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The guitar comminity has a heart

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:05:00 +0000

The guitar community on the web can be an interesting bunch of folks. In many forums arguing and flame wars ensue over something as trivial as the type of pickup in your guitar. This id definitely not the case here. Two contributing members of the Six String Bliss have started a fundraiser to help a small Luthier pay some hefty medical bills for heart surgery.

Clint and Alica Searcy's friend Amy Hopkins gave a lot of herself a few years ago when their house was damaged by the floods in Tennessee. Now they are giving back by helping to raise money to cover Amy's medical expenses.

As we all sit here and ponder over what the next whiz bang pedal or super duper brown sound amp will be, how we will pay for it, and what the next gear acquisition is, we can forget that there are real problems effecting real people. Not so with the Searcy's. These folks stepped up to the plate and are walking the walk.

Please visit the link below and try to help out if you can.

Vintage Fender Bassman Cranked up to 10

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:58:00 +0000

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of sitting down and cranking up a vintage Fender this video will be a treat. This is real rock and roll tone. I myself have a Bandmaster which sounds a little different but these old amps can do some serious growling. Check out the video, not only is the tone great, the playing is nice and tasty too.

The only thing the video can’t capture is that punch in the chest feeling of all that air moving when this thing is searing like that. Thanks to Tyler Grund for posting this on his YouTube channel. There are many more great videos there too so check them out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/gamedojo

Mellinium Falcon Guitar

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:55:00 +0000

This guitar will do the kessel run in 12 parsecs. Talk about taking some serious initiative. Brian Fisk made a fully functional guitar out of a Star Wars toy. Being a guitar player and a Star Wars fan this thing is just about the coolest thing I've seen since the the Lego guitar gear from a few years ago.

I always admire the individuals who have a vision for something out of the ordinary but still have the ability to make cool instead of cheesy. Nice job Brian.

Cry Baby The Pedal That Rocks the World premier

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 05:18:00 +0000

Crybaby The Pedal That Rocks The World is now available online in 4 parts. This documentary dives full steam ahead into the pedal that screams rock and roll.

Featuring all the usual suspects known for their use and abuse of the Wah pedal. From Kirk Hammet to Zakk Wylde to Buddy Guy, there is no shortage of commentary from those who know this pedal best.

You can check out each of the four segments online. The entire movie will be available on March 11th

Check it out here

The evolution of guitar

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 03:30:00 +0000

Stringed instruments have been around for hundreds of years. The guitar has been in the forefront for quite sometime now but where is it going? The evolution of the guitar over the past couple of hundred years was slow. But in the 20th century it seemed to make leaps and bounds. Adolph Rickenbacker, Leo Fender, and Les Paul turned the guitar into a modern stringed instrument….then it stopped.

I’m not saying advances in guitar technology stopped altogether. Sure there were great improvements, new hardware, new shapes, but overall, the evolution of guitar seems to have reach it’s pinnacle. The guitars designed by Fender and Gibson back in the late forties and early fifties are still being produced today. The number of knockoffs and copies are countless. Companies like Jackson and Ibanez did take things to a new level to some extent in the eighties but those designs have too become antiquated. Or have they?

Is it possible that the guitar is what it is. I’m sure there will be small changes here or there but will there be anymore quantum steps forward in guitar technology? More to the point, do we want any more from a guitar? Did Leo,Adolph,and Les get it right? They certainly did something right because we are all still buying their designs like there’s no tomorrow.

I know we live in the digital age. I know there are modeling amps, guitar synthesizers, and modeling guitars like the Variax and the VG strat. The kicker is, these modern digital instruments are modeling and emulating the tried and true traditional stuff. I don’t know where the guitar will go in the next 20 years but if the past 20 years are any indication, I will probably still be playing my Les Paul when I’m 60.

Classic Fender Factory Footage

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:15:00 +0000

While surfing the Six String Bliss forums today I saw a post by our friend Clint Searcy that included a great video with footage shot at the old Fender Factory in Fullerton California.

This is truly witnessing rock and roll being born.

Epiphone Worn Wilshire Tremotone

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 06:01:00 +0000

Epiphone has announced the latest in it’s worn series of the classic Wilshire model. The newest version of this reincarnation of the 1966 axe features a bigsby style tremolo.

The Wilshire is a sleek guitar featuring two mini humbuckers with coil tap capability. The individual volume and tone controls give you a wide range of sonic manipulation. This addition of the tremolo is just the thing to take the instrument to the next level.

This guitar was already versatile. I have played with other guitarists who use the hard tail Wilshire. It has a lot of growl in it with the mini humbuckers and the coil taps get you some really great clean sounds. The neck is comfortable and you can access every last fret with ease.

This is a lot of guitar for not a lot of money and Epiphone seems to really have stepped up their game with this latest offering.

Check out all the specs at the Epiphone official site.

Presonus Recording Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 07:10:00 +0000

Presonus, maker of computer based recording interfaces and quality mic pre’s has really embraced their role as a home studio product line. Their site has a lot of great info on their gear as well as some really well written articles about recording.

From syncing, to EQ basics, to the different uses of compressors, the Presonus web site is a great place to learn not only how to use your Presonus gear, but how to get some great sounds fast.

They also have a few short video’s on the basics including how to mic drums, recording guitars, and getting great vocals.

Check out all of the great info at the Presonus site

Gibson Firebird X

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 22:33:00 +0000

Gibson Guitars announced a new guitar in it’s ever growing line of supposed revolutionary guitars. The Firebird X is a new take on the Firebird design with some new twists. The guitar features built in effects and some new effects controls as well as the now familiar robot tuning technology. While it sounds enticing the price point does make you quiver a little. With an MSRP of $5570 this guitar is very expensive. I’m not sure who the market is for this axe but as of this writing the popular opinion around the web is that Gibson has missed the mark again.

I can appreciate the nod to the original non reverse firebirds. The triple mini humbuckers are a cool idea too. But the design goes a bit of track with the exaggerated upper bout and the shrinking of the overall size of the firebird shape. The headstock looks wrong to me too. I know this is a new guitar, not a firebird reissue but man it just doesn’t live up to the cool of the original firebird design.

Six String Bliss switching it up

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 06:28:00 +0000

Six String Bliss, The longest running guitar podcast has released another listener generated album. The new album, Trans Genred takes genre bending to the limits. The premise is simple, record a song that is not in the same Genre as the original.

With 18 tracks from around the world the Bliss Army stepped it up a notch on this one. Download the full album with cover art at Sixstringbliss.com

The Shovel Guitar

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:42:00 +0000

I’ve seen guitars made out of some strange things before but this is a first for me. An inventive axe slinger decided he could make a guitar out of a shovel. This shovel axe is actually playable too. It’s not just a a shovel with some strings on it.This inventive guitar is complete with a cool Seymour Duncan pickup and fully wired.

Check out the complete build here

10 things you should never do onstage

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:09:00 +0000

Never stop the song.The audience will forgive you if you got a little off track but keep going. Once you find your way back everyone will be into the song and they will forget all about the glitch.

Never drink to the point of passing out.This should go without saying. Having a drink or two to loosen up is OK but getting hammered during a gig is just unacceptable.

Never let the audience know you made a mistake. If by chance you hit a bad note or miss a phrase just keep moving. Smile, do a big rock and roll pick slide and pretend like you are having the time of your life. Only the die hard music fans will notice the mistake but the rest of the crowd is having too much fun so just let it go.

Never fall off the stage Sometimes it happens but nothing brings a gig to a halt like a member of the band disappearing into the crowd in front. If you do fall of the stage, try to keep going with the song and just get back up there. (even if you’ve lost a limb)

Never insult the soundman (on mic) We all have to deal with soundmen. They can be a life saver or they can make you sound like dog crap in a can. If something isn’t quite right, respectfully talk to the soundman off mic. You should never announce through the PA that mix sound like crap.

Never argue with a drunk in the audience. There are always a few of those loud mouth drunks who will make their opinions of your band known. Just smile and keep playing. There is no point in arguing with someone who isn’t going to even remember you in the morning.

Never smile at the drunk chick dancing in front (she might get the wrong idea) Sure it’s tempting to flash a little smile at the drunk girl dancing down front. Unfortunately she may think that means you and her have a connection. There is nothing worse than a sloppy drunk chick trying to get in your face while your trying to tear down and go home.

Never smile at the drunk dude dancing in front of you( he will definitely get the wrong idea) The same as above applies. You really don’t want the drunk guy dancing getting the wrong idea.

Never set your drink on top of your amp. It only takes a second for you drink to spill down the back of your amp and cut your gig short. Better yet, drink bottled water during the set and have your beer or jack and coke during your break.

Never take yourself to seriously. Music is about having fun. Even if it is your job is to play music you need to entertain. You should look like your having fun which in turn helps the audience to have fun. In the end, it’s just a gig, your not performing brain surgery .

Guitar World Blips goes dark

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:18:00 +0000

Guitar World Blips, the guitar blog aggragator that served as a news source and sounding board for guitarists all over the world has gone dark this week. It was pretty abrupt, no warning, it was just gone. They did have some spam problems recently but I don't see that as a reason to pull the site.

Guitar World Blips was a great way to get traffic to your guitar related blog. In turn, Guitar World got a lot of traffic to their site since they were a one stop guitar info feeding frenzy. In all fairness, Daily Radar was the operator of the site so it looks like Guitar World loses out here too.

There are still some places out there to get a good dose of guitar news. Check out Gear Monster They have a lot of the blogs that were on Guitar World Blips including RockGuitarLife.com.

Sanyo Pedal Juice

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:13:00 +0000

The Sanyo Pedal Juice is a portable, reliable, and rechargeable way to power your pedals. This sturdy little unit will power multiple pedals for hours. The Pedal Juice is a great solution to powering your pedals.

The power from the Pedal Juice is clean and quiet. No hum or ground loops here. This is great for working in the studio. You can track for hours without worrying about unwanted electrical interference or running out of power.

I used the Pedal Juice on a gig recently where power connections were limited and there was no other need for power at the front of the stage. Rather than run power out front I just hooked my pedals up to the Pedal Juice and played a worry free gig.

The three stage LED makes it easy to tell how much power you have on tap. I played my entire two hour gig including sound check and the LED never went off the green setting.

The Pedal Juice is a great alternative to long power cable runs, noisy club AC, or just a reliable backup for your pedal powering needs.

MSRP $199

Pedal Juice official site

Guitar Odds and Ends, again more Odds than ends.

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:02:00 +0000

First we have an interesting take on male pattern baldness. Apparently Prince (I think he goes by that again) believes that playing his guitar has kept him from going bald. You be the judge.

Guitar Crime is on the rise. Here we have another story of someone being assaulted with a guitar. I realize that we call it an axe but c’mon, it’s not really a weapon.

Air guitar tribute wins Bon Jovi contest. An energetic 13 year old Air Guitarist dubbed “lil Jovi” won a contest for the best fan submitted video. The video now plays on a big screen behind the real Bon Jovi during their live performance of Livin on a prayer.

Guitars are made out of all sorts of materials these days. This article highlights a man who makes guitars out of old license plates. Definitely different.

Play some geometric guitar lately? Huh? That’s what I said too. Guitar Math is not my strong suit but if your interested check out the article here.

Limpin on a prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:33:00 +0000

Jon Bon Jovi injured himself during a performance in New Jersey this past weekend. The front man injured his calf muscle shortly before the end of the band’s 2 1/2 hour set at the New Meadowlands Stadium. The band went on to finish the show with an encore of their mega hit “Livin On a Prayer.

This is showmanship at it’s best. The 48 year old singer addressed the audience by stating "I got another leg. I don't need this one." The show must go on no matter what. The legendary rocker finished the night and vows that he will not miss any future dates.

Check out the video of Mr. Bon Jovi hobbling through the rest of the set and still looking like a pro.

Guitar Blog Roundup July 3rd

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:46:00 +0000

Happy 4th of July Weekend everyone. Here is this week’s roundup of my favorite posts from the guitar interwebz.

Guitarren has some cool sketches of potential guitar designs. He’s done a few of these posts and each one has some really cool ideals.

Boutique Guitar Resource has a great post about a new guitar from builder Nado Bailo. The Whale guitar is one awesome looking axe.

Guitar Noise has some great tips on playing live. If your goal is to perform guitar in front of people then this is a good place to read up on some of the necessary things to do to be successful

Guitar International has a review of the new documentary about famous rock photographer Robert Knight. He’s photographed all the big names for the past 40 years.

Guitar World has some behind the scenes video from their 2011 buyers guide shoot.

Play a little guitar has some guitar nightmares for you to ponder. I think I may have lived through a few of these.

Pro Tone Blasko Overdrive Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:57:00 +0000

Pro Tone pedals is giving you a chance to win a Blasko signature overdrive pedal. Simply go on over to the Pro Tone pedals site to sign up.

“The Blasko Bass Overdrive pedal is meant to be as versatile as Blasko himself. In the course of an evening onstage with Ozzy, Blasko will need to cover a wide range of styles from tender ballads to hard charging metal anthems. This pedal performs perfectly in such an eclectic set list.

The unit comes equipped with a Baxandall EQ system for ultimate tone shaping capabilities and sits in the pocket of low to medium-high gain; at low settings you’ll be pleased to feel its vintage amp like response and tone, while at high gain settings you’ll get some spicy gain heating up your signal, sending it into a modern metal/industrial realm. Pushing the ‘Treble’ and ‘Bass’ controls will give you a more scooped mid-range and add additional grit to your signal. Additionally, the unit can be powered anywhere from 9-18volts. At higher voltage you’ll get increased clarity, more output, and an overall edgier tone.”

Click Here to enter at the Pro Tone Pedals Site.

YesterGear: Boss DF-2 Super Feedbacker distortion

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:06:00 +0000

Distortion is one of the oldest effects pedals known to man. We strive to recreate that singing sweet sound of the overdriven amplifier with a small box stuffed with electronics. Back in the mid 80’s, Boss decided to take it a bit further and recreate the feedback guitarists would get from a cranked amplifier.

The DF-2 was a distortion pedal with a twist. If you held down the footswitch you would get some crazy sustain emulaitng amplifier feedback. Now you could get all that great Hendrix type feedback withough blowing the windows out.

The controls were Level, Tone, Distortion, and an Overtone knob to dial in the feedback. I remember seeing these back in the day and thinking they didn’t sound too good. Fortunately, we now have youtube to find out if my memory serves me well.

As of this writing therer are several on Ebay with asking prices between $60-$100 and up. I don’t see a lot of bids thought so the real value of this pedal may be a little less.

Leprechaun Pedalboards

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:21:00 +0000

Pedal boards are a big business these days. There are manufacturers from all over producing everything from tiny boards like the Pedal Train PT Mini to the custom giant boards that are the bigger than some of the stages I’ve played on. Leprechaun Pedal Boards fits right in the middle of this mix.

Leprechaun Pedal Boards offers stand alone pedal boards starting at $59.99 for the 8x20 model. The also make cool boards that mount right over the Pedaltrain boards. The company has also introduced a new pedal lock fastening system which looks pretty cool. They found a way to eliminate the need for Velcro to fasten pedals to their boards.

This is a dream come true for those who tend to buy and sell pedals frequently. Removing Velcro from a pedal before you sell it can be a nightmare. For more info and pricing visit the Leprechaun Pedal Boards site.

Guitar Odds and ends: More Odds than ends

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:00:00 +0000

There is always a lot of strange happenings in the world of guitar. Being odd is almost a requirement to play guitar. Here are a few stories about guitar that I found strange.

Pink’s guitar adding color to detective auction. Ok, I didn't’ know Pink played guitar. Hell yes she can sing but I don't think she’s the go to for a guitar to auction off. Secondly, it’s Ausie detective agency. Not exactly what you’d expect from a rebellious American singer.

A country fan thought the artist was just giving it away. When a over zealous guitar player handed his guitar out to the audience to strum on, one patron thought she was given the guitar as a gift. Apparently this was not the case as the artist immediately turned to Twitter to try and find the absconded axe.

In the “Roommates are always a pain” category we have a man who was beaten by his roommate with a guitar. What was the offence? He chowed down on their food.

Keith Richards, guitarist for the legendary Rolling Stones seems to take more of a liking to his six stringed friends than his real friends. Reportedly Richards kept his guitars on nice couches while making people sit wherever they could find a spot while in his home in France.

Another “Who Knew” story. Sandra Bullock, star of such hits as Speed, and Love Potion number 9 played guitar at a flood relief fundraiser. What was the tune? Smoke on the water of course.

guitar blog round up June 26th

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 05:05:00 +0000

Welcome to the weekend. It’s been a buys week in the guitar world and here are some of my favorite posts from the many great guitar blogs out there.

What’s that dude play has a great video of anew Vibe pedal by WIlson Pedals. I love the swirly pedals and this one sound great .

300 guitars has a cool post about a Valco amplifier site they found. If you dig old funky amps check it out.

I Heart Guitar has some video of the big 4 playing am I evil together. If you don't know who the big 4 are, you better check this out.

Mark Wein has a great lesson on hammer on and pull off technique.

My Fender Champ has a cool post documenting the baffle board on a vintage champ.

Guitar Blogstar has an article about micing an amp. This is always a topic worth looking at again.

Forte Speaker Cabinets

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:01:00 +0000

We all want big sound out of small packages. The typical gigging musician does not have room for stacks of amps. What if you could get some real big dispersed sound out of a small cab. You can.

Forte Musical Instruments is making some cool cabs. These thing are closed back but side vented to get some of that sound that’s bouncing around inside the cab out to the stage.

The inside of the cabs has angled reflectors to direct the sound out the sides. According to Forte this provides a big sound with focused mid range and tight bass. The construction is 5/8 “ 13 ply baltic birch with locking miter joints.

They offer 1x12, 2x12,and a vertical 2x12. They have lots of tolex options and the prices are pretty reasonable. With the 3D112 starting at $399 this big sounding cab won’t break the bank.

Check out Forte Musical

Set it up, tear it down

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:28:00 +0000

In the world of rock and roll there are some great stage crews out there. These guys put up the stage, the lights, the rigs, and the sound for the big boys. These top notch roadies know what to do and get it done right. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we are the roadies. We have to set up and tear down our own gear. If you working a multi band stage you may have to do it in mere minutes.
Here are a few of the things that I have found to work well when setting up and tearing down at your gig.

The Set up
First, stage the stage. What that means is, don’t drop your guitar over by the bass player and put your pedal board by the drums while you get your amp. Put things in their logical place on the stage as you unload them. This will make things flow much better.

Work from back to front. Get your amp plugged in. Get the footswitch to your amp plugged in. Get anything of yours in the back line plugged in. You can then run power and cables to the front of the stage to get your pedals up and running. Now you have a completely wired rig. But wait, don’t open that guitar case yet.

If you sing, get your mic stand up and your mic plugged in. If you’re working on the house PA the sound guy probably wants to get everyone leveled up as soon as possible. Give your mic a quick check and your good to go.

Now you can pull out your guitar. The worst thing to have happen is to have your guitar sitting on a stand on a busy stage with people moving about. It’s just asking to get knocked off. Now that your sure everyone is relatively set up you can plug in, tune up and make sure you have your sound.

The Tear Down
I know, you just played the set of your life. You are hyped and you want to get to the schmoozing the crowd and having a drink. You still have to tear down your gear though. First, put that guitar in it’s case. Remember we don’t want it sitting on the stand just waiting to get knocked down.

I like to go from back to front again. Turn off your amp, unplug anything in the back line and start coiling up your cable runs to the front of the stage. Now you can pack your pedal board and grab your mic. The sound guy will have them turned off if you using the house PA. If your using your own PA, make sure the PA is off so there are no pops when you disconnect the mic.

Make sure you un-stage the stage. Get your gear off as soon as you can. Stack it neatly near the door you will be unloading out of so it will not be in the way of the next band. If there is no next band you may be able to leave it for a while.

These are my tips for what works for me. If you have any great tips for the load in or load out at a gig, leave a comment.

Guitar Blog Roundup June 19th

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 05:40:00 +0000

Welcome to the weekend everyone. It’s been a long week and there was a ton of great stuff in the guitar blog world. Here are my favorites.

The Fifth Fret has a post about the etiquette of browsing in a guitar shop. It’s about time someone laid down the law with the do’s and don’ts of guitar shopping.

Trufire.com has some cool classic rockabilly licks. These are always fun to have in your arsenal of fretwork.

Not playing guitar has some info on portable guitar recorders. These little digital recorders are a valuable tool for recording your practices or lessons.

Fretterverse has a list of classic must have metal guitar CD’s. I own several of these so I am totally behind this list.

Effectsbay has some cool video of Zakk Wylde’s rig. I love it when you can get a run down of the big boys toys.

Playgtr.net has a cool post about a shirt that plays like a guitar. I’m not sure what this is all about or what the application is but hey, it’s guitar geek stuff.