Mass Resonator

Steve Kaufman shacks up at Mass Street April 16-18

You can check out all our upcoming events on our Mass Street site, but thought I’d share this on the blog. It’s been a while since we’ve had a show at Mass Street, and we’re excited about Steve Kaufman coming in April. He’s doing a Mando Workshop (April 16), a two-day Guitar Workshop (April 17 & 18), and a Concert (April 18).

In September we’ll be welcoming the great, and prolific Roy Book Binder for a concert.

Throughout the year, we’ll be having some free workshops too. We’ve got the ‘Elbow Room Workshops’ - a series of free workshops the last Saturday morning of each month. It’s just an hour, just a taste of the subject at hand, but we’ve got a great crew of folks who are going to share their knowledge. No fees, no need to sign up - just show up. Here’s the schedule as it stands:

Flatpicking with Bill Crahan - Sat. Feb 28, 9-10 am

Banjo Styles with Mike West (Truckstop Honeymoon) - Sat. March 28, 9-10 am

Play Well With Others (beginning jam workshop) with Martha Haehl - Sat. April 25, 9-10 am

Amps & Effects - Get THAT Sound with Jason Jones - Sat. May 30, 9-10 am

More to be announced soon!

Sad, but true. Fender has raised prices across the board and all retailers are to have new pricing in place as of March 1st or heads will roll. A few items are only going up by a penny (eh?), while others are increasing by as much as a couple hundred bucks. Seriously. Not an increase, a jump. Let’s face it, times is tough. So, if you’ve been thinking about a Standard Mexi or an American Tele or even a Squier Classic Vibe, I’d encourage you to get it together before March 1st. Here’s a link to our Fender guitars, Fender basses, and Fender amps at Mass Street, at the old-timey prices til the axe falls on the 1st.

Fender Special Run 'Western Tele'

Now, how about some good news from Fender? Ok, how about a Fender Special Run ‘Western Telecaster’ - this is very cool tele that we’re expecting in any day. Ash body with slightly trans white blonde finish, Texas Tele pickups and a 4-way switch much like the Custom Designed 50s Tele. Only 250 made.

We’re happy to have our old buddy Brian Soden back in the store for a bit. He got some new Grosh pickups not long ago and shares his thoughts about them here…

Grosh 60s Fat Pickups

I’ve had a set of the new Grosh 60s Fat pickups in my Grosh Retro Classic for about a month now. Hands down, this is by far the best money I’ve spent in a LONG time! These are exactly what my guitar needed.

The first time I plugged in, › Continue reading

This Collings I-35 is an extraordinary instrument.  I know, all Collings guitars are spectacular, but this one is, in my estimation, absolutely perfect.

Collings I-35 in Tobacco Burst

The weight is just right.  It really feels more like you’re playing an older instrument. It plays perfectly and is ridiculously in-tune. It has that vintage 335 resonance, which has a distinct midrange vibe, but the Collings has a much nicer low end and the sweetest top end.  It’s not correct to say its like a 335 on steroids. It’s more like › Continue reading

We have a lot of great gear in the store right now - these are our top picks for this month.

Eric Mardis - Radial Engineering Plexitube Distortion Pedal

Radial Engineering Plexitube

I hate distortion pedals. I really really hate them. For really good high gain lead sounds or chunky metal rhythms, nothing sounds like as good as a high gain tube head. Enter Radial Engineering… this thing has an AX7 preamp tube in it and is voiced wonderfully! You can make a Fender Twin sound like a Marshall JCM 2000 (if that’s your thing).  Two channels give you rhythm/lead flavor options and a serial effects loop allows your lead channel to have an “always on” external effect pedal in chain. Built like a Sherman tank. Awesome. Unless you still live at home with your mom, it’s time to step up to a real distortion pedal. › Continue reading

Planet Waves Metronome and Tuner

A tuner/metronome is a pretty standard (and dang handy) device, but we just got a new type in today and thought we’d have a throwdown. Today we’re pitting the Boss TU-80 against the Planet Waves Metronome Tuner. For the sake of a fair review I’ve broken it down into four categories: tuner, metronome, physical construction and price. Let’s throw them in the ring and see who comes out on top.

TUNER
The Boss wins in this category. Its needle display is accurate and easy to read. It even beeps to notify you that you’re right on pitch. The decision to use bars rather than a needle makes the Planet Waves somewhat harder to read, but still very accurate. › Continue reading

Courtesy of our Repair Shop manager, Mike Horan:

A bluegrass band is playing a cruise ship gig and the banjo player falls overboard. He starts screaming up to his bandmates, “I can’t swim!”.

They reply, “Fake it!”.