True fact: While Jimmy Page is usually pictured with a Les Paul, he recorded many of Led Zeppelin's greatest tracks with Fender guitars. (Artist's conception.) All aboard, mateys! Join our ship of fools as we sail the fiercest seas of guitar electronics: Yes, the legendary Jimmy Page wiring scheme. There will be NO […] 
Move along — there's nothing to see here. Ordinarily I wouldn’t publicize “causes” on this site, but this one has special relevance for musicians and music fans. My pal Count, a producer/mixer who’s done work for Radiohead, DJ Shadow, New Order, the Stones, No Doubt, and many other artists, is launching an online […] 
Vintage P.A.F. pickups are like snowflakes — only a lot louder and a lot more expensive. Aficionados of the P.A.F.pickup, the original humbucker, often say that vintage models are like snowflakes — no two are identical, due chiefly to the the pre-digital inconsistencies of their windings. One particularly memorable pair of snowflakes resides […] Dang — I wish I had a white turtleneck and a Mosrite electric resophonic! After some of the long-running contests around here, it was nice having a quickie for a change. San Diego-based steel guitarist Doug Meyer was the first of several readers to correctly identify the four iconic Bass VI riffs in […] 
PLUS: New Contest! Name the Classic 6-String Bass Riffs and Win a Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster Pedal! "We both love candlelight, long walks on the beach, and really expensive old-school strings." NOTE: The contest is at the bottom of this post. You can skip ahead if you don’t care about rare and expensive […] 
Low-Voltage Chunk from Diode Distortion! Did you know you can add a simple circuit to your guitar or bass that produces onboard distortion — without using a battery? The idea is pretty simple — you attach a pair of diodes to the guitar’s output via a pot or switch. With the diodes connected […] 
The latest Mongrel Strat (artist's conception). Welcome to the second installment in the Mongrel Strat Series! If I were a sensible person, I would have split this week’s experiments into several posts. But much like eating pistachios, it’s tough to know when to stop . Anyway, this project tackles three topics: 1. Several […] 
Three "mismatched" Duncan pickups in an off-the-rack Mexican Strat. (Left to right: Lipstick Tube for Strat, Alnico II Pro Staggered, Twang Banger) As previously threatened, here’s the first installment in a series on unusual Strat pickup combinations, inspired by a big box of Duncan pickups and a couple of prewired “BYOP” pickguards. I […] 
Sixteen Current V-Pick Models (clockwise from upper left): 1. Ruby Red Traditon Ultra Lite; 2. Tradition Lite Sapphire Blue; 3. Chicken Picker; 4. Euro; 5. Nite-Glow Medium Rounded; 6. Pearly Gates Medium Round; 7. Medium Rounded; 8. Dimension Buffed Smokey Mountain Series; 9. Ruby Red Medium Pointed; 10. Dimension Junior Buffed; 11. Pearly […] I've got a box of strat pickups and I'm not afraid to use it! Okay, this should be an interesting experiment! I’ve scored a box stuffed with wildy varied Seymour Duncan replacement pickups for Strat™ guitars, plus a couple of the company’s just-announced BYOP Liberator Pickguards. (These are prewired pickguard assemblies, minus the […] |
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