One knob. One switch. The MXR ’75 Vintage Phase 45 pedal is proof that simplicity leads to perfection.

The ’75 Vintage Phase 45 reissue from the MXR Custom Shop reproduces the rare little brother of the Phase 90 to exacting specifications. With two stages of phasing, the Phase 45 offers up its subtle and musical voice via hand-matched FETs and hand-wired circuit board. Authentic tried and true components and hardware such as a Carling switch, CTS pot and Switchcraft jacks. Texture your tone without over powering your sound with the limited-edition ’75 Vintage Phase 45.

Enter this pedal giveaway from Loud Guitars for a chance to win a Phase 45!

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

This is the final week of ProAudio.com’s “Month of Radial” giveaway. And for this final week, they’ve gone full circle with a Radial Engineering H-AMP Headphone Driver giveaway, the same prize as week #1.

The H-AMP is a seriously handy tool for live gigs or in the studio. If your desired headphone mix is the same as your main or wedge monitor signal, just drive a speaker level signal into the H-AMP. It will convert to headphone level, and provide two musicians with their own monitor mix level. See? Very useful!

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

Nothing says ROCK like a Marshall. And few know rock like Paul Gilbert. In this guitar amp giveaway, Gilbert’s ArtistWorks Rock Guitar School has teamed up with Guitar World to give away a Marshall JMD100 head, worth $1,500.

The JMD100 offers up to 16 very different-sounding preamp options, and each one is 100 percent Marshall. Utilizing their groundbreaking and patented “Natural Harmonics Technology,” the JMD emerged –a hybrid amp with a sophisticated digital preamp stage that not only sounds and feels like analog – but reacts to playing dynamics exactly the same way.

Enter Here

Entry Deadline: November 13, 2012
Eligibility: US & Canada, 18+

For those of you who look at a black Strat and think of a bland bowl of oatmeal (without cream and brown sugar, of course), here’s a guitar giveaway for you.

From Fernandes Guitars, enter to win a Vertigo Samurai III electric guitar with hard case. The Shin Series guitars feature amazing and exclusive Japanese paintbrush art, a solid mahogany body and neck with a 22-fret ebony fingerboard, locking tuners, Tune-O-Matic bridge w/stop tailpiece, Graph Tech TUSQ XL Nut, Abalone inlays, and black hardware.

Enter Here

Entry Deadline: December 21, 2012
Eligibility: US-only

I really have to hand it to Luna Guitars. They make some very unique guitars and certainly have their own vibe. The Luna Oracle Peace grand concert acoustic, featured in this guitar giveaway, is rocking a laser-cut peace sign at the sound hole, surrounded by the word peace in different languages forming a graceful continuum across the soundboard. This guitar might not be for everyone, but I know a bunch of you would love to have it!

Enter Here

Entry Deadline: November 12, 2012
Eligibility: Worldwide

Here’s the third of four giveaways in ProAudio.com’s Month of Radial promotion.

Enter to win a Radial JPC, a stereo direct box that has been specifically designed for use with computer sound cards and other consumer electronic products to allow these to be connected to a professional sound system. It is unique in that it combines the advantages of transformer-isolated inputs with an active drive circuit, giving you the ‘best of both worlds’ in a compact and extremely flexible package.

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

If you’re looking for seriously rich overdriven guitar tones, an old trick is driving one pedal into another. In this boutique pedal giveaway from EffectsBay, you have the chance to win a pedal that packs two amazing sounding overdrive circuits into one small pedal.

The Coldcraft Effects Cascade Overdrive Pedal gives you the option of their Drive A, a warm Class A inspired tone, or Drive B, a punchy Class A/B style tone. Both stages have moderate gain, but when used together, it gets thick and complex! The Cascade also has a passive tone ‘cut’ to smooth things out when needed.

Head over to EffectsBay and enter to win this great sounding pedal!

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

As someone who has strolled through the Fender factory in Corona, CA, a time or two, I can tell you that it’s an amazing experience. After taking the tour, one really gets a sense of how much hand crafting goes into even “standard production” Fender guitars.

This month, our friends at Sweetwater Sound are planning on flying one lucky guitarist and a friend to California for a Fender factory tour, including airfair and two nights in a hotel, plus meals. Oh, wait. There’s more. The winner will also score his/her choice of one Fender American Vintage Guitar, valued at up to $2,874.99 (sorry…the guest doesn’t get a guitar!).

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

I always love it when a company takes a new angle on an old instrument. TurboHarp has taken the harmonica, an instrument that many would say was perfected by Hohner over 100 years ago, and really created some beautiful new products.

TurboHarp recently launched a new Facebook page, and celebrated their 100th “like” by launching a harmonica giveaway. Head over to their website to find how how you can win a TurboHarp Turbo Twenty Deluxe harmonica. These harps come in five very attractive colors and sell for $59.99.

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

For September, GearNuts has a smokin’ guitar giveaway for you – a Pathmaker SB Standard PM-7310 from Wechter Guitars!

What’s cool about this axe? The two onboard Wechter humbuckers feature “Triple Shot” mounting rings, which let you instantly switch among single-coil, parallel, and series configurations. It’s rocking a Wilkinson vibrato. And it’s got more knobs and switches than you probably know what to do with!

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

Here’s our second Earthworks microphone giveaway of the week!

This time, you have a chance to win an Earthworks QTC30 mic. The company bills this as a product to mic quiet sound sources, like vocals and strings, or distant miked orchestras or choirs. With a list price of $1,099, I’ll bet it also does a great job on acoustic guitar or as a general room mic, as well.

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

Today’s bass guitar giveaway is kind of a sneak-peak, first-look kind of thing. You see, a few days ago Bass Frontiers Magazine announced that they will soon announce a new giveaway. Up for grabs will be an Overton Featherweight 500 bass amp (500 watt, single rackspace head with onboard compression, a 5-band EQ, and the Overton sculpt control), EMG JVX Jazz Bass style pickup set, and KSM Guitars Foundation Bridge. And there may be more.

But if this is not yet an official giveaway, why should I tell you? All you have to do to enter is be on their email list. So, I’m not going to send you to an entry page, but rather to the Bass Frontiers home page. Scroll about halfway down and you’ll see their email signup form on the right side. Just type in your info and you’ll be entered to win this giveaway!

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

I know there are some Every Time I Die fans out there, and even more Orange Amp fans. Here’s a guitar amp giveaway that combines both.

Enter to win a Orange Tiny Terror amp head, plus a copy of Every Time I Die’s new album, Ex-Lives.

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

For those of you who won’t accept the “good enough” sound of a piezo pickup, here’s a microphone giveaway for you.

From Acoustic Guitar magazine, enter to win an Earthworks SR20 microphone. This mic sounds great on acoustic guitar, but was also designed to sound amazing with vocals, drums, piano, and more. The SR20 retails for $899, and I think it would be a welcome addition to anyone’s mic locker!

This contest has ended. Check out all current giveaways.

May the 4th Be With You!!  Today, Dave demonstrates demonstrates three different drum strokes: the free stroke, the lift stroke, and the finger stroke.  In the news, Bonzo gets a birthday bash, Chad Smith releases an iOS app, and the unfortunate story of marching band hazing gone wrong.

Here is the video that goes along with today’s episode!

Show notes after the break!

• Adler and Wright to play at Bonham Birthday Bash tribute concert, May 31st
• “Rock the rhythm, beat the odds,” A celebration of music education
• New chad smith app and twitter Q&A
• Hazing leads to drum major’s’s death

Welcome to Drummer Talk #170 where we talk about some of our best and worst gig experiences!  In news, we talk about yet another drummer with his own coffee, the K Zildjian scholarship, DW’s new airlift system, and we pay tribute to the late, great Levon Helm.  Did we mention that Jeff Bowders is the drummer of the week?!

News

• Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer launched his own line of coffee, “Rockin’ & Roastin’,” a organic, fair trade, custom-roasted coffee.
• Kerope Zildjian Scholarship
• Levon Helm loses the battle against cancer.
• DW Airlift
• Forearm-less drummer’s videos make it onto msnbc.com
• Woodshed Percussion presents second annual “Shedfest”
• International Jazz Day to celebrated with All-Star Concerts
• Zildjian extends Drummer Love deadline

Drummer of the week, Jeff Bowders

• Born in 1976 and his favorite movie is “Rocky”, www.jeffbowders.com
• He has played for people like Rebecca St. James, Ginny Owens, Fusebox, Chris Tomlin, and Paul Colman Trio. Jeff is currently Paul Gilbert’s drummer and an instructor at Musicians Institute. Recently came out with an album entitled The Pilgrimage of Thingamuhjig, featuring his drumming.

We’re back from our long hiatus with a show talking about the 10 things (in no particular order) the “best” pro musicians have in common.  Also, we have 2 new guys on the mic!  In news, Luis Conte gets the online drum academy treatment, Roy Haynes is honored, Questlove opens his own hoodie shop, and Zildjian’s Drummer Love heads to Europe!  Show notes after the break!

Show Notes

1. INTRO

• http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

2. NEWS

• Luis Conte school of percussion
  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/04/12/prweb9395422.DTL
• Roy Haynes to Receive Peabody Medal
  http://www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/10113/79/
• Zildjian’s Drummer Love Europe
  http://www.idrummag.com/news/2012/4/13/zildjians-drummer-love-get-some.html
  http://zildjian.com/drummerlove?utm_source=generic&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=DrummerLoveEurope
• Questlove’s Hoodie Shop
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/30/questloves-the-hoodie-shop_n_1391652.html
• Sonny Igoe Dies at 88
  http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/music/145878935_Sonny_Igoe__88__drummer_for_Big_Band_greats.html
• World’s Largest Cowbell Ensemble
  http://www.boston.com/Boston/businessupdates/2012/03/phish-drummer-ben-jerry-plan-world-largest-cowbell-ensemble/2Ezo4eJ8baYpdNVwMDYTbM/index.html
• King’s X Drummer Gives Message to the Fans
  http://somethingelsereviews.com/2012/04/05/kings-x-drummer-jerry-gaskill-releases-new-video-message-for-fans-ill-be-better-than-ever/

3. TOPIC – http://www.zorothedrummer.com/thebiggigbook/index.html

• 10 Things the Best Pros Have in Common

• The best professional musicians are all self starters and entrepreneurs.
• The best professional musicians have an unquenchable thirst for learning.
• The best professional musicians arrive early.
• The best professional musicians arrive prepared.
• The best professional musicians have a healthy balance of career and the rest of life.
• The best professional musicians can read anything you put in front of them.
• The best professional musicians can play anything you ask them to play.
• The best professional musicians have a desire to see others grow in their own musicianship.
• The best professional musicians embody a servant-minded attitude towards their role in music.
• The best professional musicians are humble about their gifts and talents and strive to leave every bridge unburned

LP Square TambourineWe’re back form Winter break with our Winter NAMM 2012 recap.  The English Muffin sits in and we’re joined by PastorStix, our roving correspondent, who went above and beyond the call of duty in bringing us the most unique and interesting things to see and hear at the convention.  Show notes, pics and more after the break!

• Gregg potter and the BR Big Band – First Show March 3
  http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/2012/01/gregg-potter-with-the-buddy-rich-big-band/#.TyKuCphe8fO
• Queen announces winner of contest
  http://www.drummercafe.com/music-industry/news/queens-roger-taylor-announces-winners-of-the-queen-extravaganza-competition.html
  http://www.queenextravaganza.com
• Sticks N Skins in the Smithsonian
  http://www.drummercafe.com/music-industry/news/sticks-and-skins-in-the-smithsonian.html
• Journey’s touring drummer, Deen Castronovo, arrested for assault
  http://www.tmz.com/2012/01/26/journey-drummer-deen-castronovo-arrested-assault/#.TyKxBJhb020
• Drum clinic tomorrow, Jan. 28, in Moreno Valley, CA (Stanley Rudolph & Tony Moore)
  http://www.pe.com/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county-headlines-index/20120126-moreno-valley-professional-musicians-lead-drum-clinic.ece
  http://www.dynastyclubent.com/

NAMM Photos and More!

Acoutin Drums

Aquarian

Cymbal Tops

DW

Feisty Paiste

Drum Tuning

Rotek:

Flat Headz

Gretsch & Grbralter

LP

 

Ludwig

Molecules

Pearl

Quirky Drums

Roland

Sabian

Tama

Zildjian