Drum Programming For Guitarists

Once upon a time guitarists had to contend with clumsy drum machines if they wanted to make a demo. Either that or, y’know, learn to play the drums. But sequencers and home studio software have changed all this. Now you can craft passably life-like drums on your laptop while sitting on your butt in your PJs on the couch. This is a blessing and a curse though. Back when drum machines were actual hardware boxes that you had to physically interact with, it was relatively easy to program something like what an actual drummer might play (at least from a compositional standpoint – feel is a whole different story). But if you get your drums via the MIDI edit window in your recording software, there’s a temptation to over-compose. The following is some stuff that’s worked for me, and hopefully you’ll find it helpful too. Continue reading “Drum Programming For Guitarists”

Seymour Duncan’s Prodigal Sons: the SH-7 and the SH-9

If you were to take a close look at the lineup of pickups from Seymour Duncan, you might notice a numbering system for the humbuckers: SH-1 (’59), SH-2 (Jazz), SH-3 (Stag Mag), all the way up to SH-18. This nice line of sequential pickups gives you an indication how old a specific design is. For example, it’s pretty commonly known that the SH-2 Jazz and SH-4 JB were developed simultaneously, in the late 1970s. But look again and you might notice two gaping holes in the lineup. The SH-7 and SH-9 are missing! I never gave it much thought but I was interested to find out what happened to them when I had a talk with co-founder of Seymour Duncan, Cathy Carter-Duncan. She explained to me what the idea behind the numbering system used to be. But that left me curious to investigate the fate of the SH-7 and SH-9. Continue reading “Seymour Duncan’s Prodigal Sons: the SH-7 and the SH-9”

Stack Plus Pickups – Single Coil Tone Without the Hum

When noiseless single-coil pickups are discussed, it won’t be long before someone says that they can never sound exactly like a real single coil. The fact that they’re humbuckers at the core means that some of that high-end sparkle disappears. There are some things to remember at this point.

Firstly – which real single coil are they talking about? They all sound different already. Are we meant to assume that there’s some unifying characteristic between every single coil pickup, missing from none of them, but missing from all noiseless versions? Seems unlikely. Continue reading “Stack Plus Pickups – Single Coil Tone Without the Hum”

Introducing The Nazgûl

Seymour Duncan Nazgul
It’s not just a pickup, it’s a weapon of  tonal Armageddon. The Nazgûl was designed with a single purpose; for intense high-output-chug heavy punch-you-in-the-chest ruthless distortion. The tone is heavy and aggressive but it also retains articulation and provides the precise pick attack that is necessary for high-output metal. The Nazgûl gives chords heavy saturation and produces a lightning fast response to your amp. Perfect for all high output metal needs in which sonic obliteration needs to be accomplished.

 

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Ola Strandberg, The Genius Behind The Ergonomic Guitar System

A couple of years ago I was looking for a replacement tremolo system to fit a Floyd Rose route. I stumbled on the tremolo system designed and build by Ola Strandberg. Even though my guitar and the tremolo system weren’t compatible after all (at least, I wasn’t willing to do the necessary, though minor, modifications), Ola Strandberg and his guitars got lodged in my mind: his designs and his views on luthery made me reconsider guitars all together. For instance, he’s combining multi scale (fanned frets), unique hardware, a headless design and many other innovations into one instrument. Continue reading “Ola Strandberg, The Genius Behind The Ergonomic Guitar System”

7/8 String Soapbar Size Now Available

Ever since active pickups came out and many guitar manufacturers starting building with them in mind, there’s been one problem – the standard size of active pickups (Phase II) is different than the size of regular passive humbuckers. Changing out your active pickups for regular passive pickups just isn’t possible if your guitar was designed for an active route. But imagine if you could buy your favorite passive pickup in a soapbar sized housing which fits the Phase II size… Well now you can!

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Fun with Delay

Yes, this actually worked.

Delay, or echo (as it should be called) is the repeating of sound. It is the sound when you yell into a canyon and you hear your voice back at you because it reflects off of the rocks. No canyons around? Well, you can simulate this sound with a delay pedal. But it is usually capable of a whole lot more.
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Wiring A Hollow Body Guitar the Easy Way

Hollow Body Guitar with Humbucker PickupsHave you ever looked at a semi-hollow or hollow body guitar on the wall at your local music store and wondered how the heck they get the electronics in there? The short answer: it’s do-able, but not easy. In fact, it’s widely considered to be one of the most difficult jobs in the wide world of guitar maintenance. My tech charges extra for doing electronics work in a hollow-body, and he’s definitely not the only one. Continue reading “Wiring A Hollow Body Guitar the Easy Way”

The Kramer Chronicles Volume VI: The Pearly Gates Neck

In this ongoing saga of testing out Duncan humbuckers in my trusty rebuilt vintage Kramer Voyager, I’ve been through quite a few bridge pickups all paired with the ’59N, which is a great neck pickup. Not just great but super versatile, and able to blend with every single bridge pickup I tried. Great cleans, killer vibe for soloing, you could not go wrong with it. But – what if there was something equally cool, but with a different flavor?

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Tele Bridge Pickup Options

If you’ve got a Telecaster that you love the feel of but you’re not totally happy with the lead pickup sound, there are lots of options. In this article I’ll take you through some of them, and let you hear what a few of them would sound like too. I’m going to assume that your Tele is a “normal” one – as in, it has the big metal bridge plate with a single coil pickup in it. Where can we go from there?
Continue reading “Tele Bridge Pickup Options”

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