The wait is over. We’ve put the Fretboard Journal on the iPad. Our very first issue available on the device is the extremely popular Fretboard Journal #24 featuring our lengthy interview with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Telecaster master Redd Volkaert, luthier Bryan Galloup and much more.
Simply click on this link to order it.
We’re big fans of the iPad and we wanted to make this app truly special. Rather than just digitizing the PDF that goes to our printer (a common practice these days), we redesigned the entire issue of the magazine from the ground up specifically for the device. You can scroll through our gorgeous photographs with one finger, listen to some audio from our interviews (in our first edition, you can hear a brief clip of Eddie Vedder talking about his love for the ukulele) and, of course, read all of our articles in their entirety. You can leave a digital bookmark where you last left off, too. And because having traditional patchwork quilt of advertising (like you’d find in a regular magazine) never made sense to us in the paid app format, we’re partnering with one unique sponsor for each digital issue. Issue 24’s single sponsor is C.F. Martin & Company. They custom-created content for this app that is just as beautiful and informative as the rest of the magazine.
With the app, you’ll be able to see our famous photographs in all their gorgeous detail, whether you have the standard model or the new retina display iPad. And we did our best to not make each issue a giant file that consumes all of your device’s storage (a personal pet peeve of mine).
In short, we’re pretty sure it’s the nicest, most unique and most informative guitar magazine app available for the iPad today. And we hope you’ll check it out and give it a good review in iTunes if you like it. Spread the word.
Look for future issues to show up on the iTunes Newsstand around the time the paper editions are mailed, starting with Fretboard Journal 25 next month, featuring cover artist and guest editor (!) David Crosby.
If you’re an existing paper-based subscriber, we’re working on getting you access to the app. It’s just going to take a few weeks. We’ll notify you when it’s ready for you. I promise.
Whether you’re a new or old subscriber, digital-leaning or a traditionalist, we hope you like it. At the end of the day, it’s just one more way to share all of these great guitar tales and interviews with you.
The Fretboard Journal on the iPad (iTunes link)
