Mega Music Talent

Posts Tagged ‘guitars’

If you like music, then you know about an American guitarist, singer and songwriter named Jimi Hendrix. He was classed as one of best and influenced many a budding guitarists with his music.

Though starting in England it wasn’t until the Monterey Festival in 1967 that he was recognized worldwide. He later went on to headline The 1969 Woodstock Festival and with his style of playing using guitar feedback and overdriven amplifiers he turned an undesirable sound into a highly popular type of music.

HIS GUITAR-FENDER 60s REVERSE HEADSTOCK STRATOCASTER

Another amazing artist is Jimmy Page, from England he is also a composer and record producer.
He started out as a Studio guitarist then joined a band called the Yardbirds, which played from 1966 to 1968. He then founded one of best and most popular English bands called Led Zepplin. In rock history, Jimmy Page is a legend in his own right. as a guitarist and songwriter. Page was also ranked the #9th greatest guitarist of all time.

HIS GUITARS-GIBSON LES PAUL CLASSIC, GIBSON CUSTOM SHOP JIMMY PAGE DOUBLE NECK ELECTRIC

You can’t talk guitarists without talking about” Slowhand” Eric Clapton. This English award winning rock guitarist, singer is also a songwriter and composer. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 3 times and was one of the best musicians of the 20th and 21rst centuries. Though he’s tried different styles, the blues are always present in his playing. He has played with Cream, The Yardbirds and blues ?rock band John Mavril & the Bluesbreakers.

HIS GUITAR-ERIC CLAPTON ARTIST SIGNATURE STRATOCASTER

Another great guitarist, from America, is Joe Satriani. His style of instrumental rock music in a world previously dominated by pop opened the doors for a completely new type of music. His blues and rock tone has a warm sound and the influences of such artists as Jimi Hendrix , Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck can be heard in his music.

HIS GUITARS-IBANEZ JS100, IBANEZ JS1000, IBANEZ JS1200

Fame came to Carlos Santana and the Santana Blues Band in the late 60s and early 70s. With a fantastic blend of rock, blues, jazz, salsa using Latin instruments such as congas, and timbales it was a sound with great melody that Santana perfected over the decades to come.

HIS GUITAR-PRS SANTANA II GIBSON SG

AC/DC is an Australian hard rock band and its co-founder Angus Young is an amazing guitarist and songwriter and is ranked in the magazine Rolling Stones list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time at 96th. He is known for his schoolboy ?uniform outfits and his hard edge style lead guitar playing.

HIS GUITAR-GIBSON ANGUS YOUNG SIGNATURE SG

One of the most famous bands of all times is by far The Rolling Stones. One of the co-founders. Keith Richards is a guitarist from England and sings as well as produces music with lead vocalist Mick Jagger. Together they have written and produced many hit songs and Richards is rated number 10 on the Rolling Stones Guitarist list.

HIS GUITARS-FENDER 1950s TELECASTER, GIBSON LES PAUL CLASSIC

These are but a few of the most famous guitarists and the guitars they play!

Author Bio: Download 1000s of guitar backing tracks at PlanetofRock. Imagine playing like you have the entire band backing you up with “live” guitar jam tracks! Download your free backing tracks at the official site now.

Whether or not your need a sound guy for your shows or if you can do it yourself depends on a few factors.

First, you should consider the size of the venue. If you are playing in a small 100 seat bar or venue and the PA you need is not huge, you can do it yourself. It is best to have the mixer on the right side of the stage. If a guitarist or bassist is right handed it is easier to do it on the right side as the neck of the instrument will point away from the mixer and it easier to remove your right hand than your left in mid song if something goes wrong.

However, if you are jamming at some large venue (500 people up) or outdoors it is probably better to hire a professional who can supply the gear and operate the additional equipment you will need.

Another thing to consider is the mixing skills of your band mates. This would include knowledge associated with amplifier wattage, speaker impedance, graphic and parametric equalization, compression, effects, and locating troublesome frequencies that will create feedback (squeal or hum). Don’t forget to consider basic knowledge of dynamic levels, microphone polar patterns, and overall mixing of the sound levels. If your band members don’t know this, you should hire a professional.

Third, factor in the size of your band. If your band is larger than the average five piece all playing a variety of instruments then it’s better to hire a sound guy who knows what he is doing. Also the requirement for microphones, cabling, DI boxes, stands would be huge and possibly too much to do yourself.

Finally, what is your budget? You need to decide whether to invest in a sound system of your own or continue to hire and pay out ‘dead money’ in hire fees. You can virtually buy a good basic PA system for the costs of hiring for year or so if you are playing a few nights per week every week and earning some money. Remember you have to buy many accessories in PA systems but if you are mostly doing small venues and you have someone who can setup and mix your band, you will save a bundle by doing it yourself.

Always listen to the guy perform at another venue to make sure he is the right mixer for you. Many PA/sound guys are really bad at mixing and will tell you they do to get a job. That is why it is important to her them before you hire them. Don’t be fooled by techno babble and smooth talk.

Hiring a proper sound guy is a lot of work. Make sure your bands weighs all the factors before deciding. In some cases, it may be better to do it yourself. If you play a large number of big venues and have a lot of equipment, hiring someone will probably be beneficial for your band.

Author Bio: Matt knows a lot about sound and stereo and has been mixing music for over a decade. For more information about stereo and sound, visit his site about Axebay used guitars and check out the online guitar lessons.

1. How many strings does a guitar have?
Traditionally, a guitar – such as an acoustic, classical or electric guitar has 6 strings, but it is not uncommon to find guitars with four, eight or twelve strings.

2. How does the sound get created in the guitar?
Normally sound from a guitar happens in two ways; acoustically or electrically. With an acoustic sound, the tone is created through the vibrations of the string resonating around the hollow body of the guitar. With an electric guitar, the strings resonate into an electric “pickup” which is essentially a small microphone. Other guitars may generate sound acoustically, which is then amplified using pickups or microphones afterwards. The sound is then amplified electronically which can then be used to manipulate the tone.

3. What is a Luthier?
A Luthier is the master craftsman traditionally responsible for manufacturing (and repairing) guitars and other stringed instruments. Famous guitar Luthiers include Antonio Torres Jurado (the Spanish luthier credited with developing the classical guitar), Paul Bigsby (the tremolo arm) and Leo Fender (Stratocaster electric guitar).

4. What’s different about a left handed guitar?
You play it with your left hand, silly! In all seriousness, guitars can simply be re-strung to be left handed (to put the strings in the right order), or artists can play a normal guitar left handed (as did Jimmy Hendrix). Modern ‘left handed guitars’ are purpose designed for those 13% of the population that are left handed, and are strung differently, often with opposite shaping than those of right handed guitars.

5. What components make a guitar?
We’re not going to go individually into what each one of these components are, but the components of most electric, acoustic and classical guitars are typically the following; headstock, nut, fretboard, frets, truss rod, inlays, neck, heel (acoustic), neck joint (electric), strings, body, pickups, electronics, lining, binding, purfling, bridge, pickguard, vibrato arm and guitar strap.

6. What is a guitar made of?
In terms of the materials used, the non electrical parts of a guitar are traditionally made of wood (such as cedar and spruce for the sound board) and animal gut. In more contemporary guitar designs, more synthetic materials are used such as metal (particularly the string nuts and on resonator guitars), plastic, aluminium alloys and carbon composites.

7. Who makes guitars now?
There are literally hundreds of modern guitar manufacturers in the 21st century, but arguably the most popular. Mass market guitars available to consumers are Fender, Yamaha, Dean, Epiphone, Ibanez, Ovation and Stagg amongst others.

8. How old is the guitar?
Well instruments similar to the guitar have been popular for at least the last 5,000 years probably stemming in ancient times from central Asia and India. The oldest known depiction of a guitar being played is from a 3,300 year old carving of a Hittite bard. The word ‘guitar’ comes directly from the Spanish word ‘guitarra’, which itself probably comes from the Moorish (muslim) introduction into Spain in around 8th century from the Arabic word ‘qitara’ and the Roman introduction of the ‘cithara’ eight centuries earlier.

9. What types of guitars are there?
In truth, there has historically been too many types of guitars to list. With a history of 5,000 years, most are probably lost in the sands of time. Those we know of any commonly use today include electric guitars, normally of a fairly similar construction, and acoustic guitars such as renaissance, baroque, classical, ten string, flat-top, archtop, resonator, 12 string, Russian, acoustic bass, tenor, harp guitar, extended range guitars and battente’s.

10. What was the first electric guitar?
In the early twentieth century, the Electro String company experimented with adding electric pickups to guitar using a solid body. They released their ‘Rickenbacker’ guitar in 1932, which was the first of its kind. Now The Rickenbacker International Corporation, it is now the largest guitar company to manufacture all of it’s guitars within the USA.

Author Bio: This article was written by Charles Oliver Blacksmith in association with Chappell of Bond Street’s left handed guitars, and guitar sheet music shop.