Blutone's Boutique Baby!

  Can I share a secret with you?  I have never tried a Gibson Les Paul!  I love the look of them and some of my favourite artists use them but I simply haven't really felt inspired enough to do the Gibson thing at all having opted in the past for Fender or Squire products. Well the closest I got to one was this week was when I made a cheeky visit to GuitarGuitar in Camden on the way to a conference I was attending. With doors opening at 10am I thought that I would have just enough time to have a play and then go onto the meeting. To be honest with you I was really hoping to have another play on the Epiphone Emperor Swingster as it looks like I am getting one from my family for my birthday, but there wasn't one in stock but there was an Epiphone Les Paul Modern in Pelham Blue !  I simply couldn't help myself! The video below shows some tones: Specifications of the Les Paul Modern. Body Body Shape: Les Paul Modern Figured Body Material: Mahogany Binding: Single Ply White Weig

 On Friday 17th March 2023, The Blutone Band performed their first gig together... Last Friday I did something successfully that I have dreamed about doing for about 30 years.  I fronted a Blues band with the first outing of The Blutone Band. Consisting of myself (Vox/Guitar), Jon Hassell (Bass), Alice Marsh (Drums) and Jonathan Chaplin (Keys) we delivered our own mix of Blues and Rock n Roll. Songs that we love and so it would seem everyone in the White Horse in Oakington loved too. As someone who has mostly been a bass player and rarely a vocalist, I decided about four years ago to work towards my dream of putting a band together that I would play lead guitar and sing with.  Having not had a lot of experience of being a vocalist along with about 15 years of playing lead guitar, this was always going to be a stretch and I know that I need to work on my vocal talent but what I learnt on Friday night is that it is more important to give the audience a good time, show them respect and lo

The Gold Top PRS SE DGT  Just over a week ago I had the opportunity to try out the Gold Top PRS SE DGT and it surprised me! For those who read my articles, you would know that I have a weird relationship with PRS guitars.  They make some of the most amazing sounding and beautiful looking guitars in the world but it appears that the ones that set my world on fire are their unusual ones! My first EVER experience of playing a PRS was the PRS SE Starla which has literally changed my guitaring life.  I have been playing for thirty plus years and the Starla has unlocked something in me that I didn't know that I had.  Therefore the logic should dictate that I would become more and more in love with PRS guitars the more expensive the guitars are, right? Well it would appear not.  The most expensive I have tried was the CE24 and it was lovely, but I didn't feel it, I just didn't get excited.  I have also tried lots of SE's such as the Custom 24-08 , the Zach Myers , the 245. 

  At the Guitar Show UK , Chapman Guitars announced a new addition to their signature artists,  Peter Honoré. Otherwise known as 'Danish Pete', Peter Honoré has long collaborated with Chapman Guitars co-founder Lee Anderton (aka The Captain) on the Anderton's YouTube channel, a place where Rob Chapman (the other co-owner of Chapman Guitars) also collaborated. The birth of Chapman Guitars resulted from a novel approach to guitar design whereby the Andertons / Chapman Guitars social media community were consulted on what type of guitars should be build and to which specifications. In the six years that Chapman Guitars have been trading they have brought a refreshing take on guitar design, sales and distribution across the industry, taking styles of industry favourites and releasing their own novel guitars. Followers of Rob Chapman will be aware of what an accomplished guitarist he is and his passion for heavy rock and shredding styles of playing guitar and with the addition

  In this article I am going to give you a hands on review of the Baum Original Series Wingman, Leaper Tone and Conquer 59. On Sunday, I travelled up to Birmingham to visit the UK Guitar Show and I had a list of who I wanted to visit and which guitars to try out. At the top of that list was Baum Guitars.  Based out of Aarhus, Denmark, this small but mighty company is bringing something special to guitar players all over the world.  Initially a custom guitar builder producing guitars costing in excess of £3k, thus not being accessible to many guitar players who are not professional, they have been able to bring their unique designs to more affordable price points that means that more and more people can purchase their guitars. For me, I see that Baum are bringing fresh ideas to guitar design whilst celebrating retro finishes and touches a vision from designer Morten Bau. The video below from Andertons gives a great overview of the range that is available. Not everyone can purchase a gu