Hammond Music

Posts Tagged ‘guitars’

If you’ve decided that you want to take up the guitar, but prefer to live in the engine room of any band by playing the bass, then you are obviously a lover of rhythm and the groove. The bass guitar, together with the drums, forms the rhythm section of a band and so it will be important to develop a good sense of timing and beat.  Choosing the correct instrument is important, as is dedication to practicing in order to become an accomplished bassist.

Iconic bass guitars like the Fender Precision not only drove many a jazz, rock and surf band but became as recognisable as the screaming lead instruments.  Unlike lead guitars, where most novices are advised to start out with an acoustic, prospective bass players will probably go straight to a four sting electric bass guitar. Great brands for starters include Washburn, Squier and Epiphone. These companies produce guitars that look good and play great for the price. Fretless, acoustic and five-string basses each have their own type of sounds and can be very powerful and sonorous, but they are very hard to learn compared with the four string electric bass. Most tutorial books or tuition CDs for beginners are written with the four-string fretted bass in mind.

You can buy a cheap, second hand bass guitar.Most used equipment drops in price over the years and can offer better quality and sound for the same price as a new bass.Many other used instruments have poor sound quality and setup with unreasonably high action, or simply do not hold tune correctly.  Always check a used instrument for damage, and play it (or have someone else play it) before buying it.   The time and effort you would have to put into carefully selecting a used bass guitar is substantial, and it’s probably safer to look at some of the quite reasonably priced electric guitars and bass starter packages from well known brand names.

The Behringer bass guitar pack for example includes the guitar and a bass guitar amplifier, padded gig bag, cable, an adjustable strap and picks. The Ibanez GSR190J 4-String Bass Guitar Pack also includes a 10 watt amplifier and accessories at a very affordable price.Or you could move straight to Squier Precision bass guitars.They are the worlds best-selling bass guitar because of excellent value. They feel good, sound good and fit the needs of any starting-out bass player on a budget.

Whichever route you take, always try before you buy.Most guitar shops will let you plug in and play around with any instrument so you can check how it sounds, looks, and feels in your hands. Do not buy something used without playing it first unless it comes from a reputable source you trust and has some sort of return policy. There are very reputable and well established Internet-based music stores that can generally offer better deals than high street retail but be very cautious about buying instruments on Internet sites such as eBay.  Bring someone along who is an experienced bassist and let them play any instruments you are considering buying.

The guitar can refer to many diverse versions of guitars. Although the shapes and sizes of guitars may seem endless, the basic types are few.

Classical Guitars

It is fitting to begin with the classical guitar as its history goes back thousands of years and from this type of guitar comes all other guitars.The wider neck of the classical guitar enables the musician to play much more graceful and sophisticated music

These days guitar strings are made from nylon instead of animal intestines.The nylon guitar string operates under much less tension than does a steel guitar string.The softer tone of the classical guitar is different than the acoustic steel string guitar.

Acoustic Guitars

Acoustic guitar simply means the guitar needs no external amplification.The striking of the strings combined with the vibrating of the guitar body, provides the sound.Acoustic guitars are almost always made from wood, although with time has come the use of plastic bodies.The instrument many people start to learn music on is often the acoustic guitar.

Electric Guitars

The sound of the strings on an electric guitar are amplified by pickups and speakers.The electric guitar comes in more shapes and sizes than you can imagine but they all use amplification to be heard.Some of the famous makers of electric guitars are Fender and Gibson.

The face of music has changed dramatically since the invention of the electric guitar.

Electric Bass Guitars

The electric bass  guitar plays the notes an octave lower than the standard guitar.

The electric bass guitar generally has four strings although it may have 5 or sometimes six.The standard bearer of electric bass guitars is the Fender Jazz Precision Bass .

Acoustic Bass Guitars

The acoustic bass guitar is not known by many people, save the admirers of Mariachi music.To hear the sound of the strings in an acoustic bass guitar you must have a large body on the guitar.

Learning music is very often started on the guitar and is a obvious choice for today’s music hopeful

There are mixed feelings in the guitaring community about signature models -they are customised for another person, not you, and cost alot more because of the name on them. Heres a few of the signature guitars out there for the ‘metallers’.

The Dimebag range from Dean Guitars. The average guitarist will have one guitar made for them -Dimebag has a range of 33 guitars made in his memory. The Pantera guitarist died tragically in 2004, and since then Dean have supplied us with a whole range of Dimebag guitars, shaped as flying Vs or Explorers. When the guitar was made will determine which pickups you get in it -either the ‘Dimebuckers’ in the newer models, or ‘EMG’s in the older ones. So select your choice of pickup and decide which of the 33 looks best to you and enjoy hours upon hours of metal. If you love Pantera then there is no question- buy this guitar. And with prices from £219 upwards -one of those thirty three has to appeal to you.

Kerry King’s BC Rich series. Also having his own range of signature guitars is Slayer’s own Kerry King. Available as either a flying V or Explorer shaped guitar as well, painted with tribal designs to match his head tattoos, these guitars look as mean as their owner, but how do they sound? They certainly help you to achieve the brutality of guitar tone needed to play any Slayer song.The range has BC Rich’s own brand of pickups in them to give the guitar a little added kick.

Jackon’s Phil Demell guitar. Created with help from Machine Head’s lead guitarist Phil Demell, the Jackson guitar has one hell of a kick to it. A classic flying V shaped guitar with EMG pickups, this guitar is going to rip your head off the minute you plug it in. Expensive at £1100m but if you’ve got your money and love your metal its the guitar to go for, and it comes tuned to drop B as well.

Looking for electric guitars? Or maybe you prefer acoustic guitars? Go no further.

So, your obsessed with guitars to an almost unhealthy point – there the first and last thing you think about during the day. For every day you dont play you become grumpy and youve cut down on the food bill just to afford your new guitar. Now you want to have a crack at building your own all dancing all singing guitar -so what work will go into making it?

• The cost. This wont be cheap -think about the prices of the good wood for the guitar, then the prices of the electronics if building an electric and then the paint job. Also remember the specialist tools you are going to need to build your guitar.
• Practice. If you’ve never held wood cutting tools before, practice is really something you should be considering. You wont be great straight away, so dont start on expensive wood- let that come later when you’ve had some experience. By learning to use the tools and praciting you’ll save yourself more time when doing it on your expensive wood. Once you get to the point of making you guitar, all the practice will pay off.
• Wiring. This is for the guys building an electric guitar, because sooner or later, you are going to have to deal with the electronics. Getting electrocuted may become a factor once the guitar is built and you go to play it, so take extra care with wiring it. Always have a qualified electrician take alook at your work before you put it into the guitar just to be sure.

These are just a few things to consider, but if thats too much work you can always just buy electric guitars from these guys.

So we all think all certain guitars when we hear the word – a guitar that just to us, symbolises what our favourite players uses to achieve that sound and look damn cool while doing it. These be the guitars that made guitarist become more than just musicians and become rock gods.

The Fender Strat. Created in 1954 by Leo Fender, the Stratocaster may just be the most iconic guitar around. There are thousands of coopies coming in all colours, but you know a real Strat just by its tone. Considered a blues and rock guitar -having been in the hands of many of these players, who find it hard to go back to other guitars afterwards. When thinking of Strat guitarists the names that come to mind are Clapton, Hendrix and Buddy Holly to name a few. The legendary reputation of the Stratocaster proceeds it, ensuring it remains an icon for years to come.

The Fender Telecaster. Considered more of a country guitar than anything else, it may surprise people to know that the telecaster also has its share of rock players. Jim Root of the metal band Slipknot, and John 5, Marilyn Manson’s former guitarist being two of them. Created again by Leo Fender, but before the Strat, the Tele was originally known as the Broadcaster. A law suit saw the name change to Telecaster, and the rest, as they say is history. Notable players include Joe strummer, Keith Richards and Andy Summers -showing just how versitile the guitar can be.

Gibson les paul. Created by Gibson with Les Paul, the guitar was created in 1952. Suprisingly, the original Les Pauls had single coil pickups in them, as opposed to the humbuckers we know they have -this change happened in 1957. Most guitar giants have placed thier hands on a Les Paul at some stage. Notable Les Paul players are Slash of Guns and Roses and Zakk Wylde, Ozzy Osbournes main guitarist.

Gibson SG. in 1961 this was going to be a new Les Paul guitar -the only problem being that the man himself didnt like the design. Renamed SG (for ’solid body’), it is a much lighter model with a thinner neck than the Les Paul. players who made the SG famous are Tony Iommi and Angus Young, both of whom have signature models.

In the mood for buying Fender Guitars? Go here.

The almighty Fender Stratocaster- the guitar most people think of when they hear the word ‘guitars‘. The Strat guitar is as inconic a guitar as they come since they were first produced in 1954, as have gone from strength to strength. Lets look at the players who made this axe the legendary guitar that it is today.

• Iron Maiden. All three members of Iron Maiden have at one time or another played with a Fender Stratocaster. Other than Steve Harris, Dave Murray is the only other founding member of Iron Maiden that is still with the band. He used Paul Kosoff of the band ‘Free’s guitar up until 1990 when he switched to his signature series model. Murray has his own signature model with Seymour Duncan pickups and Floyd rose system on it -both a rarity for a Fender guitar, let alone a Strat. The two other guitar players in Iron Maiden, Janick Gers and Adrain Smith also play Strats, yet Smith seems to always be photographed with a different guitar in his hands.
• Eric Clapton. Ol’ ’slow hands’ as hes known, has played as many guitars as most people have had hot dinners, using everything from a Gibson Les Paul from his days in Cream and a Telecaster when he was in the Yardbirds. But he is most famous for using a Strat, namely the infamous ‘blackie’, which he used up until its retirement in 1985. Blackie was sold at auction to help fund the Crossroads centre for drug and alcohol addictions, and sold for $959,500 in 2004. Clapton made the switch to Strats in 1969, and hasnt looked back since.
• Jimi Hendrix. The man who redefined guitar playing and considered to be the greatest guitar player ever. Hendrix started playing the guitars in 1966, and then started to use them exclusively for recordings and live performances. Although like Clapton, he had been seen playing many different instruments, it is the strat which he settled on. He was left handed, so he played right handed guitars upside down and strung them in reverse order. Eric Clapton’s birthday present to Jimi was supposed to be a left handed Strat, which Jimi never received due to his death. he 1969 Monterey international pop festival performance.

After a Fender guitar now? Look no further.

Guitarists adopt different ways of tuning. The results of the simplest ways of tuning are slightly different to each other. Beginners should follow the way of tuning that is comfortable to him. Experts adopt the right method of tuning following the pitch of the tune it sounds.

The strings are tuned in a standard way. The strings and frets are numbered serially from the lowest to the highest string. The first string is similar to the highest pitch and the last string to the lowest pitch. E-A-D-G-B-E is the standard tuning. So the sixth string corresponds to the Lower E, fifth string-A, fourth string-D, third string-G, second-B and first-High E.

Pitch pipes can set the pitch for all strings by matching them with each other.

Pitch pipes are cheap and beginners can easily use it. Electronic tuner is expensive

but it can bring exact tuning. It is better than pitch pipes. Electronic keyboard or well tuned piano can also be used to tune your guitar as they sound loud and clear. Tuning forks come in variety of types depending on the individual strings. It is cheap and easy to carry. Harmonics is the difficult method of tuning guitar but it brings a clearer and touchy sound.

The simplest way of tuning manually is called Basic Tuning. At first you hold the fifth fret of the sixth string and pluck both the fifth and sixth string at the same time. The tunes of the two strings should sound similar. If the tunes sound different then adjust the tuning peg for the fifth string. Then you play open to make it tuned with the fifth fretted sixth string. Repeat the same process with the third and fourth string. Pluck the fourth fret of the third string to adjust the tune of the second string. For final string tuning, play the fifth fret of the second string. Ibanez acoustic electric guitars  are the guitars provided to beginners, the best ones to start tuning preparation on.

You have to tune your guitar regularly to prevent your guitar from going out of tune.

Some great guitar players have used Gibson guitars to tear up the fretboard and entertain the masses. Here’s afew of the players that have used Gibson guitars to bring rock & heavy metal to the people.

• Angus Young -AC/DC. Perhaps the most famous Gibson player on the planet, Angus Young has been donning the school uniform and strapping on the Gibson SG  ever since before most of us were born -and hes still doing it. Angus has rarley ever been seen without his Gibson SG, although he also owns a Gibson Firebird & a 335.
  Classic tracks: Highway to hell, back in black, let there be rock
• Slash. Otherwise known to his family as ‘Saul’, Slash has been playing a Les Paul since the recording of classic album ‘Appetite for destruction’. But what many people dont know is that it was a Les Paul ‘copy’, not an actual Gibson. It made no difference though, as his use of the instrument made the Les Paul even more iconic and helped to increase slumping sales of the instrument. Slash now has his own signature model Gibson, but uses a 1987 Les Paul standard, which has had its neck repaired numerous times.
  Classic tracks: Welcome to the jungle, Sweet child of mine, Slither
• Tony Iommi. The father of heavy metal, Iommi and his band Black Sabbath gave us the gift of heavy metal. Iommi lost his middle & index fingertips in an industral accident and had to relearn to play guitar all over again -inspired by Django Rienhardt, who had limited use of his 3rd and 4th fingers. Iommi has brandished his Gibson SG since the early days during the recording of the first Sabbath album, when his Fender Stratocaater’s neck pickup broke -and hasnt looked back.
  Classic tracks: Paranoid, Black Sabbath, War pigs
• Zakk Wylde. Hired by Ozzy to replace Jake E Lee at the age of 19, Zakk has been Ozzy’s mainstay guitarist since 1987, leaving fora period in the late 90s, but remaining faithful to the singer for many years. Zakk also has his successful ’side project’ Black label society, which tours and records in Ozzy downtime. Wylde is best know for his Les Paul customs, with ‘bullseye’ paint job, with has its own signature range, and has been expanded to include a guitar which is a cross between a flying v and a SG into the range.
  Classic Zakk Wylde tracks: Forever down, Suicide Messiah, Electric Hellfire

Heavy metal has a huge line of guitar players who dominated the stage and played like the demons the vocalists sung about. Here’s three of the guitar players in heavy metal that, although are gone, their influence isnt.

• Randy Rhoads. Randy Rhoads was remembered more for his work with ex Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne rather than the LA band Quiet Riot. Randy helped to write Ozzy classics such as ‘Crazy train’ and ‘Dee’. Unlike most rock players Randy had a musical grounding in Classical playing, working it into the first two albums that he played on with Ozzy. 1979’s ‘Blizzard of Oz’ album and 1981’s ‘diary of a madmen’. It is believed that Rhoades would’ve gone on to leave the band to study classical guitar at UCLA, and he would seek out classical guitar tutors on tour with Ozzy to keep up his knowledge and playing skill. The specialist Jackson guitars made for Rhoads are a popular choice amongst guitarists today. Rhoads died tragically in a plane crash in 1982, and his since been an inspiration for thousands of guitarists since.
• Chuck Schuldiner. Main songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of pioneering metal band ‘Death’. Often hailed as the ‘father of death metal’, a term that the man himself wasnt in agreement with, Chuck was a huge influence on extreme metal and metal in general. Death’s first release, ’scream bloody gore’, could be said as setting the tone for death metal, but each album featured not only different line ups, but changes in song wiriting and direction. Death release a further 4 albums with the band, ‘Human, ‘Spiritual healing’,'Symbolic’ and ‘The sound of perseverance’ before folding Death to play guitar for ‘Control denied’, which released ‘The fragile art of exsistance’ in 1999. Chuck Schulidner died in 2001 after a long standing battle with brain cancer, which had seen the metal community rally round to try and raise funds for his operations.
• Darrell Lance Abbott -’Dimebag’. Guitarist of the infamous Pantera later of Damageplan and also played guitar on the country band rebel meets rebel. Pantera was formed in 1981 as a glam metal band, but the bands first album ‘Cowboys from hell’ saw them take a much more heavier groove laden approach with the music. Their breakthrough album was 1992’s ‘A vulgar display of power’, which gave the band a whole ‘new level’ of exposure. Next album ‘Far beyond driven’ jumped to the top of the US charts on its release, proving at the time that metal was still ‘alive’. Pantera also released ‘Greater Southern Trendkill’ and ‘Re-inventing the steel’, after which Pantera split, as bassist Rex Brown and vocalist Phil Anselmo went off to do ‘Down’ and ‘Superjoint ritual’ and Dimebag and his brother and drummer Vinnie Paul created ‘Damageplan’. Dimebag was tragically shot while performing onstage with Damageplan in December 2004, which saw the metal community grieve as a collective once again.

Inspired to get playing some electric guitars? Come to these guys to get a great deal on guitars

Everyone wants to learn how to play a guitar, even if few ever do. Those who do take a giant leap towards becoming professional musicians.  Guitars are a great way to express yourself and relax. However, there are many misconceptions and fallacies about playing a guitar.  Here are the myths and why they are wrong:

Myth: You should learn on an acoustic guitar.
Reality: It’s better to start on an electric guitar because it’s easier to play, has lighter strings, lower action, and a smaller neck. It’s also more interesting for younger players as you can add distortion and effects and keep the learner more interested in the process.

Myth: The best way to ‘get’ a famous player’s sound is buy a pedal that has player presets.
Reality: Although some multi effects DO have some famous presets, it is far better to learn the correct technique to make the sound rather than trying to copy it. Generally, the sound made by famous players comes from their fingers, their talent, guitar, and amp. You hardly ever find these guys using digital effects

Myth: You have to have a big amp to get a big sound
Reality: Some of the most huge sounds that have been recorded have been done with smaller amps10 -20 watt, tube cranked up loud. Many famous bands have stacks of amps on stage that are empty of speakers and a small amp hidden behind the stack that is mic’d up into the PA system. Some players are also using digital recreations (POD, Digitech) of their amps in the studio but most purist players still use a real amp and analogue pedals.

Myth: You should use lots of ‘string wrap or turns’ around the machine (tuning) head to get stable tuning.
Reality: 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 and instead use locking machine heads such as spertzel or grover machine heads 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.
Reality: While this may be true, there are many ways around this problem. The best way is to use a hum canceling coil.” The other way is to put a “dummy load” pickup in the guitar i.e. a pick up that is wired in the guitar (sometimes under the scratch plate of a strat 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.
Reality: It is way better to buy a good quality cable that has, quite often, a good guarantee. It will last longer and there will be a big difference quality, which will produce better sounds. It's no use having a great setup but low quality cable. Its like buying a Ferrari and putting re-tread tires on it. Get the best cable out there. Quite often you end up buying one good cable instead of cheap ones every 6 months, making this a much cheaper long term investment.

Myth: There is nothing you can do about strings rusting and losing their tone so may as well buy cheap ones or no name brands.
Reality: There are several ways to make your strings last longer. The simplest method 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.

Products that coat strings in teflon help prevent string corrosion and tone loss. Though more expensive, they break less often and last much longer.

There are a lot of myths about playing the guitar. Hopefully this article convinced you they aren’t right and you can play on a new or used guitars, acoustic or electric and still have a good time with the guitar.