To find the best tone in whatever form
Where's the tone?
You can spend as much money as you want on guitars and amps, but in the end tone can be found as much in the fingers as in the equipment.
A Quick Exercise
Think of all the guitarists that play the same kit.
Do they sound the same?
Some will, but a few will stand out from the crowd. Other guitarists will want the secrets to their tone or the sustain that they're able to achieve.
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Strings and How To Restring Your Guitar Properly
You should be changing your guitar strings on a regular basis. How frequent depends on a number of conditions, e.g. how often you play, for how long, whether you sweat onto your strings a lot, etc.
Knowing how to restring is an important trick. Knowing how to restring quickly in the near-dark of a stage is even more important if your audience is waiting.
Watch this video from D'addario and notice how the string is handled at the neck-end. Read more »
Presents for Experienced Rock Guitarists - Part 2 - Accessories
Following on from Presents for Experienced Rock Guitarists - Part 1 - Guitars and Amplifiers, this is the second part focussing on accessories.
Strap Locks
Strap Locks are great. Can't go wrong with them, especially if there's a new guitar involved. Read more »
Presents for Experienced Rock Guitarists - Part 1 - Guitars and Amplifiers
Some background
As part of a series on gifts and presents for guitarists. You should find some ideas for what you can buy experienced rock guitarists for birthdays, Christmas or whatever occassion arises.
The experienced rock guitarist has probably changed amplifiers a few times. They've probably even changed guitars a few times, accumulating a few spares along the way unless they're one of the very few lucky guitarists who start off with their ideal guitar. Read more »
What else can you buy guitarists?
Following on from the gifts for rock or blues guitarists, here are some general present and gift ideas for guitarists. With some of the presents, you may have to figure out if they play an acoustic or electric guitar, most of these are best for electric guitars. Read more »
Which is better: combo or head?
The answer to that question really does depend on what you want it for.
First of all, let's get some definitions:
- Head: Guitar amplifier in a single (wooden) box. Includes the pre-amp and power amp stages.
- Combo: Guitar amplifier and speaker driver in a single wooden box. Again, includes the pre-amp and power amp stages.
- Cab: (cabinet) Wooden box including speaker drivers. Also known as the enclosure.
- Driver: the speaker inside the cab, including the cone and magnet.
For simplicity's sake, a combo is an amp with driver included. With a head, you still have to provide a driver by plugging into a cab.
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Money Is No Object: Guitars and Amplifiers
Following on from the Best Guitar Equipment article featuring the top-of-the-range in guitars, amplifiers and accessories, this article takes that concept a step further and showcases some of the guitars and amplifiers even further up the scale. I guess some of these fall more into the category of collectibles rather than instruments and it's a shame that many will not be played to their full. They didn't feature in the Best Guitar Equipment for a few reasons: Read more »
The Best Guitar Equipment
This showcases the top-of-the-range in guitars, amplifiers and some accessories including effects and even straps. Some equipment has reached legendary status to the point that nothing else will suffice. It's that equipment that I started this list with, e.g. a Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster or a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, especially 57 or 56 reissue. That's how the list started, then it grew into a list of guitars, amps and accessories that show the strengths of each manufacturer.
I would consider each item featured in this article to be a workhorse, used rather than stored away, enjoyed rather than collected.
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Gibson Les Paul Standard
I've been playing a Gibson Les Paul Standard as my main guitar for about 6 years now. For years before that, I'd always leant towards stratocaster-type guitars (in fact, my guitar was an Eggle LA Pro rather than a Fender). I found myself getting into playing heavier music and having to play through overdrive and hi-gain sounds on a more frequent basis. A strat of any type wasn't going to fit the bill, so I went looking for an additional guitar.
After trying any and every electric guitar I could find, I finally settled on a Les Paul Standard Desert Burst; the first model shown below. Read more »
