Guthrie Trapp's "Swiss Army" Lick, The Hitmaker Strat, and the Top 5 Beginner Guitar Mistakes
And, did you know Sweetwater had a custom shop?
This week’s issue of 6SSC is filled with all sorts of exciting guitar news, lessons, gear and more. First up, we have Tim Pierce demoing one of the biggest “hitmaker” Strats of all time, a look at Sweetwater’s custom shop (did you know they had one?), two awesome lessons on Mateus Asato-style licks, and more!
The Strat That Sold 500 Million Records - Tim Pierce got one of the new re-issue Nile Rodgers Strats from Sweetwater. The guitar sounds killer, and I loved hearing the history behind it, and so many of the songs it was on. Check out the guitar in detail on Fender’s site.
Did You Know Sweetwater Has A Custom Shop? - Speaking of Sweetwater, did you know they had a custom shop? First time I was hearing of it! Apparently, if you purchase a guitar from them, you can ask the custom shop to make it the guitar of your dreams. Everything from the frets, hardware and much more can be customized.
Top 5 Beginner Guitar MISTAKES VS How PROS Play Guitar - I’ll be the first to say that there are a lot of videos similar to this one by Andy Guitar, but the information is still super relevant! Are you making any of these beginner mistakes? Working on these 5 simple things can really change how good you sound on the instrument.
Joe Bonamassa & Michael Lemmo | Well Wishes for Norm at Norman’s Rare Guitars - Norm from Norman’s Rare Guitars is unfortunately in the hospital right now with a rare form of cancer. I wanted to link to this vid from the store where Joe Bonamassa sends him well wishes. Everyone is pulling for Norm to get back in action soon. Get well, Norm!
SRV’s Jazzy Side - 5 Minute Licks - Stevie Ray Vaughan was known for his blues, but he also had a jazzier side from time to time. Check out Leon Todd playing one of my all time favorite SRV songs, and then give us some info on the chords Stevie was using.
The Aristocrats With Primuz Chamber Orchestra - “Jack’s Back” OFFICIAL VIDEO - I already liked The Aristocrats’ song “Jack’s Back”. But now that they’ve teamed up with the Primuz Chamber Orchestra, I love it even more! The string section is absolutely on fire on this song.
Combining Scales & Arpeggios With This ONE Exercise! Guitar Lesson - When you’re playing a lead, you never want to sound too scalar, or too mechanical, just running arpeggios up and down the fretboard. Check out this video from Levi Clay, where he gives us a fun exercise to combine both, with a focus on hitting target notes.
Guthrie Trapp - “Swiss Army Lick” To Start Outlining Chord Changes - Guthrie Trapp is back, and in his latest YouTube video, he shows us a really cool sounding “swiss army lick” that’ll help us target the 3rd of chords. Skip ahead to about 5:30 if you want to get to the lesson itself.
Can You Handle Marty Friedman’s Crazy Blues Lick? - I’m a huge fan of Marty Friedman’s playing, and was psyched to see Robert Baker break down this “bluesy” riff from Marty. The cool thing about these vids are that they’re under 5 minutes, and always contain awesome licks to get into your vocabulary.
Paul Gilbert: Randy Rhoads Riffs and Reverence - Want 30 minutes of both Paul Gilbert and Nick Bowcott paying their respects to Randy Rhoads? Of course you do!
Incredible Steve Stevens lick and how to run with it! - Animated Licks of Mika Tyyskä P16 - Not done with the shred licks? Check out Mr. Fastfinger himself, Mika Tyyska, showing off an awesome Steve Stevens style lick. I loved how angular this one was. Check out all of Mika’s past animated licks. It’s a great series.
Play Licks Like Mateus Asato - Part 1 - Ross Campbell is back with 2 awesome Mateus Asato style licks. While I loved this first one, I really loved the second one, which incorporates double stops, and some fun slides. Check the 2nd one out here.
Watch Metallica’s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett perform the national anthem at recent San Francisco Giants game - Metallica has played the national anthem at quite a few sports events at this point. I thought this post was pretty cool to share, because you can actually win the guitars they recently played at a recent SF Giants game.
5 ways to shred like Buckethead - You don’t even have to don a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket to be able to play these licks, but I won’t judge you if you do.
5 of Doyle Bramhall II’s Greatest Guitar Playing Insights | GuitarPlayer - Doyle Bramhall has played with so many of the blues greats, and has put out many of his own albums that are a great listen. In this new Guitar Player post, he details 5 no-nonsense tips on everything from being yourself, to songwriting, solos and more.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading Six String Sunday!
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