Archive for the ‘Guitar’ Category

As bands grew larger in the 30s and 40s, hence the term “the big band era”, they got louder. Brass instruments are naturally loud and as these horn sections were added in strength to bands, who could hear an acoustic guitar over the din? As is usually the case necessity became the mother of invention and luthiers (guitar makers), engineers and musician’s thoughts turned to finding a way to amplify a guitar’s sound. Little did they know that the groundwork they laid would evolve into the modern technology of music made available today.

Initial attempts utilized microphones attached to hollow body guitars but the volume needed just could not be produced. In 1931 the Electro String Instrument Corporation created an electric guitar using tungsten pickups. It was called a Rickenbacker named after one of the company’s owners, Adolf Rickenbacher. He changed the spelling of his last name to Rickenbacker partly because his cousin was the famed World War I combat ace Eddie Rickenbacker.

In the 1940′s two of the most famous names in the electric guitar’s history, Les Paul and Leo Fender, created their versions of this modern day instrument. Les Paul worked for the Epiphone Guitar company and in his spare time experimented with various electric guitar designs. Through the years the solid body Gibson Les Paul has become a mainstay of many rock guitarists instrument arsenals. The Fender Guitar company began with the Esquire, a solid body with a single magnetic pickup, followed with a two pickup model, the Broadcaster, whose name was changed to the Telecaster and in 1953, the Stratocaster was introduced.

Through the years many different models and designs of the electric guitar have appeared. Some mindbogglingly expensive and some quite affordable. There is also a wide variety of special effect devices and amplifiers to choose from. One of the coolest designs I’ve seen is the double neck electric six and twelve string used by Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi in the song Wanted Dead or Alive. Gibson also markets a Jimmy Page Signature double neck guitar.

One of rock’s most prolific guitar owners is Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick. He owns a custom made five neck, yes you heard right, five neck guitar built by Hamer Guitars and has owned over 2,000 guitars at one time or another. I’m still working on mastering a single neck and this guy’s on five. Amazing talent.

Like any precision instrument guitars will perform their best when they are properly set up. By setting up your guitar properly you can maximize your guitar’s potential and also customize how it will feel, play, and sound to your liking. There are some adjustments that are best left to a professional but you can do a lot yourself with just a few simple tools. Here are 3 easy steps you can take to adjust your guitar’s action, intonation, and pickup output.

The action of a guitar refers to how easy it is to fret (push down on) the strings. A guitar set up with good action will play effortlessly. The easiest way to affect the action of a guitar is by adjusting the string height at the bridge. Most electric guitars will have an adjustable bridge to allow this. Most guitar bridges will have either a hand-turned bridge height adjustment knob (like on Les Paul type guitars) or a hex-wrench driven mechanism (like most Strat-type guitars). Simply turn the screws to lower the string height. The goal is to go as low as you can before the strings start to ‘buzz’ meaning they are resting on a the fret wire. There are some instances where you may want a higher string height, for example if you play slide guitar, but in general the lower the better. Other adjustments that affect string height and action such as height at the nut, neck angle, and truss rod adjustments may be better left for the professional.

Intonation of a guitar refers to the relationship of the frets to the precise string length. A guitar that is intonated correctly will sound ‘in-tune’ at all neck positions. Poorly intonated guitars will sound ok at one neck position, but will sound ‘out-of-tune’ at other neck positions. The length of a guitar string from nut to bridge needs to be exactly bisected at the 12th fret. In other words the 12th fret must divide the string exactly in half. Here the adjustable bridge comes into play again. Most bridges will have individual saddles for each string that can be moved to adjust intonation. Moving the string saddle, in effect, changes the length of the string. You will need a good electronic tuner to adjust your intonation. The goal here is to precisely match the tone of the fretted 12th string to the tone of the 12th string natural harmonic. A natural harmonic tone is achieved by only lightly putting your finger over the fret wire (the 12th in this instance) and picking the string normally. Natural harmonics will ring like a chime. They are easier to hear when the guitar is plugged into an amp and even easier when using the overdrive channel of your amp. Use your tuner to match the tone of the 12th string harmonic to the fretted 12th string tone by incrementally moving the string saddle one way or the other. Do this for each individual string, and your guitar will be intonated.

Pickup output can greatly be affected by the proximity of the pickup to the string. The easiest way to adjust this is by adjusting the pickup height. The closer the pickup is to the string the higher the output. Most pickups will have a height adjustment screw on either side of the pickup housing. Simply turn it to raise and lower the pickup. Fret the strings at the highest possible fret and raise the pickup so that it’s about 1/8″ from the string. This should produce a good high output sound. From here you can customize your sound by either raising or lowering the high E or low E side of the pickup to enhance or subdue the treble or bass response. Make sure that you match the output between all of your pickups so that you won’t get a big volume change when you change pickups.

Do you want to learn how to play bass guitar? It is not difficult as bass guitar is one of the simpler musical instruments to start learning. If you are just starting to learn how to play bass guitar, I would suggest to learn to play one note one at time. It is easier and will make sure you learn it the right way.

Also, I would suggest to choose a fretted bass guitar to learn how to play guitar unless you already have experienced playing other instruments. You can get the note correctly more easier if you use a fretted bass guitar.

The first step when learning how to play a bass guitar does not involve the guitar at all. Rather, you need to practice your fingers. One simple way is to try relaxing your left or right hand depending on which hand you are playing the bass guitar.

Lift your hand at a 90 degree angle from the floor. Then try lifting each finger one at a time. Do this in quick succession.

After the exercise above, pick up the bass guitar and place it on your right thigh. The strings of the bass guitar should be facing away from you. You should notice there is a slope on the body of instrument. If not, use your right or left forearm to adjust the bass guitar position on your thigh.

Hold the neck of the bass guitar with your left hand. Place your right thumb on the string that is about midway between the strings or called the E string. Then place the middle and index fingers on the D string. The D string is about two string down the E string. Pluck each in succession. It may take some time until you are comfortable with it.

There is a whole lot more about how to play bass guitar and I would not be able to cover them all in this article. But the exercise above is the very first step when I learn how to play the bass guitar.

Do You Need Help Finding the Perfect Guitar For YOU? There are several questions to ask yourself when buying-a-guitar:

Who am I buying It For?

Are you buying-a-guitar for a beginner, for ourself, for a moderately experienced play or for an expert?

If you are buying for a beginner, one thing you might do is to include that beginner in your decision. If the guitarist-to-be envisions him/her self a future rock star, then that beautifully made classical guitar is probably not the ticket! There are relatively inexpensive models of almost every guitar played by the stars, so have a chat–find out which guitarist has captured your beginner’s fancy. Besides it is a good opportunity to spend some quality time together!

If you are buying-a-guitar for yourself, ask yourself what you want to do with the guitar. Do you want to eventually join a band? Are you already in a band and want to upgrade? Do you want to play fun songs for your children or your students? The possibilities are endless, but your answers will in large part determine the type of guitar that you should buy.

Are you buying-a-guitar for an expert? This is very tricky, as most experts, and even most intermediate players tend to be EXTREMELY opinionated about their choice of a guitar. The best thing to do is to let the expert pick the guitar. A happy expert is much more satisfying than the joy of an “embarrassing” surprise!

Acoustic or Electric?

Again, this depends on what you want to do with the guitar. If you want to play soft music with little or no amplification, you want acoustic. If you want a more powerful amplified sound, electric is the way to go.

As to whether a beginner should start first on acoustic, my opinion is–NOT NECESSARILY. For one thing, an electric guitar is what most young beginners have in mind. For another,electric guitars tend to be easier to play in the beginning. Since playing the guitar is a CHOICE, you want the experience to be pleasant. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with starting on an acoustic guitar if that is what the person wants.

How Much Can I Afford To Spend?

My general advice here is buy the best quality guitar that you can afford. In other words, it is best not to buy a cheap low quality guitar even for a beginner. A very poor quality guitar does not sound good and is harder to play. It is important for a beginning guitarist to like the way they sound. I tell parents that if I cannot make a particular guitar sound good, then what chance does the student have? Besides, you can get more trade-in or resale value with a good quality guitar.

There are, however, two sides to every question. The other side of this one is that it is probably not wise to go all out by buying-a-guitar for $3000 in the beginning. For one thing, few beginners will understand the importance of caring for such a high quality instrument. For another, as a players progress, they develop very specific ideas about what they want. Also, you don’t want to make your guitar teacher jealous! (just kidding–well…)

If you have ever thought about learning performance level bass guitar, then you might want to take a serious look at this review of the popular Bass Guitar Secrets instructional program by Alex Sampson.

The Goal of Bass Guitar Secrets: to play performance-level bass in the fastest time possible.

Who Will Benefit Most From This Program?: This bass guitar instructional program is designed for rank beginners to advanced players

What Kind Of Bass Guitar Is Taught?: 4,5 and 6 string electric bass.

The Contents of Blues Guitar Secrets:

2 Illustrated Instructional Manuals – 250 pages total, Over 350 Audio Examples, JamBox: 101 audio full band Jam Tracks, Fretboard Genius Training Software, Groove Station: 107 audio drum tracks, Insiders Guide To Chord Mastery, Bass Guitar Tuning Software, Free Membership to the BGS 1-on-1 personal coaching program, Free Lifetime Lesson Updates.

The Negatives:

Bass Guitar Secrets does not utilize video as a teaching tool. This does not necessarily mean that the content or quality of the lessons suffer but I do believe that some people, based on their learning style, may have to work a little harder to understand some of the lessons.

The Positives:

All Inclusive: This is a turnkey bass guitar lesson program. Everything needed to go from rank beginner to creating interesting bass lines for many different styles of music is included.

Beyond The Basics: This course is jam packed with tons of small but essential tips from learning to buy a bass to tuning it. You are not just told what to do but also given lots of detailed tips for learning to execute each lesson well.

Excellent After Purchase Support: Nothing is as frustrating as stalling out in the course because there is no way ask questions or request clarification. Bass Guitar Secrets has 5 avenues of support, (see the support section below for details).

Fun: Playing along side the very real (though recorded), Jambox band is the most fun and satisfying part of this course. The quality of the production and selection of the music both combine to give as much realism as possible while still remaining in the safe atmosphere of your own bedroom.

Computer Compatibility: Both Macintosh and Window PCs are supported.

The Price:

Option 1: $97 USD (as of this writing ), This version of Bass Guitar Secrets includes a convenient printed version of all the manuals. The software and audio files are provided on CD. The printed manuals come in handy if you wish to have quick access to some of the lessons with out having to boot up your computer. This version is a plus if you do not especially like to read from a computer screen.

Option 2: $59.95 USD This version saves you over $37 by not giving you a printed version of the eBook instruction manuals. All of the items mentioned above ,including the manuals, arrive at your house on CD.

Option 3: $49.95 USD This is the instantly downloadable version. All of the files for the written manuals, software and audio are sent instantly via the internet upon receipt of payment by most major credit cards, eCheck or PayPal. The surprising part about this low cost option is that nothing is left out. Absolutely all of the manuals, the audio files, jam tracks, bass tuner, etc. that are part of the $97 version are included.

The Cost Analysis:

Bass Guitar Secrets vs. a Local Instructor Bass Guitar Secrets by Alex Sampson contains the equivalent of 6 months to one years worth of guitar lessons if you were to space them out as if you were taking lessons from a local guitar instructor. A local instructor typically will charge anywhere from $20 to $50 per weekly lesson. Your minimum cost, (not including materials), at only $20 per lesson for 6 months would be at least $520.

The choice comes down to: Bass Guitar Secrets at $49.95 to $97 or a local instructor at $520 to $1040.

Guarantee: One full year.

Support: A free dedicated internet Support Site, A blog that allows you to interact with experienced bassists, Free Membership to the BGS 1-on-1 personal coaching program, Free Lifetime Updates for the two main instructional manuals, Two Free Video Tutorials for downloading and setting up Bass Guitar Secrets program.

The Bottom Line:

At first I was not expecting to like Bass Guitar Secrets because it does not include video in the lessons but, slowly I was won over. The lesson content and quality are definitely on the mark. Alex Sampson is a serious bassist that also has a flair for teaching and it shows in the details of his course.

The quality of the 400 plus audio examples and play along jam tracks are top notch which lends an essential degree of realism to the learning experience, (not to mention a great deal of fun as well).

I am pleased with the overall reasonable price but, I am especially impressed that even the lowest cost, instant download version ($49.95) of Bass Guitar Secrets includes everything and I mean everything that the more expensive printed version offers.

The bottom line is that Bass Guitar Secrets gets the job done at an excellent price. It has clearly earned my recommendation. The rest is now up to you.

As a musical genre traditional Jazz requires a fairly specific Guitar sound – generally this has involved a very clean dry tone – with little to no effects (perhaps only a hint of reverb) – usually the neck pickup is used with the resultant sound required to be clear enough to pickup the subtle nuances and articulation of the playing.

Jazz Guitarists therefore need to carefully consider their Guitar when setting out – luckily Jazz has been around for many years and there is a wide selection of instruments available. Traditionally Jazz Guitars are hollow body semi acoustics (though not always) and these have tended to favor P90 or Humbucker style pickups to produce the required sound – as stated there are many guitars on the market today – but here we list 5 classic Jazz guitars that helped shape the scene.

1 Gibson ES150

Made famous to the jazz community by Charlie Christian the ES 150 became his guitar. The ES150 became one of the world’s first commercially available electric guitars. With its single coil pickup fitted at the neck and its acoustic shaped body with f holes – the 150 has that sweet warm jazz tone that became a world favorite.

2 Gibson L5

Another of Gibson’s Jazz power trio (the others are the ES150 and the ES175) – the L5 features a large resonant body. With a history that goes back nearly 90 years the L5 has changed a little over this time and has featured different pickups (from P90′s to Humbuckers). As the prestige rhythm guitar it has been played by a variety of greats including Wes Montgomery.

3 Gibson ES-175

With it’s stylish Florentine single cutaway – the ES175 represented a departure for Gibson from their usual design – Debuting in 1949 – the 175 has been associated with a variety of Jazz greats from Herb Ellis to Pat Metheny.

4 Gretsch Country Gentleman/Nashville

While Gretsch are not considered jazz guitars per se – both the Country Gent and the Nashville are able to produce both versatile and authentic jazz tones. Both guitars offer a range of controls for adapting the tone of the guitar and can produce some versatile jazzy results – whilst the FiterTron pickups produce something that’s unlike it’s Gibson counterparts.

5 Fender Telecaster

With it’s sweet and mellow neck pickup tone the telecaster offers something a little different that the usual Jazz fare – Traditionally a country guitar the telecaster has been featured with Jazz artists including Ed Bickert and Mike Stern.