Frank Iero - The Interview
10.01.2012



My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero is not only one of our signature artists but he's also one of our favorite interviewees. Frank loves to talk about guitars and music and his enthusiasm for his craft is always abundantly clear. The Epiphone Frank Iero Phant-o-matic was released last year to great reviews. Frank and his mates from MCR have been hard at work in their studio in Los Angeles on a new album for 2013.

My Chemical Romance also recently announced that starting in October, the band plans to release 2 un-heard songs every month through March, 2013. The tracks were recorded just prior to the release of their last album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, and are known among hardcore MCR fans as the Conventional Weapons sessions. "We hope you enjoy these time capsules, and that they may shed a little more light on how and where Danger Days came from, and maybe even where the future of MCR might be heading. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...and now it is finally time to lift the veil on Conventional Weapons," Frank announced on the official website. Epiphone caught up with Frank to get the full scoop on what he's been up to.

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[SOURCE]

Collaborating with Fender and Squier to design his signature Mustang, Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance envisioned finding the bass of his dreams. Sporting a powerful humbucker pickup, a sweet silver flake finish, and a comfortable short-scale neck, the Squier Mikey Way Mustang Bass is exactly that. We talked to Mikey about building his dream bass, his favorite MCR song, the Caped Crusader, and more.

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[SOURCE] - Visit the source to enter to win one of Mikey's custom basses.

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Squier Guitars and Alternative Press have teamed up to give you a chance to win a Signature Mikey Way Squier Mustang Bass!

One very lucky winner will receive a Signature Squier Mikey Way Mustang Bass, Designed with Mikey Way's input featuring a classic Mustang body with a shimmering large-flake Silver Sparkle finish, Black racing stripes, black hardware and a black headstock with Way's signature on the back!

Click Here To Enter

Fender Contest
Tuesday May 8, 2012 | Posted by: MCR

Fender is giving fans a chance to win Mikey’s Fender Squire bass! Enter on Fender.com.

Epiphone Phant-o-matic Contest Winner
Tuesday January 17, 2012 | Posted by: MCR

Thank you to everyone that shared their favourite memories of Danger Days. We received over 3,000 entries! Congrats to PuresaPoison who will receive a Epiphone Phant-o-matic guitar designed by Frank and signed by MCR. Read their favourite memory below:

I'm going to keep this short for you, I'm guessing you'll have to go through hundreds of stories, and I really don't want you to waste a lot of time.
I don't have this grandious story, but it's beautiful to me.
So I don't see my dad very often, so when I do, I make the most of it.
My dad was driving me home from school, radio on low and sun falling behind the rolling mountains.
I begin to hear the first notes to The Kids From Yesterday. Me being the weirdo I am dive towards the nob and begin to blast the song.
Singing and dancing in my seat.
My dad looks over to me and smiles.
It was one of those small smiles. The ones where you feel so greatfull to have something you love there with you.
So he smiles and turns up the volume even more. He chimes in with me, which totally throws me off.
He looks over to me again and smirks. For some reason, he knew why I was confused.
"You play this song on your bass all the time," He laughs and starts to harmonize with Gerard's voice.
I grin and roll down the windows.
We speed off into the sunset. Just us two, no one there to spoil it. And now whenever I hear that song, I think of him, and what he might be doing. And when I ride down that street, I have to sing that song.
My dad is a kid from yesterday.
On day I'll be too.
We'll live forever in the lights we make because we are the kids from yesterday
Cheesy I know, but true.
Thank you so much, from me and my dad. -PuresaPoison

Mikey Way Builds Dream Bass
By Mike Duffy



For years, Mikey Way had thought about his perfect bass.

How could he combine the booming thump of a Precision Bass with the short scale of a Mustang?

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Overview: Squier introduces what is surely one of its most distinctive signature bass guitar models ever in the striking short-scale form of the Mikey Way Mustang Bass. Designed with the input of the nimble My Chemical Romance bassist, it takes the classic Mustang Bass and amps it through the roof with a dazzling large-flake Silver Sparkle finish with black racing stripes, a single seismic humbucking pickup with a black cover, and a black headstock with Way’s signature on the back.

Other features include a comfortable short scale (30”), basswood body, maple neck, 9.5”-radius rosewood fingerboard with 19 medium jumbo frets and parchment dot inlays, three-ply pickguard (black-white-black), black numbered volume and tone controls knobs, string-through-body bridge with four individually adjustable saddles and vintage-style chrome tuners.

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[SOURCE]

Frank Iero and Ephiphone team up for the Wilshire Phant-o-Matic
SALES FOR THE NEW AX WILL HELP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
by Joe Bosso

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My Chemical Romance's Frank Iero Designs Guitar for Charity
Guitarist also says new MCR music could come out by next summer

By STEVE BALTIN

My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero has designed a six-string guitar for Epiphone called the Phant-o-matic. "I took the body from the Wilshire, I took the Anico Humbuckers out of the Les Paul, I put the Les Paul neck on it and headstock, changed the tuners around, and fucked a little bit with the electronics – and we made the Phant-o-matic," Iero tells Rolling Stone.

As a kid, Iero says he had his dream celebrity guitar, the Kurt Cobain-created Jag-Stang. But being approached by Epiphone to make his own model made Iero think about his family before any guitar legends. "Basically when given this opportunity the first thing that came to mind was my dad buying me my first guitar," he says. "And the reason I got into music was my grandfather and dads played drums and were in bands forever."

So, what did his dad say about the Frank Iero Phant-o-matic? "They were like, 'Are you serious? That’s crazy,'" he says. "My dad was super psyched." And to pay tribute to his family, Iero is turning the venture into a philanthropic endeavor. "About six years ago my family was affected by multiple sclerosis and that was the first thing that came to mind. The only reason I would be doing this is because of my family, so why not give back?" he says, adding that Epiphone is matching every dollar he gives to MS.

Designing guitars hasn't been his only recent burst of creativity. He says MCR have been very inspired of late as well. "Whether it be writing a new My Chem record or working on a different kind of project, there are a couple of things that are coming in the works," he says. "But I definitely see new music coming out or at least being worked on throughout the rest of this year and hopefully maybe something coming out by summer."

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The custom guitar Frank has been working on with Epiphone has appeared in Epiphone's press release for new guitars in 2011. There is no release date or price yet, but it should be available for purchase within the next few months. 

( Photos (+5) and ad copy including some specs behind the cut )

[SOURCE]

H/T to sadiane for the info! Many thanks! ♥