John Mayer has always been a Strat guy.  For years now we’ve seen him on stage and heard him on his recordings getting some pretty darn sweet  tones out of his impressive arsenal of Stratocasters.  One of his favorite guitars, “The Black One“, is a beat-to-hell Custom Shop Masterbuilt guitar, so naturally when Fender decided to release a special limited edition USA John Mayer Strat, they looked to that guitar for inspiration.  Presenting the John Mayer “Black1″, available only in limited quantities, and only two are coming to the Zoo.  If you want one, act fast.  MAP is $1,749.99.  Follow the jump for specs and more info.

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Gibson Trailer Event 2010: Saturday, September 18th, 11am – 5pm

One of our favorite times of year is when Gibson Custom Shop drives up to New York from Nashville with their awesome guitar-filled trailer and parks it right outside The Music Zoo for the Gibson Trailer Event.  This free event has always drawn a great crowd, who come to touch, hear, and play the latest and greatest Gibson Custom Shop models.  This year, we will be hosting not one Gibson trailer but TWO, as Gibson’s Montana acoustic guitar division will fight for parking alongside their Custom Shop colleagues.  As always, we will be giving away a beautiful guitar – a ’60 Les Paul Special ($3527.00 Retail Value) – as well as some other free swag.  Follow the jump for pics of the Les Paul, and more event info.

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In 1977, The Eagles released what would be one of the best-selling albums of all time, “Hotel California”.  Guitarist Don Felder wrote the original concept and demo for the hit song of the same name, Hotel California, and the rest has become rock and roll history.  Both the beautiful twelve string guitar part throughout the song and the epic dual guitar solo at the end from Felder and Joe Walsh have been endlessly transcribed and air-guitared for the last 30+ years.  Now, Gibson Custom Shop is set to release a fitting tribute to “Hotel California” with two new models, the Don Felder “Hotel California” Doubleneck, and the Don Felder “Hotel California” 1959 Les Paul.  These both with come in Aged as well as VOS trim, and we will even have some Aged/Signed guitars available.  Get in touch with us if you’d like to Pre-Order either or both of these special limited editions.  Follow the jump for more info and specs.

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It’s impossible to overstate Gibson’s significance in the history of guitar building – countless Gibson models have found their way into legendary hands and been written into music history.  We are all big fans of the guitars and The Music Zoo is proud to be a leading Gibson dealer.  We often make trips from New York down to Nashville to have meetings, discuss our custom runs, and learn about future products, and on our last trip we grabbed our camera and toured the Gibson Custom Shop, as well as the inner workings of the factory in Memphis, where archtops and semi-hollow guitars are born.  Come along with us as we see what it takes to create a legend.

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Under a hot July sun, the line of fans wrapped around the block, some holding their guitars, patiently waiting their turn to come inside and say hello.  For those who had come to The Music Zoo for the ESP Sales Event that day, the phrase “guitar hero” means something much more than the name of a video game.  There are still real, live guitar heroes in our midst and one of the true legends, George Lynch, was inside our store signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.  Follow the jump for the exclusive video interview and pictures.

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Following in the footsteps of the popular Pro Series guitars comes the new Pro Mod Series from Charvel.  These quality, high performance guitars are crafted in Japan and feature the amazing fit and finish of the Pro Series at an even more accessible price.  Starting at just $899.99, Pro Mod guitars will have high performance features not often found at this price point such as a compound fretboard radius, locking Floyd Rose tremolo, and Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners.  What’s more, all models include an SKB hard case with TSA latches.  These are going to be killer.  Follow the jump for pictures and downloadable spec sheets of all the new Charvel Pro Mod models.

Want to pre-order? Contact us today!

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The Music Zoo and ESP Guitars are proud to announce our ESP Sales Event, to be held at The Music Zoo on Saturday, July 31st, from 11-5.  We are truly excited and honored to have as our special guest the one and only George Lynch, who will be here from 2pm-4pm to sign autographs, talk shop, and as if that’s not enough of a reason to come down to the store, George will be autographing and giving away a brand new ESP George Lynch GL200MT Signature Electric Guitar to someone in attendance.  How cool is that?  Every ESP in stock will be on sale all day long with terrific savings across the board.  It’s going to be a great time.  Get here before 2pm if you want a shot at winning the guitar, don’t miss it!

Directions/Map

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We’d like to introduce you to our latest Music Zoo Exclusive Custom Run, the Charvel Carbonized San Dimas.  We are extremely excited about these revolutionary guitars, which were conceptualized after we discovered a source of specially kiln-dried wood this January at the Winter NAMM Show.  Our friends at the Charvel Custom Shop, who have been building our Natural Series and Nitro Aged Series guitars for some time, are the perfect choice to realize these unique instruments.  Follow the jump to learn about what makes a Carbonized San Dimas.

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The Fender Custom Shop Roadshow rolled through The Music Zoo again this year, and this time we got to witness something very special: Masterbuilder Dennis Galuszka assembling a beautiful custom Stratocaster live in the store.  The event brought Fender Custom Shop Manager Mike Eldred from Corona, CA, along with dozens of special, one-off and custom guitars to be displayed and sold, all of which surrounded Dennis as he did what he does best.  The crowd of Fender fans who came to the store were as transfixed on the process as we were, quietly watching Dennis shape the neck, carve the nut, install tuners, apply the decal, bolt it all together, and perform all of the final finishing touches that help set a Masterbuilt guitar apart from their lesser brethren.  It was really cool.  Video of the build and a photo gallery after the jump.

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It took a little while to get the awards out this year, but The Music Zoo is pleased to announce that we were named the winners of Music Inc. Magazine‘s Retail Excellence Awards in the category of “Overall Excellence” for 2009.  We are honored to be recognized by Music Inc., a trusted source of Music Industry news.  You can read the short interview that was published in the magazine.  Thanks so much!