For those of you who have pedalboards of any size, I'm sure you're aware of the debate around pedal power supplies. In fact I'm willing to bet that if you're reading this there's a pretty good chance that you've already picked a side. Whether you're on team daisy chain or whether you swear by isolated power bricks, today I'm going to present the arguments for both and share what I've learned in the hopes that maybe it will help you make some more informed decisions the next time you inevitably find yourself sitting on the floor surrounded by pedals, re working your pedal board yet again. Daisy Chains What Is A Daisy Chain?A daisy chain is a simple device that consists of...
If you've ever been on the hunt for an effect pedal, I'm sure you've come across the term "true bypass". There's a good chance you're also aware that the alternative to this is known as "buffered". There has been a sort of long term marketing trend with effects pedals where companies tend to really lean into this idea that true bypass is a desired attribute of any pedal worth its weight. TC Electronics even puts the "true bypass" label right on the face of some of their most popular pedals. But what is true bypass, and is it always preferable over buffered pedals?This article will look at the difference between true bypass and buffered pedals, the pros and cons of both, and some...
Are you looking into guitar lessons? Whether you're about to start virtual lessons, online courses, or in person classes, I've got two steps that you can take before you begin your very first lesson that will save you valuable lesson time, and a whole bunch of headache.A quick side note, please consider checking out this YouTube video I've uploaded that address some of the contents of this article in more detail 1. Tuning Your Guitar Virtual guitar lessons are a really fantastic way to learn to play guitar, but they come with one major setback; If a brand new student comes to their first lesson with a guitar that's wildly out of tune and they don't know how to tune it...
I have had the privilege of teaching many guitarists at the very onset of their journey with the instrument, and it is always an interesting experience. Over the years, I have come to notice how the changing landscape of modern technology has afforded many new guitarists opportunities in their learning that would have never been available to me when I was just starting out. An obvious example is how most people these days have instant access to the entire library of human recording history at their fingertips without ever having to step inside a record store or even sacrifice a single dollar. One fascinating distinction between the modern beginner guitarist and my own experience in starting out is the cheap...
Last week I wrote an article on vacuum tubes in guitar amplifiers. If you haven't read it, you can check it out right here! This article briefly went over the basics behind what a tube is, what some of the popular models of tubes are, and what some of the differences are between tube amps and solid state. This week I wanted to go into a little more detail in discussing how to change the tubes in your amplifier. First, how would you even know if your tubes need to be changed? Second I'd like to talk about buying "matched" sets of tubes and what that means, and finally I want to talk about what it means to "bias" your...
