For the past fifty plus years, Roger Siminoff has been at the forefront of technical analysis for fretted stringed instruments. He has published his research over the years in a number of publications geared towards acoustic musicians, notably Banjo NewsLetter
Planet Waves, the accessories division of D'Addario, has announced a pair of new capos for fretted stringed instruments. The NS Artist Capo for guitar and the NS Banjo/Mandolin Pro aim to offer musicians features found in hand-tooled models at a
Our President has filled out his NCAA bracket - how about you? People all over the US are going crazy for the college basketball tournament, just as they do every this time every year, and a clever music company has found
Deering has introduced a new item for banjo players, a custom-gauged set of Terry Baucom strings. This set is what might best be called medium-light, or heavy top, light bottom in guitar parlance. The first and 5th strings are heavier than
Tim Scheerhorn and Rob Ickes have announced a new resonator guitar, designed by Tim to Rob's specs, and manufactured in the US by National Reso-Phonic Guitars. It is made using Scheerhorn's L-body design, built larger than the guitar dreadnaught profile for greater
During January's NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, Washburn introduced several new instrument models that should be of interest to bluegrass and acoustic musicians. Their R360K offers a resonator guitar with a parlor sized body, with a shaded spruce top and back
Among the several new products announced for 2014, Martin has a few that will be of special interest to bluegrass guitar pickers. Of particular note is a new model in their Authentic series, the D-28 Authentic 1937. Like the others in this
Poor Ron Stewart... he just doesn't have enough to do. In addition to recording and touring with The Boxcars, he is among the most in-demand producers and session players in bluegrass, on both banjo and fiddle. On off days, he works
Back in June we posted about a clever iOS app called Banjo Rolls Trainer, offered for $1.99 in the Apple App Store. It was developed by Czech banjo player Jiri Marlalous to give banjo students and players something a bit more interesting
Morgan Monroe has two new budget-minded mandolin models which should be available from their many dealers by October 2013. Both are solid wood spruce and maple instruments, with a walnut sunburst finish. The MFM-750 has an F-style body made with a solid
