Today's Top Stories:

  Rockabilly Singer and Songwriter Dies at 69
Not everyone will recognize the rockabilly singer and songwriter, Jumpin' Gene Simmons (not to be confused with the Kiss bass player of the same name), but he's well known by those who have followed the genre for his work with Elvis Presley and his 1964 Top 20 hit, "Haunted House." He passed away this week at North Mississippi Medical Center following a long illness. Simmons was in show business for over 50 years, working with such names as Sam Phillips and the Bill Black Combo and more recently, he co-wrote Country star Tim McGraw's 1994 hit, "Indian Outlaw." Simmons signed with Sun Records, the legendary Memphis label that launched the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and other 1950s stars. Brian Setzer did a version of his "Peroxide Blonde in a Hopped Up Model Ford" on his Rockabilly Riot Volume One: A Tribute to Sun Records.

  Gibson Announces Green Day Signature Guitar
Millions have seen Green Day guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong play on stage and in music videos using a vintage 1956 Les Paul Junior, and now Armstrong is teaming with Gibson to create the Billie Joe Armstrong (BJA) Signature model guitar. The Gibson USA design team in Nashville took a little over a year to design and modify this new instrument with direct input from Armstrong throughout Green Day's worldwide tour. The Gibson BJA Signature guitar will have a mahogany body and neck along with a custom-modified P-90 pickup in the bridge position that's unlike any other pickup the company has produced to-date. The BJA Signature will be available in three colors: vintage sunburst, classic white, and ebony. It will ship with a custom hard shell case with leopard-print interior and the Green Day signature 'Shock Guy' logo on the exterior.

  New In Stock At Sweetwater

• Taylor 714ce 2006 Fall Limited Edition - Like all of Taylor's Limited Edition guitars, this one is crafted from some of the finest tonewoods available. The Grand Auditorium body has an Engelmann spruce top, select maple binding, and Indian rosewood back and sides with a figured maple wedge in the center of the back. The soundhole has an inlaid abalone rosette and the entire guitar has an ultra violet-cured gloss finish. The tropical American mahogany neck has a 20-fret ebony fingerboard with pearl dot position markers. The onboard Taylor Expression System, developed in partnership with renowned audio pioneer, Rupert Neve, allows the 714ce to be played at concert hall volume without compromising the sound quality.
• Gibson VOS 1960 Les Paul Standard Reissue - In 1960, the Les Paul still had the same figured maple top and PAF (Patent Applied For) humbuckers as the 1958 "burst" but now with a new slim-taper neck. This Vintage Original Spec (VOS) reissue captures all the magic of the original, but while most 1958-60 Les Pauls came with rather plain or mildly figured carved maple tops, this one comes with a nicely bookmatched flame maple top in a color Gibson is calling Worn Cherry. Essentially, it looks like a cherry burst that's been gently fading over the decades. The 22-fret rosewood fingerboard has the traditional acrylic trapezoid inlays with historically accurate color and shape. The onboard BurstBucker pickups deliver that signature Les Paul sound. Ships in a deluxe reissue case with certificate of authenticity.

  Guitar Of The Day
These days, guitar manufacturers continually strive to outdo the competition, but it's going to be tough for any company to produce a more elegant and distinctive acoustic guitar than the Gibson Special Royal Art Deco SJ-200 Custom. This isn't just a guitar, but rather a work of art built for the connoisseur who demands the very best materials, designs, and true "old world" craftsmanship. One look and you know why Gibson chose the name "Royal Art Deco" for the image of luxury and glamour that has long been associated with the Art Deco period - epitomized by the Flying Lady, the statue that has adorned the hood of every Rolls Royce since the 1920s. But let's take a closer look. The guitar's bewitching beauty starts on the top, where you'll find Art Deco AB inlays and hand-selected Awabi pearl body trim on a solid Sitka spruce top. Awabi pearl is actually from a fine-textured abalone species that's revered for its shimmering turquoise, pink, and silver highlights. Herringbone-style marquetry outlines the 3-piece back crafted from Art Shop-selected quilted maple and center section of flamed Movingui, which is found only in the high forests of West Africa. A unique blue stain was created by Gibson Montana's Val Bolitho for this guitar only, and it will not be used on any other instrument. Other stunning features include gold, hand-engraved Waverly tuners, a multiple-bound fingerboard, a handmade and hand-bound Art Deco pickguard, and an ebony fingerboard with hand-cut abalone and pearl deco quilt pattern inlays. The Eastern curly maple neck is stained in the same unique blue (almost a teal) as the back. The trademark Gibson moustache bridge is ebony with gold mother-of-pearl and abalone inlays. To protect your investment, you'll get a beautiful Gibson Custom, Art, and Historic plush-lined case with certificate of authenticity. This a once-in-a-lifetime instrument that's unquestionably going to be a collector's item in no time!