www.guitarbuyersreview.com

Line 6 Spider Jam Amp

sing809 — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 15:48:18 +0000

First of all, as far as features go, this amp gets 10/10! With built in jam tracks, tons of preset tones, a dozen amp models, effects, a tuner, and more, this amp has just about everything a guitarist could wish for in a practice amp. There is a little bit of a learning curve getting all these features to work. Most guitarists will probably figure out how to use their favorite features and leave it at that. At 75 watts, this amp has enough power to play smaller gigs, or with your favorite drummer, but it really excels as a practice amp. I am not sure I would want to subject mine to frequent transport. The plastic knobs seem a bit fragile. While it doesn’t have the warmth of a tube amp, the built in tones sound great, and the variety of sounds you can get from one amp is amazing. The jam tracks are one of my favorite features. For any guitarist that wants to learn to play better leads, this amp is valuable tool. If you are looking for a full featured practice amp, than this is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

New Guitar? Don’t forget to buy a tuner.

sing809 — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:33:18 +0000

In my opinion, the most essential accessory for any guitarist is a tuner. I highly recommend purchasing a tuner to keep with your guitar. Most musicians need to train and develop their ears. Very few people can tune a guitar accurately by ear when they are first starting out. Even for those who can, a tuner comes in handy when you need to tune where there is significant ambient noise.

Most guitars need to be tuned every time you play them. Inexpensive guitars often need to be re-tuned every couple of songs. Using a tuner will help develop your ears and make your guitar much more enjoyable to play.

One of my favorite tuners is the Korg CA-30 Chromatic Tuner. It is inexpensive, relatively easy to use, and works well for a wide variety of instruments, not just guitars.

Acoustic guitarists may want to consider a tuner that clips on to the head stock of your guitar. These work well in ambient noise when there are no electronics to plug into the guitar directly.

There are lots of online tuners for your guitar. The majority of them play the notes for each string, but you will have to tune to it by ear. This can be challenging for some people. The best piece of advice I have for learning to tune to a note by ear is to start with a flat note, then tune up to the pitch. For some reason, it is much more difficult to tune down to pitch from a sharp note.

There are a number of iPhone applications that have come out for tuning guitars. They don’t work quite as well in loud situations since you can’t plug your guitar directly into them. First I tried a free guitar tuning application and was unimpressed. I ended up buying the Guitar ToolKit App. It also includes a metronome. The tuner works well if ambient noise is low. The metronome is also nice to have, but it will require headphone or some other sort of amplification to be truly useful.

Sungha Jung

sing809 — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:45:12 +0000

Go to YouTube and check out some videos of Sungha Jung. Not only is this kid phenomenal, but the solo acoustic guitar arrangements of popular rock songs are also fabulous. He has a ton of videos on YouTube, and they are all great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUmQNWAIiRc

Tags: SunghaJung, solo acoustic guitar, guitar arrangements

Watch for great deals on President’s Weekend

sing809 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:21:55 +0000

I went to Guitar Center the other day looking for a five string bass. I scored a scratch and dent Musicman StingRay 5 on clearance for $660 w/ a hardshell case. It has some major dings on the body, but nothing that effects playability. So far I am extremely impressed with this bass. The active electronics are awesome. It sounds particulary awesome for rock and funk, especially slap and pop. My bass has the optional piezo pickup, but so far I don’t think that is an essential feature. I love the neck on this bass. The necks come sanded down, and are extremely comfortable to play. The body is a bit heavy for me, but the tone and playability make it worth it.

Ibanez makes some extremely comfortable basses, but for me, the tone is just a bit lacking. Some of their newer high-end basses have Bartolini pickups, and are definitely worth checking out. I am a big fan of Fender basses, but their five string models have necks that are a bit too wide for me to manage comfortably.

I was considering buying a Carvin bass. The reviews are good, but they don’t seem to have good re-sale value. Unfortunately, since they are a mail order company, it is difficult to try one hands-on.

Save Up to 93% During the Presidential Clearance Sale at MusiciansFriend.com (exp: 2/17)

Mark Bass Mini CMD 121P Review

sing809 — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:55:05 +0000

I have been playing more bass than guitar lately. This amp is one of my favorite pieces of equipment. It weighs only 29 pounds. I can easily manage to carry the amp in one hand and my bass in the other. With 300 watts (500 when driving a cabinet), it has plenty of power. It has a very clean sound that lets the sound of your instrument come through. It sounds particularly good with my passive pickup basses. If you are looking for an easily portable amp with enough power for most gigs, I highly recommend checking these out.

Strat tuning problems

sing809 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:39:18 +0000

I’ve been having tuning problems with an American Standard Strat. I thought it had something to do with the tremolo system, so I decided to try installing a device called a Tremsetter. The Tremsetter makes it so the tremolo system returns to the same zero point after using the whammy bar.

The installation was a bit involved. It required drilling a few holes in the tremolo cavity on the back of the guitar. There is a pretty good video on YouTube that was helpful.

Tremsetter installation video

The Tremsetter seems to be working as it is supposed to, but I am still having issues with tuning. The bridge does have more stability. The action on the whammy bar feels a bit stiffer than normal. You can also feel the zero point as you use the bar.

Next I think I will try adding some locking tuners and lubricating the nut. I am hoping that will take care of the tuning issues.