Posts Tagged ‘Guitar Amplifier’
The acoustic guitar can be played with a guitar amplifier or without one, this makes it a very versatile guitar. This is accomplished by the sound hole in the base of the guitar.
Acoustic guitars are often overlooked, especially by someone just getting into playing guitar, maybe because they are not as sleek looking as electric guitars. Maybe it’s because mainstream rock and roll relies on electric guitars for that rock sound. The truth is there is room in rock for electrics and acoustic guitars as each one gives off an entirely different sound. Everyone who plays guitar should have one of each if they want their sound to grow.
By most, Jimi Hendrix was the best electric guitar player of all time. His unique sound was gotten through experimentation. Instead of purchasing a left handed guitar he took a standard stratocaster electric guitar turned it upside down and restrung it.
This might not sound like much but a strat’s pick-ups are engineered to give the higher strings more emphasis, by doing what he did his low strings were more pronounced. Combined with Marshall amps that were cranked up to the max to give the ultimate feedback he created electric guitar packages that were unique to him.
Terry Kath was one of the founding members of Chicago. He took a standard telecaster and changed out the bridge pick-up with that of a Gibson pick-up. By doing this with just a flick of a switch he could either have the sound of a Fender or a Gibson.
These two examples show what can be done with a little creativity. It doesn’t matter, cheap electric guitars or expensive ones, don’t be afraid to experiment to find that special sound that belongs to you.
Buddy Holly gave us rock and roll while The Beatles took it to another level. The Beatles gave us a thirst that could only be quenched with the purchase of our own electric guitar packages. They gave us a curiosity to not only listen to rock but also want to play it.
Next up in my defining bands is The Jimi Hendrix Experience. I don’t believe there is anyone on the planet that is not familiar with Jimi Hendrix. With the help of his standard right hand stratocaster electric guitar rewired and turned upside down, and his Marshall guitar amplifier he made us a sound that I like to call controlled feedback. He is to hard rock and heavy metal what Buddy Holly and The Beatles were to rock. Jimi Hendrix has been voted best guitarist ever and his influence with those choosing to play electric guitars still exists today.
If you are a bass guitar player like me, or you play an acoustic or electric guitar, we have something in common. Guitar players unlike other musicians like to collect quite a few electric and acoustic guitars over the life of their music careers.
It’s a good thing for us that some the best things in life are cheap electric guitars, and cheap bass guitars. I make a statement like that because anybody who plays either electric, acoustic or bass guitar know that over a period of time you get itchy. That curiosity takes us over, you know the one that has you wanting to try another style guitar, or maybe a different guitar amplifier. It’s a good thing for us there’s something called electric guitar packages, and they are affordable and in any style guitar. With the help of electric guitar packages or bass guitar packages not only can we own many styles of guitars but we can also have different amplifiers to satisfy our curiosity.
Listening to your favorite electric guitar player or band have you ever wondered how they get that great sound. The answer lies in the very expensive electric guitar packages that they can afford.
Even if all you can afford are cheap electric guitars it’s easy to achieve some great sounds of you own with a little experimenting. The professionals play using what is called a pre-amp. A pre-amp is nothing more than what it sounds like, an amplified signal that is amplified again. Some expensive amplifiers have this built in to it, but you can achieve the same thing by using the two guitar amplifiers that you received with your electric guitar packages, and plug one into the other while plugging your electric guitar into only one of them. By doing this you are using one of your amplifiers as a pre-amp.
Playing electric guitars or bass guitars is rewarding, but it is a long journey getting there. Like sports playing guitar takes practice, lots of practice.
In the beginning practice is easy, maybe because you are new to playing and the novelty hasn’t worn off yet. As you get on you start finding excuses why you can’t practice like, my fingers are shredded from practicing scales the day before. The solution is really quite simple, change up your practices, one day practice scales and the next day practice chords. Try learning a new song for one of your practices, or perfecting a song that you already know.
If you know a group of musicians try switching your electric guitar with that of another , and let him try yours. Don’t stop there, try changing out your guitar amplifier with one from someone else and explore the different sounds that can be achieved. All these things are part of the learning curve needed to become a good guitar player.
While being an extraordinary instrument to listen to the electric guitar is also an outstanding instrument to play. Teamed with a guitar amplifier which is the basis for electric guitar packages it can be strummed, or played in a finger-picking fashion.
Besides the truss rod adjustment to help tension the neck properly, the other adjustments will be made at the bridge. Everyone knows enough to tune their guitar by tuning the turning pegs on the the headstock until the desired note is achieved, but they often overlook the intonation. Intonation is when the open string is the same as the note played at the twelfth fret. There are times however when the intonation cannot be achieved the shortening or lengthening of the string which is what the bridge adjustment will do for you, when this happens try adjusting the height of the string, this is also done at the bridge. I have found that if a string is set too high it can’t be adjusted properly.
When you think about it the guitar be it an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar is a very versatile instrument. There is countless ways in which it can be used. Team it up with another guitar of a bass guitar, you can use it as the lead instrument or for rhythm just playing chords.
The guitar can be used in conjunction with an organ or piano, a saxophone, or even a cello, just to name a few other instruments. The guitar can be strummed or played with a finger-picking style. The guitar comes in different styles as well, there’s a solid body guitar that needs assistance from a guitar amplifier, an acoustic guitar that can be played with or with an amplifier, and don’t forget about the jazz guitar like the Chicago Jazz guitar made by Glen Burton guitars. This guitar will give you warm tones when played through an amplifier, unlike that of the twang sound of a solid body guitar.
After your purchase of an electric guitar package you practiced and learned how to play your electric guitar very well, in fact so well that you either joined a band or started your own band. A lot people think all you have to do is find other people with electric guitar packages and bass guitar packages plug in and start playing. To some extent that is true with one exception, doing a sound check.
Your band can consist of some of the finest guitar players you know but if everyone is playing so loud that it drowns out the other members in the band you just won’t have a good sound. Once you learn how to adjust our guitar amplifiers for you optimal sound people will start to take notice. The blending of the sound between the electric guitars both lead and rhythm and to the bass guitar is what will define your sound and make people start to take notice.
There has been no shortage of great guitarists since the late 1950′s. It started with Buddy Holly, while he may not have been one of the greatest people who played guitar his innovative music style and vision made it possible for others to follow.
The 1960′s brought us George Harrison whose name never seems to be mentioned when it comes to electric guitars, and for the life of me I don’t know why. He brought us a jazzy style of playing chords, along with a stylish way of playing lead solos which is quite evident when you listen to his version of “Till There Was You”.
The discussion of great guitarists lost isn’t complete without making reference to what most people would call the greatest of all time, Jimi Hendrix. He was the master of electric guitar packages, using a right handed strat electric guitar restrung and turned upside down so it can be used by a left hander, along with a Marshall guitar amplifier cranked up to give an over-driven sound, and he was also an innovator when it came to the use of various effects pedals.