Guitar Workbench 103
A Beginner’s Guide to Fingerpicking
Looking to spice up your guitar playing with a new skill? No matter what style of guitar you play, fingerpicking is a great tool to add to your arsenal. In this blog post, we’ll help get you going on your fingerpicking journey by walking you through the fundamental techniques, including a layout of the PIMA […]
Learn 7 Blues Leads in 15 Minutes!
Continue your journey to blues mastery with this second lesson on the blues! In our first lesson, we covered the 12-Bar Blues progression (plus several variations) in 12 minutes. This time, watch as Justin demonstrates seven easy-to-learn blues lead licks that’ll add tons of flavor to your playing. Even if you don’t play blues, these […]
Master the 12-Bar Blues in 12 Minutes
Join zZounds for a detailed lesson on the 12-bar blues! Watch as Justin leads you through essential chord progressions and turnarounds that’ll have you sounding like a pro in no time. Learning the 12-bar blues offers players the opportunity to lay down a strong musical foundation upon which they can build new and interesting skills. […]
Using Delay to Create Spring Reverb: What Is the Belton Brick?
Classic, glassy, spring reverb. It’s a snapshot into the past of guitar tone. Mental images of Telecasters through a spring reverb-equipped amplifier in the hands of Dick Dale or George Harrison dance through your mind any time you hear it. But for most players, classic spring reverb tanks just aren’t practical in the modern age. […]
The Source Audio Artifakt Makes Lo-Fi Sounds Easy to Achieve!
The humble beginnings of “lo-fi” music started in musicians’ homes in the 1950s when the spirit of DIY recording was a necessity, not a style. Moving forward into the 1990s, artists began to adapt the low-fidelity sound of DIY recording techniques into the sound of their music overall. This brought the lo-fi sound into the […]
What are Coated Strings?
Have you come across coated strings while shopping for your next pack and wondered what they were? The world of strings is wide indeed, and coated strings are one of the many varieties offered by manufacturers. But what is a string’s coating made from? How does it affect the tone, and does it feel…weird? Let’s […]
What Are Flatwound Strings?
You might have come across flatwound guitar strings or flatwound bass strings if you’ve been browsing online or in-store string sections. Or you might have heard about them from the mustachioed bebop guitarist at your local smoky jazz club. So what are flatwound strings? How do they sound? And are they really flat like fettuccine? […]
They’ve Gone Mini! Fishman AFX Pedals Are Back and Smaller Than Ever.
The Fishman AFX line was originally founded on preserving acoustic tone while offering a host of effects and utility to the players using them. Even today, they still carry a cult-like following among players looking to build out a pedalboard with limited options in the acoustic space. Now, Fishman is bringing back their line of […]
Fender Tone Master Princeton vs Tube Princeton
When the Fender Tone Master Princeton Reverb was announced, I was pretty intrigued. I’ve played my ’65 Princeton Reverb for a long time now, and it has become one of my favorite guitar amp designs of all time. Nothing on my amp has been modified, so I thought it would be fun to compare the […]
