January 6, 2009
| Pro Shop: Finding The Right Guitar |
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| Monday, 23 June 2008 04:28 | |
By Phil Keaggy - GJD ContributorHi Readers and Friends, This is my first of hopefully many columns I wish to contribute to GJD.com. I am excited to share some of my experiences and insight as a guitar player of over 40 years. I appreciate the invitation to do so. For a lot of these topics I will take two approaches. First, giving advice to folks that are new in the world of guitar. Second, I will talk about my own personal experiences. What to look for in an instrument: Let us look at acoustic guitars first...My very first acoustic guitar was an inexpensive Sears Silvertone. I was 10 at the time, so my hands were pretty small. I actually couldn't quite get my left hand around the neck. Years later, as a teenager, I found a nice Gibson acoustic. That was a good match especially since I had grown a bit. So one of things you need to have is playability. You may have a guitar that lacks tone but if it plays with ease, you're further ahead than a great sounding box that is difficult to play. Playability is your foremost concern as a developing guitarist. You want to make sure the neck fits your hand and that you can manage to be able to play your thumb on the back of the neck, while at the same time able to place your 1st finger on the fretboard for the use of bar chords and other more challenging items. My son plays guitar and in his early stages wasn't interested in barre chords", he said "it's too hard to press down the strings." I said, one day you'll be able to make these chords so... here's how! Today, he's a fine player and he plays barre chords that really impress me! Of course, tone is of great importance as well, especially for live performance and for studio work. For live, many guitars are equipped with pickup systems. These pickups are very good for projecting your guitar through a sound system. Many have a combination of both pickup and microphone. That's how my acoustic guitars are set up. In the studio you may want to record the guitar with a high quality microphone and or go directly in via a direct box or pre-amp. I've utilized various combinations in the studio. The nice thing about a mic/pickup combo is that you can achieve more tonality from your instrument. When I recorded my Beyond Nature in 1990, my engineer JB used both a stereo mic set up as well as my internal pickup system. The results were stunning! Lastly, cosmetics are the least of importance, although everyone appreciates the beauty of fine craftsmanship and great wood. I know I do. I once heard a guitarist play at an event and his tone was amazing through the PA. I asked him about his guitar, and he told me how inexpensive it was. It played very easy and had a LR Baggs pickup system in it, similar to mine. It looked like a neglected guitar from a pawn shop, but really had a great sound. The guitar player was good too-that was Roscoe Meeks. Finally, find an acoustic that is within your budget. There are many fine guitars that sound good, play good and look good within a decent price range. Next time, I'll talk a bit more about electric guitars, quick set-ups, and I'll give you some detail about my own personal hand built acoustic guitars. All the best to you pickers--- Phil Keaggy |
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21:41 - 30.09.2008
Spotlight >> Spotlight
A five week long, cross-country tour featuring some of the best known and most respected figures in rock and blues has been set to celebrate the legacy and music of Jimi Hendrix. Presented by Experience Hendrix, L.L.C., the Hendrix family-owned company founded by James A. “Al” Hendrix, Jimi’s father, entrusted with preserving and protecting the legacy of Jimi Hendrix together with musical instrument giant Gibson Guitar, this year’s Experience Hendrix Tour represents a dramatic expansion beyond last year’s seven sold out performances.Read more...
Featured artists who will be performing music written by and associated with Jimi Hendrix include blues giant Buddy Guy, contemporary guitar greats Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Eric Johnson, Cesar Rojas and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos as well as Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford.
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20:53 - 25.09.2008
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Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) and Italian distributor M.Casale Bauer proudly announce the grand opening of the Fender Custom Shop Showcase Italy. It is the third such international exclusive Fender guitar destination, joining the elite Fender Custom Shop Lounge (Düsseldorf, Germany) and Fender Showcase Tokyo (Japan).Read more...
The Fender Custom Shop Showcase Italy is in Bologna, Italy, and is housed in a building by California-born Italian designer Gretchen Alexander. The showroom is located near the offices of M. Casale Bauer, Fender’s Italian distributor since 1962, and was created to provide Fender dealers, their special guests and artists with a comfortable place to find, try and buy some of the most beautiful guitars in today’s market. The showcase features an impressive array of high-end guitars crafted by the master builders of the Fender Custom Shop and provides artists and dealers (and their VIP clients) with access to some of the most unique high-end Fender instruments ever made available in one place. The showroom houses an unparalleled selection of Fender Custom Shop instruments, as well as Bauer’s personal collection, one of the largest and most valuable in the world.
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22:41 - 22.09.2008
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Los Angeles, CA – World-renowned Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel will release Center Stage, a live concert DVD on October 14th via Favored Nations Acoustic.Read more...
The full-length concert DVD follows the recent release of the Center Stage double CD, both having been recorded live for the PBS television series “Sierra Center Stage.” Filmed in eye-catching high definition, every element of modern technology was used in production, creating a stunning package, both aurally
and visually.
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19:09 - 18.09.2008
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Montreal, Canada- September 16th, 2008: Renowned guitarist Daryl Stuermer will be giving Godin Performance Clinics in and around Quebec and Eastern Ontario from September 29th to October 3rd 2008.Read more...
Having performed in studio and toured the world with both Phil Collins and supergroup Genesis for years, Daryl is a player who is on top of his game and has the chops to prove it. Performing as the Daryl Stuermer Duo, he will be accompanied by keyboardist Konstantin Efimov during the clinics and will also be giving attendees his perspective on playing live, recording, technique, and his gear, by fielding a Q&A session after each performance.
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04:29 - 03.06.2008
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (June 2, 2008) -- Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) announced today that it has acquired certain assets of Groove Tubes LLC. Among other assets, FMIC purchased the Groove Tubes brand. Groove Tubes company founder Aspen Pittman will continue in a consulting role.Read more...




By Phil Keaggy - GJD Contributor