By Guitarify on February 10, 2012
Last week we gave away a copy of iReal b for iOS. Now we’ve got the iReal b for Mac desktop version for the less mobile-inclined among you. This is a program, available for iOS, Mac, Android and Kindle Fire, that can play back chord charts as backing tracks. You can import charts or you can create your own. You then can adjust the style it will play back in, such as rock, jazz swing, latin etc.. Additional styles are available as in-app purchases. You can also adjust the tempo, or transpose into another key.
The unusual name of the program comes from the “Real Book”, which is the ‘bible’ of jazz standards chord charts. In fact, with any of the versions of iReal b, once you have it installed, you can go to the iReal b forums and download a version of the Real Book that works with it, containing 1200 songs. There are many other songs and practice tracks on the forum as well, or you can make your own. This is a great practice tool, as well as a way to easily carry around all the chord charts you might need.
This give away is for the Mac version. Since all of Guitarify’s fans don’t necessarily have a Mac, for this contest I’m asking that, besides being a Facebook fan of Guitarify, you must also leave a comment. It can be under this post or over on Facebook, but you must be a fan to qualify. I’ll pick the winner next Saturday, February 18th. Find out more about iReal b over at their website.
Posted in Learn, Software | Tagged contest |
By Guitarify on February 4, 2012
Bill Frisell has a very unique style. The spaces between the notes seem as equally considered as those he chooses to play. When he performs with his quintet, the spaces he creates get filled in, making it feel diluted to me. His style comes through the strongest when it’s just him and his guitar. The three John Lennon songs in this Tiny Desk concert from NPR show of Bill’s genius perfectly.
Posted in Music
By Guitarify on February 3, 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
By Guitarify on February 2, 2012
So I bought this really cool Hagstom 3 from the local vintage guitar show a while back. Being focused on the sound and playability and having never really looked at this model before, I failed to notice that the bridge wasn’t original. Not a big deal really, as I don’t buy old guitars for their collect-ability, I buy them to play.
So it wasn’t an issue, till I noticed that it was constantly going out of tune very quickly. At first I thought it must be an issue with the floating trem, but as I was poking around adjusting things, I found that I could easily move the bridge. Turns out that the bridge studs had just these little tiny ‘nubs’ for holding the bridge in place, and the replacement tune-o-matic bridge, a former owner had put on, had stud holes much too large.
So I searched Ebay awhile for an original bridge but wasn’t having any luck. I even noticed the original bridge missing on a number of other Hags for sale. Maybe they were often replaced for some reason? Not knowing how long it would take to find a replacement I decided to do a temporary fix to make the guitar playable, but without modifying anything that would keep me from installing an original bridge once I found one.
The lucky part about this, is that the stud spacing matches a tune-o-matic. Most old foreign guitars do not. The only thing that didn’t match was the stud hole size. My first thought was to get a piece of brass rod that would fit tightly in the bridge, that I could then drill a smaller hole to match the stud. I didn’t have any suitable stock on hand, but while rumaging around my shop I found some JB Weld. It’s an epoxy that is used in place of welding and is supposed to be as hard as steel.. I though it might be strong enough to do the job since there really wouldn’t be a lot of lateral pressure put on it.
But thinking it through, I realized you’d see the epoxy fill on the top side of the bridge stud hole, and it wouldn’t be too pretty. Even if I sanded it flush, it wouldn’t be a good look. So I thought of sticking a screw on the top, but everything I tried seemed a bit too “hardware store” looking. My wife is an avid scrapbooker and has tons of little doodad type things that they like to stick all over their page designs, so I asked her if she had anything that might work. She quickly brought out a box filled with an assortment of brads -perfect! The chrome brads matched so well they really looked like an original part of the bridge.
I filled the stud holes with the epoxy, stuck the brads on the top side. Once it was dry, I just sanded the epoxy flush and drilled the new smaller holes. The modified bridge fit nice and snug. And after a few weeks of use seems to be holding together just fine. If this ends up being more of a permanent solution, I may relic the bridge a bit so it blends with the rest of the guitar better. I highly recommend checking out a Hag 3 or 2 if you get a chance. They are famous for their superfast necks. The action on mine is unbelievably low and is effortless to play.
Posted in DIY |
By Guitarify on January 31, 2012
So this is different. Seymour Duncan has announced something called “The Secret Room”. It’s a password protected site for guitarists, where the way you get invited in, is to give them one of your secrets. Once that velvet rope is down, you get access to all the other secrets inside. Some supposedly by pro musicians, techs and session players.
The site is curated by Joe Gore, musician, writer, and editor of the blog tonefiend.com. Though the tonefiend blog is pretty new, it’s quickly become one of my favorite guitar blogs. Joe is obviously really into all aspects of the guitar, and it has a strong DIY element to it. He is always experimenting, and seems willing to try anything in the search of new guitar tones. And though he has an obvious connection to Seymour Duncan, it doesn’t feel like a marketing site, or something fake.
As added incentive, the highest rated secret between now and March 1st, 2012, will receive a Godin Summit CT, a lovely and versatile carved-top solidbody electric guitar that sells for around $1,000. Second and third place winners receive a set of Seymour Duncan pickups of their choice.
You can read more about the Secret Room (and submit a secret!) here:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/tonefiend/what-is-the-secret-room/
Posted in Learn
