 100,000 new subscribers to Fender Play, where music lovers of all levels can discover easy-to-follow video tutorials from “world-class instructors.”

Normally priced at $9.99 (around P506) a month, the Fender Play app also includes how-to videos for hundreds of chart-topping songs by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Green Day, Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran and more.

Meanwhile, Gibson has just launched his own “HomeMade Sessions” initiative, where the instrument brand will offer exclusive to at-home performances and interviews from the world’s best guitarists.

“As world leaders in music, we are stepping in and bringing both legendary and new artists, music brands and industry partners together across the globe to launch ‘Gibson HomeMade’; a worldwide program to unite music lovers everywhere and spread hope through tough times,” Cesar Gueikian, chief merchant officer of Gibson, said in a press statement.

The initiative, available on Gibson TV, will include full-length performances and original content from Gibson, Epiphone and Kramer artists such as ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Slash and Warren Haynes.

“When times are tough and uncertain, music provides a comfort and dependability we all need. Music unites us all, even when we are apart and ‘socially distanced,'” Haynes said of “Gibson HomeMade Sessions” in a statement.


While Fender and Gibson have announced their own music initiatives, a handful of artists have created their own tutorials from home.

Among them are Queen’s guitarist Brian May, who launched his “Micro Concerts” series by teaching fans how to master the iconic guitar solo from the band’s 1975 hit, “Bohemian Rhapsody”.


“This is my contribution to the Common Good tonight. A raw cheer-up outburst. Living Room Rock! IG-ROCK! Is this the future? To all you folks out there feeling as disorientated as I do – let’s isolate together!!! And keep rockin’ together !! OK? With love. Yours truly – your friendly neighborhood chap who clearly imagines he’s in Hawaii!!!” said the legendary guitarist. JB

source: pop.inquirer.net

Gibson Agrees to Pay Penalty Over Imported Ebony Wood

Gibson Guitars has settled federal charges of unlawfully importing ebony wood from Madagascar for fretboards by agreeing to pay $350,000 in penalties, The New York Times reports. Gibson will pay a $300,000 fine and donate an additional $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The company will escape criminal charges if it does not violate terms of a settlement in the next year and a half. Gibson also agreed to abandon a lawsuit seeking $261,000 in damages incurred during the investigation.

"Gibson has acknowledged that it failed to act on information that the Madagascar ebony it was purchasing may have violated laws intended to limit over-harvesting and conserve valuable wood species from Madagascar, a country which has been severely impacted by deforestration," said Ignacia S. Morena, an assistant U.S. attorney general.

Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson’s chief executive, last year called the charges "baloney."

Gibson was accused of violating the Macey Act, which has since May 2008 outlawed importing wood harvested and illegally exported under another's country's laws. In August 2011, federal authorities raided a Gibson factory in Nashville, Tennessee, seeking wood imported from India. Two years earlier, armed agents stormed a Nashville Gibson factory over imported wood from Madagascar.

article source: rollingstone.com

Eric Clapton Guitar Settings - The Woman Sound

Eric Clapton has used many guitar settings in a career that goes across several decades but people are still fascinated by the sound that people call the "woman" tone. If you don't know what that means listen to the Cream track, "Sunshine Of Your Love" that features the guitar solo starting with the melody of "Blue Moon" by Rodgers and Hart. With none of the modern technological stuff available to him in the nineteen sixties, Eric just set his guitar and his amp according to his taste and played. Some of what you hear on record is more to do with what happens as the music is recorded than with the sound Clapton set out to make. Eric Clapton always played with the volume at full tilt and the tone was at a very low setting. The use of the wah-wah pedal and heavy gauge strings also contributed alot to the sound. Eric Clapton emerged with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in the sixties playing a 1960 Les Paul Standard guitar. His amp was 1962 Marshall forty-five watt 2x12 combination. He fought with producers and engineers to be allowed to play at concert volume in the studio. This was unheard of at that time. When he played with Cream, Clapton played a 1964 Gibson Les Paul SG. He chose 100 watt Marshall heads and 4x12 cabinets. He was also one of the pioneers of the wah-wah pedal. It was with this guitar and amp that he produced his famous "woman" tone. Do not forget Eric's Marshall amps were extremely overdriven and this was another major contributor to his sound. You can buy pedals that are supposed to duplicate Eric Clapton's guitar settings but you can be more "authentic" by setting the guitar and amp yourself. Because Eric has mostly been seen playing Fender Stratocasters for some years, we will stick with setting a Strat to try to get that "woman tone". But remember that Eric was not playing a Strat when he was with Cream so you will need to be creative to get the sound out of your guitar. You will be using the neck pickup. You need to turn down the second and third volume control knobs to get a fairly muddy tone. From here you need to use your ear to compare your sound with one of Eric Clapton's records. As far as your amplifier goes, set your bass to around seven and the middle at five. The treble should be set at five. These suggestions are only meant to be a rough guide to start off in the right direction to achieving a tone that you may not have the equipment to duplicate one hundred per cent. Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales. Article Source: http://www.articlebiz.com/article/373964-1-eric-clapton-guitar-settings-the-woman-sound/