Guitar Licks

Guitars, tips and great music discussions




You are here: Home / Archives for Guitars

How to figure out what strings you really need

by

If you want your guitar to sound it’s best when you play it, you have to determine what type of strings you need to compliment your style of playing. Take your guitar in to have the intonation on your axe set by the best guitar technician possible in your area.

Intonation on a guitar is what we call the action on your guitar. This allows you to play/hit your strings effortlessly. Trust me, it’s worth the extra few bucks and time to get this done correctly. The better the intonation, the better the chance of your strings staying in tune longer. The less you have to bend the string, the less they lose their tension. That should speak volumes in itself.

I am forever fine tuning my guitars. People tell me that I make it look like an art form – or maybe they mean I’m being anal retentive!

When you go into a music store tell them what style of music you are playing, and how you want the guitar to react. I recommend kissing this person’s butt by going to see them on a Tuesday in the A.M. if possible.

Going there on weekends is like going to the lions den. There are always way too many kids and rookies in the store to drive them crazy. Monday is the day they try to remember what they were told to do and start off where they last ended. It can be the craziest part of their work week. Besides, who really does their best work on a Monday? Makes sense, huh?

Bringing a coffee can go a long way. Yes, I’m a kiss up artist too.

After you’re done kissing up, ask the techie what type of set-up they are putting on your guitar. This will help you in determining or narrowing down what type of string you should use. You can even ask him or her what type of strings they would recommend for your guitar and playing style.

Remember, a techie is the person who works on guitars. They are players themselves in their own right, but having said that, they also might not the ones to help make your final decision about your strings. NO disrespect intended to all you masters of guitar maintenance! The techie helping you might be biased towards certain types of equipment and or a certain type of sound. The more opinions the better, so ask around for further input. Remember, knowledge is power.

Keep on Jammin’




Getting the RD Artist ready for battle

by

The other day I had to do a few errands like pick up some grocery’s and earth worms for our turtles. Oh BTW, we use to have lots of reptiles like, Chinese Water Dragons, and a HUGE Iguana named Napoleon that we called our son who I miss every day, and some turtles.

Before starting off I decided to go to the 12th Fret to finally start paying more attention to my electric guitar ambitions. I haven’t restrung my RD in years. Whenever I broke a string, I just put another one on from the pack that I bought ages ago.

Yes, I really do feel bad about not paying proper homage to this beauty but, I did not have any use for it for a long time.

While visiting the store, I ran into my favorite guitar technician Tim. This guitar master is very knowledgeable in his field. He’s the type of guy you can sit down with and ask for honest opinions about what direction you should take in any situation. Tim has the uncanny personal trait of making you feel relaxed and at home. He has that trustful older brother demeanor. He is also the proud papa of a 16 day old boy, whom I’m sure is a guitar prodigy to be.

So I told him what I was looking for and he started to ask me about what setting/intonation I was using. I felt a bit like a rookie when I told him I had no idea. So as not to directly acknowledge my stupidity, he started explaining my options to me. Ahhhh, finally dodging a big bullet. I was saying to myself, “thanx for not dwelling on that too long Tim!”

He asked what type of feel the guitar strings had in regards to malleability or flexibility and he directed my attention to the D’Addario XL EXL110’s. These electric strings are nickel wound and have a regular light gauge to them.

How you restring your guitar is the most important thing that you will ever do to your axe.

You have to make sure that the way you wind them around the tuning pegs are perfect in every way.

How you thread the string through the eyelet – or the little whole on the tuning head- is very important. The length at which you start winding it, the tension that you have on it, using your other hand, and how close they are placed together on the shaft of the tuning peg is paramount.

Imagine when you are measuring an angle. If you start a little bit off, as little as one degree, it will only get worst at the end of your project. Does that make sense to you?

The strings are on, and the windings look good. Now it’s time to start working them in! For further results, tune in next week!

Keep on Jammin’

My second amp – a Silvertone Sears modell 26122

by

I can’t believe what you can find out there online.

I was writing a post today and as usual, drifted into la la land. Or should I say down memory lane.

I came across this guys site and he had the same amp that I had when I was in grade 7, I think. It was called a Sears-Simpson 12-watt head .

This amp was purely for looks. It had a huge cabinet that was very impressive to look at for the uninitiated guitar player wanna be. I do believe it only had a 12 inch speaker but the big black box made it look like many more were hiding in there.

sears-simpson26122.jpg

I just kept this thing around and used it to play through until I was given my HIWATT. After a while I had a great idea on what to do with this under utilized big black box. I just to put it underneath my HIWATT to make it look even bigger. Boy was I the cat’s meow back in the day.

The speaker box was very light but durable. I never tried to hook it to the HIWATT because I thought that the speaker cones (the little round things in the middle of speakers) would end up being shot out it to the other side of a room.

This is the amp that I had to use my BOSS Distortion DS-1 with because it had no distortion on it at all. Now I know why it didn’t, because it was a bass guitar amp! This was a true case of size over substance.

Keep on Jammin’

The guitar solo that I can nail the best

by

This is the solo that I know I can pull off live with no hesitation. I do not consider myself as a lead guitar player but others might object to this. I do not wish to be thrust into the limelight because musically, I feel uncomfortable with it.

The band that I played this song/solo with was called “Pylis”, pronounced “Pie-lis”. We were a band from Brantford Ontario in the early 80’s. Saga was the style of music that we naturally gravitated to. It was challenging to us and we could reproduce live quite effortlessly.

The first guitar solo on this song was something that I could not wait to play. It had to be played with a steady fingers and the ability to milk the hell out of every note! In my opinion, it was one of the best songs we played.

Tony, the keyboardist and my best friend, was the backbone for this one. His abilities to play many keyboards at once left not only myself but others to say, “How the hell did he do that?” The sound that he made doing this was sooo huge that it honestly boggled my mind how he could play it to a “T” at will. When he played it, it was like listening to the album without anyone else playing. WOW!

Aldo, the bassist, was way too much fun to hang out with. Too bad the bonehead didn’t come out to Tony’s “80’s band Reunited” held Oct. 10th/2004 at the Hard ball in Milton Ont.! (I have to acknowledge Tony’s wife, Laura, for all the support that she gave for this memorable event. If it wasn’t for her, it wouldn’t have been the success that it was.) Aldo was one of the singers in the band and he could pulloff Geddy Lee like no one else.

Now for the drummer, Chris W. He was like the older brother that I would love to drink to excess with one minute then, wrestle him to the ground. He was a tall and lanky fellow. This made it child’s play to me. Being a little guy, I always went for his ankles and then just pushed him over for starters! He had such the perfect voice for this song that it made you wish that you could sing it just like he did. His drumming was 2nd to none. He had this Silver Slingerland 8 piece kit, the one that Neil Peart used in 1975-76, that was out of this world and boy could he play like it as well!

So here is the tune that I’ve been talking about, so just sit back and enjoy!

Keep on Jammin’

My Medal Pedal – Boss Distortion DS-1

by

I honestly did not use this pedal much after obtaining my 50 watt, HIWATT 1/2 stack, but it was invaluable until I did. This was the first pedal that I got when I was like the kid that Jerry Doucette sang about in his greatest song ever, “Mamma let that boy, play some Rock & Roll”.

It was overpowering at first, for a young kid. That was in the pre-metal/experimental years.

Eventually I learned to tame it, or was it the other way around, interesting? I had dropped that thing so many times I can’t remember but as they say, “takes a beating”!

Some of my friends used the Over Drive pedal. I just thought that it was not what I wanted my music to sound like. It was too rough and not well defined, honest – that is what I said when I was a kid!

Which one do you like?

Keep on Jammin’

My first Chorus pedal

by

It was the Boss CE-2. Boy, those were simpler days.

This was my 2nd peddle that my great parents bought for me. I was the first in my direct and indirect circle of Brantford musicians to have this one.

I thought that it was a peddle that Alex Lifeson used. It was that good at reproducing the songs and effects that he used!

I almost died when the one of the knobs broke off this baby when I was going from a friend of mine to back home for the night. I thought that it was broken beyond repair. Yes, I very naive back then, electronically challenged you might say.

Here is The Illustrated History of Boss products that will make you become nostalgic or laugh your butt off! I was doing both.

In a Musician.com article, it says it all. A very simple pedal for a simple guitar player.

Keep on Jammin’

APEX 420 Home or Studio Mic

by

The APEX 420 microphone is just fabulous for anyone who uses it for home, professional settings, or even live settings. The greatest upside in my eyes is it’s durable construction. Remember, when some closet superstar singer comes over to your house/studio to see this thing, you won’t have to worry about them damaging it when the get their curious fingers all over it. It’s nice to have a scratch resistant finish as well.

I was first introduced to it by Rick Jones, of the Toronto renowned G-Force Media Productions Team. It’s a great product that they use with stunning results. Rick has used this item to capture the voice qualities of soft, hushed tones of his customers to the aggressive Rock/Hip Hop extremes, effortlessly. He has even used it for some of my cuts using my Larrivee L-03 acoustic. The G-Force Media Production page is in the redesign stage now, but when the redesigned site is up you’ll be able to listen to music and audio samples and hear for yourself how nice the Apex 420 microphone’s sound really is.

It is used for various jobs. It is basically a pressure condensed mic. If you have the time, research this type of mic, it’s impressive. You will be able to make it switch from a directional or omni-directional mic. In live gigs it offers excellent feedback rejection and better isolation of the sound that you want, not the sounds that just show up for the hell of it.

So if you get the chance to use this mic then do it, it’s worth the drive. If anyone is in the Toronto Area, give Rick a call and listen for yourself.

Keep on Jammin’

While his Ukulele Gently Weeps – WOW

by

The guy plays this song so well on his ukulele that, it makes me want to go out and buy one.

I’ve been to “Strawberry Field” in New York city, right in front of the Dakota Apartments where John Lennon lived and unfortunately was fatally shot.

I was in New York in 1986 and I can tell you it’s a fabulous city to visit, not to mention living there would be a blast. The feelings that we all felt when we were right there at Strawberry Fields in Central Park, was quite intense.

Anyways, just listen to this song then follow the chord progressions that he does, in concert with his strumming, and it is just the most wonderful tune to be exposed to. Enjoy!

Try to, keep on Jammin’, like this guy

Finger picks?

by

Has anyone ever tried these things? The last time I tried them was when I was trying to figure out the banjo! They are silver coloured picks that are used to pluck the strings from bottom of the string upwards. They can be sized to any finger. One size pretty much fits all I think.

natusa.jpg

They are fine for this finger style technique but my style has my fingers moving both upwards and downwards as well.

This is where the problem begins. The tip of the pick tends to go under the string when I move in an upwards motion on the strings. No matter how careful I am at a fast picking, I still run into this problem.

Does anyone have an idea to this problem?

Keep on jammin’

Well it had to happen sometime

by

Today was like any day, at work in the O.R. recovery room. People coming in to be taken care of and then leaving when they are ready to go to either their in-patient room or to go to the final recovery room, then home.

Last weekend we were at my mother’s birthday dinner treating her to her favorite Chinese restaurant. During the meal I had developed a crack on the fingernail on my middle finger on my left hand. As you know I use my finger nails to play with most of the time and this is a big thing to have happen to a guitarist like myself.

I tried to repair it with a product called Ecrinal. This product is partially made of horse hair resins. This product is suppose to be one of the best on the market but doesn’t work well on my plain finger nails. I could have used crazy glue to repair it but I didn’t have any at the time. Note: medical crazy glue is used on some cuts to close them up in hospitals all over the world.

In my case if I had some crazy glue on me at the time, the glue more then likely would have traveled onto the top portion of the fingernail where the nail meets the skin, at the cuticle. If this happened, the nail will still grow out and the glue would hold the skin and nail together at that point, ahhhhh! It would not allow the nail to grow freely away for the skin, I’ve done it before without knowing what was going on!

So today, while transporting a patient to his room, he was very aggressive and we tried to get him to settle down so he would not rip out any of his I.V. lines. During this, I bent back my nail and it cracked to the point where I had to gingerly remove it from my finger.

I started to do so very carefully, only after the transport had been complete. I wasn’t sure if the nail was completely broken off from the rest of the healthy nail, which is still strong and attached to the other part of my finger.

As I was removing the damaged part at the end of my finger, I thought that it would be quite painful but to my surprise and relief, it came off rather nicely.

So now for the big question, do I get new nails or take the rest off and give the old nails underneath (the fake ones), time to breath? If you are not aware, if you keep fake acrylic nails on your fingers all the time, you run the risk of having very unhealthy looking nails later on in life? Bet you did not know that. Well there you go, you learned something new today!

Keep on Jammin’

Meta

Archives

Pages

Tags

Acoustic amp band bands Brantford Bruce Cockburn Canada Canadian concert Entertainment fender funny General guitar Guitar Equipment guitarist guitar player guitars Home house Humor humour instrument jammin jazz John Mayer keyboard Live Music musician Musicians play playing Progressive Rock Pylis rock RUSH Songs to play sound strings Technology Toronto tour Video YES