Overall, these pickups are quite mellow and focused so far as jazz bass pickups are concerned. They still have that trademark jazz tone, but they can go a little warmer than you might be used to. That could be good or bad depending on the sounds you’re going for. These babies were c...
The tuning machines are also commonly referred to as “machine heads” or “tuners” and, as that last name would suggest, they’re used to tune the strings of the guitar. The tuning machines can be further broken down into smaller parts: The tuning peg is the part that you grab to tw...
With the neck pickup selected and the tone control dialed down, a solid body guitar can produce a passable jazz tone. It won’t be quite as ‘bell-like’, and perhaps a little ‘thinner’, that that of an archtop, but it will be perfectly adequate, and you could – as other solid-...
acoustic guitar, or even a bass guitar. These strings are used because when the steel string vibrates, it creates the sound you hear resonating from the guitar. Pickups on an electric guitar, and the sound hole on an acoustic guitar are designed to carry these vibrations and make them loude...
When guitar shopping at a retail outlet or online, you’re bound to run across mention of alnico pickups. What does that mean? What are alnico pickups and what do they do that non-alnico pickups don’t? First, let’s explain the word itself. Alnico is an acronym comprising the first ...
In short, a guitar setup ensures that your electric, acoustic or bass is performing at peak condition, keeps little things from going out of whack and personalizes the instrument to your preferences. Guitars are made of wood, an organic, sometimes temperamental, material. As such, temperature an...
There are big differences in guitar types and after reading this guide you’ll be able to pick the best beginner guitar for YOU; a guitar that’s perfect for your body size, shape and musical tastes. You’ll find ‘Best Buy’ recommendations here, but the most useful pieces of this guid...
sharp cuts centred on the offending frequencies and reduce the ringing without otherwise changing the sound of the drum. A badly set up bass guitar or a cheap amplifier can give rise to similar problems, whereby one note seems to jump out compared with the others. Recordings of the human voi...
Should you get an active or a passive bass? Join us as we take a look at this interesting (and divisive) subject, because there are lots of opinions!
Most modern pickups designed for guitar or bass are passive (non-powered) and contain a magnetic pole for each corresponding string positioned above it (six for a six string guitar, five for a five string bass, etc.). Less commonly, some have a single bar magnet, also wr...