What are the actual notes of each natural harmonic? What do they mean by ‘This amp has alot of headroom’? What do you do when a string breaks or you drop your pick on stage? What did Petrucci mean?
Guitarists have a lot of questions. And there’s tons of sites willing to try and answer them one way or another. One of my favorite ways to learn all the aspects of guitars, from playing, to repairing, are user forums. These are online communities, usually built around a common interest. From the very general music related community of Harmony Central, to the more specific, such as jazzguitar.be.
These sites can come with a lot of baggage though. They all have their own set of rules, written and not. Flame wars are common and if you just need a simple answer to a question and don’t want to start WWIII, a more direct approach is sometimes useful.
I just came accross such a site at http://guitars.stackexchange.com/. The questions cover anything and everything remotely related to guitar. Theory, gear, lessons, philosophy…Most of the questions I checked had well thought out answers and were almost always genuinely helpful. The site is still in beta so if you have suggestions for improving it, the developers are interested in hearing what you have to say.
IK Multimedia just updated their Amplitude software to version 3.5. Amplitude is computer software that emulates real world amps, effects, speaker cabinets, microphones and some rack effects. It’s very useful for recording your guitar giving you a wide selection of high quality sounding gear that most us couldn’t afford to have all of, or the room to put it. The complete version comes with emulation of all the following gear:
All you need is a method to get your guitar signal into your computer such as IK Multimedia’s own stealthPlug. Amplitude works as a standalone program or as a VST effect within most DAWs.
The big news with this update is that there is now a completely free version of Amplitude. It only has a small subset of the gear in the full version:
And they have added something really interesting to go with this free version. The Amplitude Custom Shop. It’s basically a virtual gear app shop. You can try any piece of gear from the full version for a full 2 days with no restrictions. And if you like it, you can just buy that one element. Prices are in the $5-$20 range and the integration with Amplitude is very smooth. Just click the “try” button next to a piece of gear in the custom shop, and it’s instantly available in your copy of Amplitude to use.
I have to say, I had a blast today trying out lots of amps and effects. Amplitude 3 has been on my wishlist for a while but I could never justify the $350 pricetag. Buying just the pieces I want as I have some spare cash is much more manageable, and I’m sure this will be very appealing to many others as well. I expect the new Amplitude Custom Shop to be a huge hit.
It’s hard to tell from a youtube video, the finer sonic elements of this guitars sound. But it certainly much better then I thought an aluminum acoustic would sound. They are made by a fellow named Ed Dowling who has an interesting background which he tells you about on his homepage. He’s named them “Technophonic”,and here are some of the advantages to an aluminum acoustic according to Ed:
These guitars never change. They are not affected by heat, humidity or string pull.
The materials are ecologically sane – aluminum is the well known recycled metal.
The flash factor is of value to the performer – especially the professional.
No VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) are generated for finishing – no sprayed finishes – the neck and body are simply polished. Leaving the atmosphere in better shape.
PLUS – you can use the polished metal body as a mirror for shaving or signaling aircraft if you are lost in the wild………
He’s charging $2000 for a guitar of any shape or body thickness and guarantees them for life.
Godlyke Distributing is running a raffle of sorts to aid the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. For every dollar donated, you get a chance to win one of four really nice pedals. Donate $10, get ten chances to win.
100% of the funds raised will be donated to MercyCorps – a non-profit organization that is actively involved in the relief efforts “on the ground” in Japan. MercyCorps applies 88% of all funds collected from donations to carry out relief efforts across the globe. This is a very high percentage, especially when compared with some of the higher-profile charities out there that utilize 10-12% on average for the cause, and the remainder to pay for salaries and other operating expenses.
To enter, simply click here, fill out the secure donation form, and click “submit.”
The prizes are as follows:
Maxon RTD800 Real Tube Overdrive/Distortion – the latest and greatest from Maxon, the RTD800 is an amazing tube distortion with 3-band EQ, on-board noise-gate, switchable boost and true bypass switching. Retail Value $499
Guyatone Heat Exchanger Overdrive – micro but mighty, the Heat Exchanger uses internal voltage doubling to create harmonically rich, tube-like distortion – Features Guyatone’s “ABS” Active Bypass system. Retail Value $299
HAO OD-16 “Dark Side” Overdrive – a limited edition pedal only released in Japan, the Dark Side takes the standard OD-16 circuit and makes it evil with more gain and output. Retail Value $349
Providence DLY-4 Chrono Delay – One of the most versatile delay pedals ever created! Features include tap tempo, delay time display in BPM or mS, multi-tap delay option, 2 selectable delay times, and Vitalizer switching circuit. Retail value $449
I recently rediscovered this video of St. Vincent(Annie Clark) while researching various old vintage archtop guitars. This was the first encounter with St. Vincent I had, and I was pretty disappointed when I checked out her album and it didn’t really sound anything like this. Her recorded sound involves lots of layers, effects and synths, sort of reminds me of 80’s era Kate Bush. It’s OK, but the stripped down sound in these videos is much more interesting. And that old Harmony archtop sounds amazing. The second video is a cool cover of the Beatles “Dig A Pony” using her Harmony Bobcat.
