How-To Guides 3
Building a Guitar, Part 1: Choosing Hardware
Welcome to Part 1 of how to build a parts guitar! Over the next few months, I will be doing a general walkthrough on how to choose parts, and offer several guides on how to do basic DIY guitar work at home. I certainly know when assembling your own custom guitar, or simply modifying a […]
What’s a “Class A” Amplifier?
“Class A” refers to a specific amplifier output design. Without diving too deep into electrical engineering, suffice it to say that Class A is the simplest, most basic circuit topology for an amplifier, and the easiest to design with less inherent distortion. Theoretically, you might say it’s a “perfect,” linear amplifier circuit: the output is […]
Beat Connection: The Beat Composer’s Cheat Sheet
Welcome to Beat Connection, a series dedicated to promoting modern and vintage dance styles the only way we know how…by providing you a musical starting point to help you create that beat. Today, we go back to the beginning. In plain terms, we’re outlining how what you see in a drum machine translates to what you’ll find in […]
Polish up on Fret Maintenance
A lot of guitarists are vigilant about changing strings and adjusting their guitar’s truss rod, action and intonation with a good setup, but there’s something to be said about keeping your gear clean. Everyone has that friend who asks to try out your guitar, then hands it back with the fretboard feeling like it was left […]
Go With the (Signal) Flow
Setting up your pedalboard involves a little more thought than just trying to fit everything together like a real-life game of Tetris. When using two or more pedals, experimenting with signal flow often results in significant differences in your tone. In this edition of Guitar Workbench, we’re taking a closer listen to how overdrive pedals […]
Ribbon Microphones 101
Attention, home studio musicians: If you’ve already invested in a large-diaphragm condenser mic or two, perhaps it’s time to add a ribbon microphone to your bag of studio tricks! Here’s a beginner’s guide to ribbon microphones and how you can use them to get that smooth, “vintage-style” sound you’re going for. Ribbon Microphones, Yesterday and […]
The Record Player’s Guide to the Turntable
What’s more surprising than the revival of the vinyl record market? The revival in people not knowing what a record player or turntable is, what the things on it do, or how they work — or that record players and turntables are, in fact, the same thing! If you fit this description, don’t fret: we […]
Beat Connection: Reggaeton
Welcome to zZounds Beat Connection. Beat Connection is a series that examines modern and vintage dance styles by providing you a musical starting point to get you going in that direction. Today we shift our focus to the tropical-tinged dance music of Puerto Rico: Reggaeton. Reggaeton holds this fascinating distinction of being both a completely […]
Apartment Rock
Whether you live with roommates or have next-door neighbors who are a bit too close, you’ve likely run into a problem every musician faces at some point: how can I practice through an amp, get decent tone, and avoid infuriating those around me? It’s a delicate balance, but if you take to heart a few principles and use the […]
