Written by Happy NGD on June 28th, 2010
Had this amazing submission come in by one of our awesome readers that I definitely have to show off. Really good build here! I have to say, this is certainly a great alternative to a more expensive Fender Custom Shop piece.
Tell Us About Your New Guitar:
This guitar is a prototype project that I made aiming at creating a strat style guitar with basic looks and sounds of a 62-ish fender with a few modern features. Japanese 21 band rosewood fretboard neck and alder body with candy apple red finish from Hosowaka. The pickups in it are for the moment Dimarzio virtual vintage ‘54 neck and ‘54 bridge, but I’m probably replacing them with Lundgren pickups (http://www.lundgren.se/). Classic Kluson style Gotoh tuners together with Graph-tech saddle and two-point pivot Wilkinson tremolo provides classic look, nice sound and increased tuning stability, compared to the specifications of 60’s Fenders. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: NGD's
Written by Happy NGD on June 21st, 2010
Back a few years ago, I had this really nice white Fender American Strat. That guitar was damn nice but I felt the need to get a little more into a “shredding guitar”. Luckily, my friend just happened to have this Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci Signature guitar sitting around and he and I decideed to trade my Strat and a laptop computer for the Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci Signature. Quite a trade!
Back then, I also had a Genz Benz El Diablo 100C that was a perfect match for this guitar.
The Guitar:
My Petrucci was the regular six string version in black, no piezo, DiMarzio humbucker pickups, birdseye maple neck (unfinished bare wood) with a rosewood fingerboard, basswood body, Music Man floating trem, and locking tuners by Schaller. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
Written by Happy NGD on June 21st, 2010
Probably one of the most important pieces of gear for a guitarist that uses a small 1×12 combo amp is an amp stand. Your ears aren’t at your ankles, are they?
Sure, you can use milk crates, chairs from the bar, or any other device necessary but really, for the price of a good amp stand you will never have to worry again about whether or not you can find something to get your amp off the stage floor.
A small amp off the floor = greater chance of hearing yourself when you don’t have the luxury of a decent monitor set up.
That’s it for today’s “quick guitar tip of the day”!
Posted in: News
Written by Happy NGD on June 20th, 2010
Back a few years ago, I was looking for a new guitar to add to the collection and decided it was time to own a Paul Reed Smith. I didn’t have a lot of experience with them at the time and had one played a couple at the local guitar shop. On a bit of a whim, I bought one off a guy online who lived about 6 hours away from me. He shipped it up to me on the bus. It is probably the best guitar purchase that I have ever made online!
Actually, I got it about a few hours before a gig that my band at the time was playing. I actually ran home to pick it up while setting up for that gig after my girlfriend had gone to the bus stop to pick it up for me – exciting day! I didn’t play it for the gig but it was cool to have a PRS as a “back up guitar” for that night!
First, let’s talk about the features of this guitar. Bolt on wide fat neck, 5-way rotary pickup selector switch, locking tuners, 22 frets (there’s a 24 fret model too!), two Dragon humbucker pickups, alder body with a sweet maple top, PRS tremolo and a maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
Written by Happy NGD on June 20th, 2010
Every guitar player eventually discovers that not all guitar picks are created equal. A pick is a flat tool usually held with the dominant hand and used to pluck the strings. The most common shape used is a triangle that has two identically rounded corners and one that is less rounded. There are many styles of picks to choose from and they can be manufactured from a wide variety of materials.
D’Andrea Picks manufactured the first plastic pick in 1922. Before that, they were handmade from tortoise shell. Luigi and his son, Tony, came up with the idea of using plastic after finding sheets of celluloid that looked like tortoise shell. Picks made out of stone can be crafted by a mason but may also be found with a natural shape and thickness for use. The tone created by a stone pick will depend on the type of minerals it contains. Metal picks produce a bright sound.
photo credit: matsuyuki
These days, plastic picks can be found made out of celluloid, Lexan, nylon, Ultem and Acetal, just to a name a few of the materials that are commonly used. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Commentary
Written by Happy NGD on June 18th, 2010
I’ve decided to do a new feature here at happynewguitarday.com. At the end of each week, I am going to get everyone up to speed on all the new guitar happenings that occurred during that week. Now let’s get to it! This week included some new releases by Eastwood Guitars, Gibson Les Paul, and LYT Pedalboards.
If you are looking for a unique left handed guitar, the new lefty Eastwood Guitars release of the Airline Map are just the thing that you are looking for. I’ve never had the chance to play an Eastwood so I don’t have an opinion there but I do love the look. Kind of retro and futuristic at the same time.
… continue reading ⇒
Posted in: News
Written by Happy NGD on June 17th, 2010
Back when I started playing guitar the internet did not exist, there were no online lessons, youtube instructional videos, webcam guitar instructors….nothing like that. The closest thing we had to this at that time were a few guitar magazines that had about five song tabs per month and a couple lessons (with no audio!).
You kids these days have it so much easier! LOL!
Since I started blogging about the guitar, I have read quite a few excellent posts on other guitar sites and blogs that I wished I would have had back when I first started playing the guitar. Things would definitely have been a lot easier then.
Here are some of the most excellent blog posts and guitar related articles that I have seen over the past little while online. Hopefully, if you are either a new guitarist or seasoned guitar veteran, it will allow you to increase your guitar knowledge and playing abilities: … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Commentary, Education
Written by Happy NGD on June 17th, 2010
Awhile back, I decided that I need to find something in a guitar pedal that would give me a bit of a power boost during lead breaks. With the set up that I had at the time, I was finding that my solos were sometimes getting a little buried in the mix during rehearsals and live shows. And I couldn’t have any of that!
After checking out a bunch of different ideas — everything from EQ pedals, distortion and overdrive pedals, and anything else I could think of, I settled on the perfect solution – an Electro-Harmonix Nano Linear Power Booster LBP-1. This has to be one of my favorite pedals in my signal chain. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
Written by Happy NGD on June 15th, 2010
With the way that technology is going now, there are many different ways that you can use your computer as a guitar amp. It just takes a couple different products and software packages and you are good to go. Not only that, but you will have an array of different guitar amp models to choose from.
Note – for this article, I am just going to give a brief overview on what exactly you need in order to get set up to use your computer as a guitar amp. Think of this as the first installment because I will soon be adding product reviews as well as other more detailed how-to’s in the very near future to help get you set up with the perfect computer/guitar practice set up.
photo credit: eyeliam
… continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Education
Written by Happy NGD on June 15th, 2010
Awhile back I found myself in need for a new guitar tuner pedal so I started doing a little research for a good one at a decent price. Tuners can seem to range in just about any price but while looking I came across the SE-PTN Matrix Pedal Tuner from Artec so I bought it.
Just like all other tuner pedals, this one has the usual input and output so that you can put it in your signal chain. Takes a 9 volt battery that is easily accessible from the bottom of the pedal or you can use an AC adapter.
The build itself seems very sturdy. I’ve abused this quite hard on stage and it has never failed me over the past year or so that I have had it. It’s pretty much made entirely of rugged metal. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
