Neal Schon & Guthrie Govan go digital, the best gear innovations of the 80's, and an amazing alternate tuning guide
Plus, some of the most cursed guitars
I am thrilled to be back writing the weekly newsletter! After a week down the shore in NJ, and a quick trip to Miami for work, we’re back with a full issue of 6SSC. I hope you enjoyed last week’s issue where Nikhil from What’s Curation? filled in for me and wrote all about one of his favorite Journey tracks. This week, I have a ton of links to share with you - some I saved while I was away, and many are brand new. With that being said, I’ll try and be as brief as I can so you can get into what you want to check out. Let’s do it!
Three Great Ways To Wah-Wah - Or How Not To Be A Slacka-Wacka - Wah is one of my favorite effects, so I loved watching the guys at The Pedal Show talk all about it! They go over where you should put a wah in your chain, and how to use the wah effectively - as a filter, rhythmically, and more.
How to REALLY play Sinner’s Swing! by Van Halen - #MasterThatRiff! #165 - I’ve been on a huge Van Halen kick lately, listneing to their entire catalog. I liked this video from MasterTheGuitar, where he goes over how to play “Sinner’s Swing”. Getting Eddie’s swing down is essential to making VH songs sound legit, and this is a good place to start.
Here’s Why Neal Schon’s “Lights” solo (Journey) is MAGIC - Neal Schon’s “Lights” solo is so memorable, so I was super excited that Ben Eller covered it in one of his latest videos. I love Ben breaking down the individual phrases, and enjoyed his theory ideas at the end of the video.
Neal Schon Fractal FM9 Rig Tour - Also cool and Neal Schon related, is this video from Cooper Carter for G66, where he goes behind the scenes on Schon’s FM9 rig! Speaking of Fractal stuff, did you see Guthrie Govan took out one for his most recent tour?
Best Riffs of the 70’s, UK vs USA! Ft/ Nick Bowcott - Ben Eller has been busy lately, and so he released a video with Nick Bowcott (previously they did an 80’s video). This time they go over their favorite 70’s riffs, in a UK vs. USA battle. What was your favorite? And that’s not all, the duo also did another video featuring their favorite riffs from The Big 4.
20 gear innovations from the ‘80s that changed the game for guitar players - But what if instead you want 80’s content? Guitar World rounded up 20 of the most influential innovations of the 80’s for guitar players - everything from EMG pickups and Tascam recorders, to rack effect units and a lot more.
Electric Guitars Types: Everything you must know - Paul Davids does a really fun, brief history of some of the most iconic guitars, starting all the way back in 1950. If you’re just getting into guitar, and want to know the main axes that have made the biggest impact over the last 70 years or so, this is a fun video to watch.
Absolutely Horrible Cursed Guitars - I had to see these, and now you do too! These were brutally bad.
The Best Way to Make Money As a Guitarist - Looking to make money playing guitar? John Cordy makes the case that being in a wedding band might just be the ticket to some side income.
Guthrie Trapp - This IS the secret to learning guitar. Period! - Guthrie Trapp breaks down what has made the biggest change for him and his students - learning chords all over the fretboard, which allows you to land on chord tones much easier. He also did a great, follow up video, which you can check out here - which includes more examples on how to attack learning chords everywhere.
Be a Power Chords detective! - If you want to shake up your practice routine and improve your ear, you should be transcribing! JustinGuitar shows us a handful of easy songs to transcribe, that’ll have you getting in to power chords.
50 UNPOPULAR Guitar Opinions (according to you guys) - Loved reading over some of these. What’s your worst hot take on guitar?
The Hidden Benefits of Stage Fright - While not directly guitar related, I still think this video is great for every musician to watch. What happens when everything goes wrong at a gig? How do you recover? Is stage fright actually good for you? Adam Neely gives us 10 minutes of good advice.
Bill Sethares’ Alternate Tuning Guide - How cool is this alternate tuning guide from Bill Sethares? Bill shows us a ton of alternate tunings, what notes to tune to, maj, min and pentatonic scales, where the notes fall on the fretboard, and chords to play in the new altered tuning. Save this PDF as a resource!
The ULTIMATE pick challenge: You don’t need a pick to SHRED! - Do you need a pick to shred? Turns out you can use nearly anything.
Ernie Ball Music Man officially launches patent-pending Heat-Treated pickup technology on three new guitar models - Kind of just fishing for opinions here, but what do you think of this heat-treated pickup technology that Ernie Ball/Music Man is using? I’m really eager to try these guitars to see if this tech makes a difference.
Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi reunite for triumphant surprise performance at 2022 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony - Had to share these clips featuring the surprise reunion of Ozzy and Tommy Iommi, playing some Sabbath classics at the 2022 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony. They still got it!
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading Six String Sunday!
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