I know, circuit diagrams can get really confusing. This has all the answers:
Image courtesy of the comedic genius of xkcd
Alternate picking is an important technique to improve speed and accuracy in playing. And I’m really inconsistent about it. Problem is, the usual “finger gym” exercises are just so boring to play!
So my suggestion is to find a great song that’s fun to play, figure it out (write it down if you can), and use it as your exercise. Start slow, then try to get it up to speed.
Lately, I’m playing Hysteria by Muse. Excellent song! The intro bass part is great to play on guitar (see my transcription at right), and of course the guitar solo is a great finger gym exercise too. Alternate picking throughout.
Justin Sandercoe also has a great online lesson for Hysteria. Check it out.
I’ve been asked a number of times whether the polarity makes any difference when connecting the common guitar tone cap, and I always answer No.
Electrolytic caps are polarized, and can fail or explode if you connect them up backwards. But we don’t use electrolytics for guitar tone – the caps we typically use (polyester film, paper-in-oil, etc) have no significant polarity.
Now, film and foil caps (like Orange Drops and Mallorys) do have an outside foil-wrapping which is used for shielding and is connected on one of the leads of the cap. Ceramic and silver mica caps aren’t built with an outside foil wrap.
Apparently, according to this article by Dirk Wacker in the new issue of Premier Guitar, it may actually make some difference to the sound which way you connect the outside foil of a cap.
I haven’t noticed it myself, but it obviously depends on the guitar, pickups, amp, wire, capacitors, and the ears 
Caps aren’t typically marked for which is the outside foil end- and I don’t know of any way to tell which is which. So, in short, try your tone cap both ways and if you hear that one way sounds better than other, then go for it. If you don’t hear a difference, don’t worry about it!
There are a variety of expensive “boutique” guitar tone capacitors out there, which I haven’t tried and didn’t include in my tone cap comparison project.
I just came across this audio comparison by “Kernel of Wisdom” which examines a bunch of the more expensive tone caps including a vintage bumblebee, modern bumblebee, Jensen Paper-In-Oil, Vitamin Q, and Luxe Grey Tiger.
Have a look and a listen!
When learning a new song, it’s really helpful to be able to play along with the original track, and slow it down while preserving the original pitch.
Without special processing, if you just slow down audio playback, it’ll get lower in pitch (remember slowing down a spinning record and hearing it get low and slow?). And if you speed it up, it’ll raise the pitch (chipmunks!)
I use the tape deck in Native Instruments Guitar Rig, which is great. It lets you slow down the audio, independently change the pitch if you want, set loop points, and speed up/slow down the track.
Being able to control the pitch independently of speed is great for playing songs that are not tuned to standard A440, without having to retune your guitar. Some examples I like to play are Weezer’s Say It Ain’t So (which is tuned down a half step), and Police Every Breath You Take (which is tuned down about 70 cents).
Of course Guitar Rig models an entire rack of gear and effects, along with a nice looper, so it’s a pretty amazing tool for playing and learning.
I also found (but haven’t tried) some simpler standalone slow-downer tools like:
Guitar & Drum Trainer
The Amazing Slow Downer For Windows
Free online Shockwave app Slow Notes (which looks promising but didn’t work for me).
As part of their 25th anniversary celebration in 2010, Korg USA is giving away a free tuner every Monday through Dec 27, 2010.
Click here to enter to win (no purchase necessary).
Full disclosure: I work for Korg R&D – so I’m not eligible to win one
What can you not do on an iPhone?!
Check out these new inexpensive amp/pedal modellers for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad:
| Peavey AMPKIT LiNK | AmpliTube iRig |
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Not to mention there’s a whole bunch of guitar apps for tuning, chord dictionaries, etc.
Amp up your mojo with this strummable guitar shirt.
You touch the frets and strum with a magnetic pick and it plays through a little clip-on amp stack, which goes to 11 naturally.
Who says we can’t be both geek and guitarist?
They also have a drum shirt with the speaker/battery-pack embedded in the hem.
See the ridiculous band video here.
Just wanted to pass this along in case anyone missed the news from E3.
Rock Band has been an entertaining way to introduce my kids to playing music. Cue my daughters singing Eye of the Tiger!! But it’s a bit frustrating for me that the guitar controllers really don’t introduce the gamer to the skills needed to play real guitar.
That’s about to change in Rock Band 3 with a new Fender Squier "hybrid" guitar which can be used as a controller for the game. It looks like a real guitar, plays like a real guitar and possibly actually is a real guitar- tuned strings, fretboard, pickup(s) and all. There are corresponding new “Pro Guitar” tracks in the game which feature a sliding fretboard and all 6 strings. There will also be a more toy-like Fender Mustang Pro guitar controller (pictured at right) which has 17 frets with 6 buttons each, and six little strings (presumably unpitched) to strum – it’s still a toy, but a big step up from the current guitar controllers which have 5 fret buttons and one strum switch.
Engadget has some great photos of both new Fender guitar controllers in action.
The new Rock Band will also feature a two-octave keyboard, and more realistic drums with cymbals.
I’ll be curious to see how this turns out as an actual tool for learning. I love the idea that Harmonix is tricking gamers into learning to play actual instruments.
Meanwhile, I’m giving my kids piano lessons the old-school way – with a book and a piano!
Finally! Time to ditch the cardboard and reinstall the electronics into my Epiphone Riviera P93.
In this two-part video, I demonstrate the trick to getting it all back in though the f-hole. It ain’t easy, but trust me- you can do it. Just be prepared that it may take a few tries to get right. Expect to get everything half way in and then realize that something’s twisted or upside-down, requiring you to pull it all out and start over. It’s no big deal if you’re expecting it
And how sweet it is to have it all back together again.
