By leveraging its iconic past and leaning into the future, Epiphone has set the stage for the next era of sound for present and future generations. Epiphone is proud to take the next step in its partnership with legendary guitarist of Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi and launch the Tony Iommi SG Special, a new and exciting version of his beloved SG guitar which helped shape Heavy Metal.  The Epiphone Tony Iommi SG Special is now available worldwide on www.Epiphone.com. 

     Tony Iommi's iconic riffs, heavy tones, and massively influential albums created the blueprint for heavy metal and many other genres to follow. After an early accident that almost ended his career as a guitarist, Tony persevered to become universally loved and revered. And while Tony’s  innovative tuning and playing styles have always been a major part of his monstrous tones, his original, heavily--modified 1964 Gibson SG Special, nick-named "Monkey" was at the centre of it all.


     Watch and share the new Tony Iommi animated clip from Gibson TV below, HERE. The video features the Black Sabbath song “Fairies Wear Boots” and follows a monkey--a monkey sticker has been on Tony’s original guitar since the beginning--as he travels through a dark forest until he finds the temple of doom where Tony Iommi lives.
​

• Tony Iommi Animated Video (Gibson TV): https://youtu.be/0dL5r5sElNs
• (Epiphone): https://youtu.be/bSisgFn2vXw.

     Epiphone is proud to release a guitar based on the iconic original that launched countless heavy riffs in a striking Vintage Cherry finish. The Epiphone Tony Iommi SG Special features a two-piece mahogany body, a bound one-piece mahogany neck with a rounded profile, an Indian laurel fretboard with 22 frets, a Graph Tech nut, Grover Rotomatic tuners with contemporary style buttons and chrome-covered Epiphone PRO P-90 pickups that are wired to CTS potentiometers and Orange Drop capacitors. A static cling reproduction of Tony’s “Monkey” sticker is in the included hardshell case. The new Epiphone Tony Iommi SG Special is available in both left and right-handed versions.
​

     Take a deep-dive into Tony Iommi’s 57-year musical journey in the Gibson TV series “ICONS”  featuring with Tony Iommi, HERE and learn more about the Epiphone Tony Iommi SG Special,  HERE.


​Tony Iommi:
IOMMI.COM | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE
 

Epiphone:
EPIPHONE.COM | TWITTER  |  INSTAGRAM  | FACEBOOK  | YOUTUBE 
 

Gibson:
GIBSON.COM | TW | IG | FB | GIBSON APP | GIBSON GARAGE | GIBSON TV
 

Kramer:
KRAMERGUITARS.COM | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE
 

MESA/Boogie:
MESA/BOOGIE.COM | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK
 

KRK:
KRKMUSIC.COM | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE


Maestro:
MAESTROELECTRONICS.COM | @MAESTROELECTRONICS | GIBSON TV

     For 127 years, Gibson has shaped sound across generations and genres of music, becoming one of the most relevant, played, and loved guitar brands around the world. Gibson announced today it has formed a full-scale partnership with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG)--the world’s second largest music publishing company--in China and Hong Kong. With a catalogue of over three million songs and offices in 46 countries worldwide, UMPG is part of the Universal Music Group, a subsidiary of Vivendi and Tencent.

     Gibson will offer tailor-made support for artists, songwriters, and producers in China. First up for 2021 are the widely popular UMPG songwriting camps and artist events. Gibson has outfitted UMP China’s professional recording studios in Beijing and Shanghai and UMP China marketing and social media will work closely with Gibson in expanding social media reach via joint promotional social campaigns and artist content launches regionally and globally. UMPG and Gibson are committed to supporting charity campaigns and causes that serve the music community, from forthcoming opportunities with major content sites such as Tencent, Tik Tok and Bilibili, to promoting respective artists’ charitable efforts globally and regionally throughout Asia.

James "JC" Curleigh, President and CEO of Gibson Brands says:

     “We are very excited about the emerging partnership between Gibson and UMPG China to further our support for musicians and for the broader music community in China. We have amazing momentum around the world, and now we have an incredible opportunity to take this momentum to another level with our new partnership in China.” 
 

Joe Fang, Managing Director of UMPG China says:

     “I’m excited to announce that UMPG China will be partnering with Gibson, the number one guitar brand in the world. With Gibson’s support, we will now have the chance to jointly promote emerging artists, support music education, and create causes for music education and charity events.”


UMPG China:
 

• UNMUSICPUB.COM.CN

Gibson:

• GIBSON.COM
• TWITTER
• INSTAGRAM
• FACEBOOK
  
• GIBSON TV
  

Banger Films announced today that international heavy metal icon and master shredder Alex Skolnick of Test is confirmed as the celebrity guest judge for the first season of its new digital series Shredders Of Metal — the first-ever talent competition show for heavy metal guitarists.

Named by Guitar World magazine as one of the fastest guitar players of all time, Alex Skolnick is an original member of Bay Area legends Testament, one of the most influential bands in thrash metal history, who have sold more than 4 million albums worldwide. He holds a BfA in Jazz from The New School in New York and is a respected improviser of multiple styles, who has released several critically acclaimed albums with his own trio and various artists.

“As a fan of Banger Films’ unyieldingly high quality output, from the Metal Evolution series to the docs on Rush and others, I was thrilled to be a judge on Shredders of Metal,” said Skolnick.

Shredders Of Metal will see seven heavy metal guitarists compete in a series of challenges testing skill and creativity in front of of three judges over six episodes. Each episode will showcase wicked shredding prowess and celebrate the mastery of lead guitar in metal music.
 
Joining Alex Skolick on the judges panel are Sam Dunn, co-founder of Banger Films, an award-winning film-maker and a global ambassador for the heavy metal community, and Daniel Dekay, lead guitarist for Toronto-based Diemonds and a host on BangerTV.

“I’m proud that Banger Films is creating Shredders of Metal because it’s the first-ever metal guitar competition show created by metalheads, for metalheads,” explained Sam Dunn. “Blistering lead guitar is essential to the sound of metal — and it’s about time that a competition show honoured this decades-old metal tradition. Bring on the shredders!”
 
Adds Daniel Dekay: “I jumped at the opportunity to nerd out over guitar with such esteemed company as Alex and Sam. It's poised to be a loud and intense competition and I can't wait to see whose licks reign supreme!"  
 
The Shredders Of Metal digital series is produced by Banger Films with the support of the Bell Fund. It recently completed production and is preparing for a summer 2018 release. Details including the host and names of competitors coming soon.
 
https://www.youtube.com/bangertv
http://bangertv.com/

Guitarbitz.com has announce a competition for all you guitarists out there.

They have over £150 of guitar goodies to give away to one lucky winner.

A friend of theirs (Lorna) a local Frome artist wanted to have a go at graffiti and we had a spare wall.
Lorna bought some cans from a car spares shop and popped round to Guitarbitz to spray away. Almost instantly she realized that this is a difficult medium to work with. Lorna very quickly decided that she didnt like spray paints, so reverted to her more favoured medium - paint. A mixture of left over purple gloss, orange gloss and white emulsion.

Hours later, Lorna appeared covered in purple and orange gloss paint from head to toe, we ran up stairs and 3 famous faces peered back at us. Now to win the guitar goodies, all you have to do, is reply to this email with the names of all three guitarists pictured - [email protected]

Please remember to give us your name and a telephone number to contact you if you win.

We will only accept Answers by email! Good luck!

The winner will be drawn on 31st Jan 2014 and is open to UK residents only. Just in case you need a little help, here are some clues.  


The guy on the right, we are pretty sure the upside down guitar is a giveaway as to who that is so no clues there.

The guy on the left, think of an "Electric Current" Band and then the school tie should give it away.

The guy in the middle, well, he was the subject of Ozzy Osborne's Tribute album.    


 www.guitarbitz.com