Guitar potentiometers (i.e., the pot) are the most overlooked parts of any electric guitar. That is mostly because not a lot of people even know what pots do aside from lowering the volume or changing the tone of the pickups. Guitar pots are rated for resistance, and this rating can have a large impact on […]
Continue reading →Every step your signal travels between your finger plucking the string and the music hitting the audience’s ears has an impact on the final sound. Granted, some things have a bigger influence than others. You might not need to spend as much time thinking about your cables as you do about your amp and pedals, […]
Continue reading →Switching to locking tuners can be a tricky decision since most guitars come with traditional tuners. So the transition from traditional to locking tuners does require a modification of your headstock—one that’s relatively quick and easy, but the idea of anyone drilling new holes in your precious guitar can be scary. Still, locking tuners do […]
Continue reading →Upgrading the pickups on your bass is the most economical and efficient way to change your tone. Get the right pickups and you can sound like you bought a whole new instrument—for an investment of just a fraction of the price. Jazz basses use single-coil pickups, most commonly the style known as “J-pickups,” or jazz […]
Continue reading →Some effects that you can get for your guitar are obvious in both their sound and purpose; a distortion or a fuzz pedal, for example, gives you a pretty clear picture of the effect right in the name. With more subtle effects, however, the line between them can be less clear. This is especially true […]
Continue reading →Drums are great acoustic instruments but there are some limitations to what a drum shell can do, especially in terms of volume. Every larger show requires some sort of amplification, even for drums. In this particular case, a series of microphones are used to amplify the sound of certain drums, which go directly to the […]
Continue reading →For most guitar players, overdrives have a pretty similar flavor no matter which model you choose. However, the truth is completely different. Overdrives come in a variety of configurations that are not only different in terms of color but gain saturation as well. One of the more refined types of overdrive effects is the so […]
Continue reading →When it comes to percussion in metal music, there is nothing more effective in adding that aggressive layer than the double bass pedal. Being able to match the guitars beat-for-beat during faster sections is basically the foundation of some more modern genres of metal music. With that said, double bass pedals are a pretty delicate […]
Continue reading →Imagine for a second that your favorite rock band is playing live on stage in front of you. What is it that you hear once you stop looking at the song as a whole, but rather a sum of its parts? Every band member and every instrument have a task which they need to take […]
Continue reading →One thing that happens to cymbals as you use them over a certain period of time, is that they get dirty. When we say dirty, we mean dust that sticks to them, along with various other kinds of unwanted staining. A decent majority of drummers pays no special attention to this, even though they should. […]
Continue reading →