New Buddy Holly Tribute guitar from the Fender Custom Shop

Another stunning reproduction from the Fender Tribute series of iconic guitars!  And they don't come much more iconic than this one which adds to Graham's Collection of other special edition guitars such as the SRV Number 1, is this VERY Limited Edition (there are only 50 world wide and just 2 made it to Australia!) is this 'new' Buddy Holly Stratocaster built by Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Dennis Galuszka. 


The original 1955 guitar has been painstakingly reproduced using the original materials, pickups, woods, paint scheme.  It even has all the nicks and dings from Buddy's original, and is offered as a special 50 Piece Tribute to one of Rock & Roll's pioneers.


The Master Built Stratocaster comes with a 2-Disc set of Buddy's gold records, and a signed certificate by Buddy's widow, Maria Elena Holly. There is also a special DVD interview with Maria Elena that makes this unique package not only a great Tribute guitar, but also documents a beautiful and tragic love story. 


For the techies out there here are the full specs:

•         BODY: HAND SELECTED OFF CENTER ASH

•         FINISH: NITRO CELLULOSE LACQUER/2 COLOR SUNBURST

•         NECK: 1/4 SAWN MAPLE NECK

•         FRETS: VINTAGE

•         HARDWARE: VINTAGE NICKLE

•         BRIDGE: VINTAGE SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO

•         PICKUPS: 1954 STRATOCASTER

•         WIRING: VINTAGE STRAT

•         CONTROLS: VOLUME/TONE/TONE,3-WAY SWITCH

•         R$9499

Taylor guitars back in stock at Concept Music!

Many, many moons ago....

When Concept Music moved to Wembley from West Perth 12 years ago we stopped carrying Taylor guitars. Graham still owned his Acoustic Guitar Centre in North Perth at the time & as he was already selling Taylor there, it seemed unnecessary to have them in both stores at the same time... however he subsequently sold the Acoustic Guitar Centre, & in consideration of the new owners he agreed not to stock them for a period of time.

But... "that was then, and this is now"! With that "period of time" elapsed it's Taylor time at Concept Music once again. (Yes, you just know Graham can't help himself when it comes to nice acoustic guitars... & they don't come much nicer than Taylor!). And one of the first guitars to arrive was this amazing & very different piece... if you think the bridge looks odd at first glance, you're quite right: it's an 8 string Taylor Baritone guitar. And what an incredible sound!  Even at $4,900 we reckon it's good value & won't last long so if you get a chance, drop in & it give it a strum... it's a whole lotta gee-tar!

Welcome to Ben Witt of "The Chemist"

Little did we know that when we asked Ben Witt to do a guest spot at an event recentlyy that he would end up working here!  Ben is an incredible young local artist and when he told us he was looking for a few days a week we jumped at it. Ben studied contemporary music at WAPPA and has been busy as the songwriter, guitarist & vocalist of local band The Chemist who have received extensive airplay on triple J, toured nationally with acts such as Boy & Bear and Birds of Tokyo, and were runners up in the International Songwriting competition in the rock category last year. Ben has also been hired as a session guitarist for high profile acts including the Aria award winning Bob Evans & Megan Washington. You may see him playing a Fender Telecaster or a Godin 5th Avenue through a Fender Blues deluxe, and is known to indulge in the experimental possibilities his pedals can offer. We are pleased to have his enthusiasm & expertise on board... drop in & say "Hi" next time you're going past! 

Our "real" Christmas tree!

In the "old" shop we simply has no room for a Christmas tree, so when I expanded the shop 2 years ago my wife asked me asked me if that meant I was going to have have a Christmas.  I said, "Yes, in fact I think we still have a really nice fake one in the store room from a few years ago".  Being from Europe, she was shocked... there was no way Concept Music was going to have a fake, plastic Christmas tree no matter how "real" I assured her it looked!  So... off to Wilburys in the Swan Valley we went... where you have to wander through the paddock & choose your own & then cut it down yourself. Last year we seemed to run out of time but this year the guys were keen to have the real one again so we it is... before & after!

Eskimo Joe in the House!

Our good friends from Eskimo Joe where back in the store today on their way to to Nova 937 to do a private show... all good except their gear did not not make it Perth in time so they were sans-guitars!  Stu & Joel are both now playing Maton acoustic guitars so we offered to lend them a couple of our guitars for the occasion... and as Concept Music has the biggest (and best!) selection of Maton guitars Perth we certainly gave them plenty to choose from! Graham & Lee were on hand to help.

Congratulations Fiona on winning a brand new Maton Diesel guitar from Concept Music!

When Fiona Wedenig of Gidgegannup received an email saying “Congratulations you are a Winner!” she thought it was just another one of those annoying hoax emails. In fact Fiona said first impulse was just to just delete it! Fortunately she didn't and a few days later when she checked the email more carefully she could not believe her luck.

Fiona, who is actually a clarinettist & owns a beautiful Buffet Festival series Bb clarinet, registered for our eNewsletter last year after she came across our website while looking for a Christmas Present for her guitarist partner Han. She saw that Tommy Emmanuel was doing a Master Class for Concept Music and, knowing Han owned already a Maton M325, thought it would make a great gift. Coincidentally Fiona & Han were already familiar with the Maton Mini Series guitars and had already been considering buying one as a travel guitar to take with them when visiting friends and family at “home” in Switzerland & Holland & were hoping to find somehting small enough to go nito an overhead locker... something you can sometimes get away if you put the Mini Maton in a bag instead of a case.

Interestingly, Fiona first came to Perth from Switzerland some 7 years ago while she touring the world circuit as a Professional Kite-Surfer.  “Yes, really!” Fiona says “I had a great job that meant I got paid to go to the beach every day!”.  While Competing and Training in Perth she met her partner Han... and the rest, as they say, is history!

Fiona has since hung up her Kite and is now working as a Project Manager in the Aviation & Mining industry in Perth. Unluckily for Han, it looks like he won’t get to play the Maton Mini guitar very much as, just one day after receiving her new guitar, Fiona emailed Concept Music to say: “I’ve already learnt my first two chords and played until I got sore fingers... it is such a beautifully sounding instrument, I can’t tell you how excited I am!”.

Congratulations Fiona... we are excited for you too and can’t wait to hear your first song!

Hank Marvin chooses AER for his Gypsy Jazz Guitars

Guitar legend Hank Marvin has been a regular at Concept Music since moving to Perth about 25 years ago and he often drops in for a chat and to check out the latest gear. In a previous interview with Hank we asked him why he decided to move to Western Australia and his acute sense of humour was quickly apparent when he immediately quipped “Actually Graham, when I got on the plane I thought I was going to Peru... but somehow we ended up landing in Perth!”
 
Hank was in again recently looking for amplification for his Gypsy Jazz guitars on which he prefers to use clip on microphones.  After talking to Tommy Emmanuel, he decided to try the AER acoustic amps instead of an electric amplifier and the Alpha 40 turned out to be extremely well suited.  Hank said: “it was difficult to get enough volume before feedback with traditional electric guitar amps. The AER allows me to achieve just the correct mix of stage volume and tone with my clip on mic on the gypsy jazz guitar in a live environment” before smiling & adding “and Tommy Emmanuel recommended it and I thought that was good enough for me!”

Tony Del Roio also chatted to Hank while we was here picking up his amp and asked him why, of all the places in the world he travels, he chooses to shop at Concept Music. Hank responded generously saying: “Concept has friendly service and staff... and a great ambience in the store when I visit. All the guys here have a genuine interest in music and musical gear... and it shows”.

Quashing rumours that he & Graham are planning to do a Christmas album together featuring Graham on trombone, Hanks said he is currently completing a new album with his Gypsy Jazz Quartet. It has recently been mastered and will simply be called “Gypsy Jive” and is due for release very soon.