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Latest Posts
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Aspirations
Ever come across a book that is a little outside your normal sphere but proves to be a great read? Recently I've been reading Brave New Bass by Chris Jisi featuring interviews with modern bass icons like Marcus Miller, Jeff Berlin and Flea. Each discusses their careers, influences and playing approaches followed by playing examples drawn from their repertoire – nice.
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Playing Developments
As we come into spring (and no more snow!!), it's common among keen guitarists to take stock of their musical development. Are chords getting more colourful? Is the fretting hand's fourth finger any stronger? Rock vibrato any wider? Picking speed reached the shred benchmark of six notes at 120bpm? The list goes on but you get the picture.
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The choke effect
Contrary to what many may think, excellence isn't always consistent. Recently I read an article about a new book, Bounce – How Champions Are Made by Matthew Syed. In it Matthew considered 'choking', where a pro athlete (but it could be another public performer such as a musician) fails at a task in a big demand scenario that should otherwise have been easy.
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AT picks
If you're on the look out for a new pick, the new metal picks from AT Picks could be just what you want! Made from silver plated brass, they come in two designs (Black Hole Sun and Black Mantis) with thicknesses ranging from 2.4 to 2.7mm.
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micro POG
If you're like us at GT, the world of guitar pedals is both overwhelming and exciting. So it's always good when we come across a pedal that's so unique we just have to let everyone know! This is the case with a new-ish pedal from Electro-Harmonix that has now become a permanent fixture on Jason Sidwell's pedal board!
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Providence Distortion and Compression effects utopia!
With Providence's SOV-2 Stampede Overdrive gaining rave reviews (including from GT and Guitarist magazines last year), we're happy to say the company has plenty of other pedals to wow fans of outstanding tone.
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V-Picks
Recently we were sent a variety of picks from Vinni Smith, owner of V-Picks based in California. Within an hour of opening the packs and using the picks, we found that they not only sounded brilliant but made playing more rewarding too. And if they do this for us, we reckon they'll do the same for you!
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What Strings Do You Use?
We ask slide supreme Derek Trucks all those inane questions you really want the answers to… GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can't live without? DT: No, I actually don't use a guitar pick - only finger picking.
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Are Guitars Too Expensive?
One of the commonest gripes I hear is about the 'extortionate' cost of electric guitars these days, not surprisingly Fender, Gibson and PRS being the commonest culprits. Well, from my point of view, given that the American made Fender Strat (let's use that as the most played and copied model on the planet) is a 'professional' musical instrument, it's not over-priced at all. And if you look back to the 1950s you might be shocked at the relative price then compared to weekly salary, and the same thing now.
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Guthrie Govan with special guests - 17th June 2010
Often referred to as the finest guitar player to have graced the planet, Guthrie Govan is set to turn the guitar playing world on its head. When guitar legend Joe Satriani describes a guitarist as 'totally freakin awesome', you know you're in for something special and that's exactly what you get with Guthrie Govan.
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