Category: Guitars & Gizmos
What Vintage Guitars Can Teach You
What Vintage Guitars Can Teach You Sometimes, becoming a better guitar player isn’t all about practice time or techniques. Sometimes, it’s about what kind of guitar you’re playing. For me, one of the biggest learning opportunities for guitarists at any skill level comes from old, beat-up and worn-out vintage guitars. But what is it that […]
How to Choose an Acoustic Guitar Pickup
The great thing about acoustic guitars is that they don’t need a volume knob or an amplifier to be heard – the guitar’s own resonant body naturally amplifies the sound. But what if you need to turn the volume up? Whether you want to perform gigs, jam with other musicians, or just play louder, the […]
Pedal and Amp Modelling vs. Analogue
As a guitar teacher, I’m often asked to give advice and recommendations about gear to students. One of the more common questions from intermediate to advanced guitarists is which route to take to pursue their tone. The options presenting guitarists are to go analogue (tube/valve amp and analogue effects pedals), digital (effects pedal / guitar […]
Luke Sharples Guitars: Re-Inventing the Steel
Luke Sharples Guitars Let’s start at the beginning. Well, not the very beginning, but with the inception of the steel-strung acoustic guitar in the United States: the acoustics’ spiritual beginning. C.F.Martin, The Larson Brothers, George Washburn, Orville Gibson, Bob Taylor and everyone in-between (who, by the way, are too numerous to list) set about sculpting […]
NAMM Special: Minarik Guitars
Minarik Guitars If you want to see something outrageous that combines edge of your seat designs with flamboyance and creativity, a Minarik custom guitar could well be for you. To be fair, as soon as we saw the racks of multi-shaped, multi-dimensional, multi coloured rack of guitars, we weren’t really bothered about the sound – […]
Roadie Tuner. NAMM Special
Roadie Tuner Following another successful Kickstart campaign that has help fund over 2 years of research and development, June 2014 sees the production of a piece of kit that will not only wind your strings when replacing them, but also tune your guitar (or any other instrument with machine head tuning pegs) and, unbelievably, let […]
Bohemian Guitars. NAMM Special
Bohemian Guitars Want to read about something funky that is yet another brilliant Kickstarter product? Well look no further than Bohemian Guitars, who successfully funded their project to create fully functional guitars made from oil cans and recycled spare parts from other guitars. Based out of Georgia, the guys at Bohemian Guitars took their inspiration […]
Freshman Guitars. NAMM Special
Freshman Guitars Always on the lookout for your smaller guitar manufacturers, we were particularly pleased to bump into a couple of fantastic guys working out of Scotland from the manufacturers of Freshman Guitars. These aesthetically pleasing acoustic guitars varied in price range from approx. $300 right up to $2,200, which we thought was impressive as […]
Beatbuddy. NAMM Special
Beatbuddy NAMM always surprises you with the unexpected as you wander around with your lower jaw dragging along the floor as you marvel at the technology and constant advancements in the world of guitar and guitar accessories. However, we actively sought out David Packouz, (Founder & CEO) and his team, as we had been following […]
The Lennon Bus: Mobile Recording Studio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbGO-Zasa_g The Lennon Bus Following the news that Art Alexakis (singer and guitarist with Everclear) along with some students, would be writing, playing, recording and videoing a new original song within a day, with The Lennon Educational Tour Bus at the centre of the action, we climbed aboard to find out what the bus was […]
Shredneck Review
Shredneck The Shredneck Practice Guitar Neck features a rosewood fingerboard, inlays, strap knobs, side dots on both sides, Shredneck tuner tips, and a gig bag. The Shredneck is a small, portable practice tool for guitarists that provides the feel of a guitar, strings and frets. The headstock doubles as the body to provide a balanced […]
Freshman Guitars: Review
So, we were at NAMM, and one of the first stands we visited was Freshman Guitars. The aesthetics, quality and sounds of these guitars is very impressive. Plus the passion and enthusiasm of the Freshman team really make these guitars stand out. Andy just had to play one (in fact he played them all) and […]
Guitar Theory. The Chords in Keys App.
Why should you learn guitar theory? Many guitarists shy away from guitar or music theory, either because they feel they don’t need it, or because it doesn’t appeal to them. This is understandable to a point, as many guitarists can get by with what they already know. Others may avoid learning about theory, because they […]
5 Tips For Choosing Your First Guitar
How to choose your first guitar? So you’re ready to buy your first guitar, but have no idea where to start? Don’t worry – I’ve put together some essential tips on how to make sure this exciting time doesn’t give you a headache! 1) Do you know someone that already plays guitar? This is the […]