Boxes boxes boxes....

Delivery trucks pulling up out the front are a constant source of excitement when you work in a music shop!  Today it was some new gear from Blackstar which included some new models we haven't seen before as well as a 12" extension cab (finally!).  We're not exactly sure what there is that is so exciting in the manual that Charles is reading but hey... maybe he's just checking out the ohmage - could that be exciting?! 

Tomorrow we are expecting a big shipment of new Fender gear! Bring it on!!

Is this the best Martin guitar ever?!

That would be a huge call (& would be a debatable claim anyway!) but it is most certainly of the finest & most exciting Martin acoustic guitars we've had come through the shop in a long time.  At almost $6000 it sounds like a lot of money for a guitar (and it isa lot of money actually!) but if you could say that a guitar for that price was "value for money" then we reckon this is it! 

It is one of the very first of the new Martin Performance Series guitars to come in to Australia & it's a ripper... built of solid East Indian rosewood back & sides with a solid Sitka spruce top, solid wood binding (ovangkol), and pearl rosette. Check out some more photo's on our website or go to Martin's special website to hear a clip. Yummy!

Careful, fake guitars really do exist...

I sometimes wonder if people think we are just scaremongering when we tell warn them to "be careful out there" buying gear off the internet... especially from people they don't know... but we see so many "dodgy" instruments we cannot stress enough that fake gear really does exist and you really DO have to be careful!  And the more popular the gear... the more likely you are to come across a fake: copies of the classic Shure SM58 mike are very common place but at Concept Music we have also had personal experience with counterfeit Daddario strings, Yamaha flutes and trumpets, pickups... and yes, guitars as well of course.

Here are some photo's of what appeared to be a Fender Custom Shop Telecaster guitar that came in recently for us to have a look at. We were asked to "check the electronics... 'coz it's making a kinda buzzing sound".  Did it ever... & when we pulled it apart we could see why.  Not only were the pickups fake, the pots tiny & wiring thin & unshielded... on closer inspection we noticed the neck, despite having a beautiful Logo on the front and the Custom Shop authentification decal on the back it was (not so obviously) a VERY cheap copy.

So... how CAN you tell a "fake"?  Well, without taking a giutar apart it can very hard.  On this the external "alarm bells" were the truss rod access is wrong, also it had an unusual laminated maple fretboard on a maple neck (you can just see the 'maple on maple' lamination just behind where the truss rod is accessed) and also the maple in the neck also looks very cheap and has many grain faults.. something you would never see on genuine Fender (or even a Squier for that matter!) but overall... easily good enough to fool someone who wasn't expecting to see a fake or if you only had photo's to go by.  Hmmm. 

MORE Ukuleles!

If someone had told me a few years ago we'd be selling ukuleles for $500 and $600 I would have laughed... but there you go - who ever knows what "the next big thing" is going to be?!  Concept has always sold a lot of $25 cheapy coloured ukes but the market has seems to have exploded since the Concert for George DVD hit the shelves a few years ago.  Now we stock a huge range incluind Kala, Ohana & Mahalo & they are increasingly being sought out & recognised as a "real" musical instrument... AND they are SO much FUN!  It's hard not to smile whenever someone comes in & starts to strum on one!

They call him Bruce! Bruce Egnater that is...

There's always some funky new model of something coming on the market & while Egnater amps are not  exactly "new" (in fact Bruce has been making amps for over 30 years!) the new Tweaker models are. They are an ultra compact and amazingly versatile little 15 watt all-tube amp that offers unique & seemingly endless tonal variations via the on-board “Tweaker” selector switches. They use a pair of 6V6 power tubes & sound is incredible!  And at around $1200 for the combo, the price is great too.

Bruce Egnater is currently on a National Tour of Australia & dropped in to Concept Music with his right hand man Gustavo for a chat & to check out the local music store scene.  Tony and I thought it was a good time to test out the new "retro lounge" at Concept!

"Yeah Baby!" Our new Lounge Suite

I found this very funky old "retro" lounge suite on Gum Tree... it is exactly what we've been looking for to complete the entry to the new shop & it looks perfect!  Drop in for a cuppa!

The latest Guild guitars are made in the USA.

The rennaisance of Guild guitars the past few years since Fender took them over has been a credit to the guys in the USA.  Guild recently moved to a new facility in New Hartford, Connecticut and are one of the very few makers in the world to still use genuine nitrocellulose lacquer ~ you really can feel & hear the difference from the more commonly used polyutherane. Shane couldn't take his hands off this latest one that came in & we are still amazed at just how good they are getting with every shipment seeming to get better than the last!  The ever popular Guild D55 is a classic and at around $4,500 is a great investment.