Divided by 13’s new RSA 31c combo is a hand-built, single-channel 1x12 combo that combines performance and tone in a portable package. The RSA 31c is EL84 powered and delivers 31 watts of Class AB1 power through its 12-inch speaker.

No more information available at this time, but watch the company's website and here for updates.

Blackheart Engineering’s new BH100H Hothead is a full-featured 100-watt workhorse amp head design for plug-and-play ease and versatile tone. It has two power modes (Class AB and Class A), each of which is divisible by pentode (full-power) and triode (half-power) operation to create four powerful voices:

• Class AB/Pentode: 100 watts of unhinged power
• Class AB/Triode: 50 watts, tighter headroom, crisper gain
• Class A/Pentode: 60 watt, plenty of headroom, nice and plucky
• Class A/Triode: 30 watts, less headroom, more responsive to attack

The Hothead has two channels — Loud and F’n Loud — each selectable by a mini toggle on the faceplate or remotely via the included footswitch, and each voiced through its own dedicated EQ section.

The Loud channel is voiced to range from crisp cleans to classic rock and heavy blues tones. Its controls include drive, level, treble, middle and bass.

The F’n Loud channel is voiced to capture classic crunch to sweet overdriven lead tones, all shapeable via pots for gain, level, treble, middle and bass.

Asbury Park Convention Hall

++Each week Daniel Anderson, guitarist for electronica/rock duo Idiot Pilot, will be checking in with Guitar World to offer his thoughts on a range of guitar-related topics. This week: The Boss!++

Being on tour gives you a chance to see and do a lot of things that you would not normally be able to do. You constantly find yourself wandering in a state, country or even a continent that you would have otherwise never gotten a chance to encounter, but even more specifically, venues across the world that have been made legendary by one artist or another. One such place is Asbury Park, New Jersey, and that one such legendary artist is, of course, Bruce Springsteen. We played in Asbury Park a few nights ago and I have to say it was an honor to be performing in the house of The Boss, so much so that I have decided to dedicate this blog to, none other than, Bruce Springsteen.

I'll just come right out and say it, Bruce Springsteen has absolutely got to be one of the coolest dudes on the planet. You could describe him as a lot of things; a simple folk singer from New Jersey, the mouthpiece of blue collar America, or even as Max Weinberg’s other boss besides Conan O'Brien.

With all of these titles, it's safe to say that Bruce has accomplished a lot, not just because of his amazing talent as a songwriter, but also because he has been around for a really fucking long time. Born in 1949, Bruce decided to take up music after watching Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show when he was just seven years old. He started playing gigs around New Jersey when he was in his early twenties and was eventually picked up by Columbia Records in 1972. Apparently, back in those days, people liked to talk about how much he sounded like Bob Dylan.

Anyway, fast forward to 1984 and The Boss is putting out Born in the USA, which had literally seven top-ten hits, more than half of the album (it's 12 tracks deep). Keep in mind that this is probably one of the most gratuitous fast forwards ever because during the time between Bruce also released Born to Run, which totally rips, as well as the folk milestone, Nebraska. But like I said, Bruce Springsteen's career is pretty long, so let's fast forward again to October 2, 2007.

As of very recently, The Boss is coming out with a new record, called Magic. Now, as far as favorite Bruce Springsteen albums go, I am pretty partial to 1992’s Human Touch, mostly due to the fact that it contains both the tracks "Real Man" and "Man's Job," but I have to say Magic could be a possible contender for that position. The track "Your Own Worst Enemy" sounds like classic old school Springsteen, filled up nicely with strings, a tambourine, horns, bells and more courtesy of the E Street Band. It is an amazing record and I suggest that everyone go and pick up a copy.

It is an real honor to spend time in these places that have cultivated such successful and talented artists. It only makes the songs that much richer.

Boss has announced the addition of two new pedals for its effects line: the SL-20 Slicer and DD-7 Digital Delay.

The SL-20 is a twin pedal that transforms guitars, vocals and other instruments into pulsating groove instruments. It has 50 onboard slice patterns with adjustable attack and duration, including an innovative Harmonic Slicer feature that generates percussive melodies.

The Sl-20 features tap tempo, external MIDI clock sync, a variety of output modes (including 3-D panning), and control of sound characteristics such as attack, duration, level, and direct level. An onboard looper allows the processed audio to be recorded and looped in real-time and then performed over.

The DD-7 Digital Delay expands upon the features of its predecessors with new types of delay, including modulation delay, classic modeled analog delay, expanded delay time and more.

The DD-7 has up to 6.4 seconds of delay time — a marked increase from its predecessor, the DD-6—and offers up to 40 seconds of sound-on-sound recording in Hold mode. Its Modulation mode offers unique chorus-type sounds, and its Analog Delay mode models the warm classic sound of the Boss DM-2. Users can also control tap tempo, delay time, feedback, and effect level via an optional external footswitch or expression pedal.

The DD-7’s stereo output enables the creation of spatial audio sweeps via true stereo panning. The stereo outputs can also be used to create separate dry and wet signal paths — convenient for recording and live performance control.

 

by CHRISTOPHER SCAPELLITI

What’s been eating that guitar?

That was my first thought when I saw the spalted maple top on the ASAT Classic Bluesboy from G&L Custom Creations.

As it turns out, my question wasn’t off the mark. Those caramel-and-rust streaks and ink-black scribbles — the blotchy wood’s peculiar signature — are caused by fungi that discolor the pigment and create mottled patterns. The look is, understandably, alarming to players accustomed to tops with elegant bookmatched grain and gorgeous flame patterns. Like veined cheeses and stonewashed jeans — both of which owe their appearance to interactions with fungi—spalted maple is an acquired taste.

Which is just as well, given the wood’s scarcity. When G&L located a small supply of spalted maple, the guitarmaker snapped up the timber and earmarked it for a limited run of the company's popular ASAT Bluesboy model.

The maple top is mated to a solid alder body, and a clear natural finish is applied. The 25 1/2–inch-scale neck has a clear gloss finish and a rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets.

Electronics consist of a nickel-plated Seymour Duncan Seth Lover humbucker in the neck position and a G&L Magnetic Field Design ASAT Classic single-coil pickup in the bridge position, both activated by a three-way switch and volume and tone controls. Other features include Sperzel nonlocking tuners and a traditional “boxed steel” bridge with six individual saddles. The guitar ships with a G&L molded hardshell case.

G&L’s Custom Creations shop built just 60 copies of this guitar over January and February 2008, and the price is a reasonable $2,500.00, so if you want one, snap it up soon. For more information, visit G&L online and click on the Custom Creations link in the side navigation.

by CHRISTOPHER SCAPELLITI

So you’ve released an all-tube 15-watt amp head the size of a lunch pail, and it becomes a monster hit, selling more than 10 thousand units in just 18 months. What do you do for an encore?

The chaps at Orange figure a 1x12 combo version should do the trick. The new Tiny Terror combo combines the Brit company’s Tiny Terror head with a Celestion 30-watt G12H speaker. Both reside inside a very tidy-looking cabinet reminiscent of Orange’s Seventies-era OTR combos.

According to Orange, the Tiny Terror combo was developed following sustained demand for it from guitarists, studios and even journalists (as if anyone listens to them). Like the Tiny Terror head, it puts out 15 watts RMS of Class A power (7 watts RMS Class A with the half-power switch engaged) and has controls for gain, tone and volume. Two 12AX7 tubes reside in the preamp, while a pair of EL84s go to work in the power amp.

List price is $1,039, street is $819. Units should begin shipping in mid-to-late summer.

Akai Professional has relaunched its consumer website with a new interface that makes finding products easier than before.

Visitors to www.AkaiPro.com will find product-specific pages that contain all the details, features, videos, FAQs and support for each of the company’s products.

A navigation tree lets users locate products by category, then model. Once a product is selected, images, documents and downloads, tech specs, FAQs, key features, videos and an overview provide all the information needed.

Other new features include product reviews, an events calendar that tells where Akai Pro products can be seen in action, and a news section with current press releases and Akai Pro news stories.

The band responsible for the random, silly, disgusting van floor.

The van floor is a very interesting place. There is a unique collection of items that end up there. Gravity will pull anything down there so if you are missing something, usually it's best to have a root around on the floor. There are all the usual things you would expect to find: empty beer bottles, cigarette butts, dirty clothes, peed-in bottles, loose change, etc. But I wanted to talk about the things you wouldn't expect to find and tell you how they came to be there.

*Blue camping mats: * When my parents upgraded their camping gear and got air mattresses, they donated the blue foam ones to the van. Surprisingly, they do a lot more than you think. I have some of my best sleeps in the "spider hole", (the area between two bench seats) and I usually end up down there after losing rock, paper, scissors or Luke pays me enough to buy my spot on the bench. However, a verbal contract is made as to when I'm allowed back up on the seat.

*Book of cds:* One day Arif and I went to Goodwill to drop off some random clothes. It was closed but people had left things outside. We decided to rummage around and came across a goldmine; a book of someone else's burnt cds. It was full of personal mixes like Rap Dd #1, Pop Cd #2 and Disney songs. Boy did this person have some bad tunes but it provided hours of enjoyment and many cds that were thrown out the window. The biggest surprise was when we found a cd labelled Punk Mix #1 and it was a compilation of our shitty stuff, and our manager's old band Closet Monster. Don't think for a second that wasn't thrown out the window after a good laugh.

*Deluxe male urinal:* I don't like scrambling for a bottle in an emergency. I found this gem in a drugstore for five bucks. It's for bedridden patients but it's very practical for long van rides. It has a wide opening, a liter of room, a somewhat secure cap, and a nifty handle. Since the volume is marked on the side, you can compete for the biggest bladder emptying.

*Decapitated stuffed animals:* We're all suckers for those claw machines, you know, the ones you can win stuffed animals in. Unfortunately, Choady has an obsession with ripping their heads off. After you are successful and win a cuddly little friend, it's not safe for long as you'll come back to the van the next morning and find it no longer has a head.

*Marco's Airwalks:* Marco bought a new pair of shoes for nine dollars when he was on tour with us. For some reason, he decided to keep his old ones in a plastic bag and they now live under the third bench.

*Timmy's portable library:* The only way to keep a book safe is by putting it in some protected place. I have a Tupperware tub I put all my books in. Most of them are random Value Village books or Harlequin romances but they make the long drives pass by quickly.

*The vent for our AC:* When we're listening to some "serious breakdowns," we all usually decide to punch the roof. This is called throwing up. The vibrations from the punching in the roof has caused the AC vent to shake loose and it now "chills" on the floor.

++Each week, Protest the Hero's Tim Millar (guitars/vocals) and Arif Mirabdolbaghi (bass /vocals/lyrics) will be offering dispatches from the road. Check back next week for more random information!++

by CHRISTOPHER SCAPELLITI

While humanity speeds en masse down the digital music trail, millions of struggling musicians are still recording rehearsals, gigs and ideas for their breakthrough hit song with the humble cassette tape. Talk about suffering for your art.

Although compact and cheap, cassettes suck. The audio quality is miserable, the cartridges are fiddly to insert and remove from the player, and the damn things are analog! You actually have to wind through them to get to the part of the recording you need to hear.

And as anyone who has searched for cassettes these days will tell you, fresh blanks are becoming very scarce as the medium rolls at 1 7/8 inches per second to the end of its 40-year run.

All of which makes the new Olympus LS-10 especially lustworthy. It’s a handheld stereo digital recorder with a pair of mics built in and positioned at right angles for

Buddy Blaze has started offering Kahler tremolo systems as options on its Evanator and Alii King models.

The Evanator, shown here, uses the Kahler 2200 Professional stud-mount series trem system, which is designed to retrofit most stud-mount bridges and work with carved tops.

The 2200 Series trems have fine tuners and six-way adjustable saddles, and they are available in left- and right-hand configurations. The 2200 models are available in Bright Chrome, Black Krome and Gold. List price is $369.