White Hofner Violin Icon Bass Limited Edition

(Video below - www.guitarheroesgear.com)

Has anyone seen a Hofner violin bass in white? Hofner violin basses from the 60's have gone up in value, same as alot of vintage guitars. The Hofner violin bass was made famous by Paul McCartney from The Beatles and anyone who uses it can't escape the comparison and announcing that they are a Paul McCartney fan when using the Hofner violin bass.

I first saw a WHITE violin shaped guitar from Paul Gilbert who asked Ibanez to make him one, of course he was influenced by Paul McCartney's original sunburst Hofner Violin bass aswell. Hofner produced it's icon series and produced alternative colours as limited editions, one of the colours was white, and with the pearloid like scratch plate, I had to get one. The picture is of my personal bass which I just got. I'm so proud and excited about my purchase I wanted to tell the world, so I'm using this site, hope everyone doesn't mind.

Why I got the White Hofner Icon violin bass
After joining as the bassist for a band I needed a bass, and wanted something to stand out. My first thought was for a Fender P bass, it's a classic and can't go wrong, but it's so common I wanted something different, sure the playability and tone of the Fender P bass was gonna be a sure bet, but it wasn't for me. The next iconic bass that came to mind was Musicman stingray bass, now this is a seriously cool bass, but as I just started as a bassist I didn't want to fork out so much money, I haven't even got my Les Paul yet! Then thinking back to my bass heroes I looked up Hofner violin basses and came across the Limited Edition Hofner icon bass in white. No hesitation, bought it, in the post, and now arrived. Love it.

As I mentioned the Paul Gilbert white violin 6 string by Ibanez, and after all the site is about guitar heroes and there gear, heres a video clip:

Paul Gilbert signature guitar Ibanez PGM100RE

Back to Paul Gilbert gear....

Paul Gilbert's signature guitar the PGM100 has been out around 20 years now. Paul Gilbert started playing this guitar when he was in Mr BIG, the band where Paul Gilbert made a name for himself, becoming a shredding icon. The colour of the guitar is unique aswell, the jewel blue and pink paint on F-holes.

The PGM100 guitar is based on the Ibanez RG series guitar, with Paul Gilberts own finishing touches, such as the artwork ie the paint on f-holes. The guitar is also fitted with Paul Gilberts favourite Dimarzio pickups, the Dimarzio PAF Pro at the neck and bridge and FS-1 single coil in the middle. The Ibanez PGM100 has also been reissued on it's 20th anniversary, the ultimate Paul Gilbert guitar.

Paul Gilbert - Effects board - TIP 3rd Hand

While searching for some more Paul Gilbert gear videos I came across this interesting pedal. I think I seen or heard of it before but didn't take much notice of it, but when Paul Gilbert uses it, he makes it seem cool. Its the TIP 3rd Hand pedal.

This video shows a video of Paul Gilbert using a T.I.P (Tone In Progress) 3rd Hand Pedal. Paul Gilbert demonstrates how he uses it on his flanger to get some cool sounds.

The TIP 3rd Hand pedal
The pedal acts like the name implies, it acts like a third hand. It can be used on any effect, from distortion, flanger, delay etc. The TIP 3rd hand pedal is like an expression pedal, it gets linked to a knob and you can control the knob with the pedal. No, more bending down to change the knobs, and it also mean you can change it real time while your playing.


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Paul Gilbert gear - Guitar Lead/Cable

If you've every wondered what guitar lead Paul Gilbert uses, well, heres the answer - Bullet Cable.

Bullet cable makes coilly guitar leads, they look cool, and you won't accidentally pull your guitar cable out of the socket by stepping on it because it stretches. Bullet cable has built its reputation on looking cool, being practical, and sounding great, using high quality wires and insulation.

So for all you gear heads that like to replicate your guitar heroes gear, you can take an affordable first step with Paul Gilbert, by using Bullet Cable.

You can get Bullet cables at Guitar Centre, coiled Bullet cables start from $39.95
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Paul Gilbert Demo of Ibanez RG550 Re-issue guitar

Paul Gilbert on the RG550 re-issue. Paul GIlbert talking about how much he loves the Ibanez RG series of guitars. The guitar comes in a variety of colours fluorescent yellow, flare red and black. The colourfulness of the gitar allowed Paul Gilbert to be seen from the back rows of the stadium. The lock-in tremolo system on the Ibanez RG gives a solid base to keep your guitar in tune no matter how much you abuse it. The Ibanez RG is made out of bass wood which is good for the reasonably large RG to make it light weight. The neck join on the RG is also slightly angled and carved in to allow you to get to the higher frets especially cause theres a 24th fret. The pickups are amazing aswell the 5 way switch selector allows you to go from crunchy treble tones, chunky bass tone, to glassy hendrix tone.


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More Paul Gilbert to come, I found loads of clips of Paul Gilbert talking about gear, I post them all as soon as I can.

Paul Gilbert guitar gear - Dimarzio Pickups 1992

In 1992 Paul Gilbert made a guitar gear video with Dimarzio pickups giving demos of how they sound and why he loves them.

We get a look at Paul Gilbert's home and personal collection of guitars. Paul Gilbert is playing a Ibanez RG series guitar, customised decoration with stickers. The guitar is fitted with Dimarzio PAF Pro humbucker pickups and the neck and the bridge. The pickups tone is clear and chunky with a punch, ideal for soloing and rhythm play. Paul Gilbert describes different pickups and pickup positions as effecting the sound much like a Wah Wah pedal where the tone can be high or low, thick or thin, and stopping it in a certain position.

The guitar also has a single coil in the middle for cleaner tones, when he combines the middle and bridge pickup the guitar sounds amazing giving a twangy hendrix tone, everyone loves this tone that Jimi Hendrix made famous, and is easily achieved with this setup of Dimarzios.

Paul Gilberts favourite pickup however is the Dimarzio ToneZone, he decribes it as giving that bit more Eq and being less fuzzy.

Paul Gilbert Gear Ibanez Reverse Iceman

Paul Gilbert shredding hero talks about his 3 favourite guitars.

Ibanez Reverse Iceman with 2 humbuckers
Paul Gilbert designed the reverse Ibanez in photoshop and added another lower cut away so he can get to the high frets. With a cherry top and a mahogony back and neck. Paul Gilbert prefers a thick chunky neck to get to grips with, the thicker neck also adds to a fatter tone. The headstock is also 3 aside. The humbuckers give that vintage Explorer tone.

Ibanez Reverse Iceman with 3 single coils
The second Ibanez Reverse Iceman that Ibanez made custom for Paul Gilbert is made out of korina wood. Korina wood saw dust is toxic, so the manufacturers had to be careful when making this one, after the finish is layed down it's not toxic anymore so don't worry about owning a guitar thats made of this wood. Gibson used to use the korina wood for the orginal flying V's and explorers. Paul Gilbert uses 3 dimarzio single coil pickups, which are backwards angled to mimic hendrix which had this type of setup with his pickups when he played an upside down strat. The tone is more sharp and more strat like. The guitar is fitted with a volume and tone knob and 5 way switch selector.

These Reverse Iceman guitars are hella cool.



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Paul Gilbert signature Ibanez stock mod
Paul Giberts main guitar a modified signature mod, the Ibanez PGM301. He modified the paint on f-holes to make it smaller. Tonezone humbucker pickup at the bridge, the pickup slot is also stuffed with foam to stop feedback. The other single coils are the ibanez stock. The neck joint is fatter than normal which Paul Gilbert claims to give a real thick tone, a compromise to ease of play. The frets are also slightly taller and skinnier than normal.

Ibanez Paul Gilbert PGM401TFB Signature Electric Guitar

Ibanez Paul Gilbert PGM401TFB Signature Electric Guitar

Price: $1,999.99



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