Before You Buy that Acoustic Guitar - Tips for Evaluating an Acoustic Guitar Before Purchase
LearningBuying a steel-string acoustic guitar is an investment that you don’t want to go into lightly. Unless you plan to purchase a super-cheap entry-level model, you’re likely to spend a fair bit of coin f…
Yamaha F370 Review - Folk in Tune
Written testWe took this new, inexpensive dreadnaught from Yamaha for a test drive. Here's what we found.
Comparing Both Types of Pedal Setups - Pros and Cons of Pedalboards vs Multi Effects Pedals
LearningUnless you're one of those guitarists or bassists who flat-out refuses to consider digital effects, it’s worth comparing the merits of multi-effects pedals with traditional pedalboard setups, before …
Palmer Automat Review - Distautowah
Written testOn the occasion of our recently published Palmer Mutterstolz distortion pedal review, your favorite website decided to revisit some of the German brand's Root Effects, and here we review Automat, an …
Doubling Made Easy - What is a fat guitar sound and how do I reproduce it?
LearningOne of the most powerful ways to make a track sound bigger and more impactful is by doubling it. The quintessential example of this is the doubled rhythm guitar part, which can really fatten the soun…
Gadgets for Guitar Players - 10 Cool Accessories for Every Guitarist
LearningGuitarists are well-known for their countless effects pedals, exotic strings and other not-always-indispensable thingamajigs. So, here's a list of 10 useful and/or eccentric toys that you can buy wit…
TC Electronic Ditto X2 Review - The Return of the Same Thing
Written testFollowing up on the success of the original Ditto, which had only two controls, TC strikes again with the X2, featuring more than twice that. Can it give the final blow to its competitors in the not-…
Palmer Mutterstolz Review - Make Your Mamma Proud
Written testBack in the day when fluorescent colors were in fashion, amps resembled fridges, all the songs on the radio had a guitar solo after the second chorus, and the Berlin Wall was still standing (Bingo!, …
Impressive Compression - The Best Compression Pedals for Guitar and Bass
LearningFor those who have a tendency to hammer their electric or bass guitars with a heavy attack, or can't play consistent rhythm parts throughout an entire song, a compressor might be the solution. A comp…
Slide Guitar Quick-Start Guide - Basic techniques for slide guitar playing
LearningHere are the essential techniques and basic information you need to get started playing slide guitar
Exclusive Line 6 AMPLIFI 150 Review - The Blue-Toothed Combo
Written testLine 6 enters the Bluetooth era with the new AMPLIFI series, which combines multimedia speakers and a modeling combo in a single box.
Gibson N-225 Review - Gibson's Fine Ear
Written testGibson, to whom we own a lot of legendary guitars, decided to introduce several months ago a guitar with an original shape (something that doesn't happen every day): the N-225. With a hybrid look hal…
Heavy Guitar Sound Basics - How To Get A Metal Guitar Sound
LearningDue to its violent nature, heavy metal needs a particularly polished guitar sound or it might become unintelligible. Here are several tips to achieve a heavy and accurate sound at the same time.
You Can Get Great Sounds When You Go Direct - Strategies for DI Guitar Recording
LearningIf you polled a group of engineers and producers, asking them what’s the best way to record electric guitar, probably 99% of them would say by miking an amp — preferably a tube amp that’s turned up r…
Basic Instructions For Getting a Sound of Destruction - How to Get a Punk Guitar Sound
LearningAh, punk! Some say it's enough to pick a guitar, an amp, a jack, and a strap (the longer the better), crank it all up and it should sound like it's meant to.
How To Get a Crunch Sound - The Basics To Making Your Electric Guitar Sound Crunchy
LearningAfter having found your clean sound, let's now look at how to color your sound with a bit of distortion.
How To Set A Guitar Amp To Get A Clean Sound - How To Get A Clean Sound With A Guitar Amp
LearningWe have already seen how to set correctly the knobs of your instrument. But we still have to shape the signal before it comes out of the loudspeaker.
How To Adjust Guitar Knobs Correctly - What Are The Knobs On A Guitar For?
LearningSure, you can grab your guitar, crank up all the knobs and play. But if all those controls are there, they must serve a purpose!
TC Electronic Hall of Fame Mini Review - Mini Mini Mini...
Written test"...must be funny...in a midget's woooorld". It's probably what ABBA would've sung if they had started their career in 2013. Indeed, this year has seen the appearance of a good number of bonsai-sized…
Line 6 POD HD500X Review - Are you POD-to-date?
Written testThe final exam of the music course I took at the Audiofanzine academy, read as follows: "With a theorem-article of at least 10,000 characters, resolve the equation LINE 6 POD HD500X where X = (new fo…
How To Adapt To A Specific Vocal Range - Transpose A Guitar According To The Vocal Range
LearningA guitarist must frequently adapt to the voice of the singer and specially to his or her own vocal range. How should this be done?
Choosing the Right Electric Guitar String Set - Which electric guitar string set should you buy?
LearningFor many years, when we were forced to leave our comfortable home to buy strings, we trusted our favorite salesman to recommend us an adequate set. Thanks to the Internet, there is no need to waste s…
Boss Loop Station RC505 Review - Looper Trooper
Written testWhile guitar players might have been disappointed by Musikmesse 2013, keyboard players, sound designers and home-studio owners were delighted by numerous new products.
The Top Alternative Tunings For Guitar - The Best Open Tunings for Guitar
LearningBesides the standard E-A-D-G-B-E, there are lots of other alternative tunings that allow us to explore new sound horizons with our guitar. Let's review the main open tunings.
Flickinger Caged Crow, Vicious Cricket and Germanium Gr… - Tone Box from the USA
Written testLet me introduce you today to a pedal series directly from the U.S. of A.