I recently stopped in at Astoria SoundWorks Studios to hang out with Alex (a.k.a. Lynxx Hrtz) and the guys of Cracked Alice during a recent rehearsal. A huge honor! Anytime a band is willing to let us into their private sessions we take that very seriously. I was there for about 2 hours and got to hear the band play some of their older stuff as well as some new material slated to be on their next CD, for which recording begins this week. Both Alex and Matthew Paul, lead singer/guitarist, traded the two prototypes I brought back and forth and compared notes (pun?). It was amazing to watch them methodically work through a variety of song types to find where the instruments had their strongest and weakest points.
The Blackfires Put Us to the Test
As I’m sure you’re aware, Gimenez Guitars is in the midst of beta-testing a couple of new models. We’ve been making the rounds trying to give as many guitarists as we can a chance to play our latest builds and tell us what they like and, more importantly, what they don’t like. The most recent testers were Anthony Mullin and Hector Marin of The Blackfires. Anthony reached out to us on Twitter and invited me to hang out during a recent band rehearsal in Manhattan. I had the privilege of sitting through over an hour of The Blackfires working through several songs right in front of me while both Hector and Anthony played only our guitars! It was an absolute thrill! There’s nothing quite like sitting directly in the middle of dueling guitar solos while the bass drum thumps against your face! m/
Prototype Show Debut
Musician feedback is a huge part of our product development. We rely on it to help us discover where we can improve our guitars. That’s the reason we started the Beta-Test Program, which we’ve had a tremendous response to. But when a guitarist volunteers to take our gear on stage in front of an audience, and perform a whole set with it, that’s not only a vote of confidence, it’s a true test of how the instrument will perform under the rigors of a live show. We know, as a musician who takes pride in their craft, all of you select your gear very carefully. Failure is not an option when you’re on stage. It doesn’t matter if it’s a large city venue or your hometown bar, you want everything to sound perfect. So when Bert Pallini told us he’d be playing our new metallic red model during last Friday’s Guilty Pleasures show at The Nutty Irishman in Farmingdale, we were both ecstatic and a little nervous. Like a proud parent watching his child in her first school play, we were glued to the performance. Bert’s playing was amazing! He pushed the limits of the guitar for over an hour, flying flawlessly through solos with dizzying speed on such classics as Let’s Go Crazy (Prince), Separate Ways (Journey), and Here I Go Again (Whitesnake).
Hang with Us & Guilty Pleasures This Friday!
We are happy to announce that we’ll be hanging with Bert Pallini and the guys (and girl!) of Guilty Pleasures this Friday, September 18th, at The Nutty Irishman in Farmingdale on Long Island. Guilty Pleasures has been a long-time supporter of Gimenez Guitars and we couldn’t have asked for better friends! Bert, lead shredder for the band, has played an integral role in helping Gimenez refine and improve our instruments, and as one of the inaugural members of the newly formed Gimenez Guitars Advisory Board (GGAB), he’ll continue to provide valuable feedback and insights as our brand evolves.
Wanna Try One Out?
The Waiting is the Hardest Part
So, we’ve spent a lot of time showing you the progress we’ve been making on our newest prototypes. Well, we’re happy to say THEY’RE DONE! It’s taken a while for us to complete them and there’s good reasons for that. The main reason was we wanted to make sure they were right. You know what they say about first impressions. We thought long and hard about the design modifications we were making, and we thought long and hard about each and every part that went into these two new models, and we thought long and hard about the finish, and we thought long and hard about… You get the idea. Right now we’re long and hard.
Make No Mistake. This is a Revolution.
This is the beginning of something big. And you’re here. Right at the start. You get to see this from square one. Someday, you’ll get to say to your grandkids “I was there when it all began.”
We’re starting a revolution. If you Google the definition of revolution you’ll find something like “a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or in people’s ideas about it.” That’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve here. A dramatic change in people’s idea of what a guitar should look like and how it should feel when they play it.
New Initiatives and the Gimenez Guitars Gig Calendar
In addition to putting the final touches on our latest prototypes, the guys at Gimenez have been hard at work putting together a bunch of resources aimed at promoting the local music scene and giving artists even more ways to get involved with us. We’re hammering out the details of several major initiatives, including putting together an Advisory Board and working out the details of an endorsement program. The Advisory Board will be a small group of working musicians who will be working closely with Gimenez Guitars to help shape the evolution of our products and brand. Membership on the Board will be by invitation only and will give unprecedented access to the company and the future of the instruments we produce.
Coming Very Soon!
Hang tight, kids! We’re gonna use this space to keep you in the loop and let you peek behind the curtain at Gimenez Guitars. We’re just about ready to start pushing out some content so stay tuned and CRANK IT UP!!!
