Guitars for Musicians

Duane Eddy Talks About His Guitar Heroes

Jan 22, 2010 Gibson Guitars

www.gibson.com Duane Eddy Talks About His Guitar Heroes ... Duane Eddy Gibson Guitar

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Information That Can Help you Learn More About Classical Guitar Music

Oct 30, 2009 Gibson Guitars

Many people have musical interest of different types and classical guitar is an amazing kind of music that can give you such great joy and happiness. The best ways to learn more about classical guitar music, is to do the proper research on the internet or check out some self help books on learning classical guitar at the library. There are many resources that you can go through to gather the information that would be required for learning about classical guitar music. If it is something you are truly interested in and have the time to practice as much as will be needed, then it may be time for you to get to it, and eventually you may be able to show off your musical styles to your family and friends. They will be delighted and so proud of you for being so driven and dedicated to learning something new. It will also give you a great feeling of accomplishment.

While surfing on the internet you will find that there is so much helpful material that can help in guiding you on your journey to learning more about classical guitar music. Perhaps you could even get your hands on an instructional manual which would teach you how to play classical guitar music and you might even be able to find out about some classical guitar music classes, available to you, for teaching you more about the art and style of learning the classical guitar music. If you are really interested, then you should have no problem when it comes to getting started with this new attraction in your life. You may be able to find someone around your town that knows some about guitar lessons, of various styles. Maybe they could give you information that would be helpful in getting you started with your guitar lessons.

As you are searching for ways to teach yourself classical guitar music, just know that you had better be prepared for a great challenge. It is not always going to be easy but if you allow yourself enough time and have enough patience, it can be accomplished. This type of music has been around for many, many years, so there will be an abundance of information available for teaching you this style of guitar playing. For many people, learning how to read sheet music is probably one of the more difficult tasks. Learning how to read classical music sheets can be even more of a challenge, not just for beginners that know nothing about it, even experienced guitar players would probably have a tough time with this style of sheet music. It can be quite tricky.

You will find different mp3's that would be available to you, for listening to the guitar music styles that you choose, there are some sheets of music that you could actually find on the internet that will not cost you a dime. Listening to this music can give you a better idea on what you will be attempting to play, just getting to know the music is very important. You just have to know where to look and who to talk to about this new interest and you should be well on your way to a new hobby or perhaps even a new career.

Tags: About, Classical, Guitar, Help, Information, Learn, More, Music

It is Time to Learn a Lil Something About the Slide Guitar

Oct 29, 2009 Gibson Guitars

Some people may be familiar with the different styles of music being played on guitars, one of these wonderful styles of music comes from what is called the slide guitar. Everyone has a different style that they would prefer, the one that just makes their heart melt. The sounds that come from a slide guitar are unforgettable and just so enjoyable. The slide guitar has such a unique sound to it, that it truly can not even be described. This style of music has actually been around for many, many years, although the actual instrument has changed quite a bit.

You have got to remember though that back in the days it was made differently and went by the name of the jitterbug. This was one of the very first blue instruments ever made. The jitterbug had to ability to create such a sound that most people had never experienced hearing before. Once the sounds got out there, it became extremely noticed by its listeners and aspiring musicians.

Having the ability to use a slide guitar would definitely save your fingers from being hurt or worn out. Some of these are made from glass or metal. Slide guitars have been known for being used with some types of Hawaiian music. This type of music being played on slide guitars had a very huge influence on others attempting to choose this type of guitar for their instrumental music purposes. This became very popular all around the world actually. Once it hit, it hit hard and strong, everyone was talking about this new incredible sound.

The manufacturers were working day and night creating more and more of these types of slide guitars, for everyone anticipating being able to play them. They became so popular so quickly because once this sound got out there, to all of its listeners, word of mouth became the true making, for more of these musicians evolving their original sounds and turning their old sounds into the new sounds coming from right from their new slide guitars.

The variety of techniques now being offered when playing the slide guitars became recognizable by early, famous, blues playing musicians. These types of techniques were new and unique and caught the eyes of every upcoming musician awaiting their turn and to all of the old school, already famous musicians. Nothing can compare to the sounds of a glass bottleneck, brass, or metal pipe, sliding up and down the strings of the slide guitars.

It is really an unbelievable sound and if you have never experiences listening to these sounds, you have got to check into it, once you have heard these sounds, you will know no other sound like this. The slide guitar sounds have literally captivated all of its listeners and musicians, showing them that this style is not going anywhere, it is only improving constantly giving new hope for new types of music being played all around.

Tags: About, Guitar, Learn, Slide, Something, Time

Seven Common Fallacies About Guitar Playing

Oct 28, 2009 Fender Guitars

There are many common misconceptions by people about learning the guitar. However, they are all incorrect. Here is the reasons:

One: You should practice on an acoustic guitar.
NO!: It is better to practice on an electric guitar since it’s easier to play, has lighter strings, lower action, and a smaller neck. It’s also a little more interesting for first time players as you can add distortions and effects and keep the learner more interested.

Second: The best way to ‘get’ a famous band sound is buy a pedal that has player presets.
Truth: Although some multi-effects DO have some important presets, it is far better to learn the correct technique rather than trying to imitate the sound. Generally the sound of the incredible players comes from their spirit, their skill, and choice of guitar and amp. (Rarely do these guys use digital effects to create their sounds.

Three: You have to have a gigantic amp to get a large sound.
NO!: Some of the most huge sounds that have been recorded have been done with smaller 10 -20 watt amps with the tube made very loud. Many infamous bands have many amps on stage that are empty of speakers and a small amp hidden behind the stack that is mic’d up to the PA system. Some bands are also using digital recreations (POD, Digitech etc) of their amps in the studio but most purist players still use a real amp and analogue pedals.

Fourth: You should use lots of ‘string wrap or turns’ around the machine (tuning) head to get stable tuning.
Wrong!: Although B.B. King does use this method a better way is to have about 3  ‘turns’ of string on the machine head and about 3-4 turns on the higher strings. However, the best way is to have NO turns of string at all, buy using locking machine heads such as spertzel or grover *machine head where the string is literally locked into place without any string wrap.

Myth: Single coil pick ups sound the best but they are too noisy.

Truth: Yes and yes (possibly depending on your opinion) but there are many ways around this problem. The best way is to use hum canceling single coil pickups such as “fender noiseless” or any of the di marzio or Seymour Duncan hum canceling models that will sound JUST like  a vintage strat but without the noise. The other way is to put a “dummy load” pickup in the guitar. ie: a pick up that is wired in the guitar (sometimes under the scratch plate of a strat type guitar) but does not produce any sound , it just cancels the hum and noise.

Myth: Cheap cables are just as good as expensive ones and I save money.

Truth: It is way better to buy a good quality cable that has, quite often, a good guarantee. It will often last a long time and the difference in the quality has a huge bearing on the actual sound produced by your guitar and amp. It is no use having a great guitar and amp set up, and using low quality cable. Its like buying a Ferrari and putting re-tread tires on it. Always buy the best quality cable you can afford. Quite often you end up buying one good cable instead of cheap ones every 6 months, rendering them not cheap at all in the long run.

Seven: There is nothing you can do about strings rusting and losing their tone so may as well buy cheap ones or no name brands.

Wrong!: there are several ways to make your string last longer. The simplest is to always clean your strings after playing with a lint free cloth such as a handkerchief and use a string product such as “finger ease” or “fast fret” which coats the string with a protective chemical.

The other way is to use long life strings such as ‘elixir’ or similar brands which use a Teflon coating to prevent string corrosion and loss of tone. Yes these strings are three times more expensive but they do, in my experience last eight (8) times longer and rarely do they break as often as regular strings.

Tags: About, Common, Fallacies, Guitar, Playing, Seven

Things you Need to Know About Changing your Guitar Strings

Oct 26, 2009 Gibson Guitars

Every musician that plays any type of musical instrument has to learn the basics of protecting their equipment and giving it the opportunity to stick around for a longer time for your use, because of how expensive so many of the instruments can be. It is very important to learn the proper ways of taking care of your instrument, so that it will always look great and sound better, for your performances and by doing these things you will also have the ability to learn more about the instrument that you are playing, so that you can pass that information on down to anyone else interested in pursuing a career or hobby in the instrument of their choice.

So many people are guilty of making tasks much more difficult than they have to be, instead of just learning the correct, simple way of completing it. If your instrument of choice is the guitar, then you should be aware of the steps that it will take in order to change your guitar strings more successfully. If you do not know how to change guitar strings then you should first just do some research on the basics on it.

Find the information you are looking for that will make this task more enjoyable and easier on you. The most important thing to know about changing any kinds of guitar strings is just that, at first, it will be so uncomfortable for you because of the fears of messing something up, but after just a few times of changing the guitar strings you should, and probably will, feel much more confident in your ability to change the strings without any hesitations. This should be part of your upkeep on your guitar anyway, so if you do not know how to do this, start now by gathering all of the information you can on it and begin practicing. You will get it.

Knowing which tools to have handy for changing your guitar strings is important, so that you do not get flustered when you are attempting to do so. Keep in mind that you will need some kind of cleaning polish, a cloth and a string winder, and obviously, some plyers, to help you cut your guitar string ends. Once you have your tools on hand, the next thing you will need to do is remove the guitar strings carefully, then you should have the ability to restring your guitar strings.

After you have removed all of your guitar strings, make sure that you always clean your guitars surface very thoroughly before attempting to restring the guitar. Remember these steps are just the same for electric guitars, not just for the acoustic string guitars. So when caring for any musical instrument that you have, make sure that you do the proper research beforehand on finding easier ways to care for them, so that they will last as long as they are made to last.

Tags: About, Changing, Guitar, Know, Need, Strings, Things

All about an Acoustic Bass Guitar

Oct 24, 2009 Gibson Guitars

There are different types of guitars producing various sound variations, offering different features. One of the most demanding is the acoustic bass guitar. This is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to a bass guitar, though usually somewhat larger than a steel string acoustic guitar. A steel strung acoustic bass guitar is louder and sounds brighter than a classical guitar. These guitars are constructed and made using various materials. Those guitars, which are expensive, have a solid top, solid back and sides. Normally cedar and spruce are the materials, which are being used for making the solid wood tops. Back and sides are often made from mahogany, maple or rosewood.

Entry-level acoustic bass guitars are generally constructed entirely from laminated wood. But mid range acoustic bass guitars may sometimes have a combination of solid parts, often solid top and laminated woods. Acoustic bass guitars are most preferably used while playing a folk music or a country song, though many pop as well as rock singers use this guitar quite often in their concerts.

A brief history

The first modern acoustic bass guitar was developed in the early 1960s by Ernie Ball of San Luis Obispo, California. Ball aimed to provide bass guitarists with a more acoustic sounding instrument that would match better with the sound of acoustic guitars. In the late 1980s, MTV unplugged show helped to popularize hollow bodied acoustic bass guitars amplified with pickups.

Information about the construction

The acoustic bass guitar usually has a hollow wooden body similar to that of the steel string acoustic guitar. This is quite unlike the electric bass guitar, which is generally a solid body instrument. The majority of acoustic basses are fretted. Semi fretted versions also exist, although they are quite rare. Frets are raised metal strips inserted into the fingerboard that extend across the full width of the neck. On a fretted bass, the frets divide the fingerboard into semitone divisions. The acoustic bass guitar commonly has four strings, which are normally tuned E A D G, an octave below the lowest four strings of the 6 string guitar. Most acoustic basses have pickups, either magnetic or piezoelectric or both, so that they can be amplified with an instrument amplifier. This is because it becomes difficult to hear an acoustic bass guitar without an amplifier. Piezoelectric pickups are non magnetic pickups that produce a different tone.

Conclusion

Acoustic guitars, which are an indispensable part of folk music and country music as well, are available in different types. The prices of these guitars also vary because of the materials used to make the guitars. The Earthwood acoustic bass guitar was introduced in 1972. The Earthwood acoustic guitar was quite large and deep in contrast to most instruments and gave more volume, especially in the low register. After a few years of its birth it became almost extinct. Some of the very famous guitar manufacturers, who make world class acoustic guitars, are Alvarez, Breedlove, Cort, Crafter, Jerzey, Dean, Eston, Gibson, and some others.

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All You Wanted To know About Guitar

Oct 18, 2009 Gibson Guitars

Guitar is a musical instrument and has been used as an accompaniment in various musical soirees. The instrument normally has 6 strings but 4 to 18 stringed guitars are also prevalent. In Jazz, Flamenco Blues and in various types of Pop, guitar plays a premier role. It can also be used as a solo instrument.

Guitar has been basically categorized under two types - the Acoustic and Electric. In the former type, the music is played on the strings and the tune is emitted both by the vibration of the strings and the hollow body of the instrument. Traditional guitars are usually constructed of a variety of wood, including spruce and cedar with nylon and steel strings. Tone of the music is dependent on the wood strength that has the ability to transmit energy from strings to the air. Sound is also dependent on the general characteristics of the guitar`s body and its resonant cavity.

In Electric guitar, the music is dependent on the amplifier which produces an electronically manipulated tone. This type of electric guitar came into vogue in the 1930s and it still has a predominant influence on Pop music which is extremely popular.

There are a variety of Guitar brands but the most popular ones are Dean, Paul Reed Smith, Gibson, Jackson and many such. It is believed that guitar as a musical instrument originated in Central Asia and India while in the European countries this form of instrument became popular around the 15th century.

The Acoustic type is not dependent on any external device for its sound emission. It rather uses the sound board which is a wooden piece mounted in the frontal lobe of the guitar. The sound hole in the Acoustic guitar is round shaped, placed under the strings and projects sound. This type of guitar produces a quiet sound and in recent times feature pick-ups ensuring the player the ability to amplify or modify the sound and tone of the music.

The Acoustic guitars have further sub categories such as the Classical and Flamenco guitar, Steel String guitar, Two string guitar and the Arch top guitar. The Classical guitars are also of two types - the Baroque and the Contemporary Classical types. The ancient classical guitars are much smaller in size and emit a quieter sound. The Baroque guitars are extremely ornamental and are embellished with ivory or wooden inlay. The contemporary classical guitars have nylon strings and emit classical tune. They allow the musicians to play scales. The Flamenco guitars have a more melodious sound and emit a medley of vibrations.

The flat top steel version of this musical instrument produces a louder tone and is associated with folk, country, jazz and pop music. The arch top guitars were designed by the Gibson Guitar Corporation which has the appearance of a violin. It has a hollow body and is equipped with magnetic pick-ups which make them acoustic as well as electric. It is a favored instrument by both jazz and country musicians.

The Resonter guitar produces a sound through the metal resonator mounted in the middle of the top of the instrument. However, the electric guitar has replaced this type though it is still preferred by some musicians because of its sound clarity. The electric guitar, like other types of guitar, also has a hollow body but produces almost no sound without amplifiers.

The magnetic pick-ups transform the sound emitted by the steel strings into electrical signals that are transmitted by the amplifier. The vacuum tubes and other electric devices in the amplifier modify the sound tone. This type of guitar has widespread usage in Jazz, Blues and Rock n` Roll. Such guitars display more techniques than the Acoustic guitars.

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All Amped About Guitar Amps: Which One Goes Where?

Oct 17, 2009 Fender Guitars

An important part of creating your own home recording studio requires understanding how the amp works, but more importantly, what job each type of amp has. This is, however, a simple concept to understand. For example, electric guitars require the use of an electric guitar amp whereas electric bass guitars require the bass amp. Acoustic-electric guitars use acoustic amplifiers, and, of course, acoustic guitars do not use amps. This basic information, however, is not all that is needed for a successful amp set up. Let's take a closer look.

Amps are a very tricky subject as there are just so many out there. The basic idea of them is to take the ultra low voltage coming from the pickups and bring them up to line level. Seems simple, but there is a lot that goes into how that signal is boosted.

The main two types of amps are tube and solid state. Tube amplifiers are the grand daddies of amplifiers and use vacuum tubes as their main amplifier. Solid state amplifiers use modern chips in place of the tubes. The difference is that tubes tend to add a warmth and smoothness to the sound but can also add a good amount of noise too. Solid state amps are more clean and solid, but can sound cold. All amps, whether for guitar, bass, or acoustic work the same but differ in where they focus their characteristics. This is not to say that you should plug a guitar into a bass amp. Sometime it will work, and sometimes it just won't.

The Relationship between Electric Guitars and Electric Guitar Amps

Electric guitars work on pickups. A pickup works by using a magnet that is wrapped in wire. The magnetic field rides just through the strings so when the string is strummed or plucked, it alters the magnetic field and produces an electrical signal at the same frequency as the note being played. The "tone" of the pickup is determined by how many times the wire is wound around the magnet. A standard electric pickup is wrapped around 5000 times, which is nothing to sneeze at.

A Humbucker pickup uses 2 of these wrappings to reduce the amount of noise that can be produced by the pickup. This, obviously, increases the quality of any guitar using Humbucker pickups.

Bass Electric Guitars and Their Amps

Bass guitars work pretty much the same way that an electric guitar does. The reason for a bass sounding so deep is the fact that they use thicker strings, which vibrate at a lower frequency by nature. Specifically, a bass amp is specially designed to focus on the lower frequency spectrum and boost it. A normal guitar amp focuses more on the mid to high frequency spectrum.

Furthermore, a guitar wire is wound around 5000 times using #42 wire. The more times it is wound, or the more tightly wound it is, the more the lower frequencies get tapered off. To exaggerate this effect, a bass uses thicker wire as well. Sometimes the pickup is split so that it looks like a z on the body. This way the two higher strings have a boosted sound and the lower ones produce a thicker sound because of the unique shape.

Acoustic-Electric Guitars and Acoustic Guitar Amps

Acoustic-Electric guitars and their amps work entirely different from electric guitars and amps as they use what is called a "piezo pickup."

A piezo pickup is essentially a dynamic microphone that only reacts when the string is plucked. This creates a more natural sound in relation to the actual acoustic sound. Today, even some electric guitars have piezo pickups added to them because they are so unique.

Now that you have the know how, you should also know that some amps are inter-compatible between guitars. What you can't know, however, is how well one guitar type, like a Fender, will be compatible with a different brand, like Line6, as I mentioned above. As Soundetta.com has suggested many times, ample amount of research can benefit you in decision making but I still insist that there is nothing better than pulling up a seat in your local guitar store with your girl in one hand and line into one amp at a time. Rock on.

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