Guitars - One For Each Style

Guitars - One For Each Style
By Michael Russell

Guitar players cover a number of styles of music, from blues to jazz to rock to pop to speed metal and on and on. And since every style of music is different and every guitar is different, it would then seem a natural conclusion that each style of music is going to have a guitar that is more suited for that style. So, the question, for those who are considering taking up the guitar and getting their first one is, what guitar do you get? If you're interested in jazz do you get the same kind of guitar as somebody who wants to play speed metal? Well, it might be an interesting experiment, but most likely the answer would be, no. So, what guitar should each person get, depending on what kind of music they want to play? Hopefully this article will try to answer that question.

Music is very diverse to say the least. Even within each style there are variations. For example, in rock there is hard rock, soft rock, metal, acid and a host of other sub categories. The sounds and more specifically, the dynamics of each are quite different. While The Eagles and the Allman Brothers might both be considered country or southern rock, depending on which side of the fence you're on, their sounds are quite different. So without nitpicking we're going to take the broad approach over the specific.

If you're going to play music that is relatively soft such as folk music, you probably don't want to get yourself a Rickenbacker electric guitar. Most likely you'll want an acoustic guitar with a nice mellow and round tone. Why acoustic? Well, by the nature of the guitar itself it's a lot softer. Sure, you can turn down an electric guitar's volume but it's more than just that. Acoustic guitars are much easier to control dynamics on. The reason is because the sound is not artificially amplified. If you pluck the string softly you're going to get a soft tone. If you pluck it harder, you'll get a louder tone. Of course an acoustic guitar is never going to get up to the volume of an electric unless you mic it.

On the other side of the spectrum, if you're going to be playing in a heavy metal band, your acoustic guitar, with all the other instruments playing, such as keyboards, bass and drums, won't even be heard. Plus the tone quality of the guitar itself just won't fit into that kind of music. By their nature, electric guitars have a sharper and harder sound. Add distortion effects to them, which are hard to do with acoustics and you've got a sound that is quite unique. That's why there are so many different electric guitar sounds.

Obviously, this is a very general overview of style to guitar choice. You can get a lot more specific, such as what type of acoustic do you get if you're a country guitar player as opposed to somebody who plays jazz? John Denver based on lot of his patented sound on 12 string guitars while Harry Chapin stayed more with the traditional 6 strong acoustic.

Maybe for a future article we'll dive more deeply into the finer points of picking a guitar based on the style of music you play.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Guitars

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Guitars - Gibson

Guitars - Gibson
By Michael Russell

If you play the guitar, then most likely you've heard of Gibson. If not, then you've been living under a rock and having your food delivered to you through a bubble. Gibson is arguably the most popular guitar manufacturer in the world today and have been for quite some time. We're going to take just a surface look at this guitar giant. For more info, just visit their web site. Yeah, they've got one of those too now.

Gibson makes a lot of guitars, but probably none are as popular as the Gibson Les Paul. The Les Paul is probably one of the most widely used guitars in rock music. The guitar first made its presence in 1952 and is still going strong over 50 years later. The Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that comes in many models including the Les Paul Classic, Les Paul Supreme, Les Paul Standard, Les Paul Studio Baritone, Les Paul Studio, Les Paul Goddess, Les Paul Gt, Les Paul Menace, Les Paul New Century, Les Paul Vixen, Les Paul Special (with Humbucker pickups), Les Paul Doublecuts and Les Paul Melody Maker. Each one of these guitars has its own distinct sound.

But Gibson is more than just Les Paul guitars, even though they are the most popular models and used by more musicians than any other model. Gibson also makes the Americana, which is a fairly new guitar series. This includes the Pioneer Cutaway and the Ranger. These are 6 string acoustic guitars that have a very beautiful tone.

Getting back to electric guitars and to another old favorite, Gibson also makes the Firebird series which includes the Firebird Studio, Firebird V and Firebird VII. This series started way back in 1963 and took electric guitars in a whole new direction with its look and sound. This guitar is still very popular today with people who are looking for something a little different from the classic Les Paul sound.

Even two years before the Firebird was the SG series by Angus Young. This was actually a modification of the Les Paul with a thinner body and pointed horns. Originally part of the Les Paul series, it eventually got its own name. The SG series includes the SG 61 reissue, which is actually an exact replica of the original guitar, the SG Goddess, SG GT, SG Menace, SG Standard, SG Supreme and SG Special.

Gibson also makes other models of electric guitars but in addition to guitars, Gibson also makes electric bases which include the Continental V Bass, Les Paul Double Cut Bass, Les Paul Standard Base and Les Paul Thunderbird Bass which includes the four and five string models.

Sadly, there are some models of guitars that Gibson decided to discontinue for 2006. These include the Blues Hawk, Chet Atkins SST and Chet Atkins CE and CEC. These will be missed as they were excellent guitars, even if they didn't sell as well as expected.

Gibson guitars have been a staple of the guitar industry for over 50 years. They are certain to remain at the top of the guitar world for at least another 50 years.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Guitars

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Why Play a Rickenbacker Guitar

Why Play a Rickenbacker Guitar
By Adrian Martin

These days there are a ton of electric guitars on the market – from the prestige instruments such as the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul through to their myriad of replicas. With so much similarity in instruments available it takes something a little special to get you noticed or to produce a sound that’s different – that’s why you should look at Rickenbacker guitars.

Rickenbacker’s have a tradition that harks back to the 1930’s and they have produced many famous and innovative models since. For example the Rickenbacker 325 Electric guitar, famous for it’s association with John Lennon and the Rickenbacker 360 12 string guitar – associated with the 60’s band “The Byrds”. These guitars remain iconic to this day and their sound is instantly recognizable.

Visually they look kind of like a Stratocaster on speed – with their big flat bodies – often with a traditionally shaped “go faster” sound hole, Ricky “R” bridge and unique headstock. Strap one of these on and you’ll stand out from the crowd. They really have that wow factor.

But what really makes the Rickenbacker so special?

The sound! Sonically, Rickenbacker guitars have a unique sound – partly due to their quality construction but mainly due to the unique Rickenbacker pickups. During the 1960’s Rickenbacker used their now famous “toaster pickups” which looked like the top of a bread toaster – recently they’ve used more high-gain pickups – both have emphasised the higher frequencies and have contributed to a magical chiming sound. Another attribute is that Rickenbacker’s are often equipped with a "stereo" output socket (known as “rick-o-sound”) which allows the guitar to be connected to different effects chains and amps . Finally the most subtle option available on Rickenbacker guitars is the blender control When either pickup is : slected, you can use it to blend the other pick-up in. So if you think the neck pickup is too dull – then mix in some honk from the bridge pickup this is really tremendous and adds some great tones to your instrument.

All these attributes make for an extremely versatile instrument and while you don’t often find Rickenbacker guitars in heavy rock – they cover everything in between. Rickenbacker’s evoke lovely tones suitable for Pop or alternative rock music right through to Jazz and country and there have been tons of guitarists who use these instruments from U2’s the Edge and Peter Buck of REM through to Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Given such a heritage – you’ll find the sounds it produces really useful whether you’re a rhythm player or virtuoso soloist.

So in summary if you want a unique look together with a unique sound the next time your down a guitar store – be sure to try out a Rickenbacker guitar.

Adrian Martin runs ShanzuGuitars.com. The site offers the latest guitar news, gear resources and reviews, tools and tips for budding guitarists everywhere.

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New Bass Guitar Site

Just quick plug for my new bass guitar blog Bass Space.

The Fender Telecaster Guitar Story

The Fender Telecaster Guitar Story
By Gareth Owen

Popularly known as Tele, this variety of electric guitar is known worldwide for its efficient design and ground breaking sound, which has made it a very popular choice among musicians. The sale of Fender Telecaster can be traced back to the era of 1950 when the single and dual pickup Esquire models were being commercially produced. This is what makes Fender Telecaster one of the world’s highest ranking solid body electric guitar.

The first form of Fender Telecaster was known as the Esquire and there were about fifty guitars that were produced originally. In about 1950, Esquire, which was a one-pickup model was replaced with a two-pickup model and was named Broadcaster. There was a legal threat from a company known as Gretsch, which was already producing guitars and drums and said that Broadcaster was violating its trademark Broadkaster, which was the trademark of its drums. Therefore, Fender changed the name from Broadcaster to Telecaster.

The design of Fender Telecaster was very simple and it was made in such a way that servicing the guitar or repairing the broken ones was made very easy. The guitars were produced on a large scale in an assembly line and were not made as an individual piece. The bodies of the guitars were band-sawed and the necks of the guitars were bolt-on because of making the repair and service really easy. There was a removable control plate, which could be removed easily and the electronics could be accessed with great ease. This feature gave it a hook and gained attention of a lot of musicians because in the standard make of guitars one had to take the strings off and then remove the pickguard to get to electronics.

The classic form of Fender Telecaster was a very simple framework, which had a neck and fingerboard including a single piece of maple, which was bolted to an ash or alder body with both sides flat, the front and back. The hardware included the two single coil pickups, which were controlled by a three-way selector switch with volume and tone controls. Earlier, the pickguard was made of bakelite, which was later made with plastic and was fixed on the body with five screws at first but later on with eight screws. The bridge had three saddles, which were adjustable with the strings doubled up on each. This became a thrilling addition in the world if guitars and soon different companies followed its lead.

The modern Telecaster is a lot different from the standard. They have 22 frets rather than 21 and at the headstock is present the truss rod adjustment rather than the body end. It has a six saddle bridge that allows the adjustment for length and height for individual string. It has a plain flat plate and the bridge cover has been discontinued for most models. The wiring of the modern Fender Telecaster is also different from the classic one, which is a 3-way toggle switch, which selects neck pickup in the first position, neck and bridge pickups together in the second position and in the third position is the bridge pickup. The volume control for all pickups is in the first knob and the second knob controls the tone for all pickups. The Fender Telecaster is made up of a solid body, which allows it to give a clean and crisp sound quality, which resulted in other leading companies to follow the trend.

With this magnificent equipment a lot of new genres have evolved such as country, electric blues, rock and roll and it is because of its solid construction that lets the guitar to be played as a lead instrument with a long sustain as an awesome effect. One of the musicians that have made Telecaster their signature include Elvis Presley, Merle Haggard, Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, Albert Collins who played the blues with the Telecaster, Muddy Waters as well as a long list of musicians who when played the guitar just touched the hearts of millions.

For further information please visit http:http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com

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Guitars - Guitar Players And Their Axes

Guitars - Guitar Players And Their Axes
By Michael Russell

Everybody has their idea of what the coolest and best guitar to play is. Some people go with the Gibson Les Paul while others follow in the footsteps of the Beatles and go for the Rickenbacker. But what about the guitar players themselves and the guitars they used? What guitars DID the great guitar players use? Because there have been so many guitar players, we're only going to cover a few of them and their guitar of choice.

Let's start with somebody who really doesn't stick with any one type of guitar. A perfect example of this type of person would be Eric Clapton, who just happens to be one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Today, Clapton plays mostly a Fender Stratacaster. But throughout his career he has played a Gibson L-5, Martin 000-28EC, Gibson Les Paul (during his early years) and several Guild acoustic guitars.

Everybody knows the hard rock group Aerosmith, featuring lead guitarist Joe Perry. So what is Joe's guitar of choice? Joe is another one who has played several guitars including the Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratacaster. Joe definitely doesn't buy off the rack as one of his guitars goes for a whopping $3,999.

If you're familiar with the rock group Kiss, then you no doubt know Paul Stanley. If you're wondering what kind of guitar Paul Stanley plays, he made this quite clear in an interview when he was asked this question and responded by saying (in pure Paul Stanley style) "I can play any damn guitar I want. I choose Silverstone. The Guitars Are Great Playing, Great Sounding and Great Looking Guitars. These Are Today's Style. We Need More Kids Playing Music and Very Few Could Afford Signature Guitars Priced Over $1000. Silvertone Offers The Quality Any Guitar Player Would Be Proud To Own. I Guarantee It".

You heard it straight from Paul's mouth.

Not all musicians are so outspoken. However John Lennon was not one of those. Having once proclaimed that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus Christ, which didn't go over too well with anybody, thus leading to the burning of their albums, John Lennon was pretty much responsible for putting Rickenbacker on the map by playing only Rickenbacker guitars. Lennon had as many as five of these guitars in his brief life.

Jimi Hendrix, who is arguably the greatest guitar player who ever lived, played a number of guitars. The truth is, it didn't matter what Hendrix played. Nobody else sounded like him. But one thing that Jimi is not remembered for is probably one of the nicest things he ever did for anyone. Just before he died, he reunited with an old girlfriend who he married and gave a black Fender Stratacaster to. Now that is love.

For all the guitar players that have come and gone, there have been the guitars that they either made famous or made them famous, depending on who you ask (the guitar company or the artist himself). But one thing is for certain. For almost all of these great musicians it probably wouldn't have mattered what they played. It would have still sounded great.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Guitars

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