#gibson custom shop

[guitarbomb]

Are we about to see a new Gibson Theodore model?

If you have watched the recent Gibson Amplifier announcement, then chances are you would have seen the accompanying promo video. A video that appears to tease a new US Gibson Theodore model. Are we about to see a new Gibson Theodore model? During the official promo video for the new Gibson Falcon amp models, a Theodore model can be seen being played around the 13.45-minute mark. Are we about to…

[chrisburke]

New guitar day 🎸🤘🏻

[deebeeus]

A quick break from the @elmiravintageguitars pics to show you the main reason I have a smile permanently plastered to my face these days:

2014 Gibson Custom 1959 Les Paul Reissue.

[guitar-geeks]

These were sent to me forever ago from @sophiaugh that pick guard is awesome 🤩

[daddysothermusic]

Gibson Custom Shop Firebird V

[freebirdsworldburritos]

The classism in the "music gear" scene is fucking atrocious. So many people will shit on other people for using affordable gear as a way to justify within themselves that dropping $3,000 on a guitar was a smart financial move.

About 3-4 years ago I joined a band and a month after I joined we went on some video podcast. Play a few songs, do an interview, something I've never done before but it seemed like it'd be fun.

I wasn't able to really get a word in during the interviews (stuttering/speech impediment/anxiety issues ran wild) but I was able to speak up whenever the host went around and asked us what our favorite instrument/gear brands were. Weird question, but alright buddy.

I've always been a fan of cheaper gear. You don't need all sorts of expensive shit to get the sound you want. So when he asked my answer was "Squier" and the dude just started laughing. Because who possibly would prefer one of the cheaper brands??? (Keep in mind this douche had a whole wall of the absolute worst looking collection of custom shop BC Rich guitars you've ever seen.)

Eventually he backed down once I started arguing with him about it, but his immediate elitist attitude really struck a cord in me because I see that shit all over the internet in music communities. "Oh you only like Squiers/Epiphones/Harley Bentons because you can't afford BIG BOY guitars like a $5,000 Gibson".

Fuck right off with that shit. Why would I pay thousands of dollars for a guitar when I can get something that works amazingly for me for just a few hundred dollars? The extra money I save by not dropping 4 figures on a guitar or amp goes towards paying my bills, feeding my kids, just trying to fucking live and exist.

At this point I've had to sell 99% of my music gear after over a decade of following the gear chase. I only have a "cheap" acoustic I bought several years ago for $350 and it's the best guitar I've ever had. I love my little busted neck Hummingbird to death.

I'm much happier now than I was when I had a huge assortment of pedals and guitars to choose from. The Gear Chase is designed to make you want to spend more and more money in an endless pursuit of finding that "perfect" piece of gear. Guitar companies, partnered youtubers, influencers, and all sorts of advertisement campaigns are purposefully trying to misguide you into thinking you NEED their product. It's marketing and capitalism at work and so many musicians fall for it every time. I fell for it for years before I got completely fed up with it.

Go out and gig with your Squier Bullet Strat and a cheap amp you found at a pawn shop, fuck anyone that gives you shit for it. Go ahead and record with whatever you have at your disposal. Put out an album that's comprised of Voice Memos you recorded on your phone with just an acoustic and your voice.

Music, like any art, is about way more than what you used to get there. It's how you express yourself that really matters. Don't listen to the elitists and marketers telling you the only way you can authentically reach your creative vision is by buying their snake oil.

[bushdog]

Gibson Custom Shop Made 2 Measure Les Paul Custom w/ Ebony Fingerboard Gloss Brunswick Red 10.0 #CS302780 - Eddie's Guitars

[talaok]

hello! So, Joe mentioned in an interview that he bought a guitar and practiced a lot for his scene. Could you write about him going to buy a guitar and asking the reader who works at the store about 80's rock for his investigation? Something fluffy and flirty. thank you ✨💕

Pairing: Joseph Quinn x fem!reader

Warnings: None

a/n: ngl I had to do some research for this one but I absolutely LOVED writing it and loved the idea (I probably got a bit too carried away in the first part). Also, If anyone who knows their shit about guitars reads this, I'm sorry, I tried, I swear.

Btw funny story I was writing this on the bus and I completely forgot I had to get off and I arrived late at the cinema.

Part 2

A GOOD DEED

Today had been slow, it was 4 o clock and only two customers had come into the shop since you opened this morning, and only one of them actually bought something. It was a miracle this place was still standing and hadn't gone bankrupt yet. The shop wasn't yours but it felt like it. You were basically the only employee. There was another one, this very unusual,overly-enthusiastic, and jittery 19-year-old who had just finished high school and perpetually arrived late or not arrived at all, but he would only do a few shifts because he claimed to be a "free soul" and that working here "killed his vibe", so, practically, it was just you. Your boss, Luke, was a 56-year-old man who had inherited the shop from his father and he was probably the coolest person you knew. he knew everything about music and he could play every single instrument in the shop. He once told you that there was no point in telling people to buy an instrument if you didn't know what it felt like to play it. At first, you thought he was just being dramatic, but as time went by you started realizing how right he was, and noticed how it was much easier for you to sell guitars than anything else.  You had been working here for 1 year and a half and in that year and a half, he had become your hero. I mean, the man had a rock band, him, a 56-year-old, had a band with other 50-something-year-olds, and the best part was that they sounded amazing. You loved when he came into the shop because after you would beg him desperately, bugging him all day, he would always play something for you and you just adored watching his expert fingers dance on the guitar's strings effortlessly while you lost yourself in melody. Unfortunately, he wasn't coming today and you were really starting to lose your mind because of how bored you were. You looked outside the windows to see if anyone was coming, but the street was deserted except for two women walking by on the opposite sidewalk who seemed to be having a really fun conversation. Lucky them, you thought. You grumbled and looked around you. all the electric guitars were perfectly placed on your right, some on the wall and some on their designated supports on the ground. As you scanned through them, mesmerized by how cool they all looked, one caught your eye. Fuck, You had forgotten about her. How was that possible? Luke had bought her a month ago and the moment you saw her you fell in love. She was a Gibson Les Paul, but not the usual kind, he had customized her, so she was covered in silver glitters with blue flames coming down from the top. You had never seen something so sexy in your life. You sprang to your feet and dashed across the counter. "you are a real beauty" you whispered to the guitar as you cautiously took her from the wall. You weren't allowed to do this, if your boss were to enter now you would probably get fired. The guitar costed more than all of your belongings put together, but you couldn't resist, you just couldn't. She was too beautiful and you needed to know how she sounded in your hands. You peeped at the windows one more time to make sure Luke hadn't magically appeared to beat your ass and was relieved when you didn't see a single soul.  the shop had a little aisle where people could try playing an electric guitar put there on purpose and you made your way there. you attentively placed the Les Paul on the ground, unplugged the guitar from the amplifier, and plugged in instead the one you had just taken. You sat on the stool and took a deep breath. You could hear your heart pounding in your chest "calm down Y/N, it's just a guitar" you murmured to yourself. You exhaled deeply "Ok babe, what shall we play?" you asked the inanimate object "Oh, who am I kidding" you laughed at yourself as you positioned your fingers on the strings. There was only one song you wanted to play. You took one last deep breath before you started playing Sweet child O' Mine, your go-to song since forever. You learned to play it at 15, your dad always used to make you listen to it in his car and after he passed away you promised yourself you would learn it for him, as a tribute, and to this day, even if it's one very difficult piece to play is the one you know how to do better. You closed your eyes and started swinging your head to the melody, you had played this song millions of times before, but this guitar somehow made it sound even better. You started humming to the beat as you felt the deep and resonant sound's vibrations in your whole body. this was heaven, you thought as your fingers continued dancing on the strings. Your favorite part of the song was coming and you almost wanted to rush to it just to know how it sounded on that beauty, but you didn't, you continued and as the part started you bit your lower lip, shut your eyes, and smiled widely. It was like hearing angels sing, that is, of course, if angels sounded like 80's rock music. You began rocking your head to the music while rhythmically tapping your foot on the floor. "You're really good" you heard a voice in front of you. You jumped in your seat and widened your eyes. "Woh woh woh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you" The man in front of you apologized holding his hands in front of himself. You exhaled deeply relieved and, peered up at the person who was talking to you. he was a tall young man, wearing jeans and a very colorful t-shirt. his wavy and brown hairs were somewhat messy, as if he had just woken up. You thought that was cute. his lips were turned into a nice and genuine smile and his big, brown, and gentle eyes were looking straight at you.  Oh shit, You realized you were basically checking him out and you widened your eyes and cleared your throat to try and salvage the situation "Oh, I'm sorry I thought you were my boss" you spat out. he gave you a reassuring smile "Oh, is he an asshole?"  You laughed softly to yourself "No, not at all actually. but I'm kinda not supposed to be playing that guitar" you said, standing up, propping the guitar on the wall, and turning to look at him. "Well don't worry, your secret is safe with me" he joked and you smiled at him gratefully. You were about to say something when he licked his lips. Any sound you wanted to produce got stuck in your throat as your brain blanked for a moment. He noticed your reaction and his lips twitched into a smirk as his eyes traveled down your body ad up again quickly. His eyes found yours again and you swallowed thickly, hoping for your brain to start working again soon.  "Uh- Wha-What do you want?" you spat out and immediately regretted it. he frowned at you and chuckled softly "is that how you treat all your customers? because then it's no wonder you don't have many" he joked waving his hands generally at the store. You smiled at him "No, you are right, I'm sorry. Can we start over?"  "with pleasure" he grinned. "Ok. Hi, my name is Y/N. what do you need help with?" you asked with your nicest tone, offering him a wide smile. "Hello Y/N, nice to meet you, you have a really beautiful name. I'm Joseph" he introduced himself "And to answer your question, I need to buy a guitar" he explained. "Well, then you are in the right place, Joseph. What kind of guitar did you have in mind?" He laughed softly "Well, see that's the thing. I haven't played guitar in a long time and... well, all I know is that I need an electric guitar" he confessed a bit shily. "Oh, that's totally fine. You know, I actually think it's really cool that you want to get back into it"  "Thanks, I'm actually doing it for a role" he explained " a role?" you asked, intrigued "Yes, well, I got cast in this show and they just told me yesterday that I'm gonna have to play the guitar in a scene, so...here I am" he finished with a contagious smile. "Cool, I am allowed to ask what show or is it like a secret?"  "I actually have no idea" he laughed "but" he bit his lip "you know what, It's only right for you to also have to keep a secret of mine" You tilted your head to the side and frowned, confused. He nodded to the guitar next to you and your lips formed an o in realization "You're right. come on, spill the beans, Joseph"  "ok, it's stranger things" "Oh" you said, a bit disappointed He chuckled "Well, that's not the reaction I was expecting" You widened your eyes, mortified "Oh, no sorry. I'm very happy for you and I have heard it's great, but I've just never watched it"  He laughed "no worries, if I have to be honest I had only watched season 1 before getting the role, so it's not like I'm a huge fan myself. But don't tell people that" He joked and you mimicked zipping your lips. "My mouth is sealed" you smiled " Now, let's talk guitars" you said intertwining your hands. He nodded "So would you say you are like a beginner or do you remember some stuff?"  He paused a moment to think "No, I think I can still play, I just need a refresher" "Ok, well in that case I recommend you to buy a Yamaha Pacifica 112V which has very high levels of playability and build quality even though she doesn't cost too much. But... if you happen to have a bigger budget then I definitely suggest this Squier Classic Vibe ‘50s Stratocaster." you said, walking towards the guitar "she's very well-made, well set-up and overall she just sounds great" You looked up at him and noticed a sly smile on his face. "She?" he asked obviously amused You felt your cheeks redden. Usually, you didn't care when people found out you liked to treat guitars like people but for some reason he intimidated you. You cleared your throat "Yes, guitars are females, Joseph. Honestly, I expected you to know that" you answered sarcastically. He chuckled"You're right, I'm sorry. I should know better" he pretended to apologize. He looked at the guitar you were pointing out to him and then at you again. "you really know a lot about guitars" he commented "Yeah, well, as surprising as it sounds I wasn't hired just for my pretty face"  "Oh, so that's just a plus," he said with a smirk. You swallowed. As much as you pretended to be confident and not at all affected by him your heart hadn't stopped racing since you saw him. "E-Exactly"  There was a moment of silence as he admired the guitars around him. "the song you were playing before, Sweet- sweet something" "Sweet child o' mine" you helped him "Yeah, that one. When was it released?" he asked, finding your eyes again. " '88" you answered " Wow, that was quick" he chortled  " Well, you asked" "Yeah, you're right. so you know a lot about 80's music, don't you?" "I'm more of a 90's gal myself, but I think I know the basics. Why?" you asked "Well, the show is set in the '80s and chances are I'm gonna have to play a song from that time, so Y'know, I should probably learn more about that decade and you seem like someone that could help me with that" "So you want like a list of famous songs" "Rock songs, yeah" "rock?" "My character is kind of a metalhead" You smiled "Sure, I would love to help " He widened his eyes and beamed "Oh, thank you so much" "Ok well, first the classics so obviously: crazy train by Ozzy Osborne, Wrathchild by the Iron Maiden, Welcome to the Jungle by Guns 'n Roses, Photograph by Def Leppard "You stopped as you noticed his face, he was staring at you, frozen "You may want to write them down"You laughed softly, bringing him back to earth. He cleared his throat "Yes, you're right, I'm sorry" he said, pulling his phone out of his back pocket."Ok, I'm ready" he informed you after a few moments. "Ok, then of course Jump by Van Halen, Dr. Feelgood by Motley Crue, Ace of spades by Motorhead.. and then basically everything by AC/DC and Metallica" you finished your list "Wow" he whispered, stunned  "That's all?" "Well, these are the basics but there's a whole world out there" you smiled "What's your favorite one?" he asked intrigued You bit your lip and caught his eyes dropping to your mouth  “Is that part of your research?” his eyes came back up to yours. “I was just wondering” he smirked You smiled “ well, other than Sweet Child o’ mine, I know it's basic, but I absolutely love back in black” you answered truthfully, suddenly feeling shy. “Oh well of course, who doesn’t?” “Right? It’s THE classic. It didn't even take me too long to learn” He looked at you shocked, his eyes basically out of his skull “you know how to play it?” “Well yes, I mean, I’m not exactly Angus Young, but I’m decent” He grinned widely “ oh, now I need to hear it”. You bit the inside of your right cheek nervously. This guy... “Come on, it's for research purposes” he gave you his best puppy eyes and you swore you got butterflies in your stomach. Get a grip Y/N, what are you, 13? You scolded yourself. “Ok, I’ll play you the beginning if you promise to buy a guitar after. This place could really use the money” you gave in. “Deal” he said immediately, making you smile. You walked to the stool and sat down again, carefully taking the guitar propped against the wall. “You’re not allowed to make fun of me, ok?” you threatened and he smiled genuinely “I’m sure It’s not even gonna be a passing thought” You fished your pick from your pocket and took a deep breath, shutting your eyes. You positioned your fingers on the guitar and with a decisive strum, started playing. God, you loved the beginning, so iconic and yet never boring. Your fingers were moving swiftly on the strings as you were biting your lip to concentrate better while closing your eyes. That's how you liked to play.No distractions. Just you and the music. You kept going, putting all your passion into the movements as you started rocking your head and tapping your foot on the floor following the rhythm. You had forgotten all about where you were and what you were doing until you heard a faint "wow" coming from Joseph. You opened your eyes and looked at him. He was staring at you,him mouth slacked open while his eyes kept darting between your face and your fingers. You finished playing the first part as you promised and stopped to look at him. He was immobilized, you laughed softly "Are you still here Joe?" you asked waving your hands in his direction. He shook his head as if waking from a dream, "Y-Yes, I'm sorry" he chuckled to himself "it's just that, that's gotta be the hottest thing I've ever seen" he confessed with an incredulous smile. You blushed as you felt your heart skip a beat at the compliment. "Uhh, well" you swallowed "thank you" you smiled timidly at him as he reciprocated. You peeked at each other smiling for a few moments before a car passing by brought you back to reality. You exhaled deeply "now it's your turn to keep your part of the promise" you stated getting up and placing the guitar against the wall. he licked his lips "You're right,I think I'm gonna go for the most expensive one" he decided You laughed "Are you trying to impress me?" He tilted his head to the side and smirked "Is it working?" you narrowed your eyes and smiled subtly "kinda"

"she's all yours" you spoke, handing him the guitar he had chosen. Your hands touched as he took her from you and you felt a sparkle ignite from the touch, starting from your fingers and spreading through your whole body. Holy hell. You were pretty certain he felt it too as he stopped his movement and glanced at you briefly. You swallowed thickly and took a step back "If you have any problems with her or just need some help, don't hesitate to come back" "Will I find you?" "Probably yes, as I said, this place isn't exactly not-bankrupt " you joked "Well then I'm gonna come back for sure" "I'll count on it" you said as he walked towards the door and turned to look at you one last time before walking out.

You went back behind the counter and placed your hands on it. That was intense you, thought as you huffed closing your eyes. "So I was thinking"  You jumped out of your shink and widened your eyes It was him again. What was he a ninja? "You gotta stop doing that" He laughed "You're right, I'm sorry" "That was fast” you joked “How did you manage to already break the guitar?” He smiled and bit his lip” No, that’s actually not why I’m here. She’s fine, don’t worry” he said patting the guitar. “No, see. I was thinking…since I have to learn everything about playing guitar back again I might need some help” he explained “And you look like the perfect teacher” he said looking at you hopefully. You smiled at him “And what do I get back?” “You get to hang out with me” You rolled your eyes playfully ”fine, I felt in need to do a good deed today anyway.”

[bleachbleachbleach]

You can't kill my vibe

Like many others, I have been both enchanted and intrigued by the new TYBW opening theme song, "Stars." It has everything! Modern living world fashion! Coffee shop AU! Karaoke sing off! But I think the thing that has really captured everyone’s attention is whatever the hell Ichigo is doing with that guitar.

[TYBW OP 2]

At first glance there’s some things we can infer. Ichigo’s zanpakutou has been reforged and now he’s a dual wielder. He absolutely has no idea what he’s doing and needs to relearn how to use his sword, so of course he’s going to be clumsy and awkward in the beginning. But if Ichigo has one thing going for him, it’s gonna be his ability to just Square Peg Round Hole his way through any situation. No technique needed, if you can blunt force trauma your way through.

Notably, there are very few characters in Bleach with multiple swords (Ukitake and Kyouraku) and both of them I think we can go so far as to say have achieved mastery, as they have bankai and are Old (TM). So that’s great! Ichigo has some role models to look up to and can be inducted into the dual-wielder Hall of Fame!

Taking a closer look at the guitar in the OP though, it’s not just any double-neck guitar. Ichigo appears to be holding a Gibson EDS-1275, which is the “coolest guitar in rock” according to the Wikipedia page. While never widely used, the guitar was played by a couple of famous musicians such as Elvis Presley, Steve Miller (Steve Miller Band), Don Felder (Eagles), and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin). I’ll give it to the wiki page, that is pretty damn cool.

[And just for the sake of being thorough: Japanese guitar maker Ibanez produced a double-neck guitar that was based off the Gibson EDS-1275. It looks virtually identical to the Gibson (at least to my untrained eye).]

The Eagles are most famous for their song "Hotel California" and Don Felder famously used a white EDS-1275 for performances of that song. There are lots of various themes and interpretations of "Hotel California", many of which are fun to apply to Ichigo and Bleach. The Eagles vocalist said, “Lyrically, the song deals with traditional or classical themes of conflict: darkness and light, good and evil, youth and age, the spiritual versus the secular. I guess you could say it's a song about loss of innocence” which I think is some interesting fodder to mull on.

BUT! Ichigo is holding a red guitar! And someone else famously had a custom-made, cherry-red EDS-1275. And that someone was Jimmy Page. Page was arguably the one who popularized the EDS-1275, as he famously played it during live performances of "Stairway to Heaven."

[Jimmy Page in 1973]

I don’t have much to say about "Stairway to Heaven" other than it also seems to be a song about death. However, on a very literal sense, the song is about, well, a stairway to heaven. And you know who is ascending into the heavenly skies in TYBW???

[TYBW ep14]

So. Many. Stairs.

[itsmarjudgeloveclassicrock59]

Jimi started using 1956 Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar around April 1968. The earliest photos date to April 5th, 1968, which could possibly mean that this is something Jimi acquired at Manny’s Music shop, which is just a 30-minute drive from the Symphony Hall. At that time, the guitar seemed the have been used exclusively on the song Red House, and it seemed to have some sort of a white sticker on the top of the body.

The Les Paul was however most famously used at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East venue in New York on May 10, 1968, and at the Miami Pop Festival on May 18th. Aside from these two, Hendrix apparently hasn’t really played the guitar that much, since it was spotted during only a handful of gigs around this period.

-GroundGuitar

Photo Elliott Landy - Jimi Hendrix Fillmore East, NYC, 1968

[guitarbomb]

Gibson Custom Shop One of One Flying Vs - Surfs up!

Gibson, a revered name in the world of rock ‘n’ roll guitars, has recently expanded its unique One of One Custom Shop collection. The latest addition includes three exceptionally striking Flying Vs, each giving a nod to the surf culture of Southern California.  One of One Flying Vs The newly unveiled trio of Gibson Custom Shop One of One Flying V models draws inspiration from one of the rarest…

[mmguitarbar]

Let’s get weird 🔥🐦✨ 2000 Gibson Custom Shop Firebird VII, ostensibly a one-off in a Green Sparkle Burst nitro lacquer gloss finish. Super tidy 1958 Gibson GA-20 amp providing both moral and literal support. #Gibson #gibsoncustomshop #GibsonFirebird #sparkle (at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar) https://www.instagram.com/p/CngLq0FL0x9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[deebeeus]

1959 #Princeton 1962 #Tremolux 1998 #CustomShop '60 #CustomTele NOS

As you can see I have been monkeying around lately with a new backdrop for gear photos. I am trying to up my game this year in preparation for THE Southern Ontario guitar-related social event of the summer season (which of course is the @dlott65 Productions Presentation of a @chriswstringer8 Joint, the 2023 Edition of the Official Union-Sound, Toronto Guitar Friends' Friendly Guitar Gathering, Gabfest, and Geek-a-thon), which is coming up really soon!

If this year's gathering is even half as much fun as last year's it will be a memorable day indeed. I am looking forward to seeing everyone (both returning faces and new ones) and of course seeing (and photographing!) what everyone brings for show and tell! 😉

#FenderFriday#fender#fendertelecaster#tele#teletuesday#amp#amps#amplifiers#vintageguitars#vintageamps#fenderamp#vintagefender#tubeamp#tone#guitar#guitars#guitarra#chitarra#guitarre#electricguitar#vintageguitars#fenderguitars#vintagefender#guitarphotography

[tmbgareok]

Hi John. I recently saw a video from 1997 and for Spy you had what looks like a black Gibson semi-hollow body guitar (maybe a 335 or 339) that was originally right-handed and the pick guard rotated around. Was that your guitar? I don’t think I’ve seen it before or since.

JF: after our truck was stolen in 1995-6(?) with all our gear, I got an ES 335 (big red) and after goofing around with Les Pauls which felt kind of dead feeling. I got that Lucille model (like a solid es 335 with ebony fretboard) for a crazy low price in a store in Western Mass. It played great and sounded great, but it was insanely heavy and kind of woke me up to how uncomfortable heavy guitars are. At the every end of the 90s I sold it-for a profit I am shocked to say-right around the time I got my blue tele built by the Fender Custom shop.

[duckprintspress]

Aetherpunk

By a member of the Duck Prints Press staff who has chosen to be anonymous.

Note: Punk genres are diverse and always changing. Duck Prints Press is not trying to give a complete explanation of aetherpunk here but rather a bit of inspiration. Take what you want from it to create your own aetherpunk worlds!

On January 5th, Duck Prints Press will be launching recruitment for our next anthology: Aether Beyond the Binary, a collection of stories featuring main characters outside the gender binary living in modern or near-future aetherpunk Earth! This begs the question: what IS Aetherpunk? Well, read on and learn all about it…

Prologue: From the Aether

Scenes from the Aether #1: Bloomington, Indiana, 2013:

Lin steps into the café down the street from their apartment. The lights of the shop glow a pleasant green, reminiscent of the owner’s own magical aura. Soon, when Del opens the shop for customers, they’ll turn a more standard blue, but for now Del’s shop is cozy and quiet. Lin smiles, looking forward to seeing their friend. 

A shower of blue sparks flies from the kitchen’s open door, and Del scrambles out, cursing. When he sees Lin, he breaks into a wry smile. 

“Breakfast on the house?” he offers, his shorthand for pleading. 

“That’s the third time this week,” Lin chides, barely holding back their smile. They roll up their sleeves to go tinker with Del’s new, “improved” baking oven. “Why not use your old one?”

“The aether this model uses is supposed to be more efficient!” Del exclaims. Then, with a sad smile: “Plus no one trusts my powers. They still think the color’s associated with… you know.”

“Yeah.” Lin knows. They think of Del’s infamous brother, the deadly alchemist. “I’ll help you, but this is the last time.”

“Mhm,” Del says, nudging Lin’s shoulder, and adds telepathically, You say that every time.

You could try not being so smug about it, Lin half scolds, half laughs. 

“Why wouldn’t I be smug? My handsome, brilliant friend, the undisputed genius of the IU School of Aetheric Engineering, is fixing my pipes for free.”

Lin blushes but maintains their chiding tone as they say, their warm face hidden behind the stove where the power supply has once again leaked from its pipes, “Not for free. For breakfast.” 

Part One: What’s in a Punk (genre)? 

There’s been an explosion of punk genres since Bruce Bethke’s 1983 story Cyberpunk launched the genre. Though Bethke’s story may have given a name to this phenomenon, in his Etymology of “Cyberpunk” Bethke credits William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984) for really defining the core tenets of the genre (Bethke, 2000). He also marvels at how the cyberpunk character trope (“a young, technologically facile, ethically vacuous, computer-adept vandal or criminal”) has stayed remarkably stable over the years since his story was published. In 2022, when I’m writing this, it’s still very similar. The cyberpunks in the cyberpunk genre are the sorts of lone heroes who often arise in the isolating environments fostered by advanced computer technologies.

Why am I rambling on about cyberpunk? Because, dear readers, cyberpunk is the progenitor of all genrepunks. As the most widely explored and utilized punk setting, it has provided the blueprint on which other punk genres are built. In essence, every punk after cyberpunk is a reaction to cyberpunk, either embracing or pushing back against its ethos. After cyberpunk came steampunk: a retro, adventurous answer to cyberpunk’s gritty and dystopian futurism. Then came others: dieselpunk, sandalpunk, biopunk—even the very meta “mythpunk” to which Neil Gaiman’s work is often attributed. These days, even non-punk fantasy is often punk-adjacent. 

So what makes punk stories… punk? For a story to be classified in a punk genre, it typically requires two key elements: a distinctive type of technology (whether social technology like myths and lore or physical technology like steam engines, diesel-powered airships, or nanobots) and a point of view about that technology. 

The technological distinctions can seem fairly obvious: atompunk features tech powered by nuclear energy; nanopunk, tiny robot technology; biopunk, genetic engineering and biotech; dieselpunk, diesel-powered machines. But focusing on only the tech aspects can make people miss the point of having multiple different punk subgenres. 

Take this paraphrased version of a forum conversation, circa 2015: 

[User 1]: Hey, I’ve been hearing more and more about this genre called ‘aetherpunk,’ but I can’t figure out what it is. How is it different from just steampunk but with magic? 

[User 2]: Sorry to tell you, friend, but it’s basically just “steampunk with magic.”

[User 1]: Ah. So, completely useless, then.

This view is common but misses the point. The tech alone does not make punk punk. The second necessary element is the cultural context of the technology: how does it affect the people who use it every day? How dissociated do those people feel from their environment? From their government? From the inevitable march of society, driven at least partially by technological advances using the genre-specific tech? Punk genres live and breathe for their exploration of the intersection between technology and culture. 

Genreunk is a response to the world we live in. Cultural evolution happens when technologies—lore, steam engines, printing presses, atomic bombs—intersect with cultural habits and traditions and shake them loose. We don’t live in the only, or the best, possible world. When we write punk, in some ways, we’re rewriting cultural evolution. We’re asking for a new way of thinking about the past and how that carries forward into the future. How we would be different. How we would be the same.

Punk isn’t just a genre. It’s a tool for understanding humanity. 

Part Two: Clear Air, a History of Aether

In the beginning, gods breathed their essence into the emptiness of space, and aether entered the universe as the material through which the stars and planets moved. Humans in ancient Greece, attuned to this invisible presence, named it “clear air” and declared it the fifth element, along with earth, water, air, and fire. Other cultures gave this energy different names or didn’t name it at all but nonetheless knew it was there. Over a thousand years later, medieval Europeans called it “quintessence” and hypothesized that this element, rare on Earth, could be distilled in order to cure mortal ailments. Aether was a substance that could make rocks burn and lights glow. It became a key ingredient in classic alchemical experiments in the West.

Aether has always been the bringer of light, the unchanging medium through which energy travels in waves from its source to the lenses of our eyes, to the leaves of hungry plants, to everywhere on the planet and throughout the universe. Indeed, it was so recently believed in and well-known that late 19th-century spiritualists took photos of ectoplasm and declared that ghosts could send messages through the aether. 

Then, a mere hundred-odd years ago, we lost faith. 

The idea of aether seems preposterous now, when we know about electron fields and the theory of relativity which states that nothing in the universe is stable or unchanging (and we certainly don’t need a special medium that exists to move light around)—but is it really so much harder to believe in aether than in electron fields? Or in dark matter?

Why shouldn’t we be swimming through aether like a fish swims through water?

Part Three: What is Aether/Punk?

Aetherpunk, the genre, explores what the world would be like if, rather than finding out aether was simply a confused explanation for how energy moves through space, we discovered that it was a real element, something we could both detect and harness. The nature of the aether isn’t what makes aetherpunk what it is. Rather, it’s the exploration of the development of society from the turning point when we discover that the aether is real—how that changes the world, the people, the past, and the future. 

Aether, the invisible force, can be everything and nothing. It can be magic, or it can be material. In some disciplines, like alchemy, it’s both. Aether is made of faith. It’s ephemeral, often immaterial, and only visible once the viewer knows what they’re looking for. It can cause disaster or provide beautiful, clean energy for wondrous technologies. It can be a source of progress or of fear. But in the end, it’s still a thing that must be discovered and cultivated. It can’t be forced into existence.

Aetherpunk as a genre is more naturistic than earlier punk genres like steampunk or cyberpunk. Natural materials find their way into clothing and buildings and weapons and tools, and the shapes of these man-made elements are designed in ways that enhance their ability to harness aetheric power. There might be constructs of stone or finely-honed metal held together by aetheric energy, beautiful steel weapons that cut through stone using atom-thick edges of pure aether, skyships and buildings of gold, or of clear stone, or of glass and crystal. And the technology bathes its surroundings in a luminous glow of aetheric light. 

Like solarpunk and lunarpunk, aetherpunk is a hopeful punk genre. When aether is discovered and harnessed, it brings about flourishing communities and can help to heal the world. Of course there are dark sides—the dangers of a volatile power source that not everyone can control, the frustrations of the people who are unable to use that power for themselves—and anyone is welcome to write a dark aetherpunk story. But aetherpunk doesn’t come with the same inherent baggage as steampunk or cyberpunk. Likewise, people can write utopian steampunk and cyberpunk, but that’s the opposite of the “standard” core of the genre. Aetherpunk wants to explore humanity in a universe where we don’t struggle simply to light our homes. Where the power that runs everything suffuses the universe, and therefore everyone can reap the benefits. A world where our source of power doesn’t send millions of people to an early grave. What sorts of stories would emerge in this sort of world?

Part Four: Steampunk but with Aether?

Now that we’ve described what aetherpunk is, let’s return to that dreadful forum post, and ask for ourselves: what makes aetherpunk more than just “steampunk but with aether”? 

In short, everything.

First is the nature of the energy that powers the technology. Steampunk is a retrofuturistic genre that centers on the era when steam, fueled by wood and coal, was the main power source, around the turn of the 1800s during the Industrial Revolution. It harkens back to the aesthetics of the era, with wood and steel and glass materials, wooden ships that ply the air, clockworks and rivets and tangible, heavy things that work through sheer force. Steam is a thing with weight. It will melt your flesh from your bones, and it’s born not of faith, nor internal strength, nor the careful distillation of spirits down to their quintessence, but instead through fire. Another resource needs to burn to make it. Entire lives are spent feeding coal into the voracious maws of steam engines. 

Aetherpunk, as we’ve described, is born of magic, and thus the technology to use it focuses on cultivation and focusing energy rather than on producing something by force. Even the most cursory look at the nature of the energy source shows us how every aspect of society linked with producing that energy is different between steampunk stories and aetherpunk stories.

There’s also a very important cultural distinction between aetheric stories and steam-powered stories. In steampunk, the adventures of sky pirates and nobility are built on the efforts of a vast lower class who are systematically shut out from steam’s benefits. It may not matter to the story at hand, but the underlying class tension is always there. Like cyberpunk, steampunk takes inequality as a given, and places singular heroes into that world.

Aetherpunk is more utopian and egalitarian. There’s no assumption built in that in order for a person to use their magical flying ship, someone else must suffer to create the energy needed to fuel it. This distinction makes all the difference in how aetherpunk and steampunk stories are told. 

In either case, the power source can be wonderful or terrible, can fuel dystopian nightmares or hopeful solutions to the troubles that ail the world. But the fundamental nature of these technologies affects the way characters think and speak about the world they inhabit. Is it a place of smog or of shimmering lights? Is it a place where magic competes with technology, or is it a place where magic is the technology? The answers to these questions are different in every punk genre, and those differences should have a profound impact on the story’s narrative.

Where will your aetherpunk story take you?

Epilogue: From the Aether

Scenes from the Aether #2: San Francisco, 2043

Shining, multicolored bridges bend but do not break in the powerful earthquake that, in previous eras, would have shaken buildings from their foundations and dropped bridges into the bay. Drivers and pedestrians cling to whatever safety they can as the structures sag and sway and finally, after all is done, snap back to form as though the past minute was only a bad dream. 

Trill breathes a ragged sigh before stepping back onto zir motorcycle and kicking the starter. A blue glow and a warm hum are the only signs that the bike is powering up before Trill finishes crossing the bridge, a little jumpy from the unexpected shaking but no worse for wear. Ze has a long way still to go before ze arrive at Heloise’s house. Ze can’t wait to see zir friend, who is finally home after her long trip to Lima where she was training magicians to harness their power. 

Trill rides north into the mountains while the sun sets to zir west, out above the ocean, and the world glows orange and pink. By the time ze powers down zir bike, the sky is silky black and filled with stars. Trill climbs toward Heloise’s small house, which is built into the slope; the soft blue glow of natural aether in the rocks lights the way. Ze knocks on Heloise’s wooden door;  Heloise answers with a hug around Trill’s waist, her face pressed into Trill’s chest. Trill laughs, something in zir heart finally relaxing.

It’s been a long eight months. 

She pulls Trill inside, into this warm place she’s made in the lonely hills above the bay, and even though ze doesn’t deserve it, Trill revels in her welcome. It feels like coming home.

Examples of Aetherpunk

As aetherpunk is a young genre, examples are sparse, and there are many opinions on what “counts” and what doesn’t. For example, some people consider Lord of the Rings to be aetherpunk, due to the way it brings magic and technology together (especially in Mordor and in Sarumon’s plot line) and the way the magic interacts with society. The below list should not be considered exhaustive, just as this post shouldn’t be treated as The Last Word on the nature of aetherpunk.

Books:

The Aether Chronicles by Abi Barden

Aether Frontier by Scott McCoskey

Chasing the Lantern by Jonathon Burgess

Strange Skies by Loud Silence

Games:

Eberron

Final Fantasy

Genshin Impact

League of Legends

Magic the Gathering (specifically the Kaladesh Plane)

Xenoblade Chronicles

About Duck Prints Press

Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher based in New York State. Our founding vision is to help fanfiction authors navigate the complex process of bringing their original works from first draft to print, culminating in publishing their work under our imprint. We are particularly dedicated to working with queer authors and publishing stories featuring characters from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

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Sources

r/aetherpunk on reddit

“Different Punk: A to Z of Punk Genres,” April 30 2019, by Isaac

“The Etymology of ‘Cyberpunk’ ” by Bruce Bethke

“Please Define ‘Aetherpunk,’ ” November 15 2015, by Union Jacknnife and Nostil.

“Something is Broken in Our Science Fiction,” January 15 2019, by Lee Konstantinou

[moz1505]

Guitar Showcase

#2 : Melodic child labour Stratocaster

This actual piece of shit was the first guitar I bought and learnt on. Bought on Ebay for 150 big ones, this shitocaster is constructed with the finest wood whoever made it could find in landfill.

Boasting a generous 1 single coil pickup, this strat is best suited for players who are deaf. I'm not even joking there's actually 1 pickup, the other 2 are just kinda there, no wires or magnets or anything they were just thrown in there.

Honestly despite the shit sound, the tuning stability is great and it'll stay in tune longer than a lot of branded guitars I've seen, and It still holds a place in my heart for being the first guitar I learnt on.

Here's me playing the main riff to And Justice for All... (Title track) By Metallica. This song was my favourite at the time when I was using this, and still is pretty high up there). My only real complaint is that the palm muting is more off than bread that's been left out in the sun for a week because of the incredibly dodgy floating bridge, but beginner me thought the whammy bar was "super cool" and "totally worth it". It was

Honestly, It was a good beginner guitar but I outgrew it pretty quick. I still think it was really shittly built and we should find who constructed this and give them a spot in the gibson custom shop immediately