All Entries Tagged With: "Marc Johnson"
In Memoriam: Jeff Hanneman 1964 – 2013
Jeff Hanneman, guitarist and founding member of Slayer, died of liver failure at 11 am Thursday morning. He was 49. The band’s website released the following statement: Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California [...]
Mesa Boogie Boogies on Guitar Center
It is with regret – and we certainly wish GC well, but it’s important for us to provide musicians with a thorough and professional representation of our products. We work hard to exceed expectations in everything we do, so it’s vital that we have a focused network of dealers who share our commitment and [...]
The New Game: Manufacturers Brace Themselves For a Possible Guitar Center Implosion
It always starts at NAMM Depending on who’s doing the talking, NAMM 2013 was either the greatest it’s been since before the recession, or it was packed full of cautiously optimistic manufacturers that had nowhere else to look but up. TheToneKing.com’s own experience at NAMM was just as ambivalent. Amongst the deal making and the [...]
On the Road: Paul Reed Smith Stops Visits Mom and Pop Stores to Demo PRS Amp Line
After returning home from working NAMM 2013 for TheToneKing.com, I had an interesting conversation with my boss at Goodtime Music in Streamwood Illinois: “Paul is coming to the shop in a couple of weeks.” “Who the hell is Paul guy, and why the hell should I care?” “Paul Reed Smith, and you should care because [...]
Enter NAMM: Behind the Scenes of TTK’s NAMM Coverage: Day 2
After a breakfast of Cheerios and vodka, I made my way to Anaheim Convention Center early to get the lay of the land. After roaming around a bit, I made note of private rooms from manufacturers like PRS, Gibson, Fender, Godin, and Taylor. Fender had already started with an exclusive early tour for [...]
Enter NAMM: Behind the Scenes of TTK’s NAMM Coverage: DAY 1
Day 1: Didn’t sleep much the night before. Besides for a crying newborn, there were acid waves of anticipation oozing saturating my brain about my trip to NAMM. Never been and never thought I’d go. That is, until The Tone King called me up and said, “Wanna?” All of us at TTK have our [...]
Gearing up for NAMM
Ah, the quiet before the storm. Plane Tickets in hand, this is gearing up to be TTK’s biggest year at NAMM. In addition to bringing TheToneKing.com’s exclusive coverage to new heights, NAMM will be the breaking ground for The Future of Gear. The Tone King’s documentary that looks at the direction the of the industry [...]
5 + 1 Reasons to Help Fund The Future of Gear!
Since rolling out our intentions to shoot a documentary titled The Future of Gear, the response has been amazing. We’ve been inundated with emails, posts, shares, and likes on our YouTube channel. While those things are great and we look forward to working to everyone who’s volunteering their time to this project, we’re still a [...]
Life Support: How Long Until They Pull the Plug on Guitar Center?
Marc Johnson for TheToneKing.com From all sides, it looks like Guitar Center may be in a slow spiral into oblivion. That sounds harsh, but things aren’t going well for the company and haven’t been for years. Moody’s downgraded them…again. S&P Downgraded them…again. They haven’t posted a net profit in several years. They’re [...]
Is Analog Dead?
If you’ve been following, you might’ve noticed that most of my articles lately have been of the what-ever-happened-to variety. That’s because the world of music is in a strange place for me. I’m old enough to remember a time when music took up tangible physical space on my shelf in the form of tapes, records, [...]
