Just thought you might want to know about these low stock running items as they won’t be manufactured anymore (speaking about the cases in special). So here’s your chance to grab until it lasts, for a price that beats every other place:

Electric Guitar Flight Case w/wheels and Free Gig Bag $220.00 (FREE 48US SHIPPING) – 5 more left!

76 Key Keyboard Flight Case w/ Wheels $210.00 (FREE 48US SHIPPING) – 3 more left!

Standard 4 Space Rack Case 18″ Deep $129.00 (FREE 48US SHIPPING) – 3 more left!

Les Paul Guitar Flight Case w/wheels $215.00 (FREE 48US SHIPPING) – 3 more left!

Celestion AlNiCo Gold G12 $258.00 – 2 more left!

Celestion Heritage G12-65 $160.00 – 3 more left!

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Pedaltrain Grande

Sooooo, how many of you here have stashes of FX pedals you aren’t using because they don’t fit on your pedalboards?! Don’t be shy, confess it! Me included, yes. I find myself swapping guitar pedals every month or so when I have this gig or that where a certain sound, or style is needed. What a pain!
The thing is that by pulling them out then in, there’s a certain degree of wear and tear applied to the jacks, cable strains, etc. that leads (if done often as me) to all sorts of surprises, like faulty connections, short circuits, fatigued jacks and the list goes on.

But what if you could fit ALL your pedals on a decent sized pedal board where they stay put, wired to your heart’s desire in a neat way, wide enough to comfortably fit an M13 true bypass switching strip? The Pedaltrain Grande (aka Pedaltrain 4) might just fit your bill… Literally!

What’s In The Package?

I was surprised to discover right out of the box how light the Pedaltrain Grande frame is. It weighs only about 8 lbs, despite its humongous dimensions (42″W x 16″ x 3.5″H). The frame,  made of aluminum alloy (a durable and light material used in aerospace manufacturing) has an angled profile which will let you easily install the power supply boxes needed to power your pedals, such as the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power or Pedaltrain’s own PedalPower 1250 right underneath the frame.

Pedaltrain Grande Frame

Heavy Duty Flight Case

The flight case has all the qualities of a professional tour-grade case. It has low profile wheels on one side so you can easily cart it (believe me, you need the wheels on a case this size), recessed lockable latches, gunmetal grey exterior (that averages 10 degrees cooler than common black), and my favorite, sturdy handles. Why favorite? Because those are the first to go if they are flimsy and thin as you find on most of the cases!

The case measures 50″ x 20″ x 9″ and weighs 37 Lbs.

Pedaltrain Grande Flight Case

Recessed lockable latches approved by TSA – Raise your hands those of you who have nightmares of a greasy hands dude opening your case just to see what’s inside and even touching, or worst… Relax, these hard cases feature ProStageGear’s own created recessed lockable latches, to be used with TSA approved locks. Your nightmares are no more. You can go to bed now. Sweet dreams!

Low Profile Wheels

Heavy duty low profile wheels – Chances are that your Pedaltrain Grande might gain a few extra pounds after you add all your pedals. The good folks at ProStageGear mounted low profile wheels to one end of the case, making a breeze to walk!

Battleship Grey Color Exterior

Battleship grey exterior color – Everyone knows it. You can easily turn a black exterior flight case into a portable oven if left out in the sun! Just think of your precious pedals cooking in there! While you should NEVER leave your instrument case out in direct sun, with a grey colored exterior, the interior temperature will  averages 10 degrees cooler than with most common black exterior cases.

High Quality Handle

Seriously Strong Handles – This one is my favorite because one could argue that the handles on a instrument case are the most critical features. There’s no use to have a sturdy flight case with flimsy handles on it. After all, the handles are the ones that carry the total weight, isn’t it? Flight case makers are so caught up in the details of creating the perfect case that they fail to build a reliable handle! The handles on this case are made of thicker diameter metal rod than the usual you would find on others.

Velcro and Cable ties

Plenty of Velcro and cable ties – to strap your pedals and yourself to the frame. The Velcro is pretty powerful, and it firmly adheres to the pedals and frame. This way you can easily reposition your pedals layout any time with ease, assuring that you’ll have a solid grip on each of them.

Power Supply Mounting Brackets

Power supply mounting brackets – to mount your power supply of choice right under the board, saving board surface room, and neatly rout your cables underneath it.

Overall I will have to give this one a five star review since it really has some pretty freaking awesome characteristics! It’s Grande! (I had to say it).

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Amp Cabinet Spring Sale Schedule

Even if here in Chicago we are under the spell of subzero temperatures, we decided that it is time to start at least thinking about spring. And what better way to do this than to start with a Rhyme Musical Enclosures amp cabinet spring sale for some of the most popular Ceriatone models!

Each cabinet will have scheduled period (two weeks each model) when it can be bought for a 10% off its list price! The schedule will look like this:

Overtone Head

Overtone Head $224.00

March 1 – March 15 10% discount price:

$201.60

TW Heirloom Head

TW Heirloom Heads $189.00

March 16 – March 31 10% discount price:

$170.10

1x12 Overtone Combo

1×12 Overtone Combo $274.00

April 1 – April 15 10% discount price:

$246.60

Muchle$ 1x12 Combo

1×12 Muchle$$ Combo $329.00

April 16 – April 30 10% discount price:

$296.10

18/36w Heirloom Head

18/36w Heirloom Head $249.00

May 1 – May 15 10% discount price:

$224.10

Now go and mark these dates in your calendar and make sure you don’t miss out this cabinet spring sale!

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Mounting Styles

When it comes to mount a power or output transformer to the chassis, there are several ways to do this depending on your available chassis space. If you look in old Fender chassis you will find that the power transformers were mounted vertically, with only a hole in the chassis where the wires would pass through. Marshall on the other hand, had a lot of drop in power transformers where the chassis had to be modified to house one side of the winding. There are generally no ups or downs for either styles. It really comes down to a logical positioning of the transformer in your chassis design so it would not impede with other electronic components.

Mercury Magnetics has a simple system of  identifying their transformer mounting styles. When you order, keep in mind the following characteristics:

• Mounting Method: horizontal, vertical or flat.

• Footprint: the center hole to center hole dimensions.

• Layout: 2 or 4 hole.

Following are the available mounting styles from Mercury Magnetics transformers:

4 HOLE MOUNTING STYLE

Horizontal Mount – the transformer’s bobbin sits in horizontal position:

Vertical Mount – the transformer’s bobbin sits in vertical position:

Flat Mount – the transformer’s laminations (steel sheets that make up the transformer’s iron core) are parallel to the chassis:

2 HOLE A-FRAME MOUNTING STYLE

Usually this style is used to mount chokes or smaller transformers (like reverb transformers, etc.) where mass is not that critical so a 2 hole mount would suffice to keep it in place.

A-Frame Horizontal Mount – the bobbin is in horizontal position:

A-Frame Vertical Mount – the bobbin is in vertical position:

Other Characteristics

1. Endbells (caps that cover the bobbins and laminations) are optional. Not all transformers and chokes can be fitted with endbells.
2. A-Frame Mounts are standardized.
3. 4-Hole Mount transformers mount in several ways, including L-brackets and endbells with “feet” (stamped and folded, one-piece).

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On October 5, 2007 Celestion released a news article stating:

At Celestion all our guitar speakers are designed in the UK. We still manufacture our “premium” speakers, the Heritage Series G12M, G12H and G12-65 and the Celestion Blue and Gold in Ipswich. The remainder are manufactured in our own factory in China. They are made by well-trained staff who using exactly the same machines. Standards of quality and consistency of this product are as high ever, as I’m sure thousands of our customers would testify.

All well up to here, right? But this was enough to infuse doubt (and rightly so!) in die-hard Celestion speaker fans who never questioned their tonal qualities. Unfortunately, our culture suffers from  ‘made-in-China-equals-cheap’ syndrome which (if leaving out the jobs that moved there) is not always justifiable since there are a lot of excellent things made there with exquisite quality – just look around you!

Honestly, I too, started to doubt their reliability. Lately I got the chance to conduct a blind-folded compare side by side using older modern days UK-made speakers (NOT Rola Celestions!) with their newer counterparts made in China (Greenback G12M, G12H30, Vintage 30) . The result was pleasantly surprising! NOT ONE of the Chinese-made Celestion speakers performed lesser than their older UK made models! Same dynamics, cone breakup effect and British voicing. Also they were breaking in the same way over time, proving that the cone material wasn’t changed. Visually there were no differences to tell them apart, so if the little “Made in China” sticker was not there on the magnet they would have passed for a UK made speaker without any problem.

FYI: The AlNiCo Blue-like speakers found in recent AC15 and AC30 Vox amps are actually made in China. Don’t confuse them with real Celestion AlNiCo Blue!

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ProStageGear Les Paul ATA Flight Case (PS-LP1)

What’s In A Guitar Flight Case?

So, among so many guitar flight cases what are some of the qualities you should look into that sets them apart from other cheap ones? Here are some of the most important aspects you should consider while shopping for ATA Guitar Cases:

Comfortable padding – There is really no use to have a sturdy exterior with strong handles, recessed locks, high profile wheels if your guitar is loose and moves all over inside as the case is being dropped in and out the truck or plane. The ProStageGear ATA guitar cases were tailored around the stock dimensions of your precious guitar (be that a Gibson Les Paul, Fender Strat or Tele or Jazz/P-Bass style), making sure that your instrument has a comfortable plush padding but also a tight fit when the case is closed making it practically immovable no matter how the case is handled.

Les Paul case dimensions

TSA Locks approved latch

TSA approved locks recessed lockable latches – Confess it that while you are traveling or flying, or maybe even while sleeping, you have these nightmares of somebody opening your guitar case just to see what’s inside and even touching the surface or strings, or worst… ok, I’ll shut up. If you don’t want anyone come near or touch your newly polished car, why would you want them touch your guitar with their doughnut greasy fingers? This problem is solved in these instrument cases simply by featuring ProStageGear’s own designed recessed lockable latches, where you can use TSA approved locks. Your nightmares are gone. Sleep peacefully now.

Low Profile Wheels

High quality low profile wheels – Ok, you land, but discover that the terminal for your next connecting flight is located at the other end of the freakin’ airport. Oh fun! There’s your chance for the exercise you missed for so many days! But why the sweat? ProStageGear added high quality low profile wheels to one end of the ATA guitar case making walking a breeze from one terminal A to terminal Z!

Battleship Grey Color Exterior

Battleship grey exterior – It’s a no-brainer. Having a black exterior instrument case left out in a hot summer sun calls for nothing but trouble. Heck, you can turn that thing into a portable oven! Imagine your guitar baking in there! Not a pleasant thought. While you should NEVER, NEVER, NEVER leave your guitar case out in the sun, having a grey exterior, averages 10 degrees cooler temperature than common black.

High Quality Handle

Strong Handles – The last thing you need while racing from one end to the other of the airport is to have the handle break off your case – which is THE CASE with many other brands! What use is to have a strong guitar case but have flimsy handles on it? In the end they carry all the instrument case’s weight. Manufacturers are so lost in the details of designing the perfect case that they sometimes forget to build a reliable handle! ProStageGear’s handles are made of thicker metal rod than the usual you would find on others.

The Right Musical Instrument Case

ProStageGear has three guitar cases tailored after the most popular guitars of all times. Of course they will fit same style guitars with no problem at all.

Les Paul Guitar Flight Case

For Gibson Les Paul style guitars there’s the PS-LP1 guitar case:

• Rough inside dims: 41″ x 13″ x 5″
• Weight (net): 25.0 Lbs
• Recessed lockable latches (for TSA approved locks)
• Durable low profile wheels
• Battleship grey exterior.

Fender Strat or Tele style guitar case

For Fender style Stratocaster or Telecaster guitars, there’s the PS-ST1 guitar case:

• Rough inside dims: 40″ x 13″ x 4″
• Weight (net): 24.0 Lbs
• Recessed lockable latches (for TSA approved locks)
• Durable low profile wheels
• Battleship grey exterior.

Electric Jazz/P-Bass guitar flight case

For Jazz/P-Bass guitars, there’s the PS-BC1 bass guitar case:

• Rough inside dims: 47″ x 13″ x 4″
• Weight (net): 27.0 Lbs
• Recessed lockable latches (for TSA approved locks)
• Durable low profile wheels
• Battleship grey exterior.

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… with only one years delay. Celestion was getting ready to release these in the summer of 2008 but things got delayed so they finally arrived in my hands last week. This must be Tone Heaven for those who enjoy the  2×10 speaker cabinets (see all speaker cabinets here).

The first thing worth noticing was that there’s only 5 Hz difference in Resonance Frequency (Fs) between this new Celestion AlNiCo Gold G10 10 inch (80 Hz) and its older counterpart, the  Celestion AlniCo Gold G12 12 inch (75 Hz). This implies that you really aren’t loosing much bottom.  On the sensitivity (loudness) side, however, the Gold G10 is 2 dB less than the Gold G12 that has 100 dB, so it will sound less loud.

From the very start, having a power rating of 40 watts makes the Gold G10 accessible for many popular guitar amps on the market that fit within that range. Not to speak of the fact that you could pair it in parallel (or series) with a Celestion Greenback G10 for a superb combination of AlNiCo and ceramic magnet tone character with extreme versatility and in-your-face vintage guitar tone.

Celestion AlNiCo Gold G10 Nutrition Facts:

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I thought of adding this short tutorial video showing you how to access the Lower Pricing on certain products. These are products we need to display with the Minimum Advertised Price, per whole-seller policy.

However, as you like deals, we love deals too! Se we provided a more personal way to access a lower price than the one advertised, similar to what many sites or magazines do, where you see “Price Too Low To Advertise”, or “Call For Price” – instead of  price tag. This way we keep everybody happy since we do advertise at the Minimum Advertised Price, but also provide a personal customer-to-seller way of a special deal.

But, instead of you calling in for the price, we made it much easier. You only need to submit your email to request the special pricing. In that email you will receive personal instructions how to access the lower prices for those products that have a Lower Pricing button next to their regular price – like this one:

So, keep your eyes open for that button as you navigate the www.GabKits.com web site. You never know what sweet deals you might stumble upon! Once you do, go and spread the word! Here is the video tutorial:

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Heritage G12 M

Celestion Heritage G12M

Introduced in 1960, the Celestion G12M speaker was presented as a version of the already popular G12 guitar speaker.

The G12M, known widely as The Greenback (because of its green magnet cover) featured a medium size magnet (thus the M in its title) able to produce smooth, silky and warm tones with a very well balanced brightness and punch that was able to cut through the most foggy mix of the band.
The Greenback was a very articulate speaker, and prepared the way for many rock guitar players of that age.

But as time passed, the Celestion Greenback’s tonal character deviated from its original counterpart made in the 1960s, since the factory had to adapt to the available materials at the time, but nevertheless, staying the speaker of choice among for the amp builders.

The currently available Heritage Series G12M is a detailed truthful design and reproduction of the 1960s original speaker down to the same available materials used in that era (voice cone) and technology, featuring even the the solder-on connectors.

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Celestion Speakers

What’s up with the fact that every  guitar amplifier using Celestion Speakers receives almost instantly a proper British accent? What on Earth makes them so coveted in our amps, what’s that mystery or aura that defined and sealed the tone of rock for ever?

Read along about the characteristic of some of the most popular Celestion speakers that are on the market today!

What speaker goes with my guitar amplifier?

This proves to be a debatable question very close to a foodie asking “What wine can be paired with my dish?”

Given the fact that each and every guitar amp type (or rather to sound geeky – amp class) has a very distinct tonal character to begin with, it would make sense to match it with the optimal set of speakers. I’ll mainly talk about UK amps as we know them, to narrow down the multitude of existent amp flavors.

A very intriguing aspect is that the amps form one side of the pond will simply not sound proper or as we know they should with the speakers from the other side. There’s a very distinct tonal character in each amp that defines its own historic personality and popping a speaker that comes from another world or time will result in a tone with an identity crisis. For instance, how would a Fender Bassman sound with Celestion speakers, or a Marshall JTM45 through a 4×12″ cab with Jensens?

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