One of the coolest movements in pedals over the last decade or so is the ‘amp-in-a-box’ pedal. Many have been around a while (Tech 21’s Blonde and the rest of that fine series comes to mind), while others have cropped up in the last five years or so. For just one example, you’ve got pedals that will bring you, say, Neil Young’s Tweed Deluxe sound, or any other Tweed Deluxe sound you might want. But, really…as great an amp as the Tweed Deluxe is meant for aggression (as are its many available copies/clones). If you play in a rock band and need to get over a drummer…well, you bought your Tweed Deluxe (or, a copy out there that costs less than a house) to get…yeah, that Neil Young sound. On that one amp’s sound alone, I can think off the top of my head of the above Tech 21 Blonde, the Catalinbread Formula 55, the Boss Tweed, and Fender series that mimics the amp in question. There are more. And this doesn’t count the clones of the copies. Or the clones of the clones of the copies. Something like the Joyo “American” pedal, which is a total rip of the Tech 21 Blonde pedal and they are dirt-cheap and perform really well. This pedal (like its inspiration) is even a cool backup if your amp dies, as it can go directly into the board, using Tech 21’s great old Sans amp technology with cab sims and so on. None of these are endorsements, just some examples of a growing market trend.

Anyway. That’s the Tweed Deluxe. There are other amps in a box that will give you your AC 30 (top boost switch on nearly all), your various Marshalls, but especially the Plexi’s and Bluebreakers. Pedals to give you the Mesa Boogie sound (for some reason…I apologize to the Boogie folks oy there…yet clearly not enough to erase this). There are impressive Silvertone/Dano pedals, Valco/Supro, and so on.

It would be kind of easy (if also a lot of fun) to pair Eastwood and Airline models with the amp or amps that would sound great with them from our available choices. Say, an Airline H78 with, let’s say, a JHS V2 Silvertone 1484 pedal. But, no…since I don’t have to be bound to reality here, I’m going to have some fun and match some Eastwood/Airlines with pairing of amps I think would be a great choice…whether anyone’s bothered to recreate them in a box or not (I believe the answer is “not” in all cases). Feel free to play along at home and add your idea in the comments section. Remember, I’m just naming some great/funky choices amps to pair with the guitars. The choices are FAR from the last word. Fire away in the comments.

I had to limit the number of models I was going to go through just for brevity and space’s sake. But, there could be another (and another) having fun with these combos. Maybe we’ll expand to pedal boards next. Though that can go insane, as many comments on YouTube display.

But…for these the guitars…the amp-in-a-boxes don’t exist. I am also taking the liberty of hitting these amps with a boost in front, but no overdrive or dirt pedals for this experiment. Just going with the amp and a boost to bring out more texture that’s in there.

• Well…what does the Airline 59 model pair with? Duh. We have a Silvertone/Dano 1484 pedal (since there not a 1485 one, that’s as close as we can get)…but that’s way too easy. And besides, the fine pedal exists. Considering the guitar, in which the humbuckers can run into some trouble going into the off-brand “cheap” amps of the day, as most were pretty dark (no pedals, remember…an EQ alone would change this thought experiment, clearly). So…what’s a good pick? I’m going for something out of left field here…well, about as left field as I can get while still using a major and well-known amp maker. The Ampeg Reverberocket is a fabulous amp. Nearly every version used 7591 output tubs, which have a fabulous breakup all their own in the right circuit. I’m going with those models, even though there was a one year only outlier where Ampeg used 6V6’s in the output of the Reverberocket (I could VERY easily be wrong, but if memory serves, it’s the 1963 or ’64 model). This choice in output tubes, as one might guess, broke up at a lower volume than the others. Everett Hull hated distortion, and put a stop to this design after one year. That circuit would never show up in that model (or any) Ampeg amp again. That version of the amp, however, was justly described by Trainwreck guru (and former Ampeg muckity-muck Ken Fischer as the sleeper amp in Ampeg’s history. I could go either way, as I have both a couple dual 7591 and 6V6 amps coming up on the list in a bit. But I’ll go with the 6V6 Ampeg. Great breakup, but plenty of treble unlike so many of the fabulous bargain (then) priced amps. Great tremolo and distinctive reverb many enjoy more than Fender’s, and you’ve got a really cool combo. 

• The Guyatone L-50. This is a no-brainer for the cool factor alone. Though the glory is somewhat dampened by the fact that there’s very little chance the pedal could look quite as cool as the ampo, but I’m running the L-50 into…yes, the Guyatone GA-530A amp. A 12” speaker driven by two EL 84’s, smooth, slightly trail-y reverb and tremolo. The EL84’s aren’t getting pushed too hard, so there’s more jangle and warm clean to be had on this one. Lovely cleans. It can be pushed to breakup, but it takes a stronger nudge than most on this list. A beautiful amp, by the way. Stunning aesthetics. I’m imagining (since, hell, I’m making it up) the pedal to make the amp proud. *The clean jangle of this pedal would be a fun pairing with the Mandocaster of Tenor or any instrument that loves tto jangle at lower volumes.

• Eastwood Spectrum 5? Here’s where I’m picking something with even more of a killer clean. A late 760-s twin-twelve Sano with dual 7591’s. An amp with a truly distinctive voice—they are not the Ampeg clones some take them for just because of their relation at Sano’s origin and some similar setups (and the use of 7591’s when not many companies were using them). But they have their own thing going…and they have a rich heavy bottom and a clean and not at all harsh treble. Great balance in these amps. It would pick up the underrated bass range and thick bottom of the Spectrum, which allowing for glistening mids and highs. It can rock, but it can really surf or cover any rich clean tones. Also, its (relatively) high headroom threshold takes dirt pedals extremely well, for a tougher rock sound if you like. Add fabulous trem and reverb and it would make a hell of a pedal. Someone should actually get on this one, since it’s a fabulous sounding circuit and the amp is about a thousand pounds. Someone who could lift two SVT cabs at once would hurt themselves lifting a single Sano twin twelve. They could use this amp on ABC’s “World’s Strongest Man” contest. Men race up hills with refrigerators strapped to their back on that show. Why not a Sano 2X12? Fridges would be nothing in comparison. Of course, I have never run uphill carrying either. Perhaps that was clear prior to my admission…so, amp-in-a-box Sano, please.

• Bill Nelson Astroluxe Cadet DLX B…a really crazily cool one-of-a-kind look with an equally cool and slightly whacky amp. One that will never be made into an effects pedal, but should for a couple of reasons (and one dominant one I’ll mention in a moment…stay on the edge of your seat…it’s my Perry Mason surprise victory moment, I promise): the Teisco 100 head and cab. I’m cheating a bit. I’ve heard a Teisco 50…its smaller sibling. And it was a fine amp. A sort of version of a Blackface-era Fender…like a Super Reverb or even a Twin. Takes a fair amount to push the 50 into breakup…I would imagine more for the 100. So…how in the world can I pick an amp I have literally to my knowledge never heard, even on a recording? Because the 50 was really cool at half the power, but it was missing the crucial detail. The 100 has a VU meter! Bam. Case closed. Period. Full Stop. Even though I’m not done. Find me another amp with a VU meter and I’ll consider another pairing with the Astroluxe Cadet DLX B. Actually, I’m not being entirely goofy (well, perhaps mostly). Another clean amp that should take pedals extremely well at low and high volume. Great for the player who wants to work on a wide palate of sounds, while also showing off the coolest amp and VU-equipped amp in a box. VU meter. Or you wouldn’t be on this page. Admit it!

• Airline Tuxedo: going for smooth warmth beyond belief with a little hair, the amp-in-a-box of the Gibson GA-T50 of the early 50’s. I played a friend’s 1951 and did run my Tux through it, and boy would jazz and jump blues players love this combo. Neck pickup and you are in a solid Charlie Christian tone—as close, I’d argue, as one can get without the distinctive pickup of Christian’s. Play with just a thumb, and get a depth the pick doesn’t quite capture at lower volumes. The amp’s slight, but not overly hairy breakup would make it stand out among most of the slight dark early amps. On the bridge pickup, some more bite, but hardly a Les Paul Goldtop hitting a Marshall or something.

So, there are five ideas for Eastwood/Airline guitars with Amp-in-a-Box pedals that don’t, should, yet probably never will exist. Let’s see some of you ideas in the comments. Though not too many, as I have to come up with some new pairings next time around.

The Dating Game, Part One: Guitar, Meet the Perfect Amp-in-a-Box that Doesn’t Exist from MyRareGuitars.com

The Internet has changed major aspects of life for everyone, of course. And it certainly, for our purposes here, has changed the way we buy and sell guitars. This may be a trip down memory lane for some of us. But I can no longer cling to any idea that I’m young. So, while this piece is about the way some of us used to buy used guitars and I suspect that if I do my job, a lot of you…of a certain age…may nod along.

However, for those of you who had the Internet from the start of your buying and selling lives, you might want to know how it was back in the day of classified ads and getting lost (no navigators!) on the way to the stranger’s house and having to call from a pay phone (I’ll explain pay phones later) at a gas station to get directions you would often write on your hand or inner arm.

Sounds exciting, no? Well…let’s pull back the curtain with this trip into the way back machine of guitar geekdom and the risks and thrills it used to entail.

Back in the day (which is what old people said back in the day), there were pretty much two ways to buy a guitar. New or used at a shop (many were even independently owned!), or bought from a stranger you’d contacted through their classified ad for the guitar you were already thinking of as yours on the drive over.

So, here are some of the buying experience perhaps some of us remember well. Or, as I often think in life (and often ask here), is it just me?

Some scenarios were so much more common back in the day…though some of this still exists. People buy guitars in person at a stranger’s house. So…some memories, tips, observations, pointers, and a display of my many pathetic neuroses. All in one!

There’s always a guitar waiting for a new owner… somewhere

Quick thing to know. There is a difference between a Man/Woman Cave and a Cave Cave. It’s best to know the differences. In the days before there even was a name for a “man cave,” there were just rooms guys filled with their crap. And into those dank rooms did we venture because some guy had listed a Travis Bean for $250 (I’m old, ok?) and you would meet him at a door with no outside light, and he would take you into his domestic version of the sewers New York to show you the guitar if he could just god damn it, find wherever the hell I put the damn thing! It’s fun when strangers yell! When this anger rises, be aware. You may start to think there’s not even a guitar here. The guy tells you his studio is non-smoking (I’m kidding, that didn’t even EXIST in 1983…you never heard the phrase “non-smoking studio” until people…you know…actually stopped smoking in studios). Yet the “studio” is so filthy that it looks like in the time of a single guitar overdub, black mold would grow so fast all over your hands like it was time-lapse photography.

The thing is—the few of you readers out there who would have immediately left such a situation—you are the wise ones. But, as we all know, the wise among people with GAS are rare. And you might have missed out on some great guitars instead if you weren’t so much smarter than the rest of us. Wisdom sometimes has a downside.

So…that’s one kind of generic situation. There are variations on this. Some slight, some severe. I’ll only mention things entirely based on personal experience. Sadly, that means I can’t tell the story about getting ripped off in a guitar deal by Johnny Thunders…as it happened a buddy of mine. But that story kind of tells itself.

So—what are some of the possible issues when one buys (or used to) in person with the seller holding the home field advantage?

1) You’re buying from the guy you (i.e., me) liked on the phone, but now you’re growing slightly agitated…you had no idea, but he’s very rich…you have directions to his place…he gets richer and richer with every turn down a new street…houses turn to mansions, mansions turn to Citizen Cane mansions…your irrational resentment grows with every new street and avenue of opulence…damn! This guy is so rich he should GIVE YOU the damn guitar/amp…you enter…the guy is the nicest guy in the world…you remind yourself to be nice…so the guy’s rich…it doesn’t mean he clubbed baby seals in front of children to make his dough…lighten up on the guy…he has a room full of incredible equipment in mint shape. You’re not only jealous. You are now CONVINCED the price you agreed on was foolish because guys with stuff like this don’t get it by being on the bad end of a deal. Rich people don’t get rich selling under value and, besides, who likes the feeling you’re on the short end? That applies to them as well as me. I’d like to think if I were rich I’d be giving out guitars, amps, pedals, strings, and so on like they were stickers at a political rally. But…I’d probably be one of those clowns with a giant room of instruments that doubles as a humidor. Well, no. You have to keep those clean. So, that’s not really my…thing. Clean. Still, I would, I’m certain, not be the Robin Hood I just briefly imagined I’d be.

2) Buying from the guy who seems to have only lured you to his house to listen to how great he is. You find it impossible to play in front of him. You’re a sap. Insecure. It’s YOUR money, damn it. Stand up for yourself! You buy the guitar without barely even playing it, telling the guy you trust him and exiting as quickly as humanly possible. You’re a weak weak person. Hate yourself. Rinse and repeat. *

*This may have only happened to me. Your mileage may vary.

3) The creepy guy (and I’m using the male pronoun here on purpose, as I’ve never bought a guitar from anything but a normal human woman with no crazy warning signs…none of these issues…it’s surely happened…just not to me). May also be, the smelly guy. The smoky guy. The guy who really should wear more than underwear and black socks when he answers his door. The guy who offers you a hit. The guy who wants you to hang around. The (ghastly!) guy who says, “you want to take her for a test drive?” The enormously socially awkward guy who asks you if you want to stay and “jam” yet he shakes with the kinetic anxiety of one of those small dogs. You look around. Everything is a sign. A guitar neck. Part of his new project of making guitars with guitar necks and human skulls in a growing pile he keeps in the mud-room? You just know. The guy you just barely survived escaping. No one knows it, but you could have been just ended tonight and you vow to never, never, NEVER go to a stranger’s house alone ever again to look at a guitar. 

Unless it’s a really good deal and you can’t get someone else to come. We are, it should never be forgotten, fearless explorers. Or at the very least we are sick people with poor impulse control*

4) Buying from the friendly hipster guitar guy (in this case, it’s from a retailer). The curse of retail sellers—Their absolute assault of predatory capitalistic phony kindness. The kind of person who, when you find them following you for the third time, you want to scream, “Get the hell away from me! I’m freaked out. You confuse me! Why are you nice? Knock it off!”

When I was a teenager, the biggest guitar shop in CT was the oddly named “Brian Guitars” (no possessive…your guess is as good as mine). Whenever you went into the place, if you so much as picked up…well, a PICK, this guy would appear out of nowhere, wearing designer jeans, his hair permed, his face and personality remarkably like that spastic Muppet, Guy Smiley. You pick up, say, a Fender Heavy pick and from a burst of powder he would appear and say heeeyyy! That is a GREAT pick! I use those myself! Well, Brian and I seemed to have the same taste in everything, at least according to Brian. I’d pick up a pointy Ibanez just to hold it and see how those pointy 80’s metal players felt when they had to play a Chinese Star with a neck and strings on it.

“Heeeeeeyyy! That’s my baby. My number one at home!”

I’d pick up a Tele. And it would be Brian (I’m skipping all possessives with the man) favorite and he had ten at home just like it. “This is number eleven if you walk away, my friend!”

There’s no great narrative to take away from Brian Guitars except that, as we were leaving one day, I stepped in a rather enormous (I will save you any comparisons for scale, but…memorably large) pile of dog crap. So large I stepped in it with both feet after my second stride. My buddy, our drummer Steve, pointed to my shoe and put on his Brian-sales guy voice and say, “heeeey! That is some handsome shit on your shoes! That’s the exact kind of shit I have on all my shoes! You’ll love it!”

4) A little like, but somehow different answering the man cave guy’s ad. You answer the ad and it’s way more rural than you’d thought (which means, it’s outside the city…which means to City Boy you that it’s a setting for a Wes Craven film). You see farmhouses and a lot of trees—which means you see human sacrifice images in your head. You finally call for directions, and the guy’s got a hard accent and he’s difficult to understand, but you don’t want to sound like an asshat ugly white American and make him repeat himself, but you do so anyway, so you’re already pretty damn neurotic before you even see the place. You end up at his shack that looks like Darrell’s been living in it since season 7 of The Walking Dead. The line between the really frigging weird, from the I need to run for my life is a fine one. But…no risk/no reward. 

I got a good lawsuit era Les Paul at a deliverance-ish cabin once. Sure, it’s possible I could have ended up as a human skin vest. But we intrepid guitar geeks, as I can’t enforce upon you enough, are a rare and brave (and verging in and out of stupid’s borders) breed. 

5) You sit down to try an amp. The house is normal. A woman hands you a guitar to test the amp. You are, as always, nervous to play in front of a stranger. Other players probably aren’t. Maybe they are the one with the chops…go film yourself being so good it hurts other people’s feelings on YouTube, okay…this is for the rest of us. 

You grab the guitar. And. You freeze up. You, for the life of you, cannot tune the guitar. You can tune your own guitars. You have for decades. You can tune with your records, your friends, your bands by ear for 40+ years. Hell, you once tuned a piano in a studio (a, yes, chain-smoking studio…or, as they were known…a studio). But no barrier ever made holds back your walls of insecurities and you freeze. You’re awful. You’re horrified, without remembering this central fact of life: no one gives a crap. They’re too busy thinking about themselves and their life to give a crap whether you can tune the guitar they want to sell. They don’t care if they’re not selling it to Santana. But, you’re giving this person money. If it’s enough money, they will remember you fondly as “the person who bought my old Twin for a lot of money.” Maybe somehow the price favors the buyer (maybe the seller was in a rush, which always turns things to the buyer’s side). In this case, you will be remembered as, “that clown who couldn’t even tune a guitar who STOLE my Twin. Bastard.”

However, if you’re gifted with some core confidence and know how to handle yourself (i.e., if you are my polar opposite and move somehow comfortably through your days and nights), you make any situation turn to a smooth landing. You can’t tune the guitar? Big deal. You might grow slightly condescending and say, “I can’t buy an amp if I’m playing a guitar that can’t hold tune. Best of luck with it, my friend.” Or, if you’re like me… let’s hope you’re not, you’re left with the seller staring at you. Your only hope is that you intentionally and randomly tune the different strings in no relation to the others, tell the person you’re in a band that’s mostly influenced by Glen Branca, Captain Beefheart, and the sounds of jackhammers and taxi horns and just make hideous dissonant noise until finally staring ahead thoughtfully and saying…“I’m just not feeling it. Thanks, though.” 

6) The next hard life lesson in buying gear? KNOW THYSELF!!!!

For me? I always make the same mistake when I fall in love with the look of a guitar and am so blinded I forget fundamental issues of my playing. The pitfalls I always ignore that I need to remember. Be very careful with three pickup guitars. Be very careful with loving all the knobs. And not EVERY SINGLE GUITAR needs a vibrato!

I made the same mistake over and over because I fell in love with an instrument’s look. And look IS important…it’s actually crucial…none of us would be Eastwood people if that weren’t the case. Who doesn’t love a weird and beautiful guitar? But, then, I have to remind myself, I have to PLAY it if I’m going to enjoy it. Thankfully, there are a bunch of Eastwoods/Airlines/Harmonys and Danos and other funky beautiful stuff with two pickups.

Yet…I ALWAYS LOVE the look of three pickups. Then I play it (or, sadly, just bought it) and am reminded again that, in what I can laughingly call my “technique,” the middle pickup is nearly always exactly where I play solos and single lines . That pretty middle pickup is just in the way. And, of course, I feel dumber every time I do this. Maybe it won’t happen when I’m in my 60’s. Hope springs eternal. 

And, as I say, I just love the sight of a gaggle of knobs! I had what was truly, looking back, the perfect guitar for me. A solidbody with a single P90. It’s all I needed. But I’m guessing I traded it for something with more knobs than a PA. Because it was beautiful. Because it played so well. If only someone else had been playing it.

And, then…vibratos. Strat vibratos (even though I didn’t really like Strats…they didn’t have extra knobs and they had—damn them!—three pickups). For a while, I was throwing various vibrato systems on every (at the time) cheap old Chicago guitar I got. I put (along with hot humbuckers) a Bigsby on a 26” scale Kay Jazz II. To be fair, it was already hacked into, and it growled like a monster with a PAF copy. But…did it need a Bigsby? Well…it’s like Everest. It was a hard tail bridge. It was there. Of course it needed a Bigsby! 

Bring it back, Mike Robinson! Bring back the Kay Jazz II, but give it cool buckers and a totally unnecessary vibrato! Pleaaassse?

I have not healed from this. I recently bought a re-issue of the mid-70’s Telecaster Deluxe…a lovely mutation from Fullerton (or wherever Fender was at the tie…forgotten)—a Telecaster body with a Stratocaster headstock. Two Seth Lover Humbuckers, and—yes—a Strat’s vibrato system. Fewer than 100 of the original models had the custom option whammy bars. Fewer than a 100 of the re-issues have them. In total, ever, there are fewer than 200 of this model of Telecaster that have the Strat’s vibrato system. It makes them much more expensive. Of course I had to have that one. I never use it. Great guitar…but, I’d only use a Bigsby or Jazzmaster style and even then WAY less than I ever imagine when I get the guitar.

For nearly 40 years, I have toyed with the idea of adding a Bigsby to my 1969 Telecaster. Thankfully I’m both lazy, often broke, AND I do treat that guitar as sacred. It was my first truly great guitar. And I never sold it, no matter how broke or stupid I was. Really…in many ways, it’s my single triumph in 40+ years of buying and selling. It’s on its fifth set of frets. It’s a relic the way a guitar is supposed to be—the player lovingly beat the crap out of it over the course of decades!

So, my ’69 Tele escaped this vibrato craze of mine. But…over the years, I must have had 40 guitars with various vibrato systems in/on them. Though never, I’d like it noted, any dive-bombing ones. At least I had SOME restraint. But…well over 60% (I’m going light) of the guitars I’ve owned either came with or I added an “idiot stick” as a buddy of mine’s Tal Farlow-gigging father called them. He also, on hearing our first EP said to his son, “it sounds great, Rick. But who taught Rob to play with mittens?”

So…vibratos everywhere. I’m getting better. Yet there was a time I would have put a Bigsby on an acoustic guitar. A Bigsby front door knock! On a kitchen table! People would think it was a meat grinder, but I’d tell them, no…it’s the most incredible part of a guitar!…I would replace all kitchen cabinet knobs and pulls with Bigsbys. 

But, yeah. I don’t tend to use them.

It’s really best to know these things about yourself.

And now…in further offering my repeated issues with guitars, I have, as I touched on above, and with apologies to Mike: A PROBLEM WITH GUITARS WITH LOTS OF KNOBS. No, Mr. Robinson, it’s not your fault. You have made the world richer with very cool guitars with a lot of knobs. They are stunning. They play great until I try to solo (again, never the guitar’s fault). 

Buttons, I’m down with. Buttons, I actually adore. Because I love 60’s Italian guitars, so I’d better love buttons. Even volume and tone wheels I can forgive because I’m one of those really subtle players who pretty much never changes their volume or tone knob all night…I’m not one of “those” “guys/gals” with “great” “tone”…

Actually my tone’s fine…(Tweed Deluxe open full bore)…honestly, I think it’s a great tone, if neither nuanced or versatile…. But the little knobs on beautiful guitars. Good lord I love them. LOVE them. Then I knock four of them out of whack and when I go to solo I often have only a very quiet muddy bass…or whatever…I have ruined how it sounds, having fallen for my “ooohh! knobs!!!!!” fetish again and again.

But. The dictum KNOW THYSELF when it comes to buying guitars MIGHT lead to me avoiding guitars I think I can’t live without. However, if I truly know myself, I’m certain in the awareness that I will buy, for the rest of my life, cool-looking three pickup guitars with so many knobs the knobs and they have knobs next to their buttons and I’ll not only put a vibrato on everything, I’ll toss B-Benders on all the bastards too.

I will fall for all of this again. There are perhaps treatments for this condition. There is no cure. I’m not really sure there are even treatments. Enjoy the nice and reliable and clean world of buying on-line. Trust me. It’s safer, better, smoother. And non-smoking.

Buying Guitars… Old-School Style. from MyRareGuitars.com

John Rawson’s dedication to playing the guitar is matched only by his love for his grandchildren. The 67-year-old White Bear Lake, MN-native has discovered a unique way to pass along his zest for music to the youngest members of his family.

Rawson spun a rhythmic twist on an inheritance model he learned from his own father. “My Dad invested $2,000 into a Certificate of Deposit for each of his kids. When they graduated from high school, he handed over the CD with the hopes that they would use it for furthering their education. I followed my Dad’s investing template, only I’m giving each of my grandkids a collector guitar,” Rawson said.

The recently retired computer programmer’s affection for music was ignited as a teenager when he played a Gibson EBO in a neighborhood garage band. Rawson’s guitar journey continued as he went to college, worked in the computer industry, helped his wife Dianne raise two children, and then watched as his daughter and son started families of their own. Rawson’s latest chapter includes hand-picking guitars that speak to him, with the eventual goal of gifting these choice 6-strings to his three grandkids. 

The kids are alright: John Rawson’s grandsons enjoying his guitars

Play What the Legends Play

Rawson’s early days in rock and roll shifted to playing bass guitar in church bands. Along the way, he nurtured an appreciation for his guitars, as well as for the instruments elevated by rock and roll legends like Jimi Hendrix, Santana, and Jimmy Page. When asked if he had a bass playing favorite, Rawson replied, “I’ve always admired Paul McCartney with his Hofner bass”

The Fender line of guitars has always held a special place in Rawson’s heart. The Fender Stratocaster was released in 1954 and versions of the guitar were played by rock icons such as Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and George Harrison. One of the first guitars Rawson picked for the collection dedicated to his grandkids was a 1978 Stratocaster. This revered model is earmarked for his now 8-year-old grandson Walter. 

A Gibson Les Paul is waiting for Rawson’s 6-year-old grandson George. This 2013 guitar is one of only 400 made, and it features Les Paul’s signature. This special run guitar mirrors a 1952 original which includes a trapeze tailpiece. Rawson’s 2-year-old granddaughter Charlotte will inherit a worn, but well-loved, 1977 Fender Telecaster. This is the same model that Bruce Springsteen often plays in concert. 

Rawson and his 2-year-old granddaughter Charlotte

Every Picture Tells a Story

A sentimental journey of photographs now accompanies the collector guitars. The pictures chronicle each grandchild from birth to today. Rawson has the photos neatly tucked inside the individual guitar cases dedicated to his three grandkids.

The oldest grandchild is still a decade removed from his high school graduation and the day he’ll receive his collector guitar. What are Rawson’s hopes and dreams between now and then? “I would love it if the instruments appreciate in value. A best-case scenario would be that the kids enjoy receiving a great time-capsule guitar, or that the guitar is worth enough to help pay for some college expenses. In any case, they’ll know the gift is a token of their grandparents’ love for them,” Rawson said. 

During Rawson’s musical “long and winding road,” his passion for collector guitars has added a dimension to his life that only fellow guitar aficionados can understand and appreciate. When asked if sees another vintage 6-string beauty in his future, Rawson grinned and replied. “Not today; but ask me again tomorrow.”

Leaving a Guitar Legacy from MyRareGuitars.com

Music lovers that are fans of rock and metals know that the killer guitar riffs are the basics of what makes the rock and metal genres of music so lovely. Any song blended with this rhythm can be a total sold out to its fan. If you want to make your killer riffs, dig in on this article and discover how you can effectively and practically learn rhythm guitar. 

How to Take Care of Your Guitar In Any Weather

Before going straight to the subject of discussion, you need to understand how to properly take care and maintain your guitar so that in any weather, you can also have it in good condition to practice with. Generally, most acoustic guitars are built to withstand temperature changes. Make sure you get an acoustic guitar with winter protection to make it still sound perfect and store it in a cool place that will not alter its humidity.

Focus on playing your notes perfectly

To start with, playing rhythm guitar is a different style than how you used to. So to master this new style quickly, you have to focus on how you play your notes than concentrating on the specific note that you will be using. One interesting fact is that you can add a note to any simple power cord to get you a fantastic sound. You don’t have to be in haste about this process. It is going to be a gradual step for you as a newbie.

You need to already know the basics of guitar playing before opting to practice the rhythm guitar; if not, you will have a bit of struggle in the process. If you are experiencing this, you would need to go back to the fundamentals and learn the rudiments of guitar playing to develop your skills. If you can master this, then you will be able to flow along in the course of your rhythm guitar practice. Here are a few tricks you can use to guide yourself in this exciting adventure. 

Blend your style with your guitar riffs

First and foremost, think of a way to merge the style of guitar you play to blend with the guitar riff. Most guitarists tend to overdo this, but the point is that you can create a fantastic guitar riff with one or two notes. Just keep it in mind that rhythm guitar is mainly about rhythm. You need to examine and cross out any excess notes. By doing this, you will find yourself centered in the main rhythm you want to play. Take a notebook and jot down four measures value of 8th notes. Then randomly remove six notes and replace them with the remaining. Now try using just one cord to play the rhythm you have just developed. After one or two trials, you would have built up yourself into creating different kinds of rhythm ideas for guitar riffs. You can move on to the advanced level (adding more difficult meters and rhythmic inspirations) when you have mastered this trick.

Make your rhythm clear and tight

Secondly, try as much as you can to make your rhythm guitar production clear and tight. If you need to be great in this niche, you have to practice this way. Every good guitarist knows that they have to play consistently to be good at rhythm guitar. But not all guitarists understand how it sounds when someone is playing tight rhythm and with a metronome. To make your rhythm guitar sound excellently well, you have to learn to play on time and do it consistently.

Discover new methods of blending chords

Learn new ways of how to blend your chords. This will help you develop different fresh ideas of how to group chords to produce good sound with your guitar riffs. This trick is much easier for those that are familiar with the concept of keys when utilizing chords. If you are a novice, the best way to grasp this is to blend several minor and major chords with power chords. Keep practicing with this idea to groom your power chord into full minor chords or major chords.

In conclusion, we all know that it will take much time to become a master in the act of rhythm guitar riff playing. But you need to take your lessons step by step to learn everything and make sure you make gradual progress from one level to another. Learn how to write your rhythm guitar riffs and see how great you will become in a short while. 

WATCH: 100 Riffs (A Brief History Of Rock’n’Roll)

Feeling inspired yet? Watch this excellent video by Chicago Music Exchange, showcasing the history of Rock’n’Roll in 100 classic guitar riffs…

Essential Tips To Playing Killer Rhythm Guitar Riffs from MyRareGuitars.com

Musicians should plan to change strings on average every 3 months. They also can change it after around 100 hours of practice. Usually, strings may last twice as long, and you can use them as long as they do not break but, of course, it’s a good thing to change them regularly.

Here are some points to consider about your strings:

• If you’re using a guitar two hours a day, then it is needed to change the strings at least once per month. Frequent use of the guitar make its strings weaker than ever, so they need to be replaced. If the musician plays less often – like an hour every day, for instance – then the strings should be changed every six or eight weeks, or every three months or so.
• Sometimes, when you are unable to get your preferred sound in your guitar, then it could be a good idea to change the string, as different gauges (and how new they are) affect the tone.
• If you find your strings rusty and discolored, it means that they can end up breaking, sooner rather than later. You will feel more uncomfortable playing your guitar, and you may even hurt your fingers. In this case, you need to change your strings as soon as possible. Playing rusty strings is never a good idea!
• If you keep your guitar in a humid environment, then it is advisable to change your strings more often, as there is more chance for them to get rusty and discoloured. Even if you don’t play the guitar more often, you’ll have to change your strings if your home environment is humid.

Recommended Strings:

There are several great brands such as D’Addario and Ernie Balls to name but two of the most popular. It’s always advisable to invest on good quality strings rather than cheaper, more generic ones. 

At Eastwood Guitars, we use only GHS Strings, which are great value and top quality. 

Big thanks to Joseph Nicholls from Best10gears.com who contributed to this post.

How Often Should You Change Your Guitar Strings? from MyRareGuitars.com

The music industry creates more stars than any other activity. If we actually think about it then a lot of our biggest heroes, idols and influences will be musicians. That’s not even taking into account just how much the music itself can influence us too. 

Of all the different genres and instruments it’s undoubtedly guitar music that is most well known. Guitarists have dominated the music scene since the 1950s with a wide variety of genres being blended together to create something unique. Guitarists of 50 years ago, and the music they created, is still having a profound impact on musicians today and what’s being produced. 

When we think of the best guitarists then a few names clearly spring to mind. Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen all were incredible writers, players and performers with their own unique style. These household names continue to dominate the guitar world and will likely continue to do so for another few decades at least. 

But what about the less well known names? Who else is producing the music that we love to listen to and why don’t we know about them? This article is about giving recognition to some of the hardest working musicians in the world. They may not have achieved universal stardom like the guitar heroes of the past, but they have still achieved a lot. Let’s take a look at the top 10.

10. Keb’ Mo’

Considering just how much Keb’ Mo’ has achieved in his career it’s amazing he isn’t a household name. Born Kevin Roosevelt Moore in Nashville Tennessee, Keb is an American blues musician who sings, plays and writes music. 

Keb is known for his catchy and easy to listen to music. While he primarily plays acoustic, he’s also incredible on electric guitar and can produce a wide variety of sounds. That coupled with his voice makes him great to listen to. You may check some popular electric on Guitarlisty.

Keb has released 13 solo albums and won 4 grammy awards. He’s had fairly consistent success for the last 35 years and continues to grow in popularity. 

9. Mark Tremonti

Given his track record and history, Mark Tremonti should really be a well known name. Mark was the lead songwriter and guitarist for Alter Bridge and Creed, two of the most well known and highest profit bands of all time. He’s also produced a number of solo albums which have been well received. 

Outside of his impressive song writing abilities, Mark is an incredibly talented player. He’s performed some of the most complex and interesting solos we’ve heard in the last decade, absolutely shredding the strings in live performances across the country.

Mark Tremonti has won several awards and was even named guitarist of the year by Guitar World magazine for 3 years running. It’s certainly a name that everyone should know, but very few seem to. 

8. Joe Bonamassa

Joe Bonamassa is probably one of the more well known names on the list, but arguably still doesn’t have as much recognition as he deserves. When he was only 12 he performed alongside BB King, and from there he’s gone from strength to strength. 

Joe has released 15 solo albums, of which 11 went on to become number 1 hits. He has an impressive track record of writing and releasing hit songs, even taking classic songs and reinventing them for the modern era. He has a huge range of guitars and equipment, with the perfect ear to pick up exactly what’s needed and when. 

Joe is admired in the music world for his impressive range, his mix of styles and his consistency throughout the years. He’s one of the biggest blues names in the industry and definitely one that everyone should know about. 

7. Keshav Dyar

Keshav Dyar is an Indian music sensation that’s been producing heavy metal Indian guitar music for decades. The Indian music scene has remained fairly contained but is now at breaking point. It’s likely in the next decade we’ll see an outpouring of Asian talent across the globe, with Keshav’s band Skyharbor leading the way. 

Keshav isn’t just a talented player, but a brilliant songwriter. He put together the entire debut album, Blinding White Noise, for his band which has had an overwhelmingly positive reception. Keshav uses an intricate and very deliberate style which focuses on the percussive elements. This strict playing contrasts with the creative music and makes something quite unique. 

Keshav Dyar certainly deserves to be known more widely, but it’s more to do with circumstance than any question of his talent. The Indian and Asian music scene isn’t quite as close to the Western side as it could be, but hopefully this will all change in the future. Until then, Keshav is a talent you should learn more about. 

6. Tosin Abasi 

Tosin Abasi is a jazz metal guitarist who has developed a brand of music that isn’t commonly seen. While jazz and metal can combine, Tosin has taken this to a new level and created a very interesting and unique sub genre which is much heavier than most. 

Tosin has a very angry and brutal style which is underpinned by a level of musical genius. His band, Animals as Leaders, has seen great success on the back of this and received critical acclaim internationally. It’s this ability to write and perform more challenging sounds which is why we believe Tosin should be more recognised than he is.

5. Guthrie Govan

Guthrie Govan is an English songwriter and guitarist who’s played with a number of well known bands such as Asia and The Young Punks. He’s also had a successful solo venture called Erotic Cakes. Guthrie opts for a mixed style and has shown he can turn his hand to whatever he wants. This has led to many of the greats recognising and praising his ability on the strings.

What’s most impressive about Guthrie is his versatility. Alongside writing and playing he’s worked with the legend Hans Zimmer to create film soundtracks. He’s also a music tutor and is helping others to pick up the craft. Certainly he’s a guitarist who deserves more recognition that he has today.

4. Paul Oritz

Paul Oritz of Chimp Spanner is another impressive instrumentalist who is perhaps not as well known as he could be. Paul has helped create both of Chimp Spanner’s successful instrumental albums which flit between very light and heavy music, keeping the listener wondering what’s next. 

Paul opts for a futuristic vibe and style using 7 or 8 strings to make his music. With fluidity and strong post production skills, Paul is an expert who deserves the respect of the music world. 

3. Eric Johnson

For those in the guitar world, Eric Johnson is very well known, but this fame has never made it much further afield. He’s been performing since the 1970s and has performed alongside Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. His style incorporates qualities of both blues and jazz, showcasing his musical talent to adapt and create as he goes. 

Eric has helped create and play hundreds of songs with well known artists. He’s not only an impressive guitarist, but also well accomplished on the drums, bass and piano. Reliable, consistent and talented, Eric Johnson is a name to remember. 

2. Felix Martin

Felix Martin is a Venezuelan talent and if you appreciate guitar music at all then who you really should know he is. Felix is unlike most artists and is almost exclusively self taught. He decided at an early age that he needed an extra string, but eventually went on to create a 14 string instrument that he uses going forward. 

Felix uses a two handed tapping style that makes use of every inch of those 14 strings. It allows him to develop his own unique style and even play rhythm and lead guitar simultaneously. He plays almost exclusively alone, writing and performing in a very intense way. 

Felix Martin is a once in a generation musical mind and it’s a crime that he isn’t more well known than he is. 

1.Gary Boyle

Gary Boyle is a UK born guitarist who is widely regarded as one of the underrated guitarists in the world. In the 60s Gary performed with Dusty Springfield, touring Europe and playing concerts across the US. From the 70s he became more of a session musician, writing and performing with various artists, creating jingles and working on movie soundtracks. 

Gary is a jazz fusion specialist, but also has the breadth to turn his hand to a wide variety of genres. He has proven himself able to adapt and perform as needed and because of his versatility he’s one of the best known talents that artists would ask for when they needed backing. Definitely one to look out for and listen more to if you get the opportunity. 

Who else should be on this list?

There are countless other acts who are performing day in, day out who deserve to be on this list. The truth is that while the biggest names had some insane skills, they didn’t always have to grind as hard as the people on this list and we should never take that for granted. 

Once you scratch the surface of the guitar scene you can see creativity and impressive talent everywhere. So don’t be afraid to broaden your horizons, and always seek out acts you haven’t heard of. This can lead you to find some hidden gems who will help you develop your tastes across genres. 

What about you? Who are your favourite guitarists active today?

Top 10 Modern Guitar Heroes from MyRareGuitars.com

In the enormous world of music, figuring out which instrument best suits your taste can be quite a daunting task. This article will tackle the old millennial dilemma between banjo and the guitar. Both instruments, though similar, have some differences that would be crucial in determining which to learn, especially for a first time player who is also fresh to music. 

A banjo is a musical string instrument. It is believed to be African in origin. It is 4, 5, or 6 –stringed instrument and a standard banjo has five metal strings. It has a membrane that is stretched across a cavity. 

The membrane is usually made of plastic, but occasionally it may be made from animal skin. The cavity is known as a resonator or head, and it is usually circular in shape. Banjo has held an important place in African-American traditional music. Screw stretchers are used to vary the tension of the belly.

A guitar, on the other hand, on average have six strings but may have up to twelve. Guitars are made from plastic or wood, and their strings come from steel and nylon. There are quite a wide range of guitars from the well-known classic guitar to the acoustic to the electric guitar which lacks the hollow amplification belly.

Banjo or guitar?

There are a few similarities, however, between the banjo and the guitar, as they belong in the family of string instruments. Both instruments have a belly to assist in amplifying the sound. Both instruments may also be played using a small pick to pluck the strings. Thin strings, whether you want to go for the best beginner banjo or the guitar, give for easier pressing and playing of the instrument. 

Differences

The two instruments differ in size. A banjo is smaller compared to a guitar making it easier to learn how to play than the guitar. It is because of this that a banjo is better for children to learn compared to the guitar as it is easier for them to manipulate it.

Given the difference in the size of the neck, banjo has a slimmer neck than that of a guitar. It is easier to fret banjo strings than it is to do so on a guitar. This is another factor that comes into play, making the banjo slightly easier to play.

Banjos have metal strings on which the music is played while guitar strings are made from steel and some from nylon. This may cause some difficulty when plucking the banjo as the chords are rather tough, but with practice, this becomes barely noticeable. 

The tension on the strings also plays a vital role in the amount of pain incurred when playing. However essential to notice the banjo has lighter gauge strings which weigh in to make its playing comparably equal to the guitar

The two instruments also sound different even to the untrained ear. Their difference lies in the fact that a guitar provides a rich deep tone compared to a banjo’s high pitched tone.

A guitar is tuned to what is generally called standard  with notes that include E, A, D, G, B, E while a banjo, on the other hand, is tuned to an open tuning called “open G” tuning. This means that a banjo immediately makes a beautiful sound when strummed across the strings. This is because the strings are already tuned to one of the chords already. The second, third, and fourth strings in a 5-string banjo are quite similar to the guitar.

As mentioned previously, the two string instruments vary in their number of strings. Usually, a banjo has five strings while a standard guitar has six strings. The up-side to this, however, is that more pleasant and accurate sounds can be gotten from a guitar than from a banjo.

In terms of prices as well, guitars will provide better sound quality than banjos and are therefore more expensive because of this. The construction of a guitar is also slightly more complex, adding to the slightly elevated prices. Additionally all the different versions there are of guitars means that their prices will vary but will generally be higher than a banjo.

Difficulty 

A guitar has more notes and more complex fingering than a banjo and this makes it slightly harder than a banjo to play.  And if you are a beginner, both tend to be quite taxing to learn. This is especially the case if you are playing the guitar in standard tuning. This is also compounded by their difference in the number of strings. 

It is also worth noting that in a guitar the strings are further from the fretboard meaning the player requires some level of expertise to create notes and chords. Banjos are therefore beginner-friendly, especially for children.

How to Choose

However, all things considered if you decide to pick the guitar, then learning how to play the banjo would be a piece of cake. This is because the guitar is more complex compared to the banjo. But in a way, learning to play either will not be easy as this is a lifelong journey and true mastery requires more than a lifetime! 

The journey, however, is what makes the entire process worthwhile. Both instruments require your hand to learn to make moves it isn’t accustomed to, but this will get easier and will be greatly rewarding upon succeeding to master these moves. Both will require commitment and persistence because as they say, it takes ten thousand hours after all to master a skill.

Conclusion

Eventually, in the end, the choice made is determined by which instrument to you is equated to pure bliss. Whichever instrument makes your heart dance a little faster should ultimately be your choice. 

And whichever one you eventually settle on will make for an exquisite choice. Also, the basic skills acquired in learning one can easily be used in learning to play the other, which means once you master one, you could quickly move on to the other.

Banjo vs. Guitar: Know the Differences from MyRareGuitars.com

With the wide range of musical instruments, a guitar is one of the most common instruments that you will find among many musicians.  There are different types of guitars that you can choose, depending on your preference and taste. With the latest technology in the modern world, there have been so many variations when it comes to guitars. However, some people still prefer using vintage guitars as compared to the contemporary guitars, why? Let us find more details about vintage guitars that you should know.

What Exactly Is A Vintage Guitar?

This is probably the question that is running through your mind. Let us first understand what is vintage. In simple terms, vintage refers to something of the past, and it is of high quality. There is no specific definition of what qualifies a product to be called vintage. However, vintage guitars are guitars that have been around for around 30 years or older. Basically, we refer to things that were made before 1980 as vintage.

Why Buy A Vintage Guitar?

Why would someone consider buying a vintage guitar, yet there are so many modern guitars with improved designs and features? What is so unique about vintage guitars? Well, there are so many reasons why people prefer buying or collecting vintage guitars. 

First of all, vintage guitars are beautiful. For instance, if you have a close look at the Martin 0-38 Parlor guitar (1985), you will be impressed with the looks of this guitar. This guitar features a spruce top, rosewood sides and back, ebony fingerboards and bridge and a herringbone inlay. All these make this guitar one of the most beautiful vintage guitars.

Another reason why people prefer to buy vintage guitars is because many people believe that aged wood provides better sound quality. On top of that, anything of the past has a history and so do vintage guitars. 

Either way, now that you have made up your mind you want to buy a vintage guitar, you might be wondering where to begin. You don’t have to worry because I have got you covered. This article covers everything that you need to know about vintage guitar. I will also give you some tips that will help you select the best vintage guitar.

Important Information You Should Know About Vintage Guitars

Vintage Guitars

When shopping for a vintage guitar, there are several things that you need to know so that you can pick the right guitar. The following are the things that you should check.

• Who is selling the guitar?

You definitely want to know who is selling the guitar. Ask a lot of questions prior and evaluate the seller to ensure that you get an authentic guitar. In most cases, buyers prefer buying vintage guitars from a local store because they are sure of professional reputation and in-house repairs.

• Condition of the guitar

Of course, you don’t want to end up with a guitar that will disappoint you may be due to poor quality craftsmanship. Therefore, you should not be afraid to ask any questions that you have in mind before buying. If you are buying from a professional seller, then they should give you details or any issue. While not all the problems can prevent you from buying, some minor problems you find might not affect the tonal quality or the guitar playability.

• Originality

In most cases, you do not expect to find the guitar in the same condition that it was when it was made. And for many players, their priority is finding a vintage guitar that plays well and provides a high-quality sound output. In fact, you will find that many vintage guitars that are not all-original will work well and meet your needs.

• Mode of payment

When you are buying a vintage guitar, you should also consider the mode of payment that the seller accepts. Most sellers will accept PayPal, among other payment methods.

How to Choose a Vintage Electric Guitar

Vintage Burns guitar

Now that you know some essential things you need to have in mind before buying a vintage guitar let us go straight to a simple buying guide that will help you pick the right vintage guitar. The following tips will help you choose the best electric guitar for newbies.

Tone

The tone is the most important things that you should check. Even if the guitar looks great, it should provide you with a crisp and clear tone.  And if you experience problems setting up the guitar, you can seek help from a guitar professional.

The vintage

What is the vintage of the instrument? Check for details such as finishes, serial numbers, workmanship, hardware, electronics and wood among others to get the clue.

Material

Vintage guitars are scarce, so you need to consider rare woods and other materials. If you find vintage guitars made of Brazilian rosewood, ivory, tortoiseshell and ebony inlays, then this is an indication of a quality instrument.

Guitar condition

You should also check the quality of the guitar before you buy. For instance, you should pay attention to whether there are scratches, worn frets, warped neck, or glue separating the joints. The presence of these might affect the overall value of the instrument.

Age and alteration

How old is the guitar? In most cases, older guitars have a greater value as compared to a new one. Additionally, you should check if the guitar has been altered. Look for a guitar with very minimal alterations and few scratches on the original parts.

Don’t worry about weak neck

With time, the solid body of the guitar begins to lose stability so it can’t stay in tune. So the neck can become unstable because of old age, and this should not worry you.

Final Words 

They say that old is gold and most players understand this in regards to vintage guitars. If you want to enjoy a beautiful design, great sound, and easy playability, among others, an old guitar can be a great purchase. I have provided you everything that you need to know if you are considering to buy a vintage guitar as well as buying tips to help you land on the right model.

Vintage Electric Guitar Buying Guide: What You Need to Know from MyRareGuitars.com

Four guitars, 3 basses and one acoustic were stolen from his home in Blackpool, UK, last week.

“The bass guitars are all unique in their own right and are very dear to me. As well as being personal possessions which I have had customised, I have used them over the years in various bands with fond memories.”

Here’s what he said:

In the early hours of Tuesday 8th Jan, some thieves broke into my den/office/rehearsal room and took off with, amongst other personal belongings,  4 guitars. They were as follows – 

1. A substantially modified 1967 Rickenbacker 4001 bass which is now in pale blonde sunburst with chrome hardware, rosewood purfling and custom shading by Fylde Guitars, is now fretless and with stereo active electronics. 
2. An original Status 4 string bass guitar, headless, double cutaway, carbon graphite through neck with body of exotic tropical woods. This has been updated with new parametric controls and fretboard LEDs
3. A Fender 5 string Jazz bass, 50th Anniversary model with gold hardware in traditional dark sunburst. This also has been upgraded with active controls
4. A Fender 6 string Telecoustic electro-acoustic, similar to the Redondo with cutaway and sound hole and bridge piezo pickup in a dark purple-red.

IF YOU ARE APPROACHED OR YOU HEAR OF ANYONE BEING OFFERED ONE OF THESE GUITARS FOR SALE PLEASE INFORM THE POLICE IMMEDIATELY. 

The Incident number is LC-20190108-0115
THEY ARE PRICELESS TO ME

THANK  YOU, LANCE FOGG (01253 302858)

Important Tips On How To Protect Your Guitars From Theft:

You can’t predict those things, and unfortunately instrument theft is a real danger that none of us is ever 100% protected from. However, there are some steps every guitarist should take to help preventing or at least mitigating the situation, should it ever happen to them:

1. Insure your instrument: this sounds like an obvious thing to do, but many guitarists still don’t. If you can afford it, by all means do it.
2. Take hi-res photographs of your guitars: it’s always a good idea to document exactly how you guitar looks. After a while, your guitar might have particular scratches and marks that make it unique, or maybe stickers and other customisations  you may have added to it. Take pics of the whole body, back and front, close ups etc.
3. Take note of the serial number: every guitar has an unique serial number. This is usually how many dealers or the police will be able to identify your instrument. As soon as you get a new instrument, make sure to note the serial number. 
4. When playing a gig, don’t leave your instrument unattended: always make sure your instrument is kept safe or that someone you trust is keeping an eye on it.

HAVE YOU SEEN ANY OF THESE GUITARS? from MyRareGuitars.com

“Home Recording” used to be a term that petrified musicians. Not least because it required huge amounts of equipment to even consider. Before computers, it was virtually impossible, but as technology has changed, dabbling in recording is a realistic option for most guitarists, songwriters and even full bands. Can the results ever stand up to a studio recording?

Most home recording setups are a simplified version of a recording studio setup. Instead of going into a studio and having microphones running into preamps, a mixing desk and then to the computer, a home setup will usually be a microphone running to an audio interface and then to your computer. The audio is picked up in a DAW and then edited or ‘mixed’. Some home recordings are even done on USB microphones. 10 years ago, this would have been virtually unthinkable, but companies like Blue mics have actually done a very good job of making the switch to USB. It takes a huge amount of the hassle out of things, and means recording can take place anywhere.

Examples of Home Recording

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago.

Perhaps a seminal moment in the world of DIY musicianship. This album was recorded in a cabin, where Justin Vernon worked on the project in solitude, tracking to an old version of ProTools LE software. Though it has a slightly lo-fi feel, no listener in the world would instantly recognise that this was not recorded in a studio, and the environment in which it was recorded shines through in an album with a definite ‘tone’ running throughout. One of the first examples of home recording breaching the mainstream.

Tame Impala – Currents

A more modern example of home recording is Tame Impala’s ‘Currents”. Lead singer Kevin Parkers home studio is described as more of a storage facility for his equipment, but was turned into the perfect recording space for this well-polished album.

Beck – Odelay

Never one to shy away from innovating, Beck was home recording in the mid 90s. He used the home (and equipment) of electronic producers the dust brothers to record and mix much of his seminal, sample-based album “Odelay”. Incredibly, the primitive computing technology available to him meant that many of the ideas for the album are said to have come to him whilst waiting hours for his projects to save on the computer.

Tips for Home Recording

The short answer to the question of “can your guitar (or vocals) sound as good in home recordings?” is surprisingly a resounding yes. That said, recording studios exist for a reason and are still preferable if you have the time and money. To record at home, some decent equipment and attention to detail are needed.

Recording at home…with the right gear, you can get great results.

Home recordings should consider acoustics. Treating your room with acoustic panels, or even buying a vocal isolation shield or shoving it full of duvets will do a decent job! Use the best microphone/s available to you, and investing in a decent home studio setup can pay off in the future. Even something as minimal as a good condenser microphone and audio interface can do wonders. Finally, brush up on your DAW or music software. There’s no use in getting good home recordings if you have no idea how to mix them, multi-track and present them into a finished song.

We live in a liberating age for guitarists and musicians, and the idea that a song recorded in your mom’s basement can reach the charts should give every DIY musician the inspiration to learn how to record and produce.

Can Your Guitar Ever Sound as Good in Home Recordings? from MyRareGuitars.com

Guitar’s strings are usually durable enough to withstand months after they need to be changed, but don’t think that a popped string is the only reason why you should do that. Re-stringing your guitar should be done more often, as you won’t be able to clean the neck, and so on.

Anyhow, “why” you should restring your guitar is another topic, let’s stick with “how”. We’ll discuss several easy steps which will help you learn this crucial guitar maintenance method – you’ll be using it for as long as you play, so you might as well pay attention.

Step 1 – Find a suitable spot where you will re-string your guitar

Plainly put, you could restring your guitar virtually anywhere, but that’s not recommended for beginners. Why is that? Well, every time you take a string off, you’ll also have to put it somewhere where it can (and more often than not “will”) be misplaced, not to mention the hardware. 

Apart from that, re-stringing also means “re-tuning”, so, unless you have a tuner handy, you might as well want to find someplace really quiet. 

Step 2 – Prepare the tools needed to re-string your guitar

Let’s put it this way – there’s a fast method which simply involves changing of your guitar’s strings, and there’s a thorough method which involves cleaning, tuning, and wire cutting. Depending on which method you want to go with, you’ll need different gear. If possible, go with the “thorough” method whenever you can, as the health of your guitar should be more important than getting lazy. 

Anyhow, the list of tools you need is as following:

• Strings – if you’re a complete beginner, you might want to get an extra pair, as you might pop a string before getting the job right.
• A piece of clean cloth – you’ll use this to clean the fingerboard and other key points.
• Wire cutters – unless you want your strings to dangle from your guitar’s head, you’ll want to cut the excess parts.
• (Optional) Guitar Cleaning Tool – most beginners don’t have this tool, which is why it’s optional. 
• (Optional) Tuner – There are different ways to tune your guitar, so consider a tuner only if you can’t think of any.

Step 3 – Lay your guitar down on a comfortable surface

Even though it’s pretty self-explanatory, it wouldn’t hurt to mention that hard surfaces are hazardous for your guitar’s neck. Obviously, you’ll want your guitar to be supported by anything soft and cozy – pillows might do the trick (note: most beginners go with the easiest solution – laying the guitar down on the knees. There’s a world of reasons why you shouldn’t do that, but the most important one involves it falling off and getting ruined).

You don’t need to think about anything in particular during this step, as all you have to do is secure the neck without limiting access to other places. For example, if you used a pillow and it’s too bulky, you might need to press it down in order to get to guitar’s head. If you want to avoid this, use smaller objects as support. 

Step 4 – De-tuning and machine heads

The machine heads are also called tuning keys or tuning gears. These hardware pieces are used to tighten or loosen the tension of the strings, which is simply called “tuning”. Now, before you could re-string your guitar, you have to de-tune it. By de-tuning we mean “spin the heads so that the string get loose”. 

You’ll have to repeat the process for each string separately. Keep in mind, you should de-tune your guitar slowly, as quick movements might damage older machine heads.

Step 5 – Removing the pins/unlocking the mechanism from the bridge

Depending on the type of the guitar, you should either remove the pins (acoustic guitar) or unlock the mechanism (electric guitar) from the bridge.

Acoustic guitars have safety pins for each string which serve as “anchors”, keeping the strings “at bay”. On the other hand, electric guitars have a locking mechanism (typically guitars with Floyd rose), or none at all. If the latter is the case, un-screwing the machine heads would be sufficient, so this part could be skipped. 

Step 6 – Placing the strings

The only proper way to place the strings is to start at the bottom of the bridge. Pull the strings out from the package as you place each one, and start with the E1. Consult the list below for detailed explanation:

• Place the string in the pin hole and cover it 
• Lay the string on the metal bridge bar so that it sits neatly in the groove
• Apply slight tension with the hand that holds the pin (hold the string if it’s electric guitar)
• Pull the string slowly across the length of the fingerboard in the direction of your guitar’s head
• Put the end of the string through the machine heads, press it down the fingerboard as you do
• Tighten the machine heads without releasing the pressure on the string
• Keep tightening liberally until you feel the tension between your finger and the string, but do so slowly else it will snap (note: don’t overdo it – you just need your strings to be slightly tense, you’ll deal with tuning later on). 
• Repeat the process with other strings (E1, A, D, G, B, E)

Step 7 – Tune in

Now that you’ve placed the strings in place, it’s time to tune the guitar. Choose the tuning as you see fit (standard tuning is E, A, D, G, B, E, just like the name of the strings). Most musicians can tune their guitars by ear, but if you’re having difficulties, you can use a guitar tuner. 

In case you don’t have it, try figuring out the E1 string tuning by ear, and proceed with other strings, keeping in mind that the fifth fret of your E1 string should sound exactly like the open A string (and so on, with the exception of the G string, which should be fretted at the 4^th fret instead of 5^th). 

Conclusion

Re-stringing your guitar is a standard maintenance procedure. It might appear hard at the beginning, but you’ll get better and faster with time. Most beginners tend to get confused with a step or two, especially the tuning part, but don’t get dissuaded even if you don’t nail it in your first try. In the worst-case scenario, you’ll just pop a string or two before you get it right.

Author bio

I’m Anh Vu who has worked sound technology industry for 10 years now. Today, I am an affiliate blogger who likes to educate my audience more about sound technology. Visit to headphonesunder100center.com to find all information about music that you need.

How to re-string a guitar from MyRareGuitars.com

John Lennon and Fender VI

The list of 6-string players include The Beatles (both John and George were pictured playing one), Peter Hook, Robert Smith of The Cure and Jack Bruce in Cream. Do you see a pattern, there? They were either guitarists, or very melodic bass players who played bass more like a lead instrument than “just” part of the rhythm section.

Peter Hook and his Shergold bass with Joy Division

4-String vs. 6-String Bass… Who Wins?

Though 4-string basses are the most commonly used by bassists of any style, there’s an argument for the benefits of owning a 6-string bass. 

The 6-String bass wasn’t invented as a gimmick or to make things more complicated – in fact, it can make playing even easier!

Firstly, it’s not more difficult to play than a 4-string bass – because you can play just the same, but the two extra strings actually make it easier for the bassist to hit higher notes without moving too far down the fretboard – which some players might prefer.

Also, it’s worth considering that while a 4-string bass is tuned EADG, a 6-string bass is tuned EADGBE – just like a guitar, in other words. So, while you can still play songs the same way you’d play using a 4-string bass, because you’ll have 4 strings tuned the same, you can also play chords just like a guitar thanks to the extra two strings, which can be very interesting.

The only issue about 6-string bass is the string spacing. In some models, which have narrower necks more like a guitar, the strings are closer to each other than on your average 4-string bass, which means bassists used to a 4-string bass might sometimes find it harder to adapt. On the other hand, if you choose a 6-string as your first bass or if you started playing guitar, then you’ll no doubt feel comfortable with a six-string bass.

Watch: Cream, ‘Strange Brew’

6-String Bass vs. Baritone Guitar

It’s important not to confuse 6-string basses with Baritone guitars. Some may think they’re similar, but the results are very different – a baritone guitar can sound deeper than a normal guitar, because it’s tuned lower, but it’s still unmistakably a guitar.

Whereas a 6-string bass might look like a baritone sometimes – but it has thicker bass strings and sounds, obviously, bassier than a baritone.

Having said that – guitarists used to baritone guitars might be pleasantly surprised to find that a 6-string bass is a great alternative to use, whenever they want something “meatier”.

Watch: Eastwood TB-64 review

Eastwood TB64 Teisco Tribute

One of the hottest 6-string basses right now is, without a doubt, the Eastwood TDR-Series TB-64 bass. This model is a tribute to a very rare Teisco model, as used by Kazu Makino from New York’s Blonde Redhead.

Kazu from Blonde Redhead

Alongside the Sidejack Bass VI and the Squier/ Fender Bass VI, the TB-64 is one of the few six-string basses suitable for indie/ alternative/ classic rock – well, at least in terms of looks!

In fact, there are other types of 6-string basses by brands such as Warwick, who makes the Corvette bass. This type of 6-string bass has much wider neck to allow for bigger string spacing, like that of a regular 4-string. 

Warwick 6-string bass

It’s never a great idea to generalise, but it’s probably true you won’t find many players in rock bands playing a bass like that. This kind of bass is great for jazz players and slap bass, for instance.

But whatever your style – maybe it’s time you considered a 6-string bass. After all, why limit yourself?

Why Play 6-String Bass Guitar? from MyRareGuitars.com

I have a buddy who used to write about cheap vintage gear—this is going back to the late 90’s and early 21^st century (maybe up till about a decade ago) when there were still steals available left and right on the vintage market. He’s asked me to not name him, as he still writes about gear and tone, but mostly for newer boutique amps and obscure, cool, and great guitars. But he was the friend who taught me a lot about finding, buying, repairing and selling some of these unsung beauties, and for a while about a fifteen years to a decade ago, I was doing really well. On all fronts. Tone, fun, and money. Guitars, too. This was a time you could pick up most Harmony models for $200-$500 (nothing like a like $250 Rocket-ha!). I got an Espanada for $500 (to be fair, the seller knew nothing—don’t you love those sellers?—and there was only one picture so fuzzy I couldn’t tell if it was a 1446 or an Espanada…though I couldn’t have lost either way). 

This is also when you could get great deals if you tried every misspelling of an old Harmony or Kay or Dano you could think of. And if someone tipped you to the fact that a “Holliday” was a Harmony, and so on. With this news, I ended up picking up a perfect Holiday-branded Harmony H-19 for $100. Free shipping, as I recall! And this went on with many other brands…like Custom Craft and Regal and more from various—usually Chicago—makers. Jack White had already jacked up the Airline Jetsons model, but there were still deals on even Airlines, which were gaining perhaps the most notoriety.

My buddy gave up on the funky stuff when, according to him, “it got way to expensive for what it was.” And I can see his point—to…well, a point. I go back and forth. When I first started buying up catalog guitars and obscure amps in the early 2000’s, there seemed to be astounding deals everywhere. I was always a sucker for a good dual 6V6 amplifier with a single 12”…and, of course, the Holy Grail of said amps was/is the 5E3 Fender Tweed Deluxe. After that, everything behind it became, “the poor man/woman’s deluxe.” And, worse, he was seeing his articles quoted in eBay listings (in the days before Reverb.com), driving up the price of the cheap stuff he loved. It seemed annoying enough to him that he was quoted without credit, but even worse was this conclusion: he said to me one day, “I’ve totally doomed myself (he used stronger language).” When I asked what he meant, he pointed out that the gear he’d been buying for peanuts only a few years before, was now much more expensive—largely because of his spreading the word about how great they were. And now he could no longer afford the guitars he’d done so much to make popular in review after review.

But/and back to the poor man’s/poor woman’s (and, hell, I suppose poor circus clown’s and phlebotomists, as well…why limit any of the poor in need of tone?) Tweed Deluxe? What was there out on the market that could be snatched up cheaply and either fixed and flipped, or fixed and used? 

Silvertone 1483 amp

There were so many to take a cheap chance on…I’m mostly talking about the selection of dual 6V6 single 12” amps, but there were deals for bigger amps, as well…I once got an inexpensive Teisco Checkmate 100 that had a VU meter on the front! Did it sound that great? Well, not really. But that, in this case, was not the point: it had a VU meter on the front!  

But back to the single 12”s. They were almost always a very satisfying choice. There was a time not so long ago that you could buy the Silvertone (made by Dano)1472, or the slightly more juiced up 1482 (the better amp, really, but both are very cool) for prices between $150 and $200. You could sometimes get one on the cheaper end of $150 with the (also) Danelectro made Airline 62 9012A. Two hundred or so seemed the standard for years. Both of these were/are great amps. I have a slight preference for the Airline for seeming to have a slightly tougher cabinet (that said, it’s hardly a Fender or a Traynor since those guys used, you know, wood for these cabs and heads), though the Silvertone wins the looks and cool factor with the side knobs, cool gray color and the mod TV-looking front. 

Then there are some of the fabulous Lectrolabs/Sound Projects amps out of Chicago (still something of a mystery, that company) which, while they made amps under their own name and for Harmony’s 300 series, were one of the stranger Chicago companies in that they would sometimes venture into EL84 land for their output. One of the greatest amps I ever owned was a single ended EL84-powered twin 8” amp. The only better model with this set up I’ve ever heard was a friend’s similar Valco/Supro (his with, I believe, a 6V6…though it may have been a 6973) that, to be fair, kind of kicked my amp’s doors in.

Speaking of Supros/Valcos, even they were relatively inexpensive…except when the seller was one of the ten thousand bozos who claimed (no matter what the model) that THIS was the model Jimmy Page used (boy did JimmyPage use a lot of Supros for a guy who only used one Supro). Which did send Supro prices all over the map for a while.

Vintage Supro, just like Jimmy Page’s. No, really!

But I had just about every cool off-brand single 12” I could find for quiet a while (and others, but this was my main addiction, amp-wise). I also suffer from a condition (I used to be even more afflicted) many of my guitar friends seem to have. We want what we don’t have, and we don’t appreciate something we had until it’s gone. And more expensive. More than once, similar friends with the same affliction sit around in a group and one says, “what the hell is wrong with us?” A question their partners, other friends, and spouses have probably been asking for years.

To backtrack a little (or a lot), I started as a pretty stupid kid with this syndrome, but for dumber, younger reasons. When I was sixteen (please keep this age in mind. Please), I traded a 60’s Silverface Deluxe Reverb for a…wait for it…Peavey Renown. I’m not even sure I have the right spelling of Renown, but I’m too depressed, even thirty-odd years later, to even look it up. All I knew (thought) at the time was that my Deluxe wasn’t loud enough. And the Peavey, whatever else it was or wasn’t, was very loud. A ton of solid state watts with a 4X12” cab. I knew nothing about tone (perhaps you have already conclude this). I only knew that volume knob went all the way to the right. Other knobs be damned. I’m sure whatever audiences we drew were thrilled. And deaf.

But over the years (with classic mainstream gear and with the help of some folks like my buddy who was hip to funky gear), I started to understand tone. I got less interested in pedals and more interested in amps (not that they can’t go together). I dug into the history of the catalog guitars and found not only Airlines, and Silvertones, and Harmony, but figured out rarities like that Holiday. I bought an Estey/Magnatone 422 for $40 and it worked perfectly. It was my go-to recording amp for years. But these were all so intoxicating to get on the cheap, they were often even more intoxicating to sell at a decent profit (especially when I’d fixed them up). There are so many more brands I haven’t even touched upon—the Magnatone 213, the Hilgens (who tended to use EL-84’s)…some of the great Japanese amps like Guyatone and Univox and so many others. Forgive me, but I can’t list them all (I don’t even know about all of them, I’m certain).

Big regrets from this period? The DeArmond duel 6V6 single 12” (the same amp was also made and branded as a Martin). These were made in the late 50’s and early 60’s. And while they are a fine sounding amp, their value skyrocketed mainly (as far as I can tell) after a Tonequest review that called them the greatest 6V6 single 12” ever made. They are not. I’ve seen them go from $5,000 and up of late. Which, frankly, despite it being a fine amp, is an astonishingly large gap between quality and price. You can still find a Tweed Deluxe for less. Still, the Martin version had a rad grill cloth. Not a five grand grill cloth. But, pretty cool, nevertheless. 

I bought one of those in excellent condition for $300 in the early 2000’s. Sold it for maybe $500 a couple years later. Clearly, I wish I’d held on to it. At least long enough for this insane bump in price.

The best of these models I ever owned, however, was a two-toned (cream and red) early 60’s Kay. I think I paid $250. It was mint. I traded it for…something. Nothing that could have been as good for me as this model. It had two interactive channels (standard “Micraphone” and “Instrument” inputs…sadly, no hilarious “Accordian” input like so many Ampegs and Maggies). The cleans were lush and sweet and had depth and clarity. The overdrive was amazing…after about one o’clock to two o’clock on the dial, with more grit and volume when you played with the unused channel (just like a Tweed Deluxe). I have no idea who made it. I’ve always guessed it was some Chicago company, because all the Chicago guitar companies used local amps. Another buddy who knows very much about catalog/off brand equipment thinks it may actually be a Kay. It had the cool Frigidaire chrome handle like the Kay 507 model. In fact, it looks like it is may be made by the same company/in the same era as the 507. But, I have no idea. The amp had the two channels, with the second channel having a great tremolo—which was controlled with much smaller knobs than the volume and tone knobs. 

Times have changed… and so have the prices

But back to these amps in general. Now, all those prices have gone up. Some considerably. None are shockingly good deals anymore, because they have been discovered by so many players. But they are still affordable (to some people…other refuse to pay this kind of money for catalog amps) with great tone. Consider this:

The $99 Danelectro/Silvertone Amp-in Case (both the hollow 1457 and the solid 1452 guitars) would be roughly $814 in 2018 dollars. It sounds like a lot of money (and, to be fair, it kind of is a little head spinning compared to what they were…it is a lot of money), but think about getting a very cool, very good playing guitar that nothing else—not a single brand—sounds like along with what is pretty much a Champ-type amp in the case. The price for the vintage equivalents would easily be more than a grand. Or course, if you bought one new, you might want the guitar to have a better system for intonation, but…well, it is still a Dano.

The 15-18 watt 1482 (the 1472 looks much the same—albeit with a cooler handle—and has the same tube lineup but was listed at a curious 12 watts…not sure what gives there) listed for $68.95 when it debuted in the 1963 Sears catalog. Adjusted for inflation, that comes out to about $525 dollars in 2018 (which is, more or less, a little below what they’re selling for now on the used market). And, not much different from a new Fender Tweed Blues Deluxe…which is a fine amp, but isn’t hand built like a 60’s Dano. Of course, the expense of the labor Dano had would make it highly cost prohibitive today.

So the question is, are these great, cheap amps still great cheap amps? Well, they are still great amps if that’s the tone you’re going for (and to me, it’s a glorious tone…sound of hundreds of thousands of garages all over America in 1965-1968). No doubt about the great sound. But are they still cheap? Well, they are as affordable as many assembly line tube amps today, and they are easier to maintain being hand-wired and lacking tiny circuit boards. However, their cabinets are still cheaply made (very cheaply made in some cases), and lack the toughness and durability of similarly priced amps today. Most importantly, I would argue they sound a good amount better than their $450-600 contemporary counterparts.

But, sadly, I don’t think they really fall into the cheap category anymore. They are still affordable, for sure. And they have a sound you can’t really replicate for anywhere near the price. Actually, no boutique amp I’m aware of sounds anything like the catalog amps of the 60’s either. So many are great, but it’s simply not a tone a lot of newer boutique makers are shooting for). If you want that tone, it’s the way to go. Just, sadly, don’t expect to get them for a steal anymore.

And if you bought any of them for $150-$250 ten or so years back—don’t be stupid like me. Hold onto them. Unless it’s that Kay model. In which case you should sell it to me. Preferably for $150. Those old catalog amps aren’t worth much more. Trust me. 

The Golden Era of Vintage Catalog Amps from MyRareGuitars.com

2018: The Year Gibson Goes Down?

Could 2018 mark the end for Gibson guitars? According to a recent Nashville Post article, Gibson’s financial troubles are so serious that time is running out fast. In short, the company is on brink of bankruptcy, and no one – really, no one – knows what the future holds.

One thing you can count on, though – the company will survive. It’s too big, too popular, too iconic to fail. But the big question is how will it survive. Heads will roll, jobs will be lost, and one could hope, perhaps, that CEO Henry Juszkiewicz will go, too.

Gibson – more than guitars

What many people forget, is that Gibson don’t just sell guitars. its a veritable empire, that owns over 100 brands such as Epiphone, Dobro, Valley Arts, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Slingerland, Maestro, Baldwin, Hamilton, Chickering, Wurlitzer, KRK Systems, TASCAM, Cakewalk, Cerwin-Vega!, Stanton, Onkyo, Integra, TEAC, TASCAM Professional Software, and Esoteric.

On a recent press-release, Henry Juskiewics said:

“While the musical instrument and pro audio segments have been profitable and growing, they are still below the level of success we saw several years ago.”

So all is not lost, if not necessarily going great. There’s no doubt some financial wizards will be able to do their black magic to keep the company from drowning. But while one of the company’s strengths is that it’s so big, it’s also one of their weaknesses – after all, guitars are the heart and soul of Gibson. It’s what they should always have been about – and many guitarists are not so sure the brand gets it anymore.

What kinda Gibson do we want?

Common complaints about Gibson is that their guitars are way overpriced, that quality control is not great, and that they’ve made more than enough bad moves in recent times – from robot tuners to new, undesirable designs such as Firebird X, the more recent S-Series etc.

But one thing is unquestionable. Gibson still holds a spell on most of us, guitarists. Their classic designs are a thing of beauty, and you can’t beat a good Les Paul, ES-335, Firebird, SG, etc. Those are guitars that our idols have played and still play. They won’t go anywhere. And whoever controls the destiny of Gibson will have to ultimately come to the same conclusion – it’s gotta be about the guitars, stupid.

Perhaps the financial woes will make Gibson realise that what people want are not their brand logo on bluetooth wireless speakers – but on great guitars! Guitars that play great and which people can actually afford. And yes, it’s true that many guitarists today are moving to smaller brands such as Eastwood, Reverend, Pure Salem and others – because they know they won’t be ripped off.

That’s the reason Epiphone still does well – you simply can’t argue with their quality vs. money ratio. As for Gibson – most people would agree they’re overpriced today.

Maybe Gibson will have to finally start to listen to their customers. If they get the quality/ value right, they can’t go wrong.

Now… is it such a difficult task, Mr. Henry?

Time will tell… and maybe sooner than we know!

Jimmy Page Led Zeppelin live

WHAT’S THE FUTURE FOR GIBSON? POST YOUR COMMENTS AND SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH US!

Is This The End? Gibson in Financial Troubles from MyRareGuitars.com

I’ve always thought it highly ironic that among the “holy grails” of guitar collecting are the truly “rare birds” that were made in the smallest of quantities, yet most of the action is in the most common mass-produced guitars of the F and G variety.  But then, I’ve always been somewhat off-kilter.  But if you were to be impressed by the truly rare birds, you’d have to be taken by the Kramer Triaxe!

The Klingon-shaped Triaxe was built back in 1986 when Kramer was flying high—as it promoted itself in advertising at the time—as the world’s largest guitar company.  This was a little bit of hyperbole, but they probably were making and selling more guitars than any other brand name guitar company.  If you were to look at OEM manufacturers—companies that produced guitars for other companies (such as Cort or Samick)—(who were making guitars for companies such as Kramer itself), the claim might have been somewhat specious.  

In any case, you have to hand it Kramer for being an amazing bit of American guitar history and a major innovator.  There’s been a lot of mis-information published about Kramer guitars, some of it propagated (quite innocently) by me.  So much of the story is “anecdotal,” being derived from 1^st-person interviews, which provide so much rich detail, but which can also be subject to misremembering!  This is not the venue to set any records straight.  If Gary Kramer’s own account can be relied upon, it was Kramer who bankrolled Travis Bean’s aluminum necked guitar venture “in the early 1970s,” most sources say.  Bean applied for his patent in October of 1974, so 1974 seems as good as any date.  There may have been another person involved.

1986 Kramer Enterprise

According to Kramer’s account, he was not happy the Bean had filed for the aluminum neck patent under his own name.  In addition, Kramer asserts that Bean began to get distracted from building guitars at the time, which could be true.  He also claims that the Bean design was too heavy for constant gigging and he wanted to improve the guitar, make it lighter.  There was also some resistance among guitar players to the “metallic feel” of the necks.  Kramer found himself selling Beans to a store in New York City, where he met Dennis Berardi, reportedly a partner in a music store.  He and Berardi hooked up with an ex-Gibson executive Peter LaPlaca to form BKL International in 1975 to produce a better guitar to be called Kramer.

To get around Bean’s patent, Kramer came up with the idea of a wood insert in the back of a T-shaped aluminum neck, lightening the guitar and adding a more “wooden feel” to the neck.  Anyhow, in 1976 Kramer aluminum-necked guitars debuted.  Shortly thereafter they brought in the owner of building they were leasing, Henry Vaccaro, who helped finance the operation.  These new Kramer guitars were very well received and the company began to grow.  Kramer, for reasons as yet not adequately explained (he claims extraordinary pressure to ramp up production), left the company not long after its founding and now makes Gary Kramer Guitars.

However, as the 1980s dawned, aluminum necks were becoming passe.  Kramer began switching over to wooden necks.  They were just in time for the rise of Heavy Metal, and, along with that, a taste for weird pointy guitars and for double-locking vibrato systems.  Kramer came up with the Pacer in 1983, one of the candidates (among others) for “first SuperStrat.”  Kramer managed to get an endorsement from one of the preeminent guitarists of the day, Eddie Van Halen, and signed an agreement to become the exclusive distributor of Floyd Rose locking vibratos.  

1986 Kramer Triaxe

Not only did Rose let Kramer sell his whammy bars, Rose also began designing certain models for Kramer, including the Floyd Rose Signature and the two alien beings that debuted at the 1986 NAMM show, the Triaxe and the Enterprise, the not to Star Trek pretty obvious.  Reportedly, only 4 of each were made for the NAMM show.  These never went into production, for obvious reasons.  Even a good CNC program ain’t gonna make many of these guitars!

I once owned this Triaxe and have played an Enterprise.  These are not bad guitars at all, with great sound and comfortable to play, but if you tried gigging with one you’d be living in immortal dread of running into a mike stand or an amp.  Especially since they are really, really rare birds and by now worth a lot of money!  

Kramer continued to thrive and grow as the ‘80s progressed.  The sky seemed to be the limit.  Then all of a sudden, they were gone.  There are a lot of rumors surrounding this demise, some probably true.  They may have gotten over-extended into concert promotion.  For sure they were about to run into a wall called “Nirvana.”  By 1991 Kramer guitars were gone.

Henry Vaccaro ended up holding the bag and the Kramer name.  He tried to revive the brand in 1998, as original (more or less) aluminum necks.  However, the finances didn’t work and to get capital he sold the brand to the House of Brands, Gibson, which proceeded to import inexpensive Asian made Kramers that were pale reflections of the glory days.  Vaccaro tried to market his own Vaccaro brand aluminum necked guitars, but, as cool as they were, the market was gone.  As were those fascinating space opera relics, the Triaxe and Enterprise!

By Michael Wright, The Different Strummer

Beam Me Up, Scotty: 1986 Kramer Triaxe from MyRareGuitars.com

Where were you when Bob Dylan switched from acoustic to electric guitar?  I know that may seem like a wholly rhetorical question to many of you reading this, since a lot of you probably weren’t around yet.  But when Bob Dylan picked up a Stratocaster, he helped change the course of popular music—and definitely the history of guitars.  Introduced in 1963, this Guild S-200 Thunderbird would have existed anyway, but Dylan’s plugging in certainly helped propel it into the limelight.

Guild s200

In the summer of 1965, Folk Music was still the most popular music in America, well, among a lot of young folks, at least.  Oh, there were the Ventures and The Beach Boys, both semi-Surf bands, and there was that little quartet from England with a hit in “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”  But Hootenanny was a hit TV show and the Folkies who played on it were religiously acoustic.  Bob and his compatriots played “vintage” Martin and Gibson guitars.  The concept of “vintage” wasn’t invented back then, but that’s where it started.  

In the Spring of 1965 Dylan released his album Bringing It All Back Home, half acoustic, as expected, but the other half backed by a rock band.  Less than a week before his appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in July Dylan released the rock classic “Like a Rolling Stone.”  At Newport Dylan played backed by Mike Bloomfield and other electric musicians.

The reaction to Dylan’s “going electric” was swift and hostile.  I was teaching and performing folk music back then and subscribed to Folkie rags like Broadside and Sing Out!.  They were full of op-eds loaded with righteous indignation.  Electric guitars just weren’t…well, correct!

It took about 5 minutes for the electric guitar to become “correct.”  A once-venerable jug band became The Lovin’ Spoonful, with Zal Yanovsky playing lead on a Guild Thunderbird.  A relatively minor, up-and-coming folksinger named Jesse Colin Young became the leader of The Youngbloods who had a major hit with “Get Together.”  He hired a lead guitarist named Lowell Levenger, who went by the moniker Banana, and was one of the few bold enough to play the distinctive Guild Thunderbird. 

Watch: The Lovin’ Spoonful ‘Do You Believe In Magic’?

Guild really went out on a limb with the S-200.  Professional musicians mainly played Gibson or Fender guitars, occasionally a Gretsch.  Guild had made its reputation with its fine acoustic guitars in the ‘50s.  Someone must have been smoking something when they designed the Thunderbird!  Or was a big fan of Gumby.  What made Guild’s move even more bold was that this was the time when Japanese were making their move on the American guitar market and those guitars were, by U.S. standards, often a little bizarre.  Especially from the perspective of the time, still heavily influenced by World War II.  Guild risked the chance of being identified with what were considered to be “beginner” guitars.

But the Guild Thunderbird was anything but a “beginner” guitar!  Despite the somewhat goofy appearance, the 1966 S-200 seen here was actually a guitar engineering marvel.  The S-200 Thunderbird was actually unveiled in 1963 along with two down-scale companions, the S-100 Polara and the S-50 Jet-Star, all similar with fairly equal cutaways.  

By 1966, the Thunderbird had evolved to have more offset cutaways and remarkable electronics.  The “Frequency Tested” humbucking pickups were not especially powerful by today’s standards, but few pickups were back then.  Like other more advanced guitars of the time, the Thunderbird had both lead and rhythm circuits.  In lead mode you got a volume and tone control with a lower value capacitor that gave you more treble, plus access to a phase switch for the funky tones.  In rhythm mode the tone control had a higher value for more bass, of course, bypassing the phase switch.  The two smaller knobs are then master volumes for each pickup, to “preset” the balance.  The sliding switches chose lead or rhythm mode and activated the phasing.  Of course, you get breaks when you play a gig, so the Thunderbird came with a built-in stand on the back, a chrome bar you could snap out to lean the guitar on.  Oh, and a couple of rubber feet on the bottom wings to keep the wood off the floor!…

As unusual as the Guild Thunderbird looks, it’s a pretty remarkable guitar, with a set-in neck, and those are pretty nifty sounds available, especially for that time.

Dan Auerbach and a vintage Guild S200

Folk music and electricity seemed to be Blowin’ In The Wind.  The Lovin’ Spoonful and The Youngbloods weren’t the only bands plugging in.  There was this little group called The Byrds.  Critics had to invent a new term: Folk Rock.  By 1967 even the venerable Folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary were singing “I Dig Rock and Roll Music,” which was supposed to be satire but was almost universally accepted by their fans as gospel.

The Guild Thunderbird was actually offered from 1963-1968, but I don’t think it was very popular and I doubt if a whole lot were sold.  Still, it’s a unique American guitar design that reminds us of what a big deal it was when Folk musicians finally plugged in!

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

The Times They Were A Changin’: 1966 Guild S-200 Thunderbird from MyRareGuitars.com

Back at the beginning of the 1980s I became enamored of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (I didn’t make that up; that’s what it was called) and especially the sub-genre that emerged from it called “neoclassical metal.”  Music by the likes of Randy Rhoads, Tony MacAlpine, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc.  So, naturally, a little later, I became interested in guitars especially designed for shred-meisters…and those wannabees who actually had to buy their own guitars.  The Ibanez Saber was one of my favorites.

Neoclassical metal has nothing to do with classical music in general, except maybe that sometimes it reminds me of Chopin or maybe occasionally Bach on steroids.  And, that it almost never employs the blues scales so ubiquitous in rock.  Nor does it have much in common with classical guitar—an idiosyncratic finger-style learned from musical scores—except for one thing: classical guitarists and many neoclassical shredders like wide, flat (almost no radius) fingerboards.  This is certainly not universal, for metallurgists, at least.  Narrower fingerboards with a decent radius fit the hand nicely when you’re chording.  Wider, flatter fingerboards make it easier to play fast melodies, keeping the notes clean and separate.  Since I play classical guitar, it was natural that I’d be at home on a guitar built for shredders.

Ibanez RS540S Pro-Line Saber

However, I probably would never have known this piece of arcane obscuranta had an art director I worked with at an advertising agency not played in a band.  He favored his Stratocaster, but his working-horse guitar was an Ibanez Saber.  I was the copywriter, so we were the “creative team.”  On rare occasions, between jobs, we’d jam a little, to get our creative juices going.  Every once in a while a nearby conference room would be in use and the account executive would come in and ask us to turn it down.  Yeah, right!  Everything up a notch…  In any case, as a guitar player, I found myself mildly competitive with my team-mate, so I was mightily pleased when I, too, got ahold of my own Ibanez Saber.  

The Saber was part of the 1986 Ibanez Pro-Line Series that essentially replaced the Roadstar II line of guitars.  It was the Roadstar II line that really established Ibanez as a powerhouse guitar brand—partly for the quality and style of the guitars and partly because they hit the market in the early 1980s just at the time that most young guitar-players couldn’t remember the resentment against Japanese products that lingered in Americans for many years following World War II.  With the Roadstars, Ibanez finally began selling enough guitars to become really profitable.

The Pro-Lines weren’t necessarily an “improvement” so much as a next evolutionary step.  I don’t know exactly why they ware called the Pro-Line but Ibanez was beginning to garner a lot more professional endorsements, and the Pro-Lines were what a lot of them played.  The top of the line was the magnificent 1770, with sleek lines and push-button controls.  The others included a trio of uniquely styled SuperStrats: the super-thin-bodied Saber (played variously by Frank Gambale, Jennifer Batten, Reggie Wu, Scott Henderson, Larry Mitchell), the teardrop-shaped Radius (which would become the Joe Satriani signature guitar), and the Power, kind of reverse offsets (played by Alex Skolnick).  All were perfect for the virtuosic styles popular at the time.

The Saber was/is a remarkable guitar if your taste runs to light-weight and powerful.  That super-thin mahogany body is almost invisible, a mint that melts in your mouth.  The neck is also pencil-thin but relatively wide and flat, perfect for blazing runs.  These necks are really fast if the action is set up right.  The pickups are IBZs, which was a collaboration between Ibanez USA and DiMarzio, and they’re screamers.  Finally, these had Ibanez’s “The Edge” version of the Floyd Rose locking vibrato, a knife-edge unit that’s feather-touch sensitive, if you like that sort of thing.  I don’t dive-bomb, so I’m happy with a Mosrite, but the Edges are sweet.

The Saber, Radius, and Power lasted as such through 1990.  By 1991 the Saber had become the Frank Gambale FG series, the Radius had become the Joe Satriani JS series, and the Power was gone.  

Also in 1991 Nirvana released Nevermind and music changed.  Oh, all the fine neoclassical metal players continued to play.  Some changed styles, some didn’t.  But all of a sudden guitar players wanted funky pawn shop guitars, “alternatives.”  For the next few years guitar-makers struggled to figure out “what’s next” and always seemed to be 2 steps behind.  

I liked those new guitars, too, but then I like pretty much all guitars, so that means nothing.  I never did learn to shred.  Maybe I will some day.  Still love that Ibanez Saber, though. 

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

Heavy Metal Thunder: 1988 Ibanez RS540S Pro-Line Saber from MyRareGuitars.com

When I pick up a guitar to plunk on these days, 99% of the time it’s to play classical guitar, something I returned to after about a 30-year hiatus.  But I’ve enjoyed playing all kinds of guitar over the years, including electric guitars.  There’s something especially exhilarating about hitting that first “power” chord, an electronic signal passing through some tubes or transistors and coming out a speaker amplified exponentially.  I’ve used pedal effects, too, but beyond that my electrical engineering skills pretty much evaporate.  Which is probably why I’ve never tried to master the Patch part of this special Hagstrom Swede!

I’m sorry, this sounds like I’m advocating for another instrument, but this is yet another story that begins with…accordions.  Yep.  Hagstrom began as an accordion-maker in Sweden.  Indeed, that’s probably what gave them a leg up because they opened up an office in the United States in the late ‘30s just before World War II with a view to exporting squeezeboxes.  

Hagstrom was one of the first European manufacturers to see interest in the guitar on the rise and thus was one of the earliest exporters of electric guitars to the U.S. in the late 1950s.  This would be those sparkle-plastic-covered “Les-Paul-style” hollow-body guitars with interchangeable pickup modules.  Or, you were supposed to be able to play these acoustically, too.  Right!  Still, it was a pretty cool idea, actually.  These early Hagstroms weren’t all that successful, but Folk Music was all the rage at the time and, well, you weren’t going to pull out a blue-sparkle guitar to accompany “Tom Dooley” or “Kumbaya.”  

Hagstroms held on throughout the 1960s, even with the Japanese challenge, making budget solidbodies.  I played one of their basses a little bit.  Serviceable, but budget, for sure.  

There was a decided drop-off in demand for guitars at the end of the 1960s and a lot of guitar companies in both Europe and Japan didn’t survive.  Hagstrom was one of the few that continued to bring in guitars to the U.S.  Like most companies—from Europe and Japan—Hagstrom had to up its game to compete.  

1978 Hagstrom Patch 2000

Part of Hagstrom better game was the Swede in the line by 1972.  Like a lot of the European makers—and unlike the Japanese—Hagstrom chose to make guitars that were similar to popular American models, but weren’t exactly copies.  The Swede was Hagstrom’s answer to the Les Paul.  It had a solid, carved, bound mahogany body with a bolt-on neck, bound ebony fingerboard, and pearl block inlays.  Hagstrom had always billed itself as having the thinnest necks in the world, which was pretty much the case. 

The Swede’s neck was super thin, reinforced with an elaborate “rail” rather than the usual truss rod.  These sported a pair of humbuckers and the usual controls.  I actually like the Swede a lot.  The mahogany is light weight, the feel great.  These pickups aren’t DiMarzio Super Distortions, if that’s what you need, but they’re clean and responsive.  

In 1974 Ampeg inked a distribution deal with Hagstrom and offered the line for the rest of the decade.  By 1978 the Swede was joined by the SuperSwede, which sported a maple cap on the body and a pair of hotter humbuckers.

But the big news was the introduction of the Patch 2000 version of the Swede seen here in 1977.  This was Hagstrom’s answer to the challenge of keyboard synthesizers that were coming on at the time, fueling Disco, and an alternative solution to the technology being developed by Roland in Japan.  The Patch 2000 Swede had the regular electronics plus a 7-pin DIN cable that plugged into a double footpedal designed to interface with and control your synthesizer modules.  

So, with Roland, you connected the guitar to a synthesizer unit and controlled things with your fingers.  With the Patch 2000 system, you had to use your feet.  Well, you may by now have figured out that we’re way beyond my pay grade.  There was a Swede Bass Patch model, as well.

I don’t think I was the only guitar player who wasn’t motivated to figure this system out.  This Patch 2000 is the only one I’ve ever seen.  Roland’s concept fare a bit better, but then Disco fell out of fashion and most guitar players decided to leave the synthesizing to their keyboards man.  

WATCH THE HAGSTROM PATCH 2000 SWEDE DEMO:

I don’t know for sure how long the Patch affair lasted.  They were introduced in 1977.  This guitar dates to 1978, so maybe a year, or less.  Hagstrom got out of the guitar game in 1983, although the brand was revived—the line very similar to the late 1970s—in 2004.  I think the Hagstrom Swede with a Patch 2000 system is cat’s pajamas, but I think the only pedal I’ll be using in the forseeable future is my little old classical guitar footstool.

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

Synthesizers with Fancy Footwork: 1978 Hagstrom Patch 2000 Swede from MyRareGuitars.com

The history of fuzz is suitably… fuzzy! There are many different reports as to which was the earliest song to feature the sound characteristic of fuzz, or something akin to it, and its origins are closely related to the development of the distortion sound for guitars – and the very birth of rock’n’roll itself. 

A Time Before Fuzz: the Origins of Distorted Guitar Sounds

Before we get into fuzz itself, let’s go back to the origins of the distorted guitar sound. All the first guitar amps were analogue, tube amps. When guitarists started to experiment with their amps – or have accidents! – that’s when distortion was born. 

Goree Carter‘s “Rock Awhile” (1949) has an overdriven guitar sound, and the song is pretty much the birth of rock’n’roll – you can almost hear where Chuck Berry got his ideas from.

Famously, “Rocket 88” (1951) by Ike Turner/Jackie Brenston (often referred to as the “first” rock’n’roll song) is said to feature a guitar amp with damaged speaker cone, though the guitar is quite low in the mix.  

For 1956’s  “The train kept a rollin'” by the Johnny Burnette Trio, a guitar amp with dislodged tube was used to create a dirty guitar sound, and a few years later it was the turn of Dave Davies to slash his amp’s speakers for the dirty sound of The Kinks‘ “You Really Got Me”.

Kinks’ fuzz: Elpico AC-55 with slashed speakers plugged into Vox AC-30. Damn… glad it’s easier to just use a fuzz pedal nowadays!

The Fuzz and Muff Pedal Timeline has a pretty good list of other pre-fuzzbox songs.

None of those tracks use “fuzz” exactly, but they all presaged the desire for dirtier guitar sounds – which the first fuzz pedals made much easier! 

Who Invented the First Fuzz Pedal?

Thank you for the fuzz… and no, we’re not talking about the ‘tache! (great as it is)

Lee Hazelwood was one of the most important fuzz pioneers: he asked a (sadly anonymous) radio station technician to make a custom fuzz box to be used in the studio – and it features on Sanford Clark’s 1960 song ‘Go On Home’ which is believed to be the first-ever track to feature an electronic device created specifically to create a “fuzz” sound… ie, the original fuzz pedal! (sadly, there are no pics of this legendary device…)

After this, more artists began to have an interest in that new, specific sound – the FUZZ! Orville Rhodes created the legendary Rhodes Fuzz boxes, used by Billy Strange and The Ventures, and after that, the history of fuzz really took off.

With the creation of the first commercially available fuzz – the Maestro Fuzz Tone – it was just a matter of time until a new generation of musicians fell in love for the dirty sounds of fuzz and it became a crucial sound in rock’n’roll ever since!

vintage Maestro Fuzz Tone ad

Fuzz vs. Distortion vs. Overdrive: What’s the difference?

Sometimes they get mixed up, because they do a similar job – to make your guitar “dirtier’! But they are all different.

It’s all to do with how they change the dry signal of the guitar – there are many sites that’ll explain this in detail, with images of the sound wave shapes they generate etc but, well, it can be a bit boring, really! What really matters is how different do they actually sound?

All you need to know is that overdrive sounds more “natural” (more like an overdriven amp sound) and smooth, and is the least harsh-sounding of the three. Distortion does what it says in the box, and sounds more kick ass than an overdrive, but not as harsh as fuzz. Think Nirvana, for instance.

You can use an overdrive pedal on an already overdriven tube amp, and thus get a sound that could be described as distorted, as if you were using a distortion pedal on a clean amp. 

And then, there’s what interests us here: FUZZ!!! It’s a very different and altogether wilder beast…

This great video explains the differences:

Overdrive and Distortion pedals were developed years after the first fuzz pedals. In fact, it’s no coincidence that they were developed after the invention of solid-state amps, because that’s what they were actually made for – since SS amps can’t naturally be overdriven like valve amps.

It’s interesting to notice that most fuzz pedals sound much better when used with valve amps than with solid state amps, whereas overdrive and distortion can sound good with either. Maybe that’s a good subject for another blog… but maybe, it has to do with the fact that fuzz was originally designed to interact with valve amps, especifically!

Fuzz is one of the oldest types of guitar effects (as explained before) so it’s a very simple effect, and not very subtle, generally. This means two things:

1) most circuits can be easily copied, so that’s why you’ll find lots of Tone Bender, Fuzz Face, Big Muff etc copies (often more affordable, sometimes way more expensive than the originals!) 

2) If you don’t know what you’re doing, your fuzz can sound bad!

Fuzz pedals (using germanium or silicon transistors) can sound very harsh, it’s true, but the best ones interact beautifully with your guitar, and knowing how to use your guitar’s volume and tone can greatly affect the results. Some fuzzes will sound terrible when you play chords, but are great for solos.

One of the joys of using fuzz is that despite it being a simple guitar effect, you really need to “play” the pedal – it’s often not just about stepping on it and turning it on, but about learning how it works with your guitar, amp and other pedals, fine tuning the settings. In many cases, if you’re a guitarist who only uses your guitar volume at 10, you simply won’t make the most of your fuzz pedal – fuzz pedals can be the wildest and most “in your face” of guitar effects, but really, they’re all about the subtleties of the player.

If you don’t know how to use your fuzz pedal, it can sound bad… but if you do it right, it could be the best sound ever!

What Are The Best Fuzz Pedals… Ever?

Well, to pick any Top 10 “Best Of” is always difficult, and controversial… and it won’t be any different this time! But to make things easier, we set a few basic rules:

1. No rare “boutique” pedals (instead, we chose those which were/are more-or-less easily available in the shops at one point or another)
2. We chose pedals which have been used by well known artists
3. Also, we’ve chosen mostly original pedals which inspired copies rather than clones.

There are SO many boutique clones out there that the list to choose from would be endless and generate even more discussion – there’ll be many people who’ll say that “such and such Big Muff/Fuzz Face clone is miles better than the original”, so we simply won’t get into this kind of argument – boutique clones are out! We’ll stick with the classic originals. Some pedals here HAVE been inspired by other models, but over the years made a name and inspired clones themselves, so we’ll include them.

It’s interesting to note that, because fuzz is generally a very simple and primitive effect, lots of good, cheap clones also DO exist – but here you’ll find the pedals that got more than just a great sound – they got MOJO to spare…

Death By Audio Fuzz War

Why? It’s quickly becoming a classic alt-rock / psych favourite, thanks to being used by bands such as Thee Oh Sees. It CAN give you some great fuzz tones, and is also great for some mad noises… a new classic? You bet! Also, American brand Death By Audio is one of the best right now…

Univox Super fuzz

Why? This octave-up fuzz, made by the Japanese Univox company, is without a doubt one of the most legendary ever made. Users include Pete Townshend (The Who), Poison Ivy (The Cramps), Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) and many others. It was also featured in the title of Mudhoney’s debut album, “Superfuzz and Big Muff”. 

WEM Pep Rush Box

Why? Because it’s one of the few well-documented fuzz boxes used by The Beatles. John Lennon used it on ‘Paperback Writer’. A modern reissue looks and sounds the part, too. This is NOT a “Beatles-in-a-box” though, since the Fab Four used it sparingly. However, this connection with the Liverpool band was enough to make this pedal the stuff of legend and more desirable – but it is a great fuzz too, perfect for dirty Cramps-style rock’n’roll, meaty riffs and ripping solos… a great addition to any guitarist’s arsenal!

Foxx Tone Machine

Why? This is a legendary octave-up fuzz, introduced in 1971 and now quite rare (though reissued not that long ago). Users included Peter Frampton, Adrian Belew, Parliament / Funkadelic and Nine Inch Nails. One of the cool features – innovative then – is that it has a toggle switch to select octave up fx or turn it off… making it more versatile than the Roger Meyer Octavia. The Foxx Tone Machine inspired clones such as the super cheap Danelectro French Toast fuzz and the Joyo Octave Fuzz.

Roger Mayer Octavia

Why? This is the original octave-up pedal, as pioneered by Jimi Hendrix on songs such as ‘Purple Haze’. As if you needed any more reasons! Octave up fuzz pedals can be tricky affairs to use – but if you do it right, a very cool addition to a guitarist arsenal!

Shin-Ei FZ2

Why? The Japanese Shin-Ei is one of the most sought-after fuzz boxes out there, quite a collectors item, and has been used by bands such as Jesus And Mary Chain (on classic debut ‘Psychocandy’), Blur, Radiohead (in ‘OK Computer’!) and the Black Keys. 

Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz Tone

Why? Mojo to spare!!! This is THE fuzz pedal that made fuzz popular, thanks to one song: ‘Satisfaction’ by the Rolling Stones. According to Keith Richards, he only used the relatively new pedal with the intention of using it for the demo, to mimic the sound that should be played by horns in the final version. However, the fuzz became the most essential part of the released version, and the rest is history… the fuzz craze was born!

Interesting to note that on the first ever demo of a fuzz pedal, they were basically trying to compare the Maestro Fuzz-Tone sound with traditional instruments such as cello or saxophone, as its main “selling point”!

Z-Vex Fuzz Factory

Why? This is one of the craziest fuzzes out there, capable of self-oscillating… ideal for the noise experimentalists. You’ll find more than just a few people who think this is their favourite fuzz ever, and some of its most famous users include J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Stephen Malkmus (Pavement / The Jicks), Annie Clark (St. Vincent) and Matt Bellamy (Muse). The Fuzz Factory became such a crucial part of Bellamy’s sound, tat he had guitars custom-made for him, with built-in Fuzz Factory!

Not many fuzz pedals are as versatile as the Fuzz Factory. You can do mad things with it, but it’s also a great-sounding fuzz, like few others!

Tone Bender

Why? The Vox Tone Bender (in its many different incarnations) is one of the most widely used and iconic fuzz pedals ever. List of famous users include Jeff Beck (The Yardbirds) , Jimmy Page (The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin), The Beatles (bass on “Think For Yourself”), Mick Ronson (Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie), Marc Bolan (T-Rex) and Pete Townshend (The Who). Inspired countless clones and modern reissues that sound as good as vintage ones. Whichever you choose… it’s likely to be amazing!

Fuzz Face

Why? Once again, Jimi! More than anyone else, it was Jimi Hendrix the one guitarist most responsible for popularising fuzz… and his weapon of choice was a Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face. It’s virtually impossible to think of Jimi without thinking of the Fuzz Face, which he knew how to use like few others. Jimi was the textbook case of how to use fuzz and be able to be subtle or wild, depending on how you use it. Many other players used it… rom David Gilmour in Pink Floyd to, more recently, the Black Angels.

The Fuzz Face has had many incarnations and inspired countless clones…. and today Dunlop makes quite a few versions (including “mini” sized ones) which all sound unmistakably “Fuzz Face-y”, with minor – but to some crucial – differences in terms of tone. Whichever you choose – it’ll give you one of the most classic and most delicious fuzz sounds, ever!

Electro-Harmonix Big Muff

The big one, and not just the name! Arguably the most popular fuzz ever. The king of all fuzzes… the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff! This pedal has been used in records by most artists you care to think of… from Pink Floyd and David Bowie to Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers… and even The Carpenters! 

A lot of Muffs…

The beauty of it is that it’s still widely available and relatively cheap. Bands big or small still use it, in dive bars and stadiums alike, worldwide, every day. There are many different versions – including the reissue of the famous “green Russian” – which, despite a few small differences pretty much sound like you’d expect a Big Muff to sound – so you can pick any safe in the knowledge it’ll be amazing! (ps: beware the EHX Germanium Big Muff Pi though. It’s a pretty cool pedal but the only one from their “Muff” range that doesn’t really sound “Big Muff-y”. As a versatile distortion pedal, it’s great. As a Big Muff fuzz… you’d be probably disappointed)

Even though the Electro Harmonix Big Muff never really lost popularity, there’s little doubt that, in the 21st Century, Dan Auerbach and Jack White helped to make this pedal even better known, and today it’s still one of the best-selling pedals around!

In our experience, we still see a LOT of people who own an Airline guitar and, lo and behold, 9 out of 10 times they also have a Big Muff!

No wonder – this combo sounds immense!

Now… YOUR turn to tell us: what’s your favourite fuzz pedal? 

Complete Guide To Fuzz Pedals + The Best Fuzz Pedals from MyRareGuitars.com

Learning to play guitar won’t be a daunting task for you if you get proper teaching and know the ways of playing it right. It’s quite easy to grow some bad habits unknowingly and if you don’t deal with them at the early stage, it can damage your learning and will be difficult to break. Nevertheless, you should not be afraid of this as every bad habit can be changed and initially, you just need to identify them.

Basically, these damaging mistakes are commonly found with the beginners or self-taught players. Here, we have outlined 11 common damaging mistakes done by the guitar players and how they can avoid them.

1. Ignoring to tune your guitar before practicing

tuning the guitar is important!

Many newbies not only don’t know how to tune a guitar properly but also don’t notice when the guitar needs tuning. And practicing on the out-of-tune guitar won’t help them to progress. If you play a well-tuned guitar, you can keep the pitch of the notes in your mind. Likewise, if you constantly practice on an out-of-tune guitar, you can’t learn to identify the precise pitches.

Solution – Prior to playing guitar, ensure it is tuned. You can utilize an online tuner and check the tuning twice so you can play it right.

2. Not having an expert guitar setup

Your guitar setup sometimes gets impacted by the weather conditions like humidity and heat. Sometimes new guitarists try to set up their guitars by own which doesn’t make their guitar any easier to play. They can even find difficulties while practicing, and therefore improvements also become slow.

Solution – You need a professional setup for your guitar which makes the guitar easier to play and also, you won’t need extra effort for getting good sounding notes as like digital piano.

3. Not replacing strings ever or often enough

Playing on old strings not just spoils your guitar playing enjoyment but also can lead to premature wear of the fretboard and frets of your guitar. [As we wrote on a previous blog, you need to know when to change your guitar strings]

Solution – You must change your own guitar strings as it’s important on a regular basis. Even if you don’t play your guitar regularly, your strings should be replaced at least once in every 6-8 months. You should wipe the strings after practicing so you can maximize their lifespan.

4. Neglecting Barre Chords

You can experience some hurdles while advancing your guitar expertise by learning barre chords. Newbies might be intimidated by these chords as they need lots of effort in their fretting hand. And these chords are really hard to play at first. But if you avoid playing them, you won’t ever learn them.

Solution – Learn barre chords to enhance your guitar playing capacity. It will make your fretting hand stronger if you play them for a few months.

Watch this quick lesson:

5. Guitar practicing without a metronome

Practicing guitar without a metronome is not a good idea as this is the most vital practice tool that’ll give you a clear concept of your advancement while practicing: it can force you to slow down while practicing, and help you to grow a natural sense of rhythm within yourself.

Solution – Start practicing your guitar with a metronome; it will keep your music sense composed.

6. Holding your guitar improperly

Some newbies struggle a lot with playing particular chords and the main issue is that they hold their instrument improperly. Playing the chords is not difficult but they make it harder by holding the guitar incorrectly.

Solution – You can read the blogs written on proper ways of holding a guitar in different standing and sitting positions. Also, you can check out different YouTube videos.

Watch this video:

7. Irregular practice

Memory plays the main role while it comes to playing music. Consistent practice makes your memory sharper so you can make the most difficult techniques, chord shapes etc. smoother and more effortless day by day. Irregular practice will not be advantageous for your learning.

Solution – It’s better to practice guitar playing daily for at least 15 minutes. This consistency should be maintained regularly.

8. Consulting lots of sources

Some newbies take a leap from watching YouTube videos to reading blogs on the web or switching to the different online courses or reading guitar magazines. This doesn’t make things easy for them; hence they get stuck on something and cannot learn the right techniques.

Solution – You must not run towards different information sources for learning the ways of playing guitar. Rather, find a teacher to get a comprehensive lesson.

9. Going too fast

This is another mistake made by beginner guitarists. If you go straight for playing a specific song “at 100%” after learning the position of right notes, it can sometimes impair your progress – you can play the right notes, sure… but are you playing them right?  If you don’t practice perfectly, you won’t get to improve your technique.

Solution – Rather than playing a song at 100% of the speed, try to go first at 50%. You will get better results if you take it slowly…

10. Not cleaning the guitar appropriately

It’s important to know how to clean your guitar

Using furniture polish or standard household cleaners can damage your guitar. These products are unsuitable for your guitar. You don’t need to clean it every day but a good cleaning once a month can keep it durable.

Solution – Use the cleaning products which are specially made for guitars.

11. Not learning music theory

Many newbies make this mistake as they avoid learning proper music theory because they are worried about learning the more technical ways. Some often find it boring and difficult when attempting to learn these concepts – but if you persevere, it can be very rewarding.

Solutions – Undoubtedly, understanding music theory can take much time but it can sometimes quicken your music learning.

Wrapping up

So, these are a few damaging mistakes made by the newbie guitarists. The same happens with the piano artists, drummers or other artists of different instruments. If you are encountering the same issues mentioned here, try to resolve them ASAP to improvise your guitar learning – you will thank yourself later!

11 Bad Habits Beginner Guitarists Need To Avoid in 2018 from MyRareGuitars.com

My first guitar was one of those legendary acoustics with 3/4″ action, outfitted with heavy gauge (one gauge only) Black Diamond strings.  I was seven.  My teacher, an authoritarian Austrian gentleman, insisted I practice 1 hour a night.  I did.  I cried.  My fingers bled.  I was so happy, somewhat later, when someone ordered a Gibson ES-225, returned it to the store, and it became mine, outfitted with flatwound strings, of course, and a factory Bigsby.  So, it might surprise you to learn that I hated that guitar.  I hated those P-90 pickups.  I hated the ugly sunburst.  I was so glad when the neck twisted and I got rid of it.  So, it might not surprise you to learn that I’m not fond of thinlines.  Even when they’re as cool as the Yamaha SA-15.

It’s no wonder Yamaha produced some cool guitars.  Yamaha may be Japan’s oldest manufacturer of Western-style musical instruments.  In 1887, Torakusu Yamaha developed a reed organ in Hamamatsu, Japan, starting a factory the following year. In around 1900 Yamaha began making pianos and those were the primary musical instruments the company would be known for thereafter, although Yamaha would later branch out into electronic organs and wind instruments (not to mention motorcycles, vacation resorts, lifestyle products, and semiconductors!).  

It appears that Yamaha began selling Yamaha acoustic guitars in around 1946, but there’s some buzz out there that those might have actually been re-branded Suzuki products.  Yamaha developed the “Dynamic Guitar” probably during the 1950s.  These were similar to a Harmony “Convertible” guitar I once got from Montgomery Ward as a kid, meant to be strung either nylon or steel.  Yamaha Dynamics are way better than most other acoustic guitars made in Japan at the time.

In 1960 Yamaha established Yamaha International Corporation in Los Angeles, creating probably the first American beach-head for a Japanese musical instrument company.  This was still primarily for selling pianos, but it would include guitars once Yamaha decided to export those.

Picture: 1968 Yamaha SA-15

1966 seems to have been the seminal year for guitar-making.  That year they brought the Spanish luthier Eduardo Ferrer to redesign their classical guitars.  Yamaha also introduced its FG line of steel-string guitars.  And its first solidbody electric guitars, the SG-2 and SG-3.  I’ve always suspected that the SG-1 was earlier, but that’s not the party line.  Oh, and their first amplifiers.

I’m not sure that Yamaha exported its earliest electric guitars, at least, to the U.S.  Acoustics may have preceded electrics.  I don’t recall seeing any Yamaha electrics during the 1960s, but then I was living out in “fly-over country” back then.  I have a Yamaha catalog that was sold as being from 1966, but the code on the back is “692” and the Japanese, being a generally meticulous race, often coded their periodicals and that would make it a 1969 catalog.  The electric guitars feature in it are all “semi-acoustics” and, since those were not introduced until 1968, that reinforces the later date.

In any case, the electrics in that ’69 catalog include 3 equal cutaway guitars (SA-50, SA-30, SA-20), one bass version (SA-70), a full-body single-cutaway jazz box (AE-11), and two versions of their asymmetrical thinlines, the SA-15D and SA-15, seen here.

While Yamaha’s acoustic guitars were pretty conventional, these electric guitars show Yamaha’s penchant for distinctive design.  The equal-cutaway models are not just Gibson clones, but have classy squared-off cutaway horns.  And the asymmetrical 15s…well, I think these are splendid!  

The extended lower horn of these guitars reflects a particularly Japanese obsession with everything Ventures.  The Ventures toured Japan early in their careers and Japanese fans loved them.  When Flower Power eclipsed the Ventures’ Surf sound, they were able to keep their careers alive on the strength of their fans in Japan.  This meant, of course, a love of the Mosrite Ventures guitars, which was, after all, just a Fender Stratocaster flipped over!

The SA-15 was a little more conservative take on Yamaha’s iconic ‘60s solidbody, the SG-7, itself inspired by the Mosrite.  The SA-15 and SA-15D mainly differed only in trim.  The SA-15 seen here was the plainer, with an unbound rosewood fingerboard and dot inlays.  The SA-15D had a bound fingerboard with top-edge-inlaid markers (a la Gretsch) and special checkerboard top binding.  The pickups were “noise-free high-sensitivity type”…with “high-performance anisotropic ferrite magnet and pole-piece,” with two volumes and two tones on a threeway switch.  Basic.  Decent.  Great for playing “Walk, Don’t Run!”

I was glad to see my old Gibson ES-225 leave for someone else.  And I’m still not wild about thinline semi-acoustic guitars.  But if I was a fan, I’d sure prefer to go on stage sporting a Yamaha SA-15 for a couple bars of “Telestar.”

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

Eastwood Custom Shop SA-15

The Eastwood SA-15

The new Eastwood Custom Shop SA-15 is a fantastic tribute to the legendary Yamaha SA-15. If you’re not lucky enough to own one of the originals, this new guitar really does a great job a recreating the Yamaha…

Salute to the Ventures: the 1968 Yamaha SA-15 from MyRareGuitars.com

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with accordions, largely due to my forehead-slapping reaction to being forced to watch the Lawrence Welk Champagne Hour as a kid.  Well, “forced” is probably strong, but back then you only had one TV if you were lucky enough to have one at all.  So, smiling accordion players it was if that’s what your parents wanted.  At least the Lennon Sisters were hot.  On the other hand, I’ve also heard solo accordionists playing on street corners of Society Hill in Philly and I confess it was awfully romantic.  In either case, the fact is, you just can’t seem to avoid accordions if you’re going to talk about Italian guitars.

Modern piano accordions were invented in Germany in around 1863 and almost immediately one showed up in Castelfidardo, Italy, on the northwest coast of the Adriatic near the mouth of the Po River.  Castelfidardo has been the accordion capital of the world ever since.  Piano accordions showed up in the U.S. in the early 20^th Century and, like most things, had several waves of popularity.  The biggest came in the early 1950s when young Baby Boomers—my sister was one—caught the accordion bug.  The sudden rage for accordions was huge and Italian Americans who played accordions and were in the music business went nuts starting music schools and ordering accordions from Italian factories that ramped up production big time.  There were huge accordion orchestras of smiling children.  

Then, after a couple of great years, people lost interest, overnight.  My sister’s accordion went into the closet.  Most of the Italian-American accordion concerns entered a period of depression.  Long story short, at the end of the 1950s along came Folk Music and a thirst for guitars.  Italy had a long tradition of guitar-making inherited from Spanish rule for centuries.  A few accordion manufacturers threw their hats into the ring and opened up guitar operations. Oliviero Pigini (EKO guitars) was one.  Other accordion makers partnered with people who knew how to make guitars and exploited their American export relationships to supply guitars where once it was all accordions.

Picture: 1974 JG 300

JG guitars fell into the former bucket.  Finding out about European-made guitars—especially Italian guitars—is not easy if you’re in North America.  Many of the people who were active importing these in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s are no longer with us.  I was fortunate enough to talk with folks at LoDuca Bros. in Milwaukee, who imported EKOs, but by the time I figured the other connections out, the opportunities to recover at least the American side of the story were lost.  Still, not all is hopeless.  If you’re interested in European (especially Italian) guitars, you should bookmark fetishguitars.com.  Run by Jack Marchal and Stefano Aria, this site has been digging into European guitars for some years now.  This site began more like an Italian version of Dan Forte’s old Teisco Del Rey columns in Guitar Player back in the 1970s, viewing these sometimes fruity artifacts with tongue in cheek.  However, as time has passed and they learned more, the approach has become more serious and they now provide some of the best information available on these curiosities.

I always knew that JG guitars were made in Europe, but I also thought they were also sold primarily in Europe.  Turns out I was wrong on the latter point.  According to Fetishguitars.com JG guitars were made for Giulietti & Son Accordion Co. of New York City.  The company had been founded by the accordionist Luigi Giulietti in 1923 sourcing his accordions from the Serranelli factory in Italy.  Upon Luigi’s passing in 1950, the shop was taken over his son Julio, who changes accordion supplier to Zerosette.  Zerosette had been founded after World War II by 7 partners with experience in making accordions and remains a major accordion manufacturer.  With the rise of the guitar beginning in the late 1950s, Zerosette decided to open a guitar-making arm.

I don’t know if Zerosette ever made acoustic guitars, like Pigini/EKO did.  However, when the demand for electric guitar began to pick up in the early 1960s, Zerosette became a major Italian supplier.  Brands produced at Zerosette you may know include Goya (for Hershman), Contessa (Höhner), and Sano, among others.  

Zerosette produced JG and Juliett guitars for Julio Giulietti’s shop in New York.  The JG 300 seen here has no serial number and is impossible to date.  However, during the 1960s most Italian guitars looked like 1960s guitars.  This has the smack of being a Les Paul copy.  By the end of the 1960s most European guitars had been eclipsed by Japanese guitars, so not many were being sold in North America.  The copying of American guitar designs by Japanese makers didn’t begin until 1969.  European guitar-makers also indulged in copying American designs, but their copies tended to be more in the nature of “inspirations” rather than attempts to make close reproductions, as the Japanese did.  

I suspect that this is an early 1970s guitar.  It still has the ‘60s-style Van Ghent tuners.  Overall, the workmanships is quite good and this plays and sounds very nicely.  Controls are two volumes and two tones run through a master volume, with is a little odd.  It’s not a professional instrument like a Les Paul, but it looks very cool.  As far as I can tell, these probably did not receive very wide distribution, probably about as much as Giulietti accordions!  Still, it’s orange and pretty unusual!  I think I’m going to strap it on, put on my widest, toothiest smile…and think about the Lennon Sisters.

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

Mama’s Got a Squeezebox (Again): the 1974 JG 300 from MyRareGuitars.com

History seems to go in cycles, it appears.  Not perfect circles, but close enough.  When it comes to guitars we seem to go through periods when guitar designers go nuts and start pushing the envelope with whacky shapes.  Now, I’m one of that subset of guitar fans that’s always a sucker for really oddball guitars.  I mean, Les Pauls are wonderful, but show me something straight out of the Jetsons like the Gretsch Astrojet and I’m hooked!

The Gretsch Astrojet is an artifact from the early 1960s.  The music industry didn’t know it yet, but it was beginning to lose its grip at the time.  Music has always been led by popular tastes, but the “product” was always fairly tightly controlled by managers, promoters, record companies, radio.  When “folk music” hit big in the late 1950s it introduced a wild card: musicians from outside the “business.”  Outsider art.  Then came rock ‘n’ roll. Rock was fickle, unpredictable.  Just what did those Baby Boomers want?

1964 Gretsch 6126 Astro-Jet

For electric guitar-makers this was an important question.  Gibson had tried something new back in the late ‘50s with the holy trinity of the Explorer, Flying V, and mythical Moderne, all of which totally bombed (except with Lonny Mack).  Folk music was still riding high, but folkies played acoustic guitars.  But then there were these surfers and the Ventures.  And those Chicago dudes playing electric guitars.  What was happening?  Maybe, thought some brainiacs, we need a guitar that’s “far out” for the Boomers.  (OK, “far out” came a bit later.  I was there.) 

Maybe the kids would want a Gumby guitar!  Guild introduced its S-200 Thunderbird.  WITH a built-in stand so you could set it up on stage during your breaks between sets.  Yeah, like that flimsy piece of metal would keep your guitar safe!…  Except for Banana of the Youngbloods (from whom I bought a cool old banjo a few years back), almost no one would touch the Gumby-shaped Thunderbird.  (I have one.)

Gretsch considered the same conundrum.  Why don’t we ask Jimmie Webster?  You youngsters may not know who Jimmie Webster was, but he was a great champion of “tapping” technique decades before Eddie Van Halen.  Actually, Jimmie, born in Ohio, learned tapping from Harry DeArmond, the famous pickup manufacturer from Toledo who produced Gretsch’s pickups.  Exactly what that transfer of knowledge was we don’t know, but Jimmie tapped.  His “Webster’s Unabridged” album is one of the great guitar records.  

Anyhow, after the War Webster became a consultant for Gretsch and was hired to travel around the country demonstrating Gretsch electric guitars using his tapping technique.  There’s a whole class of “tapping guitars” that derived from those workshops, including those of Dave Bunker, who’s produced Bunker guitars since the late 1960s (and the Ibanez USA guitars in the early ‘90s).  

Gretsch asked Webster to come up with a guitar design that would appeal to the kids, and the result was the Astrojet, developed in 1964.  What can you say?  This was like Bizarro to Superman.  I don’t know.  I don’t find many guitars “ugly,” but this pretty much qualifies.  

1964 Gretsch 6126 Astro-Jet… rare and exotic

The name undoubtedly came from the fascination with the Space Race at the time.  The Telstar satellite had been launched in 1962.  The Jetsons cartoon series debuted the next year.  How about we call the new guitar the Astrojet?  

Actually, Gretsch put a lot of effort into the Astrojet. These had solid mahogany bodies with a set-in neck using Gretsch’s unique dowelled joints (that make them impossible to work on).  The fingerboard is ebony.  The pickups are high-end DeArmond Super Filter ‘Tron humbuckers.  (High-output DiMarzio Super Distortions lay more than a decade in the future.)  As you might expect from a guitar designed by a pro guitarist, the Astrojet has pretty interesting controls.  The knobs are a master volume and two tone controls.  The switches include a threeway select, a threeway tone selector, and (my favorite waste of space) a “standby” switch.  The tone toggle let you choose different capacitors giving you a mid-bass range, a treble sound for lead, and a heavy bass tone.

I guess if you had a “combo” of neatly coifed young men in matching Nehru jackets all playing matching Gretsch Astrojets and probably called the Supersonic Four Lads, this guitar might be a pretty cool part of the “look.”  However, by 1965, the year this guitar hit the Gretsch catalog, the Beatles had let their hair begin to grow and they had shed the matching suits for more Bohemian leather jackets and turtlenecks (“Rubber Soul”), a harbinger of what was fast approaching.  Hippies.  

Actually, it’s kind of ironic that the somewhat eclectic tastes of anti-establishment young folks didn’t embrace the rather radical design of the Astrojet.  But I guess it was just too strained, too over the top.  I’m not sure how long the Astrojet was offered but it was not in the 1968 catalog.  I think that Astrojets are pretty rare.  You just don’t see them come up for sale that often.

The Gretsch Astrojet wasn’t the last odd guitar to appear, of course.  There have always been guitar designers whose vision transcends popular tastes.  Just think of the early 1980s when both Heavy Metal and New Wave players stumbled over each other to play exotic-shaped guitars.  But Jimmy Webster’s visionary creation, however near-sighted, puts the Gretsch Astrojet in a class by itself.

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

1964 Gretsch 6126 Astro-Jet from MyRareGuitars.com

Back in the mid-1970s guitar players got a bad scare from Disco.  Hard rock had ruled the roost in the early ‘70s, but what had been a fairly monolithic music industry began to show signs of fracturing.  In terms of guitar playing, two anti-guitar factions emerged.  For those who wanted to be a rock star but didn’t want to bother honing chops there was punk.  Learn a few chords and bash away.  At least they were still playing guitars!  On the other side was the disco crowd.  Don a sequined costume and dance the night away to music based on the lush orchestration and insistent groove of keyboard synthesizers.  

The guitar press began to get worried and doom-sayers predicted the demise of the guitar.  We know that didn’t happen, of course, but it was a frightening period for guitar fanatics.  One approach to answering the problem was the synthesizer industry (if you can call it that) itself: put synth controller electronics into guitars.  The Roland GR-500 of 1978 was the first such attempt, a nice Ibanez-Musician-style guitar made by Fujigen Gakki with Roland synth controls that plugged into a large console that converted the analog signal into MIDI signals that then activated tone generators on the console and any external synthesizer machines connected to it.

As you might be guessing from my explanation of MIDI above, I’m part of that generation that started out writing on typewriters and had to trade them in for a computer keyboard.  I tried, but I never really got guitar MIDI technology. I played around a little with the Roland gear, which was OK because the converters had tone generating filters built in, so you could get weird squeaky tones, but I never knew what to use them for.  As for coordinating between multiple synthesizer machines, that was way beyond my pay grade.  

The Casio MG-500 MIDI guitar

Nevertheless, I thought I might be seduced by the dark side and picked up interesting guitar MIDI gear whenever it came my way, including this Casio MG-500 MIDI Guitar.  If you’re close to my age you knew Casio as the major purveyor of digital watches and calculators.  If you’re young you might not know that there were ever anything other than digital watches and you probably don’t know what a calculator is because all that is done for you on your phone.

Anyhow, Casio got into the synthesizer business with a whole range of keyboard synths that ranged from novelty small consumer-electronics keyboards with a few pre-programmed sounds (“piano,” “saxophone,” etc.) to fully professional units.  During the 1980s, toward the end of the synth guitar debacle, Casio introduced a number of very interesting guitars.  One was a sort of toy version with a touch-sensitive fingerboard and plastic strings, programmed sounds, and even a built-in amp and speaker, though you could output the sound to a real amp.  The other was this guitar, which was a serious attempt at making a MIDI guitar controller.

1988 Casio MG-500 MIDI Guitar

Like the Roland (and Ibanez) attempts at making a guitar synth, the Casio electronics were mounted on a guitar made by Fujigen.  While the first Roland guitar synths were put on a “normal” guitar, the concept quickly evolved that a guitar synth should feature an “exotic” shape.  To be fair, guitars moving into the 1980s favored unconventional guitar shapes.  “New Wave” guitarists like Andy Summers of the Police championed the minimalist Steinberger, while Heavy Metal bands liked Flying Vees, Explorers and even more “non-Spanish” shapes.  So if you were going to be controlling whooshes and chinkles, you needed a guitar that didn’t look like a conventional guitar.

The 1988 Casio MG-500 was very similar to guitars made for Roland and Ibanez.  It was basically like a Strat with all the extraneous wood shaved off.  It had a humbucker and two single-coil pickups like most contemporary “Superstrats.”  It had a “traditional” vibrato.  One of the early problems of guitar synths was that guitarists liked to use the wang bar but MIDI signals had to be precise.  By the time of the MG-500 this technical limitation had been solved.  The MG-500 was the first guitar synth to put the MIDI converter right on the guitar.  You could choose to play just regular guitar, just MIDI, or blend the two, or add in an octave line.  It had a regular 1/4-inch jack and a 5-pin MIDI jack.

The Casio MG-500 was a mind-boggling feat of electronic engineering.  That a guitar could have this sort of functionality is astounding.  

Well, it turns out I wasn’t so unusual in being befuddled by MIDI technology.  A fiveway switch and a few mini-toggles turn out to be about our limit.  There was almost no market for MIDI guitars.  The Casio MG-500 was one of the last MIDI guitars to be produced. Roland continued to make aftermarket MIDI convertors you could mount on your guitar, and, for a time, Fender produced some special-order Strats so equipped.  But Disco was long-gone by this time, and the Seattle Sound and Pearl Jam were just around the corner.  While they eschewed heavy metal solos, they did play guitars and there was no reason to be scared.

As I write these words, guitars are under threat again.  “Pop music” is dominated by producer-assembled “beats” and singers sound good through the application of digital auto-tuners.  Maybe it’s a good thing that I’m ready with my MIDI guitars…  No, I don’t think so.

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

1988 Casio MG-500 MIDI Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com

Imagine planning for a major concert or an upcoming gig and then during your practice session your guitar tuning suddenly malfunctions. This could be either as a result of wearing out your tuners, or them getting getting broken. This can be a setback to your quest as an artist, right?

Whether your guitar uses locking tuners or traditional designs, a guitar tuner makes your play feel spot on and your guitar sound great. Besides, they help identify and adjust to the pitch of your preference by opening or closing the strings. 

Therefore, whenever there is an inevitable need to replace your tuners, you might be confused whether to replace some knobs of tuners or a whole set of tuners. 

Whichever is your choice, before you rush to replace your tuner, it is important to understand possible reasons that might lead to your guitar tuner wearing out or getting broken. This will assist you to know exactly how to effectively go about the replacement and get your guitar back in tune. 

Changing the tuners of your guitar is actually easy…

What Might Lead To Replacing Your Guitar?

Firstly, as you keep using your guitar, the tuners are prone to the wear and tear over time. This could be associated to the frequent pressure they are subjected to while playing the guitar.

Consequently, they end up improperly fitting each other or at the worst, not fitting together at all. Attempts to tune your guitar to the right pitch could result to sudden skipping of the gear teeth. 

At the worst, insisting on trying them out, strings might end up getting out of hand calling for a complete replacement. 

Secondly, your guitar can accidentally drop on a hard surface damaging your tuners. Also, there are chances of the buttons cracking due to poor or no oiling of the gears. This is the point you feel the need to apply more pressure on the buttons to get your tune. 

In such case, the tuning quality might get compromised to the extent of the damage, hence possible need to replace them.

Ways of Replacing the Tuner Of A Guitar

Impressively, you don’t have to be worried if your tuner can’t function properly and has to be replaced. 

Have you ever been on the receiving end while playing your guitar at home, and experienced regular guitar tuner breakdowns? 

Well, I recommend you pay attention to the kind of problem necessitating the need to replace your tuners. Check whether it is the entire set of tuners you have to replace or just the tuning buttons. It is also important you take into account the kind of guitar you have.

Step-by step guide:

• If it is your tuning buttons that are broken, consider taking into perspective these tips to get your tuners fixed and get your fun back. The procedure doesn’t have to be complicated;
• Firstly, loosen off the guitar strings to establish the extent of the damage. Be careful at this point as strings can unwind fast and end up injuring you.
• You will have to remove all the strings the same way if you realize that a number of tuners have to be replaced. Notably, if you also don’t want to keep wasting time and experience regular replacement of the tuners, replacing all of them will a great idea too. 
• If you have an electric guitar, I recommend you check as to what extent your tuner is damaged, otherwise, if it is a single or a number of tuning buttons that need replacement, you don’t have to replace the whole set. This will equally save you extra replacement costs, saving your energy. 
• Ensure you buy new exact fitting tuners from your local store. It is imperative you identify the right tuning buttons that will fit in well before screwing them into place.
• At this point sparing some time to check out expert ideas or research on reviews on appropriate tuner replacement options will be invaluable.
• If you happen to have a regular guitar, get an appropriate small-sized screw able to unscrew the screws from the neck of your guitar at the tuning buttons. 
• If you don’t have also much of the ideas on how to unscrew your specific type of guitar, do some research or seek professional guidance before you proceed. 
• After unscrewing is done and the screws slip off, replace them with your correct new tuners.
• If you happen to have forgotten how to replace all parts back into place, reflect on how you started.  Fixing the new tuners should be done carefully to avoid fitting in a wrong tuner or spoiling the finish. 

Other Important Aspects to Consider

What if you can’t find the exact replacement tuner for your guitar and you need to get back into action quickly? 

Therefore, I suggest you be keen to the measurements of your tuner including the right height, size of the hole where the original tuner was fitting, the mounting pattern of your screw and arm length. 

Are you finding it necessary to do some modification on your type of guitar to accommodate the replacement tuners? Such modification might include the need to enlarge the pegheads holes for big-sized shafts. Your peghead holes need to match the spacing of the tuners when mounted on the plate of your guitar.

While enlarging the peg holes, be careful not to chip off the finishing of your instrument or the peghead veneer. Remember; ensure you have the correct specifications if you have to drill new holes. It is also preferable to check the tuner whether once screwed into the hole; the brushing is able to fit perfectly on the peghead. 

Your guitar tuner should be positioned at a distance in such way is it easy to access the string hole. This is to facilitate stable tuner fixing to avoid them becoming loose or coming off. 

Conclusion 

When buying your new tuners, check for those tuners that are too smooth as they might give you challenges while screwing them in. I hope you tuner replacement is an informed procedure that you can adapt to easily for a smooth play of your guitar.

By Joseph Nicholls

How to Replace Your Guitar’s Tuners from MyRareGuitars.com

Most guitars first speak to me as visual works of art.  The color, the shape, or some sort of unique design.  Or it might be an interesting, obscure brand.  Rarely has the sound of the guitar been the calling card, but that was the case with this 1984 Aria Pro II RS Series Rev-Sound RS-Esprit.  (Don’tcha love those long names!)

Actually, when you look at the RS-Esprit, it has remarkable elegant lines.  It’s got a down-sized body that’s obviously Strat-style, but svelt, balanced, modern.  No doubt the color caused this flower to shrink somewhat.  When you look closely, the metallic greenish turquoise color (officially “Phantom Blue”) is pretty nifty, but across a room, it looks kind of “blah.”  The black pickups disappear into the shadows.  Still, there was something about this guitar that drew me to it.

Now, when the attraction of a guitar is primarily visual, I usually don’t care what the sound is going to be like.  After all, when you factor in an amp and effects, you can make any guitar sound like whatever you want as long as the electronics work.  But for some reason this guitar wanted me to plug it in.  I’m not sure what the “Rev” in Rev Sound is supposed to mean, but if it’s “reverse,” that sure makes sense!  This guitar lives in that out-of-phase world of between the pickups on a Fender Stratocaster.  This guitar is all about shades of twang!  I don’t know about you, but for me those in-between positions are why I’d play a Stratocaster.  I know I’m not alone on that one.  This guitar sounds out-of-phase in single-coil mode, and is still slightly funky in humbucker mode.

1984 Aria Pro II RS Series Rev Sound RS-E CU-tile

The existence of the Aria Pro II Rev-Sounds derives from the conclusion of the “Copy Era” of the 1970s.  By around 1968-69 Japanese guitar-makers had hit on a strategy of making less-expensive copies of popular American guitar models as a way of increasing market share in the U.S.  It worked like a charm.  By the mid-1970s American manufacturers—especially Gibson—were annoyed, to understate the issue.  In 1977, Norlin (the parent of Gibson) filed suit against Elger Guitars (the American subsidiary of Hoshino/Ibanez) in Philadelphia Federal Court claiming “trademark infringement” over headstock shape copying.  Nevermind that Ibanez had changed its heads in 1976.  Japanese makers agreed to cease and desist and in 1978 a new breed of Japanese electric guitars began to appear.  In many ways the cure was worse than the disease, because the new Japanese guitars were original designs built even better, and they continued to grab even more market share than before.  Think Ibanez Studio and Musician guitars.

Aria, which had originally initiated the “Copy Era,” lagged slightly behind, but in 1979 introduced a slew of new electric guitar series, including the unique Rev-Sounds, the 850 and 750.  The idea behind the Rev-Sounds was to use 3 single coil pickups, but with only the front and back hot, the center being a “dummy” coil that could be switched into active status to go from “single-coil” to “humbucker.”  The initial Rev-Sounds were sort of frumpy takes on Ibanez’s Musicians, a little more pointy.  The RS-850 was active while the RS-750 was a passive version.

The RS-Esprit was a much trimmed down version of the active RS-850 that debuted in 1984.  This has an alder body with a bolt-on neck featuring a “smooth joint” heel, a sort of clumsy compromise between a regular heel and the “heelless” designs of guitars like B.C. Rich.  The controls are a 3-say switch with two mini-toggles that activate the center dummy pickup in humbucker mode for front and back.  The knobs are master volume and two tones.  There’s also a little red light to indicate that your battery is still working.  The Act 3 locking vibrato system was similar to some Kahler systems that didn’t make you clip off the ball-end to load the strings.

I’ve always thought these were made by Matsumoku—in which Aria had a financial interest and which made numerous Aria guitars—however, I’m not so sure any more.  It certainly has a Matsumoku feel.  However, as a Trading Company, Aria had other factories from which to source its guitars.  This very well could have been made by another factory.

In any case, this is a really fun guitar to play, with a fully professional feel.  It’s not the most versatile guitar, but then with an amp and effects…  I don’t know if the RS-Esprit is particularly rare, but these were made for little over a year at a time when Japanese guitars were still imported in relatively small lots.  You rarely see these come up for sale, and I’m inclined to think they are.  These were made just before Japanese guitars came out from the shadow of post-World-War-II disdain.

Between new guitars and vintage guitars, guitar players have a gazillion choices these days.  But there are unique, fascinating guitars out there like the Aria Pro II RS-Esprit worth seeking out.  I’ve always been glad I heard this guitar’s siren call.

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

1984 Aria Pro II RS Series Rev Sound RS-Esprit from MyRareGuitars.com

Looking for a new guitar amp? Here’s our guide.

Ready to buy your new – and perhaps even first – guitar amp? The first thing YOU need to know is: how do you plan to use your amp? Playing live, just jamming at home, for recording? If you’re not playing live, there’s no need to, for instance, use a massive 100w amp with a 412 cab… unless you want to really annoy your neighbours! And while beginners might be happy enough with a cheap practice amp, those looking for a great sounding recording amp would be more satisfied with a small valve amp. For more info about loudness, check our How Much Guitar Amp Power Do I Need? blog.

With this in mind, guest blogger Alex Frank will give you a few pointers you should think about when choosing a new amp!

Introduction – a foreword about guitar amps

Guitar amps are designed to serve a single purpose – the amplify and enhance the sound your guitar makes, hence the name. They come in all shapes and sizes, and there’s a fine line between a “good” and a “bad” one, so it’s only normal that you feel a bit insecure about finding the right one.

We’re here to make your search easier – just follow the steps we provided and consult with the “things to consider” section whenever you’re in doubt, and you’ll be sure to find the best amp in no time.

Important things to consider when looking for your amp:

First of all, there are millions of guitar amps that come from thousands and thousands of manufacturers, so it’s quite easy to get lost once your search has begun. Before you begin, consider the following advice:

• Don’t fall for the first amp you see

As we’ve mentioned, there are countless amps just waiting for you. The first amp that suits your liking might appear ideal at first, but you should try out several models anyhow. Imagine it this way – if you wouldn’t buy a car at first try, don’t buy an amp on first sight. 

• Some amps are good at all times, other can only reach the quality of the guitar you’re playing on

Professional music shops usually have top-shelf gear, which is used when the staff demonstrates the quality of the shop’s merchandise. On the other hand, they could let you try it out yourself, which doesn’t matter too much. 

What matters is the fact that even mediocre amps might sound good with proper side-gear. The punchline – you might get frustrated when the amp that sounded flawlessly at the shop doesn’t appear so with your guitar. If you want to prevent this, use guitars that are similar in quality to the one you have when trying out the amp.

• Don’t rush it – it’s always better to save some cash and buy a more expensive amp

People hasten to swift purchase of their amps if they’re about to get into a band, or right before an important gig. These situations are the only exceptions from the rule – “don’t rush your amp purchase”. Not only are budget amps unreliable, they’re prone to malfunctions, and, in most cases, the repairs cost more than the amp itself.

Step by Step guide on how to choose your guitar amp

Step 1 – Consider your budget

As always, you can’t buy the things you can’t afford – the same goes with guitar amps. Apart from that, most amps require you to be pretty economic – most musicians save up for months before they get to the point of buying an amp. Remember – more expensive amps sound better, they’re more reliable, and they’re superiorly valuable. 

If we are to imagine that there are no budget limits, you should definitely consider boutique amps – those models that are well above $5000. You’d be surprised that guitar gear can reach such heights moneywise, but yeah, there are guitar amps that cost a fortune, even though they’re usually reserved for popular bands who make a living out of it.

Step 2 – Choose the amp that will best suit your playing style

There are no two amps that share an identical soundstage. Some amps are perfect for hard & heavy music, such as Randall, Laney, and Vox while others are more-balanced, in a sense – a perfect example would be Peavey. 

Anyhow, you’ll want to consider the EQ options here – the bass output, the mids, and the highs. Tweak these settings as you check the amp out, and you’ll know how to evaluate its performance. 

Step 3 – Inquire about reliable brands

It’s only normal that there are a lot of brands, but it wasn’t always so – people used to go with Marshall amps back in the day, but now we have a plethora of brands, some obscure, some renowned. Anyhow, names like “Mesa/Boogie”, “Vox”, “Laney”, and “Fender” should mean something to you once you get to the point of deciding. 

More often than not, these brands tend to make the best guitar amps on the world, and the percentage of risk you’ll be facing with them would be minimal.

Step 4 –  Check the amp yourself

There’s a thing musicians invented – a sort of “guitar slang”, which describe the performance (or sound) an amp or a guitar makes as “crunchy, punchy, tangy” and such. If you’re a new guy on the stage, such words would have little meaning to you, thus you won’t get the benefits of online reviews of guitar amps. 

This is the reason why you should always check the amp out yourself. If this is not an option, online reviews could be helpful, but mind the ones with low ratings, as they could be unreliable, or even made with ill intent, for that matter.

We strongly advise that you employ the use of YouTube guitar amp reviews as an alternative, as this is the perfect substitute for actual “face-to-face” amp review. Most musicians state the exact gear they’re using apart from the amp itself, which could give you a clear picture of how this amp is supposed to, and how it is working de facto. 

Step 5 – Ask for professional help if this is your first amp purchase

Most music gear shops are crowded with people, but you might notice that there aren’t a lot of loners out there. People usually bring more experienced friends who would advise them, should they lack the knowledge or insight about the particular type of a guitar amp.

This is the reason why you shouldn’t go alone if you’ve never dealt with guitar amps. If none of your friends are familiar with guitar tech, you could always ask the staff to help you out – they’re obliged to do so, in most cases.

Additional Tips & Tricks

If you’ve done everything by the book and are still unsatisfied with your amp, we’ve got several tips and tricks that might help you out in choosing a better one:

• Consider bringing your own pedals to the shop before you try the amp out, as this will give you a better picture of how it will sound (if you can’t bring a whole guitar, pedals are more transportable.)
• If it’s possible, ask the staff to let you try out the amp with headphones (most good amps have the headphone input). You’ll immediately notice the difference, as the acoustics of the room you’re playing in will smooth the sound out. The headphones will give you the “raw” sound the amp makes.
• Don’t skip the budget amps, even if you have the cash to afford more expensive ones. Sometimes, even though it’s an exception, a low-cost amp will be able to complement your style when those expensive ones can’t.
• Consider amps that have multiple amp sounds pre-built within their construction only if you know exactly what you’re looking for. These amps seldom have their “own” unique sound, and they’ll often sound good in a shop (a good example is Peavey Viper – it has 12 stompboxes and amps, lacking its own sound).

Conclusion

Finding a good guitar amp is not so hard, as you can see, as there are so many of them. However, finding the one that will best suit your style (and budget) might appear to be tricky. We hope that the “step-by-step” guide we provided will be helpful to you, and we wish you good luck with your search.

– By Alex Frank

Alex Frank has worked in the sound technology industry for 10 years now. Today, he’s an affiliate blogger who likes to educate his audience more about sound technology. Visit to musicinstrumentscenter.com to find all information about music that you need.

Need more ideas?

Read our 10 Classic Guitar Amps & The Songs That Made Them Famous blog.

How to choose a guitar amp from MyRareGuitars.com

The Beatles are so influential, that pretty much most of the gear they’ve used (and been photographed with) has become almost as iconic as the Fab Four themselves. The Beatles’ history has been well-documented and we all know they used Rickenbacker guitars, Gretsch Country Gentleman, Vox AC30, Hofner Violin Bass, Gibson J-160e acoustics and so on.

Unfortunately, not everyone can afford the same gear – most of which still in production and available today, thanks, in no small part, to the band’s popularity and continued influence.

The Beatles on stage: Paul McCartney and his Hofner bass; George Harrison and a Gretsch; John Lennon with his Rickenbacker; and Ringo.

The good news is – there’s a lot of great quality gear at a fraction of the price, and which will get you in the ballpark, both in terms of sound, and looks.

Beatles-style Guitars 

Eastwood Classic 6 DLX, a great alternative to the Grestch as used by George Harrison… 

Epiphone EJ160e VS: a good few years ago, Epiphone released the EJ-160e John Lennon signature, which was the first truly affordable version of the Gibson J-160e as used by John and George on several Beatles tracks.

The John Lennon model has been discontinued, but thankfully the current (non-Lennon signature) model is still available!

Eastwood Classic 6: for those who can’t afford a Gretsch Country Gentleman as used by George Harrison in the early years of The Beatles, the Eastwood Classic 6 is a truly stunning alternative. Also available with Bigsby, the Classic 6 is as close as it gets without breaking the bank:

Harley Benton Beatbass: this is one of the most affordable Hofner-style, violin basses around, and should be good enough to make you feel like a budget Macca! You might find better violin basses out there, but for the price it’s hard to beat…

Of course, The Beatles famously played Epiphone Casinos, which are still in production and not that expensive. When it comes to Rickenbackers, though, we’re not that lucky – the brand is really harsh with competitors who try to copy their (expensive) designs, so you won’t find good quality, new replicas around. The best bet is to try and find cheaper copies on Ebay.

John Lennon and his Epiphone Casino

Beatles-style Amps

For early Beatles, you gotta go the Vox AC30 route, of course! Today’s player on a budget (and those who don’t want a big heavy amp….) will be more than happy with the more affordable Vox AC15VR, which nails the classic Vox tone at a fraction of the price – and looks great, too:

Vox AC15VR… perfect for Beatles fan on a tighter budget

The most-used amp on Beatles record, however, was the Fender Bassman. One of the best amps ever, quite hard to beat… but for modern soundalikes (as much as possible…) on a smaller budget, you can’t go wrong with the Fender Bassbreaker series, or even the Peavey Delta Blues 115, which has a fantastic Fender-like tone and quite cheap on the second-hand market.

Beatles-style FX pedals

The Beatles were early adopters of fx-pedals, but their use was limited to a few songs, in the studio only. For instance, George was photographed fiddling with a Maestro FuzzTone in the studio; John used a Wem Rush PepBox  on Paperback Writer, and Paul used a Vox Tone Bender on his bass in Think For Yourself. All of them have been reissued “boutique-style” and can be found reasonably easily online, if not exactly cheap.

Paul McCartney Tone bender MKI, 1965B

The Way Huge Havalina fuzz is a well-priced modern option – a germanium fuzz that does the Tone Bender sound really well!

Other than that, George used some Wah in the later days of the Beatles, so the Vox Wah or Dunlop Cry Baby will be just perfect.

More interestingly, you can also get a few FX pedals to achieve some sounds from the Fab Four psychedelic era – reproducing the sounds of other instruments and studio effects used by the Beatles in the studio: 

• Get the Electro-Harmonix MEL9 pedal for near-perfect Mellotron sounds, such as in the flutes heard in the intro of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’. The great thing about this pedal is that you can eighter plug your guitar to it and create what sounds like a background Mellotron accompaniment, when you blend effects and dry sounds, OR, you can plug a keyboard to the pedal and play wet-signal only, as if it as a real Mellotron. Even a cheap Casio will sound like something out of a Beatles record!
• Get the Electro-Harmonix Lester K for Leslie rotating speaker effect widely used by the Beatles, in tracks such as ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ (George’s guitar), ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ (John’s vocals) or ‘Something’ (rhythm guitar).
• Get any digital reverb delay pedal which features reverse delay, for the backwards guitar sounds heard on some tracks such as ‘Rain’. TC Electronics makes some wonderful delay pedals with reverse delay, but even a cheap Behringer EM600 will help you to achieve those sounds.

This Reverb.com video suggests other pedals you can use, too, to reproduce the sounds of specific Beatles tracks:

How to Sound Like The Beatles… On a Budget from MyRareGuitars.com

If you were curious to know more about short-scale bass guitars, we hope this blog will make clear as to why they’re a great choice for any bassist – novices and pros alike!

What’s the scale length of short-scale basses?

The scale of a guitar is defined by the distance between the bridge and the nut. Short-scale basses have usually a 30″ scale length or a bit more, but always under 31″. But the scale can be even shorter than that, such as with the legendary Airline Pocket Bass, which has a 26.5″ length (and is now being reissued by Eastwood Guitars.)

Airline Pocket Bass… even shorter scale length than usual short-scale basses! View info

Compare that to the length of the traditional long-scale basses (34″, made popular by the legendary Fender Precision Bass) or the less-common 32″ medium-scale (such as the Eastwood Sidejack 32), and it seems plain obvious that there are bound to be quite a bit of difference between them, and not just cosmetically!

Short-Scale Bass vs. Long-Scale Bass: Why Play One?

It’s fair to say that short-scale basses can hold special appeal for younger players or anyone who feels somehow challenged by the extra reach required by the usual long-scale bass guitar (which still is the most common and popular, let’s not forget!) For instance, many guitarists who decide to also learn bass, might find that a short-scale model feels more familiar.

However… short-scale basses are by no means simply a “beginners” guitar – on the contrary! Many seasoned pros prefer the fat (and we mean “phaaat!”) tones that a short-scale bass guitar can produce. Because of the lower tension required by the shorter strings, short-scale basses can give you a deeper, bassier low-end. In the studio or live, short scale basses are a great tool to have.

Even if, as a bassist, you generally prefer long-scale basses, it might be a great idea to have a short-scale model too, for extra sonic palette! 

The Airline MAP is a very popular short-scale bass. (Photo: The Skeleton Krew, live)

Of course, long-scale basses have their own advantages, too, such as better sustain and more defined trebles, ideal for slap bass.

At the end of the day, it all depends on how you plan to use your bass, and how it fits your style – but you should definitely try both to find out for yourself! 

Which Famous Players Play Short-Scale Bass?

Some of the greatest bass players ever have used short-scale bass guitars. To start with, we can mention none other than Paul McCartney! Yes – his iconic Hofner Violin Bass is indeed a 30″ short-scale bass… so all those wonderful bass lines in early Beatles records are, that’s right, straight from a short-scale model!

Other top bassists who’ve used short-scale bass guitars include Jack Bruce (Cream), Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones) and Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads), to name but a few.

If you too want to join the short-scale team, few brands can be said to offer so many great short-scale bass guitars for sale as Eastwood Guitars, so make sure to check their short-scale basses.

A Short Guide To Short-Scale Bass Guitars from MyRareGuitars.com

Are you planning to play your first ever gig? This is a prospect that can stop many budding musicians in their tracks. Follow these steps by guest blogger Diego Cardini if you want to have a great first gig. 

The big day is finally here! Whether you a playing an open mic in a coffee shop or a crowded auditorium full of thousands of fans, the first gig can always feel the scariest. Don’t worry. If you follow these tips, you will be ready to show off your skills and wow the audience so that the will be begging for an encore!

Step 1: Keep it Simple

A lot of new musicians really want to demonstrate that they have what it takes to be a great musicians. They want to play complex arrangements as quickly as possible so people will appreciate them. But think about some of the most famous songs. A lot of them have pretty simple chords and easy to remember choruses and verses.

For you first time in the spotlight, you are better off going with a simple song you mastered than a more difficult one that you have a better chance of making a mistake while performing.

Step 2: Less is More

There is a reason why people always say practice makes perfect. What nobody thinks about when they listen to a song is how many times the musicians practiced it to get everything sounding just right. Bands like the Rolling Stones have probably played some of their most famous songs about 100,000 times by now!

When you are going to perform, you likewise should stick to a handful of songs (about three) that you know extremely well. These are songs that you can blindfolded in the dark while hanging upside down. The whole purpose of your first gig is to get used to being in front of people, you can amaze them with you huge catalog of hits after you’ve had a little more practice.

Step 3: Practice in Front of People

On that note, there is a huge different between when you practice in front of people and when you are alone. You have to get used to people being around. For many musicians, they hardly notice anybody else is in the room when they play. For others, they feed off the energy of the crowd to enhance their performance. Whatever approach you take, you have to be able to play around other people.

Playing open mic nights usually offer a smal, friendly and intimate environment for a first gig…

How to Prepare Yourself for Your First Gig from MyRareGuitars.com

EKO guitars were almost archetypically “’60s” guitars.  Cool colors, cool shapes.  And not expensive.  They were the stuff of garage-band dreams, at least before Japanese guitars dominated the budget guitar market.  But, if you’ve ever had much experience with EKOs, you know they were not especially durable, probably because, in the rush to meet the endless demand for guitars back then, the woods weren’t always all that well seasoned.  Thus I was really surprised when I walked into Cintioli’s Music in Northeast Philadelphia and found a batch of relatively upscale EKOs…from the 1980s!  What’s up with that?!

EKO guitars were made by Oliviero Pigini & Company of Recanati, Italy, just north of Castelfidardo.  Castelfidardo was and is pretty much the center of the accordion manufacturing trade, which arrived there—according to legend—in the 1880s.  Accordions as in “piano accordions,” with a full keyboard, not the older, little button types.  Piano accordions came to the U.S. during the early 20^th Century, mainly played by Italians.  Fast-forward to the early 1950s when there was a major fad for accordion playing, perhaps due to the popularity of the Lawrence Welk Show on television beginning in 1951.  Accordion manufacturers in Italy (and elsewhere) ramped up production and accordion distributors and music studios proliferated throughout the U.S., including the LoDuca Brothers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which became the exclusive American distributor of Pigini-made accordions.

1982 EKO CX-7 Artist-T CU

At its peak, the LoDucas operated a whole chain of music studios and had large orchestras of youngsters all playing squeezeboxes.  Alas, the fad was short-lived, as fads often are, and by the mid-1950s the bottom had dropped out of the accordion market.  What to do?  It was hard times for both manufacturers and importers.

After a number of false starts, the situation was solved by the Folk Revival of the late 1950s, when the next fad—this time for acoustic guitars—began.   Many of the Italian (and other) accordion makers began to add guitar production (or began sourcing guitars from guitar specialty houses).  This included Oliviero Pigini, who began making acoustic guitars carrying the EKO brand name.

The LoDuca Brothers, who had a relationship with Sears, Roebuck and Co. just down the road in Chicago began selling EKO acoustics to the big catalog retailer.  EKO guitars were on their way.  Electrics debuted around 1963, those nifty plastic-covered jobs.  Accordion makers, after all, were pretty skilled at wrapping plastic over their products.

EKO guitars had a pretty good run in the U.S. during the 1960s until the Japanese challenge began to triumph by around 1968 or so.  To be honest, demand for guitars in general began to fall off by that time, and rising European wages began to make their guitars more expensive, increasingly favoring Japanese products.  Plus, Pigini, who loved fast sports cars, got himself killed in an accident about this time.  EKO guitars were pretty much out of the scene by the 1970s.

I wasn’t really aware of EKO guitars during the 1960s until I met my wife, who had been conned into buying an acoustic EKO.  It was totally unplayable with a thick polyurethane finish and about ¾” action.  I did what I could to help, but there was no way, given my admittedly uneducated luthier skills at the time.  EKO guitars didn’t exactly get off on the right foot with me.

Fast-forward again and I became a guitar historian, met some of the LoDuca clan, and acquired a number of cool EKO electrics.  They were better than my wife’s acoustic, but had their share of problems.  Sixties relics.

Then I walked into Bennie Cintioli’s shop in the 1990s.  Cintioli’s was a major local music store back when such things were locally owned, not part of a national Guitar Center chain.  Cintioli’s had been there forever and I pulled many a treasure out of its unsold basement hoards.  

I don’t recall how I first encountered the EKO, but I think they had discovered it in the basement and put it out on the counter as a curiosity.  I took one look and it was a no-brainer.  But what was it?

Turns out that EKO had gotten into the “copy” scene during the 1970s, but most of their guitars were sold in Europe and elsewhere, but not the U.S.  By the end of the 1970s they had become mainly a small “custom shop,” taking small orders from small-scale importers.  Including Benny.

I don’t think the guitars Benny Cintioli imported were designed by him.  More like he picked a few models to sell at his shop.  These included this EKO CX-7 Artist/T that was made in 1982.  I love the dark-stained pine body and set-in neck.  The brass nut, 2-octave fingerboard, and DiMarzio humbuckers were typical for the time.  This was made just as locking vibratos were coming on the market, but didn’t have one yet.  This is extremely light-weight and a really hot guitar, not at all what you’d expect from and EKO.

Shortly after this guitar was imported by Cintioli’s the craze for weird-shaped metal guitars and then SuperStrats began.  These cool EKOs were obsolete, and Benny had an unsold supply in the basement.  Right after this guitar appeared, EKO went bankrupt and that was the end of the story.  To the end, EKO was the stuff of garage band dreams!

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

Mama’s Got (No) Squeezebox: 1982 EKO CX-7 Artist/T from MyRareGuitars.com

Having a hard time deciding which kind of guitar to learn on? You may be concerned about the price or quality of the guitar or you may simply just be unusure of whether to begin with a simple binary choice of whether starting with an electric is a better option.

That’s all right – most beginners to guitar are completely lost when it comes to choosing between acoustic or electric to learn on. In general, the kind of guitar to choose should be based on the kind of music you want to play (and the artists you want to emulate). Metal, rock, punk and jazz music, for instance, are best played with an electric guitar.

Most guitar players usually start out on an acoustic then move on to an electric guitar primarily because of budget limitations–a decent acoustic guitar tends to cost less than a decent electric guitar, and there’s no additional spending needed for electronics such as amps. However, it doesn’t really have to be that way–there’s absolutely no harm in learning how to play the guitar with an electric!

Both acoustic and electric guitars have their own aspects that can make them better for one beginner but not for another, so really it’s a case-to-case basis. To help you decide which guitar to choose for learning on, here are some points you need to consider.

Learning to play with an acoustic guitar

Learning the basics on an acoustic guitar provides a more solid foundation and tends to develop strength in the muscles used for playing. Acoustic guitars can be a bit more difficult to play because they have thicker necks and strings and a higher string action, but they’re easier to understand and simpler overall–no knobs, cables, amplifiers and dials necessary to get you started playing. 

Beginners can have their acoustic guitar professionally set up to lower the strings closer to the fretboard and/or replace the default strings with good-quality light gauge strings for greater comfort and playability. A proper guitar setup, a tuner, a carry case or bag and probably a few picks are all you need.

You know what they say about learning how to drive: if you learn to drive a manual-shift car, you can easily move on to an automatic. The same principle can be applied to learning to play the guitar. If you sweat it out on an acoustic where you need to apply greater finger pressure for the strings to reach the fretboard, then playing an electric would be like pushing down on air.

So, buy an acoustic guitar if you don’t want to spend much on a guitar (and accessories)–perhaps just the minimum amount necessary–to give the instrument a try to see if it’s a right fit for you, and if you want to play acoustic-style music.

Learning to play with an electric guitar

The strings on an electric guitar are generally thinner or of a lighter gauge and have a lower string action. The necks are thinner too, which means they are easier on the fingers and are more playable.

In an electric guitar, most of the tone produced is shaped by effects pedals and amps, so you’re not limited to just one type of sound unlike with an acoustic–you have a wide range of playing techniques to experiment with. However, this also means that it can be more complicated to set up.

Electric guitar models come with headphone support so you can play without anyone else (like your roommate or neighbors) hearing.

So, buy an electric guitar of you really want to play metal, rock, funk or any other genre that sounds best with an electric. If an electric guitar is a greater motivator for you to play, then by all means go get one!

If you’re still not sure about which guitar to learn on, you won’t go wrong with getting an acoustic first as a beginner– you’ll probably get yourself an electric guitar somewhere down the line anyway, especially if you develop a liking for electrified sounds.

– by Nicky Patterson

Once you’ve finally made up your mind, be sure to head over to Know Your Instrument which has loads of great reviews and tips for people buying their first guitar.

Electric or Acoustic? A Beginner’s Guitar Guide from MyRareGuitars.com

Guest blogger Michael Wright writes about a very rare, early Teisco guitar. Or, should we say… “guiter”?

For many, many years—can you say “Still today?”—any electric guitar that smelled of being made in Japan (or not obviously American) was labeled as being “made by Teisco.”  This was the equivalent of the labelling of any mysterious American guitar—can you say “Still today?”—as being “made by Regal.”  I admit this intellectual disingenuousness was one of the strong motivators that propelled me into exploring the nooks and crannies of guitar history way back when.  Well, the guitar seen here really was made by Teisco, and very early on.

Thankfully these days there’s a lot more information available to anyone interested in finding out the Plain Truth about where their guitar came from thanks to the efforts of a few intrepid historians and (however much you might hate them) Google.  I made some preliminary contributions with my writing, and Japanese publications like Bizarre Guitars (you need a copy if you like this subject) and Frank Meyers’ recent work help make identifying Japanese guitars much easier, if not yet infallible.  

To be honest, the subject is awfully complex.  Japanese guitar-makers were always allied with various Trading Companies, who were sort of the business bosses, often intertwined through marriages, etc.  Parts might be made by various suppliers within a network and go to different workshops, so things like pickups are not necessarily exclusive to a given brand (unlike, say, a Gibson PAF).  Plus, through the 1970s Japanese Trading Companies made guitars for domestic consumption using their own brand names (which may or may not have been the name of the shop that made it; eg, FujiGen Gakki made Fuji, Greco, and Ibanez guitars, among others) and made guitars for foreign customers either with a different brand name or a name owned by the importer/distributor (which may or may not identify the importing company!).  It’s enough to make your head swim (although it does provide a lot of work for amateur guitar historians).

Teisco J-5 body

Teisco J-5 headstockTeisco was one of the rare Japanese brands that, like Gibson or Rickenbacker, reflected the factory that made the instruments and got exported with that badge.  To be sure, Teisco also made guitars with other names, as well.  But as far as I know, no Teisco guitars were made by anyone but Teisco, except for at the end when they were owned by Kawai and the Teisco plant was closed down in the early ‘70s.  Like I said, it’s complicated!

It gets worse.  You might expect that in a country such as Japan the names and logos on domestic would be in Japanese orthography.  But no, they’re mostly in English, even guitars that weren’t made for export.  You see, there was this little thing called World War II, which Japan lost, followed by the Allied Occupation.  That meant that “domestic consumption” included thousands of English speaking GIs from various countries who were a prime target market.  Indeed, the guitar seen here very likely got to the U.S., where I bought it much later, in the hands of an American GI.

This is a pretty cool guitar, probably made around 1961.  While some of it is primitive, quite a bit of work went into making this guitar.  The neck is mahogany glued into a solid maple body.  It’s called an “Electric Guiter,” spelling error forgiven.  As is the name “Guitar Mike” for the pickups!  The neck is pretty hefty to compensate for no truss rod.  The moveable bridge at first seems like a joke, but then Harmony and Kay used similar designs, and a moveable bridge is not as funny as a fixed bridge in the wrong position!  There’s no pickup selector, but two volume controls with a master tone are actually pretty effective.  I actually like sharp high end of these pickups, although, like almost all early Japanese pickups, they can be fairly microphonic if you like to move around a lot.  To paraphrase the television ad aimed at Seniors, “Just don’t move.”

Teisco J-5

Teisco J-5 , back

I don’t think these early Teisco guitars are all that common.  This really dates from before Jack Westheimer added the “del Rey” to the brand name and began importing them.  By the mid-1960s Teisco del Reys had become pretty ubiquitous.

It’s easy to scoff at these early Japanese designs (although if you like Eastwoods and Airlines, you probably wouldn’t scoff), but back in the early ‘60s what an electric guitar was wasn’t always so well defined.  Or, maybe it was, but just by the big American guitar companies.  Now with hindsight we can appreciate the finer points of this early Japanese design.  Probably not so good for heavy metal but great for Ventures or Byrds tunes (as long as someone plays a 12).  And, for sure, it was really made by Teisco, whatever anyone else says!

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

“It’s a Teisco…Really”: 1961 Teisco J-5 Electric “Guiter” from MyRareGuitars.com

While I consider myself to be a “guitar player,” I actually had a blues-rock band back in 1967 for which I also played bass (Hagstrom) and keyboards (Farfissa).  I wasn’t particularly noteworthy on either.  To be honest, I pretty much played them both like guitars.  The good news is I never got into collecting basses or keyboards.  Unless, that is, they were exceptionally interesting, like Westone’s short-lived The Rail.  How could you not like The Rail!  

The Rail was kind of a perfect reflection of the time it was made, in the mid-1980s.  Now, electric guitars have always had an element of “style” about them.  The fact that they make sound by use of an electronic pickup instead of an acoustic sound box frees them from certain physical restrictions.  As cool as a cigar-box guitar might look, it’s never going to sound as good as that classic Spanish figure-8 shape of an acoustic guitar that’s evolved over centures.  But once you shift the responsibility for making noise to an electronic circuit, you do whatever you want with the rest—or at least with the body.  And that puts you squarely within the realm of style!  The kind of image you want to project when you play guitar determines what kind of axe you’re going to sling.

Prior to the ‘80s styles of electric guitars came and went, of course, but there was something homogenous about guitar styles.  Strats were popular this year, Les Pauls were in the next.  With notable outliers on occasion, like the 1967 LaBaye 2×4!

But as the 1980s dawned, guitar styles—just like popular music styles—began to proliferate, to fragment.  Heavy metal was on the rise and with it a taste for exotic guitar shapes, pointy guitars like Flying Vees even more non-Spanish shapes (to go with the wild hairdos).  Companies like Ibanez, Aria, St. Louis Music, even Fender all introduced pointy guitars in various outre shapes.

For players in a more conventional frame of mind, this period saw the emergence of the Super-Strat, a Strat-style guitar with hybrid electronics combining a lead humbucker with two single-coils and, eventually, a locking vibrato system.

On the opposite end of the spectrum were New Wave bands with slick, tightly arranged pop tunes.  For these groups—like The Police—their style was enhanced by the understated look of minimalist guitars.  This was the era that saw the emergence of headless guitars and basses by Ned Steinberger and others, favored by The Police’s Andy Summers.  Kramer had its Duke.  St. Louis Music had The Rail.

The Westone Rail appeared just as St. Louis Music (SLM) was transitioning to a new brand name.  During the “copy era” of the 1970s, SLM’s Japanese-made electric guitars were branded with the Electra name.  The Electra name continued into the early 1980s.  Most of those guitars were made by the legendary Matsumoku factory in Matsumoto City.  Around the beginning of the decade Matsumoku began marketing its own brand of electric guitars called Westone.  For reasons unknown, the decision was taken to consolidate the Westone brand name with St. Louis Music.  In 1984 the separate Westone line went away and SLM’s guitars became Electra-Westone, ending up just Westone in 1985.  

It was with this transition to Westone in 1985 that SLM entered headless sweepstakes with The Rail, the Super Headless Bass, and the Quantum bass.  The Super Headless Bass had a cool, slim, bi-level offset double cutaway with a headless neck.  The Quantum bass had a sculpted minimalist body looking somewhat like a space cruiser out of Star Wars.  Both these had twin humbuckers.

Of all these The Rail X800 was, to me, the most interesting.  Instead of two humbuckers, The Rail put two pieces of hard maple on either end to two specially tuned stainless steel tubes.  Then it placed a third piece of wood mounted with a single Magnaflux RB pickup onto the rails.  The idea was that instead of two fixed points (neck and bridge), you could fine-tune your tone on a spectrum by sliding the pickup back and forth between those two set points.  The knob on the top is a quick-release tension screw to hold the pickup unit in place.  The only electronic control is a master volume.  Add to that the fine-tuners at the butt-end, and everything is right there under your plucking fingers.

The scale on these was 32.5” with a two-octave fingerboard.

The first Rails were produced in a satin black finish.  In 1986 the line was expanded to include the X800RD in red and the X800SW seen here in white.  The list price on these was $565 with a gig bag.

Since I’m not really a bass player, I can’t really opine about how effective this design is.  Give the geography of the string length between the end of the fingerboard and the bridge, the moveable pickup gives you the equivalent of about 3-1/2 pickups.  I don’t know how much of that is useful from a tonal perspective.  Plus, you have to think about what position the pickup should be in before you start to play.  On a traditional instrument, you just have to throw a switch, which you can do in between beats!

I never played this bass much, but I did used to take a headless Steinberger copy with us on vacations down to the Jersey Shore; it was a great travel guitar that fit in the corner of my car trunk.  But I always found my left hand slipping off the end of the fingerboard because I couldn’t get used to playing with no headstock…

I don’t know how popular these were back in the day, but interestingly this example has a serial number of “5.”  That suggests that the catalog claim of “Limited Production” is probably accurate!  I think I’ve only seen one other of these over the years.  It didn’t help that the Matsumoku factory closed down in 1987.

The rage for headless instruments had pretty good staying power, lasting pretty much through the ‘80s.  Steinbergers and others continued to be made, and I recently noticed there’s at least one dealer who specializes in headless instruments.  But with the ‘90s came Nirvana and the “alternative” Seattle sound that more was anti-style than anything else.  Still, you gotta admire the chutzpah of The Rail bass, whether you’re a bass player or not!

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

A Bass With Style: 1986 Westone The Rail from MyRareGuitars.com

What is a tenor guitar? A brief introduction…

A tenor guitar is a 4-string guitar, generally with a suitably narrower neck than the usual acoustic or electric guitars we’re all used to, which have 6-strings of course.

Even though tenors have been around since the 1920’s, they’ve been pretty much a niche instrument limited mostly to jazz as an alternative to the traditional 4-string banjo, and only relatively recently have they started being used by a new wave of folk musicians, such as Seth Lakeman.

Seth Lakeman and his tenor guitar. He recently also started to use a Warren Ellis Tenor 2P.

But in the last few years, it’s true to say that tenor guitars have been enjoying a revival, and thanks to a wider range of musicians from different styles playing the instrument, such as Warren Ellis from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and now even indie rockers are discovering the joys of the tenor guitars – in no small amount thanks to the Eastwood Warren Ellis range of electric tenor guitars.

However, besides being until recently not that widely available, there’s still a sense that most guitarists simply  don’t know what tenor guitars are for – so why bother playing one! Well, if you were wondering if you should get a tenor guitar, then read on! And if buying one never crossed your mind before, then you definitely need to read this!

1) Tenor guitar vs. Ukulele?

Hey, we don’t want to diss the ukes! Ukes are great fun to play – but because they are almost toy-like, their use can be very limited. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – on the contrary, people love ukuleles because they sound and look the way they do, after all!

But even though they are very different instruments, there are similarities, too, and it’s no wonder many uke players also end up turning to tenor guitars when they fancy… something else.

Both have 4-strings, and you can play a tenor guitar using a standard ukulele tuning, too! So if you want to make the transition from ukulele to something that can sound bigger and which can more easily fit into a plugged-in band context, but without having to learn new chords, then a tenor guitar is the perfect instrument.

Tenor guitars, however, are much more versatile, and can be tuned in many different ways and still sound good. Also, if you choose an electric tenor guitar you can totally rock out through amps and effects in a band, just like a normal guitar… you can do a lot more with it, basically.

2) Tenor guitars are great for beginners

Like the ukelele, tenor guitars can be suitable for those learning to play a stringed instrument, because they can be easier to play than a 6-string acoustic! After all, like the humble ukulele, tenors also only have 4 strings, as we’ve just mentioned!

Whether you’re not comfortable with the close proximity of the six string son a regular guitar, or simply can’t come to grips with the more complex chord shapes of a 6-string guitar, the tenor might prove to be just what you need. We’ve heard of many people who simply couldn’t get around playing guitar well enough, and who are now happy tenor guitar players.

You know the old cliché that some people choose to play bass because they only have 4 strings and therefore are easier to learn? Well… with a tenor you CAN do the same, and rock out on an actual guitar that just happens to have less strings than usual.

Which leads us to…

3) Sometimes you really don’t need 6 strings…

Warren Ellis Signature tenor…only 4-strings, but sometimes that’s all you need!

As any Keith Richards fan will know, you don’t always need 6 strings… and, in fact, you may not even need 5! With the Warren Ellis Tenor guitars, for instance, you can easily consider them like a simpler electric guitar, which just happens to have 4 strings! That’s right – you can, for instance, tune a tenor guitar to EADG, the standard 6-string tuning minus the top two strings, or DGBE like standard guitar tuning minus the bottom 2 strings.

Which means – playing a tenor guitar doesn’t really require learning new chords… unless you want to!

4) Tenor guitars can inspire experienced 6-string players, too!

One of the great things about tenor guitars is that when you start playing one, and start experimenting with different tunings than you’d normally use on your standard guitar, it really feels special – like a whole new world opening in front of you, easily.

That may sound a bit too dramatic, but it’s true – whatever style you play, you may feel inspired by the different sounds you’ll get from the alternate tunings you use on a tenor guitar. Even though the tenor guitar was introduced in the 1920’s as a jazz instrument, it doesn’t mean it’s limited to this – especially when it comes to electric tenor guitars.

Anyone playing indie, psych or even metal, will find that the tenor guitar can be very inspiring – and make you play things you wouldn’t come up with on a standard 6-string guitar – because of the different tunings, and even because of the limitations imposed by less strings. Sometimes, less is indeed more…

5) Warren Ellis shows tenors can rock!

And if you needed any more convincing, look no further than Warren Ellis himself! The multi-talented artist who collaborated with Nick Cave in various musical projects (The Bad Seeds, Grinderman, various soundtracks) is without a doubt one of the main reasons a whole new kind of tenor players is emerging – thanks to the Eastwood Warren Ellis signature range.

Music is above all about being creative. It’s no coincidence such a versatile and productive musician such as Warren Ellis plays so many different instruments – but it’s not even about how well you play it. Grab something new, experiment and create your own sound and style. You can do it with a cheap kazoo, or with an expensive synth… but if you’re a guitarist, there’s no doubt that a tenor guitar is a pretty good start!

Tenor Guitar: Top 5 Reasons Why Every Guitarist Needs One from MyRareGuitars.com

Tips for Buying Your First Guitar

When buying your first guitar, I know many of you made some bad choices that you may want to relive, but you cannot go back in time. This process may be a daunting and most frustrating task because of the wide range of guitars that are available in the market. Selecting the best guitar on your first purchase may be successful only if you know the type and precise guitar that you want. Therefore, when you out there shopping for a new guitar just follow this review and it will guide you to a successful purchase.

Guitar Type

You cannot brag about getting a guitar when you do not even know the type of guitar that you want. Depending on your skills and playing level it will be easy selecting a guitar type that goes along with what you know. On the other hand, for all those newbies who know nothing about guitars you can choose to go for a simple and most common type of guitar before advancing to other types of guitars. The type of music you like will also influence on the type of guitar that you are getting for yourself.

The three most common types of guitar are:

• Classical Guitar: acoustic, with nylon strings. Often a common choice for first-timers, especially children.
• Steel-strung acoustics: could be of a few different sizes & shapes (dreadnought, jumbo, folk) but pretty much the same idea. Better for learning chords, and sound louder than classical guitars, but the strings might feel a bit harsher on more delicate hands, compared to nylon strings.
• Electric guitar: Unlike the other two, you’ll also need an amp and a lead to plug the guitar to it. Ideal if you want to rock out from the off!

Cost

The amount of money you will spend on your first guitar will surely depend on the type of guitar that you are settling for. This is a never ending debate where to spend more or less amount of cash on your first guitar. For me, I would advise that you go for something that is within your range and you would not feel the pinch of buying it because you already have an established budget. You may buy a cheap guitar, and it will still serve you, or you may end up with an expensive guitar and still be happy. The bottom line here just does not allow yourself to get into financial misery because of improper budgeting.

Research

This is the most important tip for all beginners who want to buy a guitar for the first time. A guitar is not like a packet of milk that you will just walk up to a store and pick it up. You are required to know specifications and other important details about guitars. Therefore, it is important that you do your research before you set out to buy a guitar for yourself. A research will ensure that you get the guitar you want or a more sophisticated version of it.

Accessories that you require

To all those who are willing to purchase their first guitars, you should know that a guitar is not the thing that you require. Some accessories will be of much help to you, and it is important that you also get them when you are buying your first guitar. These accessories are essential and of beneficial help to you as a guitarist and they include gig bag for carrying your guitar around, guitar stand, picks, capos and electric tuner if you are going for that electric guitar. Always enquire about accessories whenever you are going to buy a guitar.

clip-on guitar tuners are now the most popular kind, whether you play acoustic or electric guitar.

Where to buy

Where you buy your first guitar is really important especially when it comes to searching for extra additional services or seeking assistance about the guitar. With the increasing demand for online shopping, you may be tempted to purchase your guitar online. This may be a risky venture especially of you having problems with your guitar, and you need a replacement or something. I advise you to purchase your guitars from any reputable store to avoid unnecessary loss or regrets because of ending up with a stupid and non-performing guitar.

Find a guitar that suits your style

After establishing where you would buy you guitar, it is so that you should locate and find a guitar that suits your style. Here you may be required to test other types and brand of guitars and ensure that you get that unique guitar that features and accommodates the style of sound you want. You will be the one playing the guitar, so it is allowed for you to just think of yourself and your style to get that guitar.

Tip: Get inspired by your idols! Choosing a guitar that looks similar to the one of your favourite guitarist might be a good start! No use buying a classical guitar if you want to be Jimi Hendrix, or an electric if you love Ed Sheeran…

Guitar Setup

Once you buy a guitar, you may be required to set it up depending on the neck of the guitar or the strings type. It is advisable that we should always buy our first guitars from stores so that we can have the salesman or the store luthier set up our devices to meet our needs. This is very important because you will not go home with your guitar then jump to YouTube videos to assist you set it up. Once it is customized and set up according to your needs, your new baby will be now ready to rock and roll.

Learn to play

Being your fist guitar and now that you have already set up your mind on what you are going to get I would encourage that you should learn to play your new baby. Some newbies go out in the stores to buy guitars without having a formula on how they are going to learn to play. It is important that you should know who is going to teach you how to play. There are music schools that offer the best rates when it comes to teaching newbies how to play. Ensure that you enroll in one after buying your guitar.

Final Words

With this review above I intend to help a lot of new beginners how to select and purchase the best acoustic guitar that suits them. Therefore, I advise that you take every point into consideration and ensure that you follow it to the letter for you to be successful in purchasing that guitar that you like.

Another important note to bear in mind is that you should not be confused by the wide range of guitar types that are in the market, just narrow your thoughts to what you are looking for, and it will not be much problem getting your first guitar. For more information, read How To Start Learning Acoustic Guitar  

– by Nancy Shumate

How To Choose Your First Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com

Guest blogger Michael Wright takes a look at an Eighties rarity – the O’Hagan Nightwatch. It’s more than a SG/Melody Maker lookalike, you know…

To guitar lovers, the O’Hagan name will probably always and forever be attached to the legendary O’Hagan Shark, a kind of elongated Explorer with a big tail fin (which we discussed here a few years back).  But Jerrel O’Hagan built other guitar models including the Nightwatch, which came in a roughly “Les Paul”-shaped single-cutaway model and a roughly “SG”-inspired Double Cutaway model seen here.

1981 O’Hagan Nightwatch Double cutaway

As I’ve said on previous occasions, one of the coolest things about being a guitar historian is that I get to track down people like Jerry O’Hagan, interview them, and rescue their recollections…while they’re still with us.  Alas, I’ve missed a few folks through slow reactions over the years.  But I did catch Jerry on the telephone many years ago, although I don’t recall how I connected with him.

Jerrel O’Hagan was a clarinetist who found himself working as a rep for a regional music distributor up in Minnesota during the 1970s, chiefly handling imported Japanese guitars.  Unfortunately, his employer wasn’t one of the mega-distributors, so he could never be sure of getting a steady supply of instruments—bigger orders always got filled first.

1981 O’Hagan Nightwatch Double Cutaway HS

O’Hagan briefly imported his own line of Grande acoustic guitars from Japan in around 1975-77, but the market for acoustic guitars for singer-songwriters was moving on to harder rock ‘n’ roll.  That’s when the idea came to him: why couldn’t reasonably priced electric guitars be made in the U.S. of A.?  And, anyway, this craze for foreign-made guitars was bound to pass anytime soon, right?  O’Hagan’s market analysis skills weren’t his strong suit.

In 1978 Jerrel O’Hagan set up the Jemar Corporation in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, to produce solidbody electric guitars.  The first guitar was the aforementioned O’Hagan Shark.  That was a neck-through-body beauty—neck-through guitars by the likes of Alembic and B.C. Rich were just beginning to penetrate the guitar-playing world—that looked a little goofy but was actually a swell, well-balanced guitar.  This was the time, you’ll recall, that other Midwesterners were also starting specialty guitar companies, including Hamer, Dean and others.  The Shark hit the market in 1979.  

The Shark, which was heavily promoted in Guitar Player advertising, was moderately successful, enough to encourage O’Hagan to introduce new models, including the Nightwatch single- and double-cutaway models in either late 1979 or early 1980.  While certainly not as exotic as the Shark, O’Hagan’s Nightwatch models proved to be much more acceptable to average guitar players, many of whom can be pretty conservative in their tastes.  

The Nightwatch Double Cutaway seen here is a 1981 done up in a funky blueburst finish.  The “sunburst” finish goes back at least to the 1930s when it was known as an “antique violin” finish, and it’s become one of the standard, prized finishes.  But it got a really weird twist in the late 1960s when Fender botched the finishes on some Coronados.  They managed to salvage the mistake by coming up with the opaque “Antigua” refin, a sort of dark brown to tan sunburst.  It wasn’t too successful.  Fender brought the Antigua finish back in around 1977, transposed into a grey scale.  Gibson picked up on this in 1978 and introduced a greyburst Les Paul, which was put on a number of Gibson models into the early 1980s.  This was apparently moderately popular and a number of guitar companies came up with copies and variations on this opaque, often metallic “’burst.”  The O’Hagan blueburst was one of those variations.

This is a neck-through body guitar, but otherwise pretty conventional.  It has a pair of DiMarzio pickups with two volumes and one tone control.  The brass nut was the cat’s pajamas back in the day, believed to add sustain.  The basic Nightwatch cost around $450 with a $90 upcharge for the special blueburst finish.  The Nightwatch models were by far the most popular O’Hagan models.  The Nightwatch was a straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll machine, not particularly flexible, but a pretty darned good guitar.

Legendary O’Hagan Shark

O’Hagan added several other models to its line, including a V and a bizarre Strat, but by 1983 an economic recession, some dissatisfied investors, some distribution issues, and a big bank note came calling.  Followed by the I.R.S.  The dark of night fell over the O’Hagan Nightwatch and everything else.  Jerry got out of the guitar business and into the jazz orchestra game.

About 3,000 O’Hagan guitars were made from 1979-83, not especially rare, but not especially plentiful, either.  The bluebursts were special orders, so this would be a much smaller subset.  Plus, DiMarzio pickups were only used in 1981, giving this a pretty small production window.  Still, you’d probably rather swim with an O’Hagan Shark!

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

Blueburst Fantasy: 1981 O’Hagan Nightwatch Double Cutaway from MyRareGuitars.com

Singer, songwriter, star guitarist. Glen Campbell had a fantastically rich musical career – spanning different genres, instruments and playing with some of the greatest names in music. Not to mention stints as TV presenter and award-nominated acting roles! With over 45 million records sold, Campbell was also a true crossover artist like few other musicians before or since – with 48 country hits and 34 pop hits between 1967 and 1980.

His attitude was the he didn’t really care about being bound to “genres”, but just about whether something was good:

“I felt my music wasn’t aiming at anybody. Everything I was doing was because it was a good song” he once said.

From a guitarist perspective, there’s no doubt he was an inspiration to many, being one of the most notable players of baritone guitars – and, for us fans of vintage and rare guitars, a look at his instruments over the years is nothing less than mouth-watering!

Here’s just a few reasons why Glen Campbell was such a musical legend, who won’t be forgotten:

1) He was a former member of the Wrecking Crew

The Wrecking Crew was the greatest assembly of session musicians ever – the L.A. group played in innumerable legendary sessions, and, with Campbell, performed on tracks by names such as Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, the Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Jan and Dean, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Phil Spector.

One of the session tracks featuring Campbell is The Beach Boys ‘I Get Around’:

Despite the Wrecking Crew featuring so many extremely talented people, only Glen went on to become such a massive solo star in his own right – some feat!

2) He was a touring member of The Beach Boys…

Carl Wilson and Glen Campbell ready for another Beach Boys gig

As part of the Wrecking Crew Glen also played on the sessions for Pet Sounds, but, before that, he also toured with the Beach Boys in 1964, replacing none other than Brian Wilson  on bass and vocal harmonies, while Wilson recovered from a nervous breakdown. No small job!

And once a Beach Boy, always a Beach Boy – Glen joined the band onstage on a number of other occasions since.

3) … and Brian Wilson was forever grateful

As a “thank you” to Campbell, Brian Wilson wrote him a wonderful song, ‘Guess I’m Dumb’, one of Glen Campbell’s finest moments – with the Beach Boys singing backing vocals!

Wilson, unsurprisingly, was one of the first to pay tribute to the news of Campbell’s passing:

4) Glen Campbell introduced America to Cream

During his stint as a TV show host, Campbell was the man who introduced Cream to mainstream America. His TV show brought together a very diverse mix of musical acts, which people paid attention to thanks to his popularity as a performer himself. Respect.

Coincidence – or not! – only 2 weeks after Cream’s appearance on Glen’s show, the band entered the Top 10 with “Sunshine Of Your Love”. Other songs on that same week’s Top 10 included The Doors (who Glen had once opened for) at #1 with “Hello, I Love You”. Mason Williams (who was a writer on Glen’s show) close behind with “Classical Gas” while the 5th Dimension (who appeared on Glen’s show & had big Jimmy Webb hits!) were on #3 with “Stoned Soul Picnic”. And that was not all – “Lady Willpower” by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap was at #7 featuring Glen on guitar, and the Vogues had their first Top 10 in three years with (the Glen Campbell-penned) “Turn Around, Look At Me”.

5) He was an award-nominated actor…

What was the last time you heard of a celebrated session musician who went on to join one of the biggest bands in the world, and who was also nominated for a Golden Globe? Exactly – but that was Glen Campbell for you… nominated for “Most Promising Newcomer” for his turn on the original ‘True Grit'(1969)! 

6) … and an Oscar-nominated songwriter!

Glen was brilliant until the end. After announcing his retirement due to Alzheimer’s, Glen recorded his final song, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” with members of the Wrecking Crew, for the documentary “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me.” The result? A heart-breaking beauty that got him nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar at the 87th Academy Awards!

7) Glen inspired a generation of younger rock musicians

Like Johnny Cash before him, Campbell branched out to perform modern rock’n’roll songs in his later years, covering tracks from bands as diverse as U2, Foo Fighters and Green Day on one of his last albums. Musicians who lined up to work with him in his final records include Paul Westerberg from the Replacements (who wrote Ghost On The Canvas), Jellyfish, The Wallflowers singer Jakob Dylan, Chris Isaak, Rick Nielsen and Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins.

8) ‘Wichita Lineman’

The song, written by Jimmy Webb, is arguably Glen Campbell’s greatest moment. A timeless classic, which also inspired many guitarists to try a baritone guitar!

9) All those guitar solos…

At the end of the day, we can’t underestimate Glen Campbell as a guitarist… what a wonderful player! This video compilation says it all:

10) …and let’s not forget the guitars!

Besides having introduced the baritone guitars to many players, over the years he could be seen playing some amazing guitars, including many Mosrites which, as those who are familiar with My Rare Guitars will know, is one of our favourite brands!

Here’s some of our top Glen Campbell guitar photos:

Glen Campbell and a Mosrite 12-string

Glen Campbellin the studio with a Mosrite Celebrity III semi-acoustic

Glen Campbellin with a Ovation semi-acoustic

Glen Campbell and a Gretsch Country Gentleman

Glen Campbell and a customised Mosrite Californian dobro guitar

Young Glen Campbell with his Teico T60

Read more:

Glen Campbell: the guitar prodigy represented the best of pop and country

Remembering Glen Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) from MyRareGuitars.com

It came as no surprise that the Washington Post’s The Slow Death Of The Electric Guitar article got everyone talking, a few weeks ago. After all, we all love guitars, so this couldn’t possibly be true! Or could it? The fact is, though, that even though nothing the article said was factually incorrect – hence the fact it was  a relevant read – the conclusions it came to where quite off the mark. Not quite fake news territory then, but misleading news. 

What was wrong about the Washington Post article?

The very title of the article seems to suggest that at some point, the guitar will simply die off – which is a totally ridiculous idea. 

Jimi Hendrix guitar on fire

Rock’n’roll is still alive and kicking – and while it does, so will the electric guitar. Even jazz is still alive and, while not a major chart concern, there’s still a wealth of jazz musicians making a living worldwide. So when it comes to electric guitars and rock’n’roll music – both of which penetrated popular culture far more deeply than jazz – you can amplify this for a thousand times, and realize we’re all in safe territory here, after all – any news about the demise of rock’n’roll and/or electric guitars is just nonsense.

With this in mind, we’ll discuss 5 points that show that the Washington Post article was simply… wrong!

1) The big brands are in trouble, not the electric guitar

One of the guys knows everything about guitars. The other one is Slash. Or so Henry Juszkiewicz probably thinks…

The nature of popular music and of the market have changed dramatically, that’s for sure – but that doesn’t mean the electric guitar will die anytime soon. The main problem with that article, is that it just gives too much importance to the big names such as Gibson, Fender, Guitar Center, and to mainstream music.  

We all know what happened to dinosaurs. And the same is bound to happen with people who think like dinos, in this business! Even though we all owe a lot to brands such as Gibson and Fender, who made some of the most legendary guitars ever, it doesn’t mean they are God-given gifts to mankind who should expect to have loyal customers no matter what, just because rock legends have played their instruments.

These brands are subject to the same market forces as any other, smaller brands – and if their products are not good enough or not available at the right price point, they won’t sell. What’s true to a bunch of bananas at your local market is true to a Gibson Mike McCready 1959 Les Paul Standard Vintage Gloss guitar. 

It shouldn’t be a surprise that people are not queuing around the block to pay $6699 for a Gibson Mike McCready 1959 Les Paul Standard Vintage Gloss…

It’s not that the electric guitar as an instrument is dying – it’s just that the biggest brands associated with it are, well, not in the best health:

“Gibson and Fender are in debt, and a third, PRS Guitars, had to cut staff and expand production of cheaper guitars” – The Washington Post

Is it any wonder??? For far too long, they’ve made guitars which are far too expensive and, sometimes, not even that great. Therefore, sales were bound to go down. What did anyone expect?

Many guitarists will tell you that a Squier Classic Vibe will look, feel and sound as good if not better than some more expensive Fenders, for instance.

And in fact, lots of people are still collecting guitars – but the notion that there’ll always be a vast demand for top-of-the-range expensive models is unrealistic – even though that’s exactly what Fender, Gibson and PRS expect.

There is still a (small) market for very expensive guitars, and that’s why many boutique luthiers still survive and even thrive. But the bigger brands are just counting on their name – and this is just not cutting it anymore. If a guitar is not good value-for-money, it won’t sell.

2) And YES: Guitar Heroes still matter!

Jack White is proof that modern guitar heroes DO exist

Baby Boomers became guitar collectors, but most younger people won’t  – however, this doesn’t mean they feel less inspired by guitar heroes than past generations.

Younger players have grown up in a world that’s increasingly unstable, with unstable jobs and future – not as many will have money to spare on very expensive guitar collections. 

“Now those boomers are retiring, downsizing and adjusting to fixed incomes. They’re looking to shed, not add to, their collections, and the younger generation isn’t stepping in to replace them.” – The Washington Post

Big brands need to realise that the era of the moneyed “Baby Boomers” buying lot sof guitars is coming to an end – and no amount of guitar-hero worshipping will change this. 

The Washington Post mistakenly assumes that younger people are not becoming collectors because they don’t have guitar heroes. This is not quite true.

There are still lots of people picking up a guitar and being inspired by the same idols who inspired their (grand)dads! Anyone can go to YouTube and feel inspired by the sounds and antics of all the great guitar heroes – Clapton, Hendrix, Page, Townshend and so on… even though they are not in the charts anymore, their music is actually more accessible than it has ever been!

Not to mention more recent names such as Kurt Cobain, Noel Gallagher, Jack White and Dan Auerbach, who still inspire many new guitarists. (as we know from sales of the Airline models, for instance…)

But are they going to spend mega bucks on a guitar collection just to copy their idols? Hell, no! 

Younger people can love Sixties Eric Clapton as much as anyone who grew up in the era, and still this wouldn’t make them spend thousands to buy a new The Journeyman Relic Eric Clapton Signature Strat!

3) Guitar x Amp x FX Pedals: It’s not all about guitars, you know…

Guitarists are NOT spending less on FX pedals… that’s for sure!

From a gigging guitarist perspective, it’s also important to notice that collecting expensive guitars is NOT necessarily top of the list for most people active in music, be it playing in bands or just making music at home. 

Why buy a super expensive guitar when you can spend the money on lots of cool FX pedals and valve amps? Jack White was a recent proof that you didn’t need to have an expensive guitar to create a great sound. But he had the help of a great Fender Twin Reverb, Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, Digitech Whammy etc.

There’s lots of bands playing with cheap or reasonably priced guitars – but at the same time using expensive valve amps, boutique FX pedals like the ones by Strymon… sometimes it’s not even a matter of money – but HOW you spend it. And in this day and age, expensive guitars will always lose, and quite often musicians will prefer second-hand guitars, but get brand new boutique fx pedals.  Which lead us to the next point…

4) The Booming Second-Hand Market

Buying second-hand is often a great option, from sites such as Reverb.com

The declining sale numbers for new guitars does not necessarily reflect a loss of popularity of the instrument. Well, it probably does a bit, but the point is that many guitarists prefer to buy second-hand instruments on sites such as Ebay and Reverb.com.  You can bet there are still many guitar collectors out there who buy lots of guitars – but the vast majority of them probably won’t be buying new models.

Also, is it realistic to expect that the market for brand new guitars (especially high-end Fender, Gibson, PRS…) should be an ever expanding one? Many guitar buyers are not that bothered about having a brand new instrument when they plan to buy a guitar. If you want to make your money go further, or want to get something maybe cool and more interesting, you might look at second-hand guitars, rare vintage guitars etc.

A guitar brand might even have “loyal” customers who’ve never bought more than one new guitar off them – if that! This kind of player won’t be helping the fortunes of a guitar brand like Gibson, because their commitment to the brand does not reflect on year-on-year sales.

5) Go to a gig & see it for yourself!

Is rock’n’roll dead? Is the electric guitar dying? Go tell Thee Oh Sees and their sell-out crowds…

The bottom line? It doesn’t matter if more or less people are buying brand news guitars, or how many bands in the Top 20 are inspiring kids to get guitar lessons! We don’t need Taylor Swift to save the electric guitar.

There are LOTS of people out there buying used gear, getting inspired by bands who’d never been in the Top 20, and learning instruments on their own. 

Young people still feel inspired by all the (fewer than before, sure) major acts who play guitar – but the point is, so many other bands not in the top of the charts are still out there, playing live to thousands of people at sold out gigs, festivals worldwide etc. Just go to a gig by acts such as Thee Oh Sees, Black Angels, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Courtney Barnett and so many others, and festivals such as SXSW, Austin Psych Fest etc and you’ll see that guitar music and rock’n’roll music is as alive as ever – if not more! 

It just feels that people who periodically announce the death of rock’n’roll and/or of the electric guitar actually know nothing about either. They’re both alive and well. At the end of the day, it’s up to each one of us to make sure this song remains the same…

BREAKING NEWS: The Guitar Is NOT Dead from MyRareGuitars.com

Using alternate tunings is one of the best ways to find new inspiration and getting a new freshness to your playing. Here’s our list of Top 5 alternate tunings (and some of the best songs using them) every guitarist should try at least once in their lives… have you ever tried them all? 

DADGBE (a.k.a. “Drop D”): 

This is one of the easiest alternate tunings you can try – simply tune your bottom (thickest) E-string to D! This is a popular tuning in rock & metal. Early, famous songs featuring this tuning include The Beatles’ ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ and Led Zeppelin’s ‘Moby Dick’.

DADGBD (Double Drop D):

OK, now for the next tuning, things get even more interesting! Besides tuning down the bottom E-string, you just need to do the same with the top E-string? The result? A guitar tuning that’s been used on many legendary recordings, including “Cortez The Killer” and “Cinnamon Girl” by Neil Young, “The End” by The Doors, “Going To California” by Led Zeppelin and “Bryter Later” by Nick Drake. Impressive list, or what??? 

DGDGBD (Open G, the “Keef Tuning”):

This is the tuning used by Keith Richards on some of his most memorable riffs: “Honky Tonk Women”, “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up”. Following from Double Drop D, you just need to tune yet another string down – A to G. 

According to the legend, many players who tried to cover The Rolling Stones in the late 60’s, early 70’s, didn’t quite get it right, because hardly anyone knew Keith Richards used this alternate tuning, so they tried to play the songs on standard tuning. 

Also, as the story goes, it was Ry Cooder who told Keef about the Open G. Interesting to note that, if you truly want to copy Richards, you need to remove the bottom D-string altogether, because he uses a Telecaster with only 5 strings for this tuning!

DADF#AD (Open D, “Blues” tuning):

This tuning was used by Elmore James and is considered one of the most popular for blues, especially slide guitar. But there’s much more to it, too: the whole of Bob Dylan’s “Blood On The Tracks” album was recorded using this tuning. Other famous users include Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Elizabeth Cotten and even Pearl Jam (rhythm parts of early hit singles “Oceans” and “Even Flow”).

DADGAD (“Celtic” tuning):

This tuning was made popular by influential British folk player Davey Graham, inspired by the tuning used by Oud players in Morocco. Since then, it was used by other legendary players such as Bert Jansch and Jimmy Page. 

Want more alternate tunings?

Check out the Warren Ellis Series alternate tunings guide, for those who play tenors but also featuring some suitable for 6-string players!

Five Alternate Guitar Tunings Every Guitarist Should Try from MyRareGuitars.com

Funny thing: some of the greatest guitar heroes ever were British. Think Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, Peter Green, Richie Blackmore and so many others… but most of them had another thing in common – they were inspired by American music.

So we thought – why not do something different, and make a list of the greatest American guitarists?

Why would that be interesting? This is our list of guitarists who were made by America. This is just a top 10, trying to encompass players from many different styles and generations. There will be some missing… so share YOUR list with us, too! You may not agree with our choices but there’s no question about this – those are not just players who happen to have been born in the U.S.A. by a happy geological coincidence, but guitarists whose very music could’ve only have come from America, and nowhere else in the world… 

10) Elmore James: The Blues

The Blues is perhaps the most crucial of all American musical genres. It’s the source of all popular American music made after it, but so much more. It documents American history – especially a part of history that is perhaps not as well documented elsewhere. We could’ve chosen any of the great Blues guitarists such as B. B. King or Robert Johnson, but we’ll stick with Elmore James – his primal voice and guitar playing tell a whole story in their own right, and songs such as ‘Dust My Broom’ are informed not just by the simplicity of rural Blues, but also pointed to the electrified future of the genre – and by doing so, encapsulated the journey of many Black Americans in the early part of the 20th-century, from rural South to urban North.

9) J. Mascis: Noise, Grunge & the reaction to 80’s America

J. Mascis could be described as the greatest virtuoso of the so-called “grunge” scene, so we’ll pick him. A scene that spawned many bands worldwide, but which could’ve only have originated from America. The messy, f*cked up America of the Eighties, where if you couldn’t be a winner, you were a loser. But the “slackers” and Generation X-ers who loved rock’n’roll just wouldn’t fit with this world view – and the noisy music scene represented by bands such as Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and which eventually exploded with Nirvana was a direct reaction to the mainstream 80s in the US, so this new kind of noise could’ve only have come from America!

8) Tom Verlaine: New York, New York

The proto-punk scene around CBGB’s in the mid-Seventies could’ve only have happened then, and only in New York. Bands such as Television translated the grittiness of a semi-apocalyptic New York City into rock music. To listen to Television is to be transported to that time and place. 

7) John Fahey: Rootsy Americana

John Fahey was one of the greatest acoustic guitar players ever. His best music harks back to an older, almost mythical America – a rural, simpler, pre-War America. His debut album, Blind Joe Death, was originally released as a “fake” album, supposedly containing old recordings by a forgotten bluesman. In a very American display of entrepreneurship, the album was the first ever “indie record”, self-financed by Fahey with the money he earned working at a gas station!

6) Dick Dale: Let’s go Surfing…

Well, we hear Australians are pretty good at surfing, but no one beats America when it comes to Surf Music! This is a sunny, optimistic and even naive style, that could’ve only have come from America, a child of the optimistic 50’s, and with the help of some all-American gear such as Fender amps and guitars! And no one played it better than Dick Dale! (Having said that… ‘Misirlou’ in particular is an adaptation of a traditional Middle East song! Listen here…)

5) Duane Allman: Drivin’ South

Duanne Allman was a players like few others – who could humble Clapton, who could play slide like few others, who had one of the best Les Paul tones. He could do seemingly so naturally what players such as Clapton actually laboriously studied for year – that fluid, bluesy guitar thing, you know… listening to Duane is like driving a convertible down a highway, on a sunny hot day somewhere, down South. Yep – great driving music, the likes of which only Americans could make!

4) Eddie Van Halen: California Dreamin’

Van Halen’s music couldn’t be more Californian if it tried. It’s loud, silly, colorful… it’s widescreen rock’n’roll. Silly, fun, sunny. And so is Eddie’s guitar style. What could be a bit “too much” for those who are not crazy about Eighties hard rock, is actually quite enjoyable if you’re listening to Eddie’s playing – a true innovator.

3) Jack White: Detroit Pop Art

Pop Art is one of the defining styles of American art from the past 100 years. It’s as American as apple pie. And Jack White is pure Pop Art, when you think about it: he’s all about bright primal colors, about style, and about making many people wonder what is real and what is fake, who is the true Jack White, why is he singing like Blind Willie McTell, and whether is it real blues or just a commercial copy? These questions of originality vs. imitation, commercialism vs. authenticity, are pretty much the same questions people asked when confronted with the work of Pop Art names such as Warhol. 

He’s got the same unstoppable lust for creating stuff and churning out his products that drove people as different as Henry Ford or Andy Warhol. The quality of his work speaks for itself – he’s a true post-modern blues player, deeply influenced my traditional American music – but with a shameless knack for turning it all into business, too! Could Jack White have come from anywhere but America? 

2) Stevie Ray Vaughan: Texas Flood

The great guitar duel that never happened – SRV versus Hendrix. Who was the best? Many, many people swear that Stevie was every bit as good as Hendrix, if not better. SRV was 100% the son of Texas, deeply influenced by his roots, as authentic and as Texan as it gets – and still a hugely influential player. Listen to SRV and you’ll have a taste of Texas with every note.

1) Jimi Hendrix: a melting pot, like America itself

Sure, Jimi was born and grew up in the United States, but could he be considered a truly “American” player, since his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience was formed in London, with two English musicians? Well… of course!

Jimi more than paid his dues on the road all over America, playing with people such as Little Richard, King Curtis and The Isley Brothers, and it was his rich musical influences that he took to England in 1966 – he certainly turned a few things upside down and kicked things up a few notches, but deep down, Jimi was an authentic blues man, full of soul, groove and a down-to-earth sincerity you would be hard-pressed to find in England at the time. Musically, and even racially (with his Cherokee heritage) Jimi was a true representation of that big melting pot which made America what it is.

No wonder that his legendary performance at Woodstock, playing the Star Spangled Banner, summed up America at the time better than most songs. And yes – he’s still the best! 

Did we forget anyone? Post your Top 10 in the comments below and let us know!

Top 10 Great American Guitarists from MyRareGuitars.com

‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘Love Me Tender’, and ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’ bring only one name to mind – Elvis Presley. Even though the 50s and 60s icon was not the greatest of the guitarists of his time, the instrument played a significant role during his performances.

According to the History Channel’s sources, Elvis – the King of Rock N’ Roll – was only eleven years old when he got his very first instrument on January 8, 1946 and began to practice guitar in a space at home. Throughout the years the King accumulated over seventeen guitars including the Gibson J-200 from 1956, and the famous Martin D-18 from 1942. Here we’ll tell you a bit about each of these legendary instruments. 

Elvis Presley’s Martin D-18

Elvis Presley’s Martin D-18

Historical notes indicate that Elvis’ Martin D-18 is a handcrafted masterpiece that was created in the year of 1942. The instrument was designed by Martin guitar factory in Pennsylvania on January 15. Martin produced about 326 style D-18 guitars that year alone, however, that was considered a low number due to restrictions.

Elvis’ Martin D-18 features:

• 40 1/2″ total length
• 20″ body length
• 15 5/8″ body width  and a 4 7/8″ body depth  
• Mahogany neck
• 20 fret Rosewood fingerboard with a 25.4″ scale length
• solid Spruce top
• Mahogany back and sides
• Rosewood bridge
• Black Boltaron® endpiece
• Black/White binding

Elvis’ Martin D-18 was said to be installed with Kluson sealed case tuners, which wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for guitarists in the 50s. The King’s Martin D-18 was given to the Country Music Hall of Fame in the year of 1974 where it resided till 1991 after it was purchased at an auction by a British collector. Only two years later in 1993, the instrument made its way to Michael Malone, who paid $151,700 for it. Since 1998, the guitar has been displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Elvis Presley’s Gibson J-200

The Gibson J-200 was purportedly Elvis’s all-time favorite acoustic guitar. Its sound was perfect for the new up-coming mix of blues and country music that was swiftly gaining mainstream popularity in the 1950s.

Elvis Presley’s Gibson J-200

Elvis’ Gibson J-200 features:

• 25 1/2″ scale length
• 17″ x 21″ x 4.5″ body with a solid Sitka Spruce top
• Solid eastern curly maple back, sides and neck
• Rosewood fretboard
• Moustache bridge featuring Mother of Pearl Crown inlays on the fretboard

The Gibson J-200 was considered one of the best of its time, as it produced maximum volume and clarity. The unique sound of Elvis’ Gibson J-200 can be heard in movies like ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘King Creole’ and ‘G.I. Blues’.

Interestingly, the King of Rock N’ Roll was drawn to the guitar out of admiration for his predecessors who dazzled the audience with their performances in hopes that he too would accomplish the same, which he certainly has.

– Article by Sally Writes

Elvis Presley’s Acoustic Guitars: Martin D-18 and Gibson J-200 from MyRareGuitars.com

Before we start a fight, let’s be clear: we LOVE Mosrite here at My Rare Guitars, as Mike himself made clear in previous blogs. They sound amazing, look beautiful, and are some of the most iconic and unique guitars ever made. From a collector’s point of view, it’s a no-brainer: if you can find and afford an original, vintage Mosrite, you should just go for it!

But we all live in the real world, and from a musician point of view, things get a little bit more complicated… and vintage may not be convenient, nor necessarily mean better.

Over the years, there’s been many variations of the Mosrite models: from the Univox guitars in the 70’s, to 80’s and 90’s replicas branded Mosrite, besides other brands making their own versions of the classic design, to varying degrees of success (Hallmark guitars, Danelectro and others).

The thirst for Mosrite guitars has been there for many years – not just because of the Ventures surf-music connection, but also due to it’s connection to seminal rock bands such as The Stooges (Dave Alexander played a Mosrite bass), MC5 (Fred “Sonic” Smith) and, especially, the Ramones (Mosrite was *the* Johnny Ramone guitar).

Fred “Sonic” Smith and his Mosrite

The first problem regarding Mosrite is precisely that – most musicians inspired by those artists, who want to actually rock out onstage, wouldn’t (shouldn’t?) really choose a vintage Mosrite to play. After all, Mosrites are too rare, too expensive for actual rock gigs, now! So no wonder so many copies have proliferated.

And then, there’s the other, more pressing question: were the original Mosrites actually that good?

Some well-known Mosrite issues

Vintage Mosrite guitar

While there’s no question about the build quality of the original Mosrite guitars, and even less doubts about their amazing sound, there WERE some issues which have bothered many players over the years.

Basically, the Mosrite neck were quite idiosyncratic and a big barrier for many, many players who’d otherwise love the guitar: tiny frets, and very thin necks very narrow at the nut – which quite a few players could enjoy but not all – especially if playing lead.

The frets, though, were definitely a big issue. We’ve heard of people who bought original Mosrites and decided to actually re-fret them! Just imagine – you buy a rare, expensive vintage guitar, and feel the urge to actually change its specs – and, by making it not all-original anymore, devaluating the guitar. 

Yep, that’s how bad some people didn’t like those frets.

It’s important to note this because, lo and behold, not even The Ventures were too keen on them! Despite their association with Mosrite (after all, mk I model was called “The Ventures”) they actually preferred to use Fender guitars in the studio, and used Mosrites live just because of their contracts.

The Ventures… and their Fenders!

According to an old blog post we found:

“…remember, it was the Ventures that really started using stringbending….and try to bend a string on an orignal model…there is no fret to use…It’s all but filed off… They had specifically asked that the Mosrite necks have the same frets and feel as their favorite Jazzmaster, Stratocaster and PBass.”

Another interesting thing about Mosrites: they didn’t have a nut!

Mosrite headstock

Instead, Mosrite guitars have a  zero fret that acts as a nut, and behind it, they feature a metallic string slide device to keep the strings in place. Looks weird but, apparently, is a very clever design that helps with the intonation.

Vintage 1964 Mosrite bridge

Another interesting detail is that Mosrites used a roller bridge, not too dissimilar to a tune-o-matic, but the saddles were actually little wheels that would allow for smooth tuning and smooth tremolo action. However, some players say that  that some of them had issues where the bottom of the saddle didn’t conform to the bridge plate, and would cause buzzing – some players would then put a small and thin piece of felt under the saddle!

All told – everything does seem to show that, for such an expensive piece of rock history, the Mosrites (or some of them) did have playability issues most people shelling out thousands of bucks, today, would rather avoid…

Are Eastwood Sidejacks Better Than Mosrite?

Eastwood Sidejack DLX

Now… here’s the million dollar question: are the new Eastwood Sidejack guitars actually better than the legendary Mosrite guitars? As the recent Re-Inventing The Past: From Mosrite to Sidejack blog says, there’s little doubt that the Sidejacks are, today, more popular than the original Mosrites ever were.

Over the past few years, other brands have also jumped on the Mosrite bandwagon,such as Hallmark and Danelectro, who also makes popular Mosrite-style guitars – the Danelectro 64 and Danelectro 66 models, which also look great, though yet again featuring their own take on the famous Mosrite look.

For instance, both the Danelectro 64 and Danelectro 66 feature lipstick-style bridge humbuckers, which can put some players off, as it deviates quite a bit from the original Mosrite look (though it could, of course, appeal to other players who want that kind of tone). They have a less Mosrite-ish headstock, but, on the other hand, have zero fret and Mosrite trem, which some hardcore Mosrite fans might appreciate. 

Mosrite, Danelectro or Eastwood Sidejack?

It’s the same old story – to each their own. Even though Mosrites are legendary, and sound great, not everyone will actually enjoy playing one. Meanwhile, some players will prefer the Mosrite features of the Danos, while others will prefer the different Mosrite features of the Sidejacks, especially of the new Sidejack Pro DLX.

Eastwood Sidejack Pro DLX… find out more

Right now, there’s no question that the Eastwood Sidejacks are the leading models keeping the Mosrite flame alive: they’re not “reissues” or replicas of the Mosrite, but modern, updated tributes to the original.

They definitely feel more playable, and feature a more familar jazzmaster-style tremolo,  besides adjustable bridge. So, while not 100% like an original Mosrite, the Sidejacks are the true heirs, keeping the Mosrite cult alive – and doing it the RIGHT way: by being used by lots of bands who really love to rock out!

While not quite as well-known as the Jazzmaster (yet?), the Sidejack is equally suitable for surf music, punk or indie rock. For fans of the P-90 sound, simply an amazing choice.

Now… better than a Mosrite? Only YOU can tell, really, if you ever have the chance to compare both. Everyone will have their own opinions… but I know which one I’d rather take to my next gig!

Mosrite vs. Sidejack: Which One Is Better? from MyRareGuitars.com

Peavey T-15 guitar – sunburst

I was talking to my buddy – a professional blues player – a great player who has an impeccable ear for tone, telling him about my new (well, used…but new to me) really outstanding amp, a Peavey Delta Blues. He said to me, “you lost me when you used Peavey and Blues in the same sentence.” And while I could have gone on about some of the southern blues players that, in fact, did and still do use Peaveys (both guitars and amps), I kept my mouth shut. I could have even gone into a minor history lesson about Lynyrd Skynyrd using the very powerful and tuneful competition for the 70’s Fender Twin Reverbs – the Peavey Mace (with SIX 6L6 power tubes inspiring all those Zippos to flame up every night during “Free Bird”).

But if you think many guitar players’ reaction to Peavey amps is dismissive, just try selling them on the brilliant (Yes. Brilliant. There. I said it.) T-Series of Peavey guitars (many made from the late 70’s-mid 80’s, though most dying a quiet death in the early 80’s). At best, you may get a chuckle that suggests you know nothing. Or a comment about how ugly they are (not an uncommon thought…and actually, with some models, perhaps the most valid criticism of the series). Or even an incredulous reaction: “Are you kidding? Peavey? Peavey guitars? Please.”

But why this reaction to Peavey guitar equipment? Especially the guitars themselves. So long as we’re not talking about an abomination like the pink Adrian Vandenberg signature model of the late 80’s…ouch. Yes…Peavey deserved all mocking and humiliation for that clunker.

One of my main theories for why Peavey is taken most seriously for their PA’s and audio equipment, and at times very seriously for their amps, and almost not seriously at all for their guitars (especially, paradoxically and oddly, for what is their classic period when they were making as good or better guitars than either Fender or Gibson) is for one unfortunate reason: they had almost no recognition at the time as a guitar builder. And they committed a cardinal sin in the guitar business: they were (and still are, for many players) pretty uncool and, at best, aesthetically boring. No way to get a new line of guitars off the ground.

Peavey T-15 and some better-known models

And while we guitar players tend to think we are somewhat radical and hardly conservative, consumers in the guitar market are like consumers in most other markets – they go with brand names they know other people think highly of. And in the late 70’s, that meant—more or less—Fender and Gibson. Even if those companies were producing, it is now widely agreed, some of the worst instruments they have ever made.

Of course, this is an oversimplification—the very existence of Eastwood Guitars points to the fact that there is a market for guitar players who want to stand out from the Strat, Tele, and Les Paul crowd. But, I’d argue, that market was pretty much absent in the late 70’s. It’s only over the last 15-20 years that we have seen a steady growth of interest in some of the most interesting and wild guitars of the 60’s.

The Rare Guitars Revival

The (steadily over the last fifteen/twenty years) increasing interest in Harmonys, Danos, Valcos, some of the best Kays, and others has been caused, I’d argue, by a two-prong desire among guitar players:

1. As vintage Fenders and Gibsons—and brands Guild, Gretsch, and Epiphones and others—started to skyrocket in price, players on a limited budget still wanted to get their hands on a piece of guitar history and vintage gear. And,
2. Players discovered (or rediscovered, as many baby boomers first instruments were affordable 60’s models) that a lot of these budget/catalog guitars from the garage boom of the mid 60’s just happened to be pretty great guitars.

And they were—and this is not to be minimized—cool. In 1979, just about everyone was playing a guitar by a major company. And many of these were the traditional, yet boring designs that hadn’t changed much from the 1950’s.

Even before players such as Jack White brought his radical, funky red resolglass Airline to the masses, you’d had a quiet, yet growing groundswell of underground 80’s and 90’s bands playing inexpensive guitars that are now classics—but were, at the time—simply affordable, weird guitars that set them apart from mainstream bands. Hey, if your band wasn’t mainstream, why play a mainstream guitar? This was even true of some of the higher profile players/bands, with people like Elvis Costello and Tom Verlaine and Steve Wynn dusting off Jazzmasters—which, by the late 70’s, were considered pawn shop crud. Or, if not crud, hardly a guitar that had been by far Fender’s most expensive guitar in the 1963 catalog. By comparison, Strat was very fairly priced (by comparison…it was still pricey for the day), and Teles and Esquires (not to mention, later, Mustangs) were positively relatively cheap.

But even lower on the food chain were the Airlines, the Silvertones, the Harmonys, the Danos. In the early 80’s, Karl Precoda used a Silvertone-branded Harmony H78 (with a missing middle goldfoil) on the Dream Syndicate’s classic The Days of Wine and Roses, an album that was widely praised at the time for bringing back long and aggressive duel guitar to underground rock—with a band that owed more to, say, Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Velvet Underground than to any South Bay Hardcore. All of this with Precoda’s feedback-laden killer tone out of his Harmony.  East Bay Ray, from the Dead Kennedys, was famous for using off-brand guitars, often seen with then forgotten/unknown various Valco/Airline resoglass models over a decade before Jack White hit the national stage. No one was like him in bands of the time.

And then perhaps the band who perhaps most single-handedly showed their audience a plethora of cool 1960’s rare and funky and (at the time) forgotten guitars: Anton Newcome’s hollowbody Vox Cheetah he uses this day…over the years, he’s also used a Silvertone 1454L (the Silvertone model number for the Harmony/Airline H78—one of Eastwood great Airline reissues), Vox 12 strings…while brilliant former lead guitar player Jeff Davies was seen on stage with Hagstroms and Harmonys, and sometime bassist/sometime guitarist Matt Hollywood was often seen with a two pickup Rocket.

Brian Jonestown Massacre, dusting off vintage guitars…

Peavey T-Series

But, back to the Peaveys of the early 80’s. In some ways, picking a guitar (at least in part…no one plays a piece of crap just because it looks radical and unique) because it looks cool seems like a pretty shallow reason for picking you main/stage guitar. Because it is.

Still, I can understand why players might have shied away from the T-Series at first. The flagship and top of the line, the T-60, is a pretty unattractive guitar. While some people who LOVE them tend to say things on forums like, “it’s so ugly, it’s beautiful.” And while there are some people who do actually think the T-60 is a good looking guitar, they are in the vast minority. And remember, these are on forums for people who absolutely love these guitars. The general guitar playing public, if they are at all familiar with the T-60, tend to think of them as pretty uninspired designs at best, and pretty damn ugly at worst.

Peavey T-60: ugly, or so-ugly-it’s-beautiful?

But the T-Series was built in a way that revolutionized the guitar making industry. Peavey was the first to construct necks with a computerized copy lathe. By using computers, every neck came out exactly the same for the first time in guitar making history. This is now used throughout the guitar industry. This technology also allowed Peavey to produce guitars that were at least the equal to the quality of Fender and Gibson, yet significantly lower their production costs.

In 1978 (the first year of the T-60’s production), these were the prices of Fender’s Strat, Gibson’s Les Paul, and Peavey’s T-60:

Les Paul: Nearly $1,000

Stratocaster: $790

T-60: $375

And maybe that was another problem for Peavey. Maybe guitarists had the perception that a guitar that sold for so much less couldn’t possibly be the equal of the big names. But that simply wasn’t true (even if they weren’t nearly as good looking).

But the best—or most compelling and surprising—guitar in the T Series may be the T-15. This was a guitar that Peavey marketed as a beginner’s guitar, or a professional guitar for “players with smaller hands.” It’s become known over the years as the “Mississippi Mustang”—a reference, obviously, to Fender’s much more famous short scale classic—the Mustang.

Peavey T-15 in sunburst

The Fender Mustang had/has a 24” scale and a fast, comfortable neck that not only makes single note runs easy to speed up, but also offers a comfortable reach for more complex chords than many longer scale guitars allow and, lastly, makes bending easier up and down the neck. 

If you’re a player who enjoys playing the Mustang’s 24” scale, you might well love the T-15’s 23.5” scale. This, combined with a thin, flat, very fast neck, makes for an ease of playing that’s hard to describe. I’ve never player another guitar quite like it. It not only allows all of the benefits I mention above with the Mustang, but it makes double country bends enormously easy once you get used to the effortlessness of the bends. It may be why the guitar found early popularity with country players—with its ability to lend itself to complex country pedal steel-like bends. I have fallen in love with the 23.5” scale—which happens to be very rare and the same scale as the Gibson Byrdland (a short scale that’s also a favorite of Ted Nugent, which I pray is the only thing he and I have in common with the exception that we are both carbon based life forms).

Though, while the whole T Series of Peaveys first found the majority of their players in the country field, the T-15 is becoming more and more popular in indie rock. Some of the big reasons for this could be the one of a kind Peavey Super Ferrite pickups, which sound like a powerful cross between P90’s and some of the twang of a bridge Tele. But they have a sound all their own. Peavey also has the nice feature of there being no treble loss when you roll off the volume knob—the guitar keeps its tone no matter how low you roll off the volume.

Peavey T-15 in natural

Other features of the guitar are a three way pickup switch and a single tone and volume knob that controls both pickups. There’s a metal nut much like some of the classic Danelectros, which is nice because they never seem to wear down like many of the plastic ones that need to be replaced after many years of work. And while some of the higher end models, like the T-60, are famous for their excessive weight (some are reported to weigh more than a Les Paul—though the colored and sunburst ones supposedly weigh less than the more common natural wood finish), the T-15 is a very light and comfortable instrument. It, too, came most often in a natural wood finish, with much more rare versions made in both sunburst and walnut. According to Peavey’s literature at the time, the T-15’s body is made of “southern hardwood” whatever that might exactly be. The radius is 12”. And the neck is made of hard rock maple. It all adds up to a first-rate guitar. A Mississippi Mustang, indeed.

Lastly, while most of the T-15’s came with Peavey’s custom fit plastic cases, some (hardly all, but some) came with a 10 watt solid state amplifier in/with the case—harkening back to the classic Silvertone (made by Dano) Amp-in-Case of the 60’s.  The better one, of course, being the one that came with the two pickup 1457. Complete with a deep tremolo and a great tube sound driven by a single 6V6. While the T-15’s Peavey solid state amplifier hardly comes close to the greatness of the Silvertone Amp-in-Case, it does have some beautiful cleans and serviceable overdrive. But it’s hardly the same, even if it’s a cool and nostalgic feature.

For now, the T-15’s are still pretty affordable for such a great, professional grade guitar. They play like butter, and they have pickups like you’ve never heard, but will want to her a lot more once you do. Grab one before the price starts going up. The T-60’s have already been discovered. Grab the T-15 while you can.   

– guest article by Rob Roberge.

WATCH: PEAVEY T-15 DEMO 

Peavey T-15: the “Mississippi Mustang” from MyRareGuitars.com

Hound Dog Taylor, a slide guitar legend, with his Kawai SD-40, now reissued by Eastwood.

Before we start, it’s important to make clear that the slide guitar technique wasn’t invented for blues, and is not for exclusive use for blues guitarists. The origins of slide can be traced to one-stringed African instruments, and anyone can use a slide in any musical style – from Hawaiian music to experimental, noisy bands such as Sonic Youth. George Harrison was also an adept of the slide, using it on Beatles tracks and in solo recordings. 

But of course, it’s in the blues format (and blues-inspired rock’n’roll) where the slide found its perfect home, and one of the earliest accounts of the blues, by W. C. Handy, mentions an unknown blues player at a Mississippi train station, playing slide guitar… with a knife!

“As he played, he pressed a knife on the strings of the guitar in a manner popularised by Hawaiian guitarists who used steel bars. The effect was unforgettable.”

So, it’s for those interested in playing blues slide that this blog is intended.

You don’t need a special guitar… but you will need a “slide set up”

Though lap-steel guitars and resonator guitars are used for playing slide, it doesn’t mean you need one. Any guitar will do, whether electric or acoustic. If you plan to play or practice slide regularly, it’s recommended that you get a new / spare guitar just for that, because it’ll need a few extra adjustments for this purpose, which may not feel great when going back to playing your normal style, without a slide!

We’re partial of the Eastwood Custom SD-40 , inspired by the one used by Hound Dog Taylor, of course!

But don’t worry, those adjustments are fairly simple:

• the action on your guitar needs to be setup higher than usual, otherwise it’ll rattle too much. 
• it’s recommended to use slightly heavier gauge strings for a “thicker” tone, though that’s a matter of taste, mostly.
• the guitar needs to be tuned to an “open” tuning, because you won’t be making any chord shape with your slide!

What are the best slide guitar tunings?

You’ll manage with any open tuning, but the most common are Open G and Open D, as used in many legendary blues recordings.

OPEN G: G B D G B E

OPEN D: D A D F# A D

Here’s a good example of how the open D tuning sounds like. The slide used was a heavy gauge Bronze one by Dunlop.

What’s the best kind of slide: glass or metal?

Again, this is a matter or taste. Generally speaking, glass / pyrex slides will give you a warmer tone, and metal slides (bronze, steel…) will give you a louder and brighter tone, besides the fact they won’t break! Of course, there’s a taste for everything and some players will say bronze is better than steel etc etc… the best thing is: go to a shop and try a few, or if in doubt – just go for any steel slide, because that’s the most common.

There are also ceramic slides, which are not as popular as glass or metal, but which many connoisseurs prefer, because they sit somewhere between the warmth of glass and the sharpness of metal.

This video of the new Eastwood The Continental by Jeff Senn features a glass slide – check the tone! 

On which finger should I  put the slide?

The most common choice is the ring finger, which makes it easier to use the slide wherever you play on the fretboard. Some players prefer to use the pinky, because this way you can more-or-less easily use the other fingers to play chords. 

For beginners – just go with the ring finger, we say! 

Two quick slide guitar lessons to get you started

Now that you are all set to go, here’s two of our favorite slide guitar lessons on Youtube, to get you started!

RJ RONQUILLO: 6 SLIDE GUITAR LICKS

The always excellent RJ shows how to play 6 side licks plus talks a bit about the guitar setup.

SLIDE GUITAR BLUES LESSON IN OPEN D

One of the best and most straight-forward guitar lessons we’ve ever seen on YouTube. WARNING: some profanity ahead… make sure no kids are around!

How To Play Slide Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com

On a recent interview on the Eastwood website, Jeff Senn Explained the inspiration behind his new design, which also has a certain hint of the legendary Supro Ozark to it.

“When I was building the original Continental for myself it was built with a vintage Supro pickup in the bridge position and a vintage Guyatone pickup in the neck position. When we decided to make The Continental available as a production instrument I chose pickups that evoked a similar tonality but were easily accessible. 

“It’s a very versatile combination as the guitar can twang, growl, sparkle and cover many genres of music from Punk to Western Swing, Blues and Jazz. I’m personally drawn to guitars that I can take on almost any gig without worrying if they will fit the style of music. Versatility is a good thing and this is what I had in mind for The Continental. Another aspect of the pickup choices is that they are easily replaceable with a plethora of choices should the player want a different sound or output. By mounting the mini-humbucker in a P-90 rout the mini can be traded out easily for a P-90 should the owner wish to, which would be another great version of the instrument.”

Read the full Jeff Senn interview here.

More about the Continental by Jeff Senn

The Continental by Jeff Senn

It’s worth mentioning that The Continental is NOT in production just yet (March 31 as we write this) because this is a new crowdfunding project by the Eastwood Custom Shop. Even though the guitar was designed by Jeff Senn, this model won’t be manufactured or sold by Jeff Senn Guitars, Senn’s own brand.

Those interested can simply pay a deposit ($200 for hardtail version, $250 for Bigsby version) via the Eastwood Continental Page, to guarantee theirs – if Eastwood reach their target! If they don’t reach at least 100% of their goal, the guitar won’t be made and those who left a deposit will be refunded.

Crowdfunding ends on April 27, 2017.

But, oh boy… it’s such a beautiful guitar, that we can only hope she’ll get made! It would be a shame otherwise, wouldn’t it?

New Jeff Senn & Eastwood Custom Shop Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com

The origins of Rock’n’Roll  are somewhat murky, and there are many contenders for what was supposed to be “the first rock song ever”. But Chuck Berry was without a doubt the true father of rock’n’roll. He’s the one person who truly personified its spirit, the seminal influence who laid down the foundations for all that was to come. The outsider. The guitar hero. The rebel. The songwriter. The outlaw. The poet. Oh, and so much more…

Rock’n’Roll Music! 

It could be argued that some artists who followed became more famous, made better albums, and recorded more hits… but none of them would’ve been the same without Chuck Berry, whose lyricism, and genius for simple, memorable songs set the template for the best which rock music had to offer thereafter. Berry songs fuelled The Beatles’ early sets (and final albums); inspired The Beach Boys’ first hit and The Rolling Stones’ debut single. His DNA lives on in pretty much any rock band and guitarist worth anything.

In the past decades his presence had been waning from the music scene and, sadly, perhaps the majority of millennials were not particularly aware of Chuck Berry’s music or influence – but even younger generations will have been touched by his influence… after all, most of them will be probably familiar with Back To The Future’s rock’n’roll ball scene, a delightful homage to Berry and one of the most classic scenes from that film!

Chuck Berry, the father of rock’n’roll…

The fact is – most of us grew up in a world were Chuck Berry and his music existed, a world where Chuck Berry was a fact of life, and where his songs were so interwoven in the fabric of our culture, that we didn’t even have to think about it, because he’s always been there…  so it’s hard – or even impossible – to imagine how rock music would’ve been without his influence. 

Anyone who’s seen the octogenarian Chuck Berry on stage, will know how fragile he was in his later years, hardly capable of playing his guitar anymore. Though it was an upsetting sight, and some will say he was being exploited by promoters or whoever, we can’t really agree with this view. Any musician passionate about music, and who understands the power of rock’n’roll music, will immediately understand it was something Chuck simply had to do. To play and perform for as long as he was able to, however he could. That’s rock’n’roll, and Chuck Berry was rock’n’roll. How could he do anything else?

And indeed, Chuck kept working. On his 90th birthday, on 18th October last year, it was announced that there would be a new Chuck Berry album, his first in more than thirty years, to be released later in 2017.

Listen! Chuck Berry’s new single, ‘Big Boys’:

‘Big Boys’ is the first taster for Chuck Berry’s upcoming new album, now sadly a posthumous release.

Chuck tracklisting:

1. “Wonderful Woman”
2. “Big Boys”
3. “You Go to My Head”
4. “3/4 Time (Enchiladas)”
5. “Darlin’”
6. “Lady B. Goode”
7. “She Still Loves You”
8. “Jamaica Moon”
9. “Dutchman”
10. “Eyes of Man”

Jeff Senn tribute to Chuck:

Here’s a little tribute our friend Jeff Senn made in Chuck’s homage, playing his new Continental model:

Chuck lives on, in anyone who really cares about guitars and about that magical crazy thing called rock’n’roll. We’ll miss you, Chuck, goodbye!

CHUCK BERRY (Oct 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017)

Goodbye, Chuck Berry (1926 – 2017): The Father Of Rock’n’Roll from MyRareGuitars.com

A few years ago, Gibson announced their 2015 range of electric guitars, which featured several changes that didn’t please many of their core customers – and one of those changes was a wider neck. The move proved a big PR fiasco, with many players thinking that Gibson had finally lost the plot, and that the wide necks were one of the most visible signs of that.

Looking back, perhaps Gibson had the right idea, but just dealt it the wrong way, by having all their 2015 models being made with wide necks – thus depriving their customers of choice: there is indeed an increasing market for wide neck guitars, no question about that… but it’s not for everybody!

Why play a Wide Neck guitar? Is it for YOU?

The fact is, if we’re honest, that a good chunk of the population is, well… getting chunkier! To be totally blunt about it – fatter people have fatter fingers, and it can (sometimes, for some players) make it harder for  them to play a guitar which has a narrower neck. But also, anyone who’s bigger and thus got bigger hands might find it a bit troublesome to deal with a standard, narrow neck guitar…

For those players, opting for a wide neck guitar can make a huge difference! It’s in fact quite remarkable that for so many years, the industry has not focused on this problem, but now guitars with wide necks are not such a rarity anymore.

Please bear in mind that when we say “wide neck” we don’t refer to the thickness of the neck, which is something else altogether – as most players will be aware, different guitars my have different neck profiles, with different shapes and different thickness (which is a subject that’s itself worth a separate blog!)

We are, of course, talking about the actual width of the fingerboard. Visually, at a quick glance, many people might not notice any difference in some cases, but the relationship between the player’s hand and the fretboard is so crucial and subtle, that just a matter of tiny millimetres can make a huge difference – the difference in fact, between you loving a guitar or maybe even loathing it!

What’s the Nut Width of a Wide Neck Guitar?

A regular guitar may have a width at nut of 1 11/16″, while a wide neck would have a width at nut of 1 7/8″, for instance.

We’re talking about minimal differences here, but which play a crucial factor on how much playable you will think a guitar is – depending on how comfortable either of them feels on your hand!

Going back to Gibson, here’s another comparison: the maligned 2015 Les Paul had a width at nut of  1.795″, whereas “normal” Les Paul Standard has a width at nut of 1.695″. That’s right – 0.1″ of difference that’s enough to make someone simply hate an instrument!

But that’s the crux here – it’s not about the instrument, because there’s nothing wrong with a wide neck, it’s just a matter of: do YOU actually need one?

Guitar Companies Who Make Wide Neck Guitars

There are brands who’ve been adopting the wide neck design, over the years, besides Gibson.

The Zarley Wide Neck Guitars was founded by Tracy Todd, who decided to make wide neck models after years struggling with playing standard guitars, and their instruments have been welcomed by players who fancied wide necks:

Zarley Wide Neck

Many “Heavy Rock” brands such as Ibanez, Jackson, BC Rich also make guitars with necks wider than the usual Fenders, Gibsons etc you see around. 

Best Fingerpicking (“Fingerstyle”) Guitars?

Another common use for wide neck guitars is for those who play guitar “finger-picking” style… whatever the size of your hand! Though most fingerpicking guitarists use acoustic guitars, you can also use electrics for that style, and wider necks offer a distinct advantage, due to the wider width at nut and string spacing.

Wide Neck Guitars: for Beginners, too?

Perhaps another angle we could look at, is that wide neck guitars are also perfect for beginners and less experienced players, as it may be easier to try chords. Many people start on guitar playing a cheap Classical acoustic guitar (also known as Spanish or flamenco guitars) which are usually about 2″ wide (approx 49-52mm).

So we can’t see why wouldn’t beginners opting for an electric guitar not enjoy a wide neck model, in fact it could make learning even easier.

Is wide neck right for you? Well… first look at your hands, then let us know!

All You Need To Know About… Wide Neck Guitars from MyRareGuitars.com

As with so many other things, the best way to show the importance of strap buttons is to look at what happens if they simply aren’t there, or if they don’t work correctly, or when they aren’t where they should be. The consequences include dropped guitars and resulting damage to headstocks, necks, bodies and wallets.  Conclusion: strap buttons are pretty darned important.

In future articles, I’ll spend more time on guitar design theory and how to best position a strap button from the start to maximize playability, comfort and balance. Right now, although the issue of positioning or re-positioning a strap button will come up, I’m going to focus on strap button issues in the context of collectible guitars. This is important because strap button-related issues are among the most common concerns when it comes to what should or should not be done to a collectible instrument.

First and foremost, you have to know what to look for as to whether an instrument has its original strap buttons in their original places. If you’re not sure, my usual recommendation (for just about anything) is that you deal with a reputable and knowledgeable seller and keep your trusted guitar tech in the loop. In addition, because we want to make you a Smarter Guitar Nut, you can educate yourself on this subject pretty quickly since there is abundant information on-line including pictures of almost any instrument and numerous other resources such as scans of original ads and vintage manufacturers’ catalogues.

The most common type of strap button, found on many brands including Gibson and Fender. These are easy to obtain including reliced versions like the one on the right.

You’ll notice there’s a pretty limited range of strap button types. Indeed, the most common type is used on the majority of electric guitars including Fenders and Gibsons. If these need to be replaced, they are readily available, including reasonably priced reliced versions. Just to keep life interesting, there are also, of course, a few very unusual types strap buttons and related hardware which, if missing, can be very hard to replace.

Once you’re sure what to look for, you can recognize whether a strap button has been replaced, added or re-positioned. An appropriate, well-installed replacement should- I suggest – not be a concern in terms of collectability and value. The big problems are:

• If a strap button has been added, it means there’s a hole in the guitar that wasn’t there originally. While the strap button is left in place, you can’t see that hole, but it means the button has to stay put regardless of where it is. Worse, if the installation wasn’t done neatly, there might be some additional cosmetic or even structural damage.
• If a strap button has been repositioned, this is a bit more serious because it means there’s now an extra hole in the guitar that might or might not be able to be touched up.

The strap loop on an old Kay Pro bass. If it’s missing, it will be tough to find a replacement.

Serious issues about added or repositioned strap buttons will be addressed in a future column. For now, you need to know two things:

1. As a buyer, this is something you need to ask about and as an owner/potential seller it’s something you need to stop and consider before making any changes yourself; and,
2. Strap button issues can affect the value of a collectible guitar, whether or not that alteration makes perfectly good sense in terms of improved balance and playability.

If changes or repairs have been or have to be made, you can decide if that’s a deal breaker.

Once you’ve got any issues resolved, if all that’s left is that a strap button is a bit loose, the fix is simple (that is: it’s simple if you’re dealing with a solid body guitar, hollow bodies will be dealt with in the next article):

A small piece of dowel, marked to show to show the depth of the screw hole.

Always wipe off any excess glue.

1) Remove the loose screw and the strap button;

2) Insert a piece of 1/8” dowel (or the traditional piece of match stick) into the hole and mark it to that depth;

3) Remove the dowel and cut it at the mark so it is the same length as the depth of the hole;

4) Coat the dowel with a thin, even layer of glue (white or, preferably yellow…not epoxy or super glue) and push it back into the hole;

5) Then, re-install the strap button.

6) If any excess glue squeezes out of the hole, remove the screw, wipe off the excess glue so none remains on the surface of the guitar and re-install.

An important note here about the term “tighten up”. This always means to turn something just until it stops. It does ­not mean turning it until it stops and then trying to turn it more with all your might. When tightening any component on a guitar with any tool, the rule is: Don’t force it! There are (almost) no guitar-repair situations where it is a good idea to try to force something to go more than it seems to want to go. If you ignore that warning, things can turn out very badly. How badly? Well, let’s just say there will be a future column dedicated to dealing with broken or stripped screws that remain stuck in places where you do not want them to be stuck.

If you manage to tighten up both strap buttons, congratulate yourself. You’ve just repaired one of the most common issues to be dealt with on almost any guitar. This fix should not affect the value of almost any instrument.

If, after going through the steps above two or three times, a screw still doesn’t tighten up, its hole has to be doweled and re-drilled.

Dowelling and re-drilling a hole is a much more complicated procedure and the typical Smarter Guitar Nut would be indeed smarter to pass it over to his trusted tech. The Smarter Guitar Nut who is a bit more experienced with basic repair work should practice dowelling and re-drilling only on very expendable guitars or on scrap wood. We’ll deal with this procedure in a subsequent instalment of the Smarter Guitar Nut.

THE SMARTER GUITAR NUT #3: Strap Buttons – Part 1 from MyRareGuitars.com

David Bowie has had many different faces and personas over the years, but, surprisingly, one has been overlooked by most – David Bowie, the guitarist. In a way, it’s not very surprisingly, considering he was far from being a guitar hero, and, most importantly, has collaborated with some truly stellar guitarists who contributed greatly to his music, including: Mick Ronson, Carlos Alomar, Earl Slick, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Nile Rodgers and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Quite an impressive list!

Which Guitars Did David Bowie Play?

Though not primarily a guitarist, Bowie had a consistent taste for vintage, rare guitars and his choice of instrument often changed with his ever-changing musical directions. Here’s a guide to some of his most notable guitars. We usually talk about electric guitars, but in Bowie’s case we can’t help but mention a few acoustics, too… after all, he was a huge fan of 12-string acoustic models, throughout his career! In any case – Bowie was a true connoisseur, and his choice of guitars over the years is nothing short of fascinating! 

Here’s Bowie’s career – in 20 rare, amazing guitars.

1) Framus 12-String Acoustic (1965-66)

Of course, many of you will know that Bowie started his musical career as a saxophone player, and then became the frontman of different bands (The Mannish Boys, The Lower Third) but never playing a guitar. This pic of an young David Jones with a Framus 12-string  is the earliest photograph of Bowie with a guitar.

David Bowie circa 1965-66 with Framus 12-string 

According to Bowie biographer Paul Trynka, Bowie bought a guitar in late 1965. Considering Bowie’s well-documented taste for 12-string acoustics in later years, it’s fair to assume that the Framus in the photograph was indeed his first guitar, though there has never been any specific information about it. It’s interesting to note that his guitar had pickup, volume and tone controls – perhaps it was modded and bought second-hand by the still struggling Bowie. Little trivia: the guitar was redburst. 

Playing guitar was an important step in David Bowie’s career, as he started to use the instrument to compose songs, such as “Maid Of Bond Street” and his first true classic, “Can’t Help Thinking About Me”.

2) Gibson B45 12-String (1968-69)

Bowie performing with Feathers

After the commercial failure of his 1967 debut album, Bowie tried other directions, including joining Lindsey Kemp’s mime troup, buddhism and forming folky trio Feathers with his girlfriend Hermione Farthingale and John Hutchinson. During this period, Bowie used a Gibson B-45 12-string acoustic.

Gibson B-45, as played by David Bowie

He’s never been seen or photographed with this guitar again, after the end of Feathers. We actually believe this is the first time this guitar has ever been mentioned in relation to Bowie, as we couldn’t find anything else elsewhere. Well, now you know!

3) Hagstrom 12-String Acoustic (1969-1972)

Bowie live at the Beckenham Free Festival in 1969, with his Hagstrom.

This is perhaps Bowie’s most legendary guitar. It’s believed it’s the one he used to write his first hit, ‘Space Oddity’, as well as used live and to write most ‘Ziggy Stardust’-era songs, including ‘Starman’.

Curiously enough, the guitar is now on display at the ‘Beatles Story’ museum, in Liverpool. At some point, it seems to have had pickup and tone & volume controls added to it, though it’s not shown with this configuration in any Bowie photos.

David Bowie’s Hagstrom on display in Liverpool.

4) Espana 12-String Acoustic (1969)

Bowie and his Espana 12-string

This guitar was used on a famous promo shot for the ‘Space Oddity’ single, but strangely enough, there’s not a whole lot info about it. It might have been used just as a prop for the photograph. It looks very similar to the Hagstrom 12-string, and it could indeed be the one he’s using in other pics and footage, but it’s hard to be sure!

5) Guild 12-String Acoustic (1971)

David Bowie live in 1971 with Guild 12-string

When David Bowie toured the US for the first time, to promote ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ in 1971, he could be seen playing a Guild 12-string acoustic. There’s no report or pics of him using one before or since, so he probably just borrowed it for the tour.

6) Harptone 12-string (1972-83)

Bowie and his Ziggy-era Harptone 12-string

This Harptone 12-string is “the” Ziggy-era Bowie acoustic. He used it when touring with the Spiders From Mars and this guitar can be seen on most footage from the era. 

Curiously enough, it seems Bowie decided to dust it off years later, after the release of Let’s Dance, as this live pic suggests:

Eighties Bowie meets Ziggy-era acoustic.

7) Harptone 12-String Jumbo (1972-75)

Bowie Harptone 12 Jumbo

Many people don’t realise this, but Bowie also regularly used ANOTHER Harptone 12-string, which at first sight looks similar to the previous one, but you’ll notice that it has a different scratchplate and is also bigger. He used this model on the second, Ziggy-era “Space Oddity” video; during the Ziggy tour and up until the Young Americans- era.

8) Egmond 12-String, Blue (1972)

Bowie and his blue Egmond.

This is one of Bowie’s most important guitars – if not for anything else, simply for being the guitar he used on the watershed moment of his career – playing “Starman” on Top Of The Pops, which finally launched Bowie as a bona fide popstar in the UK! He also used the Egmond on a few promo shots, and that seems to be about it.

9) Vox Teardrop Mark XII 12-String (1972)

There’s no record of Bowie using this cool Vox guitar other than in 1972, for promo pics. Years later, he used a Vox Teardrop Mark VI for the recording of one of his best songs in the Eighties, ‘Absolute Beginners’. The guitar is now on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Warsaw. There’s no photo of him and this guitar, though.

10) Gibson 1972 Deluxe Les Paul (1972)

David Bowie and a Gibson Les Paul

David Bowie was always very conscious about his image and symbolism. That’s why he posed with a borrowed Les Paul on the cover of the “Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars” album – to show the world he was now a tougher, “rock’n’roll” act.  Maybe for this reason, he was up for using a Les Paul during his 1972 USA tour.

Presented to Bowie by Gibson, he used it live and on the ‘Jean Genie’ promo film. But given his more esoteric tastes in guitars, it’s not surprising that it soon became Mick Ronson’s back up guitar, never to be used by Bowie again. 

11) Hagstrom I Kent PB- 24-G (1974)

Now we’re talking! The red Hagstrom I Kent PB-24G guitar was Bowie’s first truly iconic electric guitar, which Eastwood Guitars are now bringing back – check it out HERE.

Though many fans will recognise and love it, this guitar was only used in promo shots for his ‘Diamond Dogs’ album, and there’s no record of him ever using it elsewhere, apart from a TV appearance:

As most hardcore Bowie fans may know, he played most guitar parts on the ‘Diamond Dogs’ album, but according to those who worked with him, his guitar choice during the sessions was a Dan Armstrong plexiglass model – which he’s never been pictured with… a shame! Unless, those recollections are slightly wrong and they really meant the next guitar…

12) Dan Armstrong 341 (1976)

Bowie’s Dan Armstrong 341

Yes, David Bowie had for sure another Dan Armstrong guitar, but it was not a plexiglass model! Auctioned in 1991, this is an important guitar. Besides featuring on a famous pic used for the Sound + Vision compilation, it was also used to write one of Bowie’s finest albums. According to Bowie, in ’91: “I’ve had this Dan Armstrong guitar since the early 70s. I wrote most of the songs for Station to Station on it.” Considering the cronology, it may have been used on ‘Diamond Dogs’, too.

13) Custom Fender Telecaster, Natural (1976)

Bowie and a customized Fender Telecaster

During the tour to promote ‘Station To Station’, Bowie played a custom Fender Telecaster, with 3 pickups with individual on/off switches. A pretty cool guitar, never seen since.

14) Fender Stratocaster, Red and Sunburst (1977)

Bowie and his Red Strat

Two  more conventional choices, during Bowie’s least conventional period! In 1977 Bowie could be seen playing a red Stratocaster for the ‘Be My Wife’ promo, one of the most commercial tracks from ‘Low’, which became a single. 

Bowie was also spotted playing a sunburst Strat that same year, for his duet with Marc Bolan, on Bolan’s TV show. This guitar belonged to Marc, who gave it to Bowie as he turned up without one on the day!

David Bowie with a Strat and Marc Bolan.

15) Gibson L4, Black (1989-90)

Bowie and his Gibson L4

Owned and used by David Bowie in the studio, on stage and while on tour with Tin Machine, accompanied by a Sound + Vision tour program showing Bowie playing this guitar, a signed letter of authenticity from Reeves Grabels and guitar picks. The guitar can be seen in videos for the Tin Machine 1 album, in Music News reports and was used heavily in the studio for the recording of Tin Machine II. 

16) Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, Wine Red (1990)

Bowie and his Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman

The guitar was used on stage by Bowie during his March – September of 1990, Sound + Vision World Tour.

Bowie also subsequently used this guitar during studio sessions for his 1995 concept album “Outside.”

17) Takamine FP 400SC (1990)

Bowie and his 12-string Takamine

Bowie used this guitar during his 1990 Sound + Vision tour. It was his main acoustic guitar then, used on classic hits such as ‘Space Odyssey’. The tour included 108 concerts over seven months in more than 80 cities around the world. Bowie promoted the tour as a “greatest hits” tour and stated it was the last time he was going to play songs from his back catalog. 

18) Steinberger GL2, Custom Silver (1991-92)

Bowie and hiscustom Steinberger

Bowie was a big fan of headless guitars, since he saw Tin Machine’s Reeves Gabrel’s: “David saw mine and decided he wanted one like it. My guitar tech, Andy Spray, called the factory in Newburgh to see if they could make another chrome L series. Apparently, they had a guitar they used as a test run for the chroming process. That one had a normal fretboard (it did not have a chromed fretboard) making Bowie’s copycat completely playable while mine was not. The non chromed fretboard is the easiest way to tell them apart.”

19) Supro Dual Tone (2003)

Bowie and his Supro Dual Tone

The Supro Dual Tone is one of his most iconic later-years guitars. He used it during his last world tour, in 2003, and it even appears on his 2010 live album of that tour, ‘A Reality Tour’:

Bowie ‘A Reality Tour’ cover

More recently, Eastwood did a great job at recreating this model (first made famous by Link Wray in the Fifties) as the Airline Twin Tone – a fitting tribute to Wray’s model, but now also a great choice for fans of Bowie who also play guitar…

The Airline Twin Tone DLX, inspired by a Supro like Bowie’s. NOW FOR SALE! Only $754 USD

20) Hohner G2, Red (2013)

Bowie and his Hohner G2

Bowie went back to a headless guitar in the video of ‘Valentine’s Day’, from his superb comeback album ‘The Next Day’. As ever, his choice of instrument was unusual but made total sense with his tastes over the years. Unique just like the man himself.

The Guitars Of David Bowie from MyRareGuitars.com

I’m going to discuss some dos and don’ts of using these pedals and give some input on my experiences using both simultaneously.

Firstly, when using these two, it’s important to understand in a practical sense what each pedal is doing to your signal. That doesn’t mean you need to be a physicist or audio engineer to understand what’s going on with your sound, but use your ears and experiment entirely with your pedal to see what it’s doing. The two biggest things to consider when using overdrive and distortion pedals are compression and gain.

It’s important to understand how compressed your signal is getting from your pedal because we have all been in a situation wherein we get on stage after spending months perfecting our tone, only to result in a vast difference between stage volume/tone and practice-room/bedroom volume/tone. Or, have you ever been at an open mic and heard someone performing, and even though their amp is seemingly loud and heavily distorted, you can’t make out a single note they are playing? Compression is almost always the culprit with an overly distorted tone.

Gain consideration is important because you need to make sure your pedals are all sending a balanced (equal-volumed) signal, OR at the signal balance that you want them at.

For example, I have a JHS Lowdrive (overdrive pedal), and a Wampler Plextortion (distortion pedal) that are my two main “gain/distortion” sounds I use on my pedal board. Without complicating my example, let’s just say for this conversation that my signal is: Guitar > JHS > Wampler > Amp (Figure A)

I have my JHS set so with my volume cranked on my guitar and playing full pick-strength, my clean volume and JHS-on volume are balanced with the stage volume I use my amp at. My Wampler-on is also balanced with my clean channel, but what is important about my signal chain is how much the Wampler compresses my channel compared to my JHS. Because of the compression, I can turn on my JHS and Wampler at the same time to increase the distortion, but with an insignificant change in gain (volume, decibels, however you would like to refer to it).

IF I had set up my JHS and Wampler in the following order: Guitar > Wampler > JHS > Amp (Figure B), it would be a lot more difficult for me to run both pedals at the same time without increasing my overall volume significantly. The reason is because now the JHS is increasing the gain of Wampler without the same compression the Wampler provides for the JHS.

This may seem a little wordy and complicated, but try it for yourself and make these mistakes at home! Even if you’re not interested in using both pedals at the same time, knowing this and setting your pedals up accordingly can help avoid embarrassing feedback squeals, or destroying a sound-guy’s ears/equipment by accidentally mis-pressing a pedal.

First, set up your pedals so when they are turned on, the volume is balanced with the clean channel. I would recommend that you do this with the amp set to a medium volume (if the amp is too quiet, it is essentially compressing the signal so you could have the pedal cranked and you wouldn’t even know the difference until you had to bring everything up to stage volume).

Try plugging in both pedals and turning everything on with one configuration, then the other. You’ll immediately notice that by putting the distortion pedal as the second pedal in the chain (or simply AFTER the overdrive pedal) that the tone created is much more manageable and without a significant volume boost. And trust me, if your volume is all over the place in an unmusical fashion, sound-guys don’t consider that to be “dynamic”. It’s just annoying.

Jordan Welbourne

www.jordanwelbourne.com

facebook.com/JordanWelbourne\

The Stomping Ground – Cascading Overdrive/Distortion from MyRareGuitars.com

Booking is an integral facet to your business. Your product is your music and there are only 2 real ways to consume music; listening to recorded material and going to a show to listen to a band. In a lot of ways, booking shows can be very easy.  Often times band members / managers make it harder on themselves than they should. Like anything in the business world, there are do’s and don’t’s that will either help propel you forward or keep you stagnant. 

First and foremost, you need recorded music.  A talent buyer at any venue will require that you send over a physical press kit or an EPK (electronic press kit). Your press kit must have audio files of your music (preferably .mp3 or .wav), band photos, a band biography, a list of venues you have played, a stage plot and input list, a rider (specific needs for the show: i.e. hospitality, lodging, etc.), and bands you have played with.  Additives that help your press kit stand out include a cover page, any accolades or awards, and / or live videos or music videos (more applicable for an EPK).  There are platforms online that can assist you in making a press kit. Reverb Nation and Sonic Bids are both helpful in creating EPK’s within their specific network. If you aren’t interested in connecting with either of those platforms, you can always customize your own via your website. If you don’t have a website, you should consider making one. Websites are a one-stop-shop for talent buyers and promoters to find the information the need from bands. Website building sites like squarespace, wix, or weebly are great for musicians that aren’t familiar with coding.

 
Next, you need to understand your market. If you are a folk group, you probably won’t have great shows playing night clubs (given that the night clubs agree to take you). I say probably because every situation is different. This goes back to really understanding your market.  If the night club specializes in folk music then my example is null and void. The best rule of thumb is booking shows in the places where your colleagues (those playing similar sounding tunes) have previously booked shows.  Understanding your market also derives from understanding who the talent buyer is in each club / venue.  Make a list of names / emails and provide a fun fact about each talent buyer (if possible).  It’s good practice to keep track of who you’re dealing with professionally, but also who they are as people (life skill ALERT). 

“Music and music business are two different things” – Erykah Badu

With thousands of venues that exist in any one region, it can be difficult to get a grasp for each club’s genre preference.  If you aren’t familiar with your local scene, investigate by going to shows and seeing what clubs are doing. Look for handbills / posters for other shows and investigate the sound of the bands on the line up. If you are looking to book outside of your local scene, you can lean on websites like Indie On The Move or Do DIY.  These sites have concise lists of existing venues and genres of music they have performing. Fair warning, I have run into issues where their websites were out of date and the venue has changed or no longer exists.  Make sure you double check your work by following up with a phone call or email.

A big part of the booking process deals with the onsite behavior of the band you are in/manage. It’s good practice to establish a courteous culture among your group while at your shows.  Often, bands confuse being an artist with being an asshole. If you sell out your show, but are still a pain to work with, the venue has reason not to ask you back. Many artists are plagued by this due to the classic example of musicians demanding only blue m&m’s. Most often these bands ask for blue m&m’s to see if the venue is paying attention to detail. If the m&m’s are different than requested in the rider, that translates to other, potential more damaging mishaps with the rider (i.e. bad sound, no hospitality, etc.).  Simply clean up after yourself, mind your p’s and q’s, and be thankful for the opportunity to play a show.  By and large, you can always conduct your business professionally and courteously.

Lastly, once the show is over and you are moving on to your next venue, be sure to stay in touch with the venues you played previously.  “Thank You” notes are a great way to follow up with the buyer.  It may seem frivolous, but as I mentioned before, we are all human and like being appreciated. At very least, send a follow up email to say thank you. Now go book some shows.

Once again, if you have any questions relating to booking a show, or have any suggestions for me to write specifically on any particular topic, feel free to email me at bcspencer2013@gmail.com

Your Band as a Business: Booking Shows from MyRareGuitars.com

In my first article, I told you about my background and what I hope to accomplish with this series of articles. Like the title says: I want to help make you a Smarter Guitar Nut. The first thing to know about being a Smarter Guitar Nut is: how to ask the right questions about the guitar you might be buying. I won’t get into the potential issues around a guitar’s cosmetic condition in this article. For now, here’s what you need to ask: Is the guitar in good cosmetic condition and is the finish original or is it a “re-fin”.

What we’ll focus on in this article is the guitar’s functionality; its mechanical and electronic components and, if those are not fully functional, what you then need to consider. Here we go…

Hey, I know the feeling. That first sight of a really cool guitar and that moment when you know (and sometimes even say out loud) “I must have it!” To that, I say: Slow down…let’s have a look…and let’s ask some questions. Asking the right questions can save you hundreds, or even thousands of dollars…and a lot of heartache. Here are some questions to ask, whether you are inspecting the guitar in person or on line:

1 – Questions about the structural condition of the instrument

• Does the guitar have any cracks, broken or missing pieces or other damage?
• Has anything structural been damaged or modified such as extra routing for pickups or a broken or reshaped body, head-stock or neck?

NOTES:

• As you might expect, this is a biggie. A bad crack can mean an instrument is potentially un-fixable. On the upside, sometimes even an awful looking crack can be fixed so it is completely structurally sound.

2 – Questions about the truss rod

• Does the truss rod work properly?
• Is the truss rod nut in good shape, or is it worn or stripped?

NOTES:

• This is another big one. The truss rod must be working properly for the guitar to play correctly and truss rod repairs can be extremely expensive. Basically, a guitar that needs work on its truss rod has either got to be an incredible bargain or something you really, really want almost regardless of the added cost to fix it. The only silver lining on truss rods is that sometimes what seems to be a very serious problem can be fixed by a good repairman.

The cost of truss rod repairs can turn a bargain into a problem …and a broken truss rod can turn a guitar into a “GSO” (see my first article in this series about GSOs). This photo shows the truss rod adjustment nut is in good shape.

3 – Questions about the trueness of the neck.

• Does the neck take its proper shape under string tension once the truss rod is adjusted?
• If not, is the neck still over-bowed even with the truss rod tightened? Or, is it still back-bowed even with the truss rod loosened off?
• Is the neck twisted? (i.e. does one side of the neck – either treble or bass – have significantly more or less bow than the other)

NOTES:

• The “trueness” of a neck refers to whether it can be adjusted into proper shape by adjusting the truss rod with the strings up to tension. As will be fully explained in a future article about truss rods, the “proper shape” of a neck is actually very slightly bowed rather than perfectly straight. A problem with the neck’s trueness can be fixed, sometimes with a heat press to give the neck a new starting point, sometimes – if the situation is more serious or the neck is twisted – by removing the frets, planing the fingerboard, topped off by a re-fret. That’s very expensive!

4 – Questions about the frets

• Are the frets original or replaced? If replaced, what size are they?
• How much fret wear is there? Are there gouges in the frets?
• Have the frets been dressed and re-crowned recently? Is there enough fret left to dress now?

NOTES:

• Everything about frets can be measured to determine what size they are and precisely how much fret life is left. Most cellphone cameras are now good enough to take pictures of fret wear and gouges. A good repairman can (almost) always tell whether frets have been replaced.

5 – Questions about the electronics

• Do all the electronics work and work as they should?
• Are the electronics (pickups, switches, controls, capacitors etc.) original or have any been replaced?
• Have any components been obviously repaired?

NOTES:

• This can be a huge issue, especially if you want the guitar specifically for its pickups. Any serious purchase should be made only after an inspection or photo of the guitar’s inner workings. Rewiring a guitar can be expensive and rewiring a hollow or semi-hollow instrument can be very expensive.

A good photo of the electronics can help determine whether components are original.

6 – Questions about the hardware

• Is all the hardware original or have some parts been replaced?
• If replaced, is the new part the same or different than the original?
• Have any modifications been done to the guitar to accept replacement hardware or for any other reason? Are those modifications reversible?

NOTES:

• This is the area where you can often catch a break because of all the excellent replacement parts available these days. Be careful, though, if the missing or broken part is unique to the instrument, a replacement can be either hard to find, expensive or both.

All kinds of hard-to-find vintage parts have now been reproduced and are reasonably priced.

Once you’ve determined whether an instrument is fixable and how much it will cost to fix, just remember to add that amount to your actual total cost to obtain the guitar and re-do the math. Now, is it still a good deal?

There are two ways to deal with the cost of bringing a guitar up to good playing condition. One way is to simply say: “I’ll pass”, the other is to see if you can get the price of the instrument reduced enough to cover that additional cost, or at least a portion of it. With all these smart questions to ask, now all you need is a trustworthy seller who answers all your questions knowledgeably and honestly, and your trusted guitar tech to back you up the next time a “must have it” guitar comes along. So, get ready ‘cause you know there’s always gonna be a next time!

THE SMARTER GUITAR NUT #2: Good Questions = Good Answers from MyRareGuitars.com

While gluing a nut is very easy, care must be taken as this small piece is one of the most essential pieces of your instrument. Here’s our step-by-step guide to re-gluing a nut. A simple and easy-to-learn, but often neglected skill.

How To Re-Glue Guitar Nut, Step 1: loosening the strings

The first thing to do is loosen the strings slightly and see if the nut is completely unglued. If it is not unglued you must take care to remove it. To remove a nut that is still attached, remove the strings and hold a block of wood against the nut from the fretboard side. Tap the wood very gently with a hammer. This applies even pressure against the nut and prevents it from chipping. If there is finish around the nut, score around the nut with a sharp blade, which will minimize chipping the surrounding finish.

How To Re-Glue Guitar Nut, Step 2: examine the slot

Once the nut is free, examine the slot- in most cases, the glue joint broke from hard movement of the case- the movement of the guitar in the case and the tension of the strings will shear the nut at the glue joint. Since very little glue is used (on purpose) the slot should only have a tiny bit of glue residue. If you have large hunks of glue in the slot, you should very gently chip these away with a small tool like a dental pick. You absolutely do not want to gouge away any wood in the slot- its levelness and straightness are important for the nut to seat back properly and the guitar to play well again.

How To Re-Glue Guitar Nut, Step 3: examine the nut

Now examine the nut- it should ideally only have just a minor amount of glue residue. Again, if there are large pieces of glue, you can remove them carefully, again making sure that you do not chip or crack the nut. I find it helpful to gently use a metal ruler to scrape away any glue, but not remove any material from the nut. These steps are important, as the two surfaces must be clean to ensure a good, strong glue joint.

How To Re-Glue Guitar Nut, Step 4: protect the guitar

Once you are sure both gluing surfaces are clean, the most important step is next, protecting the guitar before gluing the nut back on. Some use drafting tape, which is extremely low tack, and won’t damage finishes. I think that this is not needed when gluing at nut, so I just place a paper towel over the peg-head and fingerboard, under the slackened strings. This will make sure you don’t have any unfortunate drips. Also- VERY IMPORTANT- place paper in the truss-rod cavity, completely covering it. Glue and your truss-rod should never meet.

How To Re-Glue Guitar Nut, Step 5: grab your supplies

Now it’s time to grab your supplies: a paper plate, glue, a damp rag, and toothpicks. These are really the only tools you’ll need. For glue, a non-super glue that is water soluble is the best thing to use. Even white glue from your elementary school days is fine. The pressure of the strings keeps the nut down, the glue keep it from moving side-to-side. Also remember- nuts are made to be replaced, as they wear down over time. Using too strong a glue will make replacement difficult and potentially harmful to the instrument. I use a simple wood glue, easy to get, and handy to have around the house. Water soluble is also important, as you can use warm water to clean any of the glue from finish, and also use warm water to break the glue joint if necessary.

How To Re-Glue Guitar Nut, Step 6: set up space & dry-runs

Now the next step is to set up your space and do several dry-runs. Make sure the path from the glue to the nut slot is covered and that if there are drips it will not be a problem. Optimize your path of travel, as every second the glue will be hardening. Once you are happy with your arrangement, pour some glue out of the bottle on to the plate. I pour out more than I need, so that I can choose the small amount I need. Really, the only glue you will need will be a dab on the end of the toothpick for each end of the nut. I put a dab in the middle of the slot, in between the end of the slot and the truss-rod channel. Now place the nut in the slut and gently move it from side to side- this will spread the glue evenly. Now place the “E” strings in the slot and tighten them just a bit- be careful to not over tighten, as the low “E” will pull the nut off center, just even the tension with the high “E”. Now quickly check the fit- I look at the pickup pole pieces to see my alignment, as well as the edge spacing on the overall fretboard. Once you are happy with the position, put the string back in the slots and give them a few turns, making sure they don’t shift the nut.

How To Re-Glue Guitar Nut, Step 7: …and you’re done!

Now take the damp rag and look for any glue squeeze-out, it will be much easier to remove at this point. Let the re-glued nut dry for several hours, ideally overnight. Once the glue is dry, tune to pitch, and you are good to play again! If you found the nut moved and dried off center, repeat the steps and try again.

This is an easy repair that can really be done anywhere, most likely with things you have around the house. Having the right glue is most important, and doing a few preparatory dry-runs will make this easy and worry free.

Re-Gluing A Nut: An Easy and Essential Skill from MyRareGuitars.com

If you haven’t seen this video, which compiles a few clips of famous guitarists and their embarrassing guitar fails. A sobering reminder that even the most famous guitarists are just humans like the rest of us…

Top 5 guitar fails… and how to avoid them:

• Fx pedal battery dies during set: always make sure to use new batteries before a gig!
• Guitar strap comes off mid-song: come on, strap locks are not that expensive, are they?
• Guitar string snaps: use heavier gauge, or make sure strings have been replaced recently.
• Guitar lead comes off when you’re moving around: make sure to make your cable go between guitar body and strap.
• Your guitar is too quiet: turn it up to 11!!!

Have YOU ever had an embarrassing moment when playing guitar on stage? Share your experience with the rest of the My Rare Guitars community! Simply leave a comment… we’d love to hear about it (even though you might not love to remember it…)

Famous Guitarists’ Guitar Fails from MyRareGuitars.com

Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead, one of the players who discovered the joys of a Teisco offset – she plays the bass version of the TG-64, the TB-64 now being resurrected by Eastwood. VIEW INFO

Don’t get us wrong – we love a good Jazzmaster, Jaguar or Mustang. Fender was and still is the big daddy of the offset guitars. But if familiarity doesn’t always have to bring contempt, on the other hand many of us prefer guitars with that little spark of mystery, which add to an unique touch when you’re on stage, or simply helps making it more interesting to play. That’s why a few lucky guitarists can’t help but loving their rare, 1960’s Teisco TG-64. Let’s be honest, it has a certain mojo lacking in modern-day Jazzmasters!

The Forgotten Offset Classic?

While its shape is familar, it’s all about those other details: three single coil pickups stripy scratchplate, push buttons and that cut-out handle on the body – what’s it all about? One of those features no one really needs, but which in fact looks pretty cool. It was the Sixties, after all, and who knows what the designers were smoking, then!

Original Teisco TG-64

The thing about Teisco guitars, is that they were unashamedly cheap knock offs of bigger brands such as Fender – but with enough personality to stand out on their own. They were never meant to be GREAT guitars, but put them through a valve amp and a good fuzz pedal, and it could be the coolest thing ever.  Originally unpopular offset models such as the Jazzmaster and Jaguar were affordable, and for this reason rediscovered in the Seventies by Punk and New Wave acts, but as soon as they became a staple in 90s alt-rock, thanks to Nirvana, Sonic Youth and others, they became prized commodities – and, somewhere along the way, lost just a little bit of their “cool” factor (for all it’s worth!).

Owning a Teisco TG-64 is a bit like owning a Jazzmaster back in 1976 – because it’s still an odd and rather cool choice, not seen too often. Some of the people who’ve used one recently include Blonde Redhead and Conor Oberst. But this model is still not the easiest to find! This is perhaps the coolest of all non-Fender offset guitars, and certainly a “forgotten classic”!

Conor Oberst and his Teisco TG-64

Eastwood Custom TG-64 Monkey Grip

It’s great news that Eastwood Custom are planning to reissue the Teisco TG-64. The plan is to make it even better than the original, but still quite affordable. While in the past Teisco were cool but cheap guitars, the new ones are of much better quality. If you’re looking for a cool alternative to a Fender Jaguar or Jazzmaster that really stands out, maybe the new Eastwood Custom TG-64 will do the trick for you.

Eastwood Custom TG-64 Monkey Grip

At the moment guitarists have to pledge a small amount to guarantee theirs… if you’re interested, hurry up, because opportunity ends TODAY (17th November)

VIEW EASTWOOD TG-64 PAGE FOR INFO

Eastwood Custom TB-64 Monkey Grip

Teisco TB-64… new Eastwood custom project. Find out more

The Teisco TB-64 looks very closely to the TG-64, but with a few differences besides the longer scale: a more “Fender-y” headstock, different neck joint and a vibrato arm closer to the edge of the body. Yes, it might’ve been inspired – in principle – on the Fender Bass VI but, frankly, has quite a marked difference… and, dare we say, looks much better?

Eastwood launched a custom shop project to reissue the TB-64, ending on April 20, 2017. They’ve successfully crowdfunded the TG-64 and it looks likely the TB-64 will also get made… but the best way to make sure this happens, and to guarantee yours, is of course to help crowdfunding and leave your pledge, too!

VIEW EASTWOOD TB-64 PAGE FOR INFO

Watch: Teisco TG-64 Demo

Forgotten Offset Guitars: Teisco TG-64 from MyRareGuitars.com

                                                                                           10. Rickenbacker 620

Chubby, but splendid. The 620 features the unusual ‘cresting wave’ styled body, as well as an oddly shaped pick-guard. Designed in the 50’s, it is less popular than the 300 series although much more bold and unconventional.

                                                                                            9. Ampeg Dan Armstrong

Exactly how it seems, the Dan Armstrong has a ‘see through’ design. Its body is made of clear plastic which may look a little gimmicky on the 2006 vintage edition, but was already played by big names as Keith Richards and Dave Grohl. In other words, the Dan Armstrong is “clearly” weird.

             8. Gibson Explorer 120

Would you dare to play this wild pointy creature? The Explorer was initially marketed as Gibson Futura until its later success. Unsuccessfully released in 1958, it has a classic space-age perfect for hard rock and heavy metal.

 7. Gibson Flying V

This one is a monument. From Jimi Hendrix to Lenny Kravitz, everybody loved its V shaped Maple body. The Flying V was futuristic, light and crazy enough to overcome its rough launch in 1958. Nowadays, it is one of the most iconic models ever made. How about that?

6. Kawai MS-700 MoonSault

Houston, we have landed on a weirdo. The MoonSault was released during Japan’s guitar making boom in the early 70s. Its moon styled body is really one of the most unique guitar shapes ever created! And take a look at the fret markers, they follow the entire lunar cycle with quite some detail. Kawai just made the coolest guitar for a night out!

5. Vox Phantom

Love won’t ever tear us apart. The Phantom is not just a guitar, it is more of a badass violin: light, small and weirdly pentagonal. In fact, its shape became an icon of the British Invasion since the release in 1962. Ian Curtis, huge psychedelic rock legend, owned about 3 Phantoms.

4. La Baye 2×4

The name says it all, 2×4=6 strings and a rectangular shaped body. As simple as that. It may look like a joke, but this one is quite a serious vintage guitar. Devo, probably the most futuristic and quirky band ever, worshiped the 2×4.

3. Ibanez Iceman PS1CM

Madness made in Japan. The Iceman was built with an appealing original design that mixes both classic and modern styles. It was released internationally in 1978 by Ibanez, but its Japanese version belongs to Greco. Paul Stanley, from KISS, is a fan and even signed this broken glass vintage edition. It is as weird as awesome!

2. Gibson EDS-1275 Double-neck

Meet the Frankenstein of all this freak show. The Double-neck integrates 2 different guitars in a single one resembling Gibson’s SG model. Introduced in 1958, it is big, heavy and noisy enough to be a scary scary scary monster. After all, you get 6 strings plus 12 to rock the house down (Jimmy Page’s style).

1. Airline 59 2P

At last, the award for most weird vintage guitar goes to… Airline’s 59!!!

The future is with this one, and it is beautiful. Every part of the 59, from the styled body to the controls or the colours, look as if it was stolen from a Stanley Kubrick’s movie. The Airline 59 model is almost a rock spaceship, a quality futuristic statement embraced by great artists as Jack White or PJ Harvey. And its sound? It is absolutely MIND-BLOWING!

Do you agree with our top 10? What would your weird guitar picks be?

Rock on, weirdos |..|

TOP 10 WEIRD VINTAGE GUITARS from MyRareGuitars.com

Strange but true, reissues can become collectables too (on the left an early ‘60s Danelectro Longhorn, on the right its late ‘90s reissue).

Sound familiar?

While I’ve been a long-time happy member of the Guitar Nut fraternity, I’ve also had a little advantage: I’m also a trained and accomplished guitar tech, and that means I can buy an instrument that needs work and do the work myself, whether I intend to keep it or re-sell it. Often, that’s not just a cost saving, it can also mean the difference between snapping up a bargain on a decent guitar (for fun or profit!) or getting stuck with an unplayable and unsellable pile of wood and metal.

About that “pile of wood and metal”, I’ll mention here that a repair client of mine who is a piano technician once referred to any piano that needs more work than it’s worth as a Piano-Shaped Object or PSO for short. I liked that and have since referred to any guitar as a Guitar-Shaped Object (or GSO) if it is so far gone that its restoration would take much more time, effort and money than it’s worth. GSO…remember that term. It will come up from time to time.

Anyway, that’s the angle I’d like to take in this series of articles for Eastwood: the happy marriage between technical knowledge and smart guitar collecting. For me, it’s a marriage that has worked for more than forty years.  For you, I want it to be an introduction to what you need to know to become a Smarter Guitar Nut too, with a special focus on oddball and unusual instruments. This is, after all, written for Eastwood!

The subjects I’ll cover include:

• Generally, what to look for (and look out for) in a guitar
• How to recognize whether the instrument is in original condition
• What parts can be replaced to improve playability without hurting its collectable value
• What types of repair work or improvements are usually required in most guitars and how to do those repairs without affecting a guitar’s collectable value
• Originals vs. reissues: which is better for you and how a re-issue can become a collectable itself

Probably the most common modification to vintage instruments: New tuners. When should this be done? How should it be done ? And, when should it not be done?

For each of these subjects, I’ll be getting into how you can do these things yourself and when to know that a pro should become involved. Ultimately, the goal is to make you a more knowledgeable guitar owner and collector.

First, here’s a little relevant personal history. I started repairing instruments when I was a teenager. I’d brought my prized Rickenbacker bass to a local shop to have it set up. I don’t think I even knew what “set up” meant…all I knew was it ought to get done. I must have read it somewhere.

When the bass was ready, the shop charged me only $6 rather than the expected $8 (remember, this was a long time ago!) because, as they explained, they couldn’t intonate the E string; the bridge saddle had been pulled back as far as it would go and the string was still slightly sharp when played up the neck. I was happy enough to save $2 (like I said, this was a long time ago) but, as well, my interest was tweaked. I asked what “intonation” meant and the explanation I got inspired me to pursue the issue.

The modern solution for Riks with intonation problems: The Hipshot Bridge. There are many modern parts that can improve vintage instruments without modiufication.

I went home and filed the E string saddle slot to enable a bit more backwards adjustment and the operation was a complete success. From that moment on, I was both able to set up my own instruments and do favours for my musical friends. Most important, I’d learned two important basic principles about guitar repair that I’d like to impart to you now:

• If you understand why and how something is supposed to work on a guitar, you will more likely be able to figure out what needs to be done when it isn’t working as it should; and,
• If you inspect the situation, plan and carry out the work carefully, you can be successful.

Should you install side position dots on a vintage neck that doesn’t have them? We’ll discuss.

All that, of course, has to be considered in the context of your skill level with basic repair techniques and tools. At the very least, applying the principles above will help you recognize when you need professional help. It will also make you a much more knowledgeable repair customer. That’s a real head start for you and, again, a potential cost savings.

So, to conclude my own story, I eventually got a job with Fender’s Canadian distributor doing warranty repairs, set-ups and even some custom work on new instruments. I went on to become one of the early partners in The Twelfth Fret, Toronto’s premier guitarists’ pro shop that’s still going strong almost 40 years later. I then formed the Amazing Musical Instrument Company, which manufactured innovative acoustic-electric instruments, primarily violins. For the past 30 years I’ve maintained a shop in my basement to do various repairs for a number of local guitarists and on the guitars that I buy, sell and keep.

In the foreground, this Longhorn has had a metal strap button installed on the horn rather than the heel to improve balance and stability. Ideally, a modification to a vintage instrument should be reversible, like this one.

At each phase of my work I acquired new skills, experience and knowledge that I think will be useful to you and anyone interested in guitars and guitar collecting.

In my next article, we’ll start that process by looking at what you should look for in any guitar to make sure you don’t end up with – as you now know it’s called – a GSO.

THE SMARTER GUITAR NUT #1: So, You Want to be a Smarter Guitar Nut from MyRareGuitars.com

Limited Edition Airline Twin Tone Double Cut – only 24 Made. (Reg Price $499)

Airline Guitars has produced a limited edition Twin Tone Double Cut. Order yours TODAY!

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Specifications:

• Colours: White
• Body: Basswood
• Neck: Maple, Bolt-on
• Fingerboard: Rosewood, Block Markers
• Scale Length: 24 3/4″
• Width at Nut: 1 5/8″
• Pickups: Two Hot-Rail Humbuckers
• Switching: 3-Way
• Controls: 2 Volume, 2 Tone
• Bridge: Fully adjustable Tune-O-Matic
• Hardware: Gotoh style Nickel/Chrome
• Strings: 10-46 D’Addario
• Case: extra – gigbag $39, hardshell case $99
• Unique Features: Limited Edition – only 24 available

Watch this product demonstration by Keith McFadden:

Limited Edition Twin Tone Double Cut – only 24 Made from MyRareGuitars.com

There’s a lot of bad information on the internet, as I was reminded while trying to resuscitate a recent score: a Silver Sparkle 20th Anniversary Squier Jagmaster.

 
Don’t laugh, it’s paid for!

It’s not a guitar for everyone, but I bought my first about five years ago when I started playing guitar again as an adult. It was fun and cheap, and with a little bit of elbow grease it cleaned up nicely and, after a pro setup, played great. Then I set my sights on more “appropriate” guitars and got myself a Fender Highway One Stratocaster, you know, a proper “dad” guitar.

 Selling the Jagmaster was a mistake (as my daughter frequently reminded me), and when I had some “mad money” recently, I started searching for a replacement. A couple weeks later, I picked one up through Reverb.com. It was a little more expensive than I would have hoped and rougher than I expected. The strings were crusty, every tuner and bolt was loose, and the pickguard was warped. But the electronics worked, the neck was straight, and there was almost no fret wear, though they were dull and a little rough.

All that stuff is easy enough to fix as part of a regular cleanup and restring. This one needed a little more, and in addition to my new and regularly applied Dremel and Nu Finish fret polish routine, which I’ll show next, I decided to fix the damn pickguard. I reckon if a third of a guitar’s face looks off, it’s going to show. And at the very least, it’s going to gnaw at me. Forever. Or until I’m done losing sleep over it and fix it, so why not do it now?

A quick Google search brought up no shortage of bad ideas, all suggesting that you essentially bake the pickguard and, before it melts, burns, discolors or sets off the smoke alarms, pull it out of the oven — careful not to stretch it — and stack books on it till it cools and lays flat.

If you’re inclined to follow that advice, I’m going to guess you don’t have enough books around to pull off that stunt. That said, follow the steps below at your own peril, as I did, and don’t do this to a vintage instrument.

            Here’s how I fixed a warped pickguard:

1. Remove the pickguard from the guitar, and electronics from the pickguard.

Here you can see the bowing of the pickguard

2. Clear some space and wash the dishes in the kitchen sink. You’ll want the room to work, and you’ll score some points with the wife or roommate.

3. Find a cookie sheet or cutting board that’s bigger than your pickguard, but that fits in your sink.

4. Boil some water – enough to fill the sink and cover the cutting board and pickguard with another inch or so. I used a kettle and the biggest pot we have to boil some more.

5. Put the cookie sheet/cutting board in the sink, and place the pickguard in face down, so you don’t scratch it up like I did.

6. Pour the boiling water over it, then put the pot, with the hot water in it, on top.

7. Wait 2 minutes.

8. Remove the pot, then the cutting board with pickguard, and re-stack them to cool.

I let the whole thing cool for about 10 minutes after 2 minutes in the sink.

9. Enjoy a victory beer.

10. Buff it out with car wax, I use Nu Finish.

That’s flat!

11. Reinstall, etc.

There are more than a couple benefits to using hot water rather than an oven. It’s a lot more controllable, as you can see the pickguard throughout the entire process, and the timing is flexible without introducing the possibility of smoke, fire or nasty fumes.

How to Fix a Warped Pickguard from MyRareGuitars.com

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

If You Want to Be a Guitarist …

Once you have fallen in love with the guitar and what it can do, there is really no single
correct way to learn to play. Some of the most famous guitar players taught themselves, by
listening to their favourite guitarists. How do you do that? How can you just pick up a guitar
and learn how to play it?

Here are five tips for the beginner guitar player:

Tip No. 1. Learn About the Instrument First.

The guitar has a long history of development, with some scholars saying that the modern
guitar is an ancestor of the Lute or the Greek Kithara. Others say that the modern guitar
developed from the Egyptian Tanbur. Whatever the truth is about the guitar’s history, there
are many types of guitar. Acoustic guitars, classical guitars, steel string guitars, flamenco
guitars, electric guitars. There is a type of guitar for almost every type of music that can be
played.

It is important to learn about the instrument that you are going to play. Beginner players may
need to learn about the parts of the guitar from the head-stock to the sound-hole to the
bridge. It’s necessary to learn how to string and re-string a guitar and to learn which kind of
strings your new guitar will need.

Beginner players also need to learn how to keep their guitar in its best condition. This means
learning how to clean it and where to keep when it is not in use.

Tip No. 2. Learn the Chords.

It is said that there are 2,341 chords in total that can be played up and down the neck of the
guitar. For beginners, the most important chords to learn may be the open chords. These are
the chords from C to B that can be played without the need to barre the strings. By learning
to play some chord combinations in varying keys, the beginner player will get a sense of how
songs can be create. They will also learn some of wonderful songs that have already been
written. A sense of rhythm starts to develop naturally as the beginner player strums the
chords.

Tip No. 3. Learn Some Strumming and Finger-picking Techniques.

Most guitar players develop their own sense of rhythm and a strumming style. This is part of
the creativity that grows as a person learns to play any musical instrument. The beginner
guitar player needs to learn coordination, or how to fit the chords he/she has learned into the
rhythm of the music. This means fitting chord changes into a key signature such as 2/4
timing, 4/4 timing, 3/4 timing, 6/8 timing. There are many timing patterns that music is played
in. It’s a good idea to learn some simple finger picking patterns early on as well. This can
give the beginner another way of hearing timing, as well as extending their technique and
flexibility.

Tip No. 4. Learn Some Songs and Easy Pieces of Classical Music.

Learning songs is a good way to bring all the techniques together.It makes all of the more
technical learning worthwhile. As the beginner player learns how chords become songs, it is
also a good idea to learn the individual notes of each string up to the first three frets at least.
By doing this the guitar player learns which notes are in each chord. The first barre chords
that the guitar player will learn are usually the barred F Chord and the barred G chord. These
chords are played on the first and third frets respectively. This ties in with learning the notes
of the first three frets.

Tip No.5. Practise Every Day.

For people who love playing the guitar this will not be difficult. Practice is important, not so
much because practice makes perfect, but because practice leads the guitar player forward.
There are many songs and many pieces of music that can be played on the first three frets of
the guitar. Frequent practice opens the keyboard up to the player. Suddenly, you understand
that riff by one of your favourite guitarists. Suddenly you can play some licks that you never
thought you would be able to play. Unless you actually dislike playing the guitar, which is
highly unlikely, practice is not a chore. It is the time when you sit down and have fun with a
guitar. Well, maybe practising scales is not a lot of fun.

So those are my top five tips for beginner guitar players. Going through the five stages of
learning could take up to two years. In those two years a beginner player will be well on the
way to being a good player. My last tip is to listen to great guitar music as often as possible.

About the website

http://guitarreviewed.com is site that offers lots of information about acoustic guitars to those
who wish to buy a first or even a second instrument. The review of each guitar includes a
photograph of the guitar, followed by a description of the guitar’s features, its price and the
things about the guitar that were either Liked or Not Liked.

About the Author

Hi, my name’s Joe. I was born in the 1980’s and was inspired by rock musicians such as Eric
Clapton, Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana. I also like the sounds of Classical Guitarists such as
John Williams. I write the acoustic guitar reviews on Guitar Reviewed and I sit down to play
the guitar every day, because I love the guitar.

How to Learn to Play the Guitar: for Beginners from MyRareGuitars.com

Sure, the instrument was favored by the likes of early blues artists Leadbelly and Blind Willie McTell in the 1920’s and ’30s, but at that time the instrument would have been used as an accompaniment at best, on most cases. That said, their use of the twelve string in blues music is perhaps the main reason the twelve-string began to come to prominence in the rock and roll world of the ’50s and ’60s. Their influence, along with the skyrocketing popularity of the electric guitar at the time gave musicians the idea to see what a twelve string could bring to their songs. The result? In a word… “Jangle!” We all know the sound. It is instantly recognizable as a twelve string guitar, and when you hear it, it truly makes you want to have one.

The following is my top twelve list of songs that evoke that feeling. Whether you love or hate the song, you can’t deny the infectious sound of the twelve string, nor can you help but wonder “would the song be the same without it?” To keep things interesting, I’ve only allowed myself to list one song per artist.

The Byrds – Mr. Tambourine Man

What sort of list of twelve string songs would be complete without mentioning “the Byrds”?! They’re easily one of the first groups to come to mind when you think of that twelve string jangle. Influenced by the Beatles and the film “A Hard Days Night”, Byrds guitar player Roger McGuinn picked up a Rickenbacker twelve string to incorporate into their sound. Their cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” was the first single to be released by the Byrds, and went on to become the first smash hit in the world of folk-rock.

The Beatles – Ticket to Ride

As George Harrison and the Beatles can be credited with bringing the twelve string guitar to mainstream pop music, they are definitely deserving of a spot on this list. They’ve got more than a couple songs that could stand here in place of “Ticket to Ride”, but that intro riff just showcases the twelve string perfectly. Not to mention, its pretty simple to play!

Rush – Closer to the Heart

Fast forward a few years, and you can hear the twelve string being used in a very similar way to those early bands who pioneered its use. The guitar introduces the song here, and really just sets the tone for the whole song. In addition to the arpeggiated melody played in the intro, this song makes great use of the “full” sound you can get by strumming on a twelve string. With the full band playing, the guitar really fills in its spot and can clearly be heard as a twelve string.

Boston – More than a Feeling

Perhaps their biggest hit, “More than a Feeling” was featured on Boston’s debut album in 1976. Again, we have the twelve string guitar introducing the song with arpeggiated chords. There’s a distinct “pretty” sort of sound you get when you hear a suspended chord resolve on its major counterpart, and there’s no denying that doing so on a twelve string just adds to that “prettiness”! The intro to this song makes good use of this, as well as a chord progression that makes it sound circular and complete.

Tom Petty – Free Fallin

Here’s another example of those suspended chord transitions! In fact, it even revolves around a D chord shape like in the previous song – but with a capo on your third fret. There really isn’t much to this song as far as guitar playing goes, but who doesn’t know this riff? The whole song is based on  those simple chords being strummed on a twelve string guitar. It simply wouldn’t have the same vibe if a six string was used in its place.

Bon Jovi – Wanted Dead or Alive

Anyone who grew up in the ’80s or ’90s will know the opening riff to this pop-rock anthem. Heck, anyone who listens to the radio should know it! For the “ballad” era of rock and roll, this song stands easily as one of the most recognizable. The descending Dm arpeggios in the beginning of the song are played on a twelve string, and the octave pairing of the G strings is what really gives the riff its mysterious, “shimmering” sound.

Led Zeppelin – Over the Hills and Far Away

Of all the great songs Zeppelin has written with a twelve string guitar, I always come back to “Over the Hills and Far Away” as my personal favourite. If you think it’s fun playing that intro riff on your six string, pick up a twelve string and give it a go. Instant satisfaction!

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

Just by reading the title of the song, you get the idea that the songwriter is yearning for someone (or something) from the past. Then you hear the subtle twelve string enter with an effect that makes it sound like it’s coming through an AM radio, and the mood is set! It’s one of the most recognizable songs in Pink Floyd’s catalog, and a fantastic example of a twelve string guitar being put to good use.

Wild Horses – Rolling Stones

Stripped back and straight to the point, “Wild Horses” is a rock ballad that gives us the raw simplicity of a twelve string being played as a rhythm instrument. Fun to strum along with, and an all around great song, it’s not a surprise that this one is often covered by rock bands around the world.

Give a Little Bit –  Roger Hodgson (Supertramp)

For whatever reason, it seems that there’s a universal acceptance that the key of D is where the 12 string “belongs”. Roger Hodgson’s “Give a Little Bit” is another one of many that are built around this key using a twelve string guitar. Not that there’s anything wrong with that… it’s another timeless classic!

And You And I – Yes

I chose to put “And You And I” on this list not only because it’s a great song, but also because the twelve string is really put through its paces here. From the opening of the song with its brilliant natural harmonics to the strumming patterns used in the verses of the song, the twelve string really shines in the forefront throughout.

The Eagles – Hotel California

Featuring one of the most well-known twelve string riffs in rock and roll history, “Hotel California” is likely one of the songs to have been on the tip of your tongue when you read the title of this article. It’s a classic that’s here to stay, and it’s hard to imagine the recording without the mysterious jangle of the twelve string.

4 x 12: Eastwood 12-String Guitars That’ll Blow Your Mind!

If you felt inspired by those twelve 12-string guitar songs, here’s a look at four amazing Eastwood 12 string guitars:

Classic 12:

Eastwood Classic 12

The Classic 12 is the perfect choice for that jingle-jangle Sixties vibe… it’s a veritable time-machine! Groovy.

Sidejack 12 and Sidejack 12 DLX

Eastwood Sidejack 12 DLX

The Eastwood Sidejack 12 is a totally rockin’ twelve-string guitar! Inspired on the legendary Mosrites as played by surf-music greats The Ventures and punk-rock icons the Ramones, the Sidejack 12 STD or the Sidejack 12 DLX (with Bigsby) go further than your jingle-jangly and can rock, too:

Surfcaster 12

Eastwood Surfcaster 12

This Eastwood Surfcaster 12 has got to be one of the most special 12-string guitars around! A tribute to the original Charvel Surfcaster, the Eastwood Surfcaster 12 is a versatile guitar that will sound great whether you play blues, country, shoegaze or anything in between!

12 Songs for 12 Strings from MyRareGuitars.com

1. Chord Changes – “Hey Joe”, by Jimi Hendrix

One of the first obstacles you’ll be faced with when learning to play is memorizing chords, and figuring out how the heck you’re supposed to contort your fingers to switch between them. The truth is, these “shapes” that your fingers need to be placed in are not built into your DNA. There’s nothing else you’ve ever had to do that requires your hand, wrist, or fingers to hold such patterns, and as such you’ve got to work them into shape. The only way to teach yourself (and your hand) these chords is through repetition and practise; it’s all about muscle memory here.

The song “Hey Joe” is a great introductory to chord changes for a few different reasons. The first is that it forces you to learn five essential major chords, C, G, D, A, and E. The second is… it’s only five chords! The entire rhythm guitar section of the song is just a loop of these five chords in a relatively simple strumming pattern, so if you can manage the switches, then you’ve got it down. The third reason deals with the chords in question. Some chords are easier to switch between than others, allowing you to leave a finger or two in the same spot. Some chords allow you to play all six strings, while others demand that you avoid a string or two. Some chords require the use of one finger to hold down multiple strings… and the list goes on. In “Hey Joe”, each chord is far enough apart from each other that you are required to make a substantial shape change, getting your hand used to arriving at and leaving each chord. It also exercises your strumming hand, as you’re required to play all six strings for a couple of the chords, and only some of the strings for the others. If you can play through this tune, then you’re well on your way to saying goodbye to your chord changing woes.

2. Fingerpicking – “Blackbird”, by The Beatles

If you’ve spent most of your practise time strumming chords, or plucking out melodies with your pick, learning to fingerpick might be a daunting task at first. This technique is, of course, all about your picking hand, and getting your fingers used to where your strings are. What I mean by that is, at first you will likely be looking down at your picking hand, making sure you use the “right” finger on the “right” string, etc. The more you practise, the more you will just get accustomed to the distance between each string, as well as various patterns that tend to appear in songs. This is part of the reason I like “Blackbird” for an introductory to this technique.

As far as the right hand is concerned, the song revolves around just two patterns. Try this: hold a G chord, and with your thumb and middle finger pluck the low E string and the open B string together at the same time. Then pluck the open G string on its own with your first finger. Repeat these over and over… and you’ve essentially got the picking hand pattern used for half of the song. Of course… your thumb will occasionally move to the A or D string, but you can worry about that later. A large portion of this song is about getting used to moving back and forth between your index finger and second finger, while maintaining a bass-line with your thumb…which is sort of the whole idea behind fingerpicking! It’s a great way to practise, while playing through a great song.

3. Counting / Rhythm – “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” by Stevie Ray Vaughan

The most important thing in playing a musical instrument is rhythm. Whether you’re playing on your own, or as part of a group, you need to be able to keep time. Some patterns are easy of course, just strumming along in 4/4 time, but if you really want to challenge yourself and start to unlock your “inner metronome”, you’ll need to try out some more complex patterns. Try to test yourself – whenever you play, keep your foot tapping along to the beat of whatever it is you’re playing. The opening riff in “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” is a good challenge for this – it combines a relatively simple melodic riff with a syncopated sort of rhythm. It contains various notes and rests that land both on and off the beat, making for an unexpected feel. With a stronger sense of rhythm and larger vocabulary of patterns, you will find it much easier both locking into a groove as well as coming up with your own ideas.

4. Power Chords – “Blitzkrieg Bop” by the Ramones

A power chord is just two notes of a chord played at the same time; the root, and the fifth. Doing so means that you don’t need to worry whether or not the chord in question is supposed to be major or minor, as both would have the same root and fifth anyways. You can incorporate the octave as well, as it doesn’t make things much more difficult, and adds a nice upper layer to the sound of the chord.
More often than not, you will find yourself playing power chords with their root note on either the low E string or the A string. Thanks to the way the guitar neck works, this means that the shape of these chords will never change.
For example, plant your first finger on the low E string of the fifth fret. Now plant your third finger on the A string of the seventh fret. You are now holding an “A5”  power chord! Want to add the octave? Just throw your pinky down on the D string of the seventh fret, below your third finger.
But what good would knowing how to play power chords be without knowing how to play some raw, straight to the point punk tunes to go with them? While they may not have invented them, the Ramones’ sound encapsulates everything that the “power” chord exists for; straight to the point, loud, and fast!
The song “Blitzkrieg Bop” will get you used to holding the power chord shape, as well as moving up and down the neck to play each chord. You’ll also have to jump between the E and A as your root note, which is important to become accustomed to.
In addition to this fretting hand technique, the strumming you’ll be doing with your other hand is just as important. You’re only playing two or three strings here, so of course you don’t want to hear the others. At first it will be easier to just limit yourself, and play only the strings you are holding in the chord. In this way, however, you’ll soon realize that you can’t quite capture the same power and energy that Johnny Ramone did. So how do you fix that?
Muting. Being able to mute strings properly with your left hand is what will bring your power chord strumming to the next level. It’s sort of hard to put it into text, but whilst you hold down that A5 power chord, try to also lightly lie your first finger down across all the strings below (like you’re playing a barre chord). Doing this means that it doesn’t matter how many strings you hit – the only ones that will ring are the ones you want to hear. THIS is how you get the “power” out of your power chords – pure aggression with the strumming hand, and precision / articulation with the fretting hand.

5. Soloing – “Californication” by The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Playing a guitar solo is a culmination of things. It’s not just “playing a bunch of notes really fast”, but should be thought of moreso as the guitarists’ turn to takeover for the vocalist, and front the song. With that in mind, the way in which you approach your solo should be derived directly from the vibe of the song you are playing to. This means that you need to take everything into consideration – the chords used, the melody, the rhythm, the feel… the perfect solo is one that touches on all of these things, while throwing in bits of technique for flavour.
One way you can start to understand how to play a strong solo is to listen to guitar solos that you find to be memorable, and figure out what it is that they’ve done. Listen to the section as a whole, and try to emulate it. A good starter would be the solo in “Californication”. It isn’t blazing fast, but it is subtle and captures the essence of the song very well. You’ll pick up on a few techniques here and there throughout the solo, and start to be able to hear the difference between, for example, a bend and a slide, or a hammer-on and a picked note. It is also done in a clean tone, which means you are forced to nail the performance when you play it. Extremely over-driven amps have a tendency of “covering up” mistakes made when playing, so practising with a clean tone is a good way to truly hear what you’re putting into the guitar.

Technique 101: Five Songs You Should Learn from MyRareGuitars.com

By Michael Wright

The Different Strummer

As with our old friend Nigel Tufnel, that more is better goes without saying.  Why play an amp at 10 when you could play at 11?  I’ve bought guitars just because they had 4 pickups.  And I’d for sure be interested in a guitar like this Hagstrom Impala with 8 push-button controls!  Count ‘em, 8! And color-coded!

I find it curious that Hagstrom isn’t better known or regarded by Stateside guitar enthusiasts.  I guess you can say that about most European guitar-makers.  But Hagstrom actually got pretty good distribution here.  Maybe even better than EKO, which somehow ends up being better known (although that’s probably more due to Dan Forte’s—aka Teisco Del Rey—writings than actual familiarity during the 1960s)  But Hagstroms were pretty well made and they actually were among the earliest European guitars to be imported after the War.  In the late ‘50s, with the rising popularity of Folk music, acoustic guitars from Scandinavia were the first imports, guitars made by Landola (Finland) and Bjarton (Sweden) came in as Goyas and Espanas.  In around 1959 those acoustic were followed by the first, short-lived electrics, those wonderful sparkle-plastic covered hollowbody electrics sold under the Goya brand name, made by Hagstrom in Sweden.

Finding a vegematic array of push-buttons on a Hagstrom shouldn’t come as a surprise.  Indeed, those early sparkles had push-buttons.  But when you consider that Hagstrom actually began in the 1930s as an accordion manufacturer.  Accordions have nothing if they don’t have buttons!  American manufacturers hit on the toggle switch early on, but European makers seem to have preferred push-button switching.  Then again, come to think of it, most European guitar-makers started out making accordions!  Except for many of the German makers.  Except for Hohner.

Anyhow, Hagstrom produced some pretty innovative and high quality instruments, although I think their reputation gets a bit tarred by those pretty flimsy vinyl-covered guitars that were their bread and butter through most of the 1960s.  But those early sparkles were pretty interesting.  They had modular pickup assemblies.  You just lifted one configuration out and plugged in a different one, although practically speaking that really only made sense if you were upgrading.  I can’t think of why you’d change out a 4-pickup unit for a 1-pickup unit, since all you had to do was just play one pickup on the 4-pickup configuration, but, hey, it makes for good marketing copy.

            There were guitars like this Impala.  This was a very early neck-through-body guitar made long before that technique became fashionable.  The push-buttons were basically for a variety of tone controls.  The “0” was one of my favorite settings: “off.”  I never really understood why you want to turn your guitar off, but OK.  The 1 button activated the neck pickup, while 2 turned on the bridge unit.  Then there were 3 buttons  for Hi, Mid, and Low, sort of a quasi-EQ presumably with different capacitors.  The Solo button was full out, and Accompaniment was a muted setting for chording.  The sliding lever was a master volume for all the buttons except for knob which was a volume control for when you were in Accompaniment mode.  I love all those buttons but I may be loving a toggle switch more.  Even though the switching is a bit arcane, this is a high quality guitar with a pretty good amount of tonal versatility.

Guitars like the Impala weren’t Hagstrom’s only quality builds or technical innovations.  Later in the 1970s the company commissioned Jimmy D’Aquisto to design a jazz box (dubbed the Jimmy) and they also produced the very nice Swede, a sort of Les Paul-style axe, some of which came outfitted with a Patch 2000 interface pedal made by Ampeg, a pre-MIDI form of synth guitar that combined guitar switches with a foot pedal and was even harder to figure out than the Impala’s push-buttons.  But the Swede/Patch 2000 certainly earned them an A for effort.

Hagstrom, like most other European manufacturers couldn’t survive the Japanese juggernaut of the 1970s and they bit the dust in the early 1980s.  Their labor costs kept going up and up as Europe gradually recovered from the 20^th Century’s hot wars and the political and economic turmoil of the Cold War.  But they did manage to make some significant—or at least some really interesting—contributions to guitar history.  Including guitars with lots of buttons.  Now, if this only had 9 buttons, Nigel would be a happy chappy…

Vegematic Guitars from MyRareGuitars.com

The Different Strummer

There are any number of things I associate with pickup trucks (from Handicaps to gun racks), and guitars aren’t one of them.  Yet—as anyone who’s followed the recent advertising battle between the Ford F-150 and its competitors—the two sometimes flirt with the use of aluminum to optimize performance.  Certainly there more than a passing relationship between this Travis Bean TB500 and motor vehicles.

Now, Travis Bean may have owned a pickup truck, I don’t know.  But he for sure was interested in motorcycles, which he apparently raced and presumably worked on.  And it’s almost impossible not to conclude there was some crossover influence between working on motorcycles, being a machinist, and putting aluminum necks on guitars.

However, Travis Bean wasn’t the first to put vehicles and guitars together.  Back in around 1959-1960 Wandré Pioli—another motorcycle fanatic—began making aluminum-necked guitars in Milan, Italy.  Those were way cool, with weird body shapes and exotic one-off paint jobs and great names like “BB” (for Brigit Bardot!).  Some other Italians—well, depends on what you consider Sicilians who emigrated to Paris—the Jaccobacci brothers also used aluminum necks.  As far as I know, they had no interest in either motorcycles or pickup trucks, though I may be wrong about that.  It doesn’t show up in the biographies.  A little later in the 1960s—and I believe totally independently—John Veleno in Florida also used aluminum to build guitars.  He built the whole shebang out of aluminum.  I don’t think John was into motorcycles or trucks either.  He was actually a music teacher who built a guitar-shaped aluminum sign as advertisement.  A friend suggested he make a real guitar out of aluminum, so he did.  In 1967 the Messenger company of San Francisco briefly made guitars with aluminum necks.  (Eastwood offers wood-necked versions of the Wandré and Messenger guitars.)

            Anyhow, in 1974 the Travis Bean guitar concept was born.  The story is somewhat confused, obfuscated by the passing of time and varying accounts.  Bean apparently teamed up with a guitar repairman named Marc McElwee and Gary Kramer.  Kramer’s telling, given long after, has himself as the main money man and sales department.  The chronology is a bit muddled.  According to Kramer, Bean kind of lost interest before things got off the ground.  Kramer left in 1975 to start his own aluminum-necked guitar company and according to other accounts actual guitar production didn’t begin until 1976.  When the company closed down in 1979, a little over 3600 guitars and basses had been produced.

There were basically four Travis Bean models: the TB500 seen here, the slab-bodied TB1000 Standard (the most common), the carved-top TB1000 Artist, and The Wedge, whose shape you can readily imagine.   These got heavy coverage in the guitar press of the time and a lot of big stars toyed with them, including Keith Richards, Jerry Garcia, Stanley Jordan, Ace Frehley, and Slash, to mention just a few.

The TB1000s had teak bodies.  They are exceptionally cool, but also very heavy.  You’d best be in good shape to sling one around an arena rock show.  The TB1000s had humbucking pickups.

The Wedge and the TB500 models are pretty rare birds.  This TB500 was meant to be a less expensive guitar.  This one (#234, 1978) was made of magnolia wood and is considerably lighter weight.   These have single-coil pickups.  I’ve played this guitar and several Standards.  While both models are pretty nifty, I found the TB500 to be a little white bread compared to the Standard (and presumably the Artist, which was just a bit fancier version), but there’s no accounting for tastes, as they say.  Both certainly did give you plenty of sustain.  Then again, the older you get, the less interested you are in a heavy guitar!

The skinny on Beans at the time was that the aluminum  was sensitive to temperature changes, although I’m not sure if that wasn’t more about conservative guitarists trying to find a reason not to like them.  I do know that John Veleno found resistance to the feel of an aluminum neck.  That was part of Gary Kramer’s “improvement” of putting in wooden inserts on the back.  In any case, Travis Beans were a pretty interesting episode in guitar history.

In 1999 Bean announced a big comeback and a revival of the legendary Travis Bean guitars.  There were pictures of revamped, very fancy guitars that I presume were of prototypes.  I’m pretty sure the line ever made it into production, and the aluminum-necked Travis Bean guitars sank back into legend.  (Clifford) Travis Bean passed away in 2011 at age 63.  Both the Ford F-150 and Travis Bean guitars used aluminum to improve performance, albeit for completely different reason.  Even after all this time, the jury’s still out on that!

Hell On Wheels from MyRareGuitars.com

You rip into the first bend, and *SNAP* – your heart sinks as your once-tight B string is now a wet noodle flopping around between your fingers. You stumble through the rest of the song, frantically improvising parts that don’t require the use of that string, and when it’s all over you think to yourself “Well, I guess it’s time to put a new string on now.”

The phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” simply does not apply to guitar strings. The notion that you should only change a string if it breaks is completely backwards; even if you’re not planning on playing for thousands of screaming fans any time soon. The reality of guitar strings is that regardless of how fresh or old they are, there is always a chance that they can break. Whether you’re a seasoned pro with a guitar tech changing your strings every night, or a basement player with strings that haven’t been changed in months, a break can happen. With regular re-strings and proper instrument maintenance, however, it is far less likely that a break will occur, and you’ll be more likely to make it through a song with all six strings intact.

Why?

Strings can break for many reasons, and one of the biggest culprits for breakage is corrosion. Dead skin, sweat, and dirt build up on the strings over time, causing their metals to break down. The longer you leave the string on, the less stable it is going to become and make it more likely to break. Even if you aren’t regularly playing the instrument, the moisture content in the air will have a similar effect on the strings – it just might take a little longer than if you were playing it.

That said, you can’t always blame the string when one breaks. If you’re consistently having issues with strings breaking, it might be a good idea to take a look at the bridge saddles, nut slots, or machine heads. Something could be sharp, or perhaps catching the string in a way it shouldn’t be.

Alright, enough about breaking strings! Preventing a string break is not the only reason for a change. In fact, it’s more of a byproduct of the real reasons.

Just as corrosion can lead to an eventual break, it also causes the string to not function to its full potential. A string covered in grime won’t resonate properly, and will sound dull and lifeless. On top of that, an older string has been under a lot of tension for a longer period of time. This means that it has been stretched more, which can result in more difficulty staying in tune. Changing your strings before they get to the point where they are coated in grime, corroded, or stretched to oblivion will keep them sounding fresh, lustrous, in tune, as well as help prevent them from breaking mid-song.

So then, the question becomes how do you know when a string is passed its expiry and it is time to change it?

For the more experienced player, it turns into a preference thing. Some players like the snappy sound of a brand new string, while others prefer the sound of strings that have been “broken in” a bit; maybe a couple days’ or even a week’s worth of play on them. Obviously not everyone has the luxury of being able to change strings every few days, so as a general rule of thumb I’d recommend aiming for a time period between two weeks and one month. Before you’re able to decide what it is you really like, there are a few things you can consider.

1. Look and feel

If your strings are looking dull, or even black – and feel rough or sticky, it’s probably time to swap them out.

2. Sound and tuning

If your strings don’t sound as clear or present as you remember, and you’re having difficulty keeping your guitar in tune, you may want to change your strings.

3. Playing live or recording soon?

If you’ve got a date set, and can’t remember when you changed your strings last, then it’s a safe bet to change them up. Make sure you swap them out at least a few hours before you plan on hitting the stage though – brand new strings have a tendency of falling out of tune as they aren’t yet used to being brought to tension.

4. Budget

Of course, everything costs money. The best thing you can do is learn to properly re-string by yourself, and use a quality brand string. Make sure you use the same gauge strings as you had on your guitar previously, as changing sizes may throw your guitar’s neck out of whack… meaning you’ll need to spend more time or money to get it set-it up right!

That’s it, in a nutshell! As long as you keep these things in mind, you should be able to maintain a great sounding and feeling instrument that will really make you want to pick it up and play!

When Should I Change my Guitar Strings? from MyRareGuitars.com

The Different Strummer

It’s curious how wildly tastes can swing in a relatively short period of time.  When, in the 1967 classic movie The Graduate, Murray Hamilton (Mr. Robinson) leans in to advise Dustin Hoffman (Benjamin Braddock) to consider a predictably successful future in “Plastics,” the very concept of “plastic” was loaded with highly negative cultural connotations.  Plastic people were disingenuous, fake, mindless pursuers of a corrupted American Dream that created the Viet Nam War.  Yet only a couple years earlier plastic was viewed as an ideal way to add beauty and attraction to a guitar such as this 1965 Avanti solid-body!

The term “plastic” comes from Greek and more or less means “moldable.”  Moldable natural materials have been used for millennia, but synthetic or man-made plastics date from mid-19^th Century America.  At that time, the economy was shifting from agrarian to industrial.  A part of this shift was increasing demand for consumer goods by larger numbers of people.  Many of these products had traditionally been fashioned from natural materials.  For example, hair combs were carved out of bone.  Tortoise shell used to be, well, tortoise shell!  The problem was that, as demand rose, raw materials became scarcer.  Just one example of how cultural changes affected things: cattle ranchers stopped de-horning their steers, thus decreasing the supply of horn material.

The catalyst for modern plastics was the popularity of billiards in the 19^th Century.  The growing upper middle-class found it necessary to have a billiards room (for the guys to light up cigars after dinner, you know).  Billiard balls were carved out of elephant ivory.  Enormous numbers of pachyderms were slaughtered.  Obviously, this was unsustainable.  In 1863, a contest was promoted offering $10,000 in gold to anyone who could come up with a man-made alternative.  The result was the first celluloid invented by a New York printer named John Wesley Hyatt.  Alas, early celluloid was highly flammable and prone to exploding.  Nevertheless, they eventually got the formula worked out and modern plastics were on their way.

Just when instruments began to be covered in celluloid remains to be elucidated.  However, a good candidate for the first instrument is probably the accordion, which makes sense for this guitar.  Accordion history is far less well documented than that of guitars, but in the 1850s and ‘60s accordion-making developed in and around Castelfidardo, Italy, in the northeast in the Po River delta.  The region also had a guitar-making heritage.  Castelfidardo remains the center of accordion-making to this day.  Accordions came to the U.S. in the early 20^th Century and became popular by the ‘teens primarily through the Italian immigrants Pietro and Guido Deiro, who recorded extensively for Victor.  Sears sold Castelfidardo-brand accordions around this time with glued-on celluloid, including sparkle.  By the 1940s accordion technology had evolved to include covering curved surfaces in celluloid.

In the early 1950s there was an accordion craze among young Baby Boomers—my sister was captivated—but it fizzled out mid-decade.  This left the accordion makers—and importers—sitting with lots of capability and a greatly reduced market.  Fortunately for the accordion makers, the region of Italy where they existed was also home to a guitar-making tradition.  When Baby Boomers started turning to guitars later in the decade and into the 1960s, many accordion makers—EKO most famously (or actually Oliviero Pigini, EKO’s maker)—threw their hats into the guitar ring.  It was only natural that they should hit on covering guitar bodies in celluloid, just like their accordions!

As far as I know, EKO was the first to start making plastic covered guitars in around 1962 or ’63.  This Avanti was imported by European Crafts of Los Angeles I’m guessing around 1965.  European Crafts was importing Italian made solid-bodies at least by December of 1964, most made in Castelfidardo by the Polverini Brothers.  Presumably, this is one of those.  This is actually a pretty serviceable guitar once you’ve set it up right.  There are some amusing features, like the fake truss rod cover (the rod adjusts at the body).  What can I say?  They made accordions, didn’t they?  The pickups are controlled by a 4-way rotary switch that gives you neck, middle, bridge, all.  But really, the story here is plastic meant to look like root beer barrel candy!  Yummy!

Now, there’s nothing I love more than highly figured woods on my guitars, but root beer barrel candy plastic?  What’s not to love?  For better or worse, guitars like this Avanti were kind of yesterday’s news.  They were fine for combos in matching collarless suits with matching guitars.  But Dylan had “gone electric” and folk rock was hot.  And someone was, no doubt, working on the script of The Graduate.  Of course, there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since this Avanti appeared and today we recycle plastic.  So, show me a root beer barrel candy-coated guitar and I’m all in!  Plastics!

Roll Out the Barrel, And We’ll Have a Barrel of Fun! from MyRareGuitars.com

The guitar is something that yes, has had various updates and reworks – but fundamentally, it’s really just the same as it’s always been. Six strings and a piece of wood, maybe throw in some electronics if that’s your thing… an E note is an E note and a B is a B, these are all things that haven’t changed.
Perhaps what has changed more so over the years than the guitar itself is the way in which they are played. Musicians who have experimented, looked for new ways to approach things and for ways to make sounds never before heard on a guitar are what make the instrument so versatile today. Here’s a few techniques we all know about and where they came from:

1. The Power Chord

How would punk and thrash metal have got anywhere if it weren’t for the use of these raw, stripped down, straight to the point delights of sound?
The power chord is, simply put, two notes played at the same time. They consist of a root note, and that note’s perfect fifth. While in theory, this sort of chord may have been used in music way before Pete Townsend blasted them out with his “windmill” strums, but it was the sound of over-driven guitars and rock music that really made them popular.
When you play more “full” chords with major or minor intervals, and add a bunch of gain and distortion to it, often times the resulting sound can become very messy and unclear – especially when paired with a full rock band. The frequencies within the two notes of a power chord mesh with each other in a way that allows them to remain clear, allowing you to crank the gain and really put some “power” behind your playing. A nice bonus is the fact that the shape of the chord remains constant all the way up and down the neck, allowing you to move between playing the chord and riffing much easier.
Use of the power chord on the guitar can be traced back to the early ’50s, in both Willie Johnson and Pat Hare’s playing – but perhaps the first mainstream and recognizable use would be by Link Wray in his hit song “Rumble”.

2.Controlled Feedback

When the electric guitar was first invented as an instrument, feedback was an unwanted noise that came along whenever a guitar was played at high volume levels. Over time, methods were discovered that could significantly reduce and even prevent these noises from occurring. However, at some point in time somebody said “but I want that sound… how can we use that in my song?”
Allegedly, the first known deliberate use of Feedback in a rock song appears in the intro to “I Feel Fine” by the Beatles. John Lennon created the sound by leaning his semi-acoustic guitar against a guitar amp. Since then, controlled feedback and noise has been used by guitarists everywhere,  most notably by artists like Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Pete Townsend, and Lou Reed. More recently, manipulated feedback has become a signature sound among noise rockers and shredders alike, being featured in recordings and live performances by artists including Sonic Youth, Steve Vai, Nirvana, Tool, Nine Inch Nails, and Robert Fripp. Speaking of Robert Fripp, here’s an interesting quote from Tony Visconti on Robert’s work on David Bowie’s “Heroes”:
“Fripp [stood] in the right place with his volume up at the right level and getting feedback…Fripp had a technique in those days where he measured the distance between the guitar and the speaker where each note would feed back. For instance, an ‘A’ would feed back maybe at about four feet from the speaker, whereas a ‘G’ would feed back maybe three and a half feet from it. He had a strip that they would place on the floor, and when he was playing the note ‘F’ sharp he would stand on the strip’s ‘F’ sharp point and ‘F’ sharp would feed back better. He really worked this out to a fine science, and we were playing this at a terrific level in the studio, too.”

3. Fingerpicking

This may seem so second nature that it’s hard to believe that someone, at some point in time had to come up with this as a method of playing. It’s not that playing an instrument with one’s fingers was first done on a guitar, but there have been so many evolutions and intricacies of this method particular to the guitar that I couldn’t go without mentioning it.
Fingerpicking is what you could refer to as a sub-category of the term “fingerstyle guitar”, which is a broader term used to describe the “playing of a guitar with one’s fingers”. Specifically, fingerpicking as a technique is used to play types of folk, country, blues, and rock music, and can be dated back to the days of “Ragtime” music in the early 20th century. As ragtime became popular, southern blues-guitar players sought to mimic the piano style by using their thumb as the pianist’s left hand, and their other fingers as the right. As a result, the style typically incorporates a steady rhythm pattern using the thumb on the bass strings, and a melody using the index, middle, and ring fingers on the treble strings.
Some of the earliest known recordings of this style can be heard by blues guitarists Blind Blake, Mississippi John Hurt, and Memphis Minnie. It wasn’t long before country artists such as Merle Travis and Chet Atkins picked up on the style, and added their own signature twist to it. Since then, countless guitarists have used this style across a wide spectrum of music, all contributing to the technique we know today.

4. “Sweep” Picking

Perhaps most widely associated with speed-metal and shredding these days, the origins of the “sweep” are heavily rooted in Jazz. The technique was first used by virtuoso jazz guitarists Barney Kessel, Les Paul, and Tal Farlow in the ’50s, and didn’t make its way into the mainstream rock world until Ritchie Blackmore and Steve Hackett brought it there in the ’70s and ’80s. In the early ’90s, jazz-fusion guitarist Frank Gambale brought sweep picking into the limelight with both his music, and his instructional video / book about the technique. Today, it’s rare that you’d hear a new speed metal band that doesn’t use this technique, and shred guitarists like Yngwie Malmsteen love to use these all over their solos.
This technique is essentially the playing of arpeggios at a very high rate of speed. That said, the way in which you pick the strings is not how you would typically pluck individual notes. In order to achieve such a high speed, it’s almost as if you are strumming a chord. Your picking hand moves in one fluid motion, while your fretting hand takes care of the note selection. This is a tricky technique to master, but an impressive one once you wrap your head around it!

5. Guitar Tapping

Tapping is not a technique that is exclusive to the guitar. It can be done on virtually any stringed instrument – in fact there are instruments like the Chapman Stick that require the use of this method in order to play it. The technique can be done with either one or two hands, and involves the repetitive use of hammer-ons and pull-offs (“tapping” the fingerboard) to create notes.
Similar techniques have been around for centuries, both having been used on instruments like the violin or the Turkish baglama, but the first known usage of tapping on a guitar didn’t happen until sometime in the mid-20th century. This is where things get a little foggy – ask ten guitarists who invented tapping and you’ll get ten different answers!
There is footage of Roy Smeck using the technique on a ukulele in 1932, and Harry DeArmond is alleged to have used a sort of two-hand-technique to test his pickups. Jazz guitarists like Barney Kessell are said to have used the technique in the ’50s and ’60s, and Chet Atkins did it in the ’70s – around the same time that tapping started to be seen in rock and roll. Steve Hackett, Leslie West, Frank Zappa, and Billy Gibbons are all known to have utilized the technique at this time, but the one who really launched it into the mainstream was Eddie van Halen. When his guitar solo “Eruption” was released to the world, it was like nothing ever heard before.
Regardless of who “invented” the technique, what’s important is that all of these musicians helped make it what it is today. Tapping is just another technique that’s hard to imagine the guitar being without.

Five Guitar Techniques and the Players Who Made Them Famous from MyRareGuitars.com

The Different Strummer

It’s odd that I never thought of things this way before but it was encountering Japanese guitars that started me on the road to writing guitar history.  It was probably more about coincidence—and me being cheap—than any sort of far-sighted strategy, maybe salted with a generous dash of aesthetic appreciation.  In fact, it was this very Japanese Yamaha SC-600 that provided the “Aha” moment!

I began shopping for electric guitars in the mid-1980s after I finally started holding on to decent paying jobs.  I’d been an acoustic player for several decades and thought I ought to have a solidbody electric.  I had a radio show at the time and spent a lot of time combing through record bins looking for interesting guitar records.  This brought me in contact with lots of 2^nd-hand stores of various types, where you’d occasionally encounter a guitar.  I was on a record mission at this sort of pawn shop in New Jersey when I found my first, a Japanese-made, 4-pickup 1967 Kent with birdseye maple top and back laminates and this really groovy wide, almost Baroque black and white plastic strips on the side.  It spoke to me and at around $80 was quickly mine.

A few more guitars followed until the day I walked into Lou’s Pawn Shop in Upper Darby, PA.  It’s still there, actually.  That’s when this red beauty reached out to me.  It cost more than $80, but not a fortune.  Back then, Japanese guitars were considered “used guitars,” not in any way collectible.  That denomination was reserved for Pre-War Martins and old Les Pauls and Strats…American guitars.  There were whole books about those.  Nothing about Kents or Yamahas.  Nada.

Every time I would find one of these mysterious beauties, I’d ask the seller, “What’s the story about this guitar?”  And the seller would invariably shrug his shoulders and utter, “I dunno.”  It would kind of annoy me.  But by the time I got to this Yamaha, I’d heard the same ignorant response numerous times.  That’s when, like the Blues Brothers watching James Brown, the light turned on.  I was on a mission from God.  I would figure out the stories of these unloved guitars and tell them.  I called the editor of the then fairly new Vintage Guitar Magazine and asked if he’d be interested in publishing these stories and I’ve never looked back since.  Fortunately, the world has come a long way, baby, since those days in the desert!

So, what was it that caught my eye that day?  Obviously being a nice cherry red helped.  And that distinctive shape, which turned out to have more significance that I knew at the time.  Then I saw that it was a neck-through-body guitar, a feature that was highly prized back then.  Then I cast my gaze over that arm contour, realizing that Yamaha had built a “sandwich” with an alder core between a thin layer of mahogany topped with nicely figured ash.  Slice through that sandwich at an angle and you get a really gorgeous guitar!  I’m usually more of a humbucker than single-coil kind of guy, but these are beefy units and the five-way switch gives you those coveted glassy out-of-phase sounds.

It was only years later that I realized that the Yamaha SC-600 was actually a take—sort of a revival of—on a classic Yamaha design from the 1960s, the “Blue Jeans” models that were unique models, sold only domestically (or at least in Asia), inspired by the Mosrite Ventures guitars so beloved in Japan.  Yamaha kind of got sidetracked in the mid-1970s when its SG series of double-cutaway solids found considerable popularity—and great press coverage—thanks largely due to the endorsement by Carlos Santana.

As much as I liked the SC-600, I think I was pretty much in a minority.  The model was not especially well-received, at least in the U.S., and these were only offered in 1981 and ’82.  The SC-600 had a companion SC-400 that was also a pretty guitar, differing in that it had a set-in neck and the body was flat with no arm contour.  I have no idea it these are especially rare, but with such a short production timeline, they’re probably not plentiful.  Contrary to popular opinion, no Japanese guitar companies were selling boat-loads of guitars yet in 1982.  Certainly I had no one competing against me for that SC-600 the day I walked into Lou’s and the salesman shrugged his shoulders in yet another “I dunno.”

One never knows what path his or her life will take, of course.  I may have been destined to write guitar history even if I hadn’t heard the siren call of those Japanese guitars back in the 1980s.  But finding all those great Japanese guitar designs, pretty much unwanted, unloved, and unknown—and not expensive—certainly turned into a mission from God!

Heeding the Siren Call from MyRareGuitars.com

1. Loose Volume / Tone Knob

When the nut that holds a potentiometer (pot) in place is tight enough to hold it still, turning the knob simply rotates the pot’s shaft, giving you that volume or tone change. Here’s something I’ve heard a number of times: “well, my knob was just loose at first but now my guitar doesn’t even work!” So, what happens when it feels loose? The problem is that when you turn a knob that is not securely fastened to the body, chances are you’re turning the whole pot inside the guitar. Doing this will also rotate all the wires connected to the pot, potentially ripping them off or causing them to short somewhere.
So if you don’t want to rip wires off, (which you shouldn’t), the answer would of course be to tighten the bolt that holds the pot in place. Herein lies the next problem: once the bolt is tight enough to grip the pot (but not quite tight enough to hold it in place), just turning the bolt can also turn the whole potentiometer. The trick is to make sure you hold the pot’s shaft still while turning the bolt. I like to use a flat-head screw-driver in the slot to keep it still while tightening.

2. Loose Output Jack

There’s a couple different ways your output jack can be loose. One: your cable just seems to fall out, and two: the whole jack wiggles around. In the first case, more often than not you can fix this by adjusting the jack’s contact on the inside.
Take the jack assembly off, and plug your cable in. You can see where the cable’s connector makes contact – that long curved metal thingy. This is the piece that holds the cable in, so by removing your cable and gently pushing this piece inward, you should be able to create a better “lock” for your cable.
If your problem is that the whole output jack is loose, you have a similar problem to what I mentioned about the loose volume / tone knobs. You don’t want to just turn the bolt, you need to be able to hold the whole jack still while turning or risk ripping off more wires. The best way to do this would be to take the jack out, and literally hold it with your hand while tightening the bolt.

3. Loose Strap Buttons

It’s not uncommon for a strap button to spin in its place. While this might not seem like a big deal, if you aren’t using strap locks this makes it easier for your strap to slip off. Also, enough movement can gradually wear the hole that the button’s screw is set into, and eventually just not be secure anymore.
Typically, the cause for a loose strap button is that the screw just isn’t biting into enough wood. The simplest solution to this is to, well, add some wood. Toothpicks are great for this – simply remove the strap button, break up a couple toothpicks and put them in the screw-hole. You’ll notice a much more snug fit immediately.

4. Sympathetic Buzzing Sounds

Ahh the dreaded buzz. Most often, an annoying buzz is caused by a poor set-up or messed up frets. Occasionally, a different sort of buzz can appear from an entirely different source. These are tricky to pinpoint, but keeping with the theme of fixing loose components, sometimes you can erase these pesky sounds by tightening everything!
When you pluck a string, more than just that string vibrates. Everything on the guitar vibrates, so if there’s a particular component that’s loose, there’s a chance it will rattle. Confirm that every screw and bolt on the guitar is snug, from the machine heads to the saddles, and you may just save yourself a repair bill just by turning some screws!

5. Grime-encrusted Fretboard

Okay, so here’s the odd one out. No need to tighten anything here! Cleaning your fretboard may seem obvious, but doing it effectively isn’t always carried out. One of the big problems with keeping dirt on your fretboard (among others) is that things can build up underneath your frets, and eventually end up raising them. The last thing you want to do is bring your guitar for a fret level because too much dirt built up underneath the frets.
To really clean out your fretboard, I recommend spraying the board with a few spritzes of a bio-degradable cleaning solution (such as Simple Green), and then scrubbing with a toothbrush. Get in nice and close to the frets with the brush to try and remove any build-up that may already be present. As soon as you’re done scrubbing, wipe off the solution, and apply your lemon oil. You don’t need to do this every time you change strings, it really depends how much you play and.. how dirty your hands are. Which leads me to another point: wash your hands before you play! Your future self (and your guitar) will thank you.

Guitar Care 101 from MyRareGuitars.com

The Different Strummer

Back in the early 1990s I did a few “guitar shows” for my son’s primary school classes, basically a show-n-tell with half a dozen guitars in various shapes and colors.  I’d conclude with “Swamp Thing,” the then-popular TV show theme adaptation of the Troggs’ classic.

At the end, I’d ask the kids which was their favorite guitar.  The verdict would vary except one of the finalists always included the Bond Electraglide.  Dead cool black carbon graphite and LEDs.

Yeah, man, LEDs!  I confess I was probably drawn to the Bond for much the same reasons as those kids!  I mean, what’s not to like about a unibody molded carbon graphite guitar with pressure switches read on LED displays and without frets.

Rewind that.  “Without frets?”  Curiouser and curiouser.

The Bond Electraglide was one of those weird bursts of genius in guitar history that turned into a weird bust.  The Bond in question was a Scotsman named Andrew Bond.  Bond’s original idea was for the fretless fingerboard, which he dubbed a “pitchboard.”  In a Guitar Player product review at the time we learn that Bond originally put one on an acoustic guitar way back in 1972.  For me the pitchboard is the most troublesome feature of the Bond.  Instead of inlaid metal frets, the pitchboard consists of a succession of triangular structures where the angle point serves as the tonal point of contact with the string.  Or the “fret.”  The theory is that this greatly reduces friction and thereby increases your playing speed, I think.  The feel of this design is sort of like a scalloped fingerboard.  My problem when I try to play one of these is that for some reason I have trouble navigating.  I keep overshooting the note I’m aiming for because I don’t feel the metal fret.  Maybe it’s just me.

Well it probably wasn’t just me, because, as you probably know, the Bond Electraglide didn’t take the guitar world by storm.  But then there are those LEDs.  The electronic controls on the Electraglide were designed by one Dave Siddeley.  Basically, those three rocker switches are on-offs for the three pickups, color coded red, yellow and green.  The bridge and neck pickups are humbuckers, with the middle unit being a single-coil.  The top three push-buttons on that five-button assembly are for volume, bass, and treble.  To set the level you hold them down to set from 0 to 10.  The two lower buttons switch the humbuckers in and out of phase.  Now, let’s review.  There will be a test.

1. We may have uncovered another problem with the Bond. While the controls are not difficult, there’s a lot of button pushing to do.  While staring at an LED screen.  Sort of like driving and texting.  You end up kind of figuring out a sound you like and sticking to it.  But the LEDs sure do look cool.

One other person involved with the Bond was Dave Stewart, guitarist with the Scottish duo The Eurythmics.  The guitar does have a look that went with that band’s sort of disco-y, high-tech, New Wavey style.  The Bonds were made in Scotland and distributed in the U.S. by Unicord, the company that did the Univox brand back in the day.  The Bond Electraglide was introduced in 1984 and dropped by the wayside in 1986.  They were pretty pricey, with a list price of $1,195 for a stoptail, $1,295 for a vibrato version.  They came with a transformer box, locking strap, and hardshell case.

The Bond Electraglide provides a great example of how you can overthink things when it comes to guitars.  Guitar players are notoriously conservative blokes.  Give us a threeway switch and a couple knobs.  For the more adventuresome, make it a fiveway!

Then again, those primary school kids who rocked out to “Swamp Thing” are part of the generation that today walks around with its nose in a cell phone, texting and driving.  There was a reason they always picked it as one of their favorites.  Maybe the Bond Electraglide was just way ahead of its time.  Maybe if we added a detachable cell phone to work the controls the Bond Electraglide the next big thing, complete with a dead cool black carbon graphite unibody and brightly colored LEDs.  It’d make your heart sing, it’d make everything…groovy.

Fretless Wonder from MyRareGuitars.com

1. It’s bad for your guitar to remove all the strings at the same time when re-stringing your guitar.

When you take your guitar to a tech or a luthier for any sort of fret work, they’re most likely going to be taking all the strings off to grant themselves proper access to the frets. As long as the string tension is reduced gradually, then there’s nothing wrong with taking all the strings off at the same time. What you want to avoid is cutting the strings while they are still tuned to pitch – the drastic drop in tension could potentially cause harm. Also, if your guitar has a floating bridge, you will actually save yourself time by re-stringing it one string at a time. Maintaining as much tension as you can during the re-string process will make it easier to balance the spring tension afterwards, if you even need to.

2. “My guitar has a bad hum, and when I touch the strings / bridge / metal knobs it goes away. It must not be grounded properly!”

I hear this one all the time. Naturally, one would assume that your body is acting as a ground, soaking up that hum when touching these components. The thing that seems to be forgotten is that your body naturally creates electricity. If you had an improper or reversed ground, touching anything metal on the guitar would actually just cause your body’s electrical noise to be amplified, thus increasing that nauseating buzz sound. If the hum gets quieter when touching metal guitar components, it’s actually a sign that your guitar is grounded properly.
Pretty much every guitar has some sort of 60 cycle hum that is more evident at higher volumes. If you find a guitar that seems to have a worse buzz than another one, it is likely due to a problem with shielding rather than grounding. It is actually amplifying electrical noises from outside the guitar’s circuit. There are things you can do to help with shielding problems such as using higher quality cabling, better pots and wiring, or even rimming the electronics compartment with tin foil – but at the end of the day, you will most likely never quite get rid of that noise entirely. It just comes with the territory!

3. Playing an un-grounded guitar is extremely dangerous!

Well, maybe for your ears it is. The amount of amperage an electric guitar produces simply isn’t enough to be lethal, or even cause any harm. What you need to be wary of is your amplifier, and the source you are plugging it into. People have literally died in the past from amplifiers that were not properly grounded. So if you notice a shock when you touch your strings, or when your lips touch the microphone while playing, it might be a good idea to get your amp and wall outlet checked out!

4. “Your tune-o-matic bridge is on backwards.”

This is a common issue you’ll find players debating. When you look at a tune-o-matic bridge, the intonation adjustment screws are on one side only. The argument is always over which side these should be facing for the bridge to be on “properly”. Quite frankly, it doesn’t matter. There is no universal right or wrong direction for the bridge to be on; it should be placed in the direction that makes the most sense for the particular guitar it is on. For example, if your bridge happens to be located really close to your bridge pickup, and you like your bridge pickup to sit rather close to the strings, it might be in your best interest to have the intonation adjustment screws facing the tail of the guitar. That way it’s not impossible to intonate.
Many tune-o-matic bridges feature 3 saddles facing one direction, while the other three face the opposite way. Others feature saddles all angled the same direction. Here’s a quick doodle I did to help picture a saddle from the side:

Consider this: depending on the break-angle of the string, it may be best to have the intonation screws facing the pickups as shown here. In rare occasions the break is so great that the string makes contact with the screw, which is of course not something you want.
Also in the diagram, you can see that the string rests on the saddle at its leftmost side. This means you have more room to shorten the string than you do to lengthen it. If your E string’s saddle is facing this way, for example, and it consistently intonates too sharp (even with the saddle pushed all the way to the right), consider flipping the bridge or saddles. With the saddles  facing the opposite direction, this will give you almost an entire saddle’s length extra to lengthen the string!

5. A Nitro-finished electric guitar sounds better than a poly-finished one.

To me, this is just a similar argument to “a les paul sounds better than a strat”. It’s entirely subjective. Is there even a difference? I don’t know, I’ve never A-B’d two identical guitars that had the same weight, wood, shape, and electronics, but one had a nitro finish and the other had poly. Some would argue that poly “chokes” the resonance of the guitar more than nitro does, therefore making for an inferior sounding instrument. I can see such an argument holding more water for an acoustic guitar – these are entirely dependent upon their wood and the way it vibrates. That said, I’m not really convinced that a slightly thicker compound would ruin the tone of an electric guitar. Sure, the finish might look, feel, and age differently, but I’m not going to squander the opportunity to try out a potentially great sounding guitar just because of its finish. If I play a guitar and like how it sounds, then it sounds good. That’s my criteria, anyway…

6. You need to have natural talent to become a “guitar god”.

I find that this would be almost insulting to every “guitar god” out there. It’s as if to say they inherited their talent rather than worked for it, when in fact these musicians worked very hard to be able to do what they do. It’s true that if you’re brought up on music, then maybe you’ll have a bit of a knack for it when you decide to start playing an instrument – but it still requires a lot of dedication and practise. If anything, it could be argued that you need good people/business skills coupled with skill and ability to become a “guitar god”. There are and have been TONS of incredible guitar players out there that we’ve probably never heard of because in the music business, there’s more to it than just being “really really good”.

7. You need to practise for several hours each day to become a good player.

To this I say: quality over quantity. You could practise for 8 hours a day and go nowhere if you aren’t being productive about it. Without proper instruction, research, and practise, you can easily end up developing bad habits that hinder your overall playing, or just spend too much time on something that isn’t helping you. Thirty minutes to an hour of focused, co-ordinated practise is more than enough to keep you on track and on your way to becoming a good guitarist. Private lessons are also a great way to help you establish a good practise routine.

8.  You need a 100 watt stack amp if you want to play in a loud rock band.

Unless you plan on playing in a sold out arena or stadium some time soon, then you really don’t need that much power. Keep this in mind: twice as much wattage is not synonymous with twice as much volume. It actually takes ten times the output power to effectively double the human ear’s perception of volume. In other words, if you were thinking of getting an amp that could be twice as loud as a 50 watt, you would need a 500 watt – not a 100.
If the typical venue you’ll be playing in is a bar, or a small theater, you probably won’t be able to set your 100 watt amp’s level too high before your bandmates (and the sound technician) are screaming at you to turn down. The problem is, in order to get the best tone out of your amp, normally you need to run it pretty hot. Using a 30 – 50 watt amp is more than enough to allow you to play at a good level and achieve the tone you want for a decent sized venue. Not to mention you can easily get mic’d up and run through the sound board for a better control over the mix!

9. The fatter the string, the better the tone.

Once again, we have a subjective statement. To me, this phrase should be “the fatter the string, the different the tone”. Artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Zak Wylde have been known for creating unbelievable tones using their super thick gauge strings. That’s a fact; these are two incredible, individual guitar tones that are “owned” by these two artists. That said, there are other guitarists who have created super heavy sounds using thin strings. James Hetfield? .009. Eddie Van Halen? Also .009. Jimmy Page? He prefers .008! My advice: use what feels and sounds good to you.

10. If it’s not “brand name”, it’s crap.

I think this is society’s fault. We feel this way about everything… Going for a run? Get a pair of Nike’s! Want to go for a coffee? Only if it’s Starbucks! Name two good guitar brands… I bet you just thought of two words that rhyme with “blender” and “bibson”.
That’s not to say that these brands aren’t good – many of the guitars they make are! They’re the big guys who have stood the test of time, and they’ve done so for a reason. Partially because they started off with a great product, and partially because of advertising and word of mouth. What you need to remember though is that just because it has the name on the headstock, that doesn’t make it good. These brands make various quality levels of instruments, and while their higher-end stuff might be fantastic, their lower end guitars really aren’t any different from others at the same price-point. You could take two of the exact same model guitar priced at, say, $700 and one could be incredible, and the other a dud – especially when coming from such large, mass production facilities.
The best coffee I’ve ever had is from a small, family-run restaurant near my hometown. Not a Starbucks. In my opinion, the best guitar you’ll ever play could be one built by a local luthier specifically for you. That doesn’t sound like crap to me!

Debunking Ten Common Guitar Myths from MyRareGuitars.com

OK, maybe not that real. The idea that one guitar pick (Satan’s tooth or not) can turn you into a guitar god might be downright ludicrous, but the thought that your playing and tone can be improved by using a different pick isn’t so far-fetched.
Picture this if you will: you’re playing your guitar, and you’re unhappy with your tone. It’s not full enough! We’ve all been there, and chances are one of the first things to pop into your head was “Gee, I need a new guitar. Or an amp… or both”.

Now, new stuff is fun and all, but personally I’m all for not spending thousands of dollars (or fighting Satan) if I can fix a tonal problem for virtually zero cost. One such way would be by experimenting with different picks.

The three big factors you need to pay attention to when looking for the right pick to use would be it’s thickness, shape, and material. Using a super thin pick, for example, means that when you play,  a lot of force is spent on the bending of the pick instead of the plucking of the string. Consequently, you get a much quieter and thinner tone. While the vibrational note of the string may be quieter, the percussive “picking” sound against the string is actually amplified as the thin pick slaps-back. For this reason, a thinner pick can be used if you’re looking for a softer, rhythmic strumming sound, almost as though a washboard is playing in the background.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a more articulate, loud and full sound, you might want to look into trying out a thicker pick. Any style of playing where you need to be able to move quickly and freely between strings, tremolo pick, or hit loud and nasty chords would work better with a substantial pick in your hand. Just try some fast tremolo picking with a super floppy pick – it won’t really work. You need the pick to be able to glide through the strings, not get caught and flop around.

In addition to thickness, what the pick is made out of can impact your playing in a couple of ways. First, the attack and resonance of a string can be slightly altered by the pick’s material. For example, if you took a metal coin and plucked your strings, then did the same with a pick of the same thickness, you will notice a difference in sound. Picks have been made of all kinds of things.. plastic, metal, tortoise shell, even stone. That said, some are more common than others, and in stores, the three most likely you will see would be plastic, nylon, and “tortex”. You’ll really just have to experiment with different materials to find what you like. A thick plastic, rounded pick can work well for playing that requires a heavy attack and smooth articulation, while nylon might work well if you prefer a thinner pick. Personally, I’m a fan of “tortex”.

Back in the day, the material heralded as the absolute best for guitar picks was real tortoise-shell. I’ve never used one, but have heard time and again that the feel and sound from these is second-to-none. “Tortex” is a plastic material crafted by Dunlop to resemble real tortoise shell. While I can’t say from experience whether or not they successfully achieved this, I can say they successfully made my pick of choice! I think it’s something about their look and feel. Shiny plastic just looks and feels cheap to me, while these have some sort of grittiness to them that not only feels nice, but makes them easier to grip. As a matter of fact, I still have one of my first ones. Check it out! (on the right, of course.)

All in all, once again it’s just about experimentation. Using one guitar, try switching between a few different picks. You’ll be amazed at the difference in tone and feel.

Happy playing!

Tips on Tones: Issue #22 from MyRareGuitars.com

The Different Strummer

I’ve always been a sucker for oddball guitars.  A LaBaye 2×4?  You bet!  A Bunker Astral Series Sunstar?  Yup!  A Jay Turser Shark?  O’Hagan Shark?  Of course.  So, when a chance to get a moon-shaped guitars beckoned, the call was irresistible.  Now, despite its hallowed place in the annals of electric guitar history, the LaBaye 2×4 is, in reality, pretty much a novelty.  The Kawai MS-700 MoonSault, on the other hand, is one serious guitar.

Ironically, while Japanese guitar-makers made their reputations by making copies (more or less) of popular guitar models since the early 1960s, at least, there has always been an opposing stream of Japanese guitar design.  To the yin of guitars that look like European and American models has been juxtaposed a yang of uniquely Japanese designs.  For every Burns Bison of EKO Violin guitar inspiration there were a a few Kawai Concerts or Teisco May Queens.  For every Les Paul and Strat there were a few Ibanez Icemen or Kawai MoonSaults.

I think in some ways, these original guitar shapes can be seen as a manifestation of Japanese pride.  As in, all right, I’ll make copies of your Les Pauls in order to sell guitars and gain market share and keep people working.  But I’m going to build this totally unique guitar, too.  Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.

The Teisco May Queens and Kawai Concerts of the 1960s were a bit too radical to find much acceptance in Western markets.  I don’t even think Japanese companies ever really pushed them for exports and very few American importers were interested in try to sell them.  Plus, those guitars appeared in around 1967 and ’68.  By that time popular music was well on its way to worshipping the guitar god, like Jimi or Eric.  No way either of them would show up to a stadium playing a May Queen.

As near as I can tell, guitars like the Iceman and MoonSault—and a few others—showed up right around 1975 or thereabouts, ironically just as the ‘70s “copy era” was kicking into high gear.  Like I said, it’s hard not to see this 2^nd wave of Japanese designs  as a reaction.  The difference this time was that they appeared just as glam rock was becoming popular.  Axemen in platform shoes, full costumes and Kabuki make-up didn’t have any problem at all showing up with a Kramer Axe or Ibanez Iceman.  It made the act all that much more outrageous.  In your eye, mom and dad!

The Iceman, made by FujiGen Gakki, and Kawai’s MoonSault, seem to be the only of these exotic Japanese designs to make it to North America.  Thanks to KISS, the Iceman was the more successful of the two.  I don’t think that tons were ever made, but it became a mainstay of the Ibanez catalog for some time.  Fuji also made some Greco versions for domestic consumption.  Kawai did promote the MoonSault, but Kawai didn’t have an American subsidiary (Ibanez had Elger Guitars), nor did it ever have a Gene Simmons.  If I’m not mistaken, Devo briefly played a MoonSault, but by Devo’s time serious rifts in the music industry were already becoming apparent, and guitar players didn’t rush out to buy what Mark Mothersbaugh played.  So, Kawai MoonSaults are pretty rare birds.

Of the rare MoonSaults, this MS-700 is an even rarer example.  These were only built from December of 1982 to April of 1983, maybe 5 months.  This guitar has a serial number of D-150, which I presume to mean December, guitar number 150.  The blue-silverburst finish was very popular for a brief period during the early 1980s.  I never cared much for it, even though it qualifies as oddball, I think! 

I don’t know what the body on this is, but the neck is glued-in mahogany and I suspect so is the body.  Note the abalone phases of the moon for position markers!  Many pickups from this era were Gotohs, but I don’t know what these are.  They scream.  There’s a master volume control and a tone control for each humbucker.  Those are push-pull pots that give you a coil tap and phase reversal.  I love this kind of tonal versatility.

The MoonSault offers great visual imagery, but if, like me, you haven’t played in a band for more time than some readers have been alive, you might, like me, enjoy playing sitting down.  A Vee actually sits nicely on your right leg.  The waist of a Les Paul on your left.  A MoonSault, not so much on either!  It kind of slips and slides.  Better for the young.

But that’s no reason not to heed the call if a MoonSault ever beckons you.  This guitar was loaned to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for their ground-breaking Dangerous Curves exhibition of 1999-2000.  You can see it in the exhibition catalog.  It’s now part of the MFA’s permanent collection, a reminder of Japanese pride in their ability to design great guitars!

Bad Moon Rising from MyRareGuitars.com

The Different Strummer

I never really warmed up to headless guitars.  Oh, they were really cool looking and there’s no denying Andy Summers had real style playing a Steinberger for The Police.  But I guess I’m old fashioned.  I need a head to keep me oriented.  Still, present me with something made out of airplane material like this Modulus Graphite Flight 6 Monocoque, and I’m interested, even with no head.

Turns out this guitar is a study in contradictions.  I actually interviewed the man responsible for designing and producing this guitar—I’m pretty sure it was Modulus Graphite founder Geoff Gould, but it was so long ago, I forget.  Modulus Graphite was, as I’m sure you know, basically known for making hollow carbon fiber necks for basses and, occasionally, guitars.  Gould, who worked as an engineer in California’s aerospace industry, got the brainstorm that he could build a stronger, more uniform and more stable by using the tough and strong carbon graphite, which was employed in making lightweight but highly stress resistant components for aircraft.  This was around 1977-78.

Of course, Kaman/Ovation had already had that idea a decade earlier, but for guitar bodies (and tops), not for necks.  And, about the same time Gould was working out his neck ideas, Ned Steinberger was developing his headless, graphite basses and guitars in New York.

Gould’s idea was pretty good and well-received by bassists.  The company had a good long run, only closing down in 2013.  Modulus Graphite’s heart was primarily set on basses, but they did make a number of guitar lines, including the Genesis series and some interesting Blackknife models.  These guitars all had heads.  As near as I can tell, Modulus Graphite’s guitars were never as popular as their basses.  But then, bassists have historically been much more receptive to innovative technology than guitarists, who tend to be stuck in the wooden mud, as it were.

Probably partially inspired by Steinberger’s creations, Modulus Graphite decided to try its hand at a graphite headless guitar.  This effort resulted in 1983 in the experimental Flight 6 Monocoque guitars.  The Flight 6 name is obvious because the carbon graphite that makes up the entire guitar is aircraft material (“flight”) and it’s a 6-string guitar!  Duh.  Monocoque is a term used primarily in the aerospace industry basically meaning surface bearing structure.  In other words, the object’s “skin” provides the structural strength, like an egg.  There is no “frame” or internal structural support.

Basically this is a self-enclosed “tube” of molded carbon graphite.  I don’t really know how they made this thing, but the neck and body are all one and hollow.  There’s a brass plate at the end of the neck, to hold the strings and no doubt to provide access for wiring this puppy.  According to Gould, since this was a “high-tech” guitar, and so as to not take away from the novelty of the guitar design itself, Modulus Graphite equipped the Flight 6 Monocoque with basic guitar electronics.  The pickups are standard Seymour Duncans, a Custom at the bridge and a Jazz at the neck, with a threeway select and simple volume and tone controls.  The tuners are Gotohs.

If it was me I’d have tricked this out like a B.C. Rich, with as much tricky electronics and I could squeeze into this melted Steinberger.  How about a phase switch and coil taps?  And a preamp circuit?  I’m fine with the simple volume and tone, though.  I never could get into fiddling with micro-adjusting each individual pickup’s tone, but that’s just me.  Oh well.  Everything is, after all, a matter of taste.  But this doesn’t mean that any of this makes this guitar inadequate in any way.

This guitar really is a work of art, questions about electronics preferences aside.  It is really comfortable and, assuming you’re going to pump it through some effects, gets the job done.  Gould told me approximately how many of these were made, and it wasn’t many.  I forget the figure after all these years, but it was in the neighborhood of 20 or so.  Enough to qualify as pretty rare.

As I said, most guitar players would rather play a Les Paul or a Strat than a headless carbon graphite monocoque thingy.  Tastes for headless guitars and other oddities come and go.  One thing to consider, though. It’s been more than 30 years since the Modulus Graphite Flight 6 Monocoque guitar appeared.  It’s ultra-light.  Don’t know about you but 30 years on from my prime, I appreciate anything that’s lighter rather than heavier to schlepp around these days.  Prepare for take-off!

Seat-backs straight. Prepare for Take-off. from MyRareGuitars.com

1. Kitchen Magnet Bar

While this is of course great for holding your knives and other kitchen tools, many of the tools you will be using on your guitar are made of metal and can be kept organized by putting one of these on your wall. Having metal tools strewn about your work bench is a recipe for making scratches and dents on your instrument, and it’s simply easier to find what you’re looking for when they’re hanging right in front of you. If you plan on doing work for others, keeping a tidy work space is a major selling point for your customers. If I went to drop my guitar off with someone and saw a work desk covered in tools, glue and sawdust, I’d be headed out the door! As a sidenote: make sure the bar is installed a safe distance away from where you’re doing the work. That is, not directly above the guitar… falling tools are even worse than ones on the workbench!

2. Tape

You can use different types of tape for many different things when it comes to guitar work. The best use would of course be for protecting the guitar when you are doing other work to it. We’ve all seen the green tape on the fretboard for when you’re doing fretwork – but that’s not the only use! Electrical tape is a must if you plan on doing any soldering. If you have any bare wires, or want to tie wires together to keep things neat on the inside, a small piece of this is the best way to go. You can use the same green tape you would for fretwork for other protective purposes, too, like if you have to do any sort of drilling into the body (bigsby installations, strap button installations, etc). On top of potential damage from hard tools, glue spillage is something that can cause you more grief in the future, and is best prevented by protecting the area you are gluing with some tape. For example, if you’re gluing in a nut or filling nut slots, lay a couple strips of tape on either side to collect spillage.
Another use would be a quick-fix for loose knobs. If a knob isn’t quite grasping the pot-tabs well enough, you can wrap a small piece of tape around the tab to “increase” it’s size, and allow for a more snug fit.

3. Black Sharpie

It may not be a professional re-touching job, but you wouldn’t believe how often a black magic marker can be used to cover up blemishes. If you’ve got a dark colored guitar with a small paint chip, some black binding with a ding in it, or a dark fingerboard with an imperfection, a simple dab with a black sharpie can virtually make the problem disappear in many cases.
In addition, if not for covering up damage, a marker comes in handy for when it comes time to level and dress frets. Drawing a line down each fret will give you a good reference point of which frets are actually “getting hit” when doing your fret level, and will also be a good indicator of the “crown” on your fret after you start using a crowning file. You can check out an article for more on that here.

4. Pencil / Nut Sauce

If you find that your guitar is falling out of tune easy, or strings keep “catching” when you tune them, it could be that you need to add a little lubrication to the nut slots. An age-old trick would be filling in the nut slots with a bit of graphite, most easily accomplished by drawing into them with a pencil. It seems silly, but it works! There are also products that exist that work in the same way. such as “Big Bends Nut Sauce”, which works just as well, if not better than the graphite.

5. Glue

OK, so typically you shouldn’t need glue for your average guitar set-up, and it’s sort of the last thing you want to use when it comes to “minor” repairs – but sometimes it’s necessary. Two types of glue would suffice for general work: a white wood glue, and a super glue. Sometimes frets can lift a bit from use (especially at their ends), and buildup getting underneath them. Before jumping to filing and fret leveling, you’ll want to make sure they are seated properly. An application of super glue with some downward pressure (clamps would be best if you have them) would help seat them, and keep them in place for when it comes time to take the file to it. Another common piece to come loose is the nut. Some would argue that if the nut on your guitar is loose, to just leave it – but I prefer to have it at least secure enough that it will stay on its own without string tension. Not so much glue that you need to saw it out in the future, just a dab; enough that a gentle tap while knock it out. While we’re on the topic of using glue for the nut, it will also come in handy should you find the need to fill in your nut slots. If a string sits too low and causes fret buzz, the simple solution is to use a concoction of super glue and baking soda to fill in the slot, and re-file so the string sits at a good height. An alternative to baking soda would be some tiny shavings of the nut material your nut is made of.

6. Razor Blade

This can be your fingerboard “deep cleansing” tool. You can lemon oil your guitar neck as much as you want – the fact is, sometimes dirt and grime gets stuck in the wood fibers and right close to the frets. In order to get it out, you’d need to get rid of some of the wood that’s holding it in. Here you would use the razor blade as a scraper – stand it up so it’s 90 degrees to the fingerboard, and scrape along the wood-grain (from fret to fret.) You can use sand paper to do the same thing, I just prefer to scrape, and easily get close to each fret with the blade. When finished, some steel wool will help polish up the board, and you can then apply your lemon oil.

7. Sandpaper

As mentioned before, this can be used for cleaning tough spots on the fingerboard like the razor blade. More often, however, sandpaper will be your best friend for everything that involves fretwork. Leveling? Sandpaper stuck to leveling-beam or straight edge. Polishing? Different grits of sand paper, starting from a low grit and working your way to a higher one.
Aside from this, sandpaper makes for a good shimming material if you need it. Save a few strips of your used sandpaper – that way, if you come across a bolt-on neck that needs to be raised at the heel, you can use however much sandpaper you need to act as a shim for the neck.

8. Toothpicks

Whenever you have a loose screw, toothpicks can help tighten their bite. Simply remove the screw, and put the toothpick (or part of it) in its hole. Tighten up the screw again, and the toothpick will act as a wood filler, making the screw bite securely into the guitar again.

9. Flat Shoelace

This is a great leverage tool. Sometimes volume and tone knobs are just on too tight to be lifted by hand, and many people would jump straight for a flat-head screwdriver to pry them off. This doesn’t always end so well – plastics can crack or break, and it’s easy to slip and potentially damage the guitar. A flat shoelace slipped underneath the knob will apply even force to its underside, and it’s a soft material so you can pretty much guarantee you won’t end up breaking the knob!

10. Water and Cloth

If you’ve got a guitar that is in desperate need of a wipe-down, before jumping to the WD-40 and chemical cleaners, first try a dry cloth, then a damp cloth. You don’t want to give your guitar a bath here, so be sure to dry any wet spots as you go. In many cases you’ll find this will be enough to get the cleaning job done, and you can add a little guitar polish to shine it back up. As an added note: even before you go at it with the cloth, you may want to blow or use some compressed air to get rid of any particles that may be on the guitar. Wiping the cloth around on it without doing this may drag leftover particles and leave behind nasty surface scratches.

Ten Cheap and Handy Tools for Guitar Work from MyRareGuitars.com

At some point in your guitar-playing life, you’ll likely experience a faulty tuning key and need to replace it. Maybe your current tuners aren’t accurate enough, or seem to weigh your headstock down? Or maybe you just like the look of Kluson “green keys” instead of your Gotoh’s. Whatever the reason, it’s important to have at least somewhat of an understanding of what these things are and how they work before you spend money to replace them.

The first thing you’ll need to look at, of course, are the technical specs of the tuners you currently have to make sure you don’t cause yourself too much grief installing the next ones. The best case scenario would be you finding a set that will slip seamlessly into the peg-holes of your guitar without any modification. The next best would be the required installation of “adapter bushings”, which are basically just different thicknesses of metal used to, well, adapt to variations in diameter.

The last thing you want to end up doing is widen the peg holes. Sure, it might work – but if you’re doing this to a valuable guitar, you don’t want to be doing anything that is changing it from its original condition.
Most machine heads will show in-depth measurements of all of their components so there are no surprises when it comes time to install. A good example would be here on Stewmac’s site that shows basically everything you’d need to know as far as sizing goes.

Aside from the physical-size measurements of the peg, one of the first specs you’ll always see is a ratio such as “14:1”. This has nothing to do with the installation of the part, but rather its functionality. Now, let’s not forget the ultimate reason these things exist… to keep your guitar in tune! If you were having trouble tuning, or your tuner seemed to constantly “skip” over notes or pitches, this ratio is something you want to pay close attention to. Essentially, the higher the number, the finer the tuning you are able to do. The first number is the number of full turns it takes you to turn the peg before the inner gear completes one full cycle. Therefore, if you had something that was 1:1, you can imagine how hard it would be to zero in on any given pitch. If you feel like you want something that’s a little more precise, try to find a higher ratio tuning key. I’d recommend something 16:1 or higher.

A further method of helping keep your guitar in tune would be to invest in a set of locking tuners. They basically do what the name suggests – lock your strings in place. They help prevent string slippage without the string having to be wrapped around the peg-shaft “X” number of times, which makes for an easier re-string. At the end of the day, a string is going to go out of tune because something moved somewhere. Locking things in place is a good way of preventing that!
If you’ve ever held a really old guitar in your hands and tried to tune it, you may have seen plastic tuning pegs literally fall apart in your hands. Over time, and from lots of use, the plastic can come loose from the metal. At first this can cause tuning problems as it doesn’t properly grasp the mechanism when you turn it, and later, the piece can crumble and break. You can find high-quality keys made with plastic that will last longer than others, but if you really want something that will stand the test of time, metal is your best bet.

The last thing you might want to ask yourself when considering a new set of pegs is “will this change affect my tone?” You’ll get a different answer for this depending on who you ask.
First of all, of course a better set of pegs will be less prone to rattle, fall out of tune or break which are all things that I think we can all agree makes your guitar sound better. The only other thing that can really be argued for having an affect on your tone here would be the weight of the pegs. Different players and luthiers could argue for days over which is better – a heavier headstock or lighter. Some would say the heaviness would take away from the vibration of the neck, while others would say it adds sustain. Some would argue that it really doesn’t matter. One thing that we can be sure of, however, is that a heavier/lighter set of pegs might change how you play. A guitar that is heavier or lighter at the headstock will have a different balance, and will feel different in your hands and around your shoulders. Probably not by much, but it doesn’t take much for a guitar to feel different, and consequently make you play different. My advice would be to go with a set that doesn’t change the balance of your guitar too much.
Remember, the majority of your tone comes from your fingertips, which comes from you, which comes from your current state of mind, which can be affected by how comfortable or uncomfortable an instrument is in your hands!

Tips on Tones: Issue #21 – Machine Heads from MyRareGuitars.com

The Different Strummer

Blame it on disco.  I remember it well…as an observer, of course!  The excesses of early ‘70s hard rock inspired a vapid dance craze reaction toward the end of the decade with mirror balls and platform shoes and, well, you know, Studio 54, glitter spandex, and Donna Summer and all that.  The music was mostly played with keyboard synths and drum machines, fairly new technology at the time.  The guitar press predicted: It’s The End of guitars as we know it.  But was it really?  (Obviously, we all know the answer to that rhetorical question!)

I didn’t really pay much personal attention to disco.  I didn’t dance and I didn’t hear too many guitar solos to make me interested in listening.  I was working at a commercial classical radio station at the time and my greatest exposure was a somewhat satirical—and as it turned out quite successful, I might add—disco party for key advertisers, for which I had to obtain the music.  I was mildly alarmed by the press predictions regarding the demise of guitars, but I needn’t have worried.

Anyhow, the response of the guitar industry was to try to turn guitars into synth controllers.  Keyboards are ideal synth controllers.  They are immediate and precise.  You hit a key and you get a clear electronic connection that is instantly, easily, and unequivocally recognized by the machine and its software.  They’re perfectly polyphonic.  And once you eliminate the need for anything but the keyboard—no strings, no soundboard, no pipes—they can become quite compact and portable.

Guitars…well, not so much.  A good clean note is obtained with good clean contact between the string and the fret, but you know how often that doesn’t happen!  We bend notes, even when we don’t intend to.  We move our fingers around to put “English” on the tones.  In short, despite the best efforts of brilliant engineers at Roland, Korg, Yamaha and elsewhere, guitars make lousy synth controllers at best.  To play guitar synth you’d best possess pretty darned good technique.

Don’t get me wrong.  I really admire the synth guitars that were created during the period from roughly 1977 to 1987 or so.  But if you want to play some disco, get a keyboard.

That said, there were some interesting attempts to create a hybrid solution, notably by Casio, like this nifty little 1987 DG-10 Digital Guitar. Okay, I hear you sniggering about this toy guitar.  You might say it doesn’t even look much like a guitar, although, if you recall guitars from the 1980s, you remember there was some weird stuff that was popular, from minimalist headless Steinbergers and Kramer Dukes to Prince’s elaborate guitar sculptures.  All right, I’ll give you that it looks more like a toy than a guitar.

But let’s not focus on what it isn’t, let’s concentrate on what it actually is.  This juicy little “toy” is actually a full-blown amp-in-guitar and MIDI controller.  The fingerboard is a rubber touch pad with, presumably, articulated “frets” with 6 contact points each.  The nylon strings are all like 3^rd strings.  Yamaha did this same thing on its synth controller, by the way.  I suspect that’s to equalize the contact using identical string mass.  There’s a built-in battery-powered amp with 4” speaker.

You can play this like a guitar, or guitars.  On top you can choose from 20 preset sounds.  You can add automatic percussion rhythms.  Pick the tempo.  Punch in sustain and reverb, and change the key.  On the front you have an on/off switch, master volume and rhythm volume.  You can mute your guitar, activate or turn off the rhythm sounds, add in some fill.  Oh yes, and there’s a manual drum machine pad if you’re dexterous, with a choice of cymbals, low tom, hi tom, and snare drum sounds.

And if that’s not enough, you can send the signal out to an external amp.  You can plug in headphones.  Pick two MIDI modes, omni or poly, to coordinate with whatever gear you use.  Plug in a MIDI DIN cable.  And use an AC plug, should you be so inclined.

Yeah, any kid can figure this toy out.  Well, maybe a kid could.  I never got past the amp in guitar with automated drum machine and I hope my life never depends on knowing the difference between omni and poly synths.  Not that I mastered even just playing guitar.  I think I played at a couple of my son’s baseball games, sitting in the bleachers doing “charge” sounds.  But the Casio DG-20, in the right hands, might just be the guitar you need to do disco!

For the record, as it were, I did continue to peruse disco record bins for a few years—disco was LP music, before CDs—and found, to my great surprise and delight, that there actually were some disco disks that featured hot guitar licks!  Metal guitar disco.  Numerous disco-flamenco fusions.  Rasgueado goes great with the turn-around pump of “unh-uhh, unh-uhh, unh-uhh.”  They were never too popular, though.  Blame it on disco.

1987 Casio DG-20 Digital Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com

I never really thought much about Japanese guitars back in the day.  By the time they started showing up, I fancied myself a “folksinger” and was plunking on Harmony and Guild acoustics.  I didn’t pick up an electric again until late in the decade and Japanese guitars still weren’t on the menu.  But I kind of shared the standard opinion.

The truth is, of course, that Japanese guitar designers probably could have made copies of Fender Jazzmasters—and, indeed, except for a smaller size and certain details, they did with some early guitars—but they weren’t really trying to.  The Japanese weren’t really thinking about “copies” yet, like they would a decade later.  But they did have their eyes on guitars being made in England by Jim Burns!  As is obvious the moment you ogle those big pointy horns and the nifty multi-part pickguard on this Montclair.

Later, when I became interested in these strange beasts, my opinion began to change quickly.  While these guitars looked a little goofy at times, I began to learn that they weren’t so poorly made, after all.   As Jack Westheimer use to tell his associates about their role, they were there to sell guitars, not set them up.  Make sure the neck angle’s right, set the saddle intonation, adjust the action, optimize pickup height, and these guitars often turn into mean playing machines.  And they don’t sound like a Strat.  That’s the whole point!

Anyhow, I’d seen other Montclairs and really didn’t have a clue about them.  Who made them?  And for whom?  That is, until I started to look into it recently.  I still don’t know who imported/sold Montclairs.   They’re actually fairly plentiful, relatively speaking, so it must have been someone kind of significant.  But now we know a bit more about who actually built this guitar.

This Montclair is basically identical to an Ibanez Model 3904.  Montclair was just one of the labels produced by Hoshino at its Tama factory beginning in 1962.  In addition to Ibanez, other brands made by Tama included Continental, Goldentone, Tulio, Jason, and others.

According to internet sources—notoriously unreliable—Hoshino/Tama began producing guitars inspired by Burns London—especially the Burns Bison—almost from the beginning.  For sure by 1963, they produced the Models 994, 1802, 1803, 3902, and 3903, the final digit signifying the number of pickup units.  These same sources suggest that these Burns-style guitars were produced at least into 1966.  The Tama factory was closed down in 1967, so that would be the outside limit in any case.  There’s really no way to tell when this guitar was made.  I’ve assigned 1964 to it because I’m pretty certain the 3904 was in production by then.

The Burns Bison was famous for introducing the “Wild Dog” effect. I actually bought a Burns just to experience that sound.  Which was a bit underwhelming.  Actually, it was just two pickups out of phase.  I guess “wild” was a little milder in the early 1960s than today!  Oh well.  The Tama-made Montclair didn’t feature the Wild Dog effect.  But it was relatively sophisticated.  Four sliders activated each pickup, though, as was often the case in the ‘60s, the differences were more subtle than distinctive.  The two other switches let each pair of pickups alternate between solo and rhythm modes, basically toning things down with a capacitor for chording behind your lead singer.  The rollers are tone controls, the knobs volumes.  The 2-piece maple neck is reinforced with a generous piece of mahogany, an idea borrowed from classical guitars.  Plus there’s an adequate truss rod.  The body’s a big chunk of premium mahogany.

In retrospect these Montclairs were pretty decent guitars, available amazingly early, given the old prejudice against Japanese guitars.  No, it’s not a Strat or a Jazzmaster.  But if you have a yen to light up a rave on Apache or Little Deuce Coup, you could do a heckuva lot worse than plugging in a well set-up Montclair Burns Bison copy.  And you’d sure look clean and cool, Fender guitars notwithstanding.

Vintage Surf n’ Turf from MyRareGuitars.com

     Forgive me if I’ve told this autobiographical story before (age isn’t kind to short-term memory), but it’s pertinent to this guitar. I didn’t really become interested in electric guitars until the mid-1980s, even though I’d been playing for 30 years by then.
My first electric was a used Gibson ES-225T in the late 1950s that I used to learn Chet
Atkins licks. I switched over to acoustics when folk music was big, playing electrics
again in the late ‘60s in a blues/r’n’b band. Our best number was a spirited version of
the Box Top’s “The Letter.” Still like that song. Then I became a classical guitarist.
And a writer. These are not, fyi, aerobic activities. And I don’t descend from a line of
skinny people.

By the early 1980s I felt I needed some physical activity. I went to Sears and
bought a primitive exercycle. I got a good set of Koss headphones to hook up to my
KLH. But I needed some juice. Despite playing Bach, Sor and Giuliani for nearly a
decade, I’d kept up with my Guitar Player magazine subscription. In its pages I’d been
reading about Ozzie Osbourne (whoever the hell he was) and his rave new guitarist
Randy Rhoads. So I went out and bought a copy of his record (when a record was a
record, an actual vinyl artifact with 12” cover artwork), Blizzard of Oz.

Indelibly imprinted on my brain is that first bike ride. I set the needle at the very
outside of the lead-in groove and hopped on the bike.
DuddleyDuddelyDAHdadaDuddleyDuddelyDAHdada. To quote a current Hyundai
commercial, “Holy [bleep].” As a guitarist, I hate song lyrics on principle, but when the
singer croons “What’s the future of mankind, don’t ask me ‘cause I got left behind; Don’t
ask me, I don’t know,” well, I’m hooked. Better than “The Letter.” Randy Rhoads? I’d
never heard guitar playing like that. Bach for rock n’ roll.

What followed was a descent into Heavy Metal. I’d missed all popular music
after 1972 or ‘73. Three Dog Night and Jethro Tull were the last things I’d listened to
before switching to Julian Bream and John Williams. By total coincidence I found
myself at the beginning of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, affectionately dubbed
by critics at the time NWOBHM. Hmm…

I bought magazines. I devoured records. I began to notice the guitars. The
tastes of the NWOBHM and the nascent American correlatives, which would eventually
become known as neo-classical metal, liked Flying Vees and Explorers and other
non-Spanish-shaped guitars, often with custom graphic finishes.

It would be a few years before I started collecting electric guitars, by which time
the guitars of the NWOBHM were becoming passé. But my interest had been piqued
and I began picking up some of the more noble examples. Like this 1983 Aria Pro II XX
Deluxe, part of their XX Series.

Basically, it’s a mini-Vee with graphics. I’m not sure
what the body is, but it’s lightweight, maybe poplar or alder. I don’t know who made it.
Aria was/is a trading company. Trading companies did the marketing and distribution,
working with a family of factories to provide whatever product they needed. Many of
Aria’s better models were produced by the legendary Matsumoku in Japan, but these
XXs do not have that vibe. Instead, these remind me more of the Ibanez Axstars of
1986 which were made not at FujiGen but at Chushin, also in Japan. To quote Randy
Newman’s theme for Monk, I could be wrong now, but I don’t think so.

If you’re going to hop around on-stage in Spandex—which I, needing an
exercycle, sure as hell would never do—you could do a lot worse than this Aria. The
neck is lacquered black, which increases speed. The two Protomatic V humbuckers
(probably Gotohs) are decently hot. In 1983, when this was made, locking vibratos had
yet to conquer the world, so we still have a traditional style. This particular guitar was
found as new old stock, never having been previously sold or played. Pretty neat.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since these heavy metal guitars were
popular. Not least of which is being able to buy inexpensive Japanese guitars for sale
in the U.S. Nevermind whatever is the latest iteration of Heavy Metal, which is eons
away from NWOBHM. And my exercycle rides hooked up to my KLH. (Not to mention
even KLH.) For the record (history, not vinyl), I try to walk 3 miles every day, plugged
into an iPod with SkullCandy earbuds listening to…sorry, the latest Solomon Silber or
Ana Vidovic classical guitar CD. But, I confess, every once in a while on my walks I dial
down to Ozzie and Randy wailing on “Don’t ask me, I don’t know (know, know, know).”

Don’t Ask Me, I Don’t Know! from MyRareGuitars.com

Have you ever listened to or overheard a conversation between seasoned
musicians? The phrases, terminology and body language are very different from
non musicians. Depending on what type of musician you are talking to, the words,
lingo and animations vary. For example a conversation between two jazz
performers might sound like this:

That cat can really play in the pocket on Birds up-tempo swing tunes, and I
was digging the groove on the walking bass line.

Rock musicians might sound like this:

The drummer crushed it with those 32nd note fills on the hi hat, and I was down
with the syncopation of the double bass drums on his second solo.

Finally the well trained classical musician who wrote the book on terminology
might sound like this:

Did you notice the strings in perfect unison with the reeds while building a
perfect crescendo at the start of the 2nd ending in the 3rd movement.

There are thousands of musical terms that make communicating easier for musicians.
Today I will show you a few of the basic terms that are built into almost
all styles of music. I will break them down into 5 categories with 3 sub categories.

#1 Parts of a Song

a. Verse – In typical popular music the first set of lyrics would be considered
the 1st verse, and would almost always change going from verse to verse telling the
story.

b. Chorus – Unlike the verse the chorus usually retains the same lyrics and is
often the most memorable part of the song.

c. Bridge – In pop and rock songs, the bridge is a section where the lyrics or
music connect or bridge the verse to the chorus. This is usually done with a
different melody line and with different lyrics.

#2 Style of a Tune

a. Swing – A form of American music developed in the 1930’s which has a
strong rhythmic groove or drive. The emphasis in swing is on the offbeat of the
music.

b. Waltz – In a Jazz context Waltz would be any piece of music written in ¾
time or 3 beats per measure. In classical music it is also played in ¾ time but
traditionally used for ballroom dancing or folk dance.

c. Bossa – Short for Bossa Nova is a genre of Brazilian music made popular
in the 1950’s and 60’s. Bossa has a swaying feel rather than a swinging feel. Bossa
like most Latin based styles of music incorporates a lot of syncopation.

#3 Navigating a Tune

a. Coda – Primarily a term that designates a passage of music to the end of
the tune. The symbol looks like a circle with two lines going through it.

b. D.C al fine – D.C. or (Da Capo) means repeat to beginning of the song, then
to the word fine which means end.

c. Treble Clef – Or G Clef is a sign indicating the pitch of written notes. The
Treble Clef as its name implies, is reserved for instruments that can produce notes
with a higher pitch as opposed to the bass clef designated for lower pitched
instruments.

#4 Dynamics

a. Forte – Is a musical term which means to play loudly at that section of the
music.

b. Decrescendo – Is a sign that looks like this ( >) letting you know that the
music will have a gradual decrease in force or loudness.

c. Fermata – Is a prolonged tone, chord, or rest beyond its indicated time. A
good example would be in the tune Happy Birthday, when you come to the
person’s name it is held for a longer time than the music allows for. Or in the Star
Spangled Banner when you get to the word free.

#5 Tempo

a. Andante – Means in a moderately slow and even tempo. It can also mean
gently or flowing.

b. B.P.M. – Refers to beats per minute which is attached to a number. For
example a song that has 80 bpm is exactly twice as slow than a tune that has 160
bpm in it. Marching band and Disco music usually play songs that uses 120 beats
per minute probably because it is easy to march to and also to dance to.

c. Up – Short for upbeat, is a jazz term indicating that the music should be
played quickly.

Just like most professions there are ways to communicate that are outside of
(normal) conversation. A good example might be the Lingo between Lawyers,
Doctors, and Law Enforcement. Another good example would be wildlife. We
clearly don’t understand the language but they are communicating quite well with
each other.

Source:  https://skypealesson.com offer private
online Music, Art and Technology lessons. They use top of the line equipment and
have incredibly fast internet to guarantee that your lessons are in HD video and
audio. All of their teachers are accredited in their fields and have years of practical
experience in teaching and performing. All lessons are taught from their central
offices, they offer affordable prices, and are extremely competitive with other
tutors.

Musical Communication from MyRareGuitars.com

The first wheel ever invented to be used for transportation would be obsolete by todays standards. It was probably made out of a chunk of heavy stone, and while it may have made life easier thousands of years ago, to use one today would make you that much more thankful for rubber and spokes. Inventions go through different iterations, and with each one new problems arise that lead to the necessity of improvements.

After “the Frying Pan”, guitarists and guitar manufacturers alike began to electrify their instruments so that they could be heard at new levels. At the time, hollow-body archtops were the guitar of choice – and if you’ve ever plugged in a big jazz box and tried to really crank it, then you know why this could lead to problems. A huge, open, resonant chamber combined with pickups that are mounted rather loosely is a recipe for two electrified problems; a small amount of amplified sustain, and worse, feedback. Guitarists were overjoyed that they could turn up and be heard within a band, but the design of the guitar at the time forced them to stay within a limitation.

A few great minds recognized this, and over the years sought to bring a solution to the commercial world. It’s not fair to give the credit to just one person, so lets go over three of the main contributors, whose efforts led to the success of the solid body electric guitar of the modern world.

1. Les Paul and “The Log”

Les Paul was a tinkerer from a young age. In the 1920’s, he discovered that he could amplify his guitar by using the mouthpiece from a telephone. He also discovered that this method created an unbearable amount of feedback, so he reduced the sound by filling the guitar’s body with plaster. An effective plan, but also effective at making the guitar weigh far too much! He kept experimenting with different builds and ideas,  (including one that involved a body made of steel from a railroad yard) but returned t his hollow-body builds having not yet struck gold.

Some 10 years later, he decided to return to the solid build idea. Les installed a homemade tremolo unit to a 4×4 piece of pine, added a neck and some pickups, and then attached two pieces from a sawn-in-half Epiphone archtop to make it look appealing. He brought his creation to Gibson in the early 1940’s, but in the words of Marty McFly, “I guess they just weren’t ready for it yet.”

The company rejected the instrument, thinking that it looked ridiculous. You wouldn’t think it to look at it, but this 4×4 is what laid the groundwork for what would later become one of the most iconic electric guitars in the industry.

When the 1950’s rolled around, and Fender came out with their “Broadcaster”, Gibson worked fast to come up with their own single-cut solidbody. Les Paul worked alongside Gibson’s Ted McCarty to build the very first “Gibson Les Paul”. It’s been more than 60 years now, and take a look – not much has changed! That’s the sign of a truly great invention.

2. Leo Fender and the Esquire/Broadcaster/Telecaster

Seeing all the same problems that Beauchamp, Rickenbacker, and Paul saw with the state of the electric guitar at the time, Leo Fender wanted to join in the electric solid body fun. There were, however, a few additional issues that Leo wanted to address in his design. For example, players were looking for a guitar neck that made for “faster” play and better intonation to allow them to play impressive lead guitar more accurately.

1950 saw the release of the Fender Esquire, a single-pickup solidbody guitar that did not have the same feedback issues that hollow body electrics had. In addition to this, the Esquire featured adjustable saddles for the strings, so players could raise and lower their guitar’s “action”, as well as fix intonation issues that made them sound out of tune. Instead of gluing the neck into the body, Fender decided to use screws to bolt it on. This made it far easier for manufacturing and future repairs.

Later that year, Fender released a two-pickup version of the instrument and named it the Broadcaster. It was during the production of this model that they implemented a truss rod into both models, giving the ability to compensate for any bowing and buckling the neck experienced. The “Esquire” name was dropped, and the single pickup version adopted the “Broadcaster” name. This didn’t last long, however, as Gretsch had a drum-kit named the “Broadkaster” and wasn’t too thrilled with Fender. It wasn’t long before Fender had to drop this name too, and coin the iconic name the “Telecaster” we know today.

3. Paul Bigsby and the “Travis” guitar

Though the name is most widely associated today with a high-quality tremolo unit, Paul Bigsby has been previously referred to as “the an who could build anything”. In fact, around the same time Les Paul was trying to convince Gibson to take his invention, Mr. Bigsby was working on lap steel, followed by pedal steel builds. Paul wasn’t concerned with mass producing commercially successful instruments – instead, he worked with respected artists of the day and built instruments specifically for their needs. Earl “Joaquin” Murphey and Wesley Webb West are perhaps the two earliest examples, having built lap and pedal steels for both of them. As Paul kept building, he kept coming up with new ideas and inspirations. H began to make pickups, and it was due to these that he caught the attention of Merle Travis.

In 1944, Paul had begun experimenting with the idea of a solid body electric guitar. Merle had contacted Paul around the same time, and expressed his interest in a solid body, noting that he believed such a build would allow for more sustain than a hollowbody electric. Travis planned out a design, and commissioned Paul to bring it to life. The resulting build was dubbed the “Travis” guitar, and featured a hollowed-out bird’s eye maple body, and a headstock with 6-in-line tuners. In looking at pictures, it’s hard to deny the similarities between this guitar’s features and the designs of a couple others that actually came after it:

In fact, it is said that Paul Bigsby, Leo Fender, and Les Paul had meetings to discuss guitar building and design. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that these three got ideas from each other, whether they gave it willingly or not. The fact that Fender’s 6-in line headstock on the Stratocaster with such a similar shape was bothersome to Bigsby (so much so that it eventually led to an unsuccessful lawsuit), but not so much that it would slow him down. He maintained his “artist” approach – building instruments by himself for individual clients. While this approach ultimately led to a 2-year waiting list, it may very well be the reason that Bigsby was responsible for revolutionizing so many key elements in guitars – when an artist asked for a customization, he would figure out a way to incorporate it. A guitar built for Jimmy Bryant (purchased by Billy Byrd) for example may have been the first solid body electric to feature a double cutaway:

Another example would be when Merle Travis asked Paul to come up with a tremolo unit that worked well and kept the guitar in tune. That’s what led to the earliest form of what we know today as a “Bigsby” unit. The original featured a fixed arm and a bridge that rocked back and forth, allowing the strings to return to pitch. Guitarists flocked in to get a unit installed, and it wasn’t long before Gibson struck a deal with Bigsby to use his invention (though, slightly modified) on their instruments. Once again, Paul Bigsby had revolutionized the electric guitar.

If it weren’t for these and other tinkerers and inventors, we’d all be playing Hawaiian folk music with frying pans. Not that there’s anything wrong with that… but I think we can all agree and be thankful for the existence of the modern solid body electric guitar, and its contributions to the music world today.

The Origins of the Electric Guitar: Part 3 from MyRareGuitars.com

Whenever you answer a question, it’s inevitable that more questions will be raised. In part one of this series, we talked about why the guitar needed to be electrified, and who it was that came up with the idea. That said, the technology that was used to transform an acoustic into an electric was not originally invented for this purpose. Beauchamp and Rickenbacker perfected the use of electromagnetism in guitars – but they did not discover the phenomenon! So then, what is electromagnetism, and where did it come from?

When you think of electricity, lightning might be one of the spectacles that comes to mind. Lightning is essentially an electrical attraction occurring on a massive scale. It is a physical display of negative charges from the clouds rushing down to meet positive charges that are being pulled from the surface. When you think of magnetism, a similar attraction principle applies.

The word “electromagnetism” refers to the study of electromagnetic force, or more specifically, electromagnetic fields. The theory was first established in the late 1800’s by James Clerk Maxwell, when he proposed that electricity and magnetism are governed by one force. He claimed this with four tested truths:

1) Opposite electrical charges attract, while like charges repel,
2) Magnetic poles attract and repel in a similar way, and always have a north and south pole,
3) A magnetic field is created around a wire that has electric current passing through it, and
4) A loop of wire receives a current when it is moved around within a magnetic field.

Even before this theory, various scientists had discovered some sort of relationship between electricity and magnetism and had begun testing. The first electromagnet was created in 1824 by William Sturgeon, which was a horseshoe-shaped piece of iron wrapped in copper wire. When current was sent through the wire, the piece of iron became magnetized and could lift roughly 15 times its weight!

The earliest use of electromagnetics on a large scale was in telegraph sounders for Morse code. When current flows through the device, an electromagnetic field attracts an arm that is being held up by a weight, making it “click”. When the current ends, the arm would return to its upward position, making it “clack”.

So, what does all this have to do with the electric guitar? Just as electromagnetic force can cause something to move, motion within a magnetic field can create electricity. A guitar pickup consists of thousands of coils of wire around an actual magnet instead of just a piece of iron, so a magnetic field exists without passing any current through the pickup. The “electro” part happens when the nickel coated steel strings are plucked.  They cause a vibration in the magnetic field, which in turn causes a small amount of current to flow through the coils, and out to the amplifier.

So that’s how a pickup turns a vibrating string into electricity – but how does this electrical signal turn back into the original note once the amp spits it back out? The simple answer is that it already is the “same note”. The pitch of a string is dependent on the frequency of its vibrations, determined by the string’s length, tension, and thickness. When you fret a string, you are essentially shortening that string’s length, therefore altering the way the string is vibrating. The magnetic field vibrates in the same way that the string is, so the same frequencies get reproduced through the amplifier. Neat, huh? A 200 year old technology that is still used to great effect today, although perhaps sometimes overdone!

The Origins of the Electric Guitar: Part Two from MyRareGuitars.com

Most people shop at grocery stores and go to restaurants to stay fed rather than hunt and grow their own crops. We send e-mails instead of writing letters. Rather than go to a shopping mall to buy everyone’s Christmas gifts, more and more people are opting to sit at their computer and buy everything from an online store. These are all fantastic inventions that are successful for really just one reason: they make things more convenient.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, there was an inconvenience in the music world that led to the invention of what would eventually become one of the most popular instruments in the world. The problem at the time was that classical, jazz, and blues guitarists were struggling to be heard. Guitar soloists in large groups were almost non-existent, as horns and brass instruments would just blow them away. The guitar was seen as a background rhythm instrument, despite players being more than capable of playing impressive lead melody lines and being heard in smaller groups.

Some musicians tried to amplify their guitars by attaching different resonant materials to the body, while others experimented with carbon microphones. Their efforts worked to some degree, but the quality of sound suffered drastically. There was a pressing need to accurately make the guitar louder, but the most practical solution to this problem didn’t arrive until 1931.

Many people believe that the first electric guitar was built by Les Paul and dubbed “The Log.” While this was a landmark achievement, it was actually not the first time a guitar was accurately amplified. That credit belongs to George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker, who worked together to create the first usable electric guitar. They worked with an already known phenomena known as  “electromagnetism”, and perfected the use of a device that we all know today as a “pickup”. The device basically works by converting string vibrations into an electrical signal through the use of electromagnets. The signal is then amplified, and released through a speaker as audible sound.

Around the same time the jazz and classical guitarists were having difficulty being heard, lap-steel musicians were facing a similar problem. This instrument was to be played as a lead, focusing on the melody of a song, and was therefore imperative for it to be heard above everything else. For this reason, the first instrument to get the Beauchamp and Rickenbacker treatment was a lap steel guitar designed by Harry Watson nicknamed the “Frying Pan” for obvious reasons:

These electrically enhanced guitars began to be manufactured under the newly named “Rickenbacker Electro Stringed Instrument Company”, and received an official model name of the “Rickenbacker Electro A-22.” Along with these, Rickenbacker created another guitar (the Electric Spanish) to begin production at the same time. Below you can see the first known public appearance of both models, in a 1932 issue of the Wichita Beacon.

And so, the electric guitar was born. From here, the instrument was adopted and improved upon by various different companies as it began its rise in popularity across the globe.

The Origins of The Electric Guitar: Part One from MyRareGuitars.com

Whatever the reason, if you’re interested in learning to play and improve, consider the following ten tips to help smooth out the process!

1. Guitar Maintenance

This should, in my opinion, be the top priority when it comes to playing or learning to play. If you’re just starting to learn, having a guitar that gets fret buzz all over the neck, plays out of tune, and just isn’t functioning the way it should won’t exactly encourage you to play. You’ll constantly be thinking “what am I doing wrong?”, when you may in fact be playing just fine. Besides that, the sooner you understand the importance of taking care of your instrument the better.

For someone who has been playing longer, having a guitar setup to your liking will make a huge difference in your playing. The thickness of your strings, your action, intonation, pickup height… even the cleanliness of your guitar all affect how it feels when you play. If you’re looking to improve, it only makes sense for your guitar to feel comfortable. After all, you play because it’s enjoyable, right? Keep it that way!

2. Use a Metronome

Timing is everything. It’s natural to want to speed up when you get excited, or slow down too much to compensate. While sometimes this can make for a cool sounding effect, at the end of the day you want to be able to play along with a steady beat. Using a metronome prepares you for this – it isn’t human; the speed you set it to is what it’s going to stay at. You can experiment with a metronome in different ways. As a beginner, try using it to simply keep the beat for you while you strum. Later on, try using it to play around with trickier rhythms and phrasing. Whichever way you use it, try tapping your foot along with the metronome while you play. Doing so will help teach you to “lock in” to a beat despite how complicated a rhythm or strumming pattern may be.

3. Start Slow

You have to learn to walk before you can learn to run! Always approach a new song or riff slowly at first. In many cases you need to train yourself to make the proper movements necessary to play it before you can attack it at full speed. It’s all about muscle memory – if your hands and fingers know what to do and in what order they should do them, everything will happen more naturally. A good way to keep track of your progress is by using a metronome. Set it to a slow pace and try playing the riff you’re working on. Once you can play it smoothly, increase the pace a bit. Rinse and repeat.

4. Record Yourself

When you’re focused on playing, sometimes it’s hard to hear what you actually sound like. One example is “rushing the beat” – it’s easy to play ahead of the beat and not even realize it until you hear a recording. Other times, you might not like your guitar tone if you heard it without playing it. When I listen to some of my older recordings, the guitar tone I had makes me gag! Think of it this way: to not go back and listen to what you’ve played would be like a painter not looking at a painting they’ve just finished. For them, it’s impossible. They can immediately see what they’ve created and decide if they like it, and what they can improve upon. We can get the same benefit, we just need to hit record!

5. Read

Countless books and articles have been written for guitar players by guitar players. If you’re looking for something specific, it’s most likely just a google search away. Simply knowing a variety of different chord shapes, for example is a great foundation for playing later on. If you love the way a certain artist plays and sounds, learn about them! Reading a biography of your favourite artist will help you understand where they’re coming from, and could give you a closer look into how they approach playing. You’ll also pick up on their influences and what they like to hear in a player, leading you to check out other players. Knowledge is power, after all!

6. Sing Melodies

If you can hear a tune in your head, then you can recreate it on the guitar. Try to sing or hum what you want to hear before you play it, and then keep singing it as you play it. Ultimately, you want the guitar to be your voice. Using this method can help you learn intervals, and where they appear on the guitar neck without having to delve too deep into musical theory to know them.

7. Learn the Fret board

To go along with tip #6, learning your fret board is the most important “theory” you can know as a guitar player. Knowing scales and their extensions, knowing where shapes and patterns occur / re-occur, and knowing how to get from one note to the other efficiently are all fantastic tools to have when structuring riffs and songs. Knowing what you want to play is a great start, but having a strong knowledge of how to make it happen is just as important.

8. Train your Ears

Being able to hear a chord or riff and play it back is a great skill to have when it comes to learning songs and jamming with other musicians. The more songs you learn, and the more you play, you will by default pick up on similar patterns and ideas that re-appear all over the place. Instead of just reading and playing back a strumming pattern, try to really listen to a chord and associate it with a different song. For example, take the “C” and “G” chords and start strumming along with the verse to “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” by CCR. Stop the song, and play the two chords one after the other on your own. Now throw on “Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix. The first two chords here are also C and G, just set to a different tempo and pattern. Soon enough you’ll start to know what a “C” chord sounds like, then later on you’ll be able to tell if it’s a C in the open position or if it’s a barre chord.

Image courtesy of www.easyeartraining.com

9. Experiment

It’s very easy to become comfortable with a guitar, playing style, or genre of music. Of course being comfortable is a good thing, but there’s a downside: you might lose some of the desire to progress as you begin to feel like you’ve already “conquered” it. If you want to truly learn something new, you have to try and put yourself in the same shoes you were in when you first picked up the guitar. Try learning a song that you would never see yourself listening to. Try listening to some music you’ve never heard before. Your musical mind subconsciously absorbs anything you put into it, and it will come out in your playing and song writing whether you want it to or not!

Aside from that, you can try playing another similar instrument. Twelve string guitars, bass guitars, baritone guitars, tenor guitars, and mandolins are all examples of stringed instruments that bear a lot of resemblance to the 6-string you’re used to. That said, there’s enough that’s different about them that you will be forced to play differently, consequently teaching you something new.

10. Emulate

Before you ever picked up the guitar, something or someone inspired you to play music. There are hundreds of thousands of artists out there now, each of whom could be inspiring someone else to play the guitar. The reason is because there’s something about the way they play or the music they make that makes people just want to do what they’re doing. By “emulating” these players; learning their riffs, note choices, play style etc. you can pick up on things that separate different guitarists from each other. Everyone has a certain “something” about the way they play, and through identifying what that thing is in other players, you’ll figure out what it is about your playing that makes you unique.

Happy playing!

Ten Tips to Improve your Playing from MyRareGuitars.com

For guitar players, there’s a ton of little annoyances that we all sort of “put up with”, or don’t bother trying to fix because we aren’t aware of an easy solution. Maybe they aren’t all stopping you in your tracks, but there are ways around them to help make your life much easier. Here’s my list of eight things to consider:

1. Cut Picks from Old Credit Cards / Plastic Containers

We’re all victim to losing ridiculous quantities of guitar picks. By now I’m sure we’ve all accepted this as a norm, and while this first tip won’t exactly stop this from happening – it could save you if you find yourself without a pick in a pinch. Old credit cards or margarine containers that you’re going to cut up and throw out anyways can be cut into pick shapes and used, and if you lose them then it’s not the end of the world. Another thing to consider is keeping your favourite picks in your wallet. Get into a habit of putting them away in it whenever you finish playing – your wallet is something you’ve hopefully already trained yourself not to lose, so in this way you won’t lose your picks by default.

2. Use Noise to Tune

If you don’t have a tuner but do have a loud amp, you can actually use the 60 cycle frequenecy it hums to tune. Try this: plug your patch cable in but not your guitar. You should hear a loud “humming” noise, and within it you can actually pick out a particular tone. When plugged directly into a tuner, it looks like this frequency kind of bounces back and forth between a B and Bb note. Tune your B string to this note, and then the rest of the strings to the B string. You won’t be perfectly in standard, but you’ll be close enough to play by yourself and have things sound good.

3. Use a Pencil to help Stay in Tune

One of the leading causes of your guitar slipping out of tune is the condition of the nut slots. Strings can catch and be pulled, and not return to proper pitch especially after string bending. The nut slot shouldn’t be clutching the string with an iron grasp, but rather cup it and allow it to move freely. If your guitar goes out of tune a lot during play, try taking a pencil and “drawing” into the nut slots with some force. The idea is to get some graphite in there to act as a string lubricant, and hopefully help your strings stay in tune much better.

4. Toohpicks for Loose Screws

Screws and components that are loose can cause rattling sounds when you play, or can just be plain dangerous. You don’t want to have a strap button fall out on you while you play! An easy fix for this is to take out the loose screw, and use a toothpick (or pieces of toothpick, dependent on the screwhole size) to fill it. Put the screw back in, and voila! The screw is biting firmly into wood again.

5. Use a Shop Towel / Cloth when Stretching Strings

Here’s one for tuning again. The most frequent time your guitar is going to fall out of tune is after a fresh restring; especially if the strings weren’t stretched properly. The best way to ensure they’re nice and stretched is to apply a little heat to them while you’re pulling on them. Put a cloth or shop towel in your hand, and glide your hand up and down the length of each string while pulling it to stretch. This will add friction, which consequently heats up the string while you stretch it. It’s a more efficient way to get your strings used to their new tension faster.

6. Velcro for Pedals

If you’ve ever gone to band practice (or worse, hit the stage) and noticed one of your pedals is out of juice, it can spell trouble if you didn’t think to bring a screwdriver to open up the battery casing. To avoid this scenario altogether, remove all the screws when you get the pedal and line the sides of the casing with Velcro instead. This way you can easily open and shut the box much faster, whether or not you have immediate access to the tools it would normally require.

7. Shoelace for Knobs

Whether it be to fix or clean your electronics, or just to replace your guitar’s volume and tone knobs, there may be a point that you need to take off the existing knobs. Sometimes this is easy, and other times it’s near impossible. Top hat knobs are notorious for this, especially when placed so close to the guitar body. An easy way around this is to use a flat shoelace. Simply slide the shoelace under the knob, wrap it around, and pull up!

8. String for Hollowbody Volume and Tone pot Repairs

Here’s another to go along with electronics repairs. Some guitars are not built to be easily accessible. For example, many hollow or semi hollow guitar electronics can only be accessed through their pickup cavity or F-holes. This makes it tricky to get to the parts you need to work on, and even trickier to get them back to where they belong. The fix? Loosen off the knob, then tie a piece of string or fishing line to the top of the pot. Then you can let the pot fall and pull it out wherever you need to so you can work on it, and simply pull the string to bring the pot back through when you’re done.

So there’s my eight cheap and easy tricks for all you guitar players out there! Have you got any “life hacks for guitar players” you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below!

Eight Life-Hacks for the Every Day Guitar Player from MyRareGuitars.com

1. Know your Tech / Luthier

Believe it or not, most (or at least a large portion) of the damage and wear done to a guitar occurs on the very bench it is being repaired or set up on. It is extremely important that the person who works on your instrument has a good track record, keeps a clean work-space, and knows what they’re doing. Surface scratches can appear from someone slipping with a screwdriver, leaving string clippings and fret filings behind on the workbench, or by restringing a guitar carelessly. Electronics can be ruined with improper use of a soldering iron, frets can be left in bad condition after a leveling or dressing.. and the list goes on. The list of things that can be done wrong is just as long as the list of things that can be done right.

When you are looking for someone to work on your instrument, pay attention to testimonials from other clients. Then you should physically meet the tech, and ask to see where they would be working on your instrument. If everything checks out, then you’ve found the right person. Finding and maintaining a relationship with a good tech is the first step in keeping your guitar looking, sounding, and feeling great.

2. Don’t Let it Fall!

Let’s face it… not all guitar straps and strap buttons are created equal. I’m sure we’ve all experienced catching a guitar that has come loose from one end of the strap at some point of our playing career. Now imagine what happens if that strap came loose while your hands are in the air clapping, or just after you throw the guitar around your waist for a spin…

…Yeah. Either your guitar or someone in the audience is going to get a pretty serious dent. If you’re going to play live, it’s important that you can rest assured that your guitar is secure to your body. Investing in a good quality leather guitar strap is never a bad idea. If it’s hard to loop the strap ends around the strap buttons, then you know it’s going to be just as hard for it to come off. Even still, these leather straps find a way of slipping off certain buttons. Strap locks are a great work around for this. Simply buy a set, and replace your current strap buttons with these and you’re pretty much guaranteed that your guitar isn’t going to go anywhere.

Some guitars don’t have a strap button on the upper portion of the body or neck, and are intended to be worn by tying one end around the headstock, underneath the strings. If you prefer using a regular button-to-button strap, you’ll need to install a second strap button. In this instance, it’s vital that you install the piece where the screw is going to have enough solid wood to bite into. It’s a good idea to contact the manufacturer to find out the best spot to do this, or to go back to that handy dandy tech you met by following tip number 1!

3. Don’t Let it Fall #2!

Of course, your guitar won’t always be strapped around your body. When it’s time to put it down between songs, or to stand it up at home, you’re going to want to have a proper stand for it. I personally learned my lesson years ago, when I stood my Les Paul up against my amp during practise. Not five minutes passed before hearing a loud “smack!” and looking in sheer horror to see that the head-stock had been knocked right off of the neck. Getting a stand that firmly holds your guitar in place is a ~$30 way to potentially save you a few hundred dollars down the road, and spare you the grief of thinking “my guitar will never be the same”.

Aside from the decreased risk of damage, having a stand holds your guitar in a much better way than laying it flat down. Gravity works wonders on your guitar, especially when you consider that that long, thin piece of wood known as the neck is under 120 lbs of string tension to begin with. Try this: lay your guitar flat on your lap and check its tuning. Now hold it in playing position and do the same. You might just notice a difference, and that’s all thanks to gravity. Due to this, the best way to display or place your guitar is in playing position or straight up and down.

4. Protect it

This one might seem obvious, but for some it just doesn’t register. I’ve seen people cross through a parking lot during a torrential downpour with their exposed guitar in hand – the kicker is they’re bringing it to be worked on. In their defense, they probably just don’t know any better – perhaps it feels like wearing a leather jacket out in the rain. “I probably shouldn’t do this.. but what’s the worst it could do?” Well, the answer is a lot. The guitar manufacturer spent a lot of time getting a ton of moisture content out of the wood before putting it together, the last thing you want to do is put it back in!

The rain is the least of your troubles, though. If you’re doing any travelling with your guitar, you’ll want to have it packed into a good guitar case. A hard-shell that fits your guitar is your best option (you don’t want your instrument sliding around on the inside), but there are some nice gig-bags out there with good padding that keeps the guitar safe, and makes it easier to carry.

5. Keep it Acclimated

As I mentioned previously, various steps are taken by guitar builders to get the wood of your guitar to a certain moisture content level before putting it together. So if you have a guitar that was built on the other side of the planet, the temperature and humidity is likely a tad different. Your guitar is greatly impacted by differences in climate, so measures should be taken to make sure your guitar doesn’t experience as much of the change going on outside as everything else is.

Drier climates can lead to sharp fret ends and wood cracks, while too much moisture can lead to tarnishing of frets, wood swelling, high action and loose components. You can get mini guitar humidifiers that can be stored inside your guitar case, or some that fit inside the sound hole of an acoustic guitar, or just get a regular humidifier to use in the room that you store your guitar in. You can contact your guitar’s manufacturer to find out what they recommend you keep the relative humidity at, but as a general starting point I’d aim for 45-55%. If your guitar has had some serious exposure to moisture, then you may need to go the opposite route and use a de-humidifier.

So there you have it; a few examples of things you can do to keep your guitar in tip-top shape. Remember: don’t break it! If you’re questioning the way you’re putting your guitar down, how you’re holding it, storing it, or having it worked on, chances are you’re risking it!

Top 5 Practices for Keeping your Guitar Safe from Harm from MyRareGuitars.com

We’ve seen it all; from the “Cringe”:

to the “my mouth is my wah-pedal”:

 …and everything in between:

So why do they do that… is it all for show? Are they in physical pain from obscene string bending? Have they lost control of their face? Are they disgusted because they’ve imagined that their guitar has transformed into a giant slug?

All are valid reasons, and while science can point to a few things that may be the root of the cause, it’s still pretty indecisive. To come up with some of the obvious reasons, you have to first examine the environment and state of mind that the player is in when performing a solo.

1. Concentration.

You’ve seen it in kids, and sometimes in grown adults. They’re deep in thought, focusing all of their attention into one thing, and simply don’t notice that their tongue is hanging out of their mouths. This could be due to what’s known as motor overflow, “a condition whereby a stimulus is correctly interpreted and the appropriate response is made, however a secondary response by a muscle is also triggered”.

It’s an involuntary thing that happens to people when they’re concentrating, and for guitar players, the solo is the part of a song that requires the utmost attention. In many cases, they’re not simply rehearsing something they’ve practiced time and time again; they’re improvising on the spot. Perhaps having to think of so many things at the same time causes a similar type of overflow?

2. “Feeling” the Music.

Many would argue that the expressions come from deep down, and are facial representations of the frequencies they are trying to hit. Vocalists get the same kind of thing when belting their heart out:

When you sing, you’re thinking about a number of different things. The notes you want to hit, the phrasing, how much power you put behind each word, and the message you’re trying to convey with the lyrics. All of these things have an affect on how you feel, and consequently how you and your face reacts.

For example, just try to put on an Elvis voice, sing like Axl Rose, or scream like you hear from a death metal band. It’s almost like trying to sneeze without closing your eyes – your face just changes shape because it needs to.

Sometimes it works the same way for guitar players. Jazz players, or those who make extensive use of a wah pedal come to mind. Often you’ll see a jazz player mouthing each note they play during a solo, like they’re telling the guitar what they want it to do… and that’s exactly what they’re doing. They know what they want to hear, and their face expresses it.

In a study conducted by University professors from Australia and Canada, musicians were actually able to judge the distance of intervals sung by vocalists by only seeing recordings of the singer’s face. There was no audio in the recording, just expressions and head movements!

3. Conveying Emotion.

Let’s not get too carried away with the scientific stuff. At the end of the day, why do we play and listen to music in the first place? It’s to evoke a certain emotion in ourselves, and our listeners. Whether it be anger, melancholy, or happiness, it is a human condition to pick up on and display emotion very easily – even if its from just a facial expression. A guitar player playing a solo is just as much of an extension of themselves as it is for the lead vocalist to sing the chorus. In fact, the guitar player becomes the lead singer during a solo. I’m sure that sometimes the musician is just putting on a show; not much different than an actor would on stage. In both cases, however, the performer needs to tap into whatever emotion they’re trying to convey in order to do it properly. If they’ve done their job right, the emotion translates to the audience, and we’re all impacted much heavier than if the guitarist were just standing there.

Whatever the cause of the guitar face, it’s a thing that’s here to stay. It has always been and will always be something that we see in guitarists around the world. Whether you like seeing a guitarist truly feeling what they’re playing, or just like to look at photos of slugs photoshopped into their hands, I think we can all agree it adds to the experience of seeing and hearing a good guitar solo.

What’s the Deal with the “Guitar Face”? from MyRareGuitars.com

It’s a no brainer; much of the initial aspiration to play any instrument comes from the desire to have what your musical heroes have, or to at least produce the kind of material they produce. In many cases, you’ll end up having to find a few like-minded musicians to help make that aspiration a reality. It’s a huge commitment if you’re in it to win it, and you will have to make sacrifices, but in my opinion the good far outweighs the bad. Here’s my list of the top ten reasons to play in a band:

10. The Attraction

Everyone’s thinking it, so I figured I’d get it out of the way before anything else. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll! There’s a reason it’s in that order. Chances are when you start playing gigs, your early performances will be at bars around town. As a hotspot for socializing and meeting people, playing at a bar is an immediate ice-breaker for you. By just doing something you love, you establish that you 1) Like music, 2) Are talented, and 3) Look cool rocking out. That’s all before you’ve made a name for yourself! Once you do that…well…

Heck, there’s even been research done on this philosophy! A study done by Université de Bretagne-Sud in France claims that women are 31% more likely to go out on a date with a man holding a guitar case versus holding nothing at all. Incentive, or what?!

9. The Creative Outlet

When you start to write music, you will find that there are certain limitations when you’re working alone. For some, this is ideal and they learn to embrace it. Whether or not you absolutely love the feeling of writing and playing music by yourself, you should still try out the band atmosphere. Receiving input from other musicians, jamming, and simply coming up with ideas as a collective is (in my opinion) far more rewarding than doing these things alone. People have different influences, and sometimes the best way to write original music is to have a group of players who throw all their differences into a mixing pot. You never know where a song might end up when you have a few different people working on it, and a fresh set of ears is a great way to solve writer’s cramp.

8. The Fun

Simply put, it’s way more fun to play and make music when you’re doing it with other people. Have a new idea for a riff? Show the band, and jam it out. All of a sudden you can hear everything together, not just you and your metronome. The experiences of playing shows, recording music, getting new fans and friends, and travelling distances to play are really like none other. Especially when you get to do all these things with a few folks who start to feel less like “band members” and more like they’re a part of…

7. The Family

Aside from the music, the longer you remain a band with the same people, the closer your bond gets. These people you got together with just to make music quickly become your best friends. Band practise starts to feel more like hanging out, and you find ways to entertain yourselves when on the road or before a show. You understand each other, and writing music becomes easier as you become more acquainted with how everyone works. If one member suffers, everyone suffers – quite literally. A member who is too sick, injured, or even upset to perform, practice or record hinders the rest of the band. For this reason and many others, everyone kind of “has each others backs.”

6. The Teamwork

Everyone puts in equally, everyone takes out equally. That’s the ideal band setup (though not always the case). You want everyone to be happy, and to feel like an important member of the team. Nobody likes to feel that their contribution is less important. Being in a band builds teamwork for this reason, similarly to the way being on a sports team does – you’re all working towards the same common goal.

5. The Income

Eventually, you can start making some money by playing in a band. You can do this in a variety of different ways like from selling your music, being paid to play, and by selling merchandise.  If you’re not in an established band are just looking to make some supplementary income, it’s a good idea to consider starting a cover band. Venues love having a good sounding cover band play famous hits to get people in the door and keep them there, so you’ll generally make more money doing this than trying to start a new original project.

4. The Free Beer / Food

Every band has been there! The venues that aren’t able to pay you money to play, but will give you free beer and / or a meal to play at their location. There comes a time where this isn’t such a great deal, but when you’re just starting out then what’s wrong with that? You just want to play and have your friends come see you – invite them out, play your music for fun, and have a free brew while you’re at it. It almost makes you feel like you’re VIP!

3. The Management Skills

Unless you’ve already hit it big and are able to have someone do all the legwork for you, being in a productive a band is a LOT of work. You need to book your own shows and practices, which are daunting tasks by themselves. The more people in your band, the harder it is to get everyone in the same room together once or twice a week, and the harder it is to make sure everyone’s schedule is free for performance dates. Without meaning to, you gain quite a bit of management skills by being in and running a band. By keeping track of your band’s successes and accomplishments, you can add some good material to your resume for future endeavors.

2. The Connection

Like I mentioned in “The Family” point, there’s a special connection shared between band members when you play. It doesn’t end there, though! You learn to connect with your fans and your audience. Your job is to ensure that they want to listen to your music, and want to come see you play, so you need to find what it is that makes people like your band and really connect with whatever that is. On top of that, once you’ve started playing shows with other bands, you start to connect with them too. You become part of a community, and a scene that feels like home.

1. The Experience

All things rolled into one, there’s really no other thing that will feel quite the same as playing in a band. Whether it becomes a life long career for you, or something you can look back at later on in life, you might just associate “that time you were in a band” with some of the best moments of your life. It’s one of those things that, as a musician, you can look back on and say “at least we tried, and had fun doing it.”

Top 10 Reasons to Play in a Band from MyRareGuitars.com

Issue 19: Guidance from the Greats

If you could sit down in a room with some of the best musicians and guitar players in the world, what do you think you’d want to talk to them about? For the majority of us musicians, we would want to pick their brains as much as possible to find out what makes them tick and how they got to where they are. We all want to improve our playing, or aspire to write our next “opus”, and what better way to do those things than to use advice from our greatest inspirations?

Even though it’s a tad unlikely that we’ll ever get such a chance, it is still possible to pick up on a few inspirational thoughts and ideas that our idols have without ever meeting them face to face. Apart from simply listening to what and how they play, the way they think contributes massively to their success. Many have written books, spoken in interviews, and even written in their lyrics little tidbits about the way they approach playing guitar and songwriting. Today, I’m going to list and analyze a few of my favourite quotes from who I consider to be some of the greatest players and musicians out there.

“I just hate to be in one corner. I hate to be put as only a guitar player, or either only as a songwriter, or only as a tap dancer. I like to move around.” – Jimi Hendrix

Yes, when we hear the name Jimi Hendrix, we all think “incredible guitar player” before anything else. At the time, (and even still today) most of the world was referring to Hendrix as the greatest guitar player in the world – and that’s what makes this quote so interesting. He had what so many guitar players wished they could have, and yet he says he doesn’t want that. At least, not just that. The fact is that today, there are easily hundreds of thousands of guitar players out there who have the playing ability to rank up there with some of the famous guitarists of the past, but they’re unknown outside of their local community. There’s more to it than just being really really good at guitar, and I think that’s what Jimi is tapping into here. Obviously it’s important to be good – but in my opinion you’re only as good as your song and performance. Jimi did all of those things well, and it’s worth considering working on the whole package to get your listeners to be fully engaged.

“I believe every guitar player inherently has something unique about their playing. They just have to identify what makes them different and develop it.” – Jimmy Page

No matter how much you practice the solo to “Stairway to Heaven”, or how much money you spend getting the same equipment Page had when he tracked the riff in “Black Dog”, you will never sound exactly the same as he does. Even if you had his guitar in your hands, the answer is still no! That’s because that tone and playing style belongs to him, just like your tone and playing style belongs to you. Yes, you can alter your tone with various different pieces of equipment, but there is something inherently there that is yours and no one else’s. Sure, you can use your hero’s sounds for inspiration, but the longer you keep trying to sound like someone else, the further away you move from what makes you unique. As a tip, try practicing your playing on an inexpensive acoustic guitar, or an electric with a dry clean setting. Do whatever you can to make the thing sound good to your ears. When you can do that, you’ve found your playing tone. From there, you can “edit” by using a better acoustic, or dialing in a better electric tone.

“I’m not a good guitar player.” – Adam Jones

If you’re familiar with the rock band Tool, you’re probably aware of the fact that their fame comes more from innovation than anything else. That’s not to say they’re not all fantastic musicians, but when you listen to their songs and Adam’s playing, you’ll notice that there are never any long, “show-offy” guitar solos. Their music is heavy rock, with a lot of progressive elements (in their later works, anyway), so it’s kind of an odd thing to not feature the guitar in such a limelight. However, it works. It works really well. While he doesn’t typically shred your face off, Adam’s soundscapes and riffs add an atmosphere to their songs that just wouldn’t be there if it was your typical rock guitar god. If there’s something you feel you are less than adequate at doing on the guitar, sometimes it’s a good idea to just forget about it and really perfect what you’re already good at. For me, I went through a phase where I thought I HAD to be able to “sweep-pick” to be good. I practiced for a while, but I could never quite get it to sound how I wanted it to. I’m just not good at it – so I don’t do it! The lesson here I think is to play to your strengths.

“There’s only one thing worse than becoming successful with something you don’t believe in, and that’s failing with something you don’t believe in.” – Steven Wilson

I love this quote. Steven says this when asked if he had ever attempted a musical project with the end goal being essentially “fame.” Playing music that everyone else wanted hear, and not necessarily what he wanted to play. His answer was yes, but he regrets ever having done it. Basically, the idea here is there’s no point in playing music if it isn’t music you don’t love or appreciate. If you succeed with it, then you’re stuck doing this thing you hate to do just to keep everyone happy. If you fail with it, then it was all a huge waste of time. The best thing to do is stay true to yourself, and play what you enjoy and what makes you happy. Chances are there’s people out there who will like what you’re doing, and they’ll catch on. That’s what happened with Steven – he went and worked on musical projects he does believe in – and now he’s one of the busiest working musicians and producers today. At least if things don’t become “commercially successful”, you still spent time creating something you could stand behind.

Lots can be learned from your idols! Listen to them play, and listen to them speak. You never know what a different approach might do for you.

Happy Playing!

Tips on Tones – Issue 19 from MyRareGuitars.com

There’s a bitter-sweet thing about digging around for an ideal guitar tone, and it’s that the sky really is the limit. Beyond the fact that every build and brand of guitar will have its unique tone signature, every little thing you run your guitar through will play a role in the sound that comes through the amp. Even a subtle drive boost from 3 to 4 on your tube screamer can make the difference between “whoa” and “WHOA”.

                Keeping in mind how such a subtle change can make such a huge difference, there are things you can adjust on the guitar itself that can change its sonic characteristic entirely before its signal even reaches the first pedal. I’m not talking about swapping anything out – in fact I urge you to test out what I’m about to describe on one guitar you have at home.

                If you think of your guitar’s pickups as its “ears”, you will agree with the general consensus that the closer they are to a sound (or vibrating string), the louder that sound is. While this is true, the distance between pickup and string can affect your tone in a lot more ways than just volume.

While you can simply go to Google and type in “ideal pickup height for guitar brand / model X”, and probably end up with a pretty good sound, it isn’t against the law to deviate from these measurements and perhaps find something that might suit you even better.

Whenever I’m trying to dial into a particular tone, I like to visit the extremes first. For example, I’ll listen to something with its treble setting at 10, followed by zero. This gives you an idea of that setting’s range, and makes it easier to find what you like (and don’t like!).Your pickups can be treated in a similar fashion. Try setting your pickups as high as you can get them (without having them connect with the low or high E strings when you fret them at the last fret).

Many pickups that are too close to the strings like this will end up having too strong a magnetic pull, interrupting a string’s vibrational pattern and cause it to produce a strange overtone / double-note effect. It’s not exactly conventional… but hey maybe it could be used for some kind of sound design! For those of you looking to have a guitar with very hot pickups that sounds in tune, however, this makes it easy. Simply back off the pickups until this warbled sound goes away, and you’ll have the hottest tone you can get without the negative sound effects.

You’ll know you don’t want your pickups super-hot like this if you’re the type of person who doesn’t always play balls-to-the-wall aggressive. You lose dynamic range, and if you want to have a warmer, more rounded tone then I’d suggest bringing the pickups down a tad more. The term I like to use for this is “granting yourself headroom”.

If you’ve ever done studio recordings or worked with a soundboard, you’ll know what that familiar red light looks like when a signal is too strong. It’s kind of the same thing with your pickup height, just unfortunately there’s no LED on the pickup to show when the signal is too hot. Basically, the “ideal” height would be somewhere that allows you to play hard at full volume and get the pickup to break up a bit, while still allowing you to soften up and play without the output being “in the red.” Plus, if you miss some of the tone you get from having your pickups as high as they possibly can, you can always compensate with a little gain from a pedal or an amp.

Every pickup is different, but here’s a rough middle-ground for a 2 humbucker guitar that should give you what I’m describing:

• Fret the Low E string at the last fret, and set the neck pickup to 5/64 distance between pole piece and string. Repeat for high E string.
• Fret the Low E string at the last fret, and set the bridge pickup to 4/64 distance between pole piece and string. Repeat for high E string.

Why set the bridge pickup closer? This picture explains why in a nutshell:

Simply put, a string’s vibrations are much tighter where it is closest to its bridge and nut. So, in order to match the output of the bridge pickup to the neck, it needs to pick up a similar vibration by being placed closer to the string. Which brings me to another point… ideally you won’t need to adjust the pole pieces of your pickups. These are specifically set for each individual string, and should already be matched as long as your guitar is set-up properly. If you’re noticing some serious output imbalance from a specific string, then it may be time to look into adjusting the pole pieces – but that should only be a last resort.

If you want even more “headroom”, simply try bringing the pickups further back! It really is just “salting to taste.” This just gave me an idea for another analogy… never salt anything before you’ve tasted it! Just like everyone’s taste buds are different, so are everyone’s ears. Instead of finding a measurement online, setting it, and being done, you should play the guitar first! Then you can tweak your pickup, then play the guitar again, tweak, etc etc…

When you’re done, you should have a tasty tone that is crafted just for you.

Happy playing!

Tips on Tone – Issue 18 from MyRareGuitars.com

Issue 17

“You are what you eat” is an expression we all know and understand as truth. Simply put, if you want to live a healthy and balanced life, you need to eat a healthy balanced diet. That said, the expression can be used with a much more metaphorical meaning for a number of different things. Your experiences, your friends and what you surround yourself by play huge parts in the person you are. Often you have no choice but to live through something that can change you for the better or worse. On the other hand, there are many things you have the ability to choose from that will have an impact your life, or at least some aspects of it. Music is one of these things.

For a musician, what you listen to plays a large role in what you end up creating, whether you are trying to or not! We are like sponges. We hear something we like, it soaks in, and later on it leaks out in our writing, playing, and the tones we decide to create. I can recall more than a few occasions where I’ll be listening to a track, and then hear a riff that sounds almost identical to something I’ve written without having any intention of doing so.

Keeping this in mind, you can actually increase your guitar “vocabulary”, and, in a roundabout way, improve your guitar tone without even having an instrument in your hands.

Here are some things to consider:

1) Listen to various genres

Even if you know the style you want to play or create, try not to limit your listening to that genre.

The most famous and signature guitar tones out there were not created by someone re-hashing something that had already been done, but by blending a variety of influences and sounds. Tony Iommi didn’t have a metal band to listen to for inspiration and look what he created! You’ll find that different genres call for different tones, and you will grow to appreciate subtle nuances that you can incorporate into your own playing and writing.

2) Try to isolate the guitar

The overall sound of a song is comprised of all the instruments mixed together. So, sometimes when you try and recreate a tone while playing by yourself you can over compensate in some areas. Adding extra gain, treble or reverb are a few examples. It might sound great alone, but throwing that into a band situation may just make everything sound muddy and convoluted. You’d be surprised to hear how some of your favourite songs’ guitar tracks sound on solo! It’s tricky, but try going back and forth between isolating the guitar in a song and then listening to the whole mix.

3) Study and analyze different players

Ask two guitar players to play the same riff with the same guitar and each will sound different. Did they just play a hammer-on or did they slide to that note? Was that the open D string or the A string in the fifth fret? How fast is their vibrato? What is their note selection and phrasing like?

These are all things that every guitar player does slightly different from another, resulting in a unique play style and tone. Usually you will be able to find repetition in a player, and if you can tap into that then you can expand your repertoire in no time.

Put it this way: your guitar, your amp, and your foot pedals are all inanimate objects. Sure, they will sound different depending on what they are and how they’re set, but it’s you who is actually telling them how to sound.

Tips on Tone – Issue #17 from MyRareGuitars.com

When I was out doing my Christmas shopping this year at the local toy store, I saw a woman pass by with a cart almost filled to the brim. She stopped in the aisle in front of me, grabbed a boxed up quarter sized guitar from the bin, and put it in her cart. She couldn’t have been stopped for more than 5 seconds – enough to see the price tag and then carry on. Now, that’s all well and good if this was simply a toy guitar, but this was a fully functional six string acoustic with a brand name.

Such is the way the world runs: convenience over quality. We microwave manufactured food instead of cook fresh food, we watch over compressed movie streams online instead of buy a video, and we buy guitars from the toy store instead of a music shop. All of these have something in common: they’re cheaper and easier than the alternative. The downside? Well, low quality movie streams hardly give you the experience of a blu-ray, and too much manufactured food will eventually kill you. Many would argue, however, that they don’t know if their son or daughter will “be into” playing guitar and therefore justify spending a “safe” amount. Here’s the problem with this:  going with that “safe” purchase may turn out to be the sole reason that someone gives up playing the guitar.

A guitar set up is a service done to a guitar to ensure it is playing the way it should, including everything from setting the action (distance from the strings to the frets) to the intonation. (Overall tuning of the guitar across the entire neck). Yes, the manufacturer should have done this before shipping too, but a set up isn’t permanent. Changes in weather and humidity, as well as string tension affect the guitar’s set up, and who knows how long that guitar has been sitting in that box since it was last looked at.

String action that is too high will simply make the guitar harder to play. Action that is too low can cause an annoying sound called fret buzz when you play, or even make it so notes don’t sound at all. Intonation that isn’t correct will make it so that even when your strings are tuned, somewhere on the neck they’ll be out of tune. Fret ends can be sharp due to differences in humidity, causing the wood in the neck to literally shrink.

What does this mean for the new player?
Well, they won’t be able to say “man, this action is too high”. They’ll simply think that playing the guitar is too hard. Or if they get fret buzz, they’ll think they are playing it wrong. Ultimately this will lead to discouragement, and they’ll associate playing with a negative experience.
When you buy a guitar from a music store, the guitar will (or should) have been inspected and setup by someone at that facility, and if there are any issues with the instrument soon after purchase as far as set up goes, they’ll adjust it for free. The toy store doesn’t have anyone who can do this for you. If you need to get this service done, it’s going to cost you another $40+. Not to mention the fact that often times these guitars can only be set up “so far.” Many don’t have adjustable truss rods in the neck, meaning that once the neck starts to bow, you can’t really save it unless you want to pay far more than the instrument is worth. The solution to all of this is to invest in a good guitar.

Getting a “good” guitar doesn’t mean it has to be expensive. You can find great entry level guitars at music shops for low costs that are guaranteed to be set up, ready to play, and will last a long time. Sure, you may end up spending a little more than you would at the toy store, but you’ll be avoiding the potential hassle of extra costs. More importantly, you’ll be giving your aspiring guitarist a tool that won’t be inherently discouraging and annoying to play, which will give them their best shot at learning a musical instrument.

What Makes an Entry-level Guitar “Good”? from MyRareGuitars.com

Vintage 1967 Guyatone LG-160T Electric Guitar

Japanese guitar makers made their names by emulating their competition largely for the American market. That strategy ultimately led to copy guitars, of which this is vaguely an example, although reflective of the peculiarities of Japanese aesthetics.

“Lutes,” in which family guitars reside, made their way pretty much everywhere in antiquity, including Japan, which favors the samisen. The first Europeans to “discover” Japan were the Portuguese, who were granted favored trading status by the Emperor. With the caveat that they couldn’t enter Japan proper, lest they pollute the sacred culture. They had to do their business from Okinawa.

Whether the Portuguese ever brought guitars with them is unknown, but Commodore Perry and the Americans certainly did when they arrived in 1853 on a mission to horn in on the Portuguese monopoly. Perry plied the Japanese ministers with tons of champagne and put on several blackface minstrel shows that featured both guitars and banjos. Perhaps it was the affinity between whiteface kabuki theater and the sailors’ burnt cork (more likely it was the huge stores of bubbly), but in any case Perry returned in 1854 with an open trade agreement with Japan.

Vintage 1967 Guyatone LG-160T Electric Guitar

No, the Japanese didn’t convert to playing guitars (or banjos) on the spot. In fact, Westernization didn’t really begin until the 1920s. One of the main vectors was Hawaiian music. This was big in the U.S. from the early 20th Century on, but it really wasn’t coming to Japan from the Continental U.S. There was a huge Japanese population living in Hawaii and the taste for Hawaiian music—admittedly informed by American (and, ironically, Portuguese!!) influences—came from the original source in Hawaii. It was also in the 1920s that Andres Segovia toured Japan, igniting a passionate embrace of classical guitar playing. And, the 1920s saw the triumph of radio, so all sorts of Western music became available.

The problem was that Japanese music had not yet adopted the “tempered” scale that Western music has used since the 18th Century. That style makes minor compromises in the mathematical intervals of the modes codified by Pythagoras. In the old system you could play in maybe 1 or 2 modes during a piece, but any further modulation sounded out of tune, because it was. By “tempering” those scales, you can essentially switch from any key to another at any time. Anyhow, this process of adopting the tempered scale began in the 1920s, with a lot of interesting hybrid music being created. And making it possible to adopt Western instruments, such as the guitar and Hawaiian guitar…especially once it was electrified in the early 1930s.

Vintage 1967 Guyatone LG-160T Electric Guitar

Guyatone was one of the earliest guitar manufacturers in Japan, having begun making electric Hawaiian lap steels in 1933. It was founded by Mitsuo Matsuki and Atsuo Kaneko (who would later found Teisco after the War).

Once Japanese guitar-makers entered the American market, they kind of gravitated naturally toward the copy strategy. First they produced guitars vaguely based on Fender’s Jazzmaster/Jaguar. Soon in the trenches with European makers, they began to emulate them (think Burns Bison). Then, The Ventures, having grown a bit stale in the U.S., began to tour Japan. The went over extremely well and acquired a legion of lifetime fans. By around the time this guitar was made, various Japanese makers were producing loose Mosrite inspirations. Or “copies,” if you like.

Vintage 1967 Guyatone LG-160T Electric Guitar

This 1967 Guyatone LG-160T is actually pretty sophisticated. The body is mahogany, and features a German carve relief, like a Mosrite. Pairing two single-coil pickups back at the bridge, like a humbucker, emulates Guyatone’s domestic competition Yamaha. These two pickups can function as a humbucker or, using the sliding switch, one single-coil. Ain’t no DiMarzio but pretty clever. This bridge actually has roller saddles to make the vibrato very effective.

By 1969 the true “copy era” had been launched with the first Les Paul and Tele copies, however crude at first.

When you first glimpse this guitar, it looks like a somewhat awkward Mosrite copy. Gaze a bit longer and it almost takes on the look of a Japanese orthographic character. Elegant, not so ugly. Consider it more and your heart begins to warm toward it’s symmetrical asymmetry for sure! Beautiful!

The copy strategy was good marketing (and helped learning to come more quickly), but it tended to obscure how much Japanese culture—how much whiteface kabuki—really contributed to the guitar equation.

Ugly Mugs No. 3: Walk, Don’t Run (Vintage 1967 Guyatone LG-160T Electric Guitar) from MyRareGuitars.com

Vintage 1976 Burns Flyte Electric Guitar

Now, the Burns Flyte is definitely a step up from the Tux-master, but not such a very big one. James Ormston Burns (1925-1998) began designing guitars in around 1958 when he made a short scale Supersound guitar for the musician Ike Isaacs. In 1959 Burns teamed up with Henry Weill to form the Burns-Weill company, producing the rather ungainly forebears of last month’s featured Tux-master. Burns and Weills apparently weren’t a match made in heaven and they had parted ways before the year was out. In 1960 Burns struck out on his own, founding Burns London Ltd. And putting out what’s now a legendary line of soldibody electric guitars.

Probably the most famous feature on Burns guitars of the 1960s was the setting called “Wild Dog” on the Bison and some other models. I can remember not being able to wait to plug in mine when I got it. Wild Dog!! A snarl? Growl? Sharp bark? Imagine my disappointment when I learned that Wild Dog was simply a somewhat weak phase-reversal effect like you get in-between pickups on a Strat! Now there was the marketing department run amok!

Burns guitars quickly won the hearts of British guitar players…there were, indeed, few other quality options. Plus, they arrived at just about the time that teenagers were trading in their Skiffle washboards for their first electric guitars in order to play that new music from the Colonies.

Vintage 1976 Burns Flyte Electric Guitar

Meanwhile, in the former Colonies, guitars—especially electrics—had become hot commodities among the young. And there were lots of young folks, the Post-War Baby Boomers, hitting the right age to become a “market.” Savvy businessmen wanted in on the gold mine. Companies as diverse as Norlin (a brewing conglomerate) and CBS (TV, movies, and records) started buying guitar companies (Gibson and Fender, respectively).

Into the corporate feeding frenzy jumped the Baldwin Piano and Organ Company. At least it was in the musical instrument business to begin with! Initially Baldwin was a bidder for Fender, but lost out to CBS. On the rebound, Baldwin set its eyes on Burns of London and in 1965 began importing Baldwin-badged versions of Jim Burns’ guitars.

However, Baldwin’s affair with Burns was relatively short-lived. In 1966 Baldwin struck a deal to purchase Gretsch and they proved to be much better sellers in the U.S. marketplace. Baldwin held on to the Burns property until closing it down in 1970.

Vintage 1976 Burns Flyte Electric Guitar

Burns wasn’t through with guitars yet. From 1969 to 1973 Burns manufactured Hayman guitars for the music distributor Dallas-Arbiter. As part of the agreement, Jim Burns couldn’t use the Burns of London name, but somehow Burns UK was acceptable and Burns resumed making guitar in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1974. Which brings us to the Flyte.

The Flyte—originally supposed to be the Concorde (or Conchorde)—coincided with the debut of supersonic aviation. Hence the swept-wing appearance. If you appreciated weird guitarflesh, this should tickle your fancy. I keep looking at it it just keeps getting weirder, and in an especially good way! Those pickups are called Mach One Humbusters. The Dynamic Tension bridge is pretty interesting…well, no, it’s not. It’s just weird. Indeed, much like Hayman guitars before it, Flytes were well made and pretty unremarkable except for the eccentric appearance.

Vintage 1976 Burns Flyte Electric Guitar

Apparently, Burns UK Flytes were played by so-called Glam Rockers like the band Slade and Mark Bolan (who made a career of eccentric guitars, among other things). Wikipedia lists other Flyte players, but I’ve never heard of any of them, not that that signifies anything. But, you have to stretch to find Flyte fans; they never did take off.

This guitar is #172. I have no idea how many Flytes were produced, but I suspect production quantities were not enormous. They were only made for about 2 years. In around 1977 Burns UK introduced the Mirage to replace the Flyte, with re-designed Mach Two pickups. Burns UK then bit the dust.

Jim Burns gave guitars one more go with the oddly named enterprise “Jim Burns Actualizers Ltd.” From 1979-83, but that met with even less success than Burns UK and the Flyte.

Still, you have to give Burns high marks for chutzpah and if your taste, like mine, runs to the unusual, you should be sure to catch a Flyte the next time one come your way!

Ugly Mugs No. 2: Under the Radar (Vintage 1976 Burns Flyte Electric Guitar) from MyRareGuitars.com

Vintage 1983 Jolana Diamant I Electric Guitar

The short story, of course, is that Russia became Communist after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Fast forward to 1941 and the German Nazi army invades Russia, get’s stalled at Leningrad (St. Petersburg), and the Russian counter-assault commences. The Allies invade Sicily and Normandy. In 1945 everyone meets up in Berlin and Hitler eats a bullet. The victors divide the spoils, with Russia getting control of the Eastern half of Germany (and Berlin), as well as pretty much everything to the east of that. The Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc, and the Iron Curtain are created and more than 30 years of Communist rule ensues in those areas. Can you say “Cold War?”

Now, you could probably construct an argument about how the Cold War ultimately affected American popular music, but I won’t try. What I find more interesting is that a whole bunch of traditionally guitar-making regions in Europe ended up under Communist rule. Markneukirchen, probably the greatest center of German lutherie, ended up just a few miles over the border in East Germany. Similar areas in nearby Czechoslovakia also ended up in Communist hands, including that where the Jolana company that made the Diamant I seen here was located.

I don’t know about you but I didn’t grow up withCommunist Guitars on my mind. I just knew they wanted to drop an A-bomb on us. As with all of history, reality and geo-politics operate in totally separate realms! Thank goodness.

Vintage 1983 Jolana Diamant I Electric Guitar

Definitive information on Jolana guitars is hard to obtain, even though the brand was one of the most successful in the Eastern Bloc. If you search online, you will actually learn that Jolana guitars represent a pretty heroic story of a man, Josef Ruzicka (1928-2004), who bucked the official Communist dictum that electric guitars represented rock and roll and the decadent Capitalism that music stood for. In around 1953 Ruzicka built his first electric Hawaiian guitar (about as decadent a Capitalistic rock and roll tool as I can imagine, eh?). Thereafter followed some Strat-style guitars, eventually leading to a guitar factory which ended up in Horavice and guitars named for—if Google Translate can be properly translated!—Josef’s daughter Jolana.

Just when the Diamant Les Paul version appeared is a bit murky. If you asked me, I’d say around 1972, but other sources online claim that the Diamant appeared in 1979, with the upscale Diamant I, as seen here, debuting in 1983. This may be true. One curious phenomenon you’ll encounter in online accounts of Jolana and other Soviet-era guitars is a profound inferiority complex that disparages the quality of these instruments. Indeed, as someone with no youthful experience (and an awful lot of aged experience!) with these guitar, I find this surprising. I have not found Eastern European guitars to be particularly different from guitars produced in Western Europe, and the workmanship is generally speaking quite good. Would this hold its own head-to-head with a Gibson Les Paul? No. But neither would a Crucianelli or a Framus or a Hagstrom.

That said, I have noticed that I consistently date Eastern Bloc guitars as being much earlier than they actually were. I’ll eye-ball a guitar and say “1968” when it turns out to be 1979. What appears to be the situation is that Soviet-era guitars aren’t so much badly made as they are really out of date, anachronisms! As if the makers are all at least 10 years behind their Western counterparts! Anachronism shouldn’t be confused with shoddy quality. But then again, if you’re 15 and those were the only guitars you could get, you might see “old fashioned” as a “quality” issue.

Vintage 1983 Jolana Diamant I Electric Guitar

In any case, this is a well made little Les Paul copy. The body is maple with a thick, about ¾” thick carved European spruce top. There’s binding and the fit and finish aren’t bad. These humbuckers ain’t DiMarzios, but they’re serviceable. If online sources are to be believed, this particular guitar is quite rare based on the finish. The vast majority (“90%”) are supposed to have been black, with the rest finished in red, and only a very few done in sunburst, as seen here. It would be hard to judge here in the Western Hemisphere because as far as I know none were ever exported to these parts and you almost never see any—black, red, or sunburst—on vintage guitar dealer lists.

According to some online sources, the Jolana factory produced some guitars branded as Futurama and exported to the UK, where they were played by the likes of George Harrison, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton, presumably before they could afford more expensive guitars. Most sources have Jolana shutting down in 1989, about the time that the Iron Curtain came crashing down to end the Cold War, though one source claims to have a 1991 Jolana.

But just when you think the Cold War and Jolana guitars are gone for good, Vladimir Putin chomps off a bit of Ukraine and the NBE Corp. in the Czech Republic announced the return of Jolana guitars. I don’t know if the Cold War has returned (I hope not), and I haven’t seen any new Jolana guitars, but these old ones, Communist overtones and anachronisms included, are pretty interesting artifacts of a time when a guitar like this Diamant I was unknown to those of us raised under Capitalistic Decadance!

Communist Guitars (Vintage 1983 Jolana Diamant I Electric Guitar) from MyRareGuitars.com

Vintage 1961 Fenton-Weill Tux-Master Electric Guitar

This Tux-master actually comes with a pretty impressive pedigree. In 1959 the legendary guitar-designer (and notoriously bad businessman) Jim Burns hooked up with a German chap named Henry Weill to build a line of Burns-Weill electric solidbody guitars built in London. Weills was reportedly the electronics expert. This partnership lasted less than a year and it’s pretty hard to find examples. However, it’s pretty reasonable to speculate that Burns and Weill met more than once over many more than one pint! Then they retired to a band saw to reshape some firewood. These were truly Bizarro guitars, squarish angular monsters all off-balance!

According to online sources (meaning cross your fingers and hope), one of their models was called the Fenton, and that became the source of name of the new company re-formed by Weill in 1960, Fenton-Weill. Whether or not there was a person named Fenton remains one of guitardom’s unsolved mysteries.

Vintage 1961 Fenton-Weill Tux-Master Electric Guitar

Regarding this Fenton-Weill guitar I have in my notes that it was a re-design of the Burns-Weill RP2G guitar model but I have no idea how I arrived at such a conclusion. I don’t need to point out this guitar’s ungainly aspects! That anteater snout headstock, the small, asymmetrical body.

To be fair, this guitar actually has some innovative features. For one thing, the neck is glued in and has a heelless design to improve access up the neck. This is at least a decade in advance of the appearance of that design feature in the U.S. Also, the weird paint job, with the shaded black-burst, was at least 25 years ahead of its time, such aesthetics not appearing until the mid-1980s.

Vintage 1961 Fenton-Weill Tux-Master Electric Guitar

Actually, this guitar isn’t entirely “stock.” The bridge is a Gotoh replacement and the 3-way switch and jack are not original. However, this kind of fits with the gestalt of Fenton-Weills. That’s because Henry Weill was also an early pioneer in sourcing parts from Japan, as it turns out (if online sources are to be believed). Apparently Weill bought pre-assembled pickguards, with pickups and wiring, from Guyatone. Reportedly, Henry “tweaked” them, but the electronics are Japanese. Online rumors suggest that Weill didn’t do the wood-work either. Necks are supposed to have come from Germany. Thus, the presence of a Gotoh bridge doesn’t violate the spirit of the law.

Like most ugly-duckling guitars, this actually plays and sounds pretty well. The original Featherlite vibrato is great for your rendition of Apache or Walk, Don’t Run. I suspect you wouldn’t want to be seen strapping this on for a heavy metal gig, but it does have a cool surf vibe.

When Burns and Weill split in 1959, Weill continued to make guitars badged Weill-London. These seem to be even rarer than Burns-Weill guitars. I couldn’t find a single online image of one, but they no doubt continued the same aesthetic. The Fenton-Weill brand was in play at least by 1963. Weill had his own factory by this time and was also producing amplifiers, plus reportedly producing guitars for Hohner and Selmer.

Vintage 1961 Fenton-Weill Tux-Master Electric Guitar

If you Google-Image Fenton-Weill guitars you’ll get a range of designs that include the square Bizarros some vaguely Supro-ish LPs, a kind of Alamo Jazzmaster thing, and these skinny anteater whatever-they-ares. Some have bolt-on necks, many are set-necks like this. Guitars and basses. The black-bursty finish touches are fairly tyoical.

Fenton-Weills seem to have come in a plethora of model names, “-master” being favored, including Dualmaster and Twinmaster. Minor details differ between models. Consistency was no hobgoblin for Fenton-Weill!

Alas, Henry Weill doesn’t appear to have been much better at business than Jim Burns and in 1965 the Fenton-Weill company was history, imploding in bankruptcy.

I can’t be certain when this guitar was made, but the window is pretty tight: the widest being 1960-65, with 1962-65 being more likely.

Today, sourcing parts from foreign lands is common practice. It was novel when this guitar was made, as were many of the other features. The awkward design, however, is completely original and completely…ugly! So ugly you gotta love it! I know I do…

Ugly Mugs No. 1 (Vintage 1961 Fenton-Weill Tux-Master Electric Guitar) from MyRareGuitars.com

With that said, it would sound wrong for me to tell you that thousands of guitar players around the world complain after their instrument has been worked on by an individual who has had more experience adjusting guitars than any other technician in the world. In fact, she’s so bad that every single instrument she graces with her finesse ends up needing to be worked on again to fix what she’s done. The worst part? She may be working on your guitar as you’re reading this.

We all know her as Mother Nature, and if you’re just entering into your winter season like we are here in Canada, you’d better keep a watchful eye on your prized six strings.

Changes in temperature and humidity will do a number on your guitar if you don’t store it properly. The cold, dry season of winter is not the best climate for any stringed instrument. Not to mention, flipping on your electric heaters at home only make the problem worse. Investing in a humidifier to put in your guitar room is a worthwhile purchase, and mini humidifiers are available to carry around in your guitar case. Storing your guitar properly is a good way to avoid potential repair and setup costs; repairs such as the one I’m writing this article about…sharp fret ends.

A sharp fret is the result of the moisture content in a guitar neck’s wood decreasing due to dryer climates. A lower moisture content means that the wood will literally shrink, causing the frets to stick out over the fingerboard edge. This of course means it will be very uncomfortable to play, and in extreme cases, you can actually cut your hand.

To remedy this, you’ll need to file the fret ends down to size. This is a delicate task, since you:

• Want to get rid of any “fret overhang”
• Want all the fret ends to look good, and look the same
• DON’T want to damage the wood.

Below is my method for taking care of your sharp frets.

First, you’ll need a flat file to get all the protruding edges filed back into place. The best, safest tool you can use for this in my opinion is one such as this:

These are “Fret End File Blocks” that have a flat file mounted inside them at a pre-set angle. This ensures that every fret will be taken back the same distance, at the exact same angle. The danger of trying to file back the fret ends manually (without experience) is that you risk slipping and damaging the neck, and it’s possible to file the bevels at too steep an angle. Not to mention, it can just take a really long time!   If the fret begins to slope too near the strings, it’s a lot easier for the string to slip off the neck when playing. Most block angles are pre-set somewhere around the 35-55 degree angle range, with 45 degrees being a good midpoint. Many are adjustable so you can set an angle you want.

The method to using the file block is relatively simple. Remove or loosen off the strings, place the tool on the neck and slide it back and forth. Don’t push too hard against the frets, the tool will do a good enough job on its own. It is good practise to set a number to count how many times you slide it back and forth (say, five to start) and stop to check the frets between each set.

When you’re done this process, you may feel that the frets still feel sharp. Make sure that you are feeling the fret from the bottom of the fret as opposed to side to side. A fret that feels sharp from side to side but not from bottom to top means that you’re done your job with this flat file, and it’s time to move on to the shaping file.

This fret end file is the tool to use for smoothing out your beveled edges. You can use a three corner file, too – just be sure that at least one side is ground down flat and smooth. You need to be able to glide this file along the neck, so a file that has grit on each side is just going to end up tearing the wood.

With the flat side of the file against the finger board, place the file against the fret’s beveled edge. You want to use the length of the file, so place it where the fret meets close to the tip of the file.

The method you’ll want to use here involves a couple different motions with your arm and wrist. You’ll be sliding the file forward:

… while also turning the file inward, and curving or “rolling” it over the fret end. It’s kind of similar to turning a door handle while pushing the door open.

Only slide the file in one direction, and again count the number of times you file. Start with three strokes on each side, then check the fret end. You should have something that looks similar to this when all’s said and done:

The last step is to buff and polish the frets to get rid of any file marks you’ve just made. For this, I find a rotation of “fret erasers” from stew mac do a great job. Start with the lowest grit, then work your way up to the highest. You can use sandpaper as well, but for that you’ll want to put some tape down to protect the fretboard. If you go this route, you shouldn’t need anything abrasive – maybe just 400 grit to start, working your way up to 600.  When you’ve finished with that, a quick polish up with steel wool will make the fret look fantastic.

That’s it! It takes a bit of practise, but your hands will be thanking you the next time you slide them down the neck!

Happy Playing!

Vincent’s Guitar Workshop – Issue 14 from MyRareGuitars.com

by Vince Schaljo

With the Christmas season fast approaching, finding the perfect “something” for someone can prove taxing. Depending on how well you know the person, you can often find yourself taking a shot in the dark picking something up that you think they might like or use. When it comes to budding guitar players though, it’s easy to fill a stocking with little things you can be sure they’ll use. Here’s my top ten list of practical stocking stuffers for the aspiring guitarist!Strings.

Every guitar needs to be restrung on a regular basis. Learning how to do it yourself will not only save a little money in the long run, but will also mean you don’t need to leave your guitar at a shop overnight for a simple restring to be done. If the player is relatively new to the instrument, a medium gauge 10-46 should do just fine. If they’re more experienced, find out what they like first!

Lemon oil, string winder, guitar polish.

I lumped these together because they all have to do with general guitar maintenance. It’s imperative that a guitar neck is kept in good condition by giving it a healthy dose of lemon oil when it gets dry. A string winder will help the restring process go much quicker, and guitar polish will help keep your guitar-playing-companion’s baby looking nice and shiny. Just as I mentioned with the strings, learning to do these simple things will save time and money!

Clip Tuner

Playing a guitar that’s in tune is better for everyone in the instrument’s vicinity. Clip tuners make keeping it in tune very easy, and can be used even in high volume areas. Simply clip the tuner to the guitar’s headstock, set it to “vibration”, and the tuner will read each note based on the vibrations that the frequency sends through the guitar.

Capo
A handy tool for any player hoping to be the next big singer-songwriter, a capo allows you to shift the “open” position of the guitar from the nut to any fret you wish. This allows you to play typical open chord shapes for chords that would normally require extensive barre chord shapes. It’s also a lot of fun to experiment with alternate tunings with a capo, or even using a “partial” capo to leave some strings open.

Strap / strap locks

Anyone who wants to play in a band or play in front of an audience will get good use out of a strap. It feels different to play when the guitar is hanging from your shoulder than when sitting, so it’s good to get used to both before you jump on the stage. When it comes time to do that though, strap locks would be a good idea. Many straps are notorious for slipping off a guitar’s strap buttons, which are what strap buttons are here to prevent. You can get inexpensive plastic ones, or invest in a set of metal locks that replace the original guitar strap buttons.

Picks!

There is a conspiracy that exists among guitar players where all their picks up and vanish. So, when someone hands us a handful of guitar picks, it’s like winning the lottery.
Just like with strings, make sure you know what the experienced player likes to use before buying. Guitarists can be picky when picking their picks.

Effects Pedal

Most professional players’ guitar rigs contain at least a couple effects pedals. The budding player can plug in a pedal to try and dial in a sound similar to that of their heroes, or just to have a little fun. Even if you’re not sure what kind of effect they may want to play with, a good reverb, delay, or boost pedal will always be a winner.

Educational Program

Relatively inexpensive computer programs exist that make learning songs and jotting down musical notation easier than just learning by reading it. Guitar Pro is a good example – you simply download any compatible sheet music or tab, and the program will playback the song as it reads through the notation. You can slow parts down and speed them up, or even write in your own notation and have the program play them back using a variety of selectable instruments. There’s a ton more features that make it a great tool for any player looking to learn, practice, and write music.

Guitar Lessons

Ok, so you can’t throw them into a stocking. That said, one on one guitar lessons with a good teacher is still the best way to learn an instrument. An interactive setting where the student is able to ask questions and receive feedback simply can’t be beat by a program or just reading online.

Cheddar Shredder

Sometimes shredding for five minutes can turn out cheesy. With this fantastic invention, shredding for five minutes will actually create strands of delicious cheese. You’ll need to start with a solid brick of it, though.

Merry Christmas, and happy playing!

Stocking Stuffers for the Budding Guitarist from MyRareGuitars.com

Now, these are all things that are easily noticed and rather simple to change. You can remove fluff, you can use a different pick, and you can practise a different playing style. Some things, however, go unnoticed and can be simply “accepted” for the way they are. Each string is wrapped around a machine head, where it then goes to lay on a nut. When you fret a note, you are pushing the string down so it makes contact with a piece of metal fret wire. At the body of the guitar is a saddle that cradles the string before reaching its ball end where it is held in place.

The size, shape, and quality of each of these components has an effect on how that string vibrates just as different picks and annoying fluff does. The thing is, when you pick up a high end guitar and play it, the “wow” factor you get from its sound is a combination of everything that that was put into its construction. As such, it can be hard to identify exactly what you want in a guitar without trading out components and listening for yourself. Trust me on this though: if you take a guitar with a plastic nut and play an open E chord, then remove the nut and put on a bone one, you’ll hear the difference right away. In this article I’ll talk about some of the examples I listed above, and things to consider when thinking about tone and your playing. Let’s start at the top…

1. The Machine Heads

The most important part about sounding good is playing in tune. While falling out of tune isn’t always a fault of the machine heads, they’re definitely a main contributor. Proper stringing methods combined with a good quality set of pegs is the best way to keep a guitar in tune, and taking it a step further would be to invest in a set of locking tuners.

Apart from tuning stability, you may actually notice a tonal difference from a tuning peg that is built better than another. A peg that is well made will have all of its inside components fit securely, and the mechanism will operate smoothly. Tight fitting, well-built parts make for a much smaller risk of rattling noise, and transference of vibrations from the string to the wood will be superior.

Plastic heads on the tuners definitely add a cool look and vintage vibe to the guitar, but over time these can be notorious for breaking and crumbling off of their posts. To me, that’s a little too much vintage vibe. If you’re set on going the non-metal route, be sure to go with a good quality reputable brand – but even then don’t expect them to last forever. 

2) The Nut

After the machine head, this is the first place the string rests on the guitar. A good nut is one that is made of a high quality material, and is cut to the right size. You don’t want your strings to be lying on the first fret, or too far away from it. Nut slots that are not filed properly can cause fret buzz, make it too hard to play, or even cause strings to slip / get caught resulting in tuning problems. The idea is to use a hard material that won’t decay or chip under string tension, while still being something reasonably easy to cut into shape.

A solid choice for good nut material would be bone. Many players agree that a bone nut yields the best sound compared to others, and luthiers are happy because it is relatively easier to work with than some of the other options. Synthetic materials exist that have been manufactured to mimic bone density like TusQ, and as such behave similarly. Other materials you can use are metal, graphite, wood, and ebony. Graphite is a good choice for instruments with tremolo systems, as it allows the string to move a little more freely. Using a pencil to draw into the nut slots of a non-graphite nut is a trick you can use to simulate that benefit.

Keep in mind that when you fret a note, you are effectively cutting off the string between your finger and the nut. Therefore, the effect that the nut material has on your overall tone is minimal compared to the effect it has on open notes. Some guitars come with a “zero fret” installed which was originally intended for quick instrument production. It’s far easier to file the nut down far enough for the strings to simply rest on the zero fret than it is to get the string height at the nut right without a zero fret.

Perhaps a side effect of this style is that the zero fret may equalize the tone from your open notes with that of your fretted notes. The string sits on “fret zero”, so even when not holding anything down, you get the sound of a string against a fret rather than just the nut. No matter the route you go for material, if you’re looking to replace a nut try and have someone custom make one for your guitar. It’s extremely important that this piece is done right!

3) The Frets

Technically you could use a variety of different materials for your guitar frets, but, unlike the nut, most guitars use either a “nickel-silver” or “nickel-steel” compound. Different levels of hardness can be achieved by adjusting the percentages in this compound. For a high quality fret, you want a very hard fret material. Harder frets are of course more difficult to work with for the luthier, but they will last longer by reducing the amount of fret wear caused by your strings.

What’s more important when it comes to your frets is their shape and size. This is one component that really boils down to your playing style. For quick and easy play, a tall and wide fret is very handy. The taller the fret, the less force you need to apply to make the string meet it. This can be a double edged sword if you aren’t used to tall frets. Yes, it will make playing fast runs easier, but it will also make playing notes sharp easier as you will likely be pushing too hard out of habit. You’ll need to adjust your playing a bit to really benefit from taller frets.

Wide “jumbo” frets are well-liked because they tend to be easier to bend strings across, help greatly with vibrato, and typically feel smoother when sliding up and down the neck. As a bonus, the fret won’t wear as fast as a thin fret as the string spans across a greater surface area.

For the true “vintage” feel, you’ll want a thinner fret. For some, it is easier to play a guitar with thinner frets due to extra space you’ll have between them. As the string makes contact with less surface area with these, intonation should be more accurate here as well (as long as the frets are seated properly!)

No matter the fret size you go with, proper maintenance of them is key. When your frets become worn (and they will), you will need to get them crowned and possibly levelled. Fret buzz, dead notes, string grinding and poor intonation are problems that can be avoided by proper care of your frets.

As always, experiment! Try things you may not have and see what works for you.

Happy playing!

Tips on Tone – Issue #16 from MyRareGuitars.com

For every guitar player there comes a time where a guitar they know and love gains a new “battle scar”. Whether it be from a fall, a knock, your pick, your belt, or a throw, signs of wear and damage appears that you can choose to try and have fixed, or leave as a story to tell.

Occasionally, damage can occur that will require a fix. Today I’ll be going over the steps to carving and replacing a piece, that, if damaged, can render the guitar unplayable. Not only that, but simply changing it out for something made of a different material can have a major impact on your tone and sustain.

Replacing a Guitar Nut

Small cracks and chips in the nut can grow to the point where you literally lose a piece of the nut. Improper filing can cause strings to sit too low to the neck or too close to each-other. While filing nut slots and gluing pieces back together is possible, there comes a time to consider putting in a new one. You can get pre-fabricated nuts, but in order to have one that is fit specifically for your instrument, you’ll have to cut it yourself.

Before you begin, you’ll have to…

1) Take off the old nut.

Here I am using my fret hammer and fret setter to gently tap the nut out of its seat. Note the lacquer that curves up towards the front of the nut – it may be wise to carefully score along the edges with a modelling knife to prevent chipping the paint. If the nut doesn’t move at first, don’t smack it. Keep tapping gently until it comes loose.

With the nut removed, you’ll want to file off the remaining glue to make sure you’re gluing the new one to the original wood slot. Once the area is clean, you can start work on the new piece!

2) Fit your nut blank into the slot.

The first thing you’ll need is a nut blank of a material of your choice. Nuts come in all kinds, but for tone quality and ease of carving, I would suggest going the route of bone or TusQ (synthetic material made to mimic the density of bone.)

Success! A new nut!

Not yet. Obviously this blank is too long and wide to fit in the slot, so there is lots of work to be done. First things first, you’ll want it to at least fit in snuggly. Sticking a piece of sandpaper (110, or 220 grit if you want to take it slower) to a flat surface, sand the flat side of the nut that meets the fingerboard until it slides in so it is flush at every edge. Make sure you check periodically so you don’t overdo it.

As you can tell, a lot of nut material had to come off of this one to make it fit! Once it did though, it was nice and snug…

3) Size it up.

With the nut in place, you’ll want to make all your guidelines and measurements necessary so you’re confident when it comes time to cut. The first thing you’ll do is just trace the contours of your fret board onto the nut with a sharp pencil.

So, this is the outline of your fret board. For the actual nut height, you obviously don’t want to shave right down to this line. Next you’ll need to measure the height of your first fret.

The height I measured on mine was about .034”. To factor in the distance between the top of the fret and the bottom of your strings, add about .030” to whatever your fret height is. This total, (0.064” for me) is how much you want to add to the line you had drawn across the radius of your fret board. This is how far you can now file or sand down the top of the nut, while using the fret board radius line as a reference point for shaping a radius to your nut.

Next you need to mark where you are going to cut your string slots. It is vital that your strings are spaced properly so they are not falling off the edge of the neck, not too close together, and not too far apart. One millimeter off is noticeable when playing, so make sure you repeat every measurement until perfect.

The first two strings you’ll mark will be the outer E strings. Instead of measuring in from your markings on the nut, for this step you want to measure in from the bevels of the first fret. Again, you don’t want the string to slip down off your neck when playing. A general rule is to make your mark 1/16” in from the fret bevel on each side.

My ruler here isn’t marked in inches on both sides, so the best way to accurately get this measurement was to press the millimeter side right up to the nut, and use the edge to measure 1/16”. Make sure your nut is placed in the slot so your pencil marks line up with the fret board contours before you mark your lines.

Once you’ve got these two outer lines marked, you need to draw on the remaining four. The absolute best, and easiest way to do this is to use the “Stewmac String Spacing Rule”

It works with a few different slots in a ruler that you basically just have to line up with the two lines you’ve just drawn. When you find two that line up, the lines in between are pretty well placed for you.

The alternative approach would be to measure the distance (in mm) between the two marks you just made, and divide it by five. For my nut, this would have been 38 divided by 5 to give me 7.6. This number is the equal distance between each string. The trouble with this method is that, of course, some strings are thicker than others, and in order to be exact, you would need to factor that into your equation. You can get pretty good results without doing that, but it’s very time consuming and there is a lot of double checking involved as you make your cuts. As you may be able to tell from the picture, I didn’t have the “string spacing rule” on hand and went without, all the while wishing I could’ve used it!

Cutting the slots.

When your pencil marks are all in place, you can begin to cut your guide slots. Clamp the nut into a vice, and using your thinnest nut file cut starter grooves along each line. Go slow to ensure you don’t slip!

With small cuts made, you can use your sized nut files to cut the correct sized groove for each string. Don’t cut too far down yet, just enough to allow the string to sit comfortably.

Next, you can place the nut back in its slot and place the strings into their respective groove. Check to make sure everything looks good as far as string spacing and height from the first fret. This is the part where you’ll either breathe a sigh of relief or mumble a curse of frustration.

If everything looks good, you can cut your nut slot depth. Take the measurement you used before that was your fret height plus .030”, and stack up some feeler gauges to total that number. Place it along the side of the nut, and file each slot down with the proper sized file until it touches the feeler gauge. Make sure you file in a downward motion towards the headstock to allow for a natural slope of the string.

Shaping, polishing, and gluing!

It’s almost done! If you breathed that sigh of relief before, don’t think it’s easy sailing now though. Be cautious making the next few steps to completion.

From here, you can shave off the edges of the nut up to the original lines you made around the finger board, and then contour and polish the nut with increasing grits of sandpaper (I used 220 followed by 320). After sanding, you can polish it with a general polishing compound. I like a product called “ScratchDoctor”. When all’s said and done, you should have something that looks like this:

Lastly, you can glue it on to your guitar! Just a few dabs both in the slot and on the nut will do. No need to lather it all over. When in place, put the strings into their slots and tune up to pitch, wipe off any excess glue, and let it dry.

Voila, a new guitar nut:

Happy Playing!

Vincent’s Guitar Workshop – issue 13 from MyRareGuitars.com

Vintage 1987 Dean Z Autograph Electric Guitar

Now that Japanese guitars are too expensive to import into the U.S.—and now that most folks understand how good Japanese guitars could be (with a good set-up)—it’s not uncommon for eBay auctions to feature “MIJ” as a positive selling point. And, now that large-scale guitar-making—except for the highest quality custom shop work—has pretty much left Korea, for a combination of economic and political reasons, attitudes are being adjusted once again. Turns out the Koreans had also gotten pretty good a making guitars. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time that “MIK” will become another compelling sales factor when you’re shopping for guitars.

Dean guitars were the brainchild of suburban Chicago native Dean Zelinsky who started building the now legendary upscale, hybrid “Gibson copies” in the late 1970s, like the folks at nearby and contemporary Hamer partly in response to the perceived inattention to quality at Gibson at the time, and partly because Zelinsky liked Explorers and Vees and was annoyed that Gibson didn’t make any fancy flamed-top versions. The former reason might be a debatable point, but there’s no question that those early Deans were darned good guitars.

Vintage 1987 Dean Z Autograph Electric Guitar

Indeed, players thought Deans were so good they were highly successful and the company quickly expanded its offerings. Unable to keep up with demand, Dean inevitably—like virtually everyone else, in time—turned to Japan for help. In 1983, with Guitar Player Magazine doing cover stories on the return of the Strat, Dean came up with it’s own take on a Fender with its first “Super-Strat,” the Bel Aire, one of the first guitars (there are competing candidates) to sport the now-ubiquitous h/s/s pickup configuration. The Bel Aire had a neck and hardware imported from ESP in Japan, though final assembly continued to be Stateside. By 1985 Dean Hollywoods were made in Japan by ESP.

By the end of 1985 Dean had also inked a deal to bring in Dean Autographs, like the one seen here, made in Korea. I’m actually not sure who made these guitars. Even though Korea had (and has) a number of guitar factories, most OEM work was done by either Samick or Cort and the odds are that the Autographs came from one or the other.

Vintage 1987 Dean Z Autograph Electric Guitar

So, get over any contemporary reservations about Korean guitars and look at this with a modern eye, and you have to admit it’s pretty snappy! I’ve never been a fan of black guitars but make the black super-high-gloss, add a white lacquered fingerboard, and slap a mirror on the front and you have my attention. In addition to having the usual Super-Strat features, this also has a neck-tilt adjustment feature to let you fine-tune your action without taking everything apart. A lot of people obsess over pickups, which I’ve never really understood. Almost no one plays an electric guitar through a solid-state amp set to give clean, neutral sound, which is the principal way you’d get to hear mainly pure pickup. Color your sound with a tube amp, pump up the bass, or, horrors, shoot the signal through a distortion pedal with a touch of reverb, like most of us do, and as long as you’re getting some output it doesn’t really matter what pickups you have. You’re going to color the sound electronically. I’m sure that’ll rile some folks. Whether you agree with this last point or not, the Dean Autograph holds up as a swell, classy shred machine.

Vintage 1987 Dean Z Autograph Electric Guitar

This guitar has a serial number of 8700430. Since the Autographs were made from 1985-87, I presume the “87” is date encoding. I have no idea if these are relatively rare or common. They don’t come up for sale that often, but that many not mean much. I suspect it’s a lot like 1960s Japanese guitars. They weren’t that rare (although less plentiful than most of us think), but no one ever imagined they’d be collectible in the future, so few people held onto them. By the time Zelinsky got into Korean-made guitars, he’d grown tired of the guitar biz and he shuttered the original Dean doors in 1990, off to make furniture.

Dean guitars are back in business, of course, and apparently doing well, including some made in the U.S.A. again. The more I see, the less I know I can predict about how things will eventually turn out. If my wife wouldn’t kill me, I’d start squirreling away some of those Chinese guitars…

Mirror Image Guitars (Vintage 1987 Dean Z Autograph Electric Guitar) from MyRareGuitars.com

Vintage 1965 Baldwin Burns Jazz Split-Sound Electric Guitar

I finally found my Wild Dog on, of all things, the inventory list of George Gruhn, the eminent Nashville vintage guitar dealer. Now, that may not seem odd to you, but this was a long time ago. Back then finding guitars was done by eagerly getting the first printing of the Trading Times, a weekly newsprint want-ad rag that was published all over the country in localized versions. If you’re one of those young-uns who walks around with your nose in a smart-phone, “want-ads” were notices you paid to put in the paper if you had something to sell. EBay didn’t exist. Only Al Gore used the Internet. George’s list wasn’t in the Trading Times, but in Vintage Guitar Magazine, which was the Trading Times for old guitar junkies.

Anyhow, I got this 1965 Baldwin-Burns Jazz Split-Sound from George Gruhn for what I thought was a high price at the time, but it was a relative bargain at Gruhn’s because this was the time when everyone was still looking for vintage Strats and Les Pauls (before they cost 5 to 6 figures), not Baldwin-Burns guitars. So, this wasn’t on the radar at the time. Except for someone like me. There’s a reason I’m billed as “The Different Strummer.”

Vintage 1965 Baldwin Burns Jazz Split-Sound Electric Guitar

Baldwin-Burns guitars are part of the madness that was the 1960s guitar industry. Baby Boomers like me liked guitars and corporations with money started buying up guitar manufacturers. CBS and Fender, Norlin and Gibson, etc., etc. Among the early suitors for Fender was the Baldwin Piano and Organ company of Cincinnati. When Fender went on the block in 1965 due to Leo’s health problems, Baldwin tried to buy the company. CBS outbid them and that was that. At the same time, Burns of London, owned by Jim Burns, was having financial difficulties. Burns was more guitar “genius” than business wizard. The plan was to import Burns-designed and produced guitars carrying the Baldwin name. The first units began to arrive in late 1965 and this was a very early arrival of the Jazz Split-Sound model.

Vintage 1965 Baldwin Burns Jazz Split-Sound Electric Guitar

Actually, this is pretty interesting in a number of dimensions. First of all, it’s a “Strat” configuration, although pretty liberally interpreted, with “notes” of the Burns Bison. Back in the mid-‘60s Fender’s top guitars were the Jazzmaster and Jaguar, which were most copied by both European and Japanese manufacturers. It’s early because of the head, which became a scroll design in mid-1966. Like I said, Jim Burns was a pretty good guitar designer and this has one of his Series 2 adjustable vibratos. The pickups are a pretty interesting take on a humbucker, really kind of a hybrid, with offset coils and poles. This is, no doubt, the origin of the “Split-Sound” nomination. These are pretty cool, because the “Split-Sound” meant that the neck coils captured the bass strings and the bridge coils got the trebles. I’m not really sure you can hear the subtleties, but it’s dang cool none-the-less.

Vintage 1965 Baldwin Burns Jazz Split-Sound Electric Guitar

The “Wild Dog” setting is, well, underwhelming. It’s basically an out-of-phase sound like you get in the in-between positions on a Strat, but the pickups aren’t really as hot as a Strat’s, so, while it’s cool—and pretty innovative—in a ’60s guitar, it’s really no big whoop. But good marketing!

This is, for the times, a professional grade instrument, on a par with Fender or Gibson, with an entirely unique feel, of course. Burns doesn’t get the respect he deserves in the American market, and the Baldwin—and later Ampeg—monikers didn’t help with credibility, given the consumer illusion that a brand name had to equate with the manufacturer. Which it almost never has.

Vintage 1965 Baldwin Burns Jazz Split-Sound Electric Guitar

Despite all the technical features that make this guitar desirable, there really isn’t any “Wild Dog” there. Maybe compared to a Kay or a Harmony electric. And to get Wild Dog out of a Strat, you needed toothpicks. Nada on Gibsons.

That the “Wild Dog” setting was kind of disappointing doesn’t diminish the coolness of this guitar, but it certainly wasn’t what I expected. More like “Big Whoop.” But pretty good marketing!

The Lure of the Wild Dog (Vintage 1965 Baldwin Burns Jazz Split-Sound Electric Guitar) from MyRareGuitars.com

The Minimalist 

We had to start somewhere. The very first electric guitar was, of course, as simple as it gets: a neck, a small body, one pickup, and one volume control. Over the past eighty-something years, manufacturers have made additions and changes to their guitars to give more options to those who want them. You may think that if two, three, even four pickup guitars with all the bells and whistles are available, why would anyone ever settle for something with just one? Yet, many companies are still making one-pickups, and there’s only one reason for that… people still buy them!

There are definitely some advantages to owning a single pickup guitar, and there are those who argue the “less is more” idea in this regard. Here’s a few things to consider about this design:

1. Rock Out.

Just plug in, and play. There’s no second guessing anything here: you have your one pickup turned on full, and you’re always getting pure guitar tone through the amp. If you enjoy playing a style of music where all you ever need is that shrill, loud, bridge-pickup sound, then why not have a guitar that gives you exactly that?

2. No “Crutches”

You don’t have the option of switching pickups, rolling off any tone, or pushing / pulling any knobs. Everything you get from your amp is from you. Playing a single pickup guitar forces you to physically play different if you want to sound different. Having a good sense of dynamics is key, and exercising the use of different picking styles can get you a variety of tones you wouldn’t think possible from just one bridge pickup. Mixing these ideas with good use of your volume knob can easily turn a single pickup guitar into a multi-functional beast.

3. The “Rumours”

There’s a few arguments out there that suggest what’s going on inside a single pickup guitar, or rather, what’s not going on, can ultimately affect its tone. It is a fact that the magnetic field used by pickups to amplify your strings also has a small amount of “pull” on them. I’ve had players come up to me with a complaint that their guitar has a weird out of tune, double note effect when fretting notes all the way up the fret board. The simple fix is to lower the pickups – they were pulling too hard, interrupting the string’s vibrations. So, with only one pickup, perhaps it can be assumed that less force pulling the strings allows it to vibrate better, and longer. That translates to more sustain, which is always a sought after quality in a guitar.

4. Easy on the Workbench

If your single pickup guitar’s electronics start having problems, it won’t take long to fix it. When you open it up, you’ll see that there’s virtually nothing to it. One pickup, one volume control, and one input. That’s it. It will take no time to identify the culprit, fix it, and get back to playing!

The Everything-ist

It’s a natural thing to want to move forward, and it’s no different for guitar makers and players. It didn’t take long for the electric guitar to evolve, and have the number of options you can see on some models today. Below I’ll list some of the things that you can find on guitars with “way too many” knobs, and try to dispel some of the confusion surrounding their functions.

1. Blending Pickups

This is obviously something you can’t do with a single pickup guitar. Typically, with your toggle switch in the middle position on a 2 pickup guitar, both of your pickups are “on” creating a “blended” sound from both combined. If your guitar has independent volume knobs, you can then increase or decrease one pickup’s volume to further change how your guitar sounds. Better yet, some guitars come with a “blend” knob, which will fully sweep from neck to bridge pickup so you can hear everything in between, and dial in to that tone you’re looking for.

2. Coil tap / coil split

These are two different features that are commonly referred to as the same, or mixed up. While both change how your pickup sounds, each does it in a different way. A coil tap is used on single coil pickups, and works by essentially reducing your pickup’s full output. Think of it this way: your pickup is a magnet with copper wire wound around it thousands of times. When electricity passes through that whole distance of wire, it means you are getting your full output (unless your guitar’s volume is turned down). A coil tap takes the signal from an earlier point in these coils, thus reducing the overall power of the pickup. It will give you a softer, more “chimey” tone that will remind you of the old Fender sound.

A coil split is a function that refers to humbucking pickups. It allows you to cut out one of the two coils in the pickup to leave you with a single pickup sound, which is great if want to have the best of both worlds from one guitar.

3. Switches

You can have switches on your guitar that can have virtually any function. A kill switch that will essentially turn on or off your guitar’s output, a phase switch that will flip your pickup from being “in phase” to “out of phase”, or even having independent toggle switches for any number of pickups on your guitar.

It comes down to the kind of player you are. Do you want one instrument that can handle anything, and are you able to handle everything included on the guitar? Or do you want a guitar that can do one thing really well? Either way, I recommend giving both a try before dismissing them without playing. You might surprise yourself!

Happy playing!

Tips on Tone – Issue #15 from MyRareGuitars.com

Vintage 1968 Bunker Astral Sunstar Electric Guitar

Actually, the name of this guitar does provide something of a clue to its vintage: a Bunker Astral Series Sunstar. Far out, man. Shades of Star Trek. The Astral Series was the brainchild of Dave Bunker, a luthier whose name you may not know, but whose work you just may have encountered. Dave was born out in Washington State in 1935 and by the 1950s was playing guitar. Back then the legendary Jimmy Webster was touring the country promoting Gretsch guitars. Webster was one of the modern pioneers of two-handed tapping and the technique was a revelation to Bunker, who adopted it as his own.

Bunker became a teacher and began working on designing a double-necked tapping guitar, which he called the Duo-Lectar. This was the beginning of a long line of inventions intended to improve the performance of guitars. Dave actually build around 50 Duo-Lectars in the early 1960s. In 1964 Dave became part of a pop trio with two lovely sister singers and toured with them, playing Las Vegas and cruise ships.

Vintage 1968 Bunker Astral Sunstar Electric Guitar

Apparently Bunker had time to keep refining his guitar ideas and in around 1966 or so (he doesn’t remember exactly) he introduces the Astral Series guitars. Described as “The Guitar of Tomorrow,” for once the hype was right on. Basically this is a central core so beloved by tappers with two detachable wings or pods to give it guitar dimensions. The original idea was that you could get different looking pods and change the look of your guitar.

Vintage 1968 Bunker Astral Sunstar Electric Guitar

Alright, we’re are already in Klingon territory for 1966…or even today. But a core body with detachable pods is, in the end, largely a matter of carpentry. BUT, Dave had already developed his “tension-less neck.” Dave had found that he got dead spots where the truss rod was anchored, around the 10th fret. This led to his routing a channel in the neck where he placed a metal reinforcement rod that attached to plates at the body and the neck at the nut. This carried all tension and allowed the neck to fully resonate. This design also meant tuners had to be put tuners down at the bottom instead of the head. His Magnum pickups had individual poles hand wound with high impedance wire around a vertical Alnico V magnet. Each string had its own vertically and horizontally adjustable bridge/saddle, plus an additional microtuner that Bunker neglected to patent. If this looks like what showed up later on Floyd Roses, well, ask Dave what he thinks about that.

Vintage 1968 Bunker Astral Sunstar Electric Guitar

What all this means is that this guitar was way ahead of its times, probably sporting more technical innovations than any other guitar I can think of in 1966.