Dec 21

I get a lot of people that ask me what kind of equipment I play on. I have a few guitars, a couple cabinets, and several pedals that I use. Since I have a home studio that I do all my recording in I have some other pieces of equipment and software tools to give me a variety of sounds.

I have a Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar that sounds great and I use a lot when recording. It has a very full sound that is very “hot” and is great for overdriving a good tube amp. Also, I play a Gibson SG standard. In live playing situations I actually prefer this guitar. It is not quite as “hot” as the Les Paul which means that I get less feedback on stage. My Fender Jaguar is even less “hot” but also has a thinner sound than either of my Gibsons. It is a white ’62 reissue and has a great sound for the right situation. It generally has a clearer sound and each string seems to cut through the noise a little better.

My amp is a Marshall JCM 2000. It’s a great amp that is really quite versatile. It has two channels, both of which have two settings. So I actually get 4 options for different tones. It is a 50 watt amp which I prefer to 100 watts because I can overdrive it harder without it getting too loud. That means that I can get the quality tone of the amp at a lower volume.

I have a ton of pedals but the ones I use most commonly are a tuner pedal (which you absolutely must have if you plan on playing live). It allows me to tune without anyone hearing me tune. It’s too unprofessional to be tuning through your amp on stage so don’t do it! I also play through a noise reduction pedal that helps to cut out any hum from my guitar. I have a Line 6 delay pedal that has about 16 delay preset options on it so there is a lot of variety. One of my favorite pedals is the Big Muff. It’s an overdrive pedal that sounds really full and gritty. It is an older pedal so it can be a little finicky but it sounds great.

I’ll be posting more about my studio setup soon as well so be looking out for that!

Nov 13

There are several different methods to learning how to play the guitar. Some of these methods can be useful and some can be more of a hassle and waste of time than anything. Luckily, with the internet making its way into so many homes these days, online music lessons have become increasingly popular. And for good reason!

Online guitar lessons allow for students, such as yourself, to learn guitar from the comfort of their own home. Also, online lessons, at least with membership sites, allow for an easy and portable way to take lessons anytime and any place. I have used several different online guitar lesson websites and have found some of them very helpful. I can use my computer at home or learn at school or a friend’s house. Online lessons also allow to easily work at your own pace and on your own time.

However, not all the sites I tried were helpful so here’s a good quick way to see if an online guitar lesson website is right for you. First, and most importantly, make sure that the website has online video lessons! If you can’t hear and see how to play what the teacher is telling you then it will really get frustrating. Video lessons are the best and most cutting edge way to learn how to play guitar quickly and easily.

Second, make sure that you can login to the website using your own login name and password. These type of websites allow you to access your guitar lessons from any computer whenever you want…all you need is an internet connection which almost all computers have these days!

Third, make sure that the instructor who designed the course has experience in playing and teaching the guitar. You would be surprised to find out how many of these websites are run by amateur guitarists that won’t be able to teach you much of anything.

Fourth, remember that you get what you pay for! One of the best things about online guitar lessons is that they are relatively inexpensive compared to traditional learning methods. The reason for this is the fact that the teacher can literally teach hundreds if not thousands of people at the same time thanks to the beauty of the internet. The cheap sites that look too good to be true usually suck big time! Spend a little more up front and you won-t need to keep buying different products till you find a good one. From my experience, you are looking at spending between $45-$117 for a quality guitar course.

Of course, we are partial to the Ultimate Music Lessons Guitar Course

Oct 19

Every now and then we see a big breakthrough in the guitar community. Whether its an outstanding band like Rush, or the Beatles breaking through the scenes and creating a new style that last the ages or even something much more basic and simple such as a guitar tuner. Well that has recently happened with one of the worlds best guitar brands: Gibson.

The Gibson Robot Guitar is a sub-model of the famous Les Paul style guitar from Gibson Currently, there are 4 different models available: The Robot Les Paul Studio, and Robot SG, Robot Flying V, and Explorer as well as the first production limited edition model. 

This invention was developed by Chris Adams that actually uses an oboard computer to automatically tune your guitar all by intself. So now there is no need for a standard tuner as it tunes all 6 strings simultaneously without you having to lift a finger other than to switch the knob to the on position.

This development may run you anywhere from the price range of $1,000 - $3,000 depending on the model and can be used from seven different factory presets for tuning and six of which you can edit.

  • Standard 
  • DADGAD
  • Open E
  • Open G
  • Dropped D
  • Double Dropped D
  • Eb
  • So don’t take my word for it but rather see this innovative guitar in action: