Chris Shiflett has had quite the music career. From California punkers No Use For A Name to punk rock super-group Me First and the Gimme Gimmes to hitting the big time as a member of the Foo Fighters and now experimenting with country music as Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants, Chris has not been afraid to branch out in different musical directions. Continue reading “Five Questions with Chris Shiflett”

Five Finger Death Punch is hot off the release of their fifth full length release in just seven years, The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2,  and are currently busy banging heads across the entire Earth. Even with his extremely busy schedule, Five Finger Death Punch’s fleet-fingered lead guitarist Jason Hook graciously took some time to answer a few questions for us. Continue reading “Five Questions With Five Finger Death Punch’s Jason Hook”

As guitar players we’re familiar with the volume and tone controls on our guitars. Potentiometers (pots) – or variable resistors – have been used for decades on guitars, effects and amplifiers. There are two distinct types of potentiometers that we typically use for these applications: linear (often abbreviated as “lin”) and logarithmic (“log” or “audio”). Each of these types of potentiometers are used for specific applications, but first let’s break down what a potentiometer is, and how it works. Continue reading “What Are Potentiometers?”

There was a time directly preceding the age of the Internet where the music video was just as important of an expression of creativity as the song itself. In many cases a good music video could cause a good song to become a hit thanks to avenues like MTV which would then put it into heavy rotation. While the days of watching music videos on MTV have long since passed, video still remain an important medium for connecting to fans with places like YouTube providing a free medium open to everyone. In this article we shall look at ten stunningly good music videos both from the MTV era and afterward. Continue reading “Greatest Music Videos Of All Time”

Adrian Galysh is a name heard quite frequently around Los Angeles, as a busy studio player and sideman with Uli Jon Roth. He’s also beginning to develop a substantial internet presence via Facebook and YouTube, and you’ve probably seen his signature spalted Maple-topped Brian Moore guitar show up on Twitter if you follow any of the “guitar money shot” feeds. Any fan of spalted tops would immediately take notice – it’s striking. Also of note is that this guitar is available with or without synth access. His new CD Tone Poet is indeed a tour de force of tones and textures, but anyone thinking it’s JUST an instrumental shred album might be surprised. Of the 12 tracks there are several vocal pieces, orchestras(!), and there’s a very World Music feel about many of the tracks. Continue reading “Adrian Galysh: The Tone Poet”

Guitars with one humbucker and two single coils always seem to be a compromise. The idea is to get that chimey, jangly, quack from the neck and the middle single coils and the rock and roll from the humbucker in the bridge position. The HSS (which stands for humbucker-single-single) pickup configuration gained popularity in the 80s, much like everyone’s favorite haircut, the mullet. And much liked the maligned mullet, we get, in theory, business in the front and party in the rear. This article is my take on this pickup configuration, and how I came up with a way it could work for me. Continue reading “My Versatile HSS Wiring Scheme”

When I was younger, I absolutely refused to play with pedals: stompboxes, distortions, overdrives, boosters: anything that would make your amp go to ’11.’ I simply didn’t want to understand why you should or would use them. “I always chose my amps based on their ability to crunch and the voice of the overdrive, so why bother,” I thought. “Wanna have more distortion? Crank up the gain pot of your amp. Not enough gain? Wrong amp!” It was that simple for me. My turn-around point came somewhere last year. I saw more players use the backline of a venue or the house PA with a bunch of pedals in front of them, and sometimes with a tiny 15 watt tube amp with a nice clean sound. I couldn’t see why that approach had benefits until I borrowed a few pedals to see how that worked. So, let’s take a look at how stompboxes worked for me. Continue reading “Using Amps And Pedals Together”

Howdy folks – Johnny Hawthorn here giving a little insight on what to prepare and look out for when you get called into the studio for a recording session (even if you are just going in to record some songs with your band). Time is one of the critical factors usually when recording and the less time you spend fixing things the more time you’ll have to get your work finished. We’ll start with what I call “basic maintenance issues”.
Continue reading “Tips From The Recording Studio”

KXM working on tracks. From kornrow.com

The concept of a “Supergroup” with notable exceptions, usually sounds better in theory than in practice. All-star line-ups convene with all the makings of greatness that due to egos or whatever never quite lives up to expectations. However, when the players are George Lynch and dUg Pinnick with drummer extraordinaire Ray Luzier, you’ve got a notable exception indeed. The world first got a hint of what was to come at winter NAMM 2013 when the trio jammed with bassist Billy Sheehan, turning in an incendiary set of covers (“Jailbreak” by Thin Lizzy was a standout). They announced the project then, but it wasn’t until the first teaser video featuring the tune “Gunfight” that it became abundantly clear this was a step beyond. Instantly apparent is their enthusiasm for working together. They’re all genuinely pumped about the music they’re making, and it shows. And how couldn’t they be? The rhythm section alone is to die for – a perfect springboard for any guitarist – but for George Lynch? Seriously? As you’d expect, Mr. Scary delivers, playing some of the most unique and interesting riffs you’ve ever heard him play. This just from the teaser tracks they’ve released alone. And of course the solos we’ve heard thus far are breath-taking! dUg’s as always huge bass tone and melodic interplay is the glue that holds it all together. Did I mention his tone is HUGE? Continue reading “dUg Pinnick On New Band KXM”

You’ve heard the term before: ‘Strat Quack.’ Judging by the name you’d think it’s a sound you won’t get from your stock Les Paul or shredstick, and you would be right. While those guitars have their own unique sound, there’s a reason many players pick the Strat time and time again. This article will try to explain what this sound actually is, and how you can get your guitar to give you more of it. Continue reading “What is ‘Strat Quack’, Anyway?”