Types of Guitars

If you have not yet purchased a guitar or have already done so but are not be sure if you have made the right choice, this guide should help.

Guitars come in all shapes and sizes and are produced by many different manufacturers so choosing one can seem a little intimidating at first. The wealth of choices and price ranges alone can make it a daunting task. Let’s first simplify things by breaking it down to the general categories of guitars. As an overall rule there are three basic styles of guitars. Acoustic, electric and classical.

Acoustic Guitars are also known as box, folk or hollow body guitars. They are constructed of wood and normally have a sound hole cut into the top. An acoustic guitar produces sound naturally and does not require the use of amplification to be heard (unless played in a band setting). They typically use “bronze wound” guitar strings and can be strummed with a pick or played finger style. These are by far the most common guitars played by beginning students due to the availability of lesser expensive models and ease of use and transportation.

Electric Guitars are, for the most part, solid body instruments and are wired with “pickups” that magnetically reproduce the sound. As a result, an electric guitar typically requires the use of an amplifier to be heard. An electric guitar normally uses “nickel wound” strings that are usually lighter in gauge than acoustic guitar strings thereby making the electric guitar easier to play. There are good models available at an affordable price but one must also purchase an amplifier to go along with it. Electric guitars are often preferred by players interested in playing rock, blues, metal and lead country styles.

Classical Guitars are similar to acoustic guitars in that they are of a hollow body design and, as a result, do not require the use of an amplifier. They typically use nylon strings which produce a more mellow tone than an acoustic guitar, and tend to have a wider neck, which make them more conducive to a finger style type of playing. They can be easily identified by the “slotted” headstock and slightly smaller body. Classical Guitars are favored by guitarists pursuing classical and flamenco music and are the common choice for students in college guitar programs. We would not recommend this guitar to students interested in playing rock, blues or country music that requires strumming or the use of a pick.

Your choice of guitar is, of course, ultimately up to you and according to what your preferences are. Although the acoustic guitar is the choice of many just starting out, if you know for sure that your goal is to play lead guitar in a rock or blues band then the electric might be a better pick. The classical guitar may not be your final choice but if you have access to one in the early days you will find that the nylon strings are easier on the fingers until you develop your calluses.

At the end of the day the important thing is that you get a guitar that meets your musical goals, budget and that you are comfortable with. Many veteran guitarists have several guitars in their arsenal and I can personally attest to that. I have acoustics, electrics and classical guitars and I play them all according to what type of gig or venue I am playing. If you play guitar for any length of time you will probably accumulate several yourself.

It’s great to save some money in the beginning but try to find a happy medium between thrift and quality. I have seen students who buy a cheap guitar starting out and end up losing interest in playing because they purchased an inexpensive model. These can often be poorly constructed and much more difficult to play. Many of the guitars that are sold at the “big box” discount stores fall into this category. Our recommendation would be to go to your local music store where you can actually “lay hands” on various models.

I know you can save a few dollars buying a guitar online but guitars, by nature, are fickle, and each one plays a little differently, each tends to have it’s own personality. As a result, there is no substitute for picking one out that you can touch and play at a music store with the help of a trained pro.

PRS guitars tube amp line unveiled At NAMM.

PRS....

AFTER NEARLY FOUR years of close collaboration with architect and amp design master Doug Sewell, PRS Guitars has developed a line of tube amps that meet the needs of various playing styles while 

providing unique tonal possibilities. Paying homage to classic American as well as British amps, the line comprises three models: Dallas, Blue Sierra, and Original Sewell.


Producing clean tones that overdrive nicely, the Dallas harkens to the classic American reverb 
amps with more useable gain and slightly fuller midrange. Its percussive attack, sweet highs, and solid lows produce open, three-dimensional tone and huge clean sounds. 

Guitarists seeking classic British and American tones with what Sewell calls "Texas attitude" will likely latch onto the Blue Sierra. Gain structured for equally great clean sounds to medium gain overdrive tones, the Blue Sierra works well with both single coils and humbuckers. Medium gain settings allow aggressive clean sounds to crunch that are easily controllable with pick attack. 

Recalling '50s American amps but with very wide gain structure, the Original Sewell model amp provides expressive tone centering in the medium to medium-high range. Tones are warm and harmonically rich, giving an expressive quality to lead work. Smoothness was emphasized with sweet highs and tight lows surrounding a fat, warm midrange.

(410) 643-9970

www.prsguitars.com

Custom Guitar Video - Ulrich Teuffel - The New Leo Fender

Ulrich Teuffel, German guitar maker, par excellence, is probably the only guitar maker who is as close to Leo Fender and at the same time as far from Leo Fender as somebody could truly be. "My great-grandfather was an engineer, my grandfather was an engineer, my father is an engineer, my other grandfather was a cabinetmaker, my uncle is a cabinetmaker, my granduncle was a painter, so what can I say: becoming an accountant has never been my ambition. An inventor is a bit more my style!"

No one else on the planet builds or designs guitars like Ulrich Teuffel, and the Teuffel "Birdfish" is considered the Porsche of custom electric guitars. Does it actually work? And, what does it sound like? The Reverend Billy Gibbons of ZZTop used it extensively on their album Mescalero and claims that it is second only to his 1959 Les Paul Sunburst Standard, affectionately known as the "Pearly Gates." Any other questions? Ulrich Teuffel never advertised the "Birdfish", and it is limited to 500 guitars. Still, you can find it in every serious book about guitars.

Find out more about the concept behind his "Tesla" guitar: perfecting imperfection. Teuffel's custom electric guitars provide the demanding guitar player with the possibility of opening doors to a new realm of sound. Avantgarde guitarist Henry Kaiser's music gives listeners an idea of what that could mean.

"While the 20th century had Les Paul and Leo Fender paving the way for guitar innovations and cost reductions, Ulrich Teuffel can certainly lay claim to being the most innovative and influential guitar designer so far in the 21st century. All of his designs are completely unique, and they are not just guitars. They become musical artwork, no different than a painting or a sculpture. I have a lot of guitars, but whenever people see my Birdfish, it's all they can talk about!" S.P. Fjestad, Publisher, Blue Book of Electric Guitars

Ulrich Teuffel started a top-secret collaboration with Fender Guitars a couple of years ago. Let me simply call it the "under-cover" project... The plan was to release a new affordable custom electric guitar that is a combination of a lifestyle item and an electric guitar. The Fender R&D department stated that - if there is a new Leo Fender - it truly has to be Ulrich Teuffel.

What happened to that project? Who knows? Maybe it got stuck in the "hoe-zone". I assume it is like this super secret Air Force Aurora fighter plane project. Nobody has ever seen it, but everybody believes that it exists. I have held a prototype in my own hands. I know it exists. I am a true believer, and as well as I know Ulrich, his ideas and projects have all come true eventually.
Custom Guitar Video
Ulrich Teuffel Custom Guitar Video

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Make your own Tube amp, book review

This article is a book review on a series of six books that is the most comprehensive and lucid explanation of guitar tube amp architecture, circuits, tone, components and construction technique for DIYers I have ever found. The review deals with each book separately and recommends purchasing them in a specific order to grow your knowledge in step with your building experience.

Kevin O'Connor of London Power has created a series of books under the main title of "The Ultimate Tone." These books are truly unique and carefully tailored for the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) guitar tube amp hobbyist and boutique amplifier builder. The books have a home-made 'feel' as well... all the illustrations are done by hand and the books are photocopy-printed on 8.5″x11″ paper and bound with plastic spines and clear plastic covers. There are six books in the series now with the most recent being released in the late spring of 2008. You may want to buy the entire series all at once and get a modest savings, but I think you should consider buying them one at a time and digest as you go, building projects along the way. A key point though... you don't necessarily want to buy them in numerical order. I recommend the following sequence:

The Ultimate Tone Volume 3 - Generations of Tone
The Ultimate Tone Volume 5 - Tone Capture
The Ultimate Tone Volume 2 - Systems Approach to Stage Sound Nirvana
The Ultimate Tone Volume 4 - Advanced Techniques for Modern Guitar Amp Design
The Ultimate Tone - Modifying and Custom Building Tube Guitar Amps
The Ultimate Tone Volume 6 - Timeless Tone Built for the Future Today


The Ultimate Tone Volume 3 - Generations of Tone

This is the most important book in the series for the beginning tube amp builder.

Chapters 2 through 4 lay down the foundation of good DIY tube amp construction, filling you in on good electrical connections, grounding technique, lead dress and other wiring techniques, and mechanical layout including assembly methods like terminal strips, turret and eyelet boards.

The subsequent chapters each pick a particular 'iconic' amplifier, each iconic amplifier being a prototypical example of amplifiers of its class, and they are examined in detail as to the circuit topology, peculiar tonal characteristics that result and fatal flaws that the product is notorious for. Kevin provides the original schematics and then shows how you can apply the techniques detailed in the earlier chapters to improve the performance and reliability of the icon without harming the tone. The schematics are redrawn, layouts are provided and mechanical solutions are worked out to make each chapter a complete, self-contained, build-it-yourself amp project.

This process is repeated for several variations of the Champ in chapter 5 (this chapter greatly influenced my own single-ended amp project), then in quick succession: the Bassman, Plexi, 800, Bull Dog, AC-30, Portaflex, SVT, Bass Master, Custom Special, Guitar Mate, Herzog and Laney amplifiers are dealt with.

If you can only buy one book for your DIY guitar amp hobby I'd heartily recommend this one.

The Ultimate Tone Volume 5 - Tone Capture

Volume 5 picks up where Volume 3 left off, with a project-oriented approach and some sophisticated DIY tube amp solutions for guitar and bass.

The book starts off with a chapter overviewing vacuum tube operation called 'tube tone,' followed up by a chapter on guitar electronics and pickup characteristics.

The next two chapters are small projects: Sigma for effects switching and Triple-X for amplifier switching.

Chapters 5 & 6 are on transformers... important components but it made me yawn, sorry.

Starting with chapter 7, all the stops are pulled out and you are in project heaven... Major (200W), Soma 84 (EL84 amp), Standard (the London Power Standard Preamp from 1995 coupled to a 50W amp using four power tubes), Doppelsonde (mixing power tube types), AX84 (discussion on the original goal of a very low output power amp), Kelly (50W from 4 6V6s), and several other projects of lesser scope.

One favorite project I did was based on Kevin's reworking of the HotBox tube preamp pedal from Matchless in chapter 16. I built this pedal in a truly "true point-to-point style" (meaning terminal strips) in a tube pedal enclosure from Doug Hoffman, substituting a Baxandall tone stack and reworking the preamp values to be more Dumble-esqe (non-HRM type).

What would you do to match an amplifier to Yngwie Malmsteen's style? See chapter 18, 'Swede.'

The Ultimate Tone Volume 2 - Systems Approach to Stage Sound Nirvana

Volume 2 is not project oriented. The bulk of the book, chapters 2 through 5, deals with power supply tricks and a comprehensive overview of power amplifiers, including tube, solid-state and hybrid power amps. Chapter 3, on tube power amplifiers, has some very practical information on mods and fixes to Marshall and Fender bias circuits.

I like the 1st and last chapters of Volume 2 the best. The first chapter is a short discussion of sound stages and how you might setup your gear on stage for the best audience/band experience. The last, chapter 6, is called "Pillars of Tone" and in this chapter the major contributors tone at the block-level of a guitar tube amplifier system design are discussed one by one and Kevin provides some very valuable insight into tone shaping throughout the preamp/amplifier.

The Ultimate Tone Volume 4 - Advanced Techniques for Modern Guitar Amp Design

This is the book you'll want to buy if you feel the need to get deeply involved with the power scaling technology that Kevin has developed. Power Scaling, coined and trademarked by Kevin, is the way you can get aspects of power amp distortion (as opposed to preamp distortion) into your tone at bedroom volume levels. Volume 4 is not DIY project oriented but explores the issues, including attenuation, power scaling (both down and up), sag, and power management, tackled by modern guitar tube amp designers.

That said, the second-to-last chapter in Volume 4 might be important for a broader group of enthusiast builders... design philosophy. In this chapter Kevin provides a hierarchical design process that could be used to make key decisions on how you approach your next project.

The Ultimate Tone - Modifying and Custom Building Tube Guitar Amps

There is no volume number in the title of this book, it was the 1st. Personally, I bought it for completeness. I specifically wanted to have the 'perfect effects loop' information, although the loop itself is incorporated into a project in Volume 5. TUT also has some excellent material on reverbs and signal switching methods that is not explained in the other volumes. The first half of TUT introduces/overviews tube amp systems, power supplies & grounds then focuses on preamp and power amp modifications to commercial amplifiers (e.g. Marshall / Fender)... if you are totally new to tube electronics you may want to buy this 1st volume at the same time as Volume 3.

The Ultimate Tone Volume 6 - Timeless Tone Built for the Future Today

In many ways, Volume 6 is a continuation and extension of the material in Volume 4, where Power Scaling is introduced. In Volume 6 a new 'direct control' version of Powerscaling is featured which was introduced in Vol 4 but flushed out with comprehensive circuits and applied to 'sag' and sustain control as well in Vol 6. The new scaling circuits have many advantages for a DIY builder like greater noise immunity and less sensitivity to layout, etc.

I applied the new DC Power Scaling to a Trainwreck clone project and was really impressed with the improvement in 'playability' at lower volumes... the unmodified Trainwreck Express circuit is just too loud for domestic use, needing to be cranked to get the sweet tones it is renowned for.

One of the chapters in Volume 6 is dedicated to the Dumble amplifiers... something I was really looking forward to since many of my hobby projects focus on those circuits. I found this short chapter to be a good introduction to the overall architecture of the Dumble amps, written from the point of view of the evolution from the early modified standard amps that Alexander Dumble started out doing, but I felt the chapter fell short in discussing some of the more important subtleties of the later Dumble models.

Volume 6 also has lots of other material in it, including a great tutorial on designing really high output power amplifiers and a great chapter on high gain amplifier designs with real-world circuits referenced and detailed.

In Summary...

Kevin's books have a very empirical approach. He encourages you to set aside convention in some instances or not be afraid to try combinations of tubes or even pulling tubes and in all cases clearly explains why it is o.k. and points out any reasons why it wouldn't be o.k. All the examples in the books are very practical and he certainly has the DIYer in mind as he is writing.

Kevin's body of work is truly encyclopedic in nature, and considering that, one feature sorely lacking from his books is any kind of indexing... this is aggravated by the fact that Kevin constantly refers to previous writings rather than repeat himself in a new volume, and it is very difficult to put your finger on the reference even with the other book in hand. Perhaps search engine technology, like Google's ability to search protected content, could be put to good use in this case and provide a kind of 'auto-index' on the web of all of Kevin's books without actually giving away the book itself. Or better yet, how about an e-book format of Kevin's entire collection of TUT books... I think all of the e-book readers include searching capabilities... and Kevin's hand-drawn schematics would probably scale adequately and be very readable on the e-paper displays these devices feature.

Meanwhile, how do you get Kevin's books today? The best way to get the books is to directly order them from London Power Press. They now have a shopping cart on http://www.londonpower.com.

About the author: Mark Roberts blogs on DIY tube electronics at TubeNexus.com. He is avidly involved in guitar electronics as a hobby and dabbles in boutique effects pedals as a business with Cause & Effect Pedals. Please visit the TubeNexus Blog at http://tubenexus.com for more articles and book reviews about DIY Guitar Tube Amplifiers and Effect Electronics.

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I know it's only Rock and Roll, but I like it!

If you are like me the phrase “too many guitars” is not a concept I can understand. I mean the ladies like shoes and hand bags….and most have a similar feeling regarding the numbers involved. So why are we poor put apon men so hassled about our guitar gear?

I have a modest collection with a standard Fender Telecaster, a Keith Richards type Fender Telecaster with a Seymour Duncan Jazz humbucker on the neck and a Texas Special on the bridge, three Fender Stratocasters, a deluxe, a red USA Standard with Texas Specials and a Frankenstrat with a Warmoth swamp ash body and Hot Alnico Fender pickups and a Wilkinsons bridge….after that a Epiphone 335 with Seymour Duncan humbuckers last but not least a Tokai Les Paul (Japan) and again with a set of Seymours! Nearly forgot the Ovation acoustic!

To compliment a Marshall TSL602, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Blind Dog, and a Laney LC15 tube amps. With effects from Boss, Nady, Electro Harmonix, pedals modified with Monte Allums kits, a TC distortion, a VOX Big Ben, a modified RAT, Dunlop Wah, etc.….. plus two boards, one with two channels switching.

No that’s modest when a friend has 17, OK a lot are FrankenStrats and Teles…but still reasonable. What would I buy if I could, maybe a Suhr or an Anderson. Possible ENGL or a 57 reissue Fender twin..or even a Cornforth. Part of the fun would be looking and trying and deciding.

The biggest regret was selling my Fender 59 Bassman, without dought the best clean sound I’ve ever heard. The trouble was the clean was so good when played through pedals…good but suffered compared to the clean sound.

I’m currently trying to get back in to a band…..just got to join one who’s standards are low enough. I enjoy playing…..isn’t that why we do it.

We are not expecting to be playing at Glastonbury next year….a pub would be just fine!

Source GMP

Guitars, amps and effects

Yowza! Did you hear that hideous noise? It sounded like a combination of nails on a chalkboard, a cat in a dryer, and a baby wailing at the top of his lungs. Do you have any idea of what made that awful sound? As a long-time musician, I think I may have the answer for you. It's a guitarist fiddling for the first time with his new amp.

Before I bought my first amp, I wouldn't have thought that a human could produce such a horribly wretched sound. But, now I know better. In the process of finding the perfect settings for your guitar and amp, you are sure to discover all kinds of disagreeable screeches and squeals, shrieks and screams. And, believe it or not, these unpleasant and often other-worldly sounds are all part of the learning experience.

I've often been asked to give beginners online advice on how to dial in their amps and guitar settings. For a number of reasons, this is no easy task. As you know, the experience of sound is totally subjective. What I may like, you may not. This said, it's hard to give definitive advice about guitar and amp settings.

So much is involved in getting the sound just right for your tastes-including the room you're playing in, the gauge of your strings, the guitar you're jamming on, and the type of amp itself. All of these come together to create a playground for experimentation: a place where you can twist this knob here and turn that knob there and, before you know it, you're a musical stylist, an expert in designing the perfect sound.

I can, however, offer a few general tips that might help out as you begin playing with your amp.

Always start with your dials pointing to 12 o'clock and twist and turn from there. 12 o'clock will give you the baseline to work from and you can let your ears tell you what does and doesn't work from there.
No matter how many other bells and whistles your amp has, you're almost always looking at a four basic areas you'll be most interested in learning how to manipulate:
Treble Adjusting this setting will affect the amount of high end in your sound. If you go big with treble, you'll end up with a very sharp and crisp sound. However, if you go too big, you'll likely end up with a harsh sound.
Middle The mids can be the most important setting to your overall sound. Adjusting these settings can really impact the overall character of your sound. Low settings can give you the classic rock-n-roll sound, while higher mids will take you down the honky-tonk, bluesy path. Play around with the mids to really see how much change you can create in your sound with the simple twist of a knob!
Bass If you like that deep, booming sound, you'll definitely want to go fat on your bass. On smaller amps, however, you might not be able to get the full effect of the bass simply because of their size. But, no matter how you like it, be sure to see how the bass and treble can work with one another to create your ideal sound.
EQ / Filter / Tone/ Contour They're called by different names on various amps, but they all do the basically the same thing: adjust all of your basic settings (e.g., treble, mids, and bass) with one knob. If you want to find out what the maker of your amp considers "correct" settings, play with these knobs to hear how your treble, mids, and bass all can work together for radically differing results.
If you've got a valve (tube) amp, be sure to:
always replace the whole set when even just one tube blows
never move your amp while it's still hot
be extra careful that you line up he pins in each tube perfectly with their corresponding holes on the amp
To make sure you keep your amp in top condition, be sure to:
keep your amp in a dry location
always use the best quality leads (guitar, speaker, microphone, and effects)
always have your amp serviced by a capable technician


In the end, you have to know this one rule of amps: there is no right or wrong way to set it up. If you like what you hear, you've done a great job. If you don't like what you hear, remember the settings and the sound and don't dial those in again. Experiment, experiment, experiment and have fun!
Jon Butt is the publisher of Musical Instruments Guide , a free resource dedicated to all things musical. From electric guitars to drum sets, tubas to bagpipes, and every musical accessory in-between, the http://www.the-musical-instruments-guide.com/guitars.html">Musical Instruments Guide is packed full of informative articles, find top-rated musical instruments and online merchants

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