Wear Tony Iommi accessories

No, Tony Iommi isn’t coming out with a line of ascots, rather the Black Sabbath legend is donating guitar strings to the charity Wear Your Music who create jewelry from the items. Check out the company’s intro to Iommi:

Having sliced off the ends of three fingers in a factory accident when first starting out Tony switched to very light gauge strings. These make his bracelet especially unique.

An Iommi bobble will run you $200, by the way.

Check out Wear Your Music’s full inventory at their official site.

Right here.

 

Guitar during surgery

I think we’ve all known some brain dead guitar players, but never a guitarist playing during brain surgery. That is exactly what Brad Carter did while undergoing a routine procedure. It was no publicity stunt however. As the video description explains:

Deep brian stimulation is a therapy for people with Parkinson’s disease. At UCLA, the patient is conscious during the surgery and is asked to perform tests so that doctors can ensure the pacemaker is properly placed. Carter’s disease made his hands shake and his eyes twitch, affecting his ability to play the guitar. He had asked that he be allowed to strum his guitar during the operation to see if the pacemaker improved his playing ability. (V)ideos from the surgery show Carter’s guitar skills get stronger as physicians located the best place to leave the pacemaker.

Take a look!

 

Tom Scholz sues Barry Goudreau

A different sort of story out of Boston: Tom Scholz, mastermind of Boston the rock group, is suing former band mate Barry Goudreau for trademark infringement. From to Boston.com:

According to the lawsuit, Goudreau was a member of Boston for just three years of the band’s 37-year history (and upon leaving the band) signed an agreement giving him 20 percent of royalties from all of the songs on the first two albums but giving him “no interest, right nor title to the name ‘Boston.’ But Goudreau has repeatedly violated that deal.

Scholz also recently attempted to sue a former band manager.

Read more at Boston.com.

Right here.

 

More guitar violence

No, we’re not talking about a Pete Townshend outburst, but violence committed with a guitar. On the heels of last year’s pastor murder we have an attack in a small New Zealand city. The assailant, Kevin Whakamoe (no kidding) reportedly reached for his guitar during a domestic altercation. From the Otago Daily Times:

Whakamoe and the victim began scuffling, during which time the victim fell and hit her head. When the victim tried to leave, the defendant followed her and smashed the guitar over her head, causing bruising and cuts to the head.

Seems she fared better than the pastor.

Read more at ODT.

Right here.

 

New image of Robert Johnson surfaces

Purportedly making a deal with the Devil down is enough to cement one’s status as a legend. And Robert Johnson’s mystique has always been enhanced by the fact that there have historically existed only two verifiable images of the blues man. Now a third photograph of the guitarist has appeared. From popphoto.com:

The Getty Images Hulton Archive recently restored and published a third image of the infamous blues singer. Seen standing next to fellow musician Johnny Shines, the photo was donated to Getty Images by Johnson’s estate.

Take a look at the shot at popphoto.com.

Right here.

 

Dean Ween takes to the seas

Mickey Melchiondo, the erstwhile “Dean Ween” of the recently disbanded Ween, has his eyes on a new career in reality television. According to nj.com, the New Jersey native is planning a fishing oriented show with Les Claypool of Primus. How did he get to this point? From nj.com:

During downtime from the band five years ago, Melchiondo earned his Coast Guard captain’s license. He purchased a 23-foot watercraft, launched Mickey’s Guide Service and documented select trips on video with a 12-episode web series, “Brownie Troop Fishing Show.”

Read more and check out some video of Melchiondo fishing on the Jersey shore at nj.com.

Right here.

 

Counterfeit guitars seized in Chicago

Chicago Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents report a rash of faked guitars flowing through the O’Hare International Mail Facility. From the CBP site:

(O)fficers have seized more than 50 electric and acoustic guitars bearing counterfeit trademarks and trade names such as Fender, Gibson, Martin and Taylor. The counterfeit guitars were found to have a different feel, look and sound in addition to being of substandard quality.

Read more and see some of the knockoffs at CBP.gov.

Right here.

 

Delta Airlines – 1, vintage Gibson – 0

Guitarist Dave LeeVee (of The LeeVees) has posted video and comments regarding his 1965 Gibson ES-335. A dreadful thing has happened. Via Truth in Shredding:

I just posted a video I shot while they were unloading the guitars onto the metal shelved rack that the guitar eventually fell off of about 2 minutes later. The guitar that goes on the bottom rack is the victim here.

Watch in horror at Truth.

Right here.

See also bad things airlines to to guitars here and here.

 

Now he only eats guitars

The Internet at its finest: BuzzFeed has posted an article featuring guitars shaped like food. Among the delicacies you can see there are Bumblefoot’s infamous Swiss cheese guitar and an ESP pizza slice played by Andrew W.K. (yes, it’s as dumb as it sounds).

There’s really not much more to add (aside from Sriracha sauce, of course).

Have a look at BuzzFeed.

Right here.

Thanks to Randy Chapman for the tip.

 

Scott Ian Speaking Words

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian is embarking on a different kind of tour; Speaking Words comes in the wake of a one-off spoken word engagement in London. Admittedly inspired by Henry Rollins’ similar tale-telling outlet, Ian describes where he’s coming from. Via Decibel:

The last 32 years of my life spent in a metal band; I’ve got so many stories, whether it’s shit that I’ve done, people that I’ve met, stories that I know from other people . . . I’ve kinda been in this bubble for so long. I always felt that people need to hear this stuff. That’s what the material is; it’s shit that I have been through in my life.

Read much more at Decibel.

Right here.