Nethan Vines

Working on increasing your picking speed is not just for the hell fire speed wannabe’s. Once your speed increases your whole style of playing loosens up. Your fingers will feel light and flexible and you’ll gain much more freedom in your playing. Your fingers will float easily across the strings without trying so hard. It’s an important skill to work on and to maintain. Increasing your picking speed comes with obstacles, victories, ups and downs, lots of patience and hard work. It’s all about practicing and equally important “the right way of practicing”. Just practicing a lot of hours doesn’t necessarily increase your picking speed if you don’t do it the right way. One can get genuine guitar picks from FaberUSA - Online store for guitar parts. Every individual has it’s own specific hurdles to overcome, but if you focus on these tips you are already off to a great start. You can do it too! 1 –  Practice slow Most people know this already but don’t have the patience ...

I cover pick choice and pick technique in detail in my course Rockstar 101 – Essential Guitar Skills For Beginners but today I`m going to give you some specific advice about choosing the best guitar pick. A few hours ago I finished a lesson with a student who has been playing for roughly 9 months and is making great progress. We had a very productive lesson, and it`s a lesson I often enjoy teaching as it`s one those lessons where a  small change makes a BIG improvement for the student . It is the lesson where I go though which I deem are the  best guitar picks – especially for beginners.  I show the student a variety of guitar picks and we look at which ones are suitable for which type of  song, guitar and genre  of music. By the end of the lesson my student knew exactly which 3 picks he likes for which song, guitar and genre and we both both noticed big improvements in the sound coming from his guitar. This information helps to unde...

Guitars are amazingly durable instruments – but they need a little help once in a while to function properly. Whether you play jazz, metal, classical, virtually any style, your guitar will suffer the stresses of string pressure and, because it’s being manipulated by a guitar player, succumb to the normal effects of wear and tear. This means the gear will need some form of maintenance and even the occasional setup. You can have a reliable individual do this for you, for a price of course, or you can do it yourself. Personally, I’ve found players fall into basically two categories: those who have no problem spending the money to have the work done for them, and those who are hands-on preferring to do the work themselves. A Few Tools Since we’re not servicing jet engines, the tools we need are fairly humble. Here’s a short list: Side Cutters String Winder Large and Small Philips Screwdrivers Large and Small Flat Screwdrivers An Assortment of Allen Keys ...

One of the first things a new guitarist learns is how to tune their instrument. The accepted method of tuning (EADGBE, from lowest to highest string) is known as standard tuning. It has been in use practically since the guitar was converted from a five-string to a six-string instrument in the 17th century and serves most guitarists quite well. But there's more than one way to tune a guitar. In fact, the number of tunings at your disposal is limited only by your imagination. Guitar tuner buttons play an important role to make it a perfect one. Alternate tunings are deviations on the tried-and-true standard tuning. Open tunings refer to any tuning that forms a full chord when all open strings are strummed together. They are common to blues and folk music as well as for playing with a slide or bottleneck. If you've never heard of alternate or open tunings, or if you've shied away from giving them a go because you find a departure from the ordinary utterly baffling and a bi...

Next, set the action by adjusting the height of the saddles. Saddle screws can vary, so use the wrench that came with your guitar. For this Strat, I used a .050" hex key. 1. Tune the guitar to pitch. 2. Place a capo on top of the 1st fret. 3. Measure the action at the 12th fret using an action gauge or precision metal ruler as described in Step 1. 4. Beginning with the 1st string, turn the height adjustment screws located on either side of the saddle to raise or lower the string to your preferred height. For a modern Strat fretboard with a radius of 9.5"–12", such as on this guitar, official Fender specs are 4/64" for both the 1st and 6th strings. However, string height is personal, so this measurement will vary according to your technique and string gauge. After each adjustment, retune the string you’re working on and re-measure the action at the 12th fret. 5. Repeat this process for each string until you have the action where you want it. The go...

Your guitar comes with a whole panoply of features that should be able to tweak to get it into shape, and most of these adjustments can be made with nothing more than a screwdriver, a little care, and some patience. Find out how… Warning/disclaimer  The information in this article is provided free of charge, in good faith, and on the condition that it will only be used responsibly and entirely at your own risk. The procedures outlined are based on 20 years experience of tweaking guitars, and have been confirmed through consultation with professional luthiers, etc., as good practice. However, even something as simple as adjusting a pickup may be fraught with danger – simply dropping a screwdriver can horribly damage the finish on your guitar. It is up to you to proceed carefully and at your own risk, taking note of all the tips, tricks, and warnings where applicable. Guitar set-up and troubleshooting So, you just bought a new guitar and it’s producing ...

Do you own a Gibson guitar? Do you know what it's weakest point is? Let us show you a very common repair that we do here at the shop. The way that vintage Gibson guitar parts are constructed- with a tilt back headstock, and no reinforcing volute in the back of the neck- makes them very susceptible for breaks. The wood gets really thin right between the nut slot and the truss rod channel, and if you rock too hard, or your case isn't up to par and your roadie tosses it in the van, or your Gibson experiences any other kind of shock (airplane ride?), this is usually the first thing to give. Fortunately, in most cases, this is not a complicated repair. Owner of this guitar came in with little hope. The neck was cracked in several places, and the more cracks, the harder it is to put together. They were also really long, following the grain of the wood.  The neck had to be properly prepped- any debris and slivers that were in the way of the pieces closing back together had to ...

This way you can do some research on it and ask other people their opinions about the guitar you want to buy. You can also find out if the asking price is a fair one. Buying a used guitar is a lot easier if you already know a little bit about the type of guitar being sold. Ask the seller how long they've had the guitar and what repairs or maintenance it has had. If the seller is honest with you, which they should be, they will also let you know about any problems or scratches or anything that may need to be addressed in the future.   Used to be the only places to pick up used guitars were from music stores, flea markets, or from the hands of friends looking for some quick cash. Today we also have the Internet and sites like eBay and Craigslist. While most guitars you find in a reputable music store have been checked out by the shop's in-house repair team and are sold at a fair price, this isn't always the case with instruments acquired sight unseen. If at all possibl...

An acoustic guitar, in the recording studio, should always be mic’d (if possible, with a stereo microphone configuration). That said, it is obvious that in a live situation, rehearsal or in the absence of adequate gear, recording the guitar becomes a problem. The most widespread method is certainly that which involves a piezo-electric pick-up: alternatively, during the years, magnetic pick-ups (pick-up placed in the sound hole), contact pick-ups (normally installed inside the instrument), microphones and hybrid systems have also become popular. The magnetic pick-up has a huge advantage: unlike all the other systems listed, it is the only one that provides a non-permanent and non-invasive installation on the instrument. Magnetic pick-ups, in fact, being very similar to electric guitar pickups, sound best when placed under the strings towards the centre / neck side of the instrument. The particular shape allows you to hook them to the sound hole of the...

Learning to play an instrument will be one of the best things you do in your life. It’s so much fun and is great for your mental and physical health. Learning to play the guitar is one of the most popular choices as it’s highly fashionable with young people. It’s a skill you won’t ever forget, and you can definitely use it to impress your pals. It’s also easy to move around from one place to another. Here are some of the real benefits of learning to play the guitar. It’s great for your memory One of the real benefits of learning to play the guitar is that it’s great if you want to improve your memory. You have to remember where to place your finger and how to strum, as well as having to memorize a number of tunes. It takes a lot of concentration to be able to remember lots of different chords. Research has found that learning how to play an instrument can improve your memory on the long-term as well. It’s great for understanding music better Another real benefit of learning ...

There is a multitude of reasons for wanting to learn to play guitar. Perhaps it is a desire to lead campfire sing-alongs that inspires you, or a particular band that blew your mind and made you want to do more than just  listen  to music, or perhaps you're looking to impress a certain someone, or many someones for that matter. But did you know that playing the guitar is actually good for you? The following are ten reasons why you might want to take up the guitar pronto, none of which involves fame, fortune or the sexy factor. 1. Stress Relief If you've ever had a bad day and turned to music for relief, you already know something about how it works to reduce stress. Music is a natural soother. It releases endorphins, those feel-good chemicals, in the body. Playing the guitar, or any instrument, has a calming effect on the mind and body. Studies show that music not only reduces stress, but it helps to lower blood pressure levels as well. According to the Mayo Clinic, music is...

An antique object is the one which is at least a hundred years old. There is no particular definition to explain what exactly vintage is, but typically those guitars which are around 30 years old fall in the vintage category. In reverb, things that are created prior to 1980 are known as vintage. If you are a guitar fanatic then purchasing a vintage guitar is something priceless. There are a few things which you must keep in mind before purchasing a vintage guitar because, with time, the guitar parts may need replacement also. Finding vintage Gibson guitar parts is a challenging and costly affair if you are not sure where to purchase these parts from. If you find an individual seller then it is vital to ask them questions ahead of time and keep an ongoing communication with them. If you go through Reverb then the staff at Reverb will help in the deal from the beginning to end and as they offer protection as well, you can buy without any problems. It is good to buy vintage Gibson guit...