"GUITAR CENTER INTRODUCES HI-TECH CUSTOM SHOP FEATURING UNIQUE ELECTRONIC MUSIC ITEMS ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR TODAY’S ARTISTSLimited Edition Akai MPC 4000—Exclusively Designed By Master Customizer Bruce Forat—Is Premiere Offering
Westlake Village, CA: Guitar Center, the nation's leading musical instrument retailer, announced today the introduction of its exclusive Hi-Tech Custom Shop. A new model for the retail chain, the Hi-Tech Custom Shop gives musicians unique access to rare and specialized items designed to break the homogeny of mass-market gear. The planned inventory for the Shop includes limited custom editions, exclusive product and artist-endorsed items. These will be conceived and designed by industry experts to celebrate the legacy of genre-defying pieces as well as appeal to musicians with a desire to own a piece of history.
These exclusive collaborations will be on display at select locations but can be special ordered at any Guitar Center nationwide.
To launch the Hi-Tech Custom Shop, Guitar Center purchased the last eleven Akai MPC 4000s ever made and partnered with Bruce Forat, who has been at the forefront of music electronics for the last 25 years. Forat, who has personally customized drum machines and keyboards for top musicians including Prince, Dr. Dre, Jermaine Dupree and Madonna, customized the eleven to create one-of-a-kind MPC 4000s, of which only six remain for sale exclusively through the Guitar Center Hi-Tech Custom Shop. The Akai MPC series, used by influential musicians and producers such as Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Pete Rock, has been instrumental in the development of hip-hop music and is widely regarded as the industry’s gold standard. Additional information can be found at www.guitarcenter.com/forat.
“For the launch of Guitar Center’s Hi-Tech Custom Shop, we wanted to offer something incredibly special,” said Tony Baraz, assistant buyer for Guitar Center. “The Akai MPC is iconic in and of itself, but when customized by a monster talent like Bruce Forat it is a work of art.”
“To make each of the remaining Akai MPC 4000s truly unique we headed to the Caribbean for inspiration,” says Forat. “There’s something about the atmosphere and cool breeze that gets the creative juices going—I count these Hi-Tech Custom Shop MPCs among my best work.”
About Guitar Center
Guitar Center is the leading United States retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates 214 Guitar Center stores across the U.S. In addition, our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's Web site at www.guitarcenter.com.
The Guitar Center logo is a registered trademark of Guitar Center, Inc. Other brand or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated."
BTW, the first person to comment with the correct number of remaining MPC 4000s, and WITH a registered account gets a $100 GC gift certificate courtesy of GC. : ) Sorry anons, but there is no way to confirm who you are for this one.
More images here.
six?
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ReplyDeleteten
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ReplyDelete... you get the idea ... up to a zillion.
ReplyDeleteTell me what I've won again?
five
ReplyDelete88 ?
ReplyDeleteYay, just what I want. The clueless morons at Guitar Center to try to work on my "keyboard/organ thingie" And no, I am not making that up. That is actually what one of my synths was referred to at Guitar Center by their "knowledgable staff"
ReplyDeleteWell, ya know...they DO call it GUITAR center for a reason. LOL
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ReplyDeletemeh....GC spam no thanks
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous 10:52 AM:
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt that for a second. I stopped going to guitar center for synth-related stuff years ago.
I think the one that did it was when I was trying to buy a memory card for my Akai sampler from a guy who had no clue what a sampler was, and then he asked me if I was interested in taking his night course on 'electronic music production' at the local community college.
The question is: did the guy have a mullet and a piano-key tie?
6 of 11 are left. Can I have a consolation prize since devetron put a question after his answer?
ReplyDeleteThe chrome and wood MPC looks good... the airbrushed ones look aweful!
ReplyDeleteFour.
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ReplyDeleteI like to refer to it as Guitard Center myself. Apparently it's their policy to NOT hire any knowledgeable staff.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, woof. Could that guy spray paint my conversion van when he finishes the custom M-P-sizzys? I have a bitchin idea for X-wings flying over a planet with a bikini girl in the background.
ReplyDeleteHow about a bonus prize for knowing how many avant-garde tracks featuring somebody recording themselves walking through a GC have been released.
ReplyDelete"How about a bonus prize for knowing how many avant-garde tracks featuring somebody recording themselves walking through a GC have been released."
ReplyDeleteAll of them.
Ugh, that's ugly. I don't think I've seen an MPC mod that I've liked yet.
ReplyDeletedevetron won it.
ReplyDeleteugly indeed. akai would be better served (and the customers would sure appreciate it) if they'd upgrade their software for once. Especially that damn AkSys crap. I got so fed up I sold the damn thing before it became a boat anchor. I'd hesitate to buy Akai again until they get their service act together.
ReplyDelete"By the way, woof. Could that guy spray paint my conversion van when he finishes the custom M-P-sizzys? I have a bitchin idea for X-wings flying over a planet with a bikini girl in the background."
ReplyDeleteHaha. When I saw this MPC the first thing that I thought of was also those airbrused vans that you saw all the time in the '70s and '80s with dragons and warriors and other cheesy crap that were driven almost exclusively by guys with mullets. lol
Did anyone else notice that the white airbrushed lines of the "stars" did not even intersect properly at the same point. Not only is it cheesy, it just badly done.
ReplyDeletenon-intersecting star lines give it character, like oscillators that don't stay in tune.
ReplyDeleteeverytime i see one of those pimped mpc's, i throw up in my mouth a little.
ReplyDelete"non-intersecting star lines give it character, like oscillators that don't stay in tune."
ReplyDeleteHah, yeah. Just like a sledgehammer to your car gives it "character"
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