Bass, Headline »

I get press releases from Rotosound relatively frequently. Some of the information in those releases has found its way onto this site if I thought it might be useful to others.
This time though, I’m posting an image from this Rotosound release just because I like it.
Rotosound say they found a programme from Thin Lizzy’s Bad Reputation tour in their archives and it contained the ad above for their Jazz Bass strings. They say some other stuff about strings and other users and whatnot but I tuned out to be honest.
I …

Headline, Software »

Interesting one this.
Remember a while back, TC Electronics released their – rather clever – PolyTune Pedal that allowed you to see the tuning of all six of your guitar’s strings at once.  Picking one string at a time is so last year.
Well, now TC are porting their cleverness to the iPhone (and iPod Touch if you’ve got a mic thing attached).
It’s early days yet, but the PolyTune App sounds pretty interesting.  In fact, the days are so early that TC are looking for beta testers for the app.
Want to be …

Headline, News »

I’m in danger of shorting out my keyboard with long strings of spittle as I read the specs and look at the images of Gibson’s latest.
Hot on the heels of the 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul, comes the 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD.
Is it telling that I’m much more excited by this one? In the last few years I’ve been more and more drawn to the 335 and its semi-hollow yumminess. Perhaps I’m mellowing in my old age.
There is simply no denying, though, that the ES-335, and these ones in particular, …

Headline, Music »

In the wake of Frusciante’s departure from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Josh Klinghoffer has been the name on everybody’s lips.  Is Klinghoffer is the man to replace Frusciante?
Ultimate Guitar published a story confirming Klinghoffer’s new role in the band and citing an article posted on stadium-arcadium.com.  The editor of Stadium-Arcadium (allegedly) wrote:
“I’ve managed to establish contact with Josh through the previous owner of Josh-Klinghoffer.net, Katrina, who has personal contact with him, and was able to get him to reply to an e-mail asking if he was in the band. …

Guitar 101, Headline »

Today, in Guitar 101, we’re looking at the guitar neck.  And, this time, we’re taking considering scale length and string compensation.
Scale length
Scale length is, effectively, the ‘sounding’ length of the string – i.e. the bit that actually ‘sounds’ (or vibrates – it’s the same thing) when plucked.  This means that we’re only considering the length of string between the nut and saddle (see our article on Guitar Anatomy if you need a refresher on these terms).

Some of the common scale lengths of popular guitars and basses are:

Many Gibson Guitars, Les Paul, SG, …

Guitar 101, Headline »

While there is a massive chunk of the this site’s audience already very familiar with what each bit of a guitar is, this article is really aimed at those who might be just starting their guitar journey (or even just thinking about it).
This first article in Guitar 101 is a primer (or a refresher if you want to do a little revision) to ensure we all know the basics before we start moving on to look, in more detail, at all of the bits of a guitar.  For that reason, …

Headline, How To, Workshop »

The 3-Saddle Intonation Problem
If you play a Telecaster with a 3-saddle bridge (like the one shown opposite), you may be aware that setting intonation on the instrument is a matter of compromise.  Because a single adjustment screw sets the intonation on two different strings at the same time, Telecaster intonation is really a matter of ‘balancing the differences’ and getting each string as close as possible without putting its partner string out by too much.
Move to a 6-saddle bridge
If this really bothers you, you can move to a 6-saddle bridge. …