Canada's international reputation is predicated on a few, fairly odd stereotypes. Sure, we do have lots of moose and beavers hanging around outside, and I have been told by my largely American family that the way I say "about" is objectively incorrect. However, one of my favourite things about Canada is something that never makes its way into the stereotypes, and that is that Canada is home to some truly innovative and high quality guitar manufacturing. Maybe you've heard of some of the larger Canadian guitar manufacturers like Godin or Larivee or even Boucher (if you haven't then you should definitely check them out), but I wanted to take an opportunity to shine a light on some smaller, independent manufacturers. This...
For many years the only decent guitar that I owned was my trusty Fender Stratocaster. That guitar got me through all four years of my music degree, and I used to joke with my Dad that what he and my Stratocaster had in common was that I couldn't afford for either of them to retire. I still have my Stratocaster, and due to those formative years spent with it I feel like I'm able to pull whatever tone is necessary from it. I feel comfortable bringing it to a top 40 gig, a rock gig, a country gig, whatever the job calls for and I will be ok. A contributing factor to the diversity of the Stratocaster in my opinion has always...
When I was in high school, a good friend of mine snapped the neck of his bass guitar while trying to adjust the truss rod. Since then, I have learned a great deal about how to maintain my own instruments, but because of this shocking incident during my adolescence where my friend snapped his neck simply by turning an allen key, I have always avoided any attempt at truss rod adjustments. That is, until recently.Thanks to lockdown caused by the corona virus, I have been unable to take my guitars in for regular maintenance the way that I would have in the past. This means learning how to do some things that I might not normally do on my own. I...
I'm sure I'm not the only guitar teacher who occasionally finds themselves sounding like a broken record. Time and time again when discussing a challenge a student is facing, my advice is almost reflexive. "Why not try slowing it down using a metronome?" "You're having issues with your picking hand? I suggest you take out the metronome and try slowing it down". Borrowing from my parents play book who would hide my vegetables in different dishes so as to disguise their presence in my food, I have taken to creatively rewording this advice to students who have studied with me long enough to sense when it's coming. "Try going into your settings in YouTube and changing the playback speed to...
As you may or may not know, I live in Toronto, Canada. February in Canada is cold and as the temperature comes down, we tend to turn the heat up inside. While this is really rather mundane on the surface, indoor heating can make our living spaces very dry. Given that most guitars are built from wood, and given that wood is a substance that absorbs water, the humidity level that your guitars are subjected to is of great consequence when it comes to their proper care and maintenance.In this article I'd like to talk about the role that humidity plays in the construction of guitars, what effect humidity levels can have on your guitars, and finally some practical ways...
