Fluff has posted a video discussing aftermarket videos:
It’s an interesting look at the history of aftermarket pickups, starting with DiMazio in 1974 and Seymour Duncan in 1976, before launching into a bit of a performance piece questioning whether or not the pickup actually makes a difference or not.
His basic argument is that the pickup is such a small part of the overall tone equation that it basically doesn’t matter which pickup you have in the guitar.
I have my own opinion, which I’ll save for its own series of posts 🙂
Please head over to YouTube to see Fluff make his argument, to leave a like and a supportive comment. Or a non-supportive comment if you disagree with him.
Chappers and The Captain have taken a look at the Gretsch G5220 Electromatic Jet.
This is an affordable version of the Duo Jet guitars that I’ve blogged about recently. It features a hard tail rather than a Bigsby, and broadtron pickups.
The body is chambered mahogany, so it’s quite a bit lighter than a Les Paul. On the video, it sounds brighter and less mid-focused than a Les Paul – something I love about my Les Paul Custom.
Watch the video to hear it for yourself, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.
Chappers and The Captain have done a shootout between ten Klon-like pedals.
If you’re not sure what all the hype around the Klon is all about, let me explain …
The Klon is low-gain pedal that (in its day) did something unique. Set as a clean boost, it lifts the guitar in the mix (or in a live setting) thanks to the way it increases the upper mids. And yet – it also does something to the bass response that makes clean tones sound fuller, without making drive tones muddy or boomy.
The hype is partly because, for many years, the only way to get this tone was to get a Klon Centaur. They were hand-built by Bill Finnigain, and due to limited availability they started changing hands in the second hand market for eye-watering amounts of money.
Eventually, klones (with a ‘k’) started appearing. Bill himself created the Klon KTR as a mass-production version of the Centaur, did a deal with JRAD to make them, before JRAD went on to create their own klones.
The most important klone is the Soul Food. It wasn’t the first klone, and I’d argue it is amongst the worst, but it did bring awareness and availability to the mass market. Since then, there’s been an explosion of interest in klones and the Klon thing. Today, there’s plenty of choice to suit all tastes and budgets.
I’ve got three of these on my boards, including the (for me) unmatched Klon KTR. It’s the only one that I’ve tried that doesn’t add a huge bass bump to overdrive tones. That’s something that doesn’t come across in this demo, to be honest.
Watch the video to choose your favourite, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment..
Shane’s had a lot of interest in his Danelectro ‘84 since introducing it on his YouTube channel. So he’s done a shootout against his Mexican Strat.
The two guitars sound quite different. The Danelectro has a lot more twang, without sounding like a Tele. It’s also a little thinner sounding, but not in a bad way. The overall result is a guitar which looks like a Strat but has its own thing going on. Very cool.
Watch the video to hear for yourself, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.
Darrell Braun has posted an interesting look at two single-cut guitars: the Gibson Les Paul and the Gretch Duo Jet.
I can’t find the Gretsch Duo Jet on Gretsch’s website – or in any UK stores at the time of writing. Darrell’s Playing the G6128TVP model (I think), which seems to be out of production right now.
A shame, because that Gretsch compared very favourably to the Les Paul.
Watch the video to make your own mind up, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.
Johan Segeborn – the master of tone comparison videos – believes that the speaker is the single most important component in creating vintage guitar tones. He’s put together a whirlwind demonstration of a number of vintage Celestion speakers to show us why.
Speakers are such simple things on the surface, yet – as Johan demonstrates – there’s a lot of variables that make an audible difference. And if you can hear the difference on YouTube, imagine how big the difference is in the room, or in any kind of recording.
Watch the difference to hear how these speakers vary, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.
Mike Geronsin of The Art of Guitar has posted a new, free lesson. Here, he’s looking at how to use the same scale shape to solo over any key – major or minor.
This is very helpful if, like me, you’re just starting out with learning how to solo or improvise over a chord progression. It’s a neat tip, that Mike clearly explains and demonstrates.
Watch the video to see how this works, then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.
Shane has taken a look at one of the high-end, Japanese-made Gretch guitars: the Duo Jet.
This premium guitar looks like Gretch’s answer to Gibson Les Paul reissues. It has that fat Les Paul tone when the amp’s nice and dirty, but it also offers very usable clean tones – something I’m hard-pressed to say about any modern Les Paul!
Watch the video to hear how good this sounds, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.
Dan and Mick of That Pedal Show have put together an introduction to using MIDI with guitar pedals.
MIDI is a protocol that – for guitar pedals – allows us to switch presets, control individual settings via a MIDI-enabled expression pedal, and to sync the tempo of multiple pedals together. For pedal boards or signal chains built from several different components, MIDI is an important tool for controlling everything in a live performance without tonnes of tap dancing.
What does that all mean? Watch the video to learn more, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.
