Guitars normally have 6 strings, but bass guitar is a very different beast. Bass guitars have just 4 strings, they are very thick and play very deep, low tones. These guitars are heavy and long (they’re built like solid tanks), and they require amplification like every other type of el...
A guitar’s look is a major part of the statement that guitarists make to the world about themselves. It says you’re cool, or that you’re hot. It says your style is flamboyant or that it’s laid-back. It’s says you’re state-of-art or old-school; classic or cutting edge. I...
You'll find these on the earliestTelecasterguitars of the 1950s. It is especially good for middle-position pickups, and it contributes to a very sweet and musical “vintage-y” sound. Alnico III The weakest of the three because it actually contains no cobalt. Since it exhibits the least am...
Playing a Fender Telecaster that was alternately DI'd or fed through a Vox amp and Fender Champ miked with a combination of Shure SM57 and SM58 and AKG C12A mics, Terry Britten tracked quite a few guitar parts for 'What's Love' — varying the style, content and tuning — before choosi...
He has also used a Les Paul on occasion, and defers to a Fender Telecaster when playing Crazy Little Thing Called Love. And yet, although it is not that strange to see him something other than the Red Special, the unique pickup switching system on his own design is integral to his sou...
The Telecaster is the most widely-used solid body guitar in jazz. Can you play jazz with a solid body guitar? Of course, but for some it may be a compromise too far. With the neck pickup selected and the tone control dialed down, a solid body guitar can produce a passable jazz tone...
Some artists, like Mick Barr of Orthrelm and Krallice, totally get this: shred patterns repeated to infinity, the sound file directly translatable into a binary grid of drums on the x axis and guitar on the y. It’s counterintuitive, but this mutating 2-bit virus of a style is the ...
played by Saul Davies on his G&L Telecaster‑style guitar. Although the song's speed change had been agreed, Davies nevertheless recorded the part at the original speed of 103bpm (Baynton‑Power: "so it sounded tight when we sped it back up"). Davies also double‑tracked the funk par...
The genius of John Lee Hooker was his simplicity and his rhythm. There’s not enough said for rhythm guitar. I was so pleased a few years ago thatKeith Richardsspoke up and said, “Look, the rhythm guitar is just as heavy as lead guitar.” It’s just that in the late ‘60s with[...
Telecaster ‘Ash Tray’ Bridge This design is a bit more complicated than the wraparound bridge. The string goes through the back of the body and protrudes at the top, through the bridge and passes the saddle itself. The saddle is that barrel shaped piece of brass. This design uses three...