To celebrate summer, PRS guitars are running a Summer Special Two-Year Care Package promotion for customers of new US-made PRS guitars between 1 July and 31 August 2010.
Purchases made between these dates will qualify for a free Two-Year Care Package worth £250, which includes a full guitar 'health check', valid for 24 months from date of purchase. The return-to-Headline health check includes a factory spec set-up, electrics check, intonation adjustment, fret dress and more, allowing customers to benefit from having the guitar maintained by PRS-trained guitar techs.
In addition, the Care Package includes six sets of PRS strings, an 18-foot PRS Signature guitar cable, PRS guitar strap and classic PRS t-shirt.
So get yourself down to Guitar Works before the end of August and have a super summer on us!
Small Valve combos feature
Guitarworks now keep a wide range of low wattage all valve amps in stock. For Guitarists who want to play with great tone at home until recently the choice was limited to high end, boutique products such as the THD Univalve/Dumble/Trainwreck line. Now the Industry has responded with most of the big classic brand names and a few enterprising new companies introducing low wattage valve amps at much more realistic prices.
Our best seller is the awesome HT5 range from Blackstar. For those not familiar with the company they have grown in less than 3 years into one of the best respected and innovative UK manufacturers of guitar gear with many of the world's foremost guitarists on their endorsement roster. The chief designers worked for many years at Marshall designing and researching new products and then left to start their own company which has proved hugely successful. From the monster 200 watt Series 1 modern hi gain head to the hand wired vintage voiced Artisan series they offer products to suit all pockets and tonal palettes.
The HT 5 is a 5 watt valve combo with a 10" speaker which sells at only £319. The pre-amp shares a lot of its circuitry with their HT Drive valve overdrive pedal (sold separately at £109). It excels in pre-amp overdrive at low volumes and the power valves can be pushed to distort when the volume gets turned up over 5. The price includes a footswitch and as with all Blackstar products a 3 year warranty (excluding valves). We have sold many to players who have big valve rigs but simply cannot use them at home and at small rehearsals. Blackstar do now offer the HT Venue range which copies many of the features that make the HT5 such a great amp but add additional power, reverb and bigger speakers from £449-£699.
Fender offer all valve amps from as little as £139.99 for the Champion 600. A big favourite of ours is the Blues Junior re-issue. It's the smallest Valve amp we sell that comes with a 12" speaker. It has a 15 Watt power section with a single channel and real spring reverb. It has the classic Fender clean tone and breaks up into a bluesy overdrive. The Blackstar HT5 and Laney VC15 certainly have more gain on tap but neither have this quality of clean tone.
Fender also offer Valve amps but with more modern features installed. The Princeton recording amp is a 15 watt re-issue of the classic 1965 design but with a studio quality attenuator, compressor and overdrive circuit added. The attenuator means you can turn up the volume on the amp all the way but control the amount of volume the speaker produces with an additional control. You get the fully turned up tone but at a volume the neighbours won't hate you for! The in built effects add some extra versatility when recording too. Very cool at a bargain £799.
Laney keep small versions of the best selling VC30 and LC30 with the VC15 and LC15. They offer true gritty, British tone with fantastic build and aesthetic appeal. The VC15 with it's switch able drive channel, reverb and Jenson speaker is a popular choice for rock and blues players.
The LC15 has a more direct, purer tone which works really well for Jazz players and has enough gain to satisfy most rock guitarists needs too!
Whatever your preference we always try to have as wide a range in stock as possible. Come in for a demo!
Twitter and Facebook
We're now embracing all things social media to give you the best up to date news.
Welcome to our new web site. We hope you like it. In this site you can browse some of the interesting array of guitars and accessories we hold in stock. You can buy on-line or come into the shop to try out the products. One thing that is different about our site is that you can still buy some of the services you get when you buy in the shop. So you can get your guitar custom-set-up to your precise playing requirements.
Recording music in the world's remotest area
Is it possible to record music in the remotest area in the world where temperatures regularly drop to -40 C. Well yes it is if you're Mat Richardson. Mat is one of a team of engineers supporting UK scientists at the British Antarctic Survey's Halley Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf in the Antarctic.
On a 2 year assignment, Mat was determined to continue playing and recording music during his spare time. So he contacted Guitarworks, Reading and together spec'd out the equipment that he would need. This included a Fishman Rare Earth pickup and Pro EQ II for Mat's Martin guitar, a Focusrite Saffire with Novation Remote 25SL midi controller, Samson monitor speakers and mics, and Planet Waves cables. Special care was taken to choose high quality equipment that could withstand the rigours of travelling to the Antarctic, and was lightweight and reliable in use.
When Mat contacted us, he was already based at the Rothera Research Station in the Antarctic. We chose equipment that we were confident was top quality and reliable in use. We had to be conscious of the weight because it was being hand-carried to him - everything was double-checked, and we made sure there were back-ups for essential items. There are only two supply drops a year so we couldn't afford any mistake.
The equipment was flown down to the Falklands, and then was transported via Icebreaker ship, plane and finally Snow-cat. After a 3 month wait, Mat was finally able to install and set-up the equipment in his office. Already he has used the equipment to record two new songs and is impressed with the sound quality and features available
"Although we are here to support incredibly important scientific research, we also make as much use of our spare time as possible." says Mat. "We have a superb opportunity to learn all sorts of things from languages to engineering skills and in my case, music. One of my aims when I came to the Antarctic was to learn to play guitar and have a go at writing some songs. After my first year here I started getting into recording but had very little equipment available to me. Contacting the guys at Guitarworks was great, they talked me through all the gear I would need, they tested it all and packed it up ready for it to come down here. Now I have a little recording set-up where I spend lots of time learning how it all works. I'm not sure the quality of my songs is getting better but the recordings certainly are!"
Mat will be at the Halley Research station for another 12 months. You can check out his work here. His songs "Blown Away" and "All that I Am" were recorded on the new equipment.
Feature on Michael Sanden
We are an official Michael Sanden Tanglewood acoustic's dealer which adds to the already extensive range of quality acoustics we offer. The reviews for this range of new guitars have been fantastic and we are very proud to have them in store. Guitarist magazine recently awarded the Sanden Series the award for best electro acoustic in the world over £500!
So who is Michael Sanden? Well he happens to be probably Sweden's finest luthier, with over 20 years experience. He builds 2-3 guitars per month and they normally sell for £3-5000. By teaming up with Tanglewood, the unique features of his approach are now available to a wider audience. More details about Michael sanden are here
Check out the Tanglewood Master series guitars by Michael Sanden in our Acoustic guitars section on the product pages.
Guitarworks Starter Packs
After months of scouring all the products available from amongst our 50 plus suppliers we have settled on what represents the best quality and best value on the market today. Our kits are selected in store and we feel they trump all pre-boxed manufacturer kits on every level.
Each kit we offer consists of:
An electric guitar, a practice amp, a padded gigbag, a guitar tuner and an accessory kit.
The kits range in price from £159.99, £239.99 and £319.99 and each aspect of the kit improves as you go up in price. The kits can be viewed and compared here
Check out the Warwick and Framus factory
John and Julian's visited the Warwick and Framus factory in Germany a couple of months ago we have uploaded some pictures from our tour here: Warwick tour
This facility is where all the Warwick basses and Framus guitars are made in Germany, there are also some shots of the Framus Museum which was great fun to see. If you are ever in the Saxony area of Germany we would heartily recommend a visit. More info on Warwick basses at www.warwick.de and Framus guitars at www.framus.de
We can offer full custom shop guidance from the training we recieved in Germany to guide any of our customer's who are looking to purchase a custom shop instrument.
Guitarworks Hughes and Kettner Dealership confirmed!
Guitarworks are exclusive Reading dealers for the full line of Hughes and Kettner's award winning German built guitar amplifiers. These are amongst the best sounding (and looking!!!) amps built in the world today. The Statesman series are particular favourites of ours, they have a real purity of tone which is an absolute joy. We have 6 pieces in stock to demo at any time!
Framus Guitars on board!
We have just received our first shipment of Framus Guitars direct from Germany! They represent the electric guitar line from the established bass manufacturer Warwick. John and Julian from the Shop were treated to a factory tour last month (details to come) and were so impressed with the quality of the guitars we signed up for a dealership straight away.
Framus give the customer the ability to spec out every part of their instruments with a full range of options available from the custom shop. If you want to add inlays, different pickups, electronics, alternative woods then it is all possible. Prices on request.
We have a Diablo pro in natural, Diablo custom in blackburst and a Panthera (see above - in yellow amber stain) in stock with each guitar having a special introductory price. We will also be receiving a Hollywood Custom in the next few weeks. Call or visit the shop for more details.
Guitarworks appointed Freshman Regional Centre
We're proud to announce that Guitarworks has been appointed as one of the exclusive Regional Centres for Freshman Guitars. Freshman guitars have received rave reviews in recent years and an impressive list of endorsees. Regional Centres carry the broadest range of stock and are also deemed to offer the best levels of service - we stock Freshman guitars from £100 up to the fabulous F500 series (right). We also stock Freshman acoustic amps. So if you want to check out these superb guitars, make sure you choose the best place to do so - Guitarworks, Reading.
Visual Sounds pedals now in stock
We're delighted to now be stockists of the Visual Sounds range of pedals, including the V2 range and the legendary Route 66 overdrive/compression pedal and Route 808 overdrive pedals. We also have their superb range of volume pedals. You really need to try these out to appreciate how good they are, so pop into the store to do just that.
Massive range of Fender Guitars In stock!
We always strive to have the best range of stock in Reading and we are proud of our Fender selection!
Julian Mullen Joins The Team!
We at Guitar Works are delighted to announce that our luthier Julian has joined us to work from our Reading store.
Julian will be working in house for 4 regular days a week to provide all of our set ups and repair work. Many of you have already had your instruments serviced by Julian as he has been our repairer since the first day the shop has been open! This move will shorten turnaround times and help us to offer an even better level of service than we have ever offered before!
From this week onwards Julian will be setting up every new guitar that comes into the shop to ensure that all in-stock guitars are at their best for optimum performance and playability. Over the coming weeks he will work his way through all of our guitars in store to eventually have everything in stock showing the benfits of his expertise.
Welcome Julian!
Guitarworks - officially now one of the largest PRS dealers in the UK
We've always been big fans of PRS guitars, and over the last 2 years, we have built a great selection of PRS guitars. Today, we are officially one of the largest PRS dealers in the UK. We have a dedicated room where we have approximately 30 US models available at all times, plus a great selection of Korean guitars. All our guitars are kept in pristine condition. We also specialise in custom and rare guitars, so if you are after a very special guitar, give us a call or better still, pop in to see us.
