With Christmas just around the corner, chances are you’ve gotten a pretty good head start on your shopping (unless you’re like my dad who always starts and finishes on Christmas Eve!) Whether you’ve started your shopping yet or not, there’s a good chance that there is a guitar player on your list and unfortunately guitar players can be difficult to buy for if you aren’t a player yourself. There are so many different kinds of accessories and options available that it’s not always easy to discern between what is necessary and what is gimmicky. In today’s blog, I will give you a few ideas for the guitar player on your list as well as some tips for making sure you make the right choices!

The first thing you want to do is ask the person you are buying for what kind of picks and strings they use. If the person is a seasoned player chances are they are very particular about these items, preferring specific brands, gauges and materials. If the person in question is a relative beginner, then it’s wise to get them an assortment of different picks so they can experiment. As for strings, ask for a recommendation from the salesperson in the store. They have lots of experience with this kind of thing and can make a good recommendation.

Picks and strings are the two most obvious (and likely most appreciated) accessories that you can buy for a guitarist, but there are lost of other options too. Here is a short list of some of the best choices:

Boss eBand JS-10 – This thing is one of the coolest practice tools out there and is something every guitarist would love to see under the tree. It is a little pricey at $449.99, but with tons of Boss’ COSM models and effects, 350 jam tracks and built-in phrase trainer, the JS-10 provides countless hours of entertainment.

Pedal(s) – If the person plays electric guitar, pedals are a great way to turn them on to some new sounds. There are tons of different kinds of pedals out there and the price range is dramatic, anywhere from $50 to many hundreds of dollars. For a beginner the Boss DS-1 is a classic distortion pedal and retails for $54.99. Another great option is a wah-wah pedal, like the Dunlop Crybaby, which retails for $94.99.

Tuner – Tuners come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and price points and are an absolute necessity for every guitar player. These Snark tuners are a great option, and at $19.99 retail are perfect stocking-stuffers. For the gigging guitarist, a pedal tuner like the Boss TU-3 ($99.99) or Snark SN-10 ($44.99) is a great tool to have onstage.

Cleaning products – Unfortunately one of the more overlooked aspects of guitar maintenance is actually keeping it clean! There are lots of different products out there for cleaning and caring for instruments so there are no excuses! Planet Waves has a great line of products for caring for the neck, body and strings of a guitar.

Wall Hangers – Everybody knows that guitars get played a lot more when they are out of their cases, but there’s not always space on the floor to put a stand. These Hercules wall hangers ($16.99) keep the guitar off the floor and look great as well!

Books – In these days of readily available online tabs the market for books is getting smaller and smaller, but there is no substitute for a licensed, artist-approved book! Ask the person you’re buying for what some of their favorite artists or albums are, there will more than likely be a transcription book available.

Gift Cards – If you’re really stuck on what to get the musician in your life, gift cards are always a great option. We sell gift cards in-store in any denomination you like or, for those online shoppers, we sell online gift cards in preset denominations.

I hope this has been of some help. Have a safe and happy holidays and I’ll see you around the store!

Ryan

If you’re a frequent reader of popular guitar magazines like Guitar Player or Premier Guitar you’ve no doubt noticed a big time marketing campaign from Ernie Ball featuring their new Cobalt Slinkys. Introduced at the NAMM show in January 2012, Ernie Ball claims that their Cobalt strings “provide an extended dynamic range, incredible harmonic response, increased low end, and crisp, clear highs.” Those are some pretty lofty claims but many long-time Ernie Ball endorsed artists (like Slash, Paul Gilbert and Steve Vai) made the switch over to the Cobalts, so I figured maybe there was something to those claims.

Still, this wasn’t quite enough to convince me to give them a shot. We weren’t planning on bringing them into the store, but our Ernie Ball rep kept hounding Jay about the Cobalt strings, saying how great they really were, so finally Jay relented and ordered in a few packs. I was still intending to try them, but I had restrung my guitar fairly recently so I was waiting to wear those strings out first. The real turning point for me came when a friend (who is also an amazing guitarist with killer tone) came into the store and bought a pack of Cobalts when we didn’t have his usual string brand in stock. He left and came back less than an hour later and asked to buy every set of Cobalts that we had because they were the best sounding strings he had ever heard. That sealed it; I had to try them out.

I grabbed myself a set of Regular Cobalt Slinkys and threw them on my Strat and immediately noticed a difference. The Cobalts were noticeably louder and bass-heavy than the previous set I had on (so much so that I have to lower my pickups a touch to compensate for the extra bass). I also found that the Cobalts had a very smooth top-end, never shrill or piercing and noticeably better string-to-string definition, particularly when playing with a more distorted sound. They also have a noticeably different tactile feel from traditional nickel-wound strings; they feel softer to the touch (particularly on the wound strings) and have a great slinky-ness to them that makes string-bending a real pleasure.

At $11.50 per pack the Cobalts are quite a bit more expensive than most other standard types of strings, but I also noticed that they lasted longer than regular nickel-wound strings (and I have pretty corrosive sweat so that’s no small feat) so I feel that, combined with the improved quality of tone, you get your money’s worth. I highly recommend giving a set of Cobalts a try the next time you come by the store.

Have a good one!

Ryan

For those of you who frequently watch the videos that we do, you probably saw Lou’s recent video detailing how to get the classic “slap-back echo” sound with your delay pedal (if you haven’t seen it, you can find it here). While this was a great video, I thought it might be a good idea to expand on it a bit and maybe describe some of the other great uses for your delay pedal.

Rhythmic delays – One of the most recognizable ways to use a delay pedal, rhythmic delays can make very simple riffs sound completely different and exciting. This sound has been used by David Gilmour (on Pink Floyd’s Run Like Hell) and Eddie Van Halen (in his solo piece Cathedral) but its most noteworthy proprietor is the Edge of U2, who used rhythmic delays to create the signature riffs on songs like Where the Streets Have No Name, Pride (In the Name of Love) and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. To set up this sound, you’ll want to set the delay level to be about the same (or maybe a hair quieter) than the direct signal. Set the number of repeats fairly low, but not quite as low as if you were creating a slap-back sound. Setting the delay time is the tricky part of this, and is dependent on the tempo at which you are playing. You’ll want to set the delay at either a dotted eighth or dotted 16th rhythm, which if you have a tap tempo button is fairly easy but a bit tricky if you don’t. The easiest way to get the timing right is to play a steady stream of eighth notes while you turn the delay time knob. You’ll know you’ve got it right when the delay repeats fill in the holes between your eighth notes.

Volume swells/Pads – This is a great approach if you’re looking to fill in some background space or emulate a keyboard (or maybe just not sound like a guitar). Set the effect level to about 60/40 delayed to direct sound, set the repeats fairly high (but not all the way up, especially on an analog delay!) and set the delay time moderately long, about 500-800ms. The swell aspect of this technique is easiest to do with a volume pedal, but still doable with your guitar’s volume knob. Turn the volume all the way down, play a note or chord and quickly and smoothly turn up the volume. The point of this is to soften the attack, so you just hear the sustained chord as a pad. It also helps if you add some modulation to the sound, whether for the pedal itself or from another pedal (a chorus pedal is great for this). This video is a great example of what I’m talking about.

Fake reverb – Nowadays reverb is built in to almost every amp there is but it is often spring reverb, which may not be the sound you’re going for. If you’re looking for something that sounds less “springy” and more like a real space, try using your delay pedal to get there. Set the effect level so that you get mostly dry signal but if you play short, staccato notes you can hear the delay repeats. Keep the number of repeats low, just one or two and set the delay time fairly short, but not too short. If you’ve set it right you won’t hear much of the reverb while you’re playing but when you stop playing or play staccato, you will hear the trails. This is great for thickening up your lead sound a bit in a band situation.

The great thing about delay pedals is that there are a million different uses for them, some common and some not so common. I definitely think that it is worthwhile for everyone to check one out and see how it can take your tone (and creativity) to the next level.

See you next time.

One of the most easily overlooked pieces of guitar gear also happens to be one of the most important: the humble cables that connect your guitar and pedals to your amp. Most of us don’t really give a second thought to our cables, we will use whatever happens to be handy and functional, but those cables are the veins that carry our precious signal from guitar to amp and cheap'n out on them can kill tone in a hurry! Why spend all that time, energy and money on perfecting your tone if you’re just going to kill it by using crummy cables? In this week’s blog, I will talk about some of the different cable options that are out there, and which might be best for you.

If you’re just getting started on electric guitar and don’t have any pedals, then you only have one cable to worry about! Chances are that when you bought your guitar, it came with a free cable like this. If I were you, I would put this cable in a drawer and use it only under dire circumstances. These cables are cheaply made and very easy to break, and they don’t sound all that great either. When you buy your guitar, make sure to buy a decent cable too! It doesn’t have to be insanely expensive cable, just something that is well constructed and uses good solid jacks. The standard cables that we carry here at KAOS are made by a Canadian company called BRTB, and they are fantastic. They use Switchcraft jacks (an industry standard) and their own spiral-shielded cable design so they last and sound great. BRTB also makes a higher end cable (called the “Player”) that uses even sturdier Neutrik jacks and high-density braided-shield cable for exceptional sound quality and noise-reduction.

The next thing to consider is the length of the cable. If you’re just playing in your bedroom or basement and won’t be straying too far from your amp, a 10-foot cable should be plenty. If you have some pedals between your guitar and amp, a 10-foot cable on either side of the pedals is usually plenty (you can even use a shorter cable from guitar to pedals if you like, but they’re not always easy to find). Once you move to the stage, it might be wise to invest in a longer cable (15-20 feet) for those times when you are playing on a larger stage and want to get some distance between your pedals and your amp. Always keep in mind that the most important cable in your chain is the one attached to your guitar, so make sure that if you are using one longer and one shorter cable that the shorter cable goes to your guitar.

Just as there are boutique guitar, amp and pedal companies, there are also boutique cable companies (and also boutique-style cables from larger companies). Companies like Asterope, Evidence Audio and George L's offer super-premium cables that are low-capacitance, high-bandwidth and very durable (and also very expensive!). While it may seem like a simple cable couldn’t possibly make that much difference, I can assure you that they do. I purchased an Evidence cable (the “Lyric” model) a couple of years ago and it sounds phenomenal. However, when I get on stage in a band situation, I’m not sure that I really notice the difference (and I’m positive that the audience doesn’t). While it makes all the sense in the world to have the best cables that money can buy when you’re in the studio (where every aspect of your sound is under a microscope), you can get away with using less expensive cables in a live situation.

The last thing I want to say on the subject is with respect to the effect that capacitance has on your tone. The longer a cable is, the more capacitance it adds to your signal, which darkens the sound (check out this great video by guitar guru Pete Thorn for a demonstration of this). The general opinion of this is that it is a bad thing, that the cable is robbing you of precious high frequencies and is therefore ruining your tone. In reality, this subtle high frequency roll-off can actually be quite desirable! Many players, including Warren Haynes and Eric Johnson, purposely use more cable than is necessary in order to tame the high end and no one is going to argue with those guys about tone! Besides, Jimi Hendrix used to use 50-foot coiled cables on either side of his (buffered!) effects pedals and you don’t hear many people complaining about the degradation of his tone!

The basic rule of thumb is that if you like the way things sound leave them alone! Don’t worry about whether the cable is killing your high-end; if it sounds good it is good!

See you next time,

Ryan

It may seem like a silly question, but the answer is a lot more complicated than you might think. In the post-Napster age there are literally hundreds of places (both legal and otherwise) to find music and they all have benefits and drawbacks. In this week’s blog, I will go through a couple of the more popular options out there in an effort to help you find what works for you.

Digital Purchase (iTunes, Amazon MP3) – Arguably the most successful and well known modern method of acquiring music, these services allow you to download single songs or albums (in addition to other content like movies and books) and share them across multiple devices. Unfortunately, due to anti-piracy measures encrypted in the song files, sharing of these files is very limited. This may not seem like a big deal (and I’m sure to some people it isn’t) but if there happens to be a song or album that you love and would like a friend to check out, they will have to buy their own copy (which some people just aren’t willing to do). In the case of iTunes, content can be licensed for use on up to 5 computers and an unlimited number of mobile devices (iPod/iPhone/iPad). This means that you can put any song you download onto your friend’s device, but they won’t be able to transfer it to their computer.

Streaming Services (Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody) – Many music industry people believe that streaming services are the way of the future, and they may well be right. These services allow you to access vast libraries of music via desktop computer or handheld device for a low monthly cost. For the same price as a single album on iTunes, you have unlimited access to as much music as you could possibly want, as well as the ability to store music on your device (a huge plus for those of us that spend lots of time on the subway). These kinds of services are great for people who like to constantly listen to new and different music, but aren’t too keen on spending $10 for a new album that they may not end up liking. The downside to streaming services is that instead of buying the music itself, you are only buying access to the music. This not only means that sharing is impossible, but that anyone looking to modify the files (for example, musicians using software to slow recordings down for learning/teaching purposes) is stuck. This is not a huge deal for most people but for those of us that do this regularly it is a pain in the butt. Having said that, I personally really like streaming services (I’ve been using Rdio for about 9 months now) and highly recommend them as a source of new music.

YouTube – This may seem like an odd inclusion, but YouTube is actually a very popular place for listening to music (especially amongst the younger generation). Most popular music acts have their own channels on YouTube and those that don’t often have their music put up by fans, often accompanying their own videos or slideshows. While this might seem like a questionable legal/moral issue (it IS technically illegal to do this without proper authorization/licensing) it is very widespread and difficult to police so it happens anyways. While it is great for playing single tracks, YouTube is also great for listening to albums too. It may be a little more time consuming, but it is easy to make a playlist containing all the songs you want to hear that can be saved and recalled later. Unfortunately YouTube isn’t really a viable option for listening to music on the go, as using YouTube over a 3G network will chew up your data plan in a hurry.

Hard Copy (CD/Vinyl) – While they sound a heck of a lot better than digital files, CDs have largely become obsolete in the current market. They are still available and are actually cheaper than they’ve ever been, but people are a lot less willing to pay even $12.99 for a CD in the store when they can get it for cheaper (or free) elsewhere. The funny thing is that while CDs are becoming more and more obsolete, vinyl has made something of a comeback. It is still considered a niche market, but more and more people are discovering how great vinyl sounds and many artists have begun releasing their albums on vinyl in addition to digital and CD formats. Obviously sharing and taking vinyl with you on the subway isn’t going to happen, but if sound quality is your biggest concern maybe revisiting vinyl is the way to go.

Each of these different formats has its benefits and drawbacks, and some may work better for your lifestyle than others. For me, I predominantly use Rdio, but I also buy stuff on iTunes from time to time. Often the best solution isn’t just one format, but a combination of formats. Whatever the case may be, it is now easier than ever for consumers to find the music they are looking for and to discover new music, and that benefits everybody.

Thanks for reading .. Ryan

Last week I talked about some of the things that you need to address when you first decide to give slide guitar a try. Once you’ve picked a slide that is comfortable and you’ve got your guitar set up properly, it’s time to actually put metal (or glass) on metal.

There are two vitally important things to remember when you first start playing slide. The first is to not push down too hard on the strings with the slide. The slide itself should be heavy enough to make good contact with the strings, so you shouldn’t need to apply too much pressure to get a good sound. If you push too hard the slide will bang against the frets, which isn’t a very nice sound. The second important thing to remember is that the slide should be placed directly over top of the fret (rather than behind the fret as you would do with bare fingers). Since the slide essentially turns the guitar into a fretless instrument, the positioning of the slide is incredibly important. If you play too far in front of or behind the fret, the note will come out sounding sharp or flat, respectively. This is the number one problem that plagues most beginner slide players.

The number two problem that beginner slide players have is muting. Since the slide will typically be touching more than one string at a time, it is important to mute any strings that you are not playing to prevent unwanted notes from ringing out. The easiest way to accomplish this is by playing fingerstyle, rather than with a pick. You will also need to learn to use the bare fingers on your fretting (slide) hand to help mute both in front of and behind the slide (although some players prefer not to mute behind the slide as it can give you some cool overtones).

Good intonation is the key to sounding good with a slide, and is as much a matter of ear training as it is technique. I’ve developed a couple of great exercises that you can do to work on intonation.

For the first exercise, pick any scale that you are familiar with, G major for example, and play it up and down one string at a time. If you don’t know how to play the scale on one string, this is a great chance to learn! Make sure that you know that notes of the scale (G major is G, A, B, C, D, E and F#) and plot them out on a diagram of the fretboard (one can be found here http://bit.ly/SOysKj). Start at the lowest available note on each string and slowly slide up to the next note, making sure to stop each time. If you have a chromatic tuner, it might be a good idea to have it nearby so you can make sure that you nail the pitches exactly. Once you get to the top of the neck, repeat the exercise going down, stopping at each pitch. Do this up and down each string and you will be amazed at how quickly your ear improves.

The second exercise is very similar to the first, but instead of sliding from one note to the next (legato), you will attempt to hit each note individually (staccato). This will probably be a bit more difficult, so use your eyes to judge exactly where the slide needs to go to hit the correct pitch. Once you have done both of these exercises with one scale, try doing it with some other scales as well. Not only will you be working on your intonation and slide technique, but your knowledge of the fretboard as well.

One more thing that I’d like to mention is with respect to tuning. While many players prefer to play slide in open tunings (Open E, D, G and A are all very common) I am of the opinion that it’s wise to start playing slide in standard tuning. The reason for this is that it is challenging enough to master the basic techniques for playing slide without also having to learn how to play in a new tuning as well. Once you have become comfortable with the slide and muting techniques, then you can branch out and try some open tunings.

Finally, we could all use a little inspiration when trying out new techniques, so here are some clips from slide players that I enjoy and hopefully you will too.

Happy sliding!

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Come See About Me

Sonny Landreth - Next To Kindred Spirit

Ry Cooder - Vigilante Man

The Allman Brothers - Don't Keep Me Wonderin'

As a big fan of slide guitar, I always get excited when someone comes into the store with an interest in learning how to play slide. To me, slide guitar is the closest that any instrument can come to mimicking the human voice and this quality allows great slide players to transcend the limitations of the guitar and create beautiful music that is straight from the heart. Unfortunately, slide guitar can also sound really awful if done poorly. In this two-part blog, I will give you some tips and tricks that you can use to turn your whiny, out-of-tune slide playing into something beautiful and melodic.

The Slide – The first thing you will need to do is choose the right slide. There are so many different styles of slides that this can seem like a daunting task at first, but each slide has unique characteristics that will help to distinguish it from the rest. The three main materials that slides are made from are brass, chrome and glass (although ceramic and porcelain and becoming more popular) and each has it’s own tonal characteristics. Brass sounds very warm and balanced, while chrome is a bit brighter and glass is even brighter still, and a bit thinner sounding. The weight of the slide is also an important factor in its feel and sound. Because brass is heavy, it is better suited for acoustic guitar (or an electric with heavy strings and high action), as the bigger strings can handle the weight of the slide. Chrome is not quite as heavy as brass, so it is a good choice if you plan to switch between acoustic and electric without changing slides. Because glass is so light, it is probably not the best choice to use on acoustic guitar, but on a properly set up electric a glass slide allows the player to dig in a little more without worrying about the slide banging against the frets. When fitting the slide, the only real rule is to make sure that the slide is comfortable. If it is too tight, you will sacrifice mobility, while a slide that is too loose will make it challenging to play in tune. You will also want to decide which finger you want to wear the slide on. Most prefer to wear it on their ring finger, but some prefer to use their pinky for slide. Some players (Jeff Beck for example) even prefer to use their middle finger. Again, whatever feels comfortable for you is the right way to do it.

The Guitar – when playing slide, it’s very important that the guitar is properly set up to handle the slide that you’ve chosen. The first thing most people do is raise the action and put on some bigger strings. The higher action will prevent the slide from clanging against the frets, while the heavier strings will provide some extra tension, allowing you to dig in a bit with the slide. Exactly how high the action is set and what strings you choose depends on what you plan on using the guitar for. If the guitar is going to be used solely for slide then you can probably afford to have the action quite high. If, however, you need to be able to switch back and forth between slide and bare fingers then you will need to find a happy medium that allows you to be comfortable in both situations. As always, if you don’t have much experience with this kind of work, be sure to bring your guitar to a qualified tech.

That’s all for this week. Make sure to check back for part two of my look at slide guitar, where I will give you some beginner tips that will have you sounding like Duan Allman in no time.

Thanks .. Ryan

John Mayer is a divisive figure amongst the guitar community. While most respect his blues chops and tone, many are quick to dismiss him as a SRV copycat with a penchant for writing cheesy pop songs. Add to this his constant tabloid presence and his disastrous interview in Playboy magazine a few years ago and you might have trouble finding a guitar player willing to give his new album a fair shot, which is a shame.

Like his 2009 album Battle Studies, Born & Raised is a dramatic departure from the heavy-grooving pop/soul of 2006’s Continuum and the guitar driven blues rock of the John Mayer Trio. Inspired by the laid-back California country-rock of the early ‘70s, Born & Raised owes more to Neil Young and Joni Mitchell than Stevie Ray Vaughan. This is no more evident than in the first track “Queen of California”, where Mayer sings, “looking for the song that Neil Young hummed/After the gold rush in 1971” over acoustic guitars, pedal-steel and a deep, laid-back groove.

Born & Raised is a departure for Mayer in more ways than one. It is his first recording since his debut to not feature Mayer’s trio companions Steve Jordan (drums) and Pino Palladino (bass), and the first since 2003’ s Heavier Things to not be co-produced by Jordan and Mayer himself. The legendary Don Was (Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne) took over the producer’s chair for Born & Raised, allowing Mayer to focus on songwriting and performance. The result is some of the most personal and compelling material of Mayer’s career, including the cutting title track, which gets an added lift from some haunting vocal harmonies courtesy of David Crosby and Graham Nash. The song “Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967” is an adventurous story-song that would have been right at home on a Beatles album and features some of Mayer’s most clever and inspired lyricism.

All in all, Born & Raised offers everything you could expect from a John Mayer album, albeit delivered in a very unexpected way. The songwriting is very strong throughout, the vocal performances are full of emotion (despite the persistent vocal condition that has hampered Mayer for the last couple of years) and the guitar playing and tone are exactly what you would expect. Although guitar solos are few and far between, they are always melodic, musical and exactly what is needed on each song. Mayer has chops to spare, but he has always been able to rein himself in on record and the solos on “Queen of California” and “Something Like Olivia” are prime examples of this. Each note is squeezed for maximum emotional impact and the tone is always unique, lyrical and appropriate for the song.

The only criticisms I have of Born & Raised are these: the second track, “The Age of Worry” has a very big east coast sound to it, which feels very out of place on an album that is so clearly inspired by west coasts sounds; and the huge Coldplay-esque arena-anthem section at the end of “A Face To Call Home” seems to betray the humble country-rock vibe of the rest of the album. Aside from these minor criticisms, Born & Raised is a fantastic album with a very broad appeal that will provide Mayer with some great live material once he is healthy.

Stand-out tracks: Queen of California, Something Like Olivia, Born & Raised, Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967

Thanks .. Ryan

Hi there and welcome back to another instalment of my blog. I’d like to relate a story today that is mildly embarrassing, but also serves to reinforce a very important rule for gigging musicians.

A couple of weeks ago I was playing my regular gig up at a bar in Vaughan, Ont. when disaster struck. On about the third song of the night, the B string on my strat broke right in the middle of a solo. Now typically a broken string isn’t a huge problem, you just keep on going an make adjustments, but since I have the bridge of my guitar set up to “float” (so that I can put a little vibrato on chords and pretend that I’m Jeff Beck) my guitar immediately went completely out of tune. I couldn’t very well stop and re-tune in the middle of the song (especially without a keyboard player or other chord-playing axe) so I tried my best to keep going and figure out exactly how out of tune my guitar was. It took a minute, but I found that if I played everything one semi-tone lower than I was supposed to, it sounded close enough to make it through the song.

Once the song was over I ran over to my guitar case to find an extra string. Unfortunately, like an idiot, I had forgotten to put a fresh set of strings in my guitar case after I had used the last pack and was stuck without a spare. Without a spare guitar on hand, I had no choice but to limp through the remainder of the night on 5 strings. If you’ve never had to do this before, let this serve as a warning: it is not fun. If it had been my first string it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but losing my second string was like cutting off a finger.

So what is the rule this blog serves to enforce? Always be prepared! It works for the Boy Scouts and it works for guitar players. The following is a list of essential items that you should always have in your guitar case for when disaster strikes (and it will):
• Spare strings (especially High E’s and B’s)
• String winder
• Allen Keys
• Set of small jeweler’s screwdrivers
• Small flashlight
• Spare patch cable
• 9-volt battery
• Spare tuner

With all of these supplies in your case, there aren’t many problems that you won’t be able to handle. If you can think of any that I’ve missed, feel free to mention them in the comments section.

See you next time!

Ever since I started playing guitar I’ve been intrigued by the sound of fuzz pedals. From my early idols like Hendrix and David Gilmour to more recent favorites like Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, the sound of fuzz has always been exciting for me. However I’ve never been able to find a fuzz pedal that works for me. Probably due to the fact that I like a wide range of different fuzz sounds, it’s been very difficult to find a fuzz pedal that gets all the sounds that I’m looking for.

Part of the reason for this is that the sounds that I love have come from a bunch of different fuzz pedals. Jimi Hendrix was well known for using both silicon and germanium versions of the Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face pedal (his fuzz of choice for Band of Gypsies) as well as some stuff built by Roger Mayer. David Gilmour used silicon Fuzz Faces earlier in his career, but around the time of the Animals album (1977) he started to use the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff as well. This happens to be the pedal he used on The Wall, on tunes like Young Lust and Comfortably Numb, and represents some of my favorite Gilmour fuzz tones. Auerbach for his part favors the Muff fuzz as well, but a different version than Gilmour. While Gilmour preferred the early “Ram’s Head” version of the pedal, Auerbach prefers the green Russian-made Sovtek version. You can read about the differences between the two versions here.

It’s very easy to find individual pedals that will do each of these sounds. Analog Man makes what many consider the ultimate Fuzz Face style pedal with its Sun Face. Available with your choice of many different silicon or germanium transistors, the Sun Face is perfect if you are looking to nail down a very specific version of the Fuzz Face. Like I said though, I am looking for more than just the Fuzz Face sound. While the Sun Face sounds perfect for the Hendrix stuff, it won’t be able to get the sound of a Big Muff.

Likewise, there are some great Muff-style fuzzes out there from companies like Earthquaker Devices and MJM Guitar FX but again, they don’t quite do the Fuzz Face thing as well as I would like.

I was beginning to think that I was never going to find the perfect Fuzz Face/Big Muff-in-one until I discovered the Blackout Effectors Musket Fuzz. Even though it was designed to be a Muff-style fuzz, the addition of Pre, Mids, and Focus knobs allow the player to get a far more useable range of sounds out of the pedal. The Pre knob allows the player to dial in a clean boost which, when combined with moderate to low Fuzz settings, gives the pedal a more vintage Fuzz Face style sound. Add in the Focus (which cuts low end) and Mids (which scoops or boost the midrange) knobs and this pedal seems like it could be compatible with any rig.

I’m very excited to try this pedal out, and will be sure to create some of my own demo videos when I do to share the results of my search. If you have any suggestions of other fuzz pedals to try out I would love to hear them, just leave a message in the comments section.

Thanks for reading; I’ll see you next week,

Ryan

Like many guitarists, I tend to be a bit resistant to change when it comes to guitar technology. I like the sound of metal and magnets and capacitors into vacuum tubes; it makes me feel comfortable and more connected to what I’m playing. When it comes to digital modeling and synthesis, I am usually very skeptical. I have owned some amp-modeling devices and used lots of software, and I have always found that the fake stuff just doesn’t sound as good as the real thing. However, after checking out the new G5: VG Stratocaster from Roland, I’m beginning to think that new technology might be catching up to the old technology.

On the surface the G5 looks like a pretty straightforward Strat, and it is. Built in Mexico by Fender specifically for Roland, the guitar is basically a really solid Stratocaster with some perks. It comes in either black with a maple fretboard or 3-tone sunburst with rosewood neck, both of which are made of alder. The neck is what Fender calls a medium “C” Shape with 22 medium-jumbo frets and a 25.5” scale length. As I said, pretty much a standard Mexican Strat.

Where this guitar veers into new territory is the electronics. In addition to the usual 3 single-coil pickups, the G5 also has Roland’s GK Divided pickup built in. This pickup, which was originally designed for use with Roland’s line of guitar synths like the GR-55, makes it possible to take advantage of on-board COSM modeling to deliver and entire arsenal’s worth of guitar sounds. Using the small knob marked with an M and located below the master volume and tone knobs, users can select from either the real sound of the guitar, or one of four modeled sounds. The models are labeled N, S, T, H and A which stand for Normal, Strat, Tele, Humbucker and Acoustic. When each model is engaged, the function of the 5-way switch changes; for example, when the S model is engaged the switch acts as a standard 5-way, but in Tele mode the switch selects different models of Tele pickups, in addition to the pickup position. In Acoustic mode, the 5-way switches between two different steel-string acoustic models, a nylon-string model, a sitar and “Jazz” model.

Where this guitar becomes very cool is when you combine the modeled guitar sounds with the modeled tunings, which are available on the knob labeled with a T. This knob gives instant access to drop-D, open-G and DADGAD tunings, as well as Baritone and 12-string settings. All of these tunings can be combined with any of the guitar models to create some common and very uncommon sounds.

While the guitar seems pretty impressive, if it doesn’t sound as good as the real thing all the features in the world won’t save it. Fortunately, this guitar delivers the goods. While the models don’t sound perfect, they are certainly convincing enough to be useful. When listening to the guitar on its own, a good ear could definitely tell the difference between the modeled sound and the real sound. In a live situation however, the models are convincing enough that if you couldn’t see the guitar player you would swear they were playing a Tele or humbuckers or even an acoustic guitar. Even more important, the individual models feel good. They are responsive and dynamic and don’t suffer from any pitch-related weirdness that often accompanies guitar synthesis.
This guitar would be a great addition to the collection of any guitar player looking to add a bunch of new sounds to their arsenal at once. While some of the models may be a bit niche-y (the sitar) or have limited usability (the Jazz model) most of the models are totally usable and could become a great asset not only live, but in the studio as well. While you may not wanted to use the modeled Strat or Tele on a session, being able to get convincing baritone guitar or 12-string sounds can be the difference between an average sounding recording and a really special recording.

These guitars retail for $1369.99 and are in stock now so come on in and check them out!

See you next week!

Ryan

On May 15, a band called String Cheese Incident created a serious stir in the online community by buying $20,000 worth of tickets to their own show at Los Angeles’ Greek Theater and selling them back to fans at face value, essentially scalping their own tickets. You can read the full story here, but the given reason behind this ploy was to save the fans money (a whole 90 cents, as the band had to charge a $12 shipping fee compared to Ticketmaster’s $12.90 service charge) and to make a statement about the band’s disdain for Ticketmaster.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that the stranglehold that the Ticketmaster/Live Nation entity has on the live concert business is probably not a good thing. The lack of any credible rival to TM/LN certainly opens the possibility of price gouging, but it’s not fair to attribute the current high price of concert tickets to price gouging on their part. It’s easy to blame the massive multi-national company for being greedy, but have you ever considered how much of that money goes to the artist? In some cases, artists take up to 90% of the face value of a ticket (http://bit.ly/IZ5Dn6) leaving a small piece of the pie to cover all the associated costs of putting on a big-time concert (staffing, security, advertising). This leaves little margin for profit, which forces TM/LN to add service charges to the ticket prices in order to make some money.

When they first began adding these charges, Ticketmaster tacked them on to the end of the transaction and upset a lot of people, myself included. Nobody likes to find out that tickets that were advertised at $63 actually cost $76 when all is said and done. Ticketmaster’s response to this was to introduce all-in pricing, which gives the final price of the ticket, along with a break down of what the ticket actually costs along with any additional surcharges.

While this helped build some good will, Ticketmaster continues to take a beating in the court of public opinion. TM/LN is a very touchy subject amongst live music fans, who will typically rant and rave about the company’s greed with little provocation. Let me ask this though: how are TM/LN’s service charges any different from the markup that every retailer puts on every single product that they sell. It is no secret that retailers all pay one price for their products and sell them for a higher price, sometimes as much as 40-50% higher. To compare, the average service charge for six major concerts coming through Toronto this summer (including Dave Matthews, Roger Waters, Bruce Springsteen and the Black Keys) is 19.21%. Perhaps if retailers were as transparent about their pricing as TM/LN people would rant and rave in a similar fashion, but I doubt it.

Ticketing is a contentious issue amongst music industry people, with everyone wanting to point the finger at someone else. The people blame Ticketmaster for making concerts too expensive, Ticketmaster blames the acts for wanting too much money, and that acts blame the fans for stealing music online. With the changes that have happened in the music industry in the past 10 years, the opportunity is there for someone (be it an act, industry personality or tech geek) to change the industry for the better. I have no idea how they will do it, but I look forward to seeing the results.

See you next week,

Ryan

Last Friday, Lou and I (and our respective significant others) got the chance to go check out the newest incarnation of Ian Thornley’s band Big Wreck. For those who didn’t know, Big Wreck just released a fantastic new album called Albatross, its first since The Pleasure and the Greed in 2001 and the bands subsequent break up in 2002. The new lineup sees the return of Thornley’s partnership with co-guitarist Brian Doherty, and the addition of Dave McMillan (bass) and Brad Park (drums) who replace the founding rhythm section of Dave Henning and Forrest Williams. Rounding out the new lineup is third guitarist Paulo Neta, a holdover from Thornley’s previous self-titled band.

We only caught the last couple of songs by the opening band Rikers, who were not bad, but we were really looking forward to the main event. Big Wreck came on just after 10pm to the sound of the vocal swells that lead into Albatross’ opening track Head Together. It seemed to me (and to Lou as well) that the band seemed a little uncomfortable first, which was strange given that they had played the same venue the night before. My guess is that there was no sound check prior to this show, and the guys needed a couple of songs to get comfortable. By the time Thornley, who is known for having one of the best voices in modern rock, hit his first high note we knew we were in for an impressive show.

The band really settled in by the time they got around to their new single, the title track from the new album. This song features some classic Big Wreck guitar textures with multiple 12-string and acoustic guitars that created a lush, beautiful sound in a live environment. My only concern (and it was one that continued throughout the evening) was that some of the solos and higher melodic parts, failed to really cut through the band. I could hear them, but they didn’t really soar in the way they do on the album.

The night’s set list was heavy with new material, with the band playing six tunes from Albatross, yet they still found time to play all the hits that they are known for. Highlights included Inhale and Ladylike from The Pleasure and the Greed, the crowd sing-along on That Song (which was played in the middle of All By Design), and the super-heavy quasi-blues of You Caught My Eye, on which Thornley unleashed his most inspired solo of the evening. They also included two tunes from Thornley’s first album under his own name, a laid back version of So Far So Good and the anthemic rocker Come Again.

The number of instruments that this band brings with them is truly staggering. By my count the guitarists had more than 20 instruments between them, with Doherty having the most. His collection included, two Les Pauls, two Teles, a Strat, a Hammertone double-neck with a 12-string mandolin on top, a gold-top Yamaha SG1802 with P90s, a 6-string banjo and a 12-string electric that looked like it may have been a PRS. For his part, Thornley played a white Yamaha SBG2000, an Ernie Ball/Music Man John Petrucci Baritone, an EB/MM Silhouette Double Neck, a sunburst Strat and an oversize Strat-style guitar built by Jim Mouradian. Paulo Neta mostly stuck to EB/MM guitars for the evening, playing Silhouette, Steve Morse and Axis models, but he also pulled out a Les Paul for You Caught My Eye, a Korina Gibson Flying V and a Yamaha Silent Guitar for Albatross. For amps, Doherty played through a Bogner Ecstasy and a Matchless combo, while Neta played through two Traynor Custom Special heads with matching cabinets. We weren’t able to see what amps Thornley was playing, as he only had some Traynor cabinets (two 4x12s and a 2x12) on stage. However if the recent video for the song Wolves is any indication, Thornley is using Canadian-made Fortin amplifiers (among others).

All in all the show was fantastic. Thornley certainly lived up to his reputation of having a great voice, and his guitar chops are absolutely undeniable. As a player, his phrasing and note choices evidence his Berklee College pedigree but never at the expense of the hard-rock attitude that Big Wreck is known for. My only major criticism (besides the earlier sound issue) was the inclusion of both a bass solo and a drum solo, which both seemed unnecessary.

Big Wreck’s current tour continues with stops in Guelph, London and Sarnia and I highly suggest checking them out if you have the opportunity.

Full Setlist: Head Together, A Million Days, Albatross, Mistake, Inhale, Control, All By Design > That Song > All By Design, So Far So Good (alternate version), Wolves, Ladylike, Bass Solo, Blown Wide Open, All Is Fair, Come Again Encore: You Caught My Eye, The Oaf (with Drum Solo)

The guitar is finally done and boy is it fantastic! We had to make a few changes to our original plan, but the guitar turned out really well in the end. Of course, the MJS Custom Pickups that we put in sound amazing, and we were able to turn a guitar that was not bad, into something that sounds like a custom-shop instrument. Smitty suggested using Alnico II magnets in these pickups, and they ended up sounding very warm, balanced, and open with a softer attack. I compared this guitar to another Strat that Smitty has with Alnico V magnets in it, and his guitar had a much sharper attack. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but to me our guitar felt a little more forgiving, allowing me to play a bit harder without it ever sounding harsh.

Once again I was able to go to Smitty’s workshop to watch him in action and to take some pictures while he worked, which you can see here. This is always such a treat me for me because I learn so much about the inner workings of a guitar, and why certain problems arise and how to prevent or fix them. With over 25 years of guitar-building experience Smitty has seen it all and has a few tricks up his sleeve that he was willing to share with me.

The guitar we used for this project was a black Fender '50s Road Worn Stratocaster. I had initially wanted to get a ‘60s Road Worn model (mainly because I prefer the look of a rosewood fretboard) but unfortunately one wasn’t available. This didn’t end up being a problem however, as the finished product ended up looking like one of Fender’s early Eric Clapton signature Strats, which is not a bad thing at all! We had initially intended to use a capacitor from RS Guitarworks, but unfortunately weren’t able to get it in time so at Smitty’s suggestion we decided to use an Orange Drop cap. This cap is not a paper-in-oil cap like the RS cap, but it sounds just as good.

We also decided to make a few adjustments to the switching and wiring on this guitar. In addition to the standard 5-way switch Smitty suggested adding what he calls an override switch. This switch enables the player to use the neck and bridge pickups together, as well as all three pickups at the same time. These modifications make the guitar even more versatile, allowing the player to get some Telecaster-style sounds. I also got Smitty to wire the bridge pickup to the bottom tone knob, which allows the player to roll a little bit of top end off of the bridge pickup (which can be notoriously bright on a strat).

Finally, we topped it off with some really great Sperzel locking tuners and a custom-cut bone nut and setup both done by Smitty. We decided against replacing the stock strap buttons with locking ones as the stock ones are aged and look really great.

Keep your eye on our website for a demo video of this guitar, which should be online shortly. Or if you’d like, come on down to the store and try it out for yourself! This is a great opportunity to own a very cool, one-of-a-kind instrument.

One of the most popular questions I get from beginning guitar players is, “Do I need a pick?” which is often followed by “Which pick should I get?” These are both very good questions, and my answer to both is always the same: “That depends.”

Whether or not you use a pick often relates to the amount of experience you have. If you are a beginner player it is probably wise to start with a pick, particularly if you are starting on your own. Pick playing requires less pick-hand-finger independence than fingerstyle, so it is usually easier for beginners. If you are looking to learn fingerstyle guitar however, you might as well dive right in without the pick.

What pick you should get is a completely personal decision, that usually is the result of trial-and-error. Many beginners prefer to use thinner picks, as they are more forgiving, but most people tend to move to thicker picks as they improve. The main differences you will find between different picks are the size, the shape, the material it’s made out of and the hardness. Picks come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and there are pros and cons for each.

The material and the hardness of the pick will have the biggest effect on the final sound. Picks are made out of many different materials (including different types of plastic, metal, bone and stone) and each material has different sonic qualities. For example, stone picks tend to have a stronger attack and a brighter sound, while a classic celluloid (a type of plastic) pick has a softer, squishier attack with a round, warm sound.

The hardness of the pick is going to affect the dynamic range that the player is going to be able to get out of an instrument. For example, with a soft pick, as you play harder the volume increases to a point and then levels off as the pick bends more and more. This is called compression and it can be a desirable trait if you are trying to get a very even sound, like if you are playing a strummed part on acoustic guitar. If you play a lot of single-note lines and need to have a lot of control over dynamics, a stiffer pick is the way to go. Since the pick bends less, more of the energy that you put into it is transferred to the strings, which produces more volume.

As I said earlier, a pick is an entirely personal choice that each player needs to make for his or herself. The best thing to do is experiment with a bunch of different picks and make note of which ones you like and which ones you don’t and why. For what it’s worth, I use very small Fender picks made out of celluloid. I typically use heavy or extra-heavy picks with a sharper tip for electric guitar, while I use softer-tipped medium picks for acoustic guitar.

Thanks for reading .. Ryan

I’m very excited to announce that after the resounding success of our previous Pimp My Guitar project, we have decided to do it all over again with a new guitar! This time we will be hot-rodding a brand new Fender Road Worn 60s Strat.

Just like last time we will be getting some custom pickups made for this guitar by MJS custom pickups. I have already spoken to Smitty, and we have decided to go with his Progressive Strat-style pickup set for this project, with Alnico 2 being his magnet of choice. The MJS website describes the Progressive set as having a higher output than the Vintage set, but the actual output of this set of pickups will be somewhere in between the two sets. To go with these pickups, we have a great vintage-style capacitor coming to us from RS Guitarworks. We have also discussed some great switching modifications that will make this guitar even more versatile.

As for the hardware, we will be adding some great Sperzel locking tuners, as well as Dunlop strap locks. The icing on the cake will be a custom-cut bone nut and precision setup done by Smitty.

Keep an eye out for more info in the coming weeks.

Ryan

In any discussion of guitar tone (whether its here in the store, at the bar after work or online) there’s always that one guy who says, “Yeah all that gear talk is fine, but it’s all in the hands anyways so gear doesn’t really matter.” While this guy may be on to something, I can’t say that I completely agree. At the end of the day if you can’t play the guitar, no device or modification is every going to change that.

As far as I am concerned though, the discussion about tone happens once you’ve already got your chops together. If you’re still early in the process of learning the guitar, and you already have a decent guitar (and amp if necessary) the absolute best thing you can do to improve your tone is PRACTICE! Unfortunately a lot of people seem to think that this can be neglected, and that if they buy that new piece of gear they will sound just like their heroes. The best way to sound like your heroes is to learn to play like them, not to have the same sound. Try to learn their riffs and solos and play them exactly the same way they do. Once you can do this, then you can concern yourself with having the right gear.

The other distinction I want to make is between guitar sound and guitar tone. Now this is just my take on it, but I feel like it makes sense. Most people use the two aforementioned terms interchangeably, but I consider them to be two different things. Guitar SOUND is the sound that is created by the combination of equipment, the guitar, any pedals, the amp and any other processing. This is something that is measurable and easily manipulated and is the element that stays the same regardless of who is playing it. Guitar TONE is the combination of the guitar sound and the person playing it. This is the element that makes a player identifiable.

A great example of this is Alex Lifeson from Rush. Throughout the course of Rush’s 30+ year career, their sound has changed dramatically and Lifeson’s guitar sound is a big part of that. However at the core, Lifeson’s own personal tone has always been there. The guitar sound changes, often many times in the course of one song, but you can always tell who is playing.

Finally, keep in mind that there is really no such thing as a good or bad guitar sound; there is the right sound and the wrong sound. A sound that may be too bright or too distorted or too aggressive might not be right for the immediate application, but there is a time and place for everything and maybe that sound would be perfect for another situation.

Trust your ears: if it sounds right, it is right!

Much like the Biblical Grail, the humbucking pickups that Gibson manufactured between 1957 and 1962 are surrounded with the kind of lore that can drive a person to insanity (or at least the kind of insanity that leads one to spend over $2000 on pickups). Named for the “Patent Applied For” sticker found on their underside, PAF pickups are widely considered to be a key component of the classic “Gibson sound” and were found on almost every humbucker-equipped Gibson guitar of the time period.

Many of your favorite recordings from the 60s and 70s, including those by Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Free, The Allman Brothers, Peter Green, B.B. King, Freddie King, Chuck Berry (and many more) were done using PAF-equipped guitars, a fact that has helped drive the price up to doctor and lawyer levels. Read More...

This week I decided to take a break from all the gear talk to speak about a topic that has been on my mind for a little while now. The process of learning the guitar is a lifelong one filled with periods of improvement interspersed with periods where we plateau. We all know the feeling of hitting a plateau: we feel like we’re recycling all the same old licks or writing and playing the same old songs and not doing anything fun and exciting. Breaking out of these ruts can be challenging, but is the key to getting better at the guitar.

Here are some great rut-busting ideas that have helped me through some uninspired times.

• Try out a new piece of gear – coming from a music store employee this probably sounds a little self-serving, but a new piece of gear can be really inspiring. If you typically play a Strat, try out a Tele or a Les Paul. Maybe those tired Strat licks will sound re-invigorated and lead you somewhere new. It doesn’t have to be a guitar: maybe a new amp or pedal will inspire you to come up with a new riff or chord progression. Read More...

Hey there and welcome back to my weekly blog. This week I have some very cool new pedals to tell you about from one of the original boutique pedal companies, Way Huge.

Launched by effects pedal legend Jeorge Tripps in 1992, Way Huge was known for creating very unique-sounding (and uniquely named) pedals that offered something a little different from the mainstream. When the company stopped production in 1999,fans quickly bought up every, Angry Troll, Swollen Pickle and Fat Sandwich they could get their hands on and used prices skyrocketed.

Fast-forward to 2011 and Way Huge are back in a big way. After being brought on at Jim Dunlop, Tripps resurrected the line and is now producing 8 pedals (a combination of reissues and new designs) under the Way Huge name. Today I am going to tell you a little about three of the reissues: The Red Llama, The Green Rhino Mk.II and the revered Aqua Puss Delay.
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Today was the day I have been looking forward to for many weeks: the day that I got to take our Pimp My Guitar Les Paul to the workshop of Mike “Smitty” Smith of MJS Guitars to watch him work his magic. It was fascinating to watch Smitty turn an average off-the-rack guitar into something special, and I think I learned more today about guitars and pickups than I have in many years of playing.

To recap from last column, the Pimp My Guitar project involved taking a brand new Gibson Les Paul Traditional and adding carefully selected modifications to get the most out of the guitar. These modifications include new MJS pickups, custom wound by hand to our exact specifications, upgraded electronics from RS Guitarworks, a Tonepros locking bridge and tailpiece and Tonepros/Kluson locking tuners. We also decided to have Smitty custom cut a new bone nut for the guitar, and added Dunlop strap locks to keep it secure. Read More...

As our regular customers know there is a lot of cool stuff going on at Kaos right now. Today I’m here to tell you about the newest and (to me) most exciting new project that we have going on: Pimp My Guitar.

Conceived in the spirit of the popular MTV show, this project involves us taking an off-the-rack Gibson Les Paul Traditional and pimping it out with a number of choice player-inspired modifications. Featuring upgrades from MJS Guitars, RS Guitarworks, and Tonepros this guitar promises to be a player’s dream.
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Hi and welcome to the final instalment of my blog series on distortion-style pedals. I will end this series by taking a look at the most extreme, wild, unpredictable and exciting type of drive pedal, the almighty fuzz pedal. Fuzz pedals are certainly not for the faint of heart. They tend to be very loud and abrasive, but when dialed in correctly they can open up a whole new world of out-there sounds. Read More...

Hi and welcome to the penultimate edition of my blog series on distortion-type pedals. This week my focus is on pedals that are considered to be distortion pedals, rather than overdrive or fuzz pedals. As I said last week, overdrive pedals tend to have less gain and are more open (less compressed) sounding than distortion pedals, but that doesn’t mean that distortion pedals are simply over-compressed gain machines. Many distortion pedals, like the Xotic BB Preamp, are in fact very responsive and sound great at lower gain settings. The biggest difference between overdrive and distortion pedals, to me, is the way in which they are used. Read More...

Hi and welcome to the second instalment of my blog. Last week I answered the question, what is the difference between overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals. This week I am going to take a closer look at overdrive pedals, and the kind of sounds that are typically associated with them.

Now before I talk about overdrive pedals themselves, it is important to mention that the amplifier that you are using and the way that you are using it is going to change the type of overdrive pedal that you might want to use. For example, some players (like Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Mayer) like to set their amps as loud as they can while still retaining as clean a sound as possible, while others (Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page) preferred to get a more crunchy sound from the amp itself. Both approaches are valid and can sound great, but you need to find what works for you so before you start spending big money on pedals, make sure that you have a good sound coming from your amp. The best pedal in the world won’t make a bad amp sound good (OK maybe the BEST pedal will).

Once you have your amp situation straightened out, you can start the search for the right pedal for your setup. Overdrive pedals vary greatly in the amount of gain (distortion) that they can produce. Some, like the Ibanez Tubescreamer, have relatively little gain on tap, and are used more to drive the amp into distortion rather than to create distortion on their own. Others, like the Boss Super Overdrive (or it’s even higher gain cousin the MXR Wylde Overdrive), have enough gain on tap that you could use them as your sole source of distortion. The one trait that most overdrive pedals share is dynamic responsiveness. This means that the pedal responds to any changes in your picking or guitar volume knob in an amp-like fashion. For example, if you strum hard with the guitar volume all the way up you will get full on distortion; if you back off on the volume and pick lighter the sound will become cleaner. This trait makes the overdrive the pedal of choice of lots of blues and classic rock players as it allows for a wide range of sounds and maximum control over your sound using just your hands.

Next week I will take a look at what kinds of sounds you might get from distortion pedals. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you around the store!

All the best .. Ryan Read More...