Gibson Les Paul Standard
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The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar originally developed in the early 1950s. The Les Paul was originally designed by Ted McCarty and endorsed, named and used by then popular jazz/rock and roll guitarist Les Paul. The Les Paul model was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and pop star, electronics inventor, and accomplished jazz guitarist Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson Guitar president Ted McCarty brought guitarist Les Paul into the company as a consultant.
The Les Paul guitar line was originally conceived to include two models: the regular model (nicknamed the Goldtop), and the Custom model, which offered upgraded hardware and a more formal black finish. However, advancements in pickup, body, and hardware designs allowed the Les Paul to become a long-term series of electric solid-body guitars that targeted every price-point and market level except for the complete novice guitarist.
In 1958, Gibson changed the top finish on the regular Les Paul model from the gold color used since 1952 to the Sunburst finish already being used on Gibson’s archtop acoustic and hollow electric guitars such as the J-45 model. These Sunburst-finished guitars were later referred to as Les Paul Standards to differentiate them from the earlier Goldtop. The hardware specification was the same as that of the ‘57 Goldtop, featuring the new humbucker pickups. Today, the Gibson Les Paul Standard has BurstBucker pickups on the Vintage Original Spec models and Burstbucker Pro on the lower end models bearing the ‘Standard’ name
Fender Jazz Bass, American Deluxe Left Hand
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The Jazz Bass (or J Bass) was the second model of electric bass guitar created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic. Because of this, many bass players who want to be more "forward" in the mix (including smaller bands such as power trios) prefer the Jazz Bass.
First introduced in 1960 as the "Deluxe Model", it was marketed as a stablemate to the Fender Jazzmaster guitar which was also marketed as a "Deluxe Model" in its own right; however, it was renamed the Jazz Bass as Fender felt that its redesigned neck - narrower and more rounded than that of the Precision Bass - would appeal more to jazz musicians. The Jazz Bass has two single coil pickups with two pole pieces per string. This gave the bass a stronger midrange sound to compete with the Rickenbacker bass, which had been introduced in 1957 and which was famously "bright." As well as having a slightly different, less symmetrical and more contoured body shape (known in Fender advertising as the "Offset Waist Contour" body), the Jazz Bass neck is noticeably narrower at the nut than that of the Fender Precision Bass. While the Precision Bass was originally styled similarly to the Telecaster guitar (and, after 1957, the Stratocaster), the Jazz Bass’ styling was inspired more by the Jazzmaster guitar, with which the Jazz shared its offset body and sculpted edges that differentiate it from other slab-style guitar bodies.
Korg Triton Extreme
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Korg Triton is a music workstation synthesizer featuring digital sampling and sequencing created by Korg. All Tritons use Korg’s HI Synthesis tone generator. They are available in several models and various upgrade configurations. The Triton is world famous among many musicians for being the benchmark of keyboard technology, and is widely featured in music videos and live concerts.
In 2005 Korg released the Triton Extreme, which boasted many of the features of the Studio (such as the entire PCM ROM from the Studio model) plus the addition of many previous Triton expansion boards, and a best of of some others, It also has new PCM data that is not available on any other Tritons including improved pianos and acoustic guitars giving it a broad range of sound, 160 MB total compared to the Triton Classics 32 MB. Also featured in the Triton Extreme is Valve Force circuitry, using a vacuum tube and an analog ultra gain transistor to allow for warmer, guitar amp-like sounds for more extreme analog overdrive/distortion sounds, and is especially useful for warm luscious pads, and adding depth and realism to acoustic sounds, especially piano. Unlike the previous Tritons, which were white-silver, the Extreme boasts a deep blue color.
Yamaha HG8T46AL Al Foster Signature Hipgig
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Ask any drummer what’s the worst part of gigging and they’ll tell you setting up, tearing down, and carting home the drums. The ingenious HipGig is a compact four-piece drum set which can be set up in five minutes, needs the minimum of floor space, and can be carried from car to stage in one easy trip. The snare and two tom toms are stored inside the hinged bass drum during transport, then mounted off it when set up. And all the stands, pedals and brackets fit into the ‘throne’-style canister seat. The whole caboodle fits into the two supplied soft bags. (
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Compared to the original Hipgig, drum diameters on the Hipgig Sr. have all been increased to offer drummers greater tone and performance in a still compact, easy-to- transport drum kit. The bass drum diameter has increased two inches, from the original 16" to 18", while the 14" and 12" tom toms and the 13" snare are all one size larger than before. The 7-ply shells are made of Birch and Philippine Mahogany using Yamaha’s original Air Seal System. Yamaha CS-641 cymbal stands have been utilized to allow the use of larger cymbals and greater setting variation.
