We’ve got some incredible events coming up at Mass Street Music and hope you can join us for one or all of them!

Friday, June 11, 7:30 pm – Bluesman extraordinaire ROY BOOK BINDER at Mass St. Music - Tickets $15 – get them here

His show here last September was phenomenal and we’re lucky to have him back this summer! Roy Book Binder is an exceptional blues player, renowned storyteller, prolific author and teacher. Book Binder studied at the hand of Rev. Gary Davis and through his legendary performances has kept alive stories and songs from the past as well as entertaining with original compositions. From blues and ragtime to folk and country blues, he’s a real musical raconteur and we’re very excited to host this phenomenal player and entertainer. Check out our Mass Resonator Blog interview with Book Binder too!

Tuesday, June 15, 7:00 pm – TAYLOR ROADSHOW! – FREE

One of our favorite in store events with our friends from Taylor Guitars sharing unique one-off Taylor guitars, tales of Bob Taylor, and giving away lots of cool free stuff. This year every attendee gets a free subscription to Premier Guitar, gets to register to win a free Taylor plus there’s free Elixir strings and other goodies while supplies last. We’ll have snacks and beverages on hand too. It’s a guaranteed good time.

Saturday, June 26, 9am – Elbow Room FREE BEGINNING UKE WORKSHOP - FREE

Starting on uke? Want to brush up? Or just curious why this wee traditional instrument is so popular? Our own Jason Jones, a uke enthusiast, will go over a variety of ukes and teach a song or two on soprano. Bring your uke – we’ll also have a few of our new Kala ukes here to use.

Folks – super excited about the new summer issue of Fretboard Journal which is arriving in the store any day – this issue has the great Dave Rawlings on the cover and a great interview with him. Also Jethro Burns of Homer &  Jethro fame (infamy?), King Sunny Ade, a great profile on Huss & Dalton, a really nice look inside Gene ‘B-Bender’ Parson’s world, the unique luthiery of Allan Beardsell and a heck of a lot more – including all the great  photos they always deliver. I got a sneak peek at the issue and it’s one of their best. Keep an eye on the back ad pages for our first ad in Fretboard this issue – we love the magazine and are really proud to support them as an advertiser.

(Ed. -This guitar arrived 5/20/10 and it is outstanding. Click the photo for more shots of this black beauty.) This black glitter EJ is may be the slickest we’ve seen from Don’s house of killer guitars (or Grosh Guitars as they’re usually known)…it’s fully loaded with 3 P90s and sports one of the swankiest finishes to come out of the Colorado luthier’s shop. Should be arriving any day and yes, it’s available…

Click the photo for more views of this dark sonic masterpiece

The Cortez! Based on a classic 5E3 design...classic and slick!

We’re proud to announce that Tungsten Amplification has a new home right here at Mass. Street Music! Adam Palow, the founder of Tungsten Amplifiers is making, what we believe, the finest Fender-inspired tweed amps in the boutique market. He’s building them with the best components available, including Mercury Magnetics output transformers and specially designed Weber speakers. These amps are very musical and touch responsive, giving you ultimate control over your tone! You’ll be as impressed as we are when you check out the Tungsten Amps sound clips right here.

The chassis of the Tungsten Amps 'Cortez'!

Initially we’ll be getting a Tungsten Mosaic 8″ combo in lacquered tweed, a Tungsten Cortez 12″ Combo and a Tungsten Crema Wheat 12″ combo. These should be hitting the store here in mid to late June.  Stay tuned!

We have a lot of really cool gear in the store right now (in a addition to the Kala Uke palm tree!). Here’s what we’ve been drooling over lately…

John Flynn – Dr. Z Remedy

This amp is nothing short of amazing. No wonder every review gives it the highest ratings. It has such a beautiful Plexi sound, but I find it to be much richer. It can drive like a Plexi, but it also has an amazing clean tone when backing off the volume. Fantastically dynamic as well – so soulful. I can’t imagine a better amp of this type out there and it’s priced so competitively. The Remedy gets a 10 out of 10 from me.

Flynn's pick!

Jim Baggett – Martin 000-28VS

I’ve always been a fan of the 12 fret slot headstock guitars. This one really has that great Martin feel and look .The pyramid bridge is very pretty and vintage correct looking. This guitar has a subtle elegance in both looks and sound – plus that inviting  ‘play me’ quality that I like in a guitar.

Jim says this Martin has some nice vintage qualities

Tim Nelson – Collings CW Brazilian

With fewer than 30 of these original Collings Clarence White guitars built with Brazilian, this is a rare bird indeed. Brazilian of this quality has become increasingly difficult to find. If you’ve been thinking of an investing in a modern guitar, I feel this is an heirloom quality instrument – a truly wonderful guitar.

No one is going to argue with Tim on his pick of this Collings CW Brazilian!

Matthew Khomsi – Ernie Ball Music Man Stealth Bongo Bass

I just love this bass. It can turn heads on stage, not just because of its super cool edge, but because it sounds humongous! Music Man’s Bongo absolutely sounds different than their Stingrays, so don’t think for a second this is just a different body style – it’s the best Music Man bass I’ve heard.

Matthew's fave

Matt Christenot – Tom Anderson Mongrel

Unbelievable player. Really sleek with a great feel and sound.

The Mongrel - one of the coolest new guitars this month

Brian Soden – Collings 290

There is nothing fancy about this guitar in regard to bells and whistles – it’s strictly business and a serious tone machine! I love the feel of the neck as well, definitely not small, but a comfy profile. Another appointment on this 290 that is extremely helpful is the contoured heel. Access to higher frets is very easy, so if you’re in the middle of a great lead part, you won’t have that feeling of unsureness when you reach for those notes!

Woah!

Jason Jones – Griffith Pick

Super comfortable, this bovine hoof pick is very expressive, projecting a bright, articulate sound that is wonderful for bluegrass in particular.

Isaac Flynn – Fender Steve Harris P-Bass

I love this bass! When it first came in, I immediately picked it up and started to play it. Everything about it says awesome. The mirror pickguard is a really nice touch. With this bass, you can look cool playing and you can check in the pickguard to make sure there’s no food in your teeth too…cool.

Isaac says the mirrored pickguard is great for checking your teeth too

Repair Shop: Mike Runyon – Seuf OF-16 Bass

This is one the best looking relics jobs I’ve seen! The Vintage Fralin pickups give this a really nice punch too. I can’t believe it’s still here!

What's this still doing here?

Anne Tangeman – Collings 290 & Ibanez Jet King

It’s a total toss up for me between these two…’What?’ you say, ‘Are you kidding?’ Well, if I had enough dough, I’d get the 290. This is a guitar for the ages, seriously. I think you’d be hard pressed to find yourself hankering after any other guitar once you’ve got this in your hands. It’s like the holy grail. Now the Ibanez Jet King, a totally different beast. This one also has some classic vibe to it, in a different way, and it fits my budget better. It’s fun to play, sounds great plus (BONUS!) it’s Surf Green, so there you have it.

It's no 290, but it's pretty freakin' cool!

Chucho – Mass Street Music Polish Cloth

Chucho loooves the new microfiber cleaning cloth with Mass Street’s logo on it. It’s doesn’t come with any cardboard for chewing, but he loves toting the cloth around the shop…now if we could just teach him to polish a few guitars.

Keep it clean folks!