As a member of Punch Brothers since the band's inception, guitarist Chris Eldridge has been at the vanguard of acoustic music for much of the past decade. Although initially drawn to the electric guitar, by his mid-teens Chris Eldridge had developed a deep love for acoustic music, thanks in part to his father, a banjo player and founding member of the seminal bluegrass group The Seldom Scene. Eldridge later gained in-depth exposure to a variety of different musical styles while studying at Oberlin Conservatory, where he earned a degree in music performance in 2004. During his time at Oberlin, Eldridge studied with legendary guitarist Tony Rice. After graduating he joined the Seldom Scene with whom he received a Grammy nomination in 2007. In 2005 he founded the critically acclaimed bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters. At the 2007 International Bluegrass Music Association awards Eldridge and his Stringdusters bandmates won Emerging artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year for their debut album, Fork in the Road. Meanwhile, in 2005 he had caught the attention of mandolinist Chris Thile, who enlisted him, along with banjoist Noam Pikelny, violinist Gabe Witcher, and bassist Greg Garrison to start working on an ambitious side project. Soon after they decided to focus all of their collective energies into band and Punch Brothers was born. The band has since released 6 critically acclaimed albums, received 6 Grammy nominations and toured around the world. www.chriseldridge.net
Guitar Classics – The Joy of FX 2019
Lula Wiles is a Boston-based roots trio and the first-ever Miles of Music Band-In-Residence. The band members (Isa Burke, Ellie Buckland, and Mali Obomsawin) met and started playing music together at a fiddle camp in their home state of Maine, and they honed their skills and their band's sound attending MoM as campers, so they're firm believers in the power of music camps. They count MoM as one of their most formative experiences as a band and as individual musicians. Their original songs blend country, old-time, and folk-rock sounds, all anchored by rich vocal harmonies and dynamic instrumental work on fiddle, guitar, and bass. They are deeply rooted in a variety of music traditions, but equally deep is their devotion to modern songcraft and lyrics that are fiercely honest, littered with reinvented folk tropes and evocative images. Comprised of three multi-instrumentalists, songwriters, and singers, Lula Wiles brings a diverse range of musical passions and skills to their work. All three are alumnae of Berklee College of Music, and they have taught (individually and together) at Maine Fiddle Camp, Ossipee Valley String Camp, Miles of Music House Camp, and the Passim School of Music. www.lulawiles.com
Born in the last year of the 1980s, Taylor Ashton grew up surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and the old growth rainforests of Canada's west coast. His songs are inspired by the crooked primeval funk of traditional old-time music, the humor and heartbreak of Randy Newman, the cosmic emotionality of mid-career Joni Mitchell, and the sage vulnerability of Bill Withers. Somehow, he finds a way to make this all work on the clawhammer banjo.He spent most of late teens and early 20s as the frontman of Vancouver-based five-piece Fish & Bird, releasing four albums of heady progressive folk. In the past few years he has increasingly spent his days in New York City. His most recent release finds him swapping songs with Grammy-nominated songwriter and guitarist Courtney Hartman, on the pair's 2018 duo album "Been On Your Side". The album is an acoustic, stripped-down affair, which Rolling Stone had to admit, "packs a punch in today's mainstream".After well over a decade of varied and fruitful collaborations, Taylor is excited to finally release his debut solo recording in 2019. Keep your ears peeled...taylorashton.com
Having played and studied many instruments with many people in many places for many years, Charlie Rose has accumulated a cache of musicianship to share with students of all levels. He keeps pretty busy touring, recording, writing, and producing. Primarily a pedal steel and banjo player, Charlie also plays guitar, bass, mandolin, cello, keys, and brass instruments. A long-standing regular in the Sub Rosa 3 Mile Island songwriting community and guest artist/sailing enthusiast at Miles of Music, Charlie is excited to be back at camp this year!
The tonal character will have emphasis on the lower-midrange with a beautifully warm, vocal nature. The Classic Burst models are bound with Solid Macassan Ebony, and use the same high quality timber for the fingerboards, headplates, heelplates, bridges and bridge pins. Faith Classic Burst guitars are complete with a Faith Hardcase.
This Faith Guitar is fitted with the refined, low-profile Fishman INK3 preamp system with the Sonicore piezo pickup located under the saddle. The preamp features a chromatic tuner, 3 band EQ and volume control. The output jack is located at the base of the guitar as part of the ingenious, easy-access battery compartment.
We've done it again. Another year, another busy twelve months when we strived to bring out some of the best guitars we've ever made. And not only that - certain models became almost instantly some of our most popular ever.
There's no doubt that the arrival of the new Prince-inspired Eastwood Mad Cat was one of the highlights of 2019. This was one of our most successful Custom Shop projects ever - and, you'll be happy to learn, it turned out every bit as good as any Prince fan would've hoped for. We really nailed the look, tone and feel of Prince's legendary guitar.
Backlund guitars tend to divide the crowds: some love them, and some simply don't "get" their retro-futuristic looks. But the Backlund Rockerbox II DLX really looks - and sounds - like a brand new classic.
The new Airline Mando Steel is the lap steel guitar you didn't know you needed... until you've tried it - an 8-string lap steel model. Open tuning options for slide guitar are great with a 6 string, but they really come to life with 4 courses of paired strings and way less fuss than trying to re-tune your 12 string for alternate fun.
In 2019 we released not one, but two "violin"-style basses: the EB-1 Bass and the Beatle Klira Bass. It was tough to choose between the two, but the EB-1 has the edge - after all, it's a tribute to the first ever violin-bass, from 1958. The Custom Shop EB-1 turned out really good, and won't cost half as much as the rare, vintage original.
Sometimes, a new color makes a whole lot of difference. Even though these two guitars are not brand new models, the Eastwood Sidejack Baritone DLX and Airline Bighorn look like completely new and fresh models, thanks to their new Shell Pink finish, introduced in 2019.
The McGeoch 1000 is our tribute to the late, great Post-Punk British guitarist John McGeoch (PIL, Magazine, Siouxie & The Banshees) and sold-out almost instantly. It became one of our favourite models ever... and could become yours, too.
Novo's Rivolta Guitars, designed by Dennis Fano, simply had to be included in our list - after all they were a huge success in 2019. So we chose this new model - Rivolta's first ever bass guitar, the Combinata Bass VII. It's landing this Winter and you can place your orders now on our site, if you want to be one of the first to own this beauty.
Honourable mentions should go to these new Custom Shop models, which were launched in 2019 but will be only landing next year. Looks like 2020 will be really hot... and we're not talking about Global Warming:
The guitar Grateful Dead fans have been waiting all along: the Jerry Garcia Wolf Tribute guitar. The model will feature brass pickup ring and Brass Nut, a more rounded radius on body edge like the original and a slight amber tint to the maple body. Get excited, deadheads...
Following our previous, hugely successful DEVO tribute models, it was finally time, in 2019, to launch the DEVO Cloud Guitar. This model was also very popular and features include an active treble boost circuit (WarpDrive) and we've also replicated the tapped humbuckers for 3-way switching of Humbucker, Single Coil or Out of Phase.
Like the Grateful Dead, Phish have also amassed a legion of die hard fans, and Trey Anastassio's G2 guitar has also become legendary - so it's no wonder our Phish Tribute has also become a very popular Custom Shop project.
The Hooky Bass 6 Pro is our first ever Peter Hook Signature model, and the first prototype has been road-tested by the man himself. This is "the" 6-String bass guitars fans of Joy Division/ New Order have been waiting for - and it won't disappoint.
If there's one thing to learn from our 2019 Custom Shop models - some of which became some our most popular ever - is that if you wait too long to pull the trigger, you might end you disappointed... because they've been selling out fast! So make sure to join our mailing list, or check our Eastwood Customs website regularly - for deposits as little as $150 you can guarantee some truly unique guitars. And, after all... why not.
This One Knob Sunn Model T Amp-in-a-Box has been on my wishlist for a number of years now - I just never quite get around to acquiring it - but I do still really want it. As an example I got the significantly more tweakable Coda Effects Black Hole PreAmp (also Sunn T) - which has six dials and a voicing toggle and which I of course also love. I guess I just haven't encountered the Acalpulco Gold yet with my name on it. The one knob here is output volume and you user your guitar Volume and Tone to adjust degree of gain and tonality by dialling back each control as required.
The concept here is similar to the Acapulco - just a single control 'Bias' in this case while the typical Volume + Fuzz/Sustain parameters are internally dimed as is mostly how you would use a vintage Fuzz. This is a highly tuned Silicon Fuzz Face style Fuzz where the only and all the control on the pedal is applied by the solitary Bias knob. You use your guitar Volume and Tone knobs separately to engage further tone-sculpting characteristics. 2ff7e9595c
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