Merry Christmas

I just realised that so far I didn't upload any pics of my latest guitar, the red Les Paul Classic that I mentioned some weeks ago, so finally here is one, again taken by Nina Voronova. Besides this I got two new endorsement deals, with Mesa Boogie and D'Addario strings. I have been using Boogies and D'Addario strings since ages, so it is great to finally get those deals. And finally, let me wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year, see you somewhere on tour in 2009.

Having some fun with Slash

In the moment I am having some fun with the new Slash signature Gold Top Les Paul from Gibson. I got this one and the Epiphone version to test them for German Metal Hammer magazine and I have to say both are really cool guitars. I have never been the biggest fan of Slash or Guns'n'Roses, but we share the same taste in guitars and this model really rocks, if you are looking for a great rock guitar be sure to check it out.

HipHop goes metal

It seems the HipHop / Rap scene is discovering metal... after Bushido sampling Dimmu Borgir it seems to be our turn now... Check out this link

Time to say good bye...

... to some pieces of my equipment. There are two items that I am not really using anymore, so I decided to put them on eBay, it just doesn't make sense to keep them under my bed just for the sake of keeping them. One is my Mesa Boogie Rectifier Recording Preamp, which I used as a backup amp for the "A Twist in the Myth" tour. Since my main Rectifier is a very reliable amp it was hardly ever used and now I took it out of my live rack. If you are interested, here is the link.
The second item is my last ESP guitar, the blue Eclipse custom. It was my main guitar for many years, but since I switched completely and exclusively to Gibson I also thought it makes more sense to sell it, the guitar is way too good to just rot under my bed, here is the link. If you want to get an impression about the looks and the sound of this guitar, you can check it out on the "Imaginations through the Looking Glass" DVD.

Back from Spain

We just came back from Spain where we played two shows last weekend. Both gigs were a lot of fun, even though the temperature during the first show, an open air, took us a bit by surprise... I think this was the very first time in the history of Blind Guardian that saw me freezing during a whole show, not even the lights were able to fight back the cold coming from the wind. But at least I learned my lesson, next time I will be prepared and have a warm sweatshirt with me ;-)