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Archive for the ‘Tech Tips’ Category
Sunday, August 8th, 2010
The hunt for tone is something every dedicated musician is familiar with. It’s a process that takes time, money (and more money), and a lot of frustration and awkward years. It’s kinds of like growing your hair long – the first few months are fine, and once it’s past your shoulders its fine, but in between it’s too short to put it up, to long to leave it in your eyes, and just frustrating. Tone can be the same way. As you buy new pieces of music gear one at a time, you’ll go through tonally awkward stages on your way to the top.
Listen
The first step on your goal towards finding the perfect tone is to listen and discover what you like. Listen to other artists and find what sounds interesting to you. The goal is to be original in your voicing, so as not to sound like a copycat, but use your favorite artists as a tonal influence.
As an example, I love Megadeth, but I’m not necessarily head over heels for Dave Mustaine’s tone. On the flip side, I love Warren Haynes’ tone from Gov’t Mule – but I rarely play blues. The perfect balance between great tone and playability for me has to be John Petrucci’s tone from Dream Theater, only problem is, I can’t afford to shell out $25,000 for his rig, which leads me to step 2.
Research
Once you’ve narrowed down your tonal likes and dislikes, you’ll want to research the gear that fits those needs. Some of it may be right out of your price range, and for the working musician, this tends to be the brick wall we hit. We’re musician, we’re broke, and we simply cannot afford the gear we want. The gear we can afford tends to be the gear we just can’t use. You can compromise on some things – sacrificing the perfect tone for a few dollars saved, you can work hard, save your money, and sell everything you own, look for used gear, or get a job at a retail store where you can get discounts on music gear.
Experiment
Experimenting with new gear is an essential step for every artist from John Petrucci on down. Since every new piece of gear you buy changes your tone, you’ll find yourself coming within inches of the perfect tone, and just when you buy a new piece of gear meant to be the final puzzle piece, it unexpectedly affects something else in your signal chain causing you to….
Repeat
New gear comes out all the time so it’s important to be on top of what could improve your current rig tonally, electronically, or technically. Show me an artist who’s tone and rig have stayed exactly the same for a decade, and I’ll show you an artist who hasn’t grown musically in a decade. Make sure to stay current with what’s new in stores. You never know, it could be the piece you never knew you were looking for.
Keep Rockin’
http://www.lessonsthatrock.com
Tags: bass tone, finding the right tone, guitar tone, how to find the right tone, how to get the perfect guitar tone, music gear, perfect tone, tone hunt
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Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
I love the sound of steel strings on an electric but using steel strings can wear down the fret wires a lot faster creating dents and divots where the strings sit. The basic problem is fret-wire hardness; fret wires come in a variety of alloy combinations, which give us different hardness. The idea you want to stay away from, is using hard (steel) strings with soft fretwires. Steel fretwires tend to be more expensive, difficult to work with from a luthier’s perspective, and may not sound as good, but that’s a seperate issue. What we’re looking at, is to try and put off a level and dress (the procedure required to fix frent wire dents) for as long as possible. Furthermore, a level and dress (or L&D for short) can only be performed 2 or 3 times before the frets need to be replaced altogether, a much more expensive procedure. Obviously, how “heavy-handed” you are really comes into play, but using softer pure nickel, or nickel-wound strings can help retain the fretwire’s life, and save you some cash in maintenance and repairs. If like me, you enjoy the sound of steel strings, then your best bet is to practice with softer strings, and perform with steel strings, to get the best of both longevity and tone from your axe.
Tags: dents in your frets, dents on my frets, fret wire hardness, frets, frets and guitar strings, fretwire, guitar frets, hard frets, level and dress
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Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
As a guitarist with over fifteen years of playing experience, I’ve played with tons of different picks. But as my playing became more refined and developed, I began searching not just for any pick, but for the perfect pick. The perfect pick for me is obviously different for you. Choosing the right pick is a very personal decision and may require a lot of trial and error before you even decide what it is you’re actually looking for in a pick. With that said, let’s get started!
First off, let me start by saying most beginners can get away with just about anything they have around, although it’s usually best to start with a thin to medium gauge between .60mm and .73mm in thickness. As you progress, you’ll want to consider each of the variables of a pick, individually narrowing down your choices. Variables such as size, thickness, shape, material and texture all make a difference in tone, attack, durability, and grasp. I’ll break each variable down below to help you get a grasp on why it’s important.
 A Variety of Guitar Picks Size
The average pick is a standard sized rounded-top triangle. That being said, every manufacturer makes this pick slightly different in overall size. A larger pick can be a benefit to beginners who have a tendency to drop picks, but can also make a pick feel excessively large and unwieldy to a player with more experience.
Thickness
Thickness is by far one of the most important variables to consider. Typically more advanced players performing intricate alternate, tremolo, and sweep picking will want a thick pick usually above 1.0mm. This is because thinner picks bend too easily for players who pick fast.
Shape
Although the majority of players use standard shaped picks, other shapes do exist such as tear-drop shape, triangle, and others. Small teardrop-shaped picks are usually good for intricate picking lines, while larger shaped picks are better suited for rhythm.
Material
Picks are made out of every material known to man such as a variety of plastics, nylon, metal, wood and yes, even stone. The different types of material will wear the pick and your strings down differently, as well as sound different. Wood and stone tend to be expensive, while metal is very harsh on your strings and may cause a lot of breakage. Also, different materials will feel differently in your fingers and may be harder or easier to hold onto. Once again, experiment with your choices.
Texture
Textured picks allow you to hang onto your pick in the sweatiest of situations. Some picks however might be a little too textured which makes it difficult to make position adjustments on the fly. Experiment with picks that are smooth, textured, coated, and even ones that have holes in them.
 Various Picks Until next time, keep rockin!
http://www.lessonsthatrock.com
Tags: bass picks, choosing the right guitar pick, finding the right guitar pick, guitar pick shapes, guitar picks, guitar picks for beginners, how to find the right guitar pick
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Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
So when should you change strings? More often than not, I see students who wait far too long between string changes. Not changing strings can actually prevent you from doing your best since old strings break, don’t stay in tune, and just generally feel gross. Although, most players would say to change strings about every six weeks, how often you change strings really depends on a number of factors. Factors such as how often and how hard you play, how much you sweat, and how well you maintain and take care of your axe.
If you’re not sure if it’s time to change strings, here are a few things to look for.
String discoloration. The string will change from a bright silver, to grey then eventually black. The darker the color, the closer you are to a string change.
Gunk. Lightly run your finger underneath the fretboard side of your strings. It should feel smooth. If you feel bumps, build-up, or ridges then it’s definitely time for a change.
Ridges. If you look at your strings, the portion that sits directly over the fret wire typically takes a harder beating causing a lot of strings to break at those points. You’ll want to check for ridges, and missing “wraps” to round portion of the string that is wrapped around the core of the string. If any wraps are missing, and you can see the core, then string breakage is imminent.
As a note, you’ll also want to change your strings if you’re doing anything important such as a gig, recital or recording session. Also, make sure to replace all of your strings each time and not just the ones that look bad. If you happen to break a single string right after replacing a set, don’t worry, you can just replace it individually, but if the whole set looks worn, just save yourself the trouble of more broken strings and change them all.
Check back next month when we discuss choosing the right pick.
Until next time, keep rockin’!
Tags: changing strings, guitar strings, how do i know if my strings are old, how often should i change my guitar strings, old guitar strings, when should I change strings on my guitar, when to change strings on a guitar
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Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Changing guitar strings is by far, the least favorite thing for most guitarists to practice. It’s time-consuming, a bit frustrating, and always requires us to make a decision about what strings to buy. If you’ve ever been shopping for strings, you would understand; the choices are limitless. Your best bet is to get advice from your music instructor or sales representative about your first set of strings. Once you’ve purchased your first set, save the packaging and use it as a reference for your next set, this way you know exactly what you had before and you can compare the two. Every time you buy a new set of strings, make it a point to buy a different brand, and string gauge to experiment as much as possible.
As a general rule of thumb, heavier genres of music such as hard rock and metal prefer down-tuning. Down-tuning your guitar typically cause the strings to feel like wet spaghetti, so most players in this genre step up with heavier gauges of strings. Also, if you tend to break strings a lot, or if you are just an aggressive player, you may want to try strings a gauge heavier.
On the other hand, many acoustic players tend to play with lighter strings because acoustics are already harder to play and require more hand strength. Once again, experiment as much as possible to find the perfect fit!
Until next time, keep rockin’!
Tags: changing string, choosing guitar strings, guitar string, what are good guitar strings, what kind of guitar strings to buy, what kind of strings should I get, what strings should I buy, what to look for in guitar strings
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