Make your guitar sound huge with overdrive
Plus a string bending masterclass
From The Top
Happy to say it’s been a fun, guitar filled week. Been getting in as much playing as possible, and I’ve been going down a rabbit hole with my Fractal FM3 creating tones. Would you be into a video or two on how I’m creating some of these presets? Let me know!
In other Chasing Sound news, I recently guested on the Palmer Files podcast. We talked about teaching guitar, recording, growing up with music, and even what some of our favorite songs were to play. Keep an eye out here for when it’s released (should be around December).
Also, I always say it at the end of every newsletter, but I am taking on new students for online guitar lessons. If you’re interested in learning guitar, even as a group, reach out to me! Alright, let’s get into this week’s links.
This Week’s Links
- My Best Overdrive Pedal Tips for a Better Guitar Tone - This video from Thomas McRocklin was one of my favorite of the week. I feel like there are so many misconceptions when it comes to creating a full guitar tone, and Tom gives some great tips here on how you can use overdrive to really fatten up your sound.
- Backstage and Uncovering the SECRETS of Steve Vai's Tour Guitars! - Someone who was connected back to McRocklin in his younger years was Steve Vai. This week, TheGuitarGeek went backstage with Doug MacArthur, and longtime Vai tech Thomas Nordegg (in the background) to talk about Vai classics like his Jems and Evo guitars, to newer additions, like the Ibanez Pia guitars.
- We Made Madison Cunningham a Vibrato Pedal (Artificial Blonde) - Madison Cunningham is one of the most exciting players I've heard in a while - I'm in love with her use of effects. The guys at JHS teamed up with Madison to make her a new signature vibrato pedal, called the Artificial Blonde. Check out Madison demo the pedal with Josh from JHS.
- The Power of String Skipping - Forever Improve Your Solos! - Looking to not sound so scalar? Use the power of string skipping to make your leads more exciting. SwiftLessons shows off some great string skipping licks to practice, along with tab. This is one of the most powerful things you can do for your playing, not to mention help out with your fretboard knowledge.
- 50 Influential Guitarists / 50 Songs - Back when I was doing the Amped Up! podcast, for the 50th show I ran down a list of 50 of my favorite guitar players, and talked about why I enjoyed each one. Looking back on my list now, and it's accompanying honorable mentions list, there's for sure players I would swap, but I still really like each and every one of them. It was also interesting to think about players who've really influenced me in the past 4-5 years that aren't on there.
For this post I list one song for each player that you should check out, along with a link to YouTube. Why certain players were and weren't on the list will be the topic of the next episode of Chasing Sound Live! I'm looking to have some friends of the channel on the show, so stay tuned.
- Why do Mastodon guitars sound so HUGE? What gear do they use? - Haven't linked to Circle of Tone in a while, but his latest video caught my eye. In it, he goes over why Mastodon's guitars always sound so huge - from tuning to gear and more. Now I need to go listen to ‘Leviathan' again.
- Guitar Player Confidence Levels in a Guitar Store - Having worked at Sam Ash for years, I'm afraid that I've met all these characters.
- String Bending Masterclass - Quarter-Step to Two Steps (4 frets) - Accurate bending is one of the easiest ways to make you sound like a more professional player. My Blues Guitar shows us 10 blues licks that range from quarter step bends, all the way up to the tough 2 step bends.
- I practiced guitar 8 hours a day for 6 years. Here's what happened - Ben Eunson is one of the wildest jazz players I've ever seen. In his latest video, he talks about the benefits he saw after practicing 8 hours a day. To be completely honest, I can't see this being viable for the vast majority of players, but there are some great practice tips here.
- Gavin Rossdale: “Modern tones are where it's at – and if you're not where it's at, where are you?” - 90's rockers Bush just came out with a new album, and the production is top notch, with everything sounding larger than life. Gavin Rossdale of the band sat down with Guitar World to talk how he engineers these huge, modern guitar sounds.
- The Gibson ES-345 Marty McFly played in Back to the Future was actually from the future - My favorite trilogy of all time is the Back to the Future series of movies. An interesting fact of the first film is that Marty McFly was playing a guitar that wasn't even released yet in the year he traveled back in time to. Next time you're at trivia, let me know if this one comes up!
- “I Never Plan a Solo in Advance”: Watch Elliott Randall Play His Timeless "Reelin' in the Years" Solo - Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the Years" has to be one of the most memorable guitar solos of all time. Guitar Player takes a trip down memory lane, when tey talked to Elliott Randall about this classic solo in 2007. Make sure you scroll all the way to the end of the interview to catch him playing it all these years later, still with that iconic tone.
- Johnny Depp shows off custom Pirates Of The Caribbean-inspired guitar - Guitar.com checked out Johnny Depp's “Pirates of the Caribbean” style Telecaster. Catch the video on the post too, where Depp played this guitar alongside Jeff Beck.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading Six String Sunday Club!
Hey did you know, not only do I talk guitar each week, but I also teach it!
Try out a half an hour to see how much you can learn when you know the right things to practice. Whether you want to learn guitar, recording, mixing or more, I can help you out!