Jul 27th 09
Posted by in Featured Articles, Fender, Gear, Gibson, Guitar, Reviews, Vox
When I was looking for an amplifier I knew my price range topped out at $600 and I knew I wanted a tube amp. After looking around a bit I narrowed my choice down to the Vox AC15CC and the Fender Blues Junior amps.
I needed to hear the amps, so I headed to a local Guitar Center to give them a listen.Since I’m a beginner I didn’t feel like I could really get a good idea of what the amps could do since I have a limited range of things I can play (that and I’d be too embarrassed to crank up the volume to get a good listen). So I asked one of the employees to play on the amps (and believe me, this guy could play. I had him playing Blues, Rockabilly and Jazz). As he played we tried out the spectrum of settings on each of the amps. I had him play a Strat and a Les Paul to get different sounding guitars in the mix as well.
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Jul 26th 09
Posted by in Featured Articles, Gear, Gibson, Guitar, Lessons
Well, I wasn’t really expecting to add a new guitar to my collection today. I posted the other day I was looking at Les Pauls and Telecasters but I didn’t really plan on getting a new guitar any time soon. But, today was the Four Amigos Guitar Show in San Rafael and I found a guitar and deal I just couldn’t pass up.
I guess it was love at first sight when I saw the 2009 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul 1957 R7 Korina Goldtop Reissue. This is a limited edition run that is made from Korina wood rather than the normal mahogany. I honestly always expected to buy a sunburst Les Paul if I was ever going to get one.
And they had plenty of nice examples at the guitar show. But, when I saw the Goldtop it was all over.
Gibson ’57 Les Paul Korina Goldtop Reissue Electric Guitar Features:
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Jul 24th 09
Posted by in Featured Articles, Gear, Gretsch, Guitar, Rickenbacker
The guitar that really pushed me to start taking lessons was my Rickenbacker 330. I’ve wanted this guitar for a while but I honestly hadn’t even thought about it in a long time and I certainly don’t have a need for a new guitar (I think one is enough for most beginners). But, I love guitars and if I could, I’d have a room full of them. Combine that with a history of impulse buying and I quickly became the owner of a new Rickenbacker 330.
I called all the local shops to see if they had one in stock.Only Haight Ashbury Music Center had one, so I headed over to check it out. It was beautiful. I knew once I saw the Fireglow 330 I would be buying it (like I said, impulse buyer). It felt great to play as well, so I bought it.
A couple months after buying it I thought about taking it in to get setup at San Francisco Guitarworks. I had been reading that typically all guitars need a good setup. My initial thought was to not take the Rickenbacker in. After all, they are hand made and inspected before they leave the factory. I would assume that means it should have a pretty good setup already. But, I decided to take it in to anyway at the same time I took in my Gretsch 5120 (which I expected would really need a good setup since it’s a less expensive guitar).
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Jul 19th 09
Posted by in Featured Articles, Guitar, Lessons
My guitar teacher gave me a couple finger exercise to get my fingers more limber and dexterous. Since it doesn’t take a lot of thinking you can do it while sitting around watching TV.
The first is to go through the following patterns on the same string (the number refers to the finger you use):
1, 2, 3, 4
1, 2, 4, 3
1, 3, 2, 4
1, 3, 4, 2
1, 4, 2, 3
1, 4, 3, 2
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Jul 15th 09
Posted by in Featured Articles, Guitar, Lessons
I’ve been looking for a good guitar teacher to being taking lessons. I’m primarily interested in playing rock, rockabilly, blues, and jazz. There are quite a few choices here in San Francisco, but I was able weed out quite a few based on their style. I was leaning towards taking lessons from a jazz player because my assumption is they have a better foundation in music theory and fundamentals, which is important to me. Not that “rock guitarists” don’t know music theory, but it seems like jazz players are more rooted in the fundamentals. I feel like if I have a better understanding of the theory, it will make things easier down the road. For some, grabbing some tabs and learning as you go is fine. But I want a little more structure.
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