Guitar Workbench 55
Creating Guitar Harmonies
Whether it’s the soaring solos of Iron Maiden, the classical prowess of Brian May, or smooth licks from The Allman Brothers Band, harmonized guitar riffs have shaped rock music for the last five decades. Today I’ll be diving into some of the basics of harmonized guitar parts and using pedals to get that same sound. […]
Traditional and Non-Traditional Re-amping Techniques
While re-amping used to only be achievable at high-end studios, re-amp boxes have become very affordable and accessible for musicians and home recording enthusiasts alike. All you really need is the re-amp box, an audio interface, and a couple extra cables to get started. What is a Re-amp Box? A re-amp box essentially converts a […]
Compressor Pedals and You
While it sounds pretty simple and is widely used by guitarists and bassists alike, compression is an effect that is easily misunderstood. Most people know or think they need it, but don’t always know why. Being primarily a utility effect — used to keep signal dynamics under control — compression isn’t really perceived as an […]
The Ultimate Pedalboard Build Guide
There comes a time in every guitarist’s life where carrying around that huge bag of pedals and cables to assemble at every gig becomes too much. Putting together a pedalboard is a great way to organize and transport your pedals while also cutting your set up time down to just a minute or two. Today […]
Fun With Flangers
Loved by many — and mildly perplexing to perhaps the same number of players, — the patiently enduring flanger effect has been found on recordings since the mid-20th century, and at the feet of guitarists since the ’70s. Even though the effect can yield mild, nuanced results, the exaggerated “jet plane” sound is typically what […]
Are Two Guitar Amps Better Than One?
Setting up a rig with two amps really inspired my playing, because nothing else can really capture that sound. While the sound increase isn’t as big as you’d expect, the tone can be transformative. It’s also simple to do, so don’t be afraid to pick up the necessary ingredients to start your path onto new […]
Changing Electronics on a Semi-Hollowbody Guitar
An important idea came up in my previous post about guitar nuts that can be summed up to something like “a good luthier respects the work enough to ask to be paid more for it.” Legendary theme park entrepreneur John Hammond might say “we spared no expense.” Chances are playing and repairing instruments will not […]
JHS Overdrive Shootout
We here at zZounds were fortunate enough to receive a small bounty (no pun intended) of old and new JHS drive pedals for a shootout. Since JHS offers a wealth of drive options for players, I figured a demonstration of the tone of each would be a worthwhile pursuit. As an added bonus, the JHS […]
Building a Guitar, Part 5: Installing Tuners
Welcome back! In this installment, I’m going to do a basic walkthrough on a very common and practical guitar modification: installing tuners. Depending on the model and brand you have, this process can have slight variations, but the installation is largely universal. Here’s what you’ll need: Supplies Tuners of your choice (I went with Gotoh […]
