Better Now or Then? (The Tone Survey!)

Is electric guitar tone better now than it was in rock’s ‘golden age’ in the 60’s and 70’s? A recent article titled “Is It Tougher To Get Good Tone Now Vs. Then?” on Jay Kumar’s fantastic Woody Tone site explores that very question. Quoted from the article, guitarist and producer Dave Cobb, who recently recorded a new album with Black Robot, believes that “Everything was better back then.”

Getting Great Guitar Sound On Stage

Guitar, check. Amp, check. Cables, check. Effects, check. You’ve got all the gear necessary to get a great sound on stage. Aside from the guitar player’s skill, why do some sound better than others? This month we’ll look at a few aspects of getting a good live sound. While this article is mostly aimed at those of us with who have don’t have much or any stage experience, there may be something of interest here for almost anyone.

Adventures in Intonation

Getting a guitar in tune, and keeping it in tune, is often an interesting endeavor—in the sense of the ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times!” Most serious players know that there is a never ending series of adjustments needed to keep your instrument playing right

Guitar Troubleshooting: Finding the Source of a Bad Electric Guitar Connection

It’s good to know what components of your electric guitar connection need replacing so you can prevent yourself from spending money on something that wasn’t actually necessary. Here is a basic order for troubleshooting the connection between your electric guitar and amplifier.

How Your Guitar Heroes Learned to Play So Fast

Have you ever watched your favorite guitarist and wondered how they got so fast? You may think you’ll never get there, but that’s not true. With guitar, just like anything else, you get out of it what you put into that. That’s the first and most important thing. But there are things you can do to help the process along and progress faster to the speed licks you’d like to be playing.

What Is A Boutique Guitar Amp?

Most guitarists instantly create an image in their minds when they think of ’boutique’ guitar amps. But, what does the term really mean? Perform a Google search on the term “What is a boutique amp” and you will find many threads from many gear related forums where members debate the meaning of the term and the criteria by which a boutique amp is defined. This month we’ll sort through the debate and see if there is an underlying theme that describes what makes an amp worthy of being called ’boutique’.

Music Practice & Motivation

If you want to learn to play an instrument or get better at playing an instrument there is a guaranteed way that you can achieve this: practice. Like with anything we decide to learn, the more we do something the better we get at doing it. This applies to everything we do in life. Its obvious that practice is a requirement of becoming a better musician, so you want to set up a good routine that is enjoyable and will keep you motivated to want to continue practicing.

Guitar String Bending Secrets

This is quite possibly the single most important element in guitar playing. It’s your personality and your signature all in one. It’s worth spending a lot of time to perfect your bends. It’s your identity. String bending is a great way to make your playing stand out apart from everyone else. With a slight bend of a string you can take your soloing into a whole new dimension.

10 Ways to Maximize Your Guitar Playing

Many times it is necessary to acquire an over-all knowledge and understanding of how to go about practicing guitar, as opposed to just learning techniques, riffs, scales and modes. All of these things are highly important of course but when applied correctly, can make the ultimate difference in progress. Progress is the ticket for many guitarists because everyone, no matter what their passion is, strives for personal growth.

Getting a Great Drum Sound

As someone who has been playing drums since a teenager and been an engineer for nearly 15 years one of the most important things for me in a song is getting a great drum sound. Before anything has been mic’d up or you’ve even got into a studio there are 3 important factors that can contribute to getting that all important great drum sound.

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