The list of things Eric Clapton gave to music is long and comprehensive, but one that probably fascinates players more than any is the fabled “woman tone”. When everyone else was going for bright and cutting, Clapton went the other way.
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One of the things that can quickly kill strings is they pick up dirt from your fingers and from the air. For that reason most people in the know will wipe down their fretboards every time they go to put their guitar away. We walk you through some of the steps you can take to extend your strings lifespan.
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One of the most innovative guitarists of all time, Steve Vai is known for everything from being in Frank Zappa’s band to popularizing the seven string guitar. We discuss some of his pedal choices.
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The first thing that comes to most guitarist’s minds when you mention Kirk Hammet is a sea of wah pedals, stretching as far as the eye can see. So what are the wah waves in the Kirk Hammet sea made of? We investigate.
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One of the mistakes beginners make is letting their guitar strings get dirty with finger gunk and sweat, and then wonder why their guitar sounds dull. We walk you through the factors in how often you should change strings.
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One of the most iconic guitarists of all time, David Gilmour has made delay a key part of his sound over the years, going from some old school echo delays to modern rack units. We walk through the three units he’s most associated with.
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Learning from your mistakes is great – we all do it – but how about showing up at the show with everything you need instead of coming home with a list of everything you forgot? We run over the gig bag essentials you shouldn’t leave home without.
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As much as you might think you can just reverse the order of strings on your guitar to make it suitable for a left handed player, that’s not always the case. We walk through some of the key differences between a regular right handed guitar and a dedicated left handed version.
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If you’re a left handed writer thinking about picking up a guitar, you might be wondering if you should try a right or left handed guitar. While there are no left handed pianos, there are many guitars for lefties. Let’s walk through your options.
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Eddie Van Halen’s tone is legendary, and of course like any legendary tone, comprises a ton of moving parts. In this article we highlight one specific aspect of that tone – his delays.
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One of the great things about music is there are no rules, right? Well, almost. Many people think of acoustic and “classical” guitars as a close paring, but swapping out the strings can be risky business. We go over the reasons why.
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Chorus seems to have fallen out of fashion in the last few years, but with a resurgence of grunge and shoegazing, it’s making a resurgence. We discuss the effect (no pun) of putting it before of after your delay pedal.
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Some pedal orders make total sense, and then some are really a matter of taste. EQ and compression is one of the latter, and while most go compression first, we’re going to arm you with the knowledge to decide what works best for you.
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The next in our series of pedal order articles, we look at two of the effects you’ll find most often on people’s pedal boards. As always these things are down to personal preference, but we give you the knowledge to find the sound you’re looking for!
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While any guitar provides a wealth of tuning opportunities, adding on a seventh string opens up a ton of doors. Few bands playing 7 strings stick to any one standard tuning, so why should you? We’ve pulled out some of our favorites to get you going on the road to 7-string domination!
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In the first of our series on individual pedal order, we look at how swapping wah and compressor in the signal chain will alter your final sound. Conventional wisdom says wah first – but what happens if you go the other way with it?
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While there are many different materials for guitar nuts, most people find themselves choosing primarily between bone and Tusq. However, if you want a bright sound with good volume and sustain, and you want all of the strings to be consistent, there’s only one choice. Let’s find out which that is!
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If you’ve been in an online guitar community for more than five minutes, you’ve probably seen someone sneer the phrase Blues Lawyer in someone’s direction at least few times. But what does it mean, and why can’t I stop listening to Joe Bonamassa as I approach 50? Let’s discuss.
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While there doesn’t seem to have been an official announcement anywhere online, it appears Matt Hornby left his postion as one of three directors of Chapman Guitars in July of this year, leaving the company in the hands of Captain Lee Anderton and The Monkey Lord himself Rob Chapman.
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What happens when a gifted guitarist’s promising career is brought to its knees by an incurable degenerative disease? Does he succumb to his vegetative fate of confinement to a wheelchair? Or does he go on to write music that becomes a beacon of hope for a new generation?
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There’s a point where music is loud enough to blow your hair back, but there’s also a point where an amp is loud enough to blow your eardrums to shreds. We walk through the mechanics of loudness, and talk about the volume of some classic amps.
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Selling a guitar can be a pain, and often it’s tempting to just say whatever and take it in to trade it towards your new purchase. However, Guitar Center has a reputation for not paying a whole lot for used gear. We take a look at their rates and what the process pays in practice.
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Many players look to change the characteristics of their amps by swapping out tubes to get a different warmth, or in some cases more headroom – or even less. We walk you through the differences between two of the more popular tubes on the market, the 6L6 and the 6V6.
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World Musical Instruments Korea have been the manufacturer of choice for budget models of a huge number of brands over the years. While giving an exact list of who exactly those brands are is a slippery eel, we provide the best list of these brands available in 2021.
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OHSC is a common term in guitar listings – especially when you’re looking at mid four figures and up – but for newbies it can be confusing. We walk you through what OHSC means, and why it’s important.
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AC/DC’s Angus Young has one of the most famous picking sounds in the world – you hear Angus, you know it’s Angus. In an age when people are trying to pick as little as possible, Angus strikes every note. We talk about the picks that Angus uses to get his sound, along with the rest of his signal chain.
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Gibson’s VOS line represents the custom shop’s passionate tribute to the golden era of Gibson guitars. We walk you through all of the aspects of the VOS line that make it so special.
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Agathis wood is the web’s least popular wood. Some say it’s a step up from plywood, but only barely. We look closer at why it’s so hated, and reveal some instances where having an agathis wood guitar is just fine.
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James Hetfield has used hundreds of picks over the years. We walk you through his current picks of choice – the Black Fang and the White Fang – as well as walking through the picks he and Kirk Hammet used to build the Metallica sound.
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The Celestion G12M-70 is often spoken of as a cheap-but-not-cheerful alternative to, greenbacks, creambacks and the G12K-75, but there are some instances where it’s the right tool for the job.
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Remember Guitar Center’s String Club? We go over the history of the offer, and place it in time within GC’s long financial struggles.
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