Xylonix Guitars by Michael Gnapp | Successor To Rex Bogue?

John McLaughlin with Rex Bogue Double Rainbow

I just received a comment from Keith Bohanna over at blog.dbTwang.com on my Rex Bogue Double Rainbow article.  He also shared a link from one of his site's members, Michael Gnapp who was Bogue's woodworker. 

"Nice information on Rex Bogue, a unique guitar maker. Over on our blog we were able to share some experiences which one of our members, Michael Gnapp, had while working with Rex. 

Here are a couple of cool excerpts:

"I learned inlay from Rex; his shell work was very detailed and immaculate. You can see it in the “tree of life” inlay on the two necks of John McLaughlin’s 'Double Rainbow'.  Rex was extreme in everything he took on."

"If he took an interest in anything, he took it all the way. He had in interest in rum; my first duty in the morning was to prepare a 5-gallon water cooler full of pina colada, and it would be empty at the end of every day. There were always clients and friends hanging out in the shop, which was a small house he’d inherited from his grandmother, I believe, and so 5 gallons of the potion was usually just enough. I did the woodworking, another young man, a master of electronics, did the pickups, preamps, and wiring."

You can see the full post here: http://blog.dbtwang.com/rex-bogue-guitar-maker-a-lovely-piece-of-his-life-story/"

Michael Gnapp is also about to re-launch his own line of guitars shortly.  A luthier listing for Gnapp's Xylonix Guitars states:  "Custom thinline hollowbody archtop and solidbody guitars, funerary urns and artistic wooden home accessories."

Funerary urns?  Talk about diversifying..

http://www.xylonix.com/ is still under construction but stay tuned. 

You can check out some of Gnapp's earlier Xylonix guitar creations here:  http://www.dbtwang.com/guitars/filter?name=&type=&maker=Xylonix&year=&handed=&extra_filter=all

And here's my earlier article on Ibanez's take on the Rex Bogue Double Rainbow

Planet Waves Pro String Winder | Product Review

A string winder and wire clippers are both must-have accessories in every guitar player's toolbox and Planet Waves Pro String Winder incorporates both in one handy device.

And only D'Addario holds the patent on the all-in-one string-winder and string-cutter. Marketed under the Planet Waves brand, this little string winder/cutter has been around for awhile and has seen constant improvement over the years.

The latest incarnation of Plane Waves Pro String Winder continues to incorporate some of the same features found on the previous models that we've come to know and love -- the acoustic bridge pin puller and dual peghead slots on the winder to accomodate both Fender and Gibson-sized tuning heads are still there. 

But the single biggest improvement on the Pro String Winder is that the hex bolt screw that holds the string-cutting blades together is now securely fastened to a hex nut on the opposite end.  On previous models, only a single hex bolt held the two blade faces together.  Once the screw threads on the blades or the screw gave out -- as they often did -- the string-cutter became impossible to use.

The new Pro String Winder also features an ergonomically improved and substantial handle grip. This thing just feels right. 

And they've even incorporated a string-stretcher into the handle itself; simply slot the string onto the curved indentation on the handle, pull outward slightly and slide along the entire length of the string. Very handy.

Like all Planet Waves products, the Pro String Winder comes with a lifetime guarantee.  Just like the lifetime warranty on their guitar cables, Planet Waves will replace any of their string-winders in the event of damage due to normal use, so save those receipts, folks!

The Pro String winder is also available in a bass version.

And check out my product review on Planet Waves Fretboard 65 Ultimate Lemon Oil

Gibson Releases Slash 'Appetite' Les Paul

Gibson recently announced the release of their new Slash signature 'Appetite' Les Paul. 

Based on the Les Paul copy built by Kris Derrig that Slash used for most of  Guns n' Roses 'Appetite For Destruction', this axe, honestly, appears to be not much different from Gibson's usual offerings.

It appears that either Derrig nailed it in copying Gibson's design specifications or not much research went into the design of this new signature model.  Or what if a couple of Kris Derrig's design innovations on the original were too much of a departure for Gibson to want to implement?  Who knows? 

The 'Appetite' Les Paul features a 'reverse chevron' AAA-maple top, 'Unburst' nitrocellulose finish, Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro Slash signature humbucking pickups and TonePros tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece.  Amber top-hat knobs cap the linear 300k volume pots and 500k non-linear tone pots.

Jumbo frets are fitted to the rosewood fingerboard on the slim-60s profile quarter-sawn mahogany neck and the 17-degree angle headstock features a silk-screened Slash signature and logo.

Get thee to a music store to check out the Appetite Les Paul if you're a true Slash fan.

(Pic Source: www2.gibson.com)