IF you’re a fan of country music then you`ll be familiar with the sweet, mellifluous sounds of the pedal steel – that smooth sliding, portamento characteristic of country music. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it uses foot pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch and a slide, (the steel), to fret the strings. […]
Month: September 2009
BOSS RC-20XL loopstation
At last… back by popular demand and fully loaded – it`s an introduction to the BOSS RC-20XL loopstation filmed live at the Rotherham Acadamy by guitar tutor Danny Maddocks. So, if you’re interested in finding out a little bit about what the loopstation can do then hit play below and enjoy the video. Enjoy! Learn […]
Digitech Whammy
What’s ten years old, a furious red colour and squeels when you stamp on it? NO, it’s not that; it’s the digitech whammy pedal. It’s been a decade since the Whammy pedal was introduced and now it has a permanent place in the history of rock and roll. The Whammy not only adds to your […]
Choosing a pick
The word “plectrum” is the Latinized form of the Greek πλῆκτρον (pléktron), “anything to strike with, an instrument for striking the lyre, a spear point”[1] and that from the verb πλήττω (pletto), the Attic Greek form of πλήσσω (plesso), “to hit, to strike, to smite, to sting”[2]. “Plectrum” has both a Latin-based plural, plectra (from […]
Choosing a guitar
Here’s Ben talking you through the guitar selection process. Quite simply WONDERFUL! You can also find some more zen-like guitar selection ideas on this post choosing acoustic guitars. Cheers, Jake Edwards
Ebow
One key variable is its interplay with your pickup. The closer you bring the EBow to a magnetic pickup that is on, the louder and brighter the sound. This only happens very close to the pickup. This is called the playing area. You can vibrate the string anywhere along its length from the nut to the bridge, but the dramatic volume change occurs only very near a pickup that is on. Staying in this small playing area gives you lots of control over the tone and volume dynamics.
Guitar Nuts
Nothing to do with squirrels; this post is intended to help you make the correct choice when replacing your guitar’s nut. If you like to play play a tremelo arm or whammy bar as part of your style but find that your strings just keep breaking then this post will hopefully get you through! Even if you don’t whammy like a madman and your strings continue breaking at or near the nut then it’s time to consider a replacement. You may also like to consider upgrading the saddles in your bridge if you find consistent string breakage a problem in this area also.
The nut is the part of the guitar at the end of the fretboard which the strings pass across where the headstock and fingerboard meet. The nut is ordinarily a small strip of bone, plastic, brass, corian, graphite and stainless steel with grooves for the string to sit within and some come replete with rollers and ballbearings to reduce friction.