Guitar Workbench 100
Building a Guitar Part 4: Installing Pickups
Welcome back to the next installment of Building a Guitar! At this point in the build I’ve already discussed tips on choosing the right body and neck, proper hardware best suited for your needs, and given a tutorial on adding a custom neck finish. The last step to completing the body of the guitar is […]
Bringing Your Guitar Back From the Dead (of Winter)
Whether it’s cars colliding with cavernous potholes, or football opponents colliding with “Bear weather,” Chicago is a city known for its winters. It is also true that instruments are not safe from the grasp of Old Man Winter, which can expose the mortality of even the “elite.” While winter has proven capable its ability to […]
A Guide to Distorted Bass Guitar
In the dark, mysterious world of heavy music, the guitar reigns supreme, sitting atop a craggy mountain on a throne of crushed skulls. If you want to riff hard, usually you grab a guitar, drop the tuning down, plug into your favorite fuzz and start chugging. If you follow conventional wisdom though, the bass guitar, sitting […]
1965 Gibson LG-0 Vintage Acoustic Guitar
Hello. My name is Patrick and I’m a guitar addict. My most recent acquisition is a vintage 1965 Gibson LG-0 acoustic guitar. This model was Gibson’s student level guitar when it was released in 1958 since it lacks some features and has laminated back and sides. The guitar isn’t in mint condition. It has a […]
Double-Tracking Electric Guitars
Ever since digital recording surpassed analog as the norm, musicians have been exploiting the format to its fullest capabilities, not only to streamline workflows, but to also create new and interesting sounds. The ability to copy and paste regions in your DAW has really helped producers and mixers push creative boundaries in the last few […]
A Guide to ’65 Reissue Fender Amps
Arguably the most popular amps that Fender released came at the end of the ever-so-talked-about “pre-CBS” era. The most revolutionary thing about these amps is that they had reverb on-board instead of having to put an out-board reverb unit between the guitar’s output and the amplifier’s input. You see these “Blackface” amps, (named for the […]
Five Factors That Make a Good Guitar Nut
A mentor who I came to trust very much, once told me that when it comes to having a nut made, make sure to go with the luthier who is looking to charge you the most. This flies in the face of convention when coming from the perspective of a struggling artist, and a college […]
Analog vs. Digital Delay
The analog vs. digital delay war has been raging for several years now. Those in the analog camp love the lush repeats and rounded character of the trails. Digital delay folks know that those razor sharp repeats will continue to cut through any mix and keep the true sound of your guitar intact. While volleys […]
Experimenting With Pickup Wirings
The Fender Stratocaster has been my main guitar for years now, and despite the trademark five pickup positions that come stock on these guitars, I have always ended up using only one of them. While there are so many tones to explore on this instrument, I always end up falling back on position one, the […]
