Stealin' Time - an original martysguitars tune

Here's a tune I wrote and recorded years ago when a good buddy of mine foolishly gave me a song from his band to try remixing. I did give him a mix - which he didn't use :) but i also liked the drums so much that I wrote this tune over them. They are played by the wonderfully talented Mr Christopher Armstrong and have great groove and fills.

Anyway, I thought I'd resurrect the tune to coincide with my new video camera purchase, to test it out along with my amateur film making skills.

Enjoy. Share. Rock.

Peavey 5150 vs Orange Micro Terror

My good friend and 5150 fanboy (and rightly so) needed a home practice amp which could perhaps double as a "fly-rig". We discussed this at length and in a wonderful act of synchronicity an Orange Micro Terror came on the second hand market. Sorted.
And just for laughs he decided on comparing the 120 watt valve-burning Peavey rock machine with the 20 watt hybrid pocket sized amp.
Interesting results.....(I believe the cab is a Marshall 1960 with Celestian Greenbacks.)

5150 (Peavey 5150 w/ Maxon OD808. Recording using t.bone MB-75 into Logic. No post EQ.)

Micro Terror (Orange Micro Terror w/ Maxon OD808. Recording using t.bone MB-75 into Logic. No post EQ.)

Check out his new band The Crawling.

Steve Vai Lesson: The Crossroads "Intimidation Lick"

Stumbled across this fantastic lesson which appeals to my nerdy guitar analysis of how players play.

Axesrus "Totally Tappable" Telecaster Blade Humbucker Pickup test

I recently picked up a REALLY cheap Telecaster copy which actually played OK. It was an attempt at suppressing my desire for a Fender Richie Kotzen Telecaster model. That may or not happen but I think I'll be slowly upgrading this cheap one to resemble the Kotzen model albeit on a vastly reduced budget.
So, first things first...let's get a humbucker in this bad boy. The Kotzen model has a Dimarzio DP384 Chopper T in the bridge so I had a look out for budget versions of this and once again those great guys at Axesrus came through. Like the Dimarzio, it's a rail type humbucker in a single coil size enclosure but it differs in that the magnet is Alnico 5 (not ceramic) and the resistance is around 13.5k (as opposed to 9.19k) .

I got it wired in and gotta say that I'm really pleased with it. I made a short video of it, which is embedded below. Enjoy.

Signal chain: Axesrus "TT73" Pickups in a no-name Chinese fake telecaster into Focusrite Saffire LE into Guitar Rig 5.
Wired straight (but they can be coil tapped)

Video shows:
1. Clean Country type twang
2. Driven amp
3. Cranked Marshall
4. Zeppelin-like Marshall
5. Van Halen type gain
6. Slayer - yes, Slayer!

Note: I have no association with Axesrus. This video  is for demonstration and entertainment purposes only.

Passive pickups EMG HZ4 and 4A vs active pickups EMG-81 and EMG-85

Quite a few years ago, I obtained a very nice Epiphone Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom. This came as standard with EMG HZ4 and 4A pickups which are the passive version of the popular active EMG-81 and EMG-85.
Being a typical guitarist, I had to have what Zakk had, and bought a set of active EMGs. Luckily in the interests of science and improving mankind's musical progression, I had the foresight to record a sample of the sound prior to the pick-up swap. I was then able to record and compare this to the new pick-ups after installation.
The samples were recorded on the same day, with the same settings and strings.
I'll not tell you which pick-up is which in the sample, but I was surprised at the result. Enjoy!

10 things I learnt from Carl Verheyen

I was very fortunate to attend a fairly intimate workshop by LA guitar wizard Carl Verheyen. By my own admittance, I had never heard of Carl in the past, even though I have been playing and following the world of guitars for over 25 years.

His mainstream guitar media presence is limited and overshadowed by the more excessive and hence media friendly names. Not that he is wants for success. Indeed, I would suggest he is financially and artistically doing just peachy and is one of the top go to guys in LA for sessions and sidemen work.

Perhaps he needs a public drug overdose/addiction or a spat with a big public name to climb his mainstream profile. Or perhaps he is doing just fine. I think it's the latter.

Anywho, here's 10 things I learnt from Carl's workshop.

1. Take a scale (say C major pentatonic ; C D E G A).  Go from the lowest note that's (possible to play on the guitar) in the scale,  E in this case and climb the scale to the highest pitch note you can. Repeat this for each mode and scale.

2. Don't climb (or descent) scales in a fixed pattern, move along and across strings in random ways
3. Create a lick/riff book with musical idea's that sound like You. Constantly add and review this book, building up your Own voice.
4. Learn every note, every position on the fretboard.
5. Learn and experiment with chord voicings and inversions to change or add to the colour of the song and even sit better in the band mix, example take the third of a major triad and raise it an octave.
6. If you hear something you like, no matter what instrument it originated on, learn it. 
7. Transpose songs to different keys. This tests your knowledge and puts you in a great position for playing along with others who prefer a different key
8. It is possible to be very successful, musically and financially in the guitar world but be relatively unknown in the popular media world.

9. TV and advertisement work can earn really good money
10. And finally, Carl Verheyen is an exceptional guitar talent and a an all round nice bloke! Oh, yeah and "tab is for pussys" (his words, not mine).

  

Be sure to check his website and music out, and if I had to compare him with another player, I would gravitate towards Guthrie Govan,  due to the sheer encyclopedia-like knowledge and ability to play fluidly in any style he likes.  Breath taking.

http://www.carlverheyen.com/

Thanks to Amped Promotions and Livewire Workshops for bringing Carl to our little City. Kudos.

New Carcass album teaser - surgical steel and Bill Steer's Les Paul Custom

A huge influence to me growing up, Carcass have a new album ready to ship in mid September and it sounds jolly good!

And to keep this guitar related, check out Bill Steer's latest squeeze which appears to be a very discoloured Norlin-era (1977?) Gibson Les Paul Custom. 

Looks pretty stock (sans pickguard off course!) and sounds great tuned to B!

Check out some information about Carcass in the studio, their recordings and gear they used in the RESOURCES section of Martysguitar.co.uk here