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 […] 
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 […] 
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 […] 
“I always forget — which end gets hot?” Somewhat embarrassingly, I never got around to changing one of my own pickups until I was knocking on senility’s door recently. I owe part of the inspiration to that fabulous DIY Fest known as the Maker Fair, where each year hundreds of little kids learn […] 
Can we all agree that it’s a good thing when guitarists and bassists cultivate their own style? Even a jaded old cuss experienced music journalist like me still gets a thrill upon discovering a new player with a startlingly original voice. I am not any of these people —but I pretended to be […] 
You don’t have to be high in Nashville to enjoy Nashville high-strung. Nashville high-strung tuning is one of the guitar’s great magic tricks. It has a delicious, “secrets of the Guild” quality — you feel like an insider just knowing what it is. Not that I did know what it is until embarrassingly […] The other day I posted a demo for a high-gain pickup, and I’m usually a lower-gain guy. Zyon said in comments that it sounded like Santana. (It sort of did, if you can imagine a clumsy, out-of-tune Santana with a really short attention span.) But I assure you, Carlos was far from my conscious […] 
“Why is everything upside-down?” You know the origin of the word “sinister,” don’t you? It’s the Latin word for “left,” which, according to etymologists, became associated with evil, thanks to the medieval belief that left-handed people were deceitful and probably possessed. Meanwhile, “dexterous,” which means adept with your hands or brain, is from […] 
Africa’s finest: The eternal Dr. Nico. Looking for some cool new stuff to listen to? Or some cool old stuff that just happens to be new to you? Me too! This thread’s goal is to share some personal guitar or bass favorites that aren’t as well known as they should be. You know […] 
UPDATE: I’ve added a page listing all the “How To” posts on this site. Just click the cleverly titled How-To Posts Are Here! box at upper-right of each page. There’s got to be a better way! Several readers asked for more specific tech advice on how to wire up battery-powered effects inside a […] |
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