Guitar

December 15, 2013

A Year in the Drop Daddies

It’s been a very busy year. I haven’t had much time for making videos and posting blog updates. Here’s why:

About a year ago, I started up a band – the Drop Daddies – with some of the other Dad’s at our kids’ elementary school. Originally, the idea was just to get together on weekends to play some music and have fun. Almost immediately however, a friend invited us to play at her 2012 end-of-the-world party. That humble little gig by the Christmas tree kicked off a very busy year for the band. So far, we’ve learned 60+ songs and played at least a dozen gigs- bars, an auction, carnivals, and parties large and small.

A few observations – each of which should be its own blog post, but I’ll collect them here for now and maybe expand on them later:

December 10, 2013

Don’t Break The Chain

Guitar Motivation, Practice 4

In my Millionth Anniversary video back in 2012, I talked about Jerry Seinfeld’s motivational technique for tricking yourself into getting things done. “Don’t Break The Chain!”

Since February 19, 2012- I’ve kept my pledge to play guitar every day, no matter what. That’s 660 days! Yes, sometimes it’s just a few minutes right before bed. But more often, once I pick up the guitar, I end up playing for a good session.

I no longer need to draw X’s on a calendar, as in Jerry’s technique- I just know that I don’t want to miss a day. This technique really builds new, effective habits.

October 11, 2013

Output Jack Considerations

Guitar Electronics, Jack 2

In this article, Pete Biltoft at Vintage Vibe Guitars goes in-depth on the simple, often overlooked output jack.

Thanks again to Pete for the permission to post this here!

September 2013

Howdy!

The topic for this tech tips newsletter is the all-important output jack.

While there are a few different styles of output jacks have been used in electric guitars and basses including cables with XLR connectors, ¼” stereo output jacks and 1/8” size mono and stereo jacks, for the purposes of this newsletter I plan to focus on the industry-standard ¼” mono output jack. I quite often use output jacks manufactured by Switchcraft and unless specified otherwise in this discussion I will be referring to the Switchcraft model output jack designed for strat, tele and Les Paul style instruments.

This simple and often overlooked component provides both a mechanical and an electrical interface to the guitar cable and is one of the most frequent causes of electrical issues in an electric guitar or bass.

September 13, 2013

Epiphone Riviera P93 Stupid Deal

Guitar Deals, Epiphone Riviera P93 0

I just love Musician’s Friend Stupid Deal of the Day.

Right now, for one hour only (until 8am PST), they have the Epiphone Riviera P93 Black Royale, for only $399, shipped free. You’ll never find a better deal on it.

July 29, 2013

Replace Those Worn Out Picks!

Guitar Pick 6

I’ve been using the same Dunlop 44P textured .60mm grey nylon picks for the last 20+ years. I’ve tried tons of other picks (mostly freebies I picked up at the NAMM show), but I tend to always come back to these Dunlop 44P’s.

Unlike with smoother picks like the Tortex, I find that I never really drop these. I have one of those Dunlop mic stand pick holders, and I dutifully load it up with 3 or 4 picks at the beginning of every gig and rehearsal. But honestly, I have never, not even once, needed to reach for a replacement pick!

I change strings every couple months- more often in summer, when I’m playing in sweaty situations. But it has never really occurred to me that picks also get worn out and require changing.

I’ve always thought these picks would just last forever. But I recently ordered a new 12-pack, and was amused to see such a big difference.

I hadn’t realized that these picks I had been using were so ridiculously worn out! The new picks have a more clearly defined (undamaged) bottom edge, so they dig a little deeper when picking. Practicing with those worn picks, I’m actually getting used to holding my picking hand at the wrong pick-depth – not good! Time to throw away these old picks!

In years gone by, I was always a rhythm player- and the .60mm was the perfect pick gauge. But I’m starting to realize in my role as lead guitarist in the Drop Daddies, that a thicker pick may be a better fit. I just got a set of .73mm picks to try out, with the same Dunlop 44 tactile grip. They definitely feel different – more aggressive. I think I like!

June 25, 2013

On Feedback, Good and Bad

Guitar Electronics, Feedback 0

In this article, Pete Biltoft at Vintage Vibe Guitars describes the various causes of guitar feedback, both good and bad, and provides some suggestions for eliminating unwanted feedback.

Thanks again to Pete for the permission to post this here!

June 2013

Howdy!

Feedback: when it is used in an appropriate, controlled manner it can be glorious; when it appears unwanted it is about the worst sound ever. In this Tech Tips newsletter both types of feedback will be discussed.

Let’s start with the undesirable out of control high pitched screech we want to eliminate, and then move on the good stuff.

Unwanted microphonic feedback in guitars with magnetic guitar pickups usually arises from one or more of the following sources listed below. With each of these sources I have added suggestions in italics for eliminating the associated feedback.

Vibration of the coil windings inside a magnetic pickup. Most modern pickups are potted in molten wax under vacuum to reduce the possibility of unwanted microphonic feedback.

June 19, 2013

Les Paul’s Estate Auction

Geek, Guitar Les Paul 5

Lester Polsfuss passed away at the age of 94 after a fight with pneumonia on August 13, 2009. Nearly 3 years later, the property from the estate of Les Paul went up for auction in Beverly Hills, CA.

The auction company put together a beautiful 400 page book listing the items of the estate. In case they end up taking down the book, I have saved the PDF here (68MB) for posterity.

The estate items range from the awesome, to the slightly disturbing, to the nostalgic and the just plain silly. Let’s take those in order:

awesome: tons of guitars of all types, prototypes, design drawings and notes, amps, oscilloscopes and test equipment, electronics (pots, tubes, caps, transformers, etc), mixing desks and early multitrack tape recorders, and even some hand-cut wood acoustic wall panels
slightly disturbing: his social security and union cards, Chase credit card, drivers license, passport, Christmas cards, and signed checks. Oh, and a white terry cloth bath robe.
nostalgic: photos, awards, scripts and letters, the bronzed army boots that Les was wearing when he met Mary Ford, and his gloves and glasses. Ok, also slightly disturbing!
just silly: $400 of used picks, a New York state license plate reading Les Paul, a signed vegetarian cook book from Linda McCartney. Lots and lots of turtleneck shirts. Apparently the license plate sold for $10,000!
I don’t know where this fits- but a top-hat given to Les Paul by Slash (Valued at $6000-$8000! Hah!)

Man, did Les Paul have an amazing guitar collection!

In addition to the gorgeous specimens from Gibson and Epiphone that you would expect, you’ll also find lot 722- a 1951 Fender No-Caster signed by Leo Fender (valued at $40,000-$60,000). It actually sold for $180,000 (!) as documented in this handheld video from the auction floor. That’s some kind of crazy, right there.

June 12, 2013

A Little Love for the Les Paul Tribute Plus

Gear Diary, Geek, Guitar Epiphone, Les Paul 4

After nearly a year, I’m still loving my Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus. I‘ve played a number of gigs with it and it has proven itself absolutely reliable and roadworthy. It has really excelled in every situation – loud indoor gigs, scorchin hot outdoor summer gigs, and of course my everyday practice, both unplugged and amplified.

This model seems to be a diamond in the rough at Epiphone- a truly great collection of features, including the awesome Gibson ‘57 Classic pickups, for a very competitive price.

I’ve often wondered why I haven’t seen Epiphone really promoting this model as much as it deserves. Well today, I noticed that it’s currently featured on the front page of Epiphone’s website, as part of their 140 years (1873-2013) anniversary. There’s a nice write up with a few choice quotes from Les Paul, and some gorgeous pictures.

Maybe they’ve finally decided to seriously promote this gem of a guitar!

June 7, 2013

New Amplitube iRig HD interface

Gear Diary, Geek, Guitar Electronics, iPad, Preamp 0

In my series on building your own iDevice Guitar Interface, I demonstrated an interface which connects through the headphone/microphone jack. This is similar to the commercial products like IK Multimedia Amplitube iRig, Peavey AmpKit Link, Griffin GuitarConnect. And like all those, it works well, but it is not the most high-fidelity solution.

There are also a number of products that instead connect using the dock connector on the bottom of the iDevice, for example the Apogee Jam, Sonoma GuitarJack, Alesis iO Dock and Line 6 Mobile In. These interfaces have their own A/D converters, and pass the signal digitally to the iDevice providing higher quality audio. The downside is that you can’t charge the iDevice on battery while using the interface, which may be an issue for live performance and recording.

There’s a new contender in the dock-connected interfaces, and it looks pretty nice: the IK Multimedia iRig HD. In appearance, it looks very similar to the Apogee Jam. I prefer this style of interface, rather than the Sonoma, and Line 6 approach which have the entire unit hanging off the dock – that seems very precarious and likely to break the dock.

Also, at $99 the iRig HD is cheaper than the $129 Apogee Jam. If you have a newer iDevice with the lighting connector, the iRig HD is an even better deal, as it includes the lightning adapter cables as well as the older-style 30-pin connecter, and also a USB connector for use with a computer.

All that said, I’m perfectly happy with my DIY interface for practice, but if I was using it for recording or live performance, I might consider buying this iRig HD.

May 22, 2013

When is 9V not 9V?

Electronics, Gear Diary, Geek, Guitar Electronics, Pedal, Pedalboard, Power Supply 14

Answer: when it’s 13V!

As I mentioned previously, my pedal board’s power supply died, so I’ve been temporarily using an old Korg 9V power supply.

I’ve been getting some hum from Ryan’s Fulltone Fat-Boost, and finally decided to do some sleuthing to figure out why.

Fortunately, before I even cracked open the Fat-Boost, I hooked up a multimeter to measure the voltage output of the Korg supply, and it turns out that this little guy is really putting out 13V, not 9V. Well, that’s annoying. Is it mislabeled, or just over-compensating for something?More