Posts from January 2012

I have another post where I recommend 6 guitar pedals, and I admitted that you should not go cheap when it comes to pedals, so the ones listed there are on the higher end of the cost curve.

Here are a few tiny amps, most of which have a belt clip so you can actually wear the thing while playing through it.

I will list some recommended pickup upgrade kits below for those of you who want to swap out your existing Fender or Squier Strat pickups for something else, but before I do, here's a few words about how pickups in a Stratocaster works.

Certain guitars "feel like a Fender" while others "feel like a Gibson", but why? What separates those two guitars as to the way they feel?

Recording a single instrument to your computer is easy, but it can become difficult quickly if you don't have a mixing board, otherwise known as just "mixer".

What's the difference between the two headstocks (also known as pegboards) shown below?

I watch a lot of YouTube videos just like so many other people do. And like a lot of musicians, I watch a ton of music videos. A comment that you're sure to see on almost any popular rock song video where the song was made prior to 1991 is, "they don't make guitar solos […]

When I say "guitar tuner" I'm not talking about the tuner keys that wind/unwind strings but rather small little devices that assist you with tuning your strings.

You don't need expensive gear to get great vintage tone. Instead you just need to know a few tricks and use the right effects, and you'll be sounding vintage-awesome in no time.

Yes, you should own a bass guitar. Here are some low-cost options.

It is true that if you wanted to, you can use your PC (Windows or Linux) or Mac to record multitrack audio completely for free using Audacity. That app may be ugly and not the most user-friendly thing in the world, but hey, it's free.

I don't have a problem with people who play Stratocaster or Les Paul guitars. If that's what you like, that's fine. What I do have a problem with however are guitar players who are absolutely unwilling to try something different every once in a while.

I'm of the belief that there's basically no such thing as a "cheap guitar" anymore. Yes, there are inexpensive guitars, but just about all of them are well-made. What this means is that the price of an inexpensive guitar is cheap, but it doesn't feel, play or sound cheap. Some may tell you differently, but […]

(Quick notes before starting this: If you're shopping for a starter guitar all-in-one pack that includes guitar, amp, cables and picks, go here. Or if you're ready to upgrade to another guitar but want to keep it cheap, go here.)

What's good for beginners? Find out.

There's a mystique surrounding vintage electric guitars that I've never been able to fully understand. When I hold an old electric in my hands, I don't feel the magic it's supposedly imbued with.