Zildjian Display

Hey now how many names do you know in rock music that have been bandied around since 1623. Answer 1!!
Zildjian Cymbals.
OK lets motor forward a few centuries. Zildjian cymbals are the name. Forget about Abdul this and Kasai that we are talking the major name in cymbals. That’s why Fret Music stock them because they are the best.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Armand Zildjian about 6 years ago. He is unfortunately no longer with us. What a fascinating man he was. Mention Buddy Rich and I’m anybody’s. Well of course the Zildjian name  was closely connected with all the big noises in drumming then and ever since. Talking to Mr Zildjian was a cursury reminder that the world is a village and best not forget that. If you claim to be the best you better had be. Well Zildjian are.
We try and stock the full range on our cymbal wall. As with anything we sell, please come in and give it a try before you buy.
Finally on a highly commercial note (unfortunately we have to think like that) we will price match any of our friendly competitors.

Hohner Display

Think of Harmonica and there is a word association with Hohner. This old German company still make the best instruments. They are the soul of the instrument being responsible for most of the new ideas and developements in this instrument.
What a superb way of making music  when the largest version can still be transported in an inside pocket. Whether it’s blues or standards Hohner have a harp for you. Check out our instore harp display.
Most sales are accounted for in the smaller versions mainly the blues harp. If you are buying a harp for blues always select the key a 4th above eg if the song’s in E you’ll need to buy an A. If it’s in A a D, in D a G etc. If you want to play blues you’ll need a few keys to cover. I would suggest F (keyC), G (keyD), D (keyA), A (keyE), C (keyG). THis covers most songs but you will eventually need them all.
Here are some really usefull tips I found online for looking after your harp:
Harmonica Care and Maintenance
First, a few tips about the INSIDE of your harmonica:
The things that actually make the sound inside the harmonica are thin strips of metal
called REEDS.

Your harmonicas’ reeds (if a key of C) are only 3/8” (9 mm) to 5/8” (16 mm). They aren’t very big!
So, they need to be handled just right so they’ll work right for you:
Because the reeds are small, small things caught in the harmonica can make them sound
bad, so you want to keep those little reeds CLEAN.

Here are a few tips for taking care of your harmonica:

DON’T EAT and play your harmonica.

Don’t drink sticky, heavy drinks before playing.

Rinse your mouth out well, or brush your teeth if necessary, before
playing the harmonica.

Keep your harmonica in the box or in some other clean place (pocket,
purse) if you aren’t playing.

TAKE NOTE when you put your harmonica down – pay attention to where you
put it: your harmonica is small and easily misplaced.

Tap your harmonica out gently after playing, tapping out the excess saliva – holes down.

DON’T LET OTHERS PLAY YOUR HARMONICA -
unless it is someone you don’t mind kissing – because you’re definitely kissing your harmonica
every time you play!

Be aware that “bending” notes – though it can sound great – may literally bend the reeds out of tune – don’t force the reeds when you bend them, use finesse.
KEEP YOUR HARMONICA SOMEWHERE CONVENIENT SO YOU CAN PLAY OFTEN.

Get in the habit of having a harmonica with you AT ALL TIMES – you never know when it
could come in handy.

The great thing is the diversity from the relatively easy to learn blues style to emulating a maestro like Larry Adler.
We have become a major centre for harmonics so come in and check out the stock.

There has been a big increase in interest in fretted instruments including ukelele, banjo (especially G Banjo), mandolin and resonator guitars. Bluegrass and folk are defenitely very popular genres and are percieved as very cool. Personally I was weaned on issues of BMG magazine in the 60’s and have allways had a hankering to play blue grass banjo since first hearing Lester Flatts and Earl Scruggs.They are so closely related to guitar that many guitarists migrate from one to the other with ease. We try and keep a good representation of instruments at all price ranges. In our opinion the Ozark range of fretted instruments is second to none and this forms the core of our stock.

Makes stocked include Ozark, Rally, Crafter, Stagg, Vintage, Kala, Mahalo, Lanikai.

Check out the Southampton Ukele Jam based at The Talking Heads in Southampton.
If you have any interesting stuff to do with Banjo, mandolin, resonator and ukelele please mail it over with pics if possible.

Godin Multiac

We have a latest addition to the acoustic department with the delivery of a Godin Multiac. These are highly respected innovative instruments. The following was taken from the Godin specification:

The ACS blends classical guitar concepts with elements of solid body design. The incredibly comfortable neck from the Multiac Nylon is used here with a Maple body & Cedar top to achieve our most affordable synth access guitar ever. Although the body is chambered, response from the maple top is more typical of a solid body design than that of a traditional acoustic guitar. This design results in an instrument that is virtually free of feedback, making it easy to use even when the band gets loud.

The engine in both the ACS-SA & ACS-SA Slim includes individual transducer saddles powered by a customized preamp system from the RMCTM Pickup Company. This system not only produces superb amplified sound, but also produces a hexaphonic output through a 13-pin connector enabling direct access to RolandTM GR-Series guitar synthesizers.

We do encourage customers to try out instruments so if you are in the area pop in and give it a go.

Vypyr Display

THe Peavey Vypyr range of modeling amps has now been complimented by the addition of a 60 watt and a 120 watt valve combo.
These are serious kick ass amps and are a serious contender if you’re looking for a gigging amp.for a gigging amp.
Peavey say the following:
The Peavey Vypyr Tube 120 and Vypyr Tube 60 combos, a pair of tube-powered modelling guitar amplifiers in the award-winning Peavey Vypyr Series, are now available from Peavey retailers.

The Vypyr Tube 120 2 x 12 and Vypyr Tube 60 1 x 12 combo amplifiers feature 24 amp channel models – two channels each of 12 popular amps for the first time anywhere – plus 11 editable preamp “stomp box” effects and 11 editable post-amp “rack” effects with dual-parameter control, global reverb and global delay. The Vypyr Tube 120 and Tube 60 utilise a 6L6GC tube power amp styled after the Peavey 6505.

With twice the processing power, models and effects of competitive modelling amplifiers, the Vypyr Series dramatically redefines the power and scope of modern guitar amplification. Vypyr amplifiers are based on powerful 32-bit, floating-point SHARC processors that enable highly detailed accurate modelling as well as vastly enhanced flexibility and features than ever before available in guitar amplification.

Peavey Vypyr amps are endorsed by hard rock’s top guitar players, including Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu of Trivium, Matt Tuck of Bullet For My Valentine and Phil Demmel of Machine Head.

Amplifier models included in the Vypyr Tube models include Peavey 6505, JSX®, Triple XXX® and Classic® Series models, as well as B-Kat, Brit, Plxi, Dlx, Twn, Dzl, K-Stein and Rec models. Preamp stomp-box models include TubeScrm, XR Wild, X Boost, Fuzz, BC Chorus, Analogue Phase, Analogue Phase, Auto Wah, Squeeze, MOG and Ring Modulator, while rack effect models include Tremolo, Chorus, Envelope Filter, Slap Back, Flanger, Octaver, Phaser, Rotary Speaker, Reverse, Pitch Shifter and Looper.

Players can add the optional Peavey Sanpera foot controllers to activate the on-board looper and expand the amp’s 12 built-in presets to up to 400 programmable, with five simultaneous effects. The Vypyr also acts as its own computer audio interface, with a built-in studio-quality USB 2.0 output that is recognised by computers as an audio device.

Lakland Display

Currently our range of bass guitars includes the fantastic USA built series of Peavey Cirrus basses, Musicman, Lakland, Fender, Bass Collection, Hofner, Ibanez and ESP.

Our Amplifier range includes, Eden, EBS, Ashdown, Peavey, and Marshall.

We offer a full pickup and pre-amp installation service. Current brands that we fit in-store include, Seymour Duncan, EMG and the legendary John East J Retro Pre-amps.

We also carry a good selection of bass friendly effects units by, Carl Martin, MXR, Electro Harmonix and Boss.

Our string selection caters for every possible player out there. 4, 5, 6, 8(and above), Stainless, Nickel, Flatwound, Black Nylon, Custom Gauges, Double Ball End and Acoustic. From top manufactures, Elites, Rotosound, DR and Peavey.

FEATURED BASS

Lakland Skyline Decade bass

Lakland celebrates its first 10 years in style with the introduction of its latest model – The Decade.

This new model incorporates several new design elements for Lakland: a unique body shape; Lakland Chi-Sonics; and a new truss rod wheel
for neck adjustments.

Designed in collaboration with members of the dudepit forum  who were “instrumental” in bringing the Decade to life. They provided valuable suggestions from the initial prototype to actually naming the bass. Proof that Lakland listens to its customers!

Legendary Southampton alternative DJ Hammy is the longest running alternative DJ in the area , yes he’s old. He  has moved from the Rhino Club to the Soul Cellar for the big Wednesday alternative music night of the week.

The Soul Cellar is the premium live music venue for soul, reggae, funk and alternative genres.

Frets have worked closely with John from the Soul Cellar whenever possible most recently with a Mapex drum clinic with Jason Bowld. We are pleased to see DJ Hammy make the move to such a  prestigious venue.

So check out Wednesdays at the Soul Cellar.

Check this out. I was at a reunion gig recentlyand one of our customers was telling me about making guitars from cigar boxes. It’s really quite fascinating. Check out the videos.

Lakland Bass Guitars are among the market’s most well respected instruments; favored by discerning players and professional artists worldwide. The vintage comfort and contemporary ingenuity of our basses deliver an unparalleled playing experience. They are made by a small specialised company. This is very unusual these days and is actually very refreshing to deal with people that are actually involved in making the guitars

Since the introduction of their flagship models in the mid 1990’s, their basses
have been recognized for their superior tone, playability and construction.
At Lakland, they invest in innovation and set new benchmarks for quality and versatility. They listen to the instruments and to the people who play them.

Now that Greyum May has rejoined us at Fret Music (he just missed us so much!) we were looking for a decent bass players bass. Lakland is just that bass. We will be carrying twelve pieces in stock. They have started to sell through already. Come on in and have a look and give them a try.
We also have now started stocking the Eden range of bass amps. We now feel we have a bass dept worth visiting so come on in and take a look.

We originally started stocking Godin in any depth about ten years ago. Those of you out there who remember the Buster Jones gig at the Griffin know what great guitars they are. Many of our customers are owners of these fine instruments so we are probably preaching to the converted.They are a real niche product and well worth checking out. The single most important to consider is these guitars are made in North America. Any other guitar would be much much more expensisive. Combine this with the superb build quality and innovative features and you simply must take a look. We have now decided to stock the guitar again. My prediction all the staff will own one within a few months.  This is what the Godin Website has to say for itself:
 
If this is your first visit to Godin, we’d like to take a few minutes to introduce ourselves. We started building guitars over twenty years ago in a village in Quebec Canada called La Patrie. The man that started it all is Robert Godin. Robert still owns the company and he continues to design the vast majority of our guitars.

We are a Canadian company with our head office located in Montreal and we build our guitars in several different locations, five in Quebec and one in New Hampshire. For those of you keeping score, that adds up to six factories spread out over about 1000 kilometers. So why not just have one giant guitar factory? Although there are some obvious inconveniences associated with spreading ourselves out this much, the up-side is that these smaller operations promote a more intimate working environment which gets everybody more involved and this is reflected in the instruments themselves.

Godin guitars are assembled in our Richmond, Quebec and Berlin, New Hampshire factories. The necks and bodies are all made in our original location in La Patrie, Quebec.

We are also known for our other guitar brands which include our new electric line known as Richmond Guitars, as well as our acoustic brands which include: Seagull, Simon & Patrick, Norman, LaPatrie and Art & Lutherie.

From the beginning the company has been more or less divided between our acoustic side and electric side. The electric side of our business was originally that of a parts supplier to other guitar companies. We built their necks and bodies. You might be amazed to find out how many different guitar brands are all being produced in the same handful of factories. We’re not telling you this because we want to divulge somebody’s secrets but simply to let you know where we’re coming from. In any case, what started out as some generic replacement necks and bodies soon evolved into a major business producing finished necks and bodies for many established U.S. guitar companies. The great thing about this is the tremendous experience that we gained building all of these instruments to their various specifications. The down side is that the sub-contracting business is a pain in the neck, so to speak, but more importantly it does not include the best part of building new guitars and that is: coming up with new designs and coaxing them through the process that begins with a sketch and ends with the music.

New Guitar Concepts
Unlike many other instruments that follow a fairly strict set of design parameters-such as most orchestral instruments-guitars truly lend themselves to variation in design. This capacity for variation manifests itself in two distinct ways, there is the purely visual variation such as, the lightning-bolt-shaped-pointy-headstock-you’re-obviously-not-in-an-easy-listening-band guitar. In other words, guitars as fashion statements. Don’t get us wrong, we are committed to high aesthetic values in all of our designs but what we find most compelling is the other type of variation inspired by the endless musical possibilities in guitar design. From designing a Nylon string guitar that can be played at stage volumes and feel comfortable to a primarily steel string player (Multiacs) to the creation of the multiple-voice instruments in our Signature Series, exploring new design possibilities is an integral part of what we do. The Godin commitment to new guitar concepts is typified in the Glissentar which is so much of a variation on the standard guitar that it isn’t even a guitar anymore and qualifies as a whole new instrument. The Glissentar project was not born out of a marketing meeting (i.e.) “Man, I bet if we built an eleven string fretless acoustic/electric we could sell a boatload of them.” Instead the Glissentar was conceived because of the intriguing musical possibilities it promised and hearing some amazing Glissentar performances from musicians like Michel Cusson, Fareed Haque, and Sylvain Luc (to name a few) that deliver on that promise truly makes the exercise worthwhile.