(Source: Bryce Jacobs.com)

While the title of this blog is GuPiano, it was originally intended to express the fact that the blog would be covering both guitars and pianos. But it seems GuPiano can now mean something more uhmm… profound given that a piano-like guitar has been invented.

A composition student at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music recently unveiled an electric guitar with a range approaching that of a piano, the BKJ. With 12 individually-tuned strings and two sets of pick-ups, the pitch of either set of six strings can be shifted, thus opening a piano-like range. The downside is, of course, the wider-than-usual neck, which could cause some difficulty for smaller and less agile musicians.

In any case, it looks like a pretty interesting instrument (which I really wouldn’t mind trying out). For more information about the BKJ, visit the inventor’s web site, Bryce Jacobs.com.

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(Source: Ultimate-Guitar.com)

We have with us today two user reviews of the Ovation CC057 Celebrity acoustic guitar from Ultimate-Guitar.com. While the two reviewers paid substantially different prices for the guitar, both reviews reinforce each other as both award perfect scores (10 out of 10) to the guitar.

The first user’s verdict is that, “This guitar suits my music perfectly. The guitar is a lovely honey burst which shows the wood finish and match line perfectly through its trans finish. I have been playing for 3 years, and have learnt quite quickly over the passed few months. If it were stolen I would definitely instantly buy another! Only positives, no hates about the guitar at all! My favourite feature is the onboard Eq, which allows to adjust tone without an extra pedal ruining your signal. I wish it had solid gold tuners, other than that its perfect!”

And the second user concludes that, “Whether it is for song-writing, sitting around and playing in my room, or plugged in at band practice, this guitar performs extremely well. I can’t say much about my dislikes; the action was set up a bit poorly out of the box, but that’s an easy fix. Whether you plan to take this with you on the road or plan to buy it for an easy alternative to plugging in your electric guitar, you can’t go wrong with the Ovation CC057.”

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(Source: CNET News.com)

Well, it seems that the Performer automatic tuning system has been ported over to acoustic guitars, namely the Gibson Chet Atkins SST. Previously, it was exclusive to electrics, such as Gibson’s Les Paul and Fender’s Stratocaster and Telecaster electric guitars.

The Performer self-tuning system consists of small electric motors and rocker arms that automatically change the tension of open strings to pitches set by the player. So, all you need to do is to tune your guitar once (and fix it as your preset), and the system will automatically tune it for you the next time (and the time after, etc.).

Pretty time and effort-saving if you ask me, but I’m not sure if something as “sacred” as tuning your own guitar should be substituted by electronics. Call me a technophobe, but I feel some things should be kept old-school.

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Few gamers on any side of the Earth haven’t heard of Guitar Hero, i.e. the first guitar game to gather such a large fanbase. And few from such a large fanbase haven’t heard of its sequel, Guitar Hero II, which is due for a US tour on the PS2 platform in November 2006.

Anyway, enough of my crap and back to the point. RedOctane, Guitar Hero’s publisher, has launched Be a Guitar Hero II - the second installment of a worldwide competition that offers musicians a chance to have their song featured in Guitar Hero II. And in featured, I mean that gamers will actually be able to play that song on their PS2s as part of gameplay.

But a couple of requirements first. Songs submitted for the competition must be original and must fall in the hard rock or heavy metal genres. That’s about it. Now all that’s left to make sure of is that your song gets submitted by 11:59pm PST on the 30th of June, 2006.

So… to aspiring winners, good luck and have fun!

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(Source: Anderson’s Strings)

If you can’t get, or rather, can’t afford to get a Gibson Firebird VII, but just love its specs and reliability, you can count on the Epiphone 1963 Firebird VII to save your butt. At least, that’s what we gather from a user review of the Epiphone Firebird VII over at Ultimate-Guitar.com.

Now, ratings tend to tell everything, so let us just let the 10 out of 10 rating assigned on this guitar tell it all. Well… maybe not. The rating’s actually a bit too high for my comfort. So, let’s go for the user conclusion instead: “Man this thing is awesome, I’ve been playing for years and it is by far the best feeling guitar I played. I would definetly try to buy this product again used, as it was recently discontinued, well I guess you can always upgrade to the Gibson! It’s amazing, looks amazing, everything’s great. Will even get you some women.”

No difference, right?

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(Source: Thomann)

Yeap, another Cort Parkwood PW-310M acoustic guitar review. And this time, it’s by a Harmony Central user.

That’s practically the only big difference though, since this user also awards the PW-310M an excellent rating of 9 out of 10. In fact, in major categories such as sound, action, fit, finish and durability, the Cort PW-310M scored perfect 10s.

So, given such excellent ratings, what’s the final verdict on the acoustic? Well, “If you are seeking a “Loud” acoustic guitar that sounds like a dream, This would be the one for you. I am very happy with this guitar. I predict once the word gets out of this new line of acoustics by PArkwood/Cort, they will give all the leaders a run for their money!”

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(Source: Thomann)

A Music Gear Review reader comes in with a review of the Cort Parkwood PW-310M acoustic guitar.

While the initial part of the review is little more than a bitching session against the Guitar Center for its uhmm… ever-reoccuring Green Tag sales, he does highlight some useful things about the PW-310M in the later parts, e.g. excellent finish and strong design.

Overall, the Cort PW-310M is awarded a 5 out of 5 rating, with the reviewer concluding that: “Purchase this guitar if you’ve been at it a little while and whant a good tone and well crafted acoustic.”

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