Hasta La Gadget!

If you’ve got a kid or teen on your holiday list, chances are pretty good that they’ve got one these faux musical instruments on theirs. Paper Jamz are likely to be one of the hottest gifts this holiday season, thanks in no small part to the continued success of games like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and all of their various manifestations.

So, what exactly are Paper Jamz? They’re flat, plastic toy guitars with built-in circuit chips, which let you “play” them by holding down chords and strumming their painted strings. The guitars also come pre-loaded with pop songs.

Best of all, they’re relatively cheap–you can pick up most of the guitars for around $20 through retail sites like Amazon. Paper Jamz manufacturer WowWee also makes a guitar amp and a drumset, so kids can get their full fake band on.

Bzzzzzz hummmmmm krrrrrzzt! Those are familiar sounds to the electric guitarist, and they’re caused (respectively) by a dirty/dusty jack socket, a mains hum and a simply plugging in the jack to the amp. Sanyo’s Eneloop Pedal Juice won’t help with your clumsiness or lack of hygiene, but it can cut out that hum, and it also does away with yet another trip-hazard cable.

The Pedal Juice is a 9-volt lithium-ion power-source for effects-pedals. It will power a single pedal for 50 hours, or three pedals for 20 hours, and because it’s off the mains loop, it eliminates AC ground-looping noise. It is also water and shock resistant, so you can spill beer on it and smash up your guitar, Pete Townshend-style, and still use it again for the next gig.

Power levels are indicated by green, orange and red LEDs so you can check battery life at a glance, and you can use it to power anything that needs a 9v hookup – not just pedals. The Pedal Juice is $200, available now.

Pedal Juice press release [Sanyo]
Pedal Juice product page [Sanyo]

See Also:

• Make It: iPhone Guitar Connection Kit
• Gibson Dark Tiger: 'The World's Most Advanced Guitar'
• Let There Be Rock: Digital Guitar Better Than The Real Thing …

We’ve been waiting on this one for quite awhile… and well, we’ve got awhile longer. Fender has come clean with the price and release date of its Squier-branded Stratocaster for Rock Band 3 will hit the road on March 1st for just a penny shy of $280. The six-stringed warrior — which also serves as a MIDI controller and a real instrument — has far and away been our favorite method of playing the rhythm game’s new pro guitar mode, and though the button-laden Mustang is available now for just over half the price, it really doesn’t compare to the real thing here. Even the January 1st pre-order seems a ways off — guess we’ll be brushing up on our keytar skills in the meantime.

Squier Stratocaster for Rock Band 3 set to tour March 1st for $280 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ah, ha! There it is! Way back in March, we had a sit-down with folks from Seven45 Studios about their plans for Power Gig: Rise of the SixString (for PS3 and Xbox 360), focusing mainly on how they intended to rival the Rock Band and Guitar Hero franchises from a peripheral standpoint. The six string guitar accessory that ships with the game bundle today is already leaps and bounds better than what RB3 is packin’, but an instrument we were keenly interested in at GDC was also one we couldn’t photograph at the time. The company made clear that it was looking at releasing a real-deal, bona fide guitar in the future — a full-size First Act axe that could be used with the game or with a legitimate amplifier. Now, that limited edition piece is on sale for both of the aforesaid consoles, boasting a single cutaway basswood body, humbucking pickup, and a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. Each one is available for $249.99, but there’s no telling how many will be produced. We’d also prefer to see these in larger music shops in order to give consumers an idea of the fit, finish, feel and sound, but those into taking chances can get one headed their way as we speak.

Continue reading Power Gig’s full-size, handmade guitar / controller now on sale for $250

Power Gig’s full-size, handmade guitar / controller now on sale for $250 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Oct 2010 15:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We hate to point out the obvious, but it’s about time you threw procrastination in the nearest dumpster and started thinking about your holiday shopping duties. For the budding guitarist in everyone’s life (admit it, there’s always one), Tascam has a cutesy new guitar tuner that’s both a) affordable and b) Stocking Stuffer-approved at just 3.77- x 0.71- x 1.57-inches. The TC-1S claims to be the world’s first solar-powered tuner, complete with a rugged silicon wrap, a USB port for cloudy days and shadowy clubs, a sweet carrying clip, integrated microphone and a quarter-inch input for guitar and bass tuning. It can even be calibrated to an external source, and it’ll be available in a half-dozen hues (black, pink, orange, green, blue, white) later this month.

Continue reading Tascam’s TC-1S guitar tuner is solar powered, super tiny

Tascam’s TC-1S guitar tuner is solar powered, super tiny originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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