Sam Ash LA on Twitter

Hey everybody. I set up a Twitter account for the Southern California Sam Ash Music stores:

http://twitter.com/samashla

I'll tweet about what's going on in and around the Sam Ash stores in LA, OC, IE, SF Valley, South Bay...

Let's do this!

Peter Erskine at Sam Ash

Peter Erskine played a great series of drum clinics at Sam Ash Music in Southern California.

Peter was joined by Bob Sheppard on tenor sax and Darek Oles on upright bass. 

The jazz trio played at the new Sam Ash Drums on Sunset store in Hollywood, followed by appearances in Cerritos, Ontario and Canoga Park. Peter talked about how he's been using the Zoom H4n portable recorder to capture his performances on stage, in the studio, in rehearsals and in between sessions. The event was sponsored by Zoom, DW, Zildjian, Evans and Vic Firth.

Line 6 Clinics Featuring Spider Valve Amp & Pod X3

Line 6 Spider Valve™ is the result of a groundbreaking collaboration between Line 6 and Reinhold Bogner fusing the versatility of modeling with the performance and feel of a world-class tube amplifier. Modeling Flexibility Fused with Tube Amp Performance.

The desktop-friendly POD® X3 represents the exciting evolution of the classic bean-shaped digital guitar amp modeler, with an expanded array of 78 guitar amps, from high-wattage heavyweights to boutique beauties and vintage treasures.

Line 6 is coming to 4 Sam Ash locations in SoCal to showcase the new Pod X3 and Spider Valve Amp.

Mon. May 19 - Canoga Park, CA
Tue. May 20 - Ontario Mills, CA
Wed. May 21 - Westminster, CA
Thu. May 22 - Cerritos, CA

Clinics begin at 7 PM. Admission: Free. Sponsored by Line 6 and Sam Ash.

John Favicchia Drum Clinics

John Favicchia has been called "one of the most musical and well-rounded drummers." His versatility has enabled him to play gigs and drum clinics worldwide. In addition to playing with his band, Dharma All Stars, he has performed and/or recorded with Steve Khan, Larry Coryell, Harvie Swartz, Chieli Minucci, David Mann, Bob Malach, Dean Brown, Mike Pope, Lonnie Plaxico and Steve Adelson.

Upcoming John Favicchia drum clinics at Sam Ash in the Los Angeles area:

• Mon. Jan. 14 Westminster
• Tue. Jan. 15 Puente Hills (City of Industry)
• Wed. Jan. 16 Canoga Park
• Thu. Jan. 17 Torrance

All clinics start at 7pm. Lots of free giveaways!

Sponsored by REMO, SABIAN, YAMAHA, VIC FIRTH, L.P., SAMSON, HANSEN FUTZ, DRUMFUN & SAM ASH MUSIC.

Sam Ash Music Named "Chain Retailer of the Year" by Music Inc.

"I am very proud to announce that for the year 2007 Sam Ash Music has won the Music Inc. "Retailer of the Year" award for chain stores. Thank all of you very much, we couldn't have done it without you."

-Sammy and the whole Ash Family

Sam Ash Extended Holiday Store Hours

December 2007

Extended holiday hours for the Southern California Sam Ash Music stores in Hollywood, Torrance, City of Industry (Puente Hills), Cerritos, Canoga Park and Westminster:

Friday, Dec. 14th: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Saturday, Dec. 15th: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Sunday, Dec. 16th: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Monday, Dec. 17th – Friday, Dec. 21st: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Saturday, Dec. 22nd: 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Sunday, Dec. 23rd: 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Monday, Dec. 24th, Christmas Eve: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Tuesday, Dec. 25th: Closed - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wednesday, Dec. 26th – Sunday, Dec. 30th: Normal Store Hours
Monday, Dec. 31st, New Year’s Eve: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008: Closed - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Extended holiday hours for Sam Ash in the Ontario Mills Mall in Ontario, California:

Friday, Dec. 14th: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Saturday, Dec. 15th: 9:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Sunday, Dec. 16th: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Monday, Dec. 17th – Thurs., Dec. 20th: 10:00 AM – 9:30 PM
Friday, Dec. 21st: 9:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Saturday, Dec. 22nd: 9:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Sunday, Dec. 23rd: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Monday, Dec. 24th, Christmas Eve: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Tuesday, Dec. 25th: Closed - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wednesday, Dec. 26th – Sat., Dec. 29th: 10:00 AM – 9:30 PM
Sunday, Dec. 30th: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Monday, Dec. 31st, New Year’s Eve: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

See sidebar on right for each store's normal store hours for 2008.

Happy Holidays!

Sam Ash Outrageous Weekend Sale

Sam Ash Music is having a big holiday sale this weekend!

Friday - Saturday - Sunday

December 7-9, 2007 Only

Ask for the Outrageous Sale List at the store!

Paul McCartney Interview

There's a great interview with Paul McCartney in the newest Sam Ash Gear Guide on page 83.

Paul discusses his greatest acoustic songs, his influences, his fingerpicking technique and his signature model Epiphone Texan acoustic guitar.

A used Epiphone Texan FT-79 acoustic guitar signed by Paul McCartney is currently on sale in the Sam Ash store in Canoga Park, California. Serial number: 03364006. Limited edition #105 of 250. Made in Nashville, Tennessee. It's a beauty!

On page 82 of the new December catalog, the Sam Ash Music Institute Guitar Lesson of the Month features the chords and strumming pattern in the style of Paul McCartney's "Yesterday."

Fans of The Beatles can also learn about the John Lennon Epiphone EJ160E jumbo acoustic/electric guitar on page 12.

To check out the new Sam Ash Gear Guide, sign up for the mailing list, download it at samashmusic.com or visit any Sam Ash Music store.

Native Instruments Holiday Specials

Check out the holiday deals from Native Instruments:
1. BUY TRAKTOR SCRATCH and GET TRAKTOR 3 for FREE!

• SAVE $229
• Offer also extended to TRAKTOR SCRATCH Crossgrade and TRAKTOR SCRATCH Upgrade customers.
• Offer valid if you activate TRAKTOR SCRATCH between October 24th and December 31st, 2007.

2. KONTAKT 3 CROSSGRADE available for $249

• SAVE $150
• For owners of INTAKT, KOMPAKT or any third party sample libraries which utilize the KONTAKT Player

3. GUITAR RIG 3 Software Edition Competitive Crossgrade available for $199!

• SAVE $100
• For owners of Line 6 Pods/TonePort/AmpFarm, IK Multimedia Ampltitube (1, 2, LE), Waves GTR. Because Amplitube LE is a qualifying product, all owners of Digidesign HD, 003, Mbox 2, Mbox 2 Pro, Mbox 2 Mini and Mbox 2 Micro products are eligible for the GUITAR RIG 3 SOFTWARE EDITION COMPETITIVE CROSSGRADE.

For the details on these limited time offers from Native Instruments, visit native-instruments.com or any SoCal Sam Ash Music store.

Ableton Live 7

Ableton is now shipping Live 7, new add-on instruments and Ableton Suite.Live 7 is full of enhancements to the audio engine including 64-bit mix summing, new and improved devices with side-chaining capability, better MIDI timing and hardware integration. Most-requested features, such as time signature changes, video export and multiple automation lanes have been added. The brand new "Drum Rack" streamlines beat making with an easy drag-and-drop interface and offers native sliced audio and REX file support.
New add-on instruments include Tension (string synth), Electric (classic electric pianos) and Analog.
The new Ableton Suite bundle includes Ableton Live 7, Sampler, Operator, Electric, Analog, Tension, Drum Machines, Essential Instrument Collection 2 and Session Drums all in one box.

For more on these new releases, visit ableton.com or any Sam Ash Music store.

Stage Ninja Retractable Cables

Are your guitar and mic cables a tangled mess? Does it seem to take forever to strike the stage after every show? We hear you.

Stage Ninja helps solve these problems with their new INS-26S and XLR-26S retractable cable systems.

A high-end braided cable with quality Neutrik® connectors, Stage Ninja® cable systems offer players and techs instant cable retraction with one tug of the cable after performance. Stage Ninja® cable systems eliminate cord-tangles while providing a damage resistant storage housing. Units also stack on top of each other for stage and studio space efficiency.

For more info, visit stageninja.net or any SoCal Sam Ash Music store.

Black Friday Sale at Sam Ash!

Sam Ash Music is celebrating Thanksgiving all weekend long with huge price cuts!

Thanksgiving Bash 2007

3 Awesome Days of Deals!

Friday, Saturday & Sunday
November 23, 24 & 25

Special Friday Hours: 9am-10pm

The Sam Ash Thanksgiving Bash starts on Black Friday at 9am and goes through Sunday, November 25, 2007.

Massive savings on such top brands as Fender, Gretsch, Charvel, Taylor, Larrivee, Jackson, ESP, Dean, Ibanez, EV, JBL, QSC, Mackie, Roland, Korg, Casio, Washburn, Marshall, Line 6, Peavey, VOX, Numark, Pioneer, Denon, Tama, Hartke, Samson, ZOOM, Yamaha, Selmer, Bach and more!

Make NO PAYMENTS, Pay NO INTEREST till 2009 on any purchase you make with the Sam Ash Backstage Club Card. Any sale qualifies - including used gear!*

Plus, get a Digital Chromatic Tuner FREE with any purchase of $199 or more!*

For a complete list of store locations and hours, visit www.samashmusic.com.

*Free tuner promotion: Limited time offer. Certain items from Andino, Apple, Buffet Pro, Edirol, Epiphone, Fender, Gemeinhardt, Korg, Marshall, Pearl, Stephanhöuser, Roland and Vox may not qualify for this offer. Sam Ash Backstage Club Promotion: Same as Cash offer on approved Sam Ash credit card purchases. No Finance Charges if purchase paid in full in 14 months. If purchase not paid in full or Account not kept current, Finance Cahrges assessed from purchase date and Minimum Monthly Payments required. Standard Rate 20.96% APR. Default Rate 24.96% APR. Minimum Finance Charge $2. Certain rules apply to the allocation of payments and Finance Charges on your promotional purchase if you make more than one purchase on your Sam Ash credit card. Call 1-888-367-4310 or review your cardholder agreement for more information. Extended financing terms (beyond 30 days) are not available for repairs, repair parts, or purchases of Gift Cards and Apple brand products. Used gear for trades only in our Las Vegas location. No Sunday hours in Paramus. Not responsible for typographical errors. No dealers, please!

DigiTruck with Travis Larson Band

The DigiTruck is a custom built 53-foot tractor trailer that provides a controlled environment where you can get your hands on the latest products from DigiTech, dbx, Lexicon, Soundcraft, JBL, BSS, AKG and Crown. The DigiTruck has a lounge that can sleep five plus a full bathroom with shower and demo room as well as a drop-down stage utilizing the latest professional gear.

The Travis Larson Band will be playing on the DigiTruck stage at the following Sam Ash stores in Southern California:

• Ontario Mills on Wed. Nov. 28 from 3-8pm
• Puente Hills on Thurs. Nov. 29 from 3-8pm
• Westminster on Fri. Nov. 30 from 3-8pm
• Canoga Park on Sat. Dec. 1 from Noon-6pm

There will be free swag, product giveaways and special deals on select DigiTech products.

Peter Wolf Production & Arranging Seminar

Multi-Grammy nominated, world-renowned composer, producer, songwriter and arranger Peter Wolf will conduct a music production and arranging seminar at Sam Ash in Canoga Park on November 20.

Wolf was recently knighted and awarded with the highest honor his birth country of Austria has to give: das Groesse Ehrenkreuz der Republik Oesterreich fuer Kunst und Kultur (the Great Honor Cross of the Republic of Austria for Art and Culture).

Born in Vienna, Peter Wolf studied classical piano at Vienna’s Conservatory of Music and won the European Jazz Festival as a solo pianist at age 16. He came to America in his early 20’s and began playing keyboards for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in the late 70’s. He was one of America’s top ranking studio keyboardists and arrangers in the 80's and became a hugely successful music producer and songwriter.

He has written eight #1 songs and produced, arranged and/or written for a wide range of musical talents including THE JEFFERSON STARSHIP (“We Built This City,” “Sara”) COMMODORES (“Nightshift”), WANG CHUNG (“Everybody Have Fun Tonight,” “Let’s Go”), EL DEBARGE (“Who’s Johnny” from Short Circuit), GO WEST (“King of Wishful Thinking” from Pretty Woman, “Faithful”), HEART (“These Dreams,” “What About Love”), PATTI LABELLE (“On My Own”), KENNY LOGGINS (“Playing With The Boys” from Top Gun, “Avalon”), ESCAPE CLUB (“I’ll Be There”), PABLO CRUISE, GRACE SLICK, SANTANA, THE POINTER SISTERS, CHICAGO, CLIFF RICHARD, NATALIE COLE, THE SCORPIONS, 'N SYNC, OLETA ADAMS and JOE SAMPLE and has worked most recently on SERGIO MENDES new hit album for Concord Records.

In addition to his career in the world of rock and popular music, Wolf has also scored a number of major motion pictures including Neverending Story III, Weekend at Bernie’s II and Leon DeWinter’s The Hollywood Sign, starring Rod Steiger, Burt Reynolds and Tom Beringer. He is currently composing songs and score for the upcoming film Band On the Run.

With 75 million records sold as a songwriter and producer, Peter Wolf was voted second most successful musician of the last century by a premiere Austrian magazine, trailing only Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Peter Wolf will lead a Production & Arranging Seminar at The Studio at Sam Ash Canoga Park on Tuesday November 20 at 7pm. Following the presentation, G. Miller will moderate an in-depth Q&A session. Refreshments, giveaways and admission are free. Sponsored by Telefunken USA, Korg and Digidesign. Seating is limited. RSVP by email or by calling a Sam Ash Recording Specialist at 818-709-5650.

Used Guitar & Amp Sale

Sam Ash Music in Canoga Park is having a Used Guitar & Amp Sale throughout the month of November.

Ask for the list of special deals. Save 10-60% on select used guitars and amps only at the Canoga Park Sam Ash location at Roscoe & De Soto during November 2007.

Barry Rudolph Deconstructing the Mix 2

Due to the success of the first Deconstructing the Mix seminar last month, Barry Rudolph will return for another informative mixing clinic. Rudolph will discuss step-by-step the mixing process he used in the final mixes of several recent record projects. Mixing inside Pro Tools HD, the primary focus for this tutorial will be his sonic concepts, musical aesthetic and the methods used to attain them.

The Studio at Sam Ash Canoga Park. 20934 Roscoe Blvd. at De Soto Ave. Monday December 3 at 7pm. Refreshments will be served. Seating is limited for this free seminar. RSVP by email or by calling a Recording Specialist at 818-709-5650.

Prashant Aswani Guitar Master Classes

Musician, guitarist, producer, composer, recording artist and former Musicians Institute guitar instructor Prashant Aswani will conduct a series of guitar master classes at four Los Angeles area Sam Ash Music Stores.

Wed. Nov. 7 at Sam Ash Torrance
Wed. Nov. 14 at Sam Ash Canoga Park
Wed. Dec. 5 at Sam Ash Puente Hills in City of Industry
Wed. Dec. 12 at Sam Ash Cerritos

Prashant Aswani will demo his ESP Viper and Xtone Paramount guitars and discuss the amps and effects in his signal chain. Admission: Free. Clinics start at 7pm.

Guitar Lessons Now Online from Sam Ash Music Institute

Learning how to play the guitar online just got easier thanks to Learn Music, an online guitar education company and music equipment giant Sam Ash. The Sam Ash Music Institute, located at www.SamAshMusicInstitute.com, has just launched, offering students a chance of a lifetime to learn guitar online from the best.

Broken down into simple video tutorials, learning the guitar with SamAshMusicInstitute.com is a breeze. The site offers users an abundance of preformatted video instruction guides for every possible guitar skill. Helping make the SamAshMusicInstitute.com website a must join for any aspiring guitarist is the personalized touch offered by the site.
Visitors that sign up for guitar lessons with the Sam Ash Music Institute are provided a personalized video instruction menu that offers each individual the quickest and most efficient path to learning the guitar. New users will be prompted to enter relevant information about their guitar skills and aspirations, and then be provided with a customized video instruction set.

The SamAshMusicInstitute.com website not only provides ground breaking high resolution video instruction for its members, it also has the best live support in the business. With instant live chat availability, students are able to connect with their guitar teachers quickly and effectively when questions arise.

Learn Music has been a trailblazer for online music instruction. The company has focused on pupil friendly lessons that get results and keep the student motivated as their core mission since 1999. Sam Ash Music is one of the nation’s largest music instrument retailers, offering world class experience and innovation in its field. The coming together of the two companies to create an educational website provides music students with something to be excited about.

“We have been providing online guitar instruction for over 8 years, and our passion is as strong now as it has ever been. Along with the explosion of the video game Guitar Hero there has been a massive interest spike and curiosity on what it would be like to play a real guitar. We are very excited to have partnered with Sam Ash Music to make this site the place to learn guitar online,” explains Learn Music founder and instructor Rick Napolitano.

Visitors to SamAshMusicInstitute.com are provided with sample videos, a detailed list of services offered by the company and a free 3 day trial.

With full length streaming clinics, a personalized learning plan, industry leading live support and a MySpace style online community, the Sam Ash Music Institute is unquestionably the place to learn guitar online.

To sign up for the free 3 day trial,
visit www.SamAshMusicInstitute.com.

PreSonus New Gear

PreSonus has announced three new recording solutions:
MegaStudio Producer gives you everything you need to record your music, create your videos and distribute and sell your music worldwide. MegaStudio Producer features the award-winning PreSonus FP10 (formerly FirePod) FireWire recording interface, more than $2,000 worth of music and video production software, 5 free uploads to iTunes from TuneCore, as well as free BroadJam.com membership and a complete “Go Pro” guide with tons of information on sharing, distributing and selling your music and videos. More than four hours of included tutorial videos provide step-by-step instructions on how to produce professional-quality recordings and videos.

The FireStudio Project is a complete 24-bit/96K professional recording system combining eight Class A XMAX microphone preamplifiers, 24-bit/96k sample rate conversion, zero-latency matrix router mixer and the PreSonus ProPak Software Suite featuring Steinberg's Cubase LE 4 48-track recording and production software, over 25 real-time plug-in effects and more than 2 GB of drum loops and samples.

Based on the award-winning Central Station, Monitor Station is a new desktop monitoring and communications system that provides talkback, speaker switching, input source switching and four ultra loud and clear headphone amplifiers.

For more info on these new PreSonus releases, visit any Sam Ash Music store.

Barry Rudolph "Deconstructing the Mix"

Noted recording engineer/mixer/journalist Barry Rudolph will conduct a music-mixing seminar at The Studio at Sam Ash Canoga Park on the evening of Tuesday October 23.

Entitled "Deconstructing The Mix," the seminar will follow Rudolph step-by-step through the mixing process he used in the final mixes of several recent record projects. Mixing inside Pro Tools HD, the primary focus for this tutorial will be his sonic concepts, musical aesthetic and the methods used to attain them.

Rudolph's vast discography includes engineering and mixing numerous gold/platinum certified records by artists Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall and Oates, The Corrs, BB Mak, Pat Benatar, Robbie Nevil, Enrique Iglesias, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Mathis, Mick Jagger, Selena, Tony Williams, Levon Helm, John Prine, Keith Moon, and The Beach Boys. He has worked with producers Tom Dowd, Steve Cropper, Jerry Fuller, Oliver Leiber, David Gamson, Neil Giraldo, Rick Rubin, Rafael Botijja-Perez, Stanley Clarke, Kevin Savigar and Rob Cavallo, to name a few.

Rudolph also writes product reviews and features for Mix Magazine and authors the "New Toys" column in L.A.-based Music Connection Magazine.

The Studio at Sam Ash Canoga Park. 20934 Roscoe Blvd. at De Soto Ave. Tuesday Oct. 23 at 7pm. Seating is limited for this free clinic. RSVP by email or by calling 818-709-5650.

UPDATE: Due to the success of this clinic, Barry Rudolph will conduct a Deconstructing the Mix 2 seminar on December 3.