The High Gain

Epiphone was an instrument manufacturer founded 150 years ago in the Ottoman Empire. Upon emigrating to the United States, the Stathopoulos family continued their craft in New York. By the end of the 1950s the company belonged to CMI, owners of Gibson. Itself now operating under recently changed hands, Gibson is celebrating Epiphone’s rich sonic history with a series of 150th anniversary Epiphone guitars, the Wilshire among them. Enjoy!

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As the hair metal wars shifted into high gear, Fender sought to up its own bling game by releasing a guitar with a marbled paint job. Only 300 were ever made; 225 of them were Stratocasters. Named Marble Strats, they became more commonly known as “bowling ball” Stratocasters. Introduced in 1983, these were among the last CBS-era instruments made in the US before Fender was sold, and production moved (for the time being) to Japan. Discontinued after only a year, the bowling balls have become collectible. Are they worth it? Enjoy!

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In 1950s America there were tons of instruments being made for the growing guitar market. As quickly as old companies disappeared, new ones were formed to give the people what they wanted. Many of these outsourced manufacturing to third parties, like Kay and Harmony. In the case of New York distributor Bugellsein & Jacobsen (B&J), the work of creating its Stewart brand of guitars was done by the United Guitar Corporation of Jersey City, NJ. Enjoy!

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Tom DeLonge has been playing juicy power punk pop stuff for a long time. He’s always favored stripped down, single pickup rock machines, and has had a few signature models along the way. The newest Tom DeLonge Stratocaster is no exception, as we found out. It’s a ripper. Enjoy!

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Justin Motander Jones of Motander Guitars is hard at work combining Mid-Century Modern design touches with the very best of Guild’s quirkiest 1970s creations, such as the Sky Scorcher we‘re playing this week. Once he adds his own vision to those bones, what you get is a guitar unlike any other. We enjoyed an entirely pleasant conversation with Justin, who dialed into High Gain HQ from his home in San Diego, CA. Enjoy!

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Shortly after Norlin purchased CMI, and Gibson along with it, Les Paul returned for the design of several new models, each with specific controls and low impedence pickups. The last of these was the Les Paul Signature, a kind-of-offset looking amalgam of a regular Les Paul and an ES-335. That's where the similarity ends. Why did Norlin do this? Join us on a journey through the history of an unusual company. Enjoy!

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Barry Grzebik is making some mighty fine guitars at Grez Guitars in Petaluma, CA. They are beautiful instruments, with tops made from salvaged redwood. The example Barry was kind enough to send us was a Mendocino baritone, with a top made of redwood from an old municipal water tower in Lake Tahoe. The body is hollow, and it plays like an acoustic. We had a blast talking to Barry. To see more of his work, check out his website:

https://www.grezguitars.com/

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Dreams are mysterious, funny things. Who among us hasn’t spent time trying to interpret them, in order to make sense of something in our lives? Way back in 1995, the Jackson marketing director Charles Perrino had a dream he could not shake, and from it the Roswell Rhoads guitar was born. Enjoy!

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It's a great day whenever we get to talk to someone who puts the time and effort into making a great instrument. But when the builder lives in your neighborhood? And shows up in a vintage Japanese fire truck? 10 out of 10, no notes...

So it is that we came to have a great conversation with Iain Graham. When he's not busy working on wooden boats, or playing in his band Grosst, Iain makes one-of-a-kind basses for the likes of Joe Lally (Messthetics, Fugazi, Coriky). We got to play one such bass before it heads out to Joe, and were sorry to see it go. Enjoy!

You can find Iain on Instagram @graham_instruments

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The Guild Surfliner Deluxe represents the oft-relocated company’s first new solidbody guitar design in close to 40 years. Borrowing from elements of some its greatest hits, Guild has crafted a guitar that looks at once modern and retro. But how does it play? We got our hands on a black one (of course) and put it through its paces. Enjoy!

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