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5 Basics for Learning Classical Guitars
Classical guitar may seem intimidating, but it can be a great entry point for beginners just starting to play as well as a way for experienced guitarists to widen their repertoire. The study of this venerable instrument and style holds endless discoveries for both beginners and experienced musicians. 1. Start...
How to Boost, Compress, and Tweak the Bass for Added Punch
Mixing bass guitar is always a challenge. Too much bass can muddy the mix, eat up headroom, and drown out everything else. But too little bass can make a mix sound thin, not to mention that a lot of a song’s energy can be in the bass frequencies. There’s no...
How to Give A Two-channel amp a Third Channel
There are a ton of dirt pedals on the market these days. Many of them give you transparent overdrive and/or distortion, so that the basic tone of your amp shines through. However, some pedals are the opposite; they offer complete preamp circuits inside and not only promise more gain on...
Bend it like David Gilmour
s David Gilmour’s latest solo album hits the streets, we break down the Pink Floyd guitarist’s four- and five-fret string bending technique. You can expect to snap an occasional string playing these huge bends Notable for David Gilmour’s slick outro solo, Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) is one...
Andy James shred guitar lesson
Lightning licks from the speed maestro Andy rounds off his lessons by sharing more of the secrets that have earned him a reputation as one of the world's most formidable shredders. In his final lesson Andy kicks things off by playing a one-bar rock lick. It's a simple line, even...
Fender Introduces the Bassbreaker Series
With an eye to the past while still looking forward, Fender’s Bassbreaker series puts classic tones at your fingertips, with a few twists to offer up a wider palette of tones. They pay tribute to classic Bassman-style tones, but with EL84s or EL34s in the power amp, there’s a dash...
Do You Suffer from Guitar-Tuner Dependency?
It always starts with something small, a seemingly insignificant act that can have a huge effect on the rest of your life. Horror stories usually begin like this. Guitar tuners. We all use them. Clip-on. Stomp box. Software. Part of your modeler. Built in to your guitar. I use them...
Portable Electric Guitar Solutions
If you’ve ever had to decide whether or not to bring your guitar along with you solely due to space, check this out. Here are some ideas for portable guitar rigs that don’t sacrifice quality in the name of size. The Traveler Guitar EG-1 is a full-scale electric guitar with...
The history of the guitar synth
Guitarist's own Neville Marten demos Roland's avant-garde SynthAxe design in 1985 Many have tried to make the guitar synth cool. Most have failed. Let’s take a quick journey through the evolution of the instrument… The fact that Boss' new SY-300 can be played from any guitar actually harks back -...
14 Powerful Quick Tips That Can Help You Instantly Improve Your Guitar Tone
If you are like most guitarists out there, you will have at some point found it frustrating getting the "perfect tone." Try the following tips to help improve your guitar sound. Crank Up The Mids! A great live tone starts with the EQ. Crank those mids. It's as simple...
11 Marshall masters: essential licks from Hendrix to Vai
Introduction No survey of the Marshall stack’s five-decade reign would be complete without honouring the players who have made them howl like fallen angels. Here, we present 11 essential licks in the style of 11 masters of the big black box. The licks we’ve presented here trace the development of...
How To Practice Effectively
Want to be a great musician? Then, you have to practice — a lot! Having the proper tools and practice space will help with organization, workflow, accuracy, and time management in order to make the best use of your practice time. The more of your practice tools you can leave...