Musicians Handbook 04 (Sampler) by Future PLC

Over 90 minutes of video & audio tutorials

M U S I C IA N â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S H A N D B O O K

[g u i ta r ]

the essential guide to buying, playing and more

132 pages

Digital Edition

GreatDigitalMags.com

of tutorials and tips

Choose the right GUITAR n LEARN CHORDS AND SOLOING n ESSENTIAL GEAR MAINTENANCE n SUPERCHARGE YOUR PLAYING n RECORD LIKE A PRO & MORE! n

MUSICIAN’S HANDBOOK

[guitar]

12 getting started

36 lessons

GEAR

7......... ANATOMY OF A GUITAR

18....... TAB GUIDE

12....... GUITAR ICONS

20....... OPEN CHORDS

20....... ACCESSORIES

22....... STRUMMING

22....... TUNING YOUR GUITAR

24....... BARRE CHORDS

76....... A djusting your intonation

26....... PENTATONIC LICKS

78....... T ips for better tone

28....... R hythm Guitar workout

82....... F X Pedals

40....... Solo better now 54....... Playing made easy 60....... 3 0 days to perfect playing

o 1

o 2 3

x 6 | Musician’s Handbook : GUITAR

72....... restringing your guitar 74....... adjusting the neck

CONTENTS

120 28

MAKING MUSIC 96....... 5 0 guitar hacks you need to know 104..... Record your guitar 120..... Start a band 126..... Play a gig

on fil es

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video

104

Don’t forget to check out the EXAMPLES on Filesilo. See page 130! Musician’s Handbook : GUITAR | 7

Musician’s Handbook : guitar

Barre chords on fil es

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2, you can do the same thing with an open A chord; you can use the minor variants of both shapes, too. Stick with these shapes to begin with and try to spot relationships between the chords in the remaining musical examples. Example 3 shows you how to transpose a sequence of barre chords into another key – the trick is visualising the whole chord progression on the neck. Examples 4 and 5 focus on playing across a wider range of the fretboard, using ascending chord progressions and partial barres. Example 6 demonstrates how a tricky key signature can be made easier if you use barre chords. Relax! And enjoy learning this vital technique. You will find the video tutorials on FileSilo at www.filesilo.co.uk/mhb-04.

arre chords have a reputation as a finger-busting technique because of the strength required to play them. The idea is that you use your first finger to fret several strings. It does take practise and perseverance, but there are many benefits to mastering the technique and we’ve outlined some of them here. Don’t worry if it takes you a bit of time to master them, we all had to learn them at some point! Refer to the tab and audio, and the video lessons on FileSilo, to make it easier. You can start playing rhythm parts across the whole fretboard using just two barre chords. Check out Example 1 to see how to TG221_Essentials_Fig01.mus move an open position E chord around the File as Date: 14:45 30/9/11 neck a barre chord. As you’ll see in Example

video

Don’t be put off by their fearsome reputation – just two simple barre chords can expand your rhythm playing across the whole fretboard

Essentials Essentials Contributor: Chris Bird

Page 1 of 1 Notes: [Description]

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Example 1: barre chords across the neck E

0 0 1 2 2 0

1 1 2 3 3 1

2 2 3 4 4 2

œœ # # œœ œœ # # œœ œœ # # œœ

œ & # œœœ œœ

T A B

G A A B C œœ # # œœ # œœœ ‹ # # œœœ # œœœ n n n œœœœ n œœœ # # # œœœ n œœ # # œœ n œœ n n œœ œ œ #œ œ #œ cont. sim. G

3 3 4 5 5 3

4 4 5 6 6 4

5 5 6 7 7 5

6 6 7 8 8 6

7 7 8 9 9 7

8 8 9 10 10 8

F#m

œ n œœœ œœ 0 0 0 2 2 0

1 1 1 3 3 1

2 2 2 4 4 2

G#m

3 3 3 5 5 3

4 4 4 6 6 4

œ #œ b œœœ n # # œœœ œœ # # œœ

A#m

5 5 5 7 7 5

6 6 6 8 8 6

œ #œ n œœœ # # # œœœ œœ # # œœ

Cm œœ b n œœœ n œœ n n œœ œœ n œ Bm

cont. sim.

7 7 7 9 9 7

8 8 8 10 10 8

These barre chords are based on two easy open chords: E and E minor. We’ve moved the shape fret by fret as far as 8th position, but you can continue with C#, D, D#, E, etc. Essentials TG221_Essentials_Fig02.mus IfFile you start in open position and work your way up to D# in 11th position, you’ll have learnt 12 major and 12 minor chords. Date: 17:25 30/9/11 Essentials

Page 1 of 1 Notes: [Description]

Contributor: Chris Bird Engraved by DigitalMusicArt.Com

Example 2: chord change exercise ˙ & 44 .. # ˙˙˙ ˙˙ E

2 4 3

T A B

. .

0 0 1 2 2 0

#˙ # # # ˙˙˙ # ˙ #˙ 2 2 3 4 4 2

.. .. n ˙˙˙ ˙˙ ˙ . . 000 . . 22

4 3

F#m

# ## ˙˙˙˙ # # ˙˙ 2 2 2 4 4 2

.. .. # ˙˙˙ ˙˙ A

4 3 2

. . . .

0 2 2 2 0

# # ˙˙˙ # ˙˙ B

2 4 4 4 2

# ˙˙˙ # ˙˙

0 1 2 2 0

2 3 4 4 2

.. .. n ˙˙˙ ˙˙ 2 4 3

. . . .

When it comes to barre chords, E and A are the most important shapes, so spend time working on these changes – it’ll help you build the all-important strength and co-ordination required for barre chords. Play all the open chords with your second, third and fourth fingers so that you can barre with your first finger.

24 | Musician’s Handbook : guitar

.. . .

TG221_Essentials_Fig03.mus

Essentials

File Date: 14:46 30/9/11 Page 1 of 1

Essentials

LessonS | Contributor: BARRE CHORDS Chris Bird

Notes: [Description]

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Example 3: transposable chord sequences q =105

. # # # # 4 œœœ & # 4 œœ œ

œœ. œœ œœ

7 7 8 9 9 7

T A B

œœ. œœ œ

7 9 9 9 7

9 11 11 11 9

≥ ≥ TG221_Essentials_Fig04.mus

≥

œœ. œœ œ

7 9 9 9 7

≥

ww ww w w

7 7 8 9 9 7

≥

Essentials

File 14:46 entire 30/9/11 You canDate: easily transpose chord progressions if you use barre chords. The tab here shows a chord progression in the key of B. However, we’ve provided audio versions Essentials of 1 Contributor: Chris Bird inPage B and A.1Just move all the chords down two frets to transpose from B to A. Watch the online video demonstration if it’s easier to see how to do it. Notes: [Description]

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Example 4: ascending chord sequences q.= 72

# # # 12 & # 8

œœ œœ œœ

F#m

œœ œœ œœ

0 0 0 2 2 T 1 1 1 2 2 A 2 2 2 4 4 2 2 2 4 4 B 0 0 0 2 2 TG221_Essentials_Fig05.mus

2 2 2 4 4 2

G#m

œœ œœ œœ

4 4 4 6 6 4

œœ œœ œœ

5 5 6 7 7 5

œœ œœ œœ

5 5 6 7 7 5

7 7 8 9 9 7

≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ File Date: 17:27 30/9/11

œœ œœ œœ

Bsus 4

œœœœ œœ

7 7 8 9 9 7

7 7 9 9 9 7

œœœœ œœ

œœ œœ œœ

7 7 9 9 9 7

7 7 8 9 9 7

0 0 1 2 2 0

ww .. ww .. ww . . Essentials Essentials

With open1chords, Page of 1 the range of notes available is limited to one area of the neck. With barre chords, you can play as far up the neck as you like. This chord sequence Contributor: Chris Bird ascends to 7th position. Experiment by playing even further up the neck, or try a descending chord progression.

Notes: [Description]

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Example 5: arpeggios/partial barres q =72

C#m

# # 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. & # 4 .. T A B

. .

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ.

4 6

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ.

2 6

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ.

Dsus 2

5 4

.. . .

ww ww w w

5 5 6 7 7 5

TG221_Essentials_Fig06.mus Essentials It’s trueDate: that you17:28 can play 30/9/11 arpeggios using open chords, but barre chords extend the range of notes available to you. In this example, we’ve played the arpeggios on the File Essentials first, second and1third strings only. This makes the chords easier to play because you don’t have to barre across all six strings. This is known as a partial barre. Page 1 of Contributor: Chris Bird Notes: [Description] Engraved by DigitalMusicArt.Com

Example 6: difficult key signatures j q q =q q 3

q =108

E b m7

. bb b b 4 œœœœ & b4 œ T A B

6 7 6 8 6

œœ. œœ œ

œœ œœ œœ .

6 7 6 8 6

4 4 5 6 6 4

œœ œœ œœ 4 4 5 6 6 4

D b maj 7

œœ. œœ œ

4 6 5 6 4

œœ œœ œœ . 2 2 3 4 4 2

b Cm7 5

œœ œœ .

4 3 4 3

œ n œœœ œ œ. 1 1 2 1 3 1

œœ œœ œ œ. 1 1 2 1 3 1

Bbm

www ww 1 2 3 3 1

These chords come from the key of B minor – one that’s totally unsuited to open chords. You can easily play in any key using barre chords, though. Have a go at transposing the sequence one or two semitones higher. It’s no harder (or easier) to play, because the shapes always stay the same.

Musician’s Handbook : guitar | 25

Musician’s Handbook : guitar Tired of always reaching for the same boring chord shapes? Read on as we show you some of our favourite chord shapes that are guaranteed to take your playing to new heights

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video

on fil es

inspiring chords Example 1: Melancholic chords

x o

o o

o o o

a dark, moody atmosphere. The open strings enable you to reach notes that cannot necessarily be fretted and have a sad, droning sound.

and cheerful, whereas the latter is sad and mournful counterpart. This is thanks to the change from a major 3rd to a minor 3rd. These shapes all exploit that minor 3rd to create

The minor tonality of these chords creates a sombre vibe that’s perfect for sad songs. If you compare an A major chord to A minor you will hear that the former sounds bright

oo T

o 1

2 3 4

3 4 3

Amadd9

Emadd9

Bmadd11

Dmadd9

Example 2: Mellow chords

o o

o 1

2 2

‘thumb over the neck’-style, but if this is too much of a challenge, you can simply not play the lowest two strings all together. Play along to the samples provided on FileSilo.

by players such as George Benson and Wes Montgomery. The Eadd9 and Fmaj7 chords have an open, airy sound that’s perfect for folky acoustic material. We’ve played the Fmaj7 chord

Try out these shapes for a warm, comforting effect that’s suitable for ballads or mellow jazz tunes. The C#m9 and Am11 shapes shown here are very common jazz guitar chords as used

3 4 C#m9

38 | Musician’s Handbook : guitar

3 4

4 Eadd9

Am11

Fmaj7

Lessons | Rhythm

Example 3: Mysterious chords

x x

1 2

x 4

to finger at first, so try positioning your second and fourth fingers before adding your first and third. Find the files you need on FileSilo and play along.

fight each other. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as demonstrated by these chords, which utilise those close intervals in order to put the listener on edge. The Am9/E chord is tricky

The close intervals in these chords give off an uneasy, haunting air that will give your playing an edge. Two notes that are a tone or semitone apart are naturally dissonant as the frequencies

3 4

4 Emb6

Bbmaj7#11

Dadd9/11

Amaj7#11

Example 4: Tense chords whole song or section, use them fleetingly. For example, if you have a song in the key of A, going to an E chord has a natural, predictable feel. You can enhance things by switching to the

Try out these shapes for an angular, clashing sound that will take your listener by surprise. Tension in music works best in small doses so, rather than using these chords for a

x 1

1 2 4

1 2

tense sounding E7#9 chord. The Caug chord works in a similar way in the key of F major. You can find an example of this on FileSilo, so check it out and play along.

3 4

E7#9

Fmaj7#11

Bbdim7

Caug

Example 5: Uplifting chords

o o 5

o o 7

2 3

x o

1 2

Aadd9 and Badd11 chords use the same shape a tone apart; alternating between them sounds great. The files are on FileSilo for your to listen to and play along.

bright, cheerful sound of major chords, with 9th and 11th intervals added to provide a lushness that works beautifully with a clean electric sound or an acoustic guitar. The

The major tonality and open sound of these chords creates an elating and inspiring atmosphere that are perfect for your upbeat pop songs. These chords are based on the

1 2

1 3 4

3 4 3 4

Cadd9

Aadd9

Aadd9#11

Badd11 Musicianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Handbook : guitar | 39

TGR286.cover_12bar_chords.ﬁg01.musx Riffs File Date: 15:12 28/09/2016 Cover Feature Page 1 of 1 Contributor: Richard Barret

TGR286.cover_12bar_riffs.ﬁg01.musx

: Musician’s Handbook File Date: 15:09 28/09/2016guitar Page 1 of 1

Blues Jam Sessions continued Notes:

Notes:

Blues riffing in A q =110

### 4 & 4 œ œ A

T A B

j q q =q q

TRACKs 52-53

Or just play chords q =110

œ œ

7 5

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j œ œ

‰

9 5

‰

1/4

nœ

1/4

7 5

This simple riff is a great way to outline a 12-bar blues. Cross to the fourth and fifth string TGR286.cover_backing.ﬁg01.musx to outline the D chord, then move up two frets to outline the E chord.

TGR286.cover_backing.ﬁg01.musx TGR286.cover_backing.ﬁg01.musx File Date: 15:26 28/09/2016 File Date: 15:26 28/09/2016 File 28/09/2016 PageDate: 1 of 15:26 1 Page 1 of 1 TRACK 56 Page Notes:1 of 1 Notes: You’ve probably guessed that in a standard 12-bar blues there are 12 bars of music Notes:

œœ œœ

#### 4 . œ & 4 . œœ œ

T A B

. .

j œœ œœ

‰

5 5 6 7

6 7 7 5

œœ œœ œ œ

5 5 6 7 7 5

6 7 7 5

TRACKs 54-55

.. . .

5 5 6 7 7 5

You can play our riff or you can stick with standard chord shapes as we’ve done here. Basic Blues Backing Track We’ve shown an A chord here. Simply use the same rhythm on D12 andBar E chords.

Basic 12 Bar Blues Backing Track Basic 12 Bar Blues Cover Backing Track Feature Cover Feature Cover Feature Contributor: Richard Barrett Contributor: Richard Barrett Contributor: Richard Barrett Engraved by DigitalMusicArt.Com Engraved by DigitalMusicArt.Com Engraved by DigitalMusicArt.Com

How many bars?

(although eight-, 16- and 24-bar patterns are also common). Here we’re looking at a typical chord chart. The | marks divide up the bars of music, whereas ‘’’ lines are a shorthand telling you to continue playing the chord you’re on. We’re in 4/4 time so the chord names and ‘’’ lines indicate four beats in every bar. j q =110 q q = q qj q =110 q q = q q j q =110 q q = q q 3

44 44 1 1

D D 5D

5 5

E E 9E

9 9

’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’ ’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’ ’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’ ’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’’ ’’’’ ’’’’ ’’’’ 3

A A A

’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’’

’’ ’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’’’

’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’’

D D D

A A A

’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’’

A A A

’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’ ’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’’ ’’’’ ’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’’

E E E

’’ ’’ ’ ’ ’’’

Turn around… TGR286.cover_12bar_turn.ﬁg01.musx every now and then! File Date: 14:53 03/10/2016

We don’t mean turn your back on your adoring audience! The ‘turnaround’ comes at the Page of 1pattern, the idea being to lead you back into the start of the progression end of the 1 12-bar with a flourish. Typically, the turnaround is played over bars 11 and 12 and there’ll be two Notes: lines playing at the same time. Simply choose which one to play.

Turnaround bassline ## & # 44

T A B

œ œ œ. 5

œ. b œ.

TRACK 57

~~~~ n œ. n œ œ ˙ ~~~~ E

1/4

This ascending bassline is easy to play. It outlines the change by playing two notes from the A chord (A and C#) before moving one fret at a time to land on an E on the E chord.

64 | Musician’s Handbook : guitar

Now practise… You can’t bank on playing in A every time you jam so aim to learn our tab examples in every key! That means taking each tab example (the riffs, the chord rhythm and the turnaround) and moving them up the fretboard one fret at a time. Move up one fret and you’ll be playing in Bb; move up another fret and you’ll be playing in B; one more fret and you’ll reach C, and so on.

TGR286.cover_12bar_turn.ﬁg02.musx Turnarounds Four minutes Play all four examples in A File Date: 14:53 03/10/2016 Cover Feature Four minutes Play all four examples in Bb Page 1 of 1 Play all four examples in B Contributor: Richard Barret Four minutes Day two Repeat the process in C, C# and D, and so on Notes: Engraved by DigitalMusicArt.Com

Turnaround lead lick ## & # 44

T A B

j œ #œ

4 4

œœ œœ n œ. œ. n œ.

5 5

œ.

n œ œ~~~~˙ 1/4

1/4

TRACK 58

~~~~

This is another easy line to play. Notice that it’s played in time with the bassline, but going down in pitch. The contrary motion is the most essential part of the turnaround.

Lessons | 30 days to Perfect Playing!

Improved Improvs Which notes should you use?

improvise. For example, limit yourself “My improvised solos feel like I’m just to just one scale, or jam over one rehashing the same old licks. How can simple chord vamp. Or limit your jam I improve them?” sessions to one or two favourite tracks We hear you! Improving your so you can get used to their structure. improv skills can be a long haul and The idea is to focus on a few songs, we could fill the book several times TGR286.cover_improvising.ﬁg01.musx scales and techniques so that you over on the subject. You can still find File Date: 16:01 06/10/2016 don’t become overawed by the some easy ways to get started, Page Our 1 ofadvice 1 is to apply some seemingly limitless other ways that though. you could be improvising. limitations Notes: to your playing when you

1 1 1

11 2

12 2 2

Improvis Cover Feat Contributor: Richard Bar 4 4 4 Engraved by DigitalMusicArt.C

3 4 4 4

3 3 3

4 4

E major pentatonic scale

One-note jam

TRACK 59

q = 95

⇤ # 4 ‰ œ ⌅ ⌅ œ ‰ œ ‰ œ~~~œ & 4 R R ~~~ 12 12 12 12

~~~ 12 12 12

12 12 12 12

T A B

E minor pentatonic scale

There are literally hundreds of scales you could use, but we recommend working with the major and minor pentatonic scales (shown in E here) when you’re improvising. These easy to remember shapes are a solid framework to start from. Just use the major pentatonic for major keys and the minor pentatonic for minor keys and experiment with non-pentatonic notes with a more random approach.

. ~~~ . ‰ œJ œ œ œ ⌅ œ œ œ œ

Em7

1 1 1 1 1 1

Limit your ad libs to a handful of ideas to see progress

TGR286.cover_improvising.ﬁg02.musx ⇥ ≤ ⇥ ≤ ⇥⇥≤⇥ ⇥⇥≤ File Date: 15:34 28/09/2016 Okay, sticking to one note might not sound like a recipe for a world class ad lib, but, as a way to practise, Pageit’s1brilliant. of 1 By ditching all the other notes, you can focus on rhythm and dynamics (how loud or soft you play). As your ideas take shape try the exercise with two notes. Try out your Notes:

Improvis Cover Feat Contributor: Richard Bar Engraved by DigitalMusicArt.C

own ideas – our tab is just one possibility.

One-string jam

TRACK 60

! # 4 œ. œ œ " œ œ œ œ œ~~~ ‰ œ. œ " r œ œ & 4 ‰J J œ œ œ œ nœ œ R ~~~ 7 5 7 3 5 3 1 0 12 10 12 7 10 7 5 7 Em7

T A B

##$ $

$# #

##$ $

Now practise… We’ve provided a short backing track (track 62 on your Guitar Skills CD) for you to play over. It’s a simple groove in E, so you don’t need a chord chart – just get jamming.

$# #

TGR286.cover_improvising.ﬁg03.musx

Improvising

The idea here is to confine your improv to one string. Choose an open string that matches the File Date: 15:34 28/09/2016 key of your jam session, eg, use the E string over an bassline in E. Use all of the notes on the Page string and1tryofto 1make a feature of notes that clash (and some notes will definitely clash!) by returning Notes:to them confidently.

1. Backing track – One-note jam Cover Feature 2. Backing track – One-string jam Contributor: Richard Barrett 3. Backing track – Melodic jam

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Melodic jam !

# & 44 œ œ œ. T A B

12 14

TRACK 61

Em7

j œ

˙ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

œ œ œ.

15 (17)

12 14

j #œ

. ˙~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

œ œ œ.

14 (15 )

12 14

j #œ

14 (15)

~~~~ œ œ ~~~~

~~~~~ œ. œ ˙ ~~~~~

This is a big part of improvisation: just play a simple lick or phrase, play it again and then change it bit by bit on each repeat. It’ll make your solos unfold gradually, with a more organic vibe than a series of disconnected licks. We’ve taken a short line, changed the last note and then altered the melody. The possibilities are endless.

Musician’s Handbook : guitar | 65

DRIVE

Achieve rock ‘n’ roll in a box with drive pedals

Overdrive

Drive your tone to breaking point with an organic boost

Distortion

Harder and heavier – gain and sustain at practical volumes

verdrive, distortion and good old dirty fuzz all increase the gain of your signal, but they do so in different ways. All create distortion, so the lines between them can be blurred – the sound of many models genuinely overlaps between the three. Generally, overdrive is the mildest of the trio and has two primary roles: to boost the gain to drive your valve amp into distortion; and to simulate the sound of a valve amp distorting. Most overdrives use gentle ‘soft clipping’, unlike distortions, which use harsher ‘hard clipping’. Clipping describes the way in the guitar signal is compressed when it becomes distorted. The harder it is driven, the more the peak of the waveform is flattened (clipped) to resemble a square waveform with increased harmonics and a lower dynamic range. Overdrive tends to produce a smoother, warmer sound than distortion or fuzz, allowing your amp’s tonal characteristics and your guitar’s tone to shine through more. This makes overdrive stompboxes ideal for a more organic boost that’s used to push the front end of a valve amp, maintaining note clarity with driven open chords or when you’re breaking into solos.

ou probably know the sound of distortion already: from rock to metal, it’s the subject of most guitarists’ first foray into pedals. The harder clipping of distortion can give tones a serious kick. Think of it more as an amp stack in a box, rather than something to complement an already overdriven valve amp. Here, the soundwave peaks tend to be squarer than the smoother peaks created by overdrive. Some distortion pedals enable you to dramatically alter your EQ compared to an overdrive, too. This is especially true of heavy metal-type distortions that can offer super scooping of midrange, to accentuate ‘chunk’. It’s a distinctive sound, but beware: the trade-off is the loss of mids, which can mean the loss of presence in the mix of a band. Less dramatically high-gain pedals can be useful for distortion at any volume – simulating the break-up sound of a valve amp when you’re unable to use it at the volume needed to get those valves cooking. They can also push a breaking-up valve amp to greater extremes of gain. Hard clipping saturation usually compresses your tone, accentuating sustain and harmonics making an ideal sound for leads compared to most traditional overdrives.

Audio on FileSilo

driven rhythm

LEVEL

TONE

DRIVE

Add a touch of reverb and set the gain at about 9 o’clock for a big open boosted sound

try these OVERDRIVES Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer

TONE

DRIVE

Fulltone OCD

DRIVE

Boss DS-1 Distortion

DRIVE

Neck humbucker + medium drive + wah at a fixed setting = Money For Nothing tone!

84 | Musician’s Handbook : guitar

LEVEL

TONE

DRIVE

pro co Classic RAT

Slow metal lead

Mark Knopfler-style drive

TONE

Scoop the mids out for a Dimebag-style razor-sharp distortion sound

Add delay with the drive’s gain and tone controls at 3 o’clock for a piercing lead tone

LEVEL

Drop your tuning and experience the full-on chunk that liquid distortion can provide!

try these distortions

Scooped rhythm

Piercing lead tone

LEVEL

Drop-tuned metal

MXR Custom Badass Overdrive

LEVEL

TONE

DRIVE

Boost your gain and tone, then add some delay for a sustained lead sound

blackstar LT Distortion

GEAR | FX PEDALS

try these Fuzz FX

Audio on FileSilo Stoner rock

LEVEL

TONE

Electro Harmonix Big Muff Nano

DRIVE

Fuzz

Punch the gain (but don’t go too mad), then lower your tuning for woolly stoner grind

Modern fuzz

Old-school gain effect that’s anything but dull – wildness awaits uzz has the bragging rights in this triumvirate of gain – it’s The Don and it was first to the pedalboard, dating back to the early 60s. But it’s no old codger. It makes a statement and polarises the opinion of some players, but fuzz can be a gain effect full of attitude – and the dirtiest filth – that has enhanced everything from The Rolling Stones’ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction to The Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream. A vintage fuzz tone is warm, woolly and fat and increases sustain. These classic units tended to use germanium transistors to clip the signal, but back in the 60s their tolerances were inconsistent, hence old Arbiter Fuzz Faces often vary wildly in gain. Modern examples often use silicon diodes for harsher clipping. So what makes the fuzz fuzzy? The clipping threshold is lower than a distortion pedal – and the resulting wave is almost totally square. With that comes a series of strange and abrasive harmonics, and in extreme pedals an almost synth-like squarewave sound. There are different ways to achieve this kind of clipping depending on the model of fuzz, and that makes them popular with DIY builders and modders.

LEVEL

TONE

thORPY FX Fallout Cloud

DRIVE

Pushing your fuzz through a flanger adds a wild spacey sheen, so just plug in, baby

Retro fuzz

LEVEL

TONE

dunlop Fuzz face

DRIVE

Retro 60s-style fuzz is as popular now as it was then. Here’s a garage fuzz tone

Pitch Shifters/Harmonisers Create harmonies and mimic layers upon layers of lovely guitar

DigiTech’s Whammy transposes between notes using a foot pedal

itch effects of yore weren’t always the most authentic. What used to make your guitar sound like it had been fiddled with by chipmunks has evolved into a useful group of effects incorporating pitch shifting, harmonisers, octavers and DigiTech’s pitch-bending classic, the Whammy pedal. But what are the differences? A pitch shifter transposes the pitch of your guitar either up or down, while a harmoniser blends your original signal with a pitch-shifted interval to create dual guitar lines. An octave pedal is basically a harmoniser fixed to produce notes an octave or two octaves below, while DigiTech’s Whammy uses a wah-style rocker pedal to bend your note. However, it’s not quite as black and white as that, because many of today’s pitch-based pedals, such as the DigiTech Whammy (5th Gen), offer a combination of all of these effects. Until a few years ago, pitch-shifting more than one note at a time (polyphonic) didn’t really work, but the latest breed of pitch-altering effects enable you to shift all six strings at once for electronic drop/capo tunings. Regardless of which pedal you own, most pitch pedals operate in a similar way. For harmony effects, you select the key you’re playing in, set the interval you want the pedal to create, and blend the signals together. For pitch-shifting effects, you simply choose the interval (usually in semitones), and for whammy effects, you set the maximum bend range you’d like the pedal to achieve, then use the pedal to bend your notes up or down as you solo. It sounds amazing.

Musician’s Handbook : guitar | 85

Musician’s Handbook : guitar

guitar hacks you need to know

Forget Life Hacks, it’s all about how to hack your guitar

e live in a world where we’re always looking for shortcuts to help us make the most of the limited time we have. It’s no different with the guitar – we all want to take the time to do things the right way, but sometimes you just want to get on and play. Over the following pages, you’ll find 50 essential hacks to doing just that – easy, quick shortcuts to help you play better, sound better, gig better and get more from your gear…

96 | Musician’s Handbook : guitar

Making music | 50 guitar hacks

Maintenance Hacks Get your guitar in the finest fettle

simply feed the strings backwards so that the ball-end is up at the tuners. This may look ugly, but it saves time and hassle!

Intonate yourself Having your

Snip Your Strings Without Clippers Okay, you’ve restrung your guitar but

Make Strings Last Longer To a

intonation right is vital – without it chords and riffs at the dusty end will just sound bad! Thankfully, it’s a simple enough to do yourself, provided your electric has adjustable saddles. Get your guitar and a tuner, then play a harmonic at the 12th fret. Compare the harmonic’s pitch to the note produced when you fret it normally – if it’s sharper, move the saddle backwards slightly, if it’s flatter, move it forwards (remember FFF: fret, flat, forward). Repeat for the other strings and you’ll be intonated perfectly!

Reduce Nut Friction

If you’re finding that a string suffers from erratic or unstable tuning, it might be because the string is catching in your guitar’s nut. Sometimes this can necessitate the nut being filed, or even replaced, but try lubricating your nut slots first. You can buy bespoke nut lubricants to do this, but a quicker, easier method is to use a pencil in the nut slot of the problem string – the graphite in the pencil lead should smooth up the travel of the strings on the nut.

Change Strings Faster It’s a myth

that removing all the strings at once damages neck, but unless you’re oiling the fretboard or cleaning frets, loosening and snipping off all the strings at once is not the best for speed. The more time the strings are off the guitar, the more chances there are for the neck to lose tension through movement, taking longer for it to stabilise again. Instead, restring one by one – it’s quicker, and you’ll need less time to retune.

Improve Tuning Stability Did you know that having too much string on your tuners can cause tuning stability issues, and so can having too little? To reduce the risk of the string slipping when brought up to pitch, aim to have between two to four turns of string on each tuner post, with fewer on the wound strings.

Speed Up Floyd Rose Restringing Restringing a Floyd Rose

vibrato is one of the most fiddly jobs a guitarist can do, and while some faffing is unavoidable, there is one annoying job you can spare yourself if you’re in a rush. Instead of cutting the ball-ends off your strings to feed them into the vibrato,

there are no clippers to be found. All is not lost - you can clip your strings with nothing more than your hand and some elbow grease. Firstly, take your loose bit of string and bend it against the machinehead so that it bends sharply against the string hole. Then bend the it back and do the same the opposite way. Repeat this a few times until the string snaps, and repeat. This is much easier with the higher strings, wound ones can take some elbow grease, but it will work – it also clips them right at the tuner, meaning no more sharp ends to potentially stab you!

greater or lesser degree, we all sweat from our hands when we play guitar, and over time if left untouched, this will corrode your strings into a dull, lifeless mess. So, whenever you finish playing, take a dry cloth and rub down your strings to get rid of any moisture, and notice how your strings now stay bright and zingy for longer. If you want to be extra conscientious, try washing your hands before you play, too!

set Pickup Heights

The pickups need to be set at the right height – the closer they are to the strings, the louder they’ll be, but that’s not what it’s all about. Humbuckers are the simplest – fret the top and bottom E strings at the final fret and using a ruler, adjust the humbucker’s side screws until treble and bass sides both sit evenly 2.5mm beneath the fretted strings. Single coils are more complicated – Strats should be adjusted to sit with the treble side slightly higher than the bass for a good tonal balance. Fret the two outer strings at the final fret, then adjust the pickups so the polepiece tops sit 2.5mm and 3.5mm from the treble and bass E strings respectively. One thing to watch out for with single coils is wolf notes – these occur when the pickup’s magnetic field is too close to the string’s field of movement, preventing it from vibrating naturally. If you hear these, back off!

Trim Strings Perfectly

Knowing how many winds you need is all well and good, but how do you do it right? Well, if you have a Fender-style six-in-a-line headstock you trim your strings to the right length before you even start winding and still get the right number of turns. It simple really – as you fit each string on the headstock, simply measure your excess to the length of the next string’s tuning post and then clip the rest off before winding it on. Of course, this trick won’t work with a three-a-side ’stocks…

Tune strings Quicker

How often have you restrung a guitar only to find that the damn thing won’t stay in tune properly? Well, grasshopper, that’s because strings need to stretch and settle for a bit. Annoying, but good news – you can speed the process up yourself easily! Starting with the low E string, simply grip the string about half way along its length, and pull it up off the fretboard – not too much, it’s not a bow and arrow, just until you feel it get taught – release, and repeat! Do this a few times on all your strings, and you’ll find your tuning much more stable.

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