You may not be familiar with the company Tronical but you will know their work because they are responsible for Gibson’s Robot Guitar tuning systems. Well judging by this video it appears that Tronical are about to launch some standalone systems that can be retrofit to pretty much any guitar be it a Les Paul or Stratocaster.

Head over to the Tronical website below and register your interest to find out when this system becomes available:

http://www.tronical.com/

If you ask me, 3D printing is the future of small-scale and short-run manufacturing. Assuming that the technology can come down in cost and increase in speed, many of the smaller items we use will eventually be 3D printed – at least custom stuff, like these awesome 3D printed guitars by Olaf Diegel.

A professor at Auckland, New Zealand’s Massey University, Diegel created these beautiful and lightweight 3D printed electric guitars using a combination of alumide and polyamide materials with an EOS Formiga P100 selective laser sintering machine – a serious industrial 3D printer. I doubt you’d be able to do something this impressive with a Makerbot, but I’m happy to be proven wrong.

His current designs, the Scarab and Spider, feature a cool open air design, and tremendous depth and detail thanks to the capabilities of the 3D printing tech. I love the tiny insects and plants on the inside of these things.

Of course, while the guitar bodies are 3D printed, the neck, pickups, frets and strings are all standard electric guitar parts. Maybe someday those can be 3D printed too.

I’m not sure if Olaf is offering these guitars for sale, but if you’re interested, he has contact information up on his University web page.

(Via Technabob.)

Now here is a fun idea to add a bit of hammer horror to your guitar collection, Grip Studios create monster hand guitar hangers in a number of finishes including carved wood.

They’re strong and durable and will support many times the weight of any guitar or bass. You can rest assured your axe is in good ‘hands’. – teh lolz…

Our hangers are machined and balanced so your instrument fits securely. The grip is equipped with a rubber cushion so the neck and head stock of your guitar or bass is well protected. Won’t harm nitrocellulose finishes. We at Grip Studios believe strongly in our products and most importantly in the satisfaction of ourcustomers. Bottom line… we stand behind our work. Each piece comes with our 30 day Money Back Guarantee and a Life-time Warranty against defects in craftsmanship.

The Standard model is the GS-1 which come in a number of colours but if you really want to get your monster on check out the GS-2 which includes the ‘Grip Reaper’ and ‘TorchTip Silver’ models pictured above. If you wood (see what I did there) prefer a hand carved model there are currently 2 available – http://guitargrip.com/prod_Carved.htm both equally as creepy as each other. If you really want to push the boat out how about the Air Brushed series? I particularly like the Ride/Lightning.

Check out http://guitargrip.com for details and join them on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/gripstudios.

(Via Guitar Noize.)

Besides the Lady Gaga in the egg thing, and some of the expected pop horsesh#*, last nite’s Grammy’s weren’t too bad for actual artists. Jeff Beck was nominated for five, and managed to take home two– actually three, when you count his involvement with Herbie Hancock’s Best Pop Collaboration Grammy. Jeffs two were: Best Pop Instrumental ‘Nessun Dorma’ & Best Rock Instrumental ‘Hammerhead’ from the Emotion and Commotion album

Other significant awards were Neil Youngs Grammy for Best Rock Song ‘Angry World’. And believe it or not, this is Neils FIRST ever Grammy. Seems kinda weird huh. Well, when songs like Old Man & Heart of Gold came out, the Grammys werent hip enough I guess.

Another award I really dig is Best New Artist for Esperanza Spalding. This girl is a serious badass Jazz musician who sings and plays upright bass. You must check her out!

Best Rock Album went to Muse. A spooky thing about this is that just yesterday, I was watching an interview clip of the late Gary Moore in which he mentioned Muse as a newer Rock band he dug.

So, I’m officially dubbing Jeff Beck the C.O.S./ Chairman of the Strat nowadays. Any problem with that?

(Via Strat-O-Blogster Guitar Blog.)

K Multimedia are on a roll right now, I’m a massive fan of Amplitube 3 but then they released an iPad version of Amplitube and it just looks like iPad’s were designed to run Amplitube rather than the other way around. Aside from being visually stunning it also has the most amazing amp models too and now IK Multimedia have announced a new version for NAMM 2011 of their Fender licensed amp collection called AmpliTube Fender™ for iPad, iPhone and iPod. As you can hear the emulations of classic Fender amps and effects are incredibly realistic as we have come to expect from Amplitube but the combination of beautiful graphics and the tactile interface make it worth buying an iP

Leo really nailed it first time didn’t he, the Telecaster is such a simple, beautiful and timeless design worthy of a 60th Anniversary Celebration. It features an ash body, tinted maple neck and fretboard with modern 9.5’ radius and medium jumbo frets, American Vintage Telecaster single-coil pickups, modern tuners, American Standard bridge with bent steel saddles and stamped brass plate, black pickguard, Blackguard Blonde thin-skin lacquer finish, commemorative neckplate, and Fender/SKB® molded case.

The rich history of Fender guitars begins with the Telecaster, an enduring marvel of form and function; of style and substance. Still elegantly simple after six decades, it is the versatile voice of remarkably diverse and creative players worldwide.

Officially named the Telecaster in February 1951, the world’s first successful solid-body electric guitar turns 60. It revolutionized guitar playing, changed the sound of music and became a signature instrument for guitarists worldwide. The 60th Anniversary Telecaster blends modern Tele® technology with vintage looks for a best-of-both-worlds, collectible U.S.-made instrument.

To further distinguish it as a special instrument created for the occasion, the 60th Anniversary Telecaster bears a commemorative chrome neck plate honoring six decades of enduring Fender legacy.

Check out Fender.com for more info.

(Via Guitar Noize.)

Makers of the coolest guitar and bass tuner on the planet TC Electronic have just updated their equally awesome iPhone app to version 1.1.0 making the app fully compatible with iPhone 4 as well as iOS4. It features full Retina display support for ultimate viewing experience when tuning.

A brand new Color Blind feature has been included, allowing users to switch out the green/red colors with yellow/blue. Finally, the overall graphics has been improved, and the app now has a new, very appealing icon that will stand out on any iPhone home screen.

Obviously, v. 1.1.0 is a free update for existing PolyTune app users, but to celebrate this new version, TC Electronic will be lowering the price for new users to just $0.99 for 3 days, from December 16, 2010, to midnight December 19, 2010. Normally, the PolyTune app is priced at $9.99, but after the three-day special offer, the regular price will be dropped by 50% to $4.99.

To download the app click on this link or search for PolyTune in the app store.

(Via Guitar Noize.)

John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles and, with Paul McCartney, formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 20th century. Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved as a teenager in the skiffle craze; his first band, The Quarrymen, evolved into The Beatles in 1960. As the group disintegrated towards the end of the decade, Lennon embarked on a solo career that would produce the critically acclaimed albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs such as “Give Peace a Chance” and “Imagine“. Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to devote time to his family, but re-emerged in 1980 with a new album, Double Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release.

Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, his writing, his drawings, on film, and in interviews, and he became controversial through his political activism. He moved to New York City in 1971, where his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a lengthy attempt by Richard Nixon‘s administration to deport him, while his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement.

As of 2010, Lennon’s solo album sales in the United States exceed 14 million units, and as writer, co-writer or performer, he is responsible for 27 number one singles on the US Hot 100 chart. In 2002, a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth, and in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth greatest singer of all time. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

There are a lot of guitar simulation plug-ins available for digital musicians these days. Included with Logic 9 is Amp Designer and Pedal Board – a welcome departure from the older Guitar Amp Pro plug-in. They stack up very well against the competition and are versatile in tone, emulation and layout. In my opinion, the clean amps achieve impressive results when compared to their hardware cousins.

Beyond the presets, there’s a lot more you can do with Amp Designer that is apparent. Toby Pitman goes much deeper in his excellent tutorial, ‘Logic 402 – Logic’s Guitar Recording Toolbox’. Packed with tips and tricks and practical step-by-step approaches to using both Amp Designer and Pedal Board.

In this Quick Tip I’m going to highlight 3 useful tips for guitar tone sculpting glory built-in to Amp Designer.

01 – Move the Mic

When recording a traditional guitar amp there are a two important considerations: what type of mic to use and where to position the mic. The resulting tone can be vastly different if the mic is placed dead-center or to the side of the speaker cone.

In Amp Designer you can choose between using a Condenser, Ribbon or Dynamic microphone emulation from the Mic pop-up menu.

Hover your mouse over the cabinet on the right of the interface (above the Mic pop-up menu) and the Speaker Adjustment graphic is displayed. Drag the white dot to adjust the placement of the mic. Generally, for Rock and brighter guitar tones place it to the side as shown below.

02 – More Equalizers

There are plenty of Amp types and presets. If you still can’t create quite the guitar sound you’re looking for you can mix and match the Model, Amp and Cabinet to build your own custom amp! This incredible… but one lesser known tip is you can choose different EQ types per amp.

Mouse over the word ‘EQ’ and click to display the EQ pop-up menu. From here you can choose between Bright British, Vintage, U.S. Classic, Modern and Boutique.

I find myself tending towards the Vintage and U.S. Classic more often than not.

03 – More Reverb

Rather than insert an instance of Space Designer (or other reverb plug-in) on your guitar channel strip to add space to your sound, you can set the reverb levels directly on the Amp Designer interface. Like the EQ, Amp Designer comes with more than one Reverb type.

Click on the Reverb label (top, middle of the amp) to display this Reverb type pop-up menu.

You can choose between Vintage Spring, Simple Spring, Mellow Spring, Bright Spring, Dark Spring, Resonant Spring, Boutique Spring, Sweet Reverb, Rich Reverb and Warm Reverb.

It’s well worth checking these types out on your guitar sounds. The change to your sound can be dramatic and save you from using a separate reverb plug-in!

Check out Toby Pitman’s Logic 402 – Logic’s Guitar Recording Toolbox to learn much, much more about how to get the best out of Amp Designer, Pedal Board and Logic’s other built-in tools for guitarists.

(Via Software Video Tutorials – macProVideo.com.)

Check this out, Dunlop have made a 25 minute documentary about one of the most greatest effect pedals ever invented the Cry Baby Wah!

Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World tells the story of the wah wah effect pedal, from its invention in 1966 to the present day. Musicians, engineers, and historians discuss the impact of the pedal on popular music and demonstrate the various ways it has been used, as well as how its evolution has improved the ability of artists to express themselves musically. The film features interviews with Brad Plunkett, the inventor of the pedal, plus many other musical luminaries such as Ben Fong-Torres, Eddie Van Halen, Slash, Buddy Guy, Art Thompson, Eddie Kramer, Kirk Hammett, Dweezil Zappa, and Jim Dunlop. These professionals explain how a musical novelty transcended convention and has become timelessly woven into the fabric of modern pop-culture.

For more info keep an eye on www.crybabydoc.com