The Guitar Invasion is On!

Now is a great time to be a guitar or bass player at The Laboratory. We're loaded up with an awesome selection of guitars and amps from Fender, as well as Schecter, Marshall, Orange, Vox, Peavey, Ampeg, Gallien-Krueger, ESP, Yamaha, Breedlove, Alvarez, Blackheart, Crate, and more!

In order to make things easy for you, we've made sure our door has hinges, allowing it to swing wide open, wide enough for a person to enter through. And wide enough for that person to in turn exit through as well, perchance laden with some new treasure. Inside, you'll find a sumptuous ceiling, which is attached to a rain repelling roof. All of our ladders are stored safely in the mop room, so there will be no walking under them or tripping over them. Cougars, which can leave a nasty scratch, are rare at best. Tunnel congestion has been virtually eliminated, mostly due to our not being located particularly near any tunnels. And the guy who rollerblades around the parking lot holding an angry beehive finally went away. He's probably out on a date.
As if those weren't enough reasons to regard with glee the prospect of entering The Laboratory, there's much, much more.

BREAKING NEWS
Just as we were preparing this newsletter, we got confirmation that acoustic-guitar superhero and singer/songwriter Monte Montgomery will be in clinic at The Laboratory. The clinic date is Saturday, June 27th, and is sponsored by Alvarez guitars. Monte will be performing and answering questions. We'll be giving away lots of free stuff courtesy of Alvarez guitars! We've bulked up our selection of Alvarez-Yairi handmade acoustics for the event since Monte plays Alvarez-Yairi exclusively. Stay tuned for details on the exact time of the event.
Schecter V-1 LimitedThis one time, a guy came in the store and said "You guys sure get some cool limited edition Schecters in here!" At which point we looked up from the noisy machinery and said "What? You want more fancy limited edition Schecters? OK cool we'll get another." And with that came the V-1 Limited! It's a V shaped body, with customized speed knobs and pickup covers. The pickups are the EMG 81/85 set, which goes "byrrrr nyrrr chunka chunka nyrrr nyrrrr!!" This is a very striking guitar, and there were only 100 made. We're really glad to have one to offer you.

Marshall Haze Amps
Marshall has entered the arena of low power tube amplifiers with heavyweight tone. At The Laboratory you can check out the Haze series. We have a 15 Watt head in, and a 40 Watt combo. We also have both anangled 1x12 cabinet and a straight 1x12 cabinet. Haze amps have the all valve sparkle and crunch you would expect from a Marshall amp, plus the gut slamming overdrive to power any set of rock riffs. Throw in integrated digital effects with intuitive controls and the ability to remember different settings for each channel, and you get a well oiled machine for making big fat guitar sounds. Come on in for a test drive!

Beatles Straps
Everybody knows that the real secret to the Beatles' success was their fine guitar straps. Especially Ringo. While he is not known to be much of a guitar player, his strap collection was the envy of the continent, and the oneupmanship which ensued between Ringo, Paul, John, George, and Bob, is the ultimate reason for the band's breakup. Reflecting on that sad account has moved us to stock up on the new Planet Waves line of Beatles straps.

Something in the way these straps move will help you carry that weight - across the universe if needed. Even if it's only for a day in the life. You can simply put your new Beatles strap on your guitar, then let it be. I'd better get to the end... I've been writing since yesterday. With a little help from my friends, most of this will be edited out anyway. Help!

Fresh Ampeg ShipmentWe have just emptied a truck of its Ampeggy contents, so that we could put them out on the sales floor for our fine customers of the four and five string persuasion. We're loaded up with heads, cabinets, and combos, all of which are sure to get the low end rumbling for you. Of course, there's plenty of Peavey and Fender bass amplification on hand, as well. You like stamps? Go to the post office. We're talking about amps.

Rockademy Live III - Revenge of the Fifth!
Rockademy Live's summer session begins June 6th. What exactly we mean by Revenge of the Fifth is anybody's guess. In the diatonic harmony system the fifth is a pretty rocking interval, so maybe it has something to do with that. Anyway, register in advance to avoid long lines and swirling eels, some of which may be exaggerated.

Rockademy Live is the live ensemble aspect of our music school, which presents kids aged 8 to 18 with an opportunity to experience the full spectrum of participating in music. This encompasses band practice, setting up for performance, and a live show at an actual rock club, as well as on stage at community events. Call us or email for details!

Super Saver Summer Lessons
Beginning in July, and through August, if you sign up for four lessons at The Laboratory, you'll get two free lessons (new students only). This offer applies to any of our regular in store private lessons on instruments and voice. School ceases for summer soon, so spend some satisfying seconds studying sonorous skills! It's like getting six for the price of four! We call it the Rocker's Half Dozen, or The Rockers' Semidodecacognoscon.

Guitar, Bass, & Theory Master Classes
The Laboratory is pleased to announce that we are now offering guitar & bass master classes with Dion Paci. Dion is a Berklee College of Music alum who is proficient in many styles on guitar and bass, including blues, rock, soul, and jazz. He's worked with many notable artists, like John Medeski, Bily Martin, Skerik (Les Claypool band), Bernie Worrell (Parliament-Funkadelic, Talking Heads), Dave Dreiwitz (Ween), and many others. Dion is also the teacher of one of our most popular instructors, Joe Lauricella.

Dion can take your playing to the next level, sharpen your music theory and reading skills, or prepare you for admissions auditions at the nation's premier music colleges regardless of the instrument you play.

Weekly half-hour or hour long sessions are available with Dion starting immediately. Call or stop in to make an appointment.

Rock: It's the only way to be ward off the unrocking!
The Ministry of Weekly Specials