Jeff Easley, a fantasy artist famous for some of Dungeons & Dragons rulebook covers has designed the elaborate and fantastical dragon inlay which has been recreated for the fretboard of this 35th anniversary model by Aulson inlay. The finished inlay has been created for the fretboard using a wide array of materials including: Green Ripple Abalone, Green Abalone Select, Black Mother of Pearl, Stabilized Sand-Shaded Holly, Red with Gold Vein Recon Stone, Raffir Striped Black, Black and Red Raffir Aluminum Wave, Abaloid Acrylic, Nocturne Corian, as well as Blue Pacific, Citrine, and Flame Synthetic Opal.

The PRS 35th Anniversary Dragon is based on the PRS McCarty model, which features a thicker back, PRS PRS Stoptail bridge, and a classic volume, push/ pull tone control, and 3-way toggle electronics layout. This model is enhanced with the TCI model pickups from the Paul’s Guitar and tweaked Phase III Locking tuners for a unique balance of vintage and modern specifications. The excuisite Private Stock grade tone woods were hand selected for this limited series and include a curly maple top, African ribbon mahogany back, and a chaltecoco Pattern neck with a 25” scale length, 22 fret ziricote fingerboard. This 35th Anniversary Dragon is finished in Frostbite Dragon’s Breath which sports a lighter colour (or "glow") towards the belly of the guitar that mimics the shape of a flame shooting out of a dragon’s mouth.

The Private Stock 35th Anniversary Dragon will be limited to 135 pieces worldwide and Wildwire Guitars are delighted to be able to offer this very special guitar for pre-order now. 

These are the very last bodies from this glorious period in Vigier's rich history and have been naturally drying, in the Vigier factory, since 1983. Picked out after a factory visit from UK manager, Ben Whatsley, who then subsequently discussed bringing these Passion I's 'back to life' with master luthier, Patrice Vigier.

Patrice and his small, but highly skilled team of luthiers, spent considerable time and effort to ensure the Passion I's were completed in meticulous detail, getting them just right, with all the advances that Vigier has made over the years.

A few lucky players will get to own these extremely rare Passion I's, that are now a living part of Vigier's history-meets present.

• Neck-thru construction (body completed and dried naturally since 1983)
• Phenowood fingerboard
• 22 Frets w/Zero Fret
• Proprietary fixed bridge w/fine tuners
• Amber hand-wound pickups
• Volume/Tone
• 3 position pickup switch
• 2 position single coil/humbucker switch

Paul Reed Smith is a master luthier and founder of PRS Guitars. PRS guitars are played used by the likes of Carlos Santana, Tim Mahoney, Ted Nugent, Mark Tremonti, Dustie Waring, Bernie Marsden and John Mayer.

Tickets are £5 each and all proceeds will be donated to a local charity. Ticket holders will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky winner will walk away with a PRS SE, signed by Paul Reed Smith.

Tickets are available here

Customers buying a US-made Core or CE guitar will receive a £75 / €100 “voucher code”, S2 buyers will get a £50 / €65 discount and SE customers will qualify for a £25 / €35 voucher.

For any PRS Guitars fanatics, or now Mark Holcomb fans, these are exciting times. If you have been eagerly watching PRS Guitars recently you’ll have been enthused by the newly released PRS McCarty 594 (the core production version of the beloved private stock of the month for February, but without the private stock price tag). Well, any fans of Mark Holcomb – guitarist for the metal band Periphery – will be pleased to see the announcement and unveiling of the 2016 PRS SE Mark Holcomb signature guitar. This SE is based entirely on last years limited run of core line signature model of which only a limited number were made. This new SE signature, then, is a good time for Periphery fans, or rock/metal players alike, to get their hands on a beautiful – yet affordable – PRS guitar.

The SE signature comes with all the SE traits that PRS admirers have come to love about the SE models. As expected with all PRS guitars across the board, the quality of these instruments (no matter the price tag) is always impeccable. In addition, like all the SE models, the SE Holcomb comes with a bevelled top. Furthermore, one of the most appealing features of this SE is it comes loaded with Holcomb’s signature Seymour Duncan “Alpha” and “Omega” pickups. The bridge pickup, according to the Seymour Duncan blog, has a “..destructive percussion and growl in the mids and low end. It’s aggressive but it also has lots of clarity and brightness..”. As for the neck pickup, it’s said to have a more tradition tone “with some of that fat glassy sound but also plenty of your pick attack and fretting-hand phrasing.”. I think one of these pickups’ more endearing qualities is their ability to be so defined even at high levels of gain; not becoming muddy.

Moving to the rest of the guitar, to keep up with PRS’s reputation for producing some of the most beautiful instruments in the industry the SE Holcomb comes with a quilted maple veneer in a gorgeous finish known as “Holcomb Burst” (a tradition charcoal burst with a hint of pinky red). The SE Holcomb also sports an all mahogany body with a 3-piece maple neck in a satin finish. It has 24 frets and has a 25.5 inch scale length to keep the strings at tension at the tuning that comes as standard (this is a D standard tuning that’s been drop C-ed: C, G, C, F, A, D). The fretboard is made from ebony and has a white binding (much like the SE Bernie Marsden signature). As with nearly all PRS guitars, the fretboard includes the iconic bird inlays. Keeping on the topic of neck features, the neck shape with this model is the wide thin style.

Lastly, moving to the hardware and controls, the SE Holcomb comes with the same controls as the SE Custom 24 – volume, push-pull tone control and a 3-way blade pickup switch – which is amazingly versatile once you’ve had a little time to get to grips with all the different possibilities. The hardware comes in a black chrome finish which looks very aesthetically pleasing in combination with the “Holcomb burst”. Finally, the guitar comes fitted with the PRS designed tuners and plate style bridge for adequate string stability.

In conclusion, the SE Holcomb is a welcomed edition to the SE range which both looks and sounds beautiful without sacrificing affordability. This guitar features many things that make it stand out from the SE range, such as the Seymour Duncan pickups, that make it a guitar worth having a good look at and even a try if you come across one. We, at Wildwire Guitars, should be getting some in stock very soon and will be selling them at the price of just £799!!

Currently in stock and available to buy here

More info on the Seymour Duncan blog: 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/product-news/mar...

More info on the PRS page: 

http://www.prsguitars.com/semarkholcomb/

Aesthetically, six changes have been made to the appearance of the 700 series. The first of these is the optional western sunburst top which boasts a new colour blend featuring ‘ a smooth honey-brown’ which is said to nicely compliment the rosewood back and sides that the 700 series is renowned and loved for. The second enhancement is the Douglas Fir rosette (a three ring design trim accented with maple/black trim) around the sound hole. In addition, the fretboard inlays have been changed to the “Reflections” style, the binding has been changed to Hawaiian Koa, the Douglas Fir top edge trim has been added and, lastly, the design changes are finished with a weathered brown pickguard.

In summary, the tonal changes made make this a much more powerful, loud – but articulated – sounding acoustic. This combined with the multitude of aesthetic changes make for a beautiful sounding, playing and looking acoustic guitar that goes well above and beyond expectations rather than being built simply to fit a price point. These guitars are built to last with some of the best build quality and attention to detail of any of the current guitar manufacturers. 

However, guitar players that have longed for this iconic sound can rejoice as the wonderful people at Victory amplifiers announced the Sheriff 22 and 44 heads that, we at Wildwire Guitars, will now be stocking after a long wait. The Sheriff 44 is a dual channel, EL34 driven ‘plexi’ which blows all other clones out of the water with its distinctive, innovative features. The front plates boasts a three band EQ, master volume, independent volumes for each of the channels (acting as gain controls), two separate inputs and low and high power modes. The amp has three different power options – thanks to the design of having both fixed and cathode bias – which are:

• 45 Watts in the high power mode w/ fixed bias,
• 30 Watts in the high power mode w/ cathode bias,
• 6 Watts in the low power mode w/ either bias option.

What this means is that the amp has the capabilities to easily be a bedroom level practise amp, without annoying the neighbours too much, and at the same time being loud enough to play in a band. The amp, also, features an effects loop (something some other amps unfortunately miss). All this comes in a lovely built, retro looking housing.

Tone wise, channel 1 is very much your classic late 60s/ 70s ‘plexi’ sound that Blues–rock players will feel right at home with. This channel has enough gain to give that iconic rock sound, but it can also clean up really nicely (even when just using the guitars volume pot). It has a punchy midrange response, with plenty of treble, to get that Jimmy Page sound. Channel 2, on the other hand, is a deferent beast entirely. This channel features a more late 70s/ 80s ‘plexi’ sound with the effect of dimed or hot-rodded old 60s/ 70s amp. This produces more than enough gain and is well suited to the tones of artists such as Van Halen.

All these features help to create one of the best ‘plexi’ amps around and it comes in a welcomed £1,149 – what a steal!! A Friedman of the same output would come in at around £2,249, Tone King at £2,399 and Suhr at £2,499. We strongly recommend you try one of these beauties next time you come across one.

We have a number of these fantastic guitars on order at £3439.00 for a 10-Top and from £4195 for an Artist Package.  Our current stock can be found here

In the video below you can see John Mayer play and talk about the Private Stock 594

The McCarty 594 is a vintage-inspired instrument that is at once incredibly familiar and effortlessly playable. Whether you are looking for rich, authentic, vintage humbucking tones or nuanced, sweet singlecoil sounds, the McCarty 594 can seamlessly master both sonic territories thanks to the 58/15 LT pickups and push/pull coil taps on the tone controls. The electronics layout, a few key specifications, and PRS craftsmanship combine in the McCarty 594 to create an instrument that plays in tune, is intonated the entire length of the neck, and feels like a guitar that you’ve been playing forever.

A few key specifications that contribute to the McCarty 594’s tone and feel are:

• A 24.594” scale length, just slightly longer than 24.5” and where the model gets its name.
• 58/15 LT pickups. LT, meaning low turns, which give the guitar a warm, clear tone.
• 2 volume and 2 tone controls positioned so players can roll off both volume knobs at the same time.
• The added versatility of push/pull coil taps for each pickup for more tonal options
• A new Pattern Vintage neck carve, which shares the same width measurements as PRS’s Pattern neck but is slightly thicker front to back and features an asymmetrical carve with a little less meat on the treble side and a little more meat on the bass side of the neck.
• Tweaked Phase III tuners that have an added set screw that pulls the tuner’s shaft, gear, and worm together (but take the tuner button out of play) to promote tone transfer from the string directly into the guitar itself with as little energy as possible begin detracted.

"The 594 is the best new guitar I've played in years. It has a vintage heart and soul but without the technical limitations that usually come along with an old instrument. What good is an old guitar if you can't get all that feel out of the upper frets, or the intonation is off? To hear that old PAF sound but be able to articulate the notes in a way that only modern manufacturing could allow is so exciting." – John Mayer

The evening started off with the guys from Taylor (Ron and Paul) moving through the different body shapes and tone woods used and how they differ in both sound and playability. Paul talked about the creation process of each of the body shapes and how they’ve evolved; explaining why the body shapes produce different sounds and the science behind it. Furthermore, Paul was even specific enough to explain why having a cutaway doesn’t change the tonality of the guitars by a large amount – if at all- and was kind enough to answer all the questions and queries brought up by those attending. In addition, we were informed about the new ES-2 pickup system and how it differs from the previous model in depth. The event, also, took us through a rundown of many of Taylor’s new or improved models, including:

• The new 500 series (like the new 12 string, 12 fret 562ce model);
• The new 600 series;
• The new Taylor T5z;
• And the newly re-voiced 800 series.

Ron, on the other hand, was put in charge of the playing the guitars and did an excellent job of demonstrating the playability and sounds produced by the various different acoustics (using a multitude of different playing techniques to cover all bases) as well as adding a little bit of an exciting and entertaining atmosphere through his wacky personality.

After a short break for some delicious sandwiches and other refreshments, we were then treated by Ron ending the night with him perfectly playing the T5z, through his Line 6 Helix, along with a Pink Floyd backing track which both demonstrated his amazing playing ability, but more importantly the incredible tones and flexibility of the T5z. Lastly, the night ended with a prize draw in which attendees were in with the chance of winning a free gift (including some Taylor t-shirts, coasters, plectrums, limited edition stickers and a choice between two types of Elixir strings).

Paul and Ron’s professional, informative presentation and use of amusing stories throughout made for both an entertaining and enlightening evening.