Eight months ago, I made some predictions about the future of ebooks. Let's see how I'm doing.
1. Ebook readers will be available in stores for less than $99.
Probably. We're on track for this. Kindle just went down to $139. By the holidays, I'm still confident we'll hit $99. I also said that they'll be available in retail stores, and I was correct. Best Buy and Target are selling ereaders, and others will no doubt follow suit.
2. Amazon will adopt Epub standard format.
Maybe. Hasn't happened yet. But I am trying to talk them into releasing SHAKEN as an epub. They've already decided to release it without DRM, which is a huge milestone.
3. Ebook readers will improve.
Yes. The new Kindles boast 50% better contrast, and Nooks have a color touch screen bar. But one trend also seems to be the opposite of my prediction--many ereaders are devolving, losing 3G capability, in order to cut the cost.
4. Ebooks will go multimedia.
Yes. Besides the Vook, a reader just pointed me HERE.
5. A third party etailer will rise to prominence.
Probably. The industry is still dominated by the big three, Amazon, B&N, and Sony. But Kobo and Borders are now in the game, and Smashwords is growing. In fact, I just got my second quarter report from Smashwords, and learned I've sold over 2000 ebooks (1500 of these on the Nook.) And this hasn't even begun to hit its stride yet. I predict earning an extra $20,000 a year from these new platforms.
6. Estributors will become common.
Yes. Andrew Wylie, anyone?
7. Print publishers will get savvy.
Maybe. Haven't seen any real evidence of this yet, though. However, I recently sold the audio rights to many of my self-pubbed ebooks, so certainly the audio publishers are getting savvy.
8. Ebook bestsellers will emerge.
Yes. Lots of indie authors, me included, hit the bestseller lists.
9. Print books will be packaged with an ebook version.
Maybe. Hasn't happened yet, but might. I have released one on my ebooks, THE LIST, in print. We'll see how it does.
10. Exclusivity.
Yes. I've done it. Wylie's authors have done it.
11. I'll continue to pay my mortgage with ebook sales.
Yes. But my prediction was too weak. I'm paying all of my bills with ebook sales. In fact, in the last six weeks, I earned $21,000 on Kindle.
That's not a typo. That's $3500 a week. At that rate, it's $182,000. Add the $20,000 from other platforms, and we can call it an even $200k.
As for my predictions, I was right on 6 of 11, and I'm sure the $99 price point will hit. That puts me at about 63%. Not perfect, but better than anything the print industry has predicted. Plus, there are still five months left in the year, so perhaps my percentage will go up.
Armed with information garnered during the last eight months, I'm ready to make some new predictions.
1. A bestselling author will self-publish an original ebook novel.
This probably won't happen in 2010, but it will happen eventually. Someone is bound to give it a shot.
2. Bankruptcy.
Some major print publishers and booksellers will go out of business. This is sad, but it will happen.
3. The media will catch up.
Kindle and iPad have been media darlings for a while, and the news wire is buzzing about an ebook future, but there really hasn't been much talk about ebook authors. The only real acknowledgment by the publishing industry--who should be paying attention to what I'm doing--was a poorly researched article by Publisher's Weekly structured as an attack piece.
That's slowly changing. In the past few weeks, ebook authors (including yours truly) have been written about in the Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and most recently, Newsweek.
4. Print Publishers Won't Get Savvy.
I admit, my prediction that they would get savvy was more of a hope than an actual feeling. But these last eight months haven't shown publishers improving their game. In fact, they seem to be making more mistakes than before. The agency model was an epic fail. High prices are an epic fail. Trying to grab ebook rights not specified in contracts is a big box of fail.
Recently, the publisher for my Jack Daniels novels told me they were going to package them as an omnibus edition, all six in one ebook. I got excited about this, thinking they were finally getting with the program, telling them that six novels for $9.99, or better yet, $7.99, would really spike my sales.
Then they told me the ebook omnibus is going to retail at $34.99.
(Head slap, then sigh) Isn't any of the Big Six reading my damn blog?
5. E-pubbed authors will jump to self-pubbed print.
Both Lee Goldberg and I are using Amazon's CreateSpace to release some of our ebook bestsellers in print, and by Fall all of my ebooks will be available in dead tree versions, priced at $12 for a trade paperback. While I don't see this as being a huge cash cow (I'll still earn more from a $2.99 ebook sale than a $11.99 paperback sale), I find it interesting that the stigma of self-publishing is fading fast.
In the recent past, I've consistently come out against self-pubbers, because POD usually resulted in an expensive, inferior, non-returnable product, and once an ISBN gets attached, those low numbers follow you via Bookscan, making it even harder to land a big book deal with a major publisher, or get your book into brick and mortar stores.
These days, I don't care about landing a big book deal with a major publisher, and am fine with low print numbers. Print has become a subsidiary right.
How will I do on these new predictions? Check back in eight months, and we'll see.
In the meantime, I'm working on several new super-secret ebook projects, including a horror novel with three other bigshot authors, an eighth Jack Daniels book, and a spy novel, among other things.
I've never been busier as a writer. And for the very first time in my career, I'm able to make a decent living at it.
Life is good.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
1959 Silvertone 1423 aka Jupiter
Another baby of the inevitable cross-brand electric guitar industry in the 60s, this Silvertone 1423 was actually built by Harmony (as the H49 Stratotone Jupiter), equipped with DeArmond pickups and released exclusively in black / gold sparkle finish. Its chambered body made it very light and highly appreciated by beginners.
Silvertone had its models based on Danelectro, Harmony, Kay, National or Teisco guitars - they were actually manufactured by these companies with slight variation and branded by Silvertone that was the music instrument brand of the Sears Department Stores from the 30s until the early 70s.
Bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Jackson Custom Shop "Black Beauty" Dominion Mark Morton signature
This Mark Morton signature Jackson Dominion is a very honorable neck-through, chambered mahogany body, double humbucker guitar with a descent classic no-nonsense design, slightly twisted but without the hint of genius you would expect from this kind of instrument.
It was conceived by Jackson for Mark Morton who plays in some metal band called Lamb of God and who wanted 'a guitar with which he could also play rock or blues'.
The guy just invented electric guitar it seems!
bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Fender Jaguar Special HH
The Fender Jaguar Special HH could seem not so special - well, it's just another Jaguar -, but - beside its name - it's very special to me since I'm the proud and happy owner of one of these babies.
It was love at he first sight (and I was a Fender hater until then - now I'm just a strat hater) after being faithful for about 20 years to my Rickenbacker 620 and my Ovation Breadwinner! It has a kind of perfect look, not with the classicism of a Les Paul or a ES-175, but in its own twisted way despite the venerable age of the Jaguar (see the previous Jaguar post).
So the HH (as it's often nicknamed) has the usual design, 24' scale and typical complex electronics of a Jaguar, but it's mounted with Fender's Dragster Humbuckers - sounding really superb - and a tune-o-matic style stop tail (official name is Adjust-o-matic, must be American humor). It has a simple black nitro finish and black pickguard and lots of chrome, and a super cool 1969 strat headstock with vintage tuners. You put your fingers on the neck and they start to play on their own and to do things you didn't know you can do.
It was made in Japan in the 2000s, and I found contradictory information about it being exclusive to the Japanese market or not. I thought so for a long time and it was sold to me as an import - and you don't see it so often around -, but this is not mentioned on the Fender website so it's doubtful. There is also a baritone version (a real baritone, not a 6-string bass), that I will accept as a present any time.
bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
50s Premier/Multivox Custom doubleneck guitar in gold sparkle finish
This Premier doubleneck guitar is one of the craziest looking one I ever saw, and by crazy I don't mean just bizarre for the sake of it, but joyful and eccentric. And it definitely predates the glam era since it's from the 50s - though probably just one of its kind - only the Bigsby and the stoptail have been recently changed.
I would write more about it but I'm mesmerized by the gold sparkle finish. I think that the ETs are trying to contact me!
bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Henman Bevilacqua S1
With this Jazzmaster-looking Henman-Bevilacqua S1, Henman Guitars proposes an interesting combination of classicism and... well, I cannot say modernism or high-tech, since electric guitar is ontologically modern and high-tech, so let's say progressiveness. You could say that there's nothing new in the two humbuckers (tappable though) and Bigsby trem but if you look closely at all the details, you will see that this guitar has clearly something (I just wish they wouldn't spoil a transparent black finish with a figured maple top when the body is made of solid mahogany...).
If you are interested in this Hen-Bev S1, go and have a look at their website, they have plenty of technical specs about stuff like their avant-garde tuners and truss rod, plus a couple of video demos that allows you to hear its terrific sound (very rock/blues though - but it seems that it's what 99% of players expect - ah, and someone should tell the demo player that an emo haircut after 21 is pathetic).
About the Jaguar/Jazzmaster design, it's strange but I have to admit that though it's been introduced in 1958 - shortly after the Telecaster (50), the Les Paul (51) and the Stratocaster (54) - and widely spread in the 60s by European companies (mostly Italian and German), it didn't turn into a boring cliché but kept a radical feel - probably because it wasn't overexploited by Fender. So Henman played it safe when they chose this design, both familiar and with a maverick spirit.
bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Monday, July 26, 2010
BC Rich Gunslinger Power customized in Swarovski crystal
Usually I don't post about wacky guitar finishes, but it's summer, all our readers are partying in Ibiza or hiking in the Appalachians, and this one is really really special.
So put on your shades and look at this BC Rich Gunslinger Power customized in Swarovski crystal by the Crystalz Rock company - yes, there is definitely a glam gene in Brits' blood that can be triggered any time.
Making such a guitar requires to glue 5000 crystals by hand, one by one, but playing it cannot be without 30 cm platform boots, tight lamé catsuit, glitter make-up and big big hair.
bertram
PS. nothing to say about the BC Rich Gunslinger - it's just some superstrat...
So put on your shades and look at this BC Rich Gunslinger Power customized in Swarovski crystal by the Crystalz Rock company - yes, there is definitely a glam gene in Brits' blood that can be triggered any time.
Making such a guitar requires to glue 5000 crystals by hand, one by one, but playing it cannot be without 30 cm platform boots, tight lamé catsuit, glitter make-up and big big hair.
bertram
PS. nothing to say about the BC Rich Gunslinger - it's just some superstrat...
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
1967 Gibson Kalamazoo KG2 serial number 00001
Here is the Gibson Kalamazoo KG2, Gibson's response to Fender's Mustang at a time when the two dominant companies didn't yet carefully split the market. And it is probably the most Fender model produced by Gibson ever, not only by its design but with the single coils pickups, bolt neck, 6-in line tuners, tremolo (though it's a very Gibson short Vibrola trem with Tune-o-matic bridge).
Kalamazoo was a short-lived budget line released by Gibson in the late 60s - there was two models, this one and a SG-style one, each with one or two pickups (KG1 & KG2) and with 2 different scales (both short), with bodies made of artificial wood (MDF) and cheap gear.
And this one has the serial number 00001 - it can interest collectors...
bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Yamaha Pacifica with mirror fingerboard
This mirror fingerboard guitar is intriguing - at least for me who know very little about fretless guitars. I crossed just a few on my way (but never played one) and they used either hardwood or metal...
Mirror feels a little fragile to me but I can credit the maker of this customization for being innovative - though I wonder why he would do that on a low-end Yamaha Pacifica (unless it's just a prototype)...
If anybody has extra info, it's welcome!
bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Konrath on Wylie
Quite a few people have asked me what I think about the Andrew Wylie situation.
In a nutshell, here's an agent who is taking some of his star clients' books, which were sold prior to ebook clauses existing in contracts, and publishing these ebooks himself.
I predicted something similar to this would happen, last October.
There are a few potential problems with this scenario.
First, Wylie is an agent. His job is to sell his clients' work. If he is also the publisher of his clients, there is a HUGE conflict of interest there, as well as some ethical considerations. After all, why bother to try to sell any rights at all when he can make money publishing them himself? Is that truly in his clients' best interest? Does he deserve a commission off of this sale? Is he taking a publisher's cut of the profits?
Second, a lot of folks are annoyed that he made this deal exclusively with Amazon, cutting out other retailers and platforms. Personally, I have no problem with this at all, as I've done basically the same thing with SHAKEN. If Wylie can make more money for his clients by signing with one platform, he should be able to do that without everyone whining.
The publishers, in response to Wylie, have declared they will no longer make deals with Wylie.
Now, I don't really care about the outcome of this little tiff. It doesn't effect me either way. From a purely intellectual standpoint, this is yet another mistake big publishers are making, and they're shooting themselves in the foot once again. If they want the erights, frickin' BUY them.
Publishers are punishing their customers with high ebook prices. Now they're punishing their authors. This is a big sign of an industry flushing itself down the tubes.
A smart publisher would be kissing author ass and offering them big ebook royalties, because if they don't, they're going to get cut out of the equation completely.
As for Wylie, I believe agents are set up to be great estributors, as long as the rules and guidelines are ironed out. It's a complicated issue, and could easily be abused, sort of like making your lawyer the primary beneficiary in your will. But it also gives agents a chance to do something they all really want to do; get their clients' books in front of readers.
So as the digital revolution marches forward, it looks like the writers, and maybe the agents, will be able to survive, and even thrive.
The publishers? I haven't seen any evidence yet they'll make it. But I have seen a lot of evidence to the contrary.
Since I'm a generous guy, and people often ask me for advice, I'll offer it to these three groups.
For the Writers - If you have an out-of-print backlist, or books your agent couldn't sell, or books in print that have no ebook clauses in the contract, I suggest self-publishing them as ebooks. For all other writers, first decide what your goals are, and learn as much as you can about ebooks and traditional publishing before making any hasty decisions. And, of course, make sure you're writing damn good books.
For the Agents - Wylie is taking a lot of heat, perhaps justifiably so. But remember that your clients are your authors, not the publishers who buy you lunch. If you can serve your clients by helping them epublish, you should learn how to do so. And fast, before someone else does.
For the Publishers - Stop trying to stave off the inevitable. If you want to survive, you need to start embracing ebooks, even if they cannibalize your bread-and-butter print sales. If that means downsizing and restructuring your business, do it. And you'd better start treating your authors fairly, starting with bigger ebook royalties, because the authors, and their agents, are going to figure out that once ebooks reach a tipping point, they won't need you anymore.
In a nutshell, here's an agent who is taking some of his star clients' books, which were sold prior to ebook clauses existing in contracts, and publishing these ebooks himself.
I predicted something similar to this would happen, last October.
There are a few potential problems with this scenario.
First, Wylie is an agent. His job is to sell his clients' work. If he is also the publisher of his clients, there is a HUGE conflict of interest there, as well as some ethical considerations. After all, why bother to try to sell any rights at all when he can make money publishing them himself? Is that truly in his clients' best interest? Does he deserve a commission off of this sale? Is he taking a publisher's cut of the profits?
Second, a lot of folks are annoyed that he made this deal exclusively with Amazon, cutting out other retailers and platforms. Personally, I have no problem with this at all, as I've done basically the same thing with SHAKEN. If Wylie can make more money for his clients by signing with one platform, he should be able to do that without everyone whining.
The publishers, in response to Wylie, have declared they will no longer make deals with Wylie.
Now, I don't really care about the outcome of this little tiff. It doesn't effect me either way. From a purely intellectual standpoint, this is yet another mistake big publishers are making, and they're shooting themselves in the foot once again. If they want the erights, frickin' BUY them.
Publishers are punishing their customers with high ebook prices. Now they're punishing their authors. This is a big sign of an industry flushing itself down the tubes.
A smart publisher would be kissing author ass and offering them big ebook royalties, because if they don't, they're going to get cut out of the equation completely.
As for Wylie, I believe agents are set up to be great estributors, as long as the rules and guidelines are ironed out. It's a complicated issue, and could easily be abused, sort of like making your lawyer the primary beneficiary in your will. But it also gives agents a chance to do something they all really want to do; get their clients' books in front of readers.
So as the digital revolution marches forward, it looks like the writers, and maybe the agents, will be able to survive, and even thrive.
The publishers? I haven't seen any evidence yet they'll make it. But I have seen a lot of evidence to the contrary.
Since I'm a generous guy, and people often ask me for advice, I'll offer it to these three groups.
For the Writers - If you have an out-of-print backlist, or books your agent couldn't sell, or books in print that have no ebook clauses in the contract, I suggest self-publishing them as ebooks. For all other writers, first decide what your goals are, and learn as much as you can about ebooks and traditional publishing before making any hasty decisions. And, of course, make sure you're writing damn good books.
For the Agents - Wylie is taking a lot of heat, perhaps justifiably so. But remember that your clients are your authors, not the publishers who buy you lunch. If you can serve your clients by helping them epublish, you should learn how to do so. And fast, before someone else does.
For the Publishers - Stop trying to stave off the inevitable. If you want to survive, you need to start embracing ebooks, even if they cannibalize your bread-and-butter print sales. If that means downsizing and restructuring your business, do it. And you'd better start treating your authors fairly, starting with bigger ebook royalties, because the authors, and their agents, are going to figure out that once ebooks reach a tipping point, they won't need you anymore.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
1968 Zen-On Morales ESP-290 Black Bison
An hollow-body guitar with Bison Style horns, who could dream of a cooler guitar? This Zen-On Morales ESP-290 Black Bison is a beauty (the pickguard is not original) and I wonder why pointy horns are so rare on this kind of guitars (there is an other example with the Barney Kessel models - a.o. this one by Gibson).
Like many 60s Japanese guitar companies, Zen-On is a blur entity. It is spelled either Zen-On or Zenon - that is very different - before shifting to Morales (why this one is a Zen-On Morales I don't know), but has been labeled also Futurama, while producing a few Jaguaresque original models (remarkable for their contoured pickguards) , but also Mosrite or Teisco clones... And it seems that in the 70s they shifted to acoustic guitars but without a FetishGuitars.com website for Japanese vintage guitars, it's hard to tell.
bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Baker B3 XT Phoenix 5
I'm into Teles lately, and I'm particularly interested when they are the starting points of smart upgrades, such as this Tele/Firebird hybrid Baker B3 XT Phoenix 5 (sounds like a space ship name from a 50s pulp SF novel). This guitar is remarkable a.o. because of its solid mahogany one piece model - body and neck are cut from the same block, that is quite a rare luxury (so the raised center is not a beam on which the wings are glued, but a recall of the Firebird).
It has the 3 mini-humbuckers (with metal rings) of the Firebird VII (I wish it had banjo tuners too), a stratesque hybrid pickguard and a quite nice transparent sunburst finish that makes sunburst almost agreeable.
bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Mita's hand-built guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com:
We love seeing self-built guitars here on Guitarz, but they can so often be hit and miss. Some seem to design the guitar as they go along and you get very crude looking instruments. Others will rely on templates of tried and trusted designs. It's so refreshing to see an instrument that has been designed from the ground up, that looks fantastic and is all original.
Here we see such an example from Guitarz reader Mita, who made this guitar for a college project as a third year industrial designer student in 2007. The guitar was designed to be compact but with a full scale length, in this case 24.75". The "frets" are in fact inlays (see detail photo, right) making this a fretless guitar.
I think it's a fantastic piece of work. It is both aesthetically pleasing and an original design - something which can be very difficult to achieve.
If I had to criticize at all, I'd say that personally - and I stress that this is just my opinion - I don't see for the need of a tremolo on a fretless instrument (the whole point of a fretless is to use the fingers of the left hand to produce vibrato). But that's a minor niggle, I suppose it's possible that there are fretless players who also wants to divebomb, and this certainly isn't the first time I've seen a fretless guitar with a locking trem.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
We love seeing self-built guitars here on Guitarz, but they can so often be hit and miss. Some seem to design the guitar as they go along and you get very crude looking instruments. Others will rely on templates of tried and trusted designs. It's so refreshing to see an instrument that has been designed from the ground up, that looks fantastic and is all original.
Here we see such an example from Guitarz reader Mita, who made this guitar for a college project as a third year industrial designer student in 2007. The guitar was designed to be compact but with a full scale length, in this case 24.75". The "frets" are in fact inlays (see detail photo, right) making this a fretless guitar.I think it's a fantastic piece of work. It is both aesthetically pleasing and an original design - something which can be very difficult to achieve.
If I had to criticize at all, I'd say that personally - and I stress that this is just my opinion - I don't see for the need of a tremolo on a fretless instrument (the whole point of a fretless is to use the fingers of the left hand to produce vibrato). But that's a minor niggle, I suppose it's possible that there are fretless players who also wants to divebomb, and this certainly isn't the first time I've seen a fretless guitar with a locking trem.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
J.A. Konrath live at 12pm CST July 21, on C.J. West's show, talking ebooks with Boyd Morrison and Jason Pinter.
Listen to Author Cj WestIf you'd like to call in, here's the direct link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/author-cj-west/2010/07/21/thriller-30-special-skipping-new-york
Listen to Author Cj WestIf you'd like to call in, here's the direct link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/author-cj-west/2010/07/21/thriller-30-special-skipping-new-york
Millenium Falcon guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com:Quite why Star Wars is so enduring to so many people is a complete mystery to me. There. I said it. I do not like Star Wars. I know this may be an almost blasphemous statement to many, but there it is. If Freddie Mercury could say it, then so can I.
There have been Star Wars themed guitars before, most notably from Fernandes (how anyone could play a guitar with, say, a picture of Darth Vader on the body and "Star Wars" emblazoned on the fingerboard whilst on stage without feeling an acute sense of embarrassment I do not know). Here we see a one-off guitar build with a body fashioned out of a Star Wars Millenium Falcon toy.
The body is reinforced inside with maple so that the ageing plastic toy does not implode under string tension. It's all very ingenious and quite impressive if you are into that sort of thing.
But it's not for me.
Read and see more here (via Misha).
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Monday, July 19, 2010
An optimistic Portuguese eBay seller
guitarz.blogspot.com:If there was ever an optimistic eBay seller, then it's this guy, a newbie to eBay with zero feedback and who seems to think that a Buy It Now price of $1,000 is not unreasonable for this cheapy Strat copy with a seriously carved-up body.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Guild DeArmond M-75T
The seller of this DeArmond M-75T on eBay doesn't tell its production year but from its price it's not a vintage instrument from the first DeArmond guitars era - when in the 60s Guild had some of its models produced in Korea under the DeArmond brand (DeArmond being until then Guild's and many other companies' pickups manufacturer). So it's a recent model by the new DeArmond revived by Fender in the 90s, again producing cheaper Guild models.
But according to the company's philosophy, it's supposed to be a faithful reproduction of the early Guild's guitars, here the Bluesbird, with chambered agathis body, DeArmond 2K pickup, Bigsby-like but specific trem, and blue sparkle finish.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
John Paul Jones's Manson Custom Bass Lapsteel
Addendum to my previous Melobar post:
the first time I noticed a Melobar style lapsteel guitar was in a video of Them Crooked Vultures showing John Paul Jones playing a custom made (by Manson, hence the trademark embedded Kaoss pad) strap-on bass lapsteel (photo) - I actually wrote a post about them, but at the time I was more interested in Homme's Maton guitar and Jones's Manson bass mandolin!
I'm not a fan of Them Crooked Vultures' music but I must admit that they have a very good taste in instruments. Besides Jones's Manson lapsteel, we can see in this video Homme playing his MotorAve BelAir and Johannes who took over bass duty with a violin bass that looks like an original Höfner (couldn't see the brand but the headstock shape fits)(can't tell about Grohl's drums, this is out of my domain!).
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Vintage Heit Deluxe Teisco
No doubt that as soon as I saw this Heit Deluxe Teisco, it jumped into my eye and I knew that it would be my next post! But there is no information to be found on the Internet about this stunning vintage guitar, so any extra input is welcome!
It has similarities with the famous Hallmark Swept Wing - weirder even... and Heit was one of the many brand names that Teisco used to export their guitars in the US. That's all I can say, but just having looked at this guitar will make today a good day!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
With Change Comes... Anger?
It's July 18, and I've sold more than 5000 ebooks on Kindle this month. At the current royalty rates, that's over nine thousand dollars.
I would think that this constitutes success, by almost anyone's definition.
And yet, around the internet, in person, and even in the comments section of my own blog, I see a lot of animosity toward the ebook future in general, and me in particular.
How odd.
Some people seem to be really pissed off that I'm making decent money without relying on the gatekeepers. They call me an outlier, an anomaly, an exception. They deride self-published ebooks, low ebook prices, and anything not endorsed by Big NY Publishing. They don't like what's happening with Kindle, and don't like me talking about how much money I'm making, and are bemoaning a future where other authors will do what I'm doing.
Change is always painful. It's difficult, and frightening. When a technology changes an industry, especially a media industry, a lot of people get hurt by it. Jobs are lost. Stores close. The carefully maintained balance of power shifts. None of this is easy, and it often isn't pleasant.
But the people who seem most vocal about this upcoming change are the ones who stand to be helped by it the most. The authors.
Granted, a bunch of anonymous agents or editors may be the ones posting their vitriol on my blog, but from the sounds of the comments it appears authors are the ones most disturbed by the current publishing climate.
Unless I'm reading this wrong, a lot of authors believe that the only worthwhile writing is the writing that has earned the stamp of approval by a NY Publishing House. If an author is selling a lot of self-published ebooks, that is only because the gullible public doesn't know any better. Soon, a flood of pure shit will saturate the ebook market (some say this has already happened) making it impossible for "real" authors to sell their books.
Sorry. You're wrong.
Not only will readers be able to separate the wheat from the chaff (as they've been doing since the first books were ever sold), but a free-for-all in the marketplace will allow, for the very first time, some writers to find success who never would have found it through the old, severely flawed system. New voices will stand out. New bestsellers will be born, not because of a giant marketing push, but because of pure word-of-mouth. An actual, honest to goodness renaissance is upon us.
Readers will be able to determine quality on their own. And if you hold so much disdain for the opinions of the unwashed masses, it makes me wonder whom you're actually writing for.
Me? I write escapist fiction for a wide audience. I do my best to appeal to the broadest spectrum I can. And trust me, that's a lot harder to do than it is to cater to your own personal muse without caring a whit about the reader's needs.
"But Joe," you may say. "If you leave it up to the readers to decide what is good, you're letting the inmates run the asylum. The only groups that can dictate what should and shouldn't be read are the professionals."
I think that's silly, but I'll play devil's advocate.
One persistent myth is: the only reason I'm selling original novels as ebooks is because a NY publisher wouldn't want them. This extends beyond my own work, to all self-pubbed authors. We're a bunch of hacks that the true professionals--the gatekeepers--would never touch.
Guess what? My agent just sold eleven of my self-published ebooks to a major audiobook publisher.
I believe this is a first.
I also believe it won't be the last time this happens.
I've had a lot of discussions lately about the future of the publishing industry. Will ebooks replace print? Will bookstores go out of business? Will agents still be necessary? Will NY publishing eventually collapse?
This is all very interesting, but only to people directly involved in the publishing world.
The readers don't care. They just want their books.
The writers shouldn't care, either. No matter what happens, writers will still be able to sell books to readers.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
And nothing at all to get angry about.
In fact, instead of being angry, you should be celebrating.
I am.
I would think that this constitutes success, by almost anyone's definition.
And yet, around the internet, in person, and even in the comments section of my own blog, I see a lot of animosity toward the ebook future in general, and me in particular.
How odd.
Some people seem to be really pissed off that I'm making decent money without relying on the gatekeepers. They call me an outlier, an anomaly, an exception. They deride self-published ebooks, low ebook prices, and anything not endorsed by Big NY Publishing. They don't like what's happening with Kindle, and don't like me talking about how much money I'm making, and are bemoaning a future where other authors will do what I'm doing.
Change is always painful. It's difficult, and frightening. When a technology changes an industry, especially a media industry, a lot of people get hurt by it. Jobs are lost. Stores close. The carefully maintained balance of power shifts. None of this is easy, and it often isn't pleasant.
But the people who seem most vocal about this upcoming change are the ones who stand to be helped by it the most. The authors.
Granted, a bunch of anonymous agents or editors may be the ones posting their vitriol on my blog, but from the sounds of the comments it appears authors are the ones most disturbed by the current publishing climate.
Unless I'm reading this wrong, a lot of authors believe that the only worthwhile writing is the writing that has earned the stamp of approval by a NY Publishing House. If an author is selling a lot of self-published ebooks, that is only because the gullible public doesn't know any better. Soon, a flood of pure shit will saturate the ebook market (some say this has already happened) making it impossible for "real" authors to sell their books.
Sorry. You're wrong.
Not only will readers be able to separate the wheat from the chaff (as they've been doing since the first books were ever sold), but a free-for-all in the marketplace will allow, for the very first time, some writers to find success who never would have found it through the old, severely flawed system. New voices will stand out. New bestsellers will be born, not because of a giant marketing push, but because of pure word-of-mouth. An actual, honest to goodness renaissance is upon us.
Readers will be able to determine quality on their own. And if you hold so much disdain for the opinions of the unwashed masses, it makes me wonder whom you're actually writing for.
Me? I write escapist fiction for a wide audience. I do my best to appeal to the broadest spectrum I can. And trust me, that's a lot harder to do than it is to cater to your own personal muse without caring a whit about the reader's needs.
"But Joe," you may say. "If you leave it up to the readers to decide what is good, you're letting the inmates run the asylum. The only groups that can dictate what should and shouldn't be read are the professionals."
I think that's silly, but I'll play devil's advocate.
One persistent myth is: the only reason I'm selling original novels as ebooks is because a NY publisher wouldn't want them. This extends beyond my own work, to all self-pubbed authors. We're a bunch of hacks that the true professionals--the gatekeepers--would never touch.
Guess what? My agent just sold eleven of my self-published ebooks to a major audiobook publisher.
I believe this is a first.
I also believe it won't be the last time this happens.
I've had a lot of discussions lately about the future of the publishing industry. Will ebooks replace print? Will bookstores go out of business? Will agents still be necessary? Will NY publishing eventually collapse?
This is all very interesting, but only to people directly involved in the publishing world.
The readers don't care. They just want their books.
The writers shouldn't care, either. No matter what happens, writers will still be able to sell books to readers.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
And nothing at all to get angry about.
In fact, instead of being angry, you should be celebrating.
I am.
1965 Mosrite Melobar
This Mosrite Melobar is one of the most exciting instrument I've posted here.
I was aware that something such existed but (thanks one more time to David B. who regularly send us his Internet finds) I've made some research lately about it and I discovered a cool hybrid guitar, allowing a musician to play lap steel style while standing / moving / dancing - that makes it a great instrument for the kind garage blues I particularly like lately (that's also the kind of instrument that was played in Captain Beefheart's Magic Band).
The instrument was conceived by Melobar in the 60s and built by different brands - this one by Mosrite with its classic design that fits particularly well (there is also a Flying V version with accurate ergonomics but ill-looking in my humble opinion). It has a neck with 70° angle to the body, that is then almost horizontal when the body hangs from the strap in a standard guitar position (the strap is connected to the headstock to allow uncompensated pressure on the neck). You play it like a regular lapsteel, though probably with more energy!
This is the 9-string version of the Melobar - they existed also in 6 and up to 10. For some obscure and un-understandable reasons, the Melobar was short-lived and never reissued (I have a doubt though, there's been a Melobar.com website that is now closed, so I can't tell if it was a vintage fan site or a new company one - like Jolana...). So who will resuscitate this little marvel?
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Friday, July 16, 2010
1979 Jolana Diamant
OK, this vintage Jolana Diamant is not something overwhelming new or original, just one of these 70s LP copies made in Czechoslovakia, though you must admit that the pickups and switch look terrific (we actually already showed here the bass version of the Diamant).
But the opportunity is good to tell that I just found out that the Jolana company started again - I don't know exactly when... I wonder if this is an effect of the vintage cult that seriously hit the east-european market since the US/UK/Japan vintage guitars are unaffordable for musicians! Unfortunately, the charm is not there anymore, their guitars look standard Chinese production with Korean gear and just a Jolana branding - but maybe I'm wrong...
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Waterstone semi-acoustic electric
guitarz.blogspot.com:
You want original designs? OK, you've got it!
Actually, I think this Waterstone semi illustrates quite nicely why so many manufacturers stick to tried and tested guitar designs and derivatives of the same. The simple reason being some just couldn't design their way out of a wet paper bag.
Waterstone? With those hugely inflated body horns, Waterwings would have been a better name.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
You want original designs? OK, you've got it!Actually, I think this Waterstone semi illustrates quite nicely why so many manufacturers stick to tried and tested guitar designs and derivatives of the same. The simple reason being some just couldn't design their way out of a wet paper bag.
Waterstone? With those hugely inflated body horns, Waterwings would have been a better name.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Here's one for all you 1980s hair metal throwbacks: the Greco Tusk
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Ken found this Greco Tusk for sale on Yahoo Japan. Greco, of course, are best known for their high quality replicas of guitars by the likes of Fender and Gibson, and whilst this does have a touch of the Explorer about it, it would appear to be an original design. Whilst it's not headless, the headstock is really only there for aesthetics - and perhaps balance too - with the tuners being down at the bridge.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Ken found this Greco Tusk for sale on Yahoo Japan. Greco, of course, are best known for their high quality replicas of guitars by the likes of Fender and Gibson, and whilst this does have a touch of the Explorer about it, it would appear to be an original design. Whilst it's not headless, the headstock is really only there for aesthetics - and perhaps balance too - with the tuners being down at the bridge.G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Underwater guitar with The Great White Shark Song
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Yeah, I know he's miming! Nevertheless, rather him than me!
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Yeah, I know he's miming! Nevertheless, rather him than me!
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Rock 'n' Roll
guitarz.blogspot.com:By our guest blogger, Alexis Bonari
In the world of country, where acoustic instruments have ruled for decades, electric guitar, mandolin and banjo are inching their way into this predominantly unplugged arena that frowns upon change. Since the seventies, bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers have ridden the line between country and rock, creating their own type of sound that caught on like wildfire by using electric instruments. This sound influenced country's rebels like Waylon Jennings and Jessi Coulter, angering many country fans while creating a brand new breed of music and followers.
Ticking Off the Old Timers
Some of the country music elders have been outraged by artists like Shania Twain for her use of electric guitar, overproduction and a sound that wasn't considered "country” thanks to her (at the time) husband, Mutt Lange, who produced albums for groups such as Def Leppard and AC/DC. Mutt and Shania fused her country sound with electric instruments and a belly-baring rockin' look that exploded up the charts and sold out stadiums around the world. Reigniting country brought millions of new fans into a world that had become stagnant and paved the way for newcomers who wanted to incorporate electric instruments into their music but were too afraid to be shot down.
Metal Catches On
Just as electric guitar has made its mark on country, eighties metal hair bands were also influenced by country's acoustic sound and the effect that a simple acoustic guitar and a microphone had on their audience. Poison's "Every Rose has its Thorn” and dozens of other metal bands had their signature acoustic song that made them millions and brought tears to their fans.
Breaking Down Walls
Other top bands in their own right like ZZ Top and Heart, have just recently been embraced by country's hottest rising stars, expanding country's acoustic sound into a whole new arena of electric instruments. Taylor Swift who was featured on CMT's Crossroads with Def Leppard is a great example of why country rock is hotter than ever thanks to a little electricity!
Bio: Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at onlinedegrees.org, researching areas of online degree programs. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.
Photo: The American country singer/guitarist Taylor Swift, with her Taylor acoustic guitar made of Acacia koa wood, at the Maverick Saloon & Grill in Santa Maria, California, June 16, 2006 by Dwight McCann / www.DwightMcCann.com.
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Gorgeous guitars from The Creamery
guitarz.blogspot.com:I've been meaning to feature The Creamery on this blog just about all year, but was waiting for the website to go live, which I believe it did last month... but then, I got side-tracked as I so easily do these days!
The Creamery are based in Manchester in the UK, and is the operation of Jaime Campbell who builds one-off custom guitars of the bolt-on neck, slab-bodied variety. Naturally this means Telecasters and Esquires as you might expect, but also some other body shapes too including Explorer (The Alleyway) and, my own favourite, a slab-bodied Jazzmaster (This Year's Model) inspired by Elvis Costello's guitar.
Jaime likes to use recycled woods and has posted on Facebook and Twitter about raiding skips to claim a piece of timber that someone else has just thrown away. The Fenchpost (pictured top left) for example, is an Esquire-type guitar with a body built out of an old pine fence post and which still has the nail holes proudly on display as a feature. I think it looks fantastic.
Another Tele-type has a body built from a butcher's block (The Butcher's Block) which not only gives it a unique appearance but is common sense, making use of a quality timber product which is quite frankly wasted on a mere chopping board.
I should also mention that Jaime also handwinds his own The Creamery brand scatterwound pickups, which are available to buy on their own without a guitar attached.
I can't wait to see what's next for The Creamery. I believe a Prince-style Telecaster is in the works.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
1971 Micro-Frets Spacetone
We already posted about Micro-Frets guitars on this blog, an interesting company born in the 60s with quite an innovative spirit, and recently revived. Here is their Spacetone model, their most famous guitar I guess (saw it in the hands of Carl Perkins and Dave Gore).
Monday, July 12, 2010
Bodge job alert!
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Bill found this Strat body with an alarming pool extension on eBay, and comments "I think someone may have been trying something like Clapton's Mid Boost circuit. Tragic."
Well, I'm not so sure. It looks to me like someone wanted somewhere to hide illicit substances. (And yes, I do remember the story about a Squier Strat impounded by Customs because they found its body to be made from cocaine.)
Either that, or someone was trying to make one of those easy-to-smash guitars.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Bill found this Strat body with an alarming pool extension on eBay, and comments "I think someone may have been trying something like Clapton's Mid Boost circuit. Tragic."Well, I'm not so sure. It looks to me like someone wanted somewhere to hide illicit substances. (And yes, I do remember the story about a Squier Strat impounded by Customs because they found its body to be made from cocaine.)
Either that, or someone was trying to make one of those easy-to-smash guitars.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Konrath Sells 1/10 of Patterson
A few days ago, there was a number flashed all over the internet.
That number was 1,000,000. That's how many ebooks James Patterson has sold.
Pretty impressive, huh?
Yes, and no.
Yes, because a million is a big number.
No, because compared to his print sales, it's tiny.
There's also another reason it isn't impressive. A personal reason.
I've sold 60,000 ebooks. By the end of 2010, I'll have sold over 100,000.
In June, I earned $12,000 on ebooks that I self-published on Kindle. I'm currently selling about 8000 per month.
And this is just on Kindle. Patterson's numbers seem to include all ebook platforms.
I did it in 15 months. Patterson's numbers probably have been accruing for many years, since ebooks first started being sold.
Plus, he's freakin' James Patterson, and I'm a midlist little fish. He's got many more titles (65) than I do (17), he's a #1 bestseller, and he's a name brand with movies and TV shows and huge advertising budgets.
And yet, on my own, I've sold 1/10th of what he has. In far less time. With fewer titles. On Kindle only. With no advertising. No TV commercials. No name brand.
I'm happy Mr. Patterson has reached this historic milestone. I'm sure he'll have another million or two sales in his future.
Just as I'm sure I'll reach a million as well.
That number was 1,000,000. That's how many ebooks James Patterson has sold.
Pretty impressive, huh?
Yes, and no.
Yes, because a million is a big number.
No, because compared to his print sales, it's tiny.
There's also another reason it isn't impressive. A personal reason.
I've sold 60,000 ebooks. By the end of 2010, I'll have sold over 100,000.
In June, I earned $12,000 on ebooks that I self-published on Kindle. I'm currently selling about 8000 per month.
And this is just on Kindle. Patterson's numbers seem to include all ebook platforms.
I did it in 15 months. Patterson's numbers probably have been accruing for many years, since ebooks first started being sold.
Plus, he's freakin' James Patterson, and I'm a midlist little fish. He's got many more titles (65) than I do (17), he's a #1 bestseller, and he's a name brand with movies and TV shows and huge advertising budgets.
And yet, on my own, I've sold 1/10th of what he has. In far less time. With fewer titles. On Kindle only. With no advertising. No TV commercials. No name brand.
I'm happy Mr. Patterson has reached this historic milestone. I'm sure he'll have another million or two sales in his future.
Just as I'm sure I'll reach a million as well.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
1963 Höfner 173
We didn't have a German vintage guitar here for ever! Time is right to show this Höfner 173 with 3 pickups (humbucker-like but probably single coils with big covers - something not unusual at the time) on a strat shaped body and an ubercool trem system.
That's now that I start to rant: "Why don't they do all these cool trems anymore and we have to choose between 3 boring models when 40 years ago every guitar maker would create his own system - they worship all that is wrong in vintage and despise all that is right!"
brm, brm
bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Fender Performer guitar and bass - forgotten classics?
guitarz.blogspot.com:Could the Fender Performer by the last real original design from Fender before they decided instead to produce a myriad of subtle variations of the same vintage designs?
The Perfomer was produced for only one year between 1985-1986 by Fender Japan during that strange period in Fender's history in which there was no USA guitar production happening.
The Performer was originally designed as a bass (the guitar came later) by John Page, who has commented that the original intention was that it would be an Elite version of the Jazz Bass! The angular body shape was in fact inspired by the Fender Strat - flip one over and note the shape that the flat surface makes.
The guitar does look like an after-thought, it must be said. The small-ish body and 24-fret neck mean that there's a smaller than usual space in which to accommodate the two humbuckers - added to which the offset slanted design of the pickups themselves mean that they end up being positioned very closely together. However, a coil-tap does mean that at the touch of a button this guitar can go from fat humbucker tones to a crisp sharp Strat-like sound.
Other interesting features include the rubber grips on the volume and tone controls, and the Swinger-esque headstock shape.
A forgotten Fender classic? Possibly. Examples have been selling on eBay for $1000 and upwards.
(Pictured above: Fender Performer guitar and Fender Performer bass both in auctions about to finish on eBay very soon! There is also a sunburst example of the guitar for sale in the UK at a not unreasonable price of £599.)
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Zemaitis Diamond custom
A cliché I regularly read on the guitar blogosphere, is the claim that the new made-in-Japan Zemaitis guitars are not the real things, that trying to prolong the work of craft-master Tony Zemaitis is pointless and almost blasphemous, and by extension that these guitars are probably just bad instruments (but if you dig a little bit, you find people saying that handmade original Zemaitis guitars were sometimes botched and badly finished, looking much better on photos than is real, a little bit like Wandre's).
Like most guitar lovers, I never played a Zemaitis guitar, never even saw one in real (neither original or Japanese) since they are not guitars you easily find at your local music shop, but I think that they are some the most superb guitars ever, and I imagine that all the pro musicians who play or endorse the new Zemaitis instruments don't do it only for their good look.
The one you can see here, a Zemaitis GZ500S Diamond is actually from the GZ series - one could call it the budget line of Zemaitis if they weren't over 2500 €, handmade, with engraved gears, abalone binding and inlays - built on contract by law-suit era copy specialist and old-timer guitar maker Greco (so good at cloning guitars that a part of the company became Fender Japan). It has upgraded pickups and pots and just one look at it causes in me a feeling of achievement and perfection (together with the sour feeling that I'll never have enough money in my life to buy such a guitar...)
bertram
Like most guitar lovers, I never played a Zemaitis guitar, never even saw one in real (neither original or Japanese) since they are not guitars you easily find at your local music shop, but I think that they are some the most superb guitars ever, and I imagine that all the pro musicians who play or endorse the new Zemaitis instruments don't do it only for their good look.
The one you can see here, a Zemaitis GZ500S Diamond is actually from the GZ series - one could call it the budget line of Zemaitis if they weren't over 2500 €, handmade, with engraved gears, abalone binding and inlays - built on contract by law-suit era copy specialist and old-timer guitar maker Greco (so good at cloning guitars that a part of the company became Fender Japan). It has upgraded pickups and pots and just one look at it causes in me a feeling of achievement and perfection (together with the sour feeling that I'll never have enough money in my life to buy such a guitar...)
bertram
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Friday, July 9, 2010
of Dead Weather, Grestches, photos and blogging
A few months ago, a Guitarz reader pleasantly remarked that what we do here is easy and dishonest, since we just lazily browse the Web, steal a guitar pic here or there, add a few lines and claim the whole thing ours.
So last week I was very proud of myself when I decided to go for guitar hunting in the Real Life (the lack of interesting guitars on the Internet lately is not getting better!), and for the very first time took a small digital camera to a rock concert. And since it was a concert of the Dead Weather, I though that I would come back with great photos of two of the coolest guitars out there, the Gretsh custom white Bo Diddley (played by Alison Mosshart) and Billy Bo Jupiter Thunderbird (played by Jack White).
Unfortunately I'm a much better photographer with a big good camera, steady and in daylight, than in a middle of a jumping crowd with a quick succession of complete darkness, powerful spotlights straight into my lens and moving blue lights... Of the more or less 100 photos I took that night, these are the less bad, sorry... And when the show stopped, the roadies came right away and took the guitars away, so no chance to shoot them at rest either!
By the way, the concert was brilliant, even better than I expected, and I can tell you that I'm not an easy audience!
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Oh, here we go again...
guitarz.blogspot.com:Oh dear! Has this eBay seller been living under a rock? He claims that this assault rifle guitar is "... the most original guitar you will ever find!"
Biggest. Cliché. Ever.
(And, no, it's not a one-off or a rarity of any kind, it's identical to this cheapy K-tone.)
What next? Another toilet seat guitar?
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Stewart hollowbody vintage guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com:
This Stewart-branded semi-hollowbody caught my attention on eBay. The body shape has offset double cutaways like a Strat rather than the more usual 335 shape aped by many semis.
I wish I could tell you more about this guitar, but I do not have a lot of information to go on. Apparently, when Epiphone was acquired by Gibson's parent company, CMI, in 1957, they shifted production from Philadelphia to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Some of the former employees went on to work for a company called United Code who built guitars with brandnames such as Mansfield, Premier, Defender and Stewart. Possibly this is one of the latter.
But if that is the case, why do I think it looks Japanese? I'm sure I've seen those pickups on vintage Japanese guitars before.
One thing I do know is that it almost certainly isn't the same Stewart Guitars who build the Stowaway - a Strat-a-like that can be dismantled to fit inside a standard-sized briefcase.
If anyone has any more info on this beauty or on Stewart Guitars in general, then please let us know via the comments!
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
This Stewart-branded semi-hollowbody caught my attention on eBay. The body shape has offset double cutaways like a Strat rather than the more usual 335 shape aped by many semis.I wish I could tell you more about this guitar, but I do not have a lot of information to go on. Apparently, when Epiphone was acquired by Gibson's parent company, CMI, in 1957, they shifted production from Philadelphia to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Some of the former employees went on to work for a company called United Code who built guitars with brandnames such as Mansfield, Premier, Defender and Stewart. Possibly this is one of the latter.
But if that is the case, why do I think it looks Japanese? I'm sure I've seen those pickups on vintage Japanese guitars before.
One thing I do know is that it almost certainly isn't the same Stewart Guitars who build the Stowaway - a Strat-a-like that can be dismantled to fit inside a standard-sized briefcase.
If anyone has any more info on this beauty or on Stewart Guitars in general, then please let us know via the comments!
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
How To Make Money on Ebooks
1. Write a damn good book. This should be your main priority. It's also one of the hardest things to do, and the hardest things to judge for yourself if you've done it.
The problem is, most writers believe their books are good. Even at our most insecure, we believe complete strangers will enjoy our scribblings enough to pay for the privilege.
I recommend joining a writers group and getting feedback. Seek criticism, not praise. Praise is like candy; we love it, but it isn't good for us. If you want to bulletproof your manuscript, you want to find out what is wrong with it, and you need eyes other than your own to do that.
I don't recommend paying for a freelance editor--it's better you learn craft on your own. If you really feel you need an editor, get recommendations, references, and know exactly what you're paying for.
2. Price it right. I believe an ebook should be priced at $2.99, because the Kindle royalty rate is 70% for books priced between $2.99 and $9.99. Above or below that, it's 35%.
Three bucks is a more than fair price for a full length digital book. (Full length is over 50,000 words.) If it's under 50k words, go ahead and price it for less. Or put a few short pieces together to make a long piece.
Even with short pieces, make sure they are good enough. I'm selling quite a few short stories on Kindle, but they don't sell nearly as well as my novels. Also, the short stories I'm selling have all been published before in print magazines and anthologies, so I'm pretty sure they're good.
3. Format it correctly. If you know HTML and MS Word very well, you can probably do this yourself. But you'd get more professional results using someone who knows what they're doing. I recommend Rob Siders at www.52novels.com.
A poorly formatted ebook will get bad reviews, and ultimately it WILL NOT SELL.
4. People judge books by their covers. Make sure your cover is professional, not something you slapped together with an istockphoto image with some Arial text laid on top using Photoshop. My covers are done by Carl Graves. He's at cgdouble2(at)sbcglobal.net.
5. Write a great product description. If you want to know the format for this, read back jacket copy of books similar to yours. Your description should include:
6. Choose your platform. I upload to Kindle directly at http://dtp.amazon.com. For iPad, Sony, Kobo (Borders), and Barnes & Noble, I use www.smashwords.com.
Keep in mind that both Kindle and Smashwords require different formatting. Also remember that some vendors Smashwords uploads to tend to discount ebooks. If they discount your ebooks, Amazon will match the discounted price, and you will only get 70% royalty on the discounted price.
7. Publicize your ebook. You should be on Twitter and Facebook, and have a website. You could have a blog and a newsletter. I recommend announcing your ebook at www.kindleboards.com in the Book Bazaar section.
Other ways to publicize your ebook include:
A: You don't need an agent to publish your own ebooks. But I recommend getting an agent. Mine is invaluable. She's currently shopping my self-pubbed titles to foreign markets and audio publishers, and is essential for negotiating contracts for film rights and print deals.
Q: How can I get an agent if I self publish my own ebooks?
A: The old catch-22 was "You can't get a publishing contract without an agent, and you can't get an agent unless you have a publishing contract." With the rise of self-publishing as a viable alternative to regular publishing, it becomes "No agent will want to represent a self-published ebook unless the book is no longer self-published."
Print publishers WANT erights, and I doubt any will give them up. That means agents won't be interested in representing you unless you give them the opportunity to sell all of your rights. If you sell a ton of ebooks, you might interest an agent in repping your book, but you'd have to stop selling ebooks.
Q: Should I forsake selling ebooks in order to try and land a print deal?
A: Let's look at the pros and cons of both sides.
Traditional Publishing Pros
Q: Would you personally stop selling ebooks in order to get a print deal?
A: No. I'm making too much money on ebooks. But that doesn't mean you'll earn what I'm earning. There are many factors involved, including luck.
Q: Who should sell ebooks?
A: If you have an out of print backlist, you should sell those as ebooks. If you have a book your agent couldn't sell, you should sell those as ebooks.
If you're doing well selling books, you might want to consider publishing your next book yourself. I just published two original novels, ENDURANCE and TRAPPED, and both had traditional publishing contracts. I chose instead to self publish, and I'll earn more on my own within 12-18 months than I would have with those deals.
Q: What if I can't get an agent?
A: Then maybe your book isn't good enough. Perhaps you should focus on writing better. If you're pretty sure your book is good enough, you can always self-publish. But be ready for negative reviews and poor sales if it isn't up to par.
Q: Is it true that the only people who are successful with ebooks are "name" authors?
A: No. I've blogged before about many other new authors who are doing as well, or better, than I am. This myth won't ever die, and is perpetuated by lazy thinkers who don't bother with five minutes of research.
Q: How will readers find good books when everyone is self published?
A: There are millions of books in print, yet readers seem to be able to find what they want. Adding a few million more won't change anything. There will always be ways to separate the good from the bad, and subjective taste always plays a part.
Q: Can I make a living by self publishing?
A: I don't know many people who make a living being traditionally published. Most of my peers have day jobs.
That said, I'm making a living self publishing. I'm sure others can and will. But whether you can or not involves a lot of factors, some within your control, some not.
But, in my humble opinion, a dedicated writer who turns out good material on a consistent basis will be able to, on average, earn more money self publishing than traditional publishing. I say this having done both.
The problem is, most writers believe their books are good. Even at our most insecure, we believe complete strangers will enjoy our scribblings enough to pay for the privilege.
I recommend joining a writers group and getting feedback. Seek criticism, not praise. Praise is like candy; we love it, but it isn't good for us. If you want to bulletproof your manuscript, you want to find out what is wrong with it, and you need eyes other than your own to do that.
I don't recommend paying for a freelance editor--it's better you learn craft on your own. If you really feel you need an editor, get recommendations, references, and know exactly what you're paying for.
2. Price it right. I believe an ebook should be priced at $2.99, because the Kindle royalty rate is 70% for books priced between $2.99 and $9.99. Above or below that, it's 35%.
Three bucks is a more than fair price for a full length digital book. (Full length is over 50,000 words.) If it's under 50k words, go ahead and price it for less. Or put a few short pieces together to make a long piece.
Even with short pieces, make sure they are good enough. I'm selling quite a few short stories on Kindle, but they don't sell nearly as well as my novels. Also, the short stories I'm selling have all been published before in print magazines and anthologies, so I'm pretty sure they're good.
3. Format it correctly. If you know HTML and MS Word very well, you can probably do this yourself. But you'd get more professional results using someone who knows what they're doing. I recommend Rob Siders at www.52novels.com.
A poorly formatted ebook will get bad reviews, and ultimately it WILL NOT SELL.
4. People judge books by their covers. Make sure your cover is professional, not something you slapped together with an istockphoto image with some Arial text laid on top using Photoshop. My covers are done by Carl Graves. He's at cgdouble2(at)sbcglobal.net.
5. Write a great product description. If you want to know the format for this, read back jacket copy of books similar to yours. Your description should include:
- Genre
- Word count
- Author bio
- Reviews (if applicable)
6. Choose your platform. I upload to Kindle directly at http://dtp.amazon.com. For iPad, Sony, Kobo (Borders), and Barnes & Noble, I use www.smashwords.com.
Keep in mind that both Kindle and Smashwords require different formatting. Also remember that some vendors Smashwords uploads to tend to discount ebooks. If they discount your ebooks, Amazon will match the discounted price, and you will only get 70% royalty on the discounted price.
7. Publicize your ebook. You should be on Twitter and Facebook, and have a website. You could have a blog and a newsletter. I recommend announcing your ebook at www.kindleboards.com in the Book Bazaar section.
Other ways to publicize your ebook include:
- Trading back matter excerpts with other ebook authors
- Searching online for various Kindle and ebooks groups
- Putting your ebook link in your email signature
- Developing an online presence by participating in blog comments and forums
A: You don't need an agent to publish your own ebooks. But I recommend getting an agent. Mine is invaluable. She's currently shopping my self-pubbed titles to foreign markets and audio publishers, and is essential for negotiating contracts for film rights and print deals.
Q: How can I get an agent if I self publish my own ebooks?
A: The old catch-22 was "You can't get a publishing contract without an agent, and you can't get an agent unless you have a publishing contract." With the rise of self-publishing as a viable alternative to regular publishing, it becomes "No agent will want to represent a self-published ebook unless the book is no longer self-published."
Print publishers WANT erights, and I doubt any will give them up. That means agents won't be interested in representing you unless you give them the opportunity to sell all of your rights. If you sell a ton of ebooks, you might interest an agent in repping your book, but you'd have to stop selling ebooks.
Q: Should I forsake selling ebooks in order to try and land a print deal?
A: Let's look at the pros and cons of both sides.
Traditional Publishing Pros
- Wide distribution and more exposure
- Most offer an advance, sometimes a large one
- They do the editing, formatting, cover art
- Marketing power
- Take six to eighteen months before publication
- Price ebooks waaaaaay too high
- They have power over cover art and title
- Don't use the marketing power they wield effectively
- Pay royalties twice a year
- Don't involve you in many of the decisions regarding your book
- Difficult to implement changes
- Lousy royalty rates, between 6% and 25%
- Very hard to break into
- Paid once a month
- You control price and cover
- Publication is almost instant
- Easy to implement changes
- Every decision is yours
- Great royalty rates
- Anyone can do it
- No free professional editing, formatting, or cover art
- Fewer sales
- Less than 10% of current book market
- Greater potential to publish crappy books
Q: Would you personally stop selling ebooks in order to get a print deal?
A: No. I'm making too much money on ebooks. But that doesn't mean you'll earn what I'm earning. There are many factors involved, including luck.
Q: Who should sell ebooks?
A: If you have an out of print backlist, you should sell those as ebooks. If you have a book your agent couldn't sell, you should sell those as ebooks.
If you're doing well selling books, you might want to consider publishing your next book yourself. I just published two original novels, ENDURANCE and TRAPPED, and both had traditional publishing contracts. I chose instead to self publish, and I'll earn more on my own within 12-18 months than I would have with those deals.
Q: What if I can't get an agent?
A: Then maybe your book isn't good enough. Perhaps you should focus on writing better. If you're pretty sure your book is good enough, you can always self-publish. But be ready for negative reviews and poor sales if it isn't up to par.
Q: Is it true that the only people who are successful with ebooks are "name" authors?
A: No. I've blogged before about many other new authors who are doing as well, or better, than I am. This myth won't ever die, and is perpetuated by lazy thinkers who don't bother with five minutes of research.
Q: How will readers find good books when everyone is self published?
A: There are millions of books in print, yet readers seem to be able to find what they want. Adding a few million more won't change anything. There will always be ways to separate the good from the bad, and subjective taste always plays a part.
Q: Can I make a living by self publishing?
A: I don't know many people who make a living being traditionally published. Most of my peers have day jobs.
That said, I'm making a living self publishing. I'm sure others can and will. But whether you can or not involves a lot of factors, some within your control, some not.
But, in my humble opinion, a dedicated writer who turns out good material on a consistent basis will be able to, on average, earn more money self publishing than traditional publishing. I say this having done both.
Thanks to Micha
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Before today's main post, I want to say thanks to Micha who designed the new Guitarz header. I'd been meaning to change the old Hendrix Woodstock Strat header for ages now - it's served us well since 2007.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Before today's main post, I want to say thanks to Micha who designed the new Guitarz header. I'd been meaning to change the old Hendrix Woodstock Strat header for ages now - it's served us well since 2007.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Squier '51 - stock and customised examples
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Fender's subsiduary Squier are mainly known for producing budget-conscious versions of Fender guitars such as the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision and Jazz Basses. Occasionally they have been known to do something more adventurous and issue an original model guitar not based directly on any Fender design.
The Squier '51 is one such guitar, and whilst I say it is "original" it very clearly borrows and combines elements from three Fender designs, namely the Strat, the Tele and the original '51 Precision Bass.
Essentially you could say that it has a hardtail basswood Strat body married to a Tele neck, with a '51 P-Bass pickguard. It has a single coil pickup in the neck position and a humbucker at the bridge. There is no tone control but a rotary pickup selector and a coil tap option for a range of sounds.
Judging by comments I have read about this guitar on the net, it seems it was a very popular instrument. Such a pity that it was only in production from 2004-2006. Of course, it was a guitar very popular with tinkerers and guitar modders, and judging by the number of photos I've seen on eBay and elsewhere I wonder how many stock examples are left in the world, because so many seem to have been upgraded.
Pictured above we see two examples in Vintage Blonde. On the left is an untouched stock Squier '51, and in the middle and on the right a customised example featuring upgraded pickups including a P90-style in the neck position, and a Dynamic Fender Vibrato as found on certain other Fender guitars such as the Mustang. (Finally, an S-type guitar with a tremolo that might actually work nicely!)
The Squier '51 was one of the guitars in my "500 Guitars" book, but the publishers unfortunately used an incorrect photo of a Squier Strat.
See the Squier '51 Modders Forum for more customisations!
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Fender's subsiduary Squier are mainly known for producing budget-conscious versions of Fender guitars such as the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision and Jazz Basses. Occasionally they have been known to do something more adventurous and issue an original model guitar not based directly on any Fender design.The Squier '51 is one such guitar, and whilst I say it is "original" it very clearly borrows and combines elements from three Fender designs, namely the Strat, the Tele and the original '51 Precision Bass.
Essentially you could say that it has a hardtail basswood Strat body married to a Tele neck, with a '51 P-Bass pickguard. It has a single coil pickup in the neck position and a humbucker at the bridge. There is no tone control but a rotary pickup selector and a coil tap option for a range of sounds.
Judging by comments I have read about this guitar on the net, it seems it was a very popular instrument. Such a pity that it was only in production from 2004-2006. Of course, it was a guitar very popular with tinkerers and guitar modders, and judging by the number of photos I've seen on eBay and elsewhere I wonder how many stock examples are left in the world, because so many seem to have been upgraded.
Pictured above we see two examples in Vintage Blonde. On the left is an untouched stock Squier '51, and in the middle and on the right a customised example featuring upgraded pickups including a P90-style in the neck position, and a Dynamic Fender Vibrato as found on certain other Fender guitars such as the Mustang. (Finally, an S-type guitar with a tremolo that might actually work nicely!)
The Squier '51 was one of the guitars in my "500 Guitars" book, but the publishers unfortunately used an incorrect photo of a Squier Strat.
See the Squier '51 Modders Forum for more customisations!
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Glen Campbell's electric resonator guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com:Tone Deaf Radio has written to me asking what guitar Glen Campbell is playing in the above clip?
This red electric resonator guitar is also pictured on the front cover of his album "Hey, Little One".
Anyway, my suspicion was that it might be a Mosrite - I don't know why I thought that - but it's been vindicated by this page here where we see a very similar guitar in black for sale (pictured right). I did wonder if it was it was a genuine collaboration between the Dobro and Mosrite companies, or if the name Dobro is being used to describe the type of guitar, i.e. a resonator. Dobro is one of those brand names, like Biro or Hoover, that has passed into the language and is applied to similar items not of that brand. However, a look at the full-size photo clearly shows both names on the headstock.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
This red electric resonator guitar is also pictured on the front cover of his album "Hey, Little One".
Anyway, my suspicion was that it might be a Mosrite - I don't know why I thought that - but it's been vindicated by this page here where we see a very similar guitar in black for sale (pictured right). I did wonder if it was it was a genuine collaboration between the Dobro and Mosrite companies, or if the name Dobro is being used to describe the type of guitar, i.e. a resonator. Dobro is one of those brand names, like Biro or Hoover, that has passed into the language and is applied to similar items not of that brand. However, a look at the full-size photo clearly shows both names on the headstock.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
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