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Line 6 Floor POD

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Finally the pedal that I have been looking for is available in a real foot pedal! I was just surfing the Electric Guitar Review today and came across one of his posts about it. I have written here before about this Line 6 product that only came as a “plug in” for a mixing board. I was first exposed to this baby by my good friends at G-Force Media and now it is in a foot pedal version.

The Line 6 Floor POD is a very versatile piece of equipment that I would love to get my little hands on. The sound reproductions and clarity are out of this world. This little piece of heaven is compact enough to go anyway you want to. The above link takes you to the sounds that it can reproduce.

This one suits me just fine thank you. I would use this more for my acoustic guitar and at the drop of a hat, have my electric collection do likewise. The sample sounds, for this product, on their site is a good mirror of what I do anyway.

With the Floor POD, you can have 64 pre-set sounds that also allows you to create you own unique sound signature and then save it as a pre-set one. You can also use your existing pedal along with it if you wish. As well, you can plug it directly into a PA system and hook up a CD player if needed. Best of all you can plug in your head phones and just enjoy the raw power that this thing punches out without the wife or neighbours freaking out!

The only drawbacks are that you cannot use Gearbox software or Line 6 Edit. You also cannot back up your patches

I love the effects that come with this puppy. They are Insane Melodic, Big and Wide, Harmonic Chorus, Harmony & Rhythm, Clean Chorus, Steely Montgomery and Double D. Insane Melodic gets an honorable mention here as well folks.

So now I have to find out where I can take this pedal out for a spin here in Toronto. When I do, I’m sure your hear about it!

BTW, my wife just made $2500.00 US with one of her online companies so I could be “off to see the Pedal” (use the Wizard of OZ theme song here folks), before long, … maybe.

Keep on Jammin’




Breaking in new guitar strings

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After putting new strings on your guitar, do you ever notice that they go out of tune easily for a while after? You’d think that after all of your careful preparation and time that you put into it, that you shouldn’t have to worry about tuning it for a long time to come? WRONG! You have to break them in.

What I do religiously after putting strings on is this.

(1) Put the guitar on your lap.

(2) Place any finger you want to use on your left hand, (I use my index) directly on the nut (the white piece between the top of the neck and head of the guitar) of the guitar that corresponds to which string you are replacing. I want you to put pressure on that direct spot. This will stop the string from moving anywhere while you are doing the next part.

(3) With your right hand, grab the string that you are working on and pull the string up and down. Remember to keep your finger down tightly on the nut. What this is doing is, by pulling upwards and downwards on the strings, it tightens or pulls the strings on the tuning head closer together thus making them less likely to move or slip in the future.

Note: When strings slip or loosen up the guitar goes out of tune. The exact tension of the strings determines how they vibrate and at what frequency. The vibration is the note you want. Think about how a sign way works, if your not sure or want to know more look up more details.

This is important when re-stringing while playing live because without doing this before you start playing again, the string will become more and more out of tune every time you hit or bend the string, thus making you sound like a fool. You don’t want that do you?

Keep on Jammin’

The Harp Guitar

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This instrument, the Harp Guitar, is the sweetest and most challenging one to perfect. Some of the great musicians to play this instrument have been Robbie Robertson, Steve Howe, Pat Metheny just to name a few.

The Harp Guitar is considered beautiful to the eyes and ears. Even Gibson was a Guitar Harp producer. We have a great Canadian woman who creates these missing links to the musical past and she is, Linda Manzer.

I have chosen Michael Hedges to illustrate this to you today. Unfortunately, like all the great ones, he is no longer with us. He was only 43 when he pasted away from a car crash.

The Guitar Harp has the appearance of a mythical instrument from the days of Robbin Hood, the Lutes of 1265 C.E. (C.E. = Common Era, used to be called A.D.) or the Baroque period. An ageless instrument at that!

I have never seen one up close but if I could be alone with one for a moment or so, I would try to decode this thing once and for all. I have tried my luck on a Lute and it was really fun to play. I love the sound and the action on the Lute. The neck is wide and the length is short, which makes it easier to play in my eyes. I suggest that if the opportunity presents itself, you should take full advantage of the moment to broaden your musical horizons.

Keep on Jammin’, (even Harp style)

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