As we shut out 2024, Guitar.com remembers the largest information tales of the 12 months, from the announcement of Trump-endorsed Trump Guitars, to Rory Gallagher’s iconic Stratocaster heading again to Eire, to bizarre and wacky gear launches like a guitar pedal which turns your guitar sign right into a cat’s meow. Get pleasure from!

The closure of Sam Ash

A number of the largest business information of the 12 months got here when phrase bought out that US retailer Sam Ash was closing all 44 of its shops throughout the nation. After it was revealed that the agency had declared chapter, its belongings valued at between $100 million and $500 million had been auctioned off. Throughout this course of, Vista Musical Devices – which is owned by Guitar.com proprietor Caldecott Music Group – bought legendary New York music retailer Manny’s from Sam Ash. Sam Ash itself was later purchased by Gonher Music Middle for $15 million.

Its closure was seismic so far as the musical devices business was involved, and so many specialists weighed in on the explanations for its collapse. Music Trades editor Brian T. Majeski mentioned it mirrored “simply how dramatically the web has reshaped the retail panorama”.

“With roughly 50% of music merchandise gross sales now transacted on-line, producing [enough revenue to break even] at a brick and mortar retailer has grow to be tough, bordering on inconceivable,” he wrote.

Trump Guitars

After Trump’s second presidential time period was secured within the 2024 US election, a fledgling guitar firm – named Trump Guitars and seemingly endorsed by the president-elect – reared its head. Amongst its product lineup are an acoustic and electrical guitar – each sporting American Eagle and US flag decals and signed by Trump himself – promoting for $10,500 and $11,500, respectively. Within the case of the electrical guitar, as a consequence of its aesthetic similarity to the Gibson Les Paul, we requested whether or not Gibson – a notoriously litigious guitar firm – would get entangled.

And lo and behold, that it did. Gibson shortly issued a stop and desist order to Trump Guitars, which then subsequently altered its physique form and added a disclaimer to its web site, confirming it was not in any approach affiliated with Gibson.

Rory Gallagher’s Strat headed again to Eire

Well-known guitars often make their option to public sale, however no such case was extra important than when Rory Gallagher’s iconic ‘61 Strat – dubbed “one of many world’s most recognisable guitars” – went beneath the hammer. On the time, the six-string was anticipated to fetch between £700,000 and £1 million.

Shortly after, some people noticed a possibility, with a Crowdfunder launched to convey the guitar again to his Irish hometown, Cork, and even the Irish authorities “exploring prospects” to buy the guitar and convey it house.

The guitar was in the end purchased by Stay Nation Gaiety Ltd with the intention of donating it to the Nationwide Museum of Eire.

Catherine Martin, Minister for Tourism, Tradition, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media expressed her appreciation of the “particular effort made to make sure the guitar will return to Eire on a everlasting foundation”.

“I’m completely delighted that Rory’s guitar is coming house to Eire,” Martin mentioned. “I stay up for listening to extra of the museum’s plans to showcase the well-known Strat, which I perceive will embody Cork, the place the legendary musician grew up.”

Saying goodbye to legends

The guitar world sadly mentioned goodbye to a bunch of irreplaceable legends of the instrument this 12 months. John Mayall – pioneer of the British blues scene – died surrounded by his household on 22 June, prompting an outpouring of tributes from the guitar neighborhood. We additionally misplaced nation legend Kris Kristofferson, who died aged 88, iconic producer Steve Albini – who labored on the likes of Nirvana’s In Utero and Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, to call only a couple – longtime Allman Brothers Band member Dickey Betts, and MC5’s Wayne Kramer, who died aged 75. Vic Flick, guitarist on the basic James Bond theme, additionally handed away aged 87.

We thank every one of many guitarists who’ve died this 12 months for his or her immeasurable contributions to the guitar neighborhood over their illustrious careers.

Alex Lifeson partnered with Godin to launch Lerxst Guitars

Introduced at this 12 months’s NAMM present, Lerxst – the model headed up by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson – launched its first guitar, the Limelight. Impressed by Lifeson’s iconic Hentor Sportscaster guitars from the mid-’80s, the Limelight reimagined that authentic idea with “fashionable half choice and craftsmanship to create a high-quality, forward-thinking instrument designed for at this time’s gamers”.

And final month, the model adopted up with its second providing, the Grace, which honoured the fortieth anniversary of Rush’s 1984 album, Grace Beneath Strain.

“Working with Alex to craft and refine these signature devices has been a tremendous alternative to push the boundaries of what we consider a contemporary, versatile instrument ought to be able to,” Godin Guitars President Simon Godin mentioned.

A pedal launched which makes your guitar sound like a cat

Lately, it appears there’s a pedal for all the things. And with the arrival of the Meowdulator – which makes your guitar sign sound like a cat – that assertion has by no means been more true.

Developed by B’s Music Store  in collaboration with Cusack Music, this pedal is basically a cat in a stompbox, bringing all of the feline allure straight to your guitar. With three management knobs all labelled “meow”, you may crank up the depth of your guitar’s meows to your coronary heart’s content material.

Dubbed a “monophonic synth” which “allows you to discover a spread of weird and pleasant cat sounds”, the Meowdulator boasts eight voicings, every with its personal meow. Whether or not you need the sharp chirp of the Staccato Kitten, the digital purr of the Acid Kitty Synth, or the erratic squawk of the Kitty Scream Synth, there’s a sound for each event.

Gibson/Dean lawsuit overturned

Two years after Dean was discovered responsible of trademark infringement and counterfeiting of Gibson’s physique shapes, the model gained the possibility for the case to be retried, after the unique verdict was reversed on attraction.

The US Courtroom of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered the case to be retried, as in accordance with the three-judge panel, the unique decide within the case was unsuitable to limit sure proof from being offered to the jury, stating that the jury “was not offered with a whole image of what occurred”.

In that authentic verdict, the jury discovered that Dean had infringed on Gibson’s physique form emblems for the Flying V, Explorer and SG, in addition to separate emblems for the Dove Wing headstock and the Hummingbird acoustic guitar. The jury additionally discovered that Dean marketed counterfeits of the Flying V, Explorer and SG physique shapes, and the Gibson Hummingbird.

Sammy Hagar recalled what Eddie Van Halen was like on Van Halen’s 2004 World Tour

Former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar mirrored on the band’s 2004 tour, and it painted a sorry image of Eddie Van Halen’s points with dependancy on the time. In a 2016 interview with AXS TV, which was revealed on-line this 12 months, Hagar even claimed that his expertise on the tour was “the worst expertise” of his life.

The explanation for this, in accordance with Hagar, is due to EVH’s drug and alcohol abuse, and the affect it had on him each emotionally and bodily. “Eddie was utterly whacked out off the charts on alcohol and medicines,” Hagar says.

“Poor man… he was actually in unhealthy form,” Hagar says. “I believed he was going to die. I’ve by no means met an individual like that in my life,” he says. “[He tried] to bust home windows out of a G5 airplane at 4,000 ft with a wine bottle… it ain’t even our airplane, it’s a rental airplane!”

A Taylor Swift fan was going to promote a signed guitar to pay for her wedding ceremony – till fellow Swifties stepped in to assist

Off the again of her monolithic Eras tour, this 12 months, the world bought a greater image of the depth of Taylor Swift’s fandom. And one fan was the recipient of its generosity, after fellow Swifties stepped in to assist pay for her wedding ceremony. Because the story goes, she had supposed to promote a guitar signed by Swift to assist pay for her huge day, till Swifties caught wind of it, and ended up elevating 1000’s for the trigger through a GoFundMe.

“I’ve undoubtedly teared up a few instances as a result of, once more, I used to be like ‘let’s look into promoting it, how a lot we will get it for,’” Emily Harris mentioned. “The truth that it utterly turned away from that has been a reminder that there are genuinely good, type, beneficiant folks on this world who simply wish to assist others only for the sake of serving to others.”

Man who purchased Kurt Cobain’s Mustang for $4.5m mentioned it “doesn’t make any sense” that the Nirvana frontman’s Martin bought for $6m

Jim Irsay, proprietor and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts and one of many world’s most notable guitar collectors, expressed his ideas on Kurt Cobain’s Martin acoustic promoting for $6 million. In fact, he himself purchases Cobain’s Mustang for $4.5 million.

Irsay asserted that the worth “doesn’t make any sense”. Irsay paid $4,550,000 for Cobain’s iconic left-handed Fender Mustang – simply $1.5 million lower than the “nonsensical” value of Cobain’s Martin D-18E.