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You Asked, We Listened:
The Return of the Reverse Flying V!
Last year, Gibson turned the legendary Flying V—and the guitar world along with it—upside down with the release of the Reverse Flying V, an eye-popping powerhouse that became the unexpected smash hit of Gibson USA's Guitar of the Week program. The original limited run Reverse Flying Vs flew out of stores, selling out faster than any other model, leaving hundreds of guitar players very happy and tens of thousands hollering for one of their own. Since then, the letters and e-mails to Gibson have flooded in, demanding another chance to own a Reverse Flying V.
Check it out here!
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The 10 Stupidest Rock Quotes of 2007
In an age where cell phones can discreetly film the private moments of both regular folks and celebrities, and with bloggers hitting their keyboards at the mere scent of a story, there's a Big Brother aspect to celebrity that makes the missteps and foibles of the famous public fodder in an immediate, invasive way. But going on record—making an actual statement to the press—well, you'd think some of these long-time music biz types would be a little savvier by now.
Presenting Gibson's Stupidest Rock Quotes of 2007:
1. This year, Oasis guitarist Liam Gallagher joined the ranks of Noel Coward, Shakespeare, and Oscar Wilde as one of England's Top Ten great wits—aye, the Guardian Unlimited says it is so. This begs the question: in the future, will college courses filled with academics pore over Oasis lyrics, looking for hidden meanings in Liams tossed-off diatribes? We can only hope.
Here's the quote that has Liam rubbing elbows with literary greats: "Americans want grungy people, stabbing themselves in the head on stage. They get a bright bunch like us, with deodorant on, they don't get it." Tru dat. Lost the dude at "deodorant." I mean, does Iggy Pop wear deodorant? How many people are even close enough to smell the band anyway?
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 The New Southern Rock:
The South Does It Again
Way back in 1975 the Charlie Daniels Band had a hit called "The South's Gonna Do It Again." It became the anthem for a style of hard-biting guitar-driven music fed by blues and country roots that was flooding the FM airwaves and filling arenas at the time: Southern rock.
The genre was ultimately swept aside by disco, the California sound (with poles defined by the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac) and new wave pop. But not before bands like the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band, the Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, Black Oak Arkansas, Wet Willie, and Little Feat—most of whom came from Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina—wrote their collective chapter of rock and roll history.
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The Last Robot Guitar Could Be Yours!
 Gibson's new and incredible Robot Guitar—the world's first-ever guitar with robotic technology—has been flying off the racks since its introduction on December 7. And while there were only 10 of these exclusive guitars per store, Gibson is still holding the last one—and it could be yours by entering Gibson's homemade Robot Guitar video contest.
It's simple: If you have a great video concept, do it! Bring it to life, enter the contest, and upload your Robot Guitar video to YouTube and paste the link here. We'll select the best videos and feature them on Gibson.com. The one that gets the most votes wins a First Run Limited Edition Robot Guitar. Go to YouTube and search for Robot Guitar to check out what's already out there.
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The Gospel According to Robert Randolph
Robert Randolph is on a mission. Specifically, he wants pedal steel guitar to achieve a status in popular music on par with the standard six-string. "There's a world there that's untouched," he says. "Few people outside country music have ever even played the instrument. I've sort of been the guy to take it into the mainstream, but five or 10 years from now someone else will be the Jeff Beck or Jimi Hendrix of pedal steel."
It's fitting that Randolph brings a religious fervor to his chosen instrument. The 28-year-old honed his craft in the House of God Church, an African-American Pentecostal denomination in which "sacred steel" guitar playing has a 60-year tradition. Schooled by sacred steel pioneers Ted Beard and Calvin Cooke ("the Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters of sacred steel players," says Randolph), the New Jersey native has since paid homage to these neglected masters of the instrument.
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A Study in Band Relations: How Dear and the Headlights Tackled an Endless Emo Tour and Came Out Unscathed (Free MP3s!)
BAND: Dear and the Headlights
HOMETOWN: Phoenix/Tempe/Mesa, Arizona
PLAYERS: Ian Metzger, vocals, guitar, keys; P.J. Waxman, guitar, keys, vocals; Chuckie Duff, bass, keys; Mark Kulvinskas, drums; Robert Cissell, guitar, keys.
FREE DOWNLOADS: "Run In the Front" and "It's Gettin' Easy"
WHAT TO BUY: On Dear and the Headlights' debut LP, Small Steps, Heavy Hooves, they blend the Robert Smith-like clarity and bombast inherent in Metzger's voice into a rustic and strummy songwriting core, alongside Kulvinskas' classic rock stomp, Waxman's shoegazey swirl, and Duff's sprightly, walking basslines. The result isn't common, "Sweet Talk" pulling crashing rock chords and howls into cascading post-rock arpeggios, boot-stomp singalong "It's Gettin' Easy" managing to sound bouncy and menacing at the same time. The members' varied grab bag of influences is obvious enough in Small Steps' songs; what's more interesting, though, is how they avoid stepping on each other's toes in blending them.
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Gibson Tone Tips: Wobble 101—Get That Bigsby Working!
Vibratos come and vibratos go, but Bigsbys live forever. This most ancient of whammy bars has been with us since the early 1950s, and was first offered by inventor and guitar- and steel-guitar maker Paul Bigsby around the time that Gibson offered its first solidbody electric model, the Les Paul, in 1952. Despite its heritage, however, the Bigsby unit tends to elicit a "love it or loath it" response from many players: those who don't work well with the device find it just gets in the way, or throws their guitar out of tune when they do try to use it, whereas those who get it wouldn't want their wobble from anything else.
The Bigsby has proliferated because it is one of the only, and by far the most popular, vibrato tailpieces that can be retrofitted to a wide range of guitars without major modification other than the drilling of a few small holes for its mounting screws. As such, it often proves the best vibrato for use on classic Gibson and Epiphone models such as Les Pauls and SGs, where it partners perfectly with a Tune-o-matic or wrapover bridge. It is still available as an option on models such as the Gibson Custom Shop 1957 Les Paul Custom VOS and Epiphone ES-295. The keys to getting the most from your Bigsby lie in understanding its limitations, and in setting it up—and setting up your guitar—to allow it to function as efficiently as possible.
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