Seattle's own Schoolyard Heroes have been touring and touring and TOURING supporting their Island/Stolen Transmissions release Abominations for longer than their guitarist's 'fro. On the latest leg of this coast-to-coast journey via van, guitarist Steve Bonnell donned an Ampeg Dan Armstrong plexi guitar, joining bandmate and longtime Ampeg bassist Jonah Bergman, who plays--you guessed it-- through an SVT-VR head and SVT-810AV cabinet. 

Continue reading "Schoolyard Heroes Zero In On Ampeg" »

Posted by Publisher at 1:40 PM | Permalink

Pianos 'N Stuff has just opened up their brand spankin' new bass room in their Pittsburgh PA store and Ampeg was there to welcome this great new addition to the bass community. 

Continue reading "Pianos 'N Stuff Pittsburgh Opens a Brand New Bass Room" »

Posted by Ampeg at 5:06 AM | Permalink

Another bit from Guitarist [UK]'s issue #301 reported the true fact that we're going to be reissuing the original Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi Bass. That's right... you can play clearly now, the bass is here. Gone are the dark clouds that had you blind... the 4-string tone machine with the body you can see through, thanks to its plexiglass (perspex to you limeys) body.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before we reissued this baby, since the guitar has done so well. And though some of the bass magazines missed it (perhaps they couldn't see it?), the super sleuths at Guitarist "saw their way clear" (couldn't resist) to running at least a little blurb on it.

To quote them: "The ADA4 is sure to garner bass players out there some serious audience attention onstage. A recreation of the 1960s original, it also features custom interchangeable pickups (Bright Bass and Deep Bass are the models included) by Kent Armstrong [Dan's son, btw]--these use an ingenious design where the tone control can be usel to split the treble and bass coils for wide tonal options."

Once again, thanks to Dave Burrluck and crew for the copy block and now if we could just get someone over in the UK to send our editor a box of Tunnock's Caramel Wafer biscuits, our
(my) work here would be done.

Posted by Publisher at 5:50 PM | Permalink

Okay, so we never actually ran a part one of this story. We did reissue the original, iconic Plexi Guitar recently, though, and now we're coming out with wooden versions of that great, comfy body. But the description "wooden" only describes the body material--these guitars are ready to rock, and they won't break your back OR your wallet. In fact, the story is so exciting, the UK's Guitarist magazine in their issue #301 just called this news the TOP STORY from NAMM 2008. That's right... toppermost of the poppermost. Let's let them tell you about 'em (transcribed so you can read it):

"If the price of the 2006 Plexiglas reissue was too steep and the weight too much, check these new Ampegs. The new Korean-built. wooden-bodied AMG100 comes in three versions: swamp ash body (blonde), mahogany body (vintage cherry), and alder (black). They all have rosewood [fret]boards, a 24.75-inch scale, a three-way tone circuit and interchangeable pickups: either a Rock Treble single-coil, or Sustain Treble humbucker, which are both supplied. Hot cakes..."

I believe they're referring to the old saying "... get 'em while they're hot."

Posted by Publisher at 5:40 PM | Permalink

Bassist Tom Araya's band Slayer was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 50th annual Grammy Awards, which was held yesterday (Sunday, February 10) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band was nominated for the track "The Final Six", from their 2007 limited-edition "Christ Illusion". The song, written by Araya and guitarist Jeff Hanneman and produced by Josh Abraham, is a chilling look at a hypothesized "end of the world" scenario. The track made its debut last July as the "Single of the Week" on MySpace where it has since accumulated some 750,000 plays, an astounding number for a song that received no commercial airplay.

A visibly nervous Araya accepted the award, stating, "Thank you very much. I don't know what to say. This is our second time. I have to thank Sony, first off, for reissuing the record and putting this new song on the album, and now I'm here again—we are here again, actually. Most of all, [I'd like to] thank Rick Rubin [producer and head of American Recordings], who's been with us, been there for us for the past 23 years, 24 years. Thank you. My wife, my two kids; Sandra [wife], Ariel and Tommy. They're here with me. Of course, my manager, who's been with us for a good 20 years now. Well, thank you very much. Thank the Academy. Thank you."

Slayer's two previous Grammy nominations were for 2002's "Disciple" from the album "God Hates Us All", and last year's "Eyes of the Insane", for which they took home the Grammy Award.

The nominees in this year's "Metal" category were as follows:

AS I LAY DYING - "Nothing Left"
KING DIAMOND - "Never Ending Hill"
MACHINE HEAD - "Aesthetics Of Hate"
SHADOWS FALL - "Redemption"
SLAYER - "Final Six"

Only albums released between October 1, 2006, and September 30, 2007, could be considered for this year's awards. The Grammys are determined by 12,000 music industry professionals who belong to the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

Tom's been a steady Ampeg player for ages...

Posted by Publisher at 1:41 PM | Permalink

In its first week on the chart, The Mars Volta's new CD The Bedlam in Goliath debuted at number three in the US. As you probably know, bassist Juan Alderete is an Ampeg player. He's been playing dual SVT rigs for years (SVT-VR heads and SVT-810AV cabs), not just with TMV but with speed metal band Racer X (which included guitarist Paul Gilbert) and The Scream.

You may have seen Juan recently in an Ampeg ad called "Bedlam In Goliath?" which ran in Bass Player here in the States, where he was also featured in an interesting article. In person, Juan's a great guy. He digs punk rock and hard rock, and he's just a music fan in general and quite a genial dude.

Posted by Publisher at 8:07 AM | Permalink

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a non-profit, mobile recording studio outfitted with traditional musical instruments as well as current technological advances.

Since 1998, the Bus has provided free hands-on programs to hundreds of high schools, colleges, Boys and Girls Clubs, music festivals, concerts, conventions and community organizations. Working together with some of the biggest names in music—including Ampeg—the Lennon Bus encourages students to play music, write songs, engineer recording sessions and produce music video projects using the latest audio, video, and live sound equipment.

Continue reading "AMPEG GETS ON THE BUS" »

Posted by Ampeg at 3:13 PM | Permalink

Your bass-loving pals at Ampeg attended the 2008 NAMM show in Anaheim last week. We brought a bunch of new products which you're already seeing on the website (www.ampeg.com), and we had numerous Ampeg players stop by to sign autographs and hang out. Let's hope I don't leave anyone out (in roughly alphabetical order): Anna K. of Opiate For The Masses, Michael Anthony, Emma Anzai of Australian band Sick Puppies, Chris Beattie of Hatebreed, Hunter Burgan of AFI, Maya Ford of The Donnas (plus the other three Donnas!), Jesse Hughes (and his son) of Eagles Of Death Metal, Mike Inez of Alice In Chains, Dave LaRue of Dixie Dregs, Tony Levin, Nikki Monninger of Silversun Pickups, Michael Rhodes, Billy Sheehan, T.M. Stevens, and Paul Wilson of Snow Patrol. And that's just the people who were scheduled to show up. Look for more photos and videos here any day now... At right, Robert Trujillo of Metallica with our new Ampeg SVT Micro Stack--a 150-watt tone midget with 2x10" cabinet featuring Eminence speakers and our infinite baffle design.

Continue reading "Good Morning... NAMM!" »

Posted by Publisher at 1:34 PM | Permalink

Posted by Publisher at 1:19 PM | Permalink

Guitar Center Las Vegas just recently moved from it's Tropicana Avenue location where it's been for the last 5 years to a brand new, fresh location right down on the Las Vegas Strip. And Ampeg was there to greet them with a brand spankin' newly renovated bass room.

Continue reading "Ampeg Dominates the Las Vegas Guitar Center's New Bass Room" »

Posted by Ampeg at 2:44 PM | Permalink