A must have pedal for every practicing guitarist, bubble harmonics, and much more
You know, I thought because we’re in summer right now that guitar stuff would die down on YouTube and elsewhere, but thankfully there’s lots of fun stuff to share this week. You can check out my brand new review of the Vidami Blue pedal, watch some classic guitar lessons, or even learn the best way how to mic a guitar cab. If there’s anything I missed, let me know. I love hearing from you! Let’s get into this week’s links.
5 Reasons why your solo (probably) SUCK! - I’ve been having a blast watching Justin Hombach’s channel lately, as I’ve just found out about it! Not only is he a really great player, his ideas are a lot of fun - go check out all his videos where he does fun mash ups (like what if Marty Friedman was in Metallica or what’d happen if modern guitarists played on Master of Puppets). He also does some great lesson videos, which is why I wanted to share his latest vid - which focuses on 5 different ways you can improve your solos.
Navigate The Fretboard In Open Tunings | Lesson | Thomann - I’ve been talking about triads SO much lately, as I think they’re one of the most helpful things you can learn on guitar. Thomann Guitars released an awesome video this week that talks about triads in the context of using open tunings. If using an open tuning hurts your brain, this video might help!
An Essential Pedal For Every Guitarist - Vidami Blue Review - A few weeks ago I picked up the Vidami Blue - which is an awesome bluetooth pedal for controlling YouTube, controlling your DAW, and turning pages. It works on Mac, PC, and even iOS devices. I really have been getting a ton of use out of this pedal, and it’s leveled up my practice schedule in a major way. Check out my full review of why it’s awesome. Also in the video’s description, there’s a coupon for 10% off the pedal.
Ernie Ball: Flat Ribbon Patch Cables in Red - I don’t often link to gear, but I thought these flat ribbon patch cables looked really great for building a pedal board. Plus that red color is really awesome looking, and they come in a “pedalboard pack” where you get a few cables. I’m going to try and pick some of these up soon and report back!
The Transparent/Neutral Overdrive Fallacy - Brian Wampler takes a look at a bunch of different overdrive pedals to see how much they’ll color your tone. It’s one thing to look at the frequency charts, but there’s more to how they’ll effect your signal.
The Derek Trucks Interview - Legendary slide player Derek Trucks sat down with Rick Beato to talk about everything from his time in the Allman Brothers band, to coming up with cool ideas while in lockdown. Trucks seems like such a humble guy throughout the whole interview. Plus midway through he plays a bunch of cool slide licks. This is one of those videos that, even though it was an hour, I watched the whole thing.
The BEST Way to Mic a Guitar Amp When Recording Guitar - Getting a great recorded guitar tone is like an art. This video from the guys over at Stringjoy is a helpful video to watch if you’re just getting started with recording. They discuss a classic Steve Albini technique, that’ll help make mic’ing up your cab really easy.
Simple Eddie Van Halen Chords Every Beginner Needs! - We all love EVH because of his lead playing, but his rhythm playing was also very fun. Robert Baker just uploaded a short video if you’re a beginner and want to get into playing rhythm like Eddie. The coolest thing about this video is seeing the similarities between what EVH was doing on a number of songs.
JOHN PETRUCCI 1999 Ibanez Clinic - Let’s see how long this video stays up! Back in ’99, Ola Englund and his Dad went to Finland to catch this great John Petrucci Ibanez Clinic. If you’re a fan of instrumental guitar in any way, this video is worth your time. If you’re looking for more Petrucci, Guitar World recently put up a classic interview with 5 of his best practice tips. You can check that out here.
Introducing bubble harmonics, a new guitar technique inspired by EVH and Alan Gogoll, pioneered by Atlanta guitarist Donn Aaron - Just when I thought I’ve seen everything there is in regards to guitar technique, someone surprises me. Donn Aaron shows us what he’s calling “bubble harmonics”. The technique, which was inspired by Alan Gogoll and Eddie Van Halen, is pretty wild sounding. Will you try and learn this?
Wildwood and Greg Koch’s Featured Guitar Tip • The Thumb ft a Fender Michael Landau ’63 Strat - Speaking of technique based lessons, Greg Koch has been doing a ton of them for Wildwood lately. His latest features an awesome Michael Landau Strat, while teaching some thumb over the fretboard playing.
Ozzy Osbourne recruits Tony Iommi for his Sabbath-esque single, Degradation Rules - Ozzy just released a new single from his upcoming album, and this time it’s with a very familiar face, Tony Iommi! The new song, “Degradation Rules” is what I have to imagine Black Sabbath would sound like, if the original lineup were back together.
Trey Anastasio: “During a Lot of Phish Jams, I’ll Land on a Simple Phrase, Almost Childlike, and Then Run with it” - I really enjoyed checking out this interview from Phish’s Trey Anastasio. He’s long been one of my favorite guitarists in the jam band scene. Trey talks about his epic Martin, which he used to cut his new acoustic album, plus lots more. My favorite part of the interview comes from the article’s headline, where Trey talks about using simple phrases to kick off where his improv will go during a jam.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading Six String Sunday!
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