Today's Top Stories:

  Santa Reports Safe Return to North Pole
After logging nearly 79 million frequent flier miles, Santa has e-mailed us to make sure we know he has arrived back at the North Pole. Clearly exhausted, he still managed a wry postscript: "Tomorrow it all starts over again!" What, you thought tube mics, guitars, and 32-channel, fully automated mixing consoles grew on trees? As for us here at Sweetwater, we sincerely hope that each and every one of you got exactly what you were wishing for this year. And no matter how you chose to celebrate this very special holiday, we hope you made music at least part of that celebration. All of us are looking forward to the upcoming new year with great hope and anticipation for a bright future for everyone right into 2008!

  BoomChik Becomes the LinnDrum II
Winter NAMM is just a few weeks away, and already there's news to report. Seems that the much-anticipated collaborration between Dave Smith and Roger Linn, which was reported at last year's show, will produce two new products. Originally slated to be called BoomChick, we now have the all-digital LinnDrum II and the LinnDrum II Analog, which adds an authentic four voice analog synth and 27 dual-function voicing knobs. Roger Linn Design will handle sales and distribution for the LinnDrum II while the LinnDrum II Analog will be available from Smith. Word is, the operating system will emphasise real-time performance with the ability to punch in and out of record on different beats, play multiple beats simultaneously and switch in and out of song mode, all without stopping play. Naturally, as the two companies finalize details, we'll share them with you right here!

  Guitar of the Day
We've recently received some absolutely stunning examples of some of Paul Reed Smith's, hottest models! The Singlecut line was recently revised to include a number of new models in both 25-inch and 24.5-inch scales, with or without vibrato tailpieces and even optional satin finishes. But the biggest star in the PRS heavens (at least at the moment) is the Modern Eagle. How insanely gorgeous are the three Modern Eagles we have in stock right now? Each is as much a piece of art as it is a musical instrument. In fact, this is about as high as you can go in the PRS line without moving all the way up to a Private Stock guitar. For the Modern Eagle, Paul Reed Smith and his staff developed a number of rich new stains that really bring out the 3-D effect of the fantastic maple tops PRS has become justly famous for. Just check out the photos! Right now we have three Modern Eagles in stock! Two have the Tiger Yellow stain, while the third (which also comes with a silky smooth PRS vibrato) is in Tiger Red. All three have natural-finish mahogany backs and a specially-formulated satin finish that gives each guitar just the right amount of luster to emphasize the richness of the stains. It also gives each guitar the look and vibe of a vintage instrument, where years of playing night-after-night in hot smoky clubs have taken the original gloss finish and muted it slightly. The feature list is top-of-the-line PRS, with the carved maple top, gold hardware, a premium tropical mahogany body and a remarkable solid Brazilian Rosewood neck and fingerboard (where does Paul keep coming up with this?), 22 frets and those trademark PRS rippled abalone bird inlays. The carve on the neck is wide-fat, which allows you to really dig into solos, as well as grab big handfuls of chords. The headstock boasts a special Brazilian rosewood headstock overlay with a special Modern Eagle abalone and pearl inlay. The guitar is equipped with a pair of sweet-sounding RP pickups with satin covers, while the switching is borrowed from the McCarty Series, so you get a master volume, a master tone with push-pull coil tap and a 3-way toggle switch. All the hardware is a combination of hybrid gold and nickel. Guitars this special don't come along every day - and certainly not three of them! But if you've been considering the purchase of a premium guitar that will last you the rest of your life, the PRS Modern Eagle would nicely fit the bill. What's more, it ships right to your door via FedEx absolutely free.