My amp has a sad. Thank heaven I became a guitar geek shortly before my 12th birthday. If I hadn’t, I probably would have requested a minibike for my bar mitzvah present a year later, instead of my first electric guitar. And today I’d be an over-the-hill biker instead of an over-the-hill guitarist. […] 
Anyone here ever owned a synth guitar? Not a Keytar, but a guitar fitted with a hexaphonic pickup that transmits MIDI data to external devices? And if so, do you readily admit it? The synth guitar has had one of the most checkered histories outside of, well, checkers. Since the ’70s, many brilliant minds […] 
Does music groove more when all the effects are in sync? What’s better: synchronizing your modulation and delay effects strictly to tempo? Or “freewheeling” it, and letting the effects wobble and drift a bit? I eagerly embraced tap-tempo stompboxes when they appeared — how liberating to re-clock your effects without stooping over and […] 
I got out of the studio for a few days…WAY out. Welcome to Metropolis, Nevada, population zero. Do you ever find it beneficial to put down the damn guitar and get out of the house? Usually, my answer is “no” — I like hanging out in the studio, and am immensely grateful that […] 
Are drummers smarter than guitar players? I’m not a huge fan of drummer jokes. I know plenty of smart drummers, and it seems to me that we should accord them every bit as much respect as if they played an actual musical instrument. Still, I bridle at the notion that they are more […] 
These funky homemade pedals represent all the leading octave-fuzz circuits. I had no idea I had so many octave fuzz pedals! I had no idea they sounded so different! And after spending way too much time auditioning and recording them, I have no idea when I’m ever going to be able to stand […] 
They’re fuzzy eight balls, okay? Eight as in octave. Fuzzy as in fuzz. Get it? GET IT? Oh, never mind. Anyone have any strong feelings about octave fuzz? I’m guessing so, because not many effects produce stronger feelings. It’s not a path for the faint-hearted. Or control freaks. Or frankly, most guitar players. […] 
I’m 200 years old, but I can still kick your ass, punk! UPDATE: I’m proud to announce that my fingerstyle video lesson based on the 200-year-old etudes of Mauro Giuliani has been selected to appear in the debut issue of Pure Guitar, a new digital guitar mag whose editorial staff includes my two […] 
“They call me mad, but I’m actually a HAPPY scientist!” There’s an interesting thread over on the Forum, started by reader Double D, who asked: “Do you have a central core concept or inspiration that drives your playing? Are you squirrelled away with obscure harmony texts, or practising modes till your fingers bleed? […] 
This photo was digitally altered to make the guitar look even dirtier than it was — but not by much. Sometimes only the threat of public exposure can inspire a proper clean-up job. Case in point: I hadn’t groomed my battered ’63 Strat in years, and when I pupped it from the wall […] |
            |