Guitar Equipment
All guitar equipment related articles will be found in this section of the site. This can include anything from effects pedals to accessories such as straps. There will also be information on guitar amps and parts such as tone and volume knobs. The guitar is an instrument that requires a lot of extra equipment compared to most others, but that has become part of the fun of playing guitar. Each player can create a completely individual setup thanks to the wide variety in equipment and the constant stream of new products that improve a guitars sound or appearance. Check this section for the latest information on beneficial guitar equipment for your rig.
Increasing software sophistication and hardware capabilities have given us some great options for virtual sound that lets us produce guitar recordings without actually playing guitar. This should not be taken as a threat to guitar players. Even though some very convincing sounds can be produced, the real thing still has overwhelming appeal, and many more detailed aspects of playing cannot be replicated. Instead, virtual sound effects and processors should be examined and used to make better music in any way possible.
What I mean by virtual sound for guitars can be taken as a few different things. There are patches that can be loaded on your computer that change the sound of an incoming guitar signal, and then there are also virtual instruments that will allow you to play a nice Spanish guitar through a keyboard. That’s not all though, a MIDI guitar played through a system can use virtual effects to change the sound of it just as well, even into something like a trumpet.
These new possibilities are clearly a good thing for music production in general. They mean that more people will be able to achieve more types of sound and make recordings with greater variety for a low cost. There is really no limit to what you can do with a guitar and the right software now.
July 30 2010 | Guitar Equipment
Playing the electric guitar involves more sound design than any other instrument. Not only is learning how to play the notes and scales important, but you need to know how to control the sound you are producing as well. This is not something new for instruments; players have always had to be concerned with their tone when playing. However, the electric guitar offers more tonal possibilities than any of these other instruments, and sometimes the sound can be radically changed altogether. This article is going to talk about some ways to control the sound of an electric guitar.
The first parts of the instrument you should become familiar with are the tone and volume knobs. These will allow you to make basic changes to the sound of your guitar without even getting into the effects pedals or amp settings at all. The volume knobs may sound obvious but it’s important to notice that in addition to controlling the volume, they will also affect the basic tone of your guitar. You can use the volume knob to get a less treble heavy sound. The tone knobs will let you change the sound even more, from a harsh and high range emphasis, to a soft and warm tone.
The equalization controls on your amplifier can also be used to change your basic tone. Most amps will have a high, middle, and low control that will enable you to craft the sonic character of your sound. This will affect any of the effects that you have on your sound, so you have to be mindful of what changing any effects pedals will do to the sound.
The last part of controlling the tone on your guitar is the most dramatic: effects pedals. These can change any part of your sound that you can imagine. There are single pedals that can control everything from equalization to radical effects that make the guitar sound like something completely different. It would take an entire new article to accurately describe all of these. Suffice to say that these are the best way to find any sound you may desire on your instrument. Make sure to try a lot of them out and find the best one for your needs.
May 01 2010 | Guitar Equipment
The Washburn WI66 Pro is a great guitar for a wide range of players from intermediate to advanced. The reason for this is its low price but high functionality and quality. The guitar comes standard with an all mahogany body and neck, a nice wood choice to get a deep and rich tone. If you had to compare this guitar to any other, it would probably have to be the Les Paul by Gibson, however, ignoring name prestige, the Washburn may have the Gibson beat in just about every way.
The WI66 Pro is made out of the same wood as the Gibson, but the Pro has a thinner and lighter body that make for more comfortable playing experience. Some may say that this gives the Gibson an advantage in sound from having more wood on the guitar, but the Wasburn still has a nice weight and size to it, and any difference is probably unnoticeable.
The paint job on most of the Washburns is also surprisingly good. These guitars are made in Asia, which facilitates their low price, but the quality is usually very high, and the quilted paint job of the model this review is based on is very nice, probably as good as most custom guitars or high end Gibson models.
The tone controls of the WI66 Pro are set up in a lightly different manner than most guitars of this general style. Instead of two volume and two tone controls, the Washburn has what they call voice control contour knobs, which supposedly should enable the guitar to have a single coil sound with certain settings. This system works pretty well at getting that kind of single coil sound, but it is no match for the real thing, and its hard to tell if a coil tapping system works better in general.
The Washburn also has an improved tuning system that seems to make a more even distribution of tuning inequalities that is natural to the guitar. Combine this with the high quality Seymour Duncan pickups that come on the instrument and you really have a great sounding guitar.
The Washburn WI66 Pro is a great instrument for someone looking for professional quality at a very decent price. What you get is something reviling or even better than some of the name brand guitars that cost twice as much, so its possible for a lot more players to have the kind of quality they deserve.
January 12 2010 | Guitar Equipment
One of the best ways to practice jazz guitar is with backing tracks that can play chord progressions and allow you to practice improvising. Improvising is obviously a big part of jazz, and in order to get proficient at it, you need to practice it as if you were performing with a band. If you have some good jazz guitar backing tracks, you can accomplish this with ease.
This is a big advantage because players in previous days could not use a computer to provide what a live band usually would. Players now have a lot more resources to learn how to improvise with. Not only can a computer imitate a jazz trio, but it can also help you improvise over other related styles such as hip hop jazz. This means you will be getting more jazz guitar experience and learning to improvise lines in more different situations.
Backing tracks are the closest thing to actual performance that you can get on your own, so this makes them a very valuable lessons resource. Instead of having to wait to get with a band to practice your real life improv skills, you can do it from the comfort of your own home.
There are a few ways to get these jazz guitar backing tracks. One of the best ways is to make them yourself on a program called band in a box, but this program cost money that you may not want to spend. Another way is to use any other type of music program to record some chord changes into and be able to play them back. This will be a less flexible and more time consuming system though. The last way is to buy the backing tracks. This will work alright, but they will cost money sometimes, and you will not be able to change the tempos.
Despite these problems, any type of backing track is better then nothing when learning jazz guitar, so see if you can come up with your own way to make them or make an investment in them that should pay off in the long run.
December 28 2009 | Guitar Equipment
Overdrive can be an effective addition to any bass guitar setup. Many players have used this effect successfully to boost their bass tone and play with more power and intensity. However, this is not just an effect that should be known by bass guitar players. Bass overdrive can be used to give music producers a crucial bass tone when they need it. Many mixes have been improved with the addition of a bass overdrive pedal effect added in, as it can really fill out the low end on a recording.
Overdrive is great for bass players who play in rock bands and need their sound to stick out more. This is an effect that has been used by Rage Against the Machine a lot to make their four person band produce a larger sound. One of the more interesting developments with bass guitar overdrive is the fact that dance and electronic styles have been using it more and more. The bottom line is that overdrive can give bass lines an extra punch that is desirable in many styles.
Bass guitar players should look for a nice overdrive pedal to get because it is just one of the basic guitar effects that you should have. You never know when you are going to be in a situation that may require some bass overdrive and as a good bass player, you should be prepared. They can also help you explore more areas of your playing because with overdrive engaged certain sounds are going to have a better or worse effect. Overdrive can help you discover new tendencies in your playing and let you develop some new ideas based on this different sound.
December 22 2009 | Guitar Equipment
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