Using Fuzz in Modern Music

Fuzz is one of those effects that a lot of guitarists kind of overlook. I was the same way…used to feel like it was kind of outdated, and that I would only use it for those rare times when I needed a retro, Hendrix-y vibe. And then I started looking into some great tones I [...]

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And for the 8th Time…

Alright, guys, I’ve promised some effects usage demos, and the fuzz ones are done; but they’re in three parts, and the first one has just passed hour number 3 of uploading onto youtube. So maybe tomorrow. Yikes, youtube is slow. It’s not like anyone else on universe is trying to upload videos or anything, right? [...]

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Christmas Time Music and MacBook Update

I haven’t been around here for the last few days (isn’t it funny that we refer to internet sites as if they were actual, physical places?), as it’s been Christmas, and I’ve been spending time with folks I love to celebrate God’s love shown to us. I trust you all have been doing the same.
But [...]

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Song Versus Style

So many times we get caught up in what style we like, or play, or even are. (Well, maybe the ‘are’ part is just junior high. I didn’t listen to punk. No. I was punk. Like, punk like the Dead Kennedy’s literally believing that anarchy was a governmental option? No. Not real punk. I was [...]

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The Hierarchy of Tone

We’ve gone through two parts of pedalboard tone, five (and a half) parts of amp tone, and as we move into the tone of the guitar itself, I wanted to post a bit on the theories of the tone hierarchy; or, the importance by percentage of each piece of your rig as it matters to [...]

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The Anti-Solo

This is the origin of the term, ‘the anti-solo’. Actually, he never uses that exact term; the true origin of that saying is probably only in my mind, as I tend to make up random phrases that make me happy, and then attribute them to famous people. But this is the video that explains it [...]

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Arion SAD-1 Review and Demo

My beloved Arion SAD-1 delay pedal. From the looks of it, this pedal really shouldn’t work; it’s like the Keith Richards of my pedals……it sounds great, but how in the world is the body still held together? But somehow, it still works. This is the black box version from the ’80’s. The black box tends [...]

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Axess BS2 Buffer Review

So, life has been so busy that I haven’t really had a chance to plug in pedals and film them, and then take the two years it takes to upload them to ‘compress-the-living-daylights-out-of-them’ youtube. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much. I mean, there’s a website that hosts millions and millions of videos, and I [...]

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Garden State & Ways I’ve Killed the Music

I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s such a cool quote that it needs visiting every few months. At least for people like me, who just rip off Edge riffs and cool pedal phrases like, ‘That tone is so organic’, and then think, ‘You know, I’m pretty superstar.’ So, thinking back and remembering ways that I’ve [...]

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Layering & Knowing When to be the Backdrop

Any music with more than one voice, or an instrument that can play more than one note at a time, is layers. The point in music, is how good you are at layering. Now we’ve all heard music where the layers are just smashed together like an earthquake. Chances are, we may have even contributed [...]

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