Strings Direct Blog

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT “While many musicians fit easily into a single category, Steve Vai’s unique musical vision remains unclassifiable. After more than 30 years, Vai continues to use unbridled guitar virtuosity and soulful artistry to explore the spectrum of human emotion.”  - Vai.com Image credit: Frans Schellekens/Redferns New York, New York, New Wave, New Age, a land of remarkable achievements and unlimited opportunity. A fitting location for this weeks spotlight; we look to uncover, discover, and... read more.

  Designed by Walter Hofner, The Hofner Violin Bass (more specifically the 500/1 Model) was first introduced to the world back in 1956 at the famous Musikmesse Trade Show in Frankfurt.    The bass was designed as an accessible alternative to an upright double bass.  Hofner’s semi-hollow design emulated the tones of a double bass without the inconvenience of playing and transporting such a large cumbersome instrument.   Being semi-hollow means that the bass is... read more.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT "Eric Johnson plays guitar the way Michelangelo painted ceilings: with a colorful vibrancy that's more real than life." “The most important thing for me is to grow musically and make a more expansive and meaningful artistic statement with every new project.” https://www.ericjohnson.com/about This feature sees us return to the live music capital of the world, Austin, Texas. We generally associate this part of the world with handfuls of iconic musicians and rock stars... read more.

Photo Credit - Brent Ninaber (Unsplash.com) Recently I was invited to review some classical guitar string sets for Strings Direct. A box arrived containing several sets and I went about trying each of them out on a pair of guitars and then experimenting with different combinations of strings from across the sets.  However, when considering the tones produced using the various sets I thought that it would be worth opening a much bigger can of... read more.