A look behind the curtain

Plus, Fender enters the modeling game

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash

It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me

What’s the over/under on seeing a Taylor Swift lyric in a guitar newsletter? I’m going to get real with you guys for a little bit in this opener here. The weekly newsletter has been my anchor to the guitar world for the last 6 years. I love sharing my favorite guitar stuff with you, whether that be from me or other great guitar players out there.

But that’s the problem, I want to get back to making more of my own content. And therein lies the problem. I’ve been so exhausted after my day job, and raising 2 kids, and just living life, that sometimes it’s hard to get anything out other than the newsletter each week. And I’ve felt pretty miserable about it.

With that being said, to close out 2023 I’m going to push myself to create more content and focus on what I love doing for Chasing Sound. It’s been this newsletter, hanging out in the Discord, writing and interacting on social media, doing livestreams, and more.

Earlier in the year I turned off paid subscriptions on Substack, but I am planning to set up a Patreon for Chasing Sound before year’s end. There’s a lot of valuable guitar knowledge I think I can share with you all. I had a blast making that type of stuff for paid Substack subscribers last year, and I want to continue it with Patreon.

So that’s it, a little personal behind the curtain from me. I am accepting high fives and good vibes in the comments section if you’re reading this on Substack, or replies by email. Alright, let’s get into the links for this week.

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This Week’s Guitar Links!

- Tested: Where Does The Tone Come From In A Microphone? - It's been so awesome to see the trajectory of Jim Lill's YouTube channel. I remember initially following him to learn more about playing like Brad Paisley and other country greats. These days, he's doing the hard work of figuring out where tone comes from. I've linked to the majority of his videos in this series, but his latest might be one of the most interesting. In Lill's new video, he investigates how much of a difference microphones make on guitar tone. I had to laugh a little at the Popcan.

- Is This The Cheapest Way to Change Your Guitar Tone? - Let's keep it going with even more investigations into tone. Stringjoy makes the case that guitar picks might be the simplest way to change your guitar tone. A couple years back I bought a ton of different picks, and I can agree that they do make a difference. What're your favorite picks of choice?

- MY FAVORITE GUITAR PLUGIN EVER! - Mateus Asato has been one of my biggest inspirations over the past few years, which is why I was so excited to see that he teamed up with Neural DSP to create a plugin that features amps, effects and more to recreate his sound. In this video, Mateus plays examples through a bunch of the tones you can expect to find in the plugin.

- Fender Made A....Modeler? Checking Out The Tone Master Pro! - If you've been reading this newsletter for any amount of time, you know I am all in on digital amp and effects modeling. This week we found out that Fender is getting into the game, with their Tone Master Pro. It seems every guitar YouTuber is making a demo video of this modeler this week. Here's Fluff's video of it. I dig the Fender amp tones, all the EVH stuff they include, etc. Coincidentally, Neural DSP lowered the price of their Quad Cortex this week. 🙂 Will you be picking up a Tone Master Pro ?

- Dominic Miller Wrote The Most Famous Riff Of All Time - Beato had the legendary Dominic Miller on, and the clip of the interview that’s going around the internet, is about Dominic writing “The Shape of My Heart”. But, Miller talks about much more, including how to turn mistakes into learning moments, and why that's so important. I loved this interview, and got a ton out of it.

- How To Practice Guitar So That You Learn Faster (Even If You're Ancient) - I really enjoyed watching this video from Ricky Comiskey. He always has some of the best theory related/explainer videos for guitar. In his latest, he talks about effective practicing, including one of the most important points - imperfect practice, makes imperfect. If you have some time, check this video out.

- Circle Of Fifths Workout! - Speaking of theory, if you want something that combines theory (the circle of 5ths) and is something that can slot into your practice schedule, check out the latest video from Chris Sherland. This short lesson might change your guitar playing in a major way - the fretboard knowledge you'll gain from running this type of exercise is huge.

- One of the greatest guitar performances of all time: new colorized footage of Jimi Hendrix’s extended 1970 performance of Machine Gun at the Fillmore East emerges - Someone colorized the epic "Machine Gun" performance from Hendrix at the Filmore East. I love when people do this type of stuff to old videos. It makes them feel like they were less than 50+ years ago. If you've never seen this performance from Jimi, take 12 minutes out of your day to experience one of the best versions of this song.

- What SRV Learned from Albert King - Bluesy Chromatic Bending Trick! - If you have a couple of minutes, check out this vid from SwiftLessons. It's a great SRV/Albert King inspired chromatic lick in the upper part of the blues scale. This lick sounds fantastic over a 12 bar blues.

- Guthrie Govan does it again! - Looking for a challenge this weekend? Jeff daFonte transcribed Guthrie Govan's live solo to the Top Gun anthem. Like I say with all difficult solos, even if you learn a couple of bars, it's worth it!

- “I’m basically a blues-rock guitar player that got wise to some other stuff”: Greg Koch is one of guitar's great showmen – and his licks are phenomenal - Greg Koch regularly blows my mind with the licks he creates. Guitar World just put up a lesson that goes over Greg's background, and then gives us a handful of licks, and a full solo to work on in the style of Koch. This stuff is tough, so similar to the Govan solo above, I try to take bits and pieces, and incorporate them into my own playing.

- The ULTIMATE Sweep Picking Guide For Beginners! - Not sure if you've seen it yet, but Bradley Hall made a second, more guitar-education focused channel called Beanley Hallsworth. It's pretty hilarious, but there's some good knowledge contained in these videos. His latest is a sweep picking primer for beginners.

- Want To Improve Your Fretboard Knowledge - Try This - Rick Graham recently posted a mini lesson that'll increase your fretboard knowledge. The main concept is about taking a short motif and playing it all throughout the neck, but really challenging yourself to think about where you might play each individual note.