Legendary funk bassist Bootsy Collins recently established Funk University, an online guitar school for bassists. “Funk is here to be shared,” said Collins in an online video about the mission statement behind Funk U. So in keeping with his mission, Collins tells us how to get funky with a pair of Fender pedals that you’ll hear on his next album, due out March 2011. “Bet y’all didn’t know that Fender had any cool funked up Bass Pedals did you?” asked Collins. “Well I didn’t either, until I stumbled across these two Fuzz pedals: the Sub-Lime which made me think I was with James Brown tripping on his set, thinking it was a Bootsy show. “Or the Fender Fuzz Wah, which really took me back, because it looked like those back-in-the-day pedals which sounded great and you could use them to throw at your drummer when he missed a beat. They are built like a tank. “Go Fender, Funk away!”
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Bootsy Collins’ Tips to Gettin’ Funky
July 28 2010, 5:46pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Gallows Guitarist Goes with Patriotic Motif
Gallows lead guitarist Steph Carter shows off his grey American Special Telecaster, decorated with Union Jack, a nod to the punk/hardcore band’s 2009 album Grey Britain. The British band recently played a pair of shows with Rage Against the Machine and will be featured at a few upcoming European festivals including Sonisphere on July 31.
July 20 2010, 11:34am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Motion City Soundtrack Talk Fender Gear
Photo courtesy of Motion City Soundtrack Motion City Soundtrack’s Justin Pierre and Matt Taylor recently caught up with Fender to talk about the guitars they play live onstage. “I’ve always been a Fender guy,” said Pierre. “I have two really awesome Fender guitars that I almost beat to death, therefore they do not come out live, because I tend to beat the crap out of guitars I have. So I bought these new ones and then had them basically — just took everything out except for the volume knob because I have a tendency to hit things (and) everything is destroyed. So it’s very simple: on/off. I can’t mess it up and it kicks major ass now.” The guys just wrapped up their summer stint with the Vans Warped Tour, but fans can still catch them live this Friday at Soldier Field in Chicago at the 2010 Dew Tour Nike 6.0 BMX Open or on Sat., July 31, in Columbus, Ohio at the State Fair. Get more details by watching the video below…
July 19 2010, 12:18pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Shanley Shares His Acoustasonic Review
After making the festival rounds with Ray Davies over the last month and a half, guitarist Bill Shanley is en route to China to join Sinead O’Connor at the Holisland Music Festival this Saturday. Accompanying him on his journey is his new Fender Acoustasonic Tele guitar. “I haven’t had time until recently to really try out the guitar,” wrote Shanley in an email to Michael Schulz in Fender Artist Relations. “I’ve since used it on over a half a dozen recordings, and it’s absolutely fantastic. The electric side of it is particularly amazing. I’ve used it on some soul tracks I’ve been doing, and its tone and presence are amazing. It’s got a big fat sound that reminds me of an old baritone guitar. It just finds its own space on the tracks wonderfully. I’ll treasure this guitar and put it to use.” So for anyone in China on Saturday, keep an eye out. Also, Shanley informed us that he plans to use it when he heads back out with Davies later this summer.
- Tags:
- Artist News
- Sinead OConnor
- Fender Plugs
- Product Reviews
- Ray Davies
- Acoustasonic Tele
- Bill Shanley
July 16 2010, 3:52pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Go Behind-the-Scenes with the Summer Set
The Summer Set’s new video for “The Boys You Do (Get Back at You)” will debut on MySpace on July 6, but we’ve already got an exclusive behind-the-scenes video from the guys.
Watch Video Here!
July 2 2010, 11:00am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
I just love that artists are championing the ukulele these days: Train’s Jimmy Stafford learned how to play the uke just for the opening of their hit single “Hey, Soul Sister,” Weezer frontman River Cuomo apparently likes smashing them and now Smashing Pumpkins Billy Corgan is ending his set with one. The Smashing Pumpkins kicked off their intimate summer tour with last night’s show at the Viper Room in Hollywood, Calif., and according to Spin.com, Corgan whipped out the four-string for a solo acoustic version of “Love is the Sweetest Thing.” As Spin reports, Corgan told the crowd that he had “waited a long time to play this thing.” Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. After about a minute of dealing with hecklers, Corgan told the audience, “I love you all, but I’m too old for this shit.” Even though he finished the performance there and then, spinner.com notes that the Pumpkins frontman did so in good spirits. Watch the video clip below and also be sure to check out Spin’s full show review and a great photo of said ukulele here.
July 1 2010, 3:45pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
I just love that artists are championing the ukulele these days: Train’s Jimmy Stafford learned how to play the uke just for the opening of their hit single “Hey, Soul Sister,” Weezer frontman River Cuomo apparently likes smashing them and now Smashing Pumpkins Billy Corgan is ending his set with one. The Smashing Pumpkins kicked off their intimate summer tour with last night’s show at the Viper Room in Hollywood, Calif., and according to Spin.com, Corgan whipped out the four-string for a solo acoustic version of “Love is the Sweetest Thing.” As Spin reports, Corgan told the crowd that he had “waited a long time to play this thing.” Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. After about a minute of dealing with hecklers, Corgan told the audience, “I love you all, but I’m too old for this shit.” Even though he finished the performance there and then, spinner.com notes that the Pumpkins frontman did so in good spirits. Watch the video clip below and also be sure to check out Spin’s full show review and a great photo of said ukulele here.
July 1 2010, 3:45pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Cage the Elephant Featured in ‘Guitar World’
Kentucky-based quintet Cage the Elephant (who’ve been taking along our Road Worn winner, AutoVaughn, on their spring/summer tour) gets some love in the August issue of Guitar World magazine. So get the issue and flip to page 24 for a sweet shot of CTE guitarist Brad Shultz and his Fender Telecaster. GW talked to both Shultz and fellow CTE guitarist Lincoln Parish for the article, which lists their guitars (Shultz also plays a Fender Jazzmaster), amps (Shultz prefers the Fender DeVille), effects and strings. Cage the Elephant has sold close to 300,000 copies of their 2008 self-titled album and has toured with the likes of Queens of the Stone Age and Silversun Pickup, while also enjoying festival appearances at Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo. Their next album, Computer Says Move, is expected out in late 2010. Until then, you can catch them live or revisit some of their older tunes, such as this video for “Back Against the Wall.”
July 1 2010, 2:06pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Fender: The Golden Age, the new book by Terry Foster, Martin Kelly and Paul Kelly that tells the story of Fender and its wondrous instruments, recently earned 3 ½ stars in a review by Rolling Stone.
“This new, exhaustively researched photo history traces the instrument from its days as a dinky wooden instrument through the breakthrough of the Stratocaster. Wonkish fun for the guitarists…’” – Andy Greene, Rolling Stone The book is available here.
June 28 2010, 4:34pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Slipknot/Stone Sour’s Jim Root Talks Fender
While at this year’s Download Festival in Donington, UK, we caught up with Stone Sour/Slipknot axeman Jim Root to talk about his signature guitar. Watch the video below where he points out how a life of intense touring has evolved the finish of his signature Telecaster. Stone Sour will be releasing their first studio album, Audio Secrecy, in nearly four years on September 7. It’s first single ”Mission Statement” was downloaded over 50,000 times for free during a special 48-hour period. Purchase it now from iTunes.
June 25 2010, 5:22pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Kollman Records New Tunes with G-DEC® 3
Fender clinician and Marmaduke Records recording artist Jeff Kollman has given us a sneak preview from his upcoming solo album, expected out in September 2010. Kollman recorded “Midnight Sun” entirely on the new G-DEC® 3 Thirty amp, using preset #75! Listen to “Midnight Sun” and catch Kollman out on the road this summer with Tizer. Tour info available here. And, get a sneak peak at some of the music you’ll be hearing on the new NBA 2k11 video game as Kollman recently spent some in the studio with producer Bill Cole on the project, again with his G-DEC® 3.
June 24 2010, 1:35pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Deer Tick Hits Letterman with “Baltimore Blues No. 1″
Watch Deer Tick perform “Baltimore Blues No. 1″ on The Late Show with David Letterman, with a little help of course from their American Standard Strat, vintage lefty Mustang bass and Fender 300 Pro Tube Head.
June 17 2010, 11:26am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Watch Rancid Perform “Olympia, WA”
Check out this black and white filtered video of Rancid’s Tim Armstrong using his early 1960s Fender acoustic for “Olympia, WA.”
June 16 2010, 10:00am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Sting’s Fender Signature P Bass® (above) is modeled after the 1954 bass he discusses in Rolling Stone. The June 24th issue of Rolling Stone (the one with the imposing Jay-Z cover) has a great Q&A with Fender artist Sting on page 28. The magazine asks Sting about the story behind the Fender bass he played during the Police’s reunion tour. “It’s from 1954, slightly younger than me,” he answered. “I found it over 20 years ago, and it was like a little orphan that nobody wanted. I know for a fact that Leo Fender wound the pickups himself. That’s a magician at work.” Sting is currently in the middle of his tour with the 45-piece Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Tour dates and ticket info available here.
June 10 2010, 10:10am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Check out the latest Urban Development weekly video, Episode 57, from Keith Urban’s show on May 25 in Baton Rouge, La., which apparently ended a bit early. I know Urban lost several of his instruments during the Nashville floods, but from the looks of this video, it appears he’s back in business with a sweet collection of Fender guitars anyhow!
June 9 2010, 1:29pm
