Guitars feature articles
learningWhat Are Guitar and Bass Pickups Made Of? - Everything about guitar and bass pickups - Part 2
In this second article of our series dedicated to guitar and bass pickups, we'll take a look under the hood.
- learning
Why Your Guitar Won’t Play or Stay In Tune - How to understand and deal with tuning and intonation issues
What is there to say about being in tune? You turn on the tuner, tune up, and you are in tune. Would that it were so easy. The truth is, any experienced guitarist or repairman will tell you there is much more to an in tune performance than just turning on the tuner.
- learning
How Magnetic Pickups Are Built and How They Work - Everything about guitar and bass pickups - Part 1
An essential part of electric stringed instruments, pickups are surrounded by a mysterious aura, lots of rumors and charm. For some, the instrument's wood and craftsmanship are at the core of its sound (considering that strings vibrate through the body and the neck), while the pickups only capture those vibrations and translate them more or less f…
- learning
If You're Thinking About Getting a Pedalboard - Part 2 - Pedal order, powering, and securing effects to the pedalboard
In the second and last installment, we’ll cover three main issues that you need to work out order to get your pedalboard up and running: The order of the pedals, how to get power to them, and how to attach them securely.
- learning
If You're Thinking of Getting a Pedalboard - Part 1 - Whether you're buying or building a pedalboard, here's what you need to know
Whether you’re upgrading to a new pedalboard, switching over from an all-in-one digital unit, or getting your first pedalboard, there are endless options. The aim here is to give you the info you need to buy or build a pedalboard that will work for your situation.
- learning
Review of the Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork - A Devilishly Clever Pitch Shifter
The Pitch Fork is a powerful and clean-sounding pitch shifter with some smartly designed features. It can produce shifts of plus or minus 3 octaves, which can make for some pretty cool and unusual sounds. With the addition of an expression pedal (not included), you can get whammy style effects as well.
- learning
Classic Gear Spotlight: The Les Paul - Part 2 - And the Guitar Was Born!
The telephone rings. Pegg's back suddenly stiffens, she adjusts her glasses before picking up the phone. She can tell by the timbre of the voice that asks for Ted McCarty that it's bad news for her boss.
- learning
Take Your Pick - Alter your tone for pennies by changing to a different pick type
If you are like most guitarists, you are on a continual quest to improve your tone and/or discover additional tonal options. This can involve spending thousands of dollars on amps, guitars, pickups, speakers, and effects. But what would you say if I told you could alter your tone for pennies?
- learning
Classic Gear Spotlight: The Les Paul - Part 1 - History of the Les Paul
The tale begins in Winter 1951.
- learning
The best overdrive pedals for electric guitar - The gritty details on our five favorite overdrive pedals
With over 100 overdrive pedals listed on just one gear-shopping website, how does one choose the top five? The first order of business is to define the terms: An overdrive pedal should have enough volume to distort a clean amplifier before adding gain from the pedal. It should also have enough gain to provide a dirty sound on its own, though anyth…
