Now with more secrets — and less secrecy. Last winter I tried an odd experiment: a website where players were encouraged to post their best tone secrets — the kinds of tricks and techniques that are almost too good to share. But in order to get, you had to give: The site was […] 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 […] 
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 […] 
An advanced technical diagram. No videos or audio examples today — I’m in the midst of “reconfiguring” my studio. (That’s the technical term for pulling stuff out of racks, tangling all your cables, making an ungodly mess, and dissolving into a puddle of bitter, frustrated tears.) But the good news is, I got […] 
Hi folks — I’m experimenting with a switch to the SoundCloud audio player. I’ve been eyeing it for a long time, but until now it’s been entirely Flash-based, which meant you couldn’t access SoundCloud clips from mobile devices. But they’ve just introduced HTML5 support, so I’m ready to make the plunge. The clip is an […] 
I haz a band. My ol’ pals at Guitar Player magazine interviewed me for an instructional article on looping for next month’s issue. It was especially flattering to be invited, because the interviewer was Barry Cleveland, a fine guitarist and a leading figure in the looping community. I put together this little video […] 
The first good band I ever played in was led by Nigerian singer/saxophonist Orlando Julius Ekemode. I was an obsessive African pop fan, astonished to find myself playing afrobeat, highlife, and juju with a bunch of West African expats in Oakland, California. The crew included the great African music scholar C.K. Ladzekpo and Kwasi “Rocky” […] 
Weird — back when I wrote this GP cover story, I never even noticed the Hello Kitty guitar! Maybe it’s because of the crescendo of chatter about a Smiths reunion, but I’ve had Johnny Marr on the brain lately. (Full disclosure: I am a total, drooling fan.) I keep coming back to how […] 
iPad: Your pathway to a more productive and better organized workspace! It’s not as if Apple needs more free publicity, but IMHO, the iPad is the greatest workbench and rehearsal room innovation since the Mesopotamians perfected beer.* Seriously — I find myself reaching for the thing as often as I reach for the soldering […] 
A message from Earl? Weird but true: After my experience last week with simulated gut strings, I ordered a banjo set, figuring I’d restring my beautiful Deering with “nylgut” for an old-timey pre-bluegrass sound. But as soon as I tuned up, BANG! The head ripped in two. I went upstairs and told my […] |
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