Welcome to

Now we’re all full up on Turkey and pudding, it’s time to shop from the warm comfort of your recliner and make the most of our January sale….

Check out our special offer page here for some eye-watering cheap deals on selected products….. and if you fancy getting the best savings out of next Christmas, check out our crackers whilst we still have ‘em.

Over 300 of the worlds leading musical instrument distributers and maufacturers will be packed into Londons ExCeL venue on the 14th and 15th of June to inspire you, the consumer with their latest gear.

London International Music Show is 4 shows in one; London Guitar show, Drummer Live, Unplugged and the Sound Recording & Technoligy show all under one roof and one ticket gets you into all shows.

The show promises all the lastest gear and technology with siminars, conferences and even celebrities of the music world. You can expect to see exhibitors from “Acoustic Guitar Magazine” through to “Yamaha Music UK”, and instruments from xylaphones to bassoons.

On the Live stage you can see Paul gilbert playing on saturday for the London Guitar show, Chad smith will be beating them skins for the Drummer live line-up, and the list goes on….

For updates on the event visit www.londoninternationalmusicshow.com and be sure to not miss the best music event this year.

The January Sale is NOW ON!!
Check out the specials page to see our latest time limited special offers. We have a great range of guitars and other musical instruments, equipment and loads more.

You can view the January Sale items in the normal PlayRecord.Net view, or if you prefer then viewing as a list is a nice way to quickly scan for offers you would be interested in.

Click Here to go to the Sale Page

The last day that we can despatch things in time for Christmas is this Friday 21st of December. There is still time for last minute shoppers to get their Christmas presents in time!!

Search in this box to find items that can be delivered in time for Christmas:

Alternatively give us a call on 0844 8844 765 and we can recommend something that can be delivered in time for Christmas.

Christmas can be a pretty stressful time. We all know this and despite our best efforts at keeping up the Christmas Spirit sometimes the hassle of Christmas shopping can be a strain. However, we are here to help you!

While we try to offer as much of our catalogue on a next day basis as possible, there are some items which take us more like a week to despatch. These items are marked as delivery estimate 3-10 days.

If you are looking to purchase something for Christmas that is showing as this delivery estimate, this still shoudl not be a problem. If time is a bit tight though, we recommend getting in touch on the phone to double check the delivery time frame and maybe see if there is an alternative item that we could get to you sooner.

Our last despatch day for Christmas is friday the 21st of December.

Our search system lets you filter results for in stock only items. These are items which according to our stock system we have plenty of stock of and are therefore a safe bet for next day delivery.

Here are some popular searches:

Guitar Stands

Guitar

Electric Guitar

Acoustic Guitar

Bass Guitar

Classical Guitar

Left Handed

Tanglewood

Fender

Ibanez

Dean

Pearl

Drum

Bass

Yamaha

This time of year we find that we are definitely selling more guitars to people who are buying for someone else than buying for themselves. We think that buying a guitar for someone else as a surprise Christmas present is a brilliant idea, but to get the best effect, you need to make sure you are buying the right kind of guitar.

The two things you need to decide when buying a guitar as a christmas present are:

1. What type of guitar?
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Classical Guitar or Bass Guitar. There are some other kinds of guitar including Electro Acoustic Guitars, which is really an acoustic guitar with some electronics added and Semi Acoustic Guitars which are effectively an electric guitar with a hollow body, making it a bit like an Acoustic Guitar.

For someone who already has a guitar, it makes sense to get a different kind of guitar so that they will enjoy a different guitar playing experience. So if the person you are buying a guitar for currently has an electric guitar, we would recommend getting an acoustic guitar and vice versa.

If you are buying someone their first guitar, then we recommend going for one of the great guitar packages available.

2. What kind of budget do you want to spend?
This really is up to you. We recommend getting an idea of budget though before you start trying to make your choice of guitar as it is a great way of cutting down the options so that you are not overwhelmed with choice. Generally anything over £100 will get a nice playing guitar these days. However if you think they are worth it, spending more will definitely mean a much nicer guitar.

Once you have decided which type of guitar and what kind of budget you want to spend, the final decision simply involves having a look through our range of guitars and picking out right one, based on the colour and style that you think they will appreciate the most.

If you need any help at all at any step of the way, our team of professional guitar salespeople will happily give you some pointers. Simply give us a call on 0844 8844 765 or email us using our contact form with your queries and we will get back to you as quickly as possible with our recommendations. It would help us out if you could have some idea of the budget and type of guitar you are looking for first, so that we can narrow down the options for you and get straight to the right guitar Christmas present for the person you are buying for.

Blogs about Christmas Guitar
blog.musicnotes.com
Musicnotes.com Blog: One More Christmas Guitar Guru Song

headrush.typepad.com
Creating Passionate Users: What I want for Christmas

www.guitarist.co.uk
Guitarist

Born on the 30th of March, 1945, Eric Patrick Clapton was the son of 16 year old Patricia Molly Clapton and Edward Walter Fryer, a 24 year old Canadian soldier stationed in England during the second world war. Before Eric was born, Fryer returned to Canada and his wife.

Eric’s grandmother played piano and his uncle and mother both enjoyed listening to the sounds of the big bands. His father had been a gifted musician, playing piano in several dance bands in the Surrey area.

For his thirteenth birthday, Erica as for a guitar. He found his first one difficult to play and put it aside. Then when he was sixteen he went to the Kingston College of Art. He was expelled after a year for lack of progress due to the fact the he spent his time playing guitar and listening to the blues.

In early 1963, 17 year-old Eric joined his first band, The Roosters. Following the band’s demise in August 1963, he spent one month in the pop-oriented Casey Jones and The Engineers. Before turning to music as a full-time career, he supported himself as a laborer at building sites, working alongside his grandfather, a master bricklayer and plasterer.

In October 1963, Keith Relf and Paul Samwell-Smith recruited him to become a member of The Yardbirds because Clapton was the most talked about guitar player on the R&B pub circuit. During his 18-month tenure with The Yardbirds, he earned his nickname, Slowhand, and recorded his first albums: Five Live Yardbirds and Sonny Boy Williamson and The Yardbirds.

In April 1965, John Mayall invited Eric to join his band, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. With this group, Clapton established his reputation as a guitarist and earned his second nickname: “God”. It came from an admirer’s graffiti on the wall of London’s Islington Tube Station that boldly proclaimed “Clapton is God.”

Eric’s time with the band was turbulent and he left for a while to tour Greece with friends. Upon his return from Greece, Eric rejoined the Bluesbreakers. It was during this time that the now classic Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton was recorded. While with the Bluesbreakers, Eric also recorded a one-off four-track session with a band dubbed “The Powerhouse”. This studio band included John Paul Jones, Steve Winwood and Jack Bruce.

After leaving the Bluesbreakers for a second and final time in July 1966, Eric teamed up with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker to form Cream.

Following Cream’s break-up, Clapton founded Blind Faith – rock’s first “supergroup” – with Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker, and Rick Grech. Disbanding after one album and a disastrous American tour, Eric tried to hide from his growing fame by touring as a sideman with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. While with this outfit, Eric was encouraged to sing by Delaney Bramlett. He also began composing more. A live album from the Delaney & Bonnie tour was released in 1970. Clapton’s self-titled debut was released that same year.

Eric went through further musical transformations, survived a three year heroin addicition and came back to win a Grammy in 1992 for the single “Tears in Heaven”.

One of Eric’s biggest influences is Robert Johnson. In his book “Discovering Robert Johnson”, Eric wrote “Robert Johnson to me is the most important blues musician who ever lived. He was true, absolutely, to his own vision, and as deep as I have gotten into the music over the last 30 years, I have never found anything more deeply soulful than Robert Johnson. His music remains the most powerful cry than I think you can find in the human voice, really. … it seemed to echo something I had always felt.”.

Blogs about Eric Clapton:

flash.popphoto.com
PopPhoto Flash: Money Can’t Buy Everything

revolution30.blogsome.com
Ken Leebow’s Business Card for the 21st Century :: CBS Sunday Morning News Interviews Eric Clapton :: November :: 2006

www.consolatio.com
Sedulia on Grief: Eric Clapton: The terrible numbness that I lived in

www.mediafuturist.com
MediaFuturist: Is this REALLY Eric Clapton playing (stretching the boundaries of fair use)

mavrixonline.com
mavrixonline.com: John Mayer Plays with Blues Legend Eric Clapton

playguitar.blogsome.com
Play Guitar :: DVD Review: Eric Clapton – Live At Montreux 1986 :: September :: 2006

Jimmy Page, guitarist of iconic band Led Zeppelin is cursing the fractured finger that has forced their long awaited reunion concert to be postponed. Apparently he tripped over a stone in the garden and came down a bit too hard and the pinky took some damage.

Led Zeppelin were due to have their first concert in 19 years after their split in 1980 at London\’s 02 Arena on the 26th of November. This has now been pushed back to December.

Jimmy Page said:

\”I didn\’t just come down on my hand, I came down on other parts of my body as well. But of course it was the hand that had a bit of an injury to it,\”

\”It\’s got a fracture in the little finger of the left hand, which is a nuisance because it\’s really needed. It\’s just going to take a little while for it to heal, that\’s all.\”

\”It\’s not permanent damage. I\’ve broken fingers before, a lot worse than this.\”

However Page is totally confident that they will manage to do the December gig:

\”We\’ll make the gig all right and we\’ll do all the rehearsals too. It\’s just going to need like two, two and a half weeks\”.

Jimmy went on to confirm that fans will be getting what they come for at the upcoming gig:

\”It\’s pretty much a lot of the songs that people would want to hear. We just got together and started playing and it started to take on its own shape, if you like,\” he said.

\”It\’s probably what you\’d want to hear, and what we want to play too, so that\’s a great, great chemistry.\”

Robert Plant, lead singer of Led Zeppelin has said that he wants this to be \”one last, great show\” and insists it will not be followed by a tour.

Led Zeppelin split in 1980 following the death of drummer John Bonham, who choked on his own vomit following a drinking binge.

More than one million people applied for the 20,000 tickets after the reunion gig was announced.

The concert is a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the late founder of the Atlantic Records label, who signed the group in 1968.

Plant, Page and bassist John Paul Jones, with Bonham\’s son Jason on drums, will headline the gig.

Led Zeppelin have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide and the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

Blogs About Led Zeppelin:

Indie Blog Heaven
On the heels of Jimmy Page hurting his finger, thus having to cancel Led Zeppelin’s reunion show, NME have came up with a nice list of other odd rock injuries.

Blogovich
“When they unite, you’ve got the key members,” Page told Sun Media (Canada) the other day. “You can’t play it any better, as they’re the people who actually played it and wrote it in the first place . . . ”

Sound and Vision
The Legendary Band’s Original Albums Available for the First Time at All Online Music Retailers November 13

One Way Street
As someone who grew up with the band’s music, I have a primer for you kids looking to buy some Led Zep on iTunes.

Here’s a quick guide for people buying their first guitar

First things first you need to decide what variety of guitar to buy. There are three main types of guitar with some distinct differences these are classical acoustic, steel string acoustic and electric guitars. Now based on the style of music you want to be playing a year on down the line you should make a choice, here’s a quick overview of which guitar is suited which style of music.

Classical Acoustic Guitar

Classical guitars use Nylon strings and have a larger fretboard width than their steel string counterparts.

Their main purpose is obviously for classical guitar. So if classical music is your thing there is no better option for you. However these instruments aren’t limited only to classical players some young players opt for this choice due to nylon strings being softer on your fingers than the steel strings on both electric and acoustic guitars, be advised that at the same time the fret board and neck width/radius are larder than other guitars and people with smaller hands may struggle with this at first.

Classical guitars generally have a smooth warm tone.

Steel String Acoustic Guitar

Steel string acoustics are best suited to folk, blues and strum a long songs that being said a decent acoustic guitar can be very versatile…
styles such as jazz can also be achieved on an acoustic.

For a new player the strings can hurt your fingers slightly however after a while you build up calluses on your finger tips which nullifies this problem.

The steel strings produce a brighter more treble heavy tone than the classical guitar.

Electric Guitar

Electric guitars are the most versatile of them all, they can be used for Rock, blues, rock and roll, metal, jazz, punk and many more other styles. You can even get effects pedals to make your electric sound like an acoustic.

Electrics do come with extra cost however; if you opt for this option you will also need an amp and lead. There are starter packs available from the website at reasonable prices; these include everything you could possibly need to get started.

More choice comes into play if you opt for an electric, you will have to choose what type of pick up (microphone) you want on the instrument. The main two types are single coil and humbucker pick ups, single coils can create a buzzing trough the amp when you aren’t playing. They are usually found on strat type guitars, the only style I wouldn’t recommend them for is heavy metal. Humbuckers are a lot more powerful than single coils they are in effect two single in one pick up, they also stop the buzzing you get from single coils. These sound great for all styles and my personal preference. Pick up choice is a personal choice thing best thing to do is play/listen to guitars with the two different pickups and select which one sounds best to you.