I have been using the new Guitar.com for a day or so now and I feel I have experienced it enough to give you my initial impressions.

It really really wants to be a Web 2.0 site, but sadly, it’s not. The site has a very Cliché CSS look, but the feel is lacking. The problem is the website is full of content that looks like you can edit it inline, but in actual fact you can’t. When you hit update it submits the information old-web style and refreshes the page. Because of this, I really don’t like the way the profile editing is setup. If you click edit beside more than on field, and then click update, it will only update the last one you edited - this is annoying and time consuming if you want to update more than one thing at once.

Don’t get me wrong, I do like how you can create a complete profile full of all your favorite artists, music, videos, and gear. I think this is the essence of what the site is supposed to be about. Guitar players love to talk about gear and music. The fact that you can earn money from suggesting gear to others is interesting too. The problem is the whole site feels like it is focused on selling first and being a community second. An example of this is when you are adding all your gear to your profile, it clearly just searches Musician’s Friend. So if you have gear that is not currently available for purchase, you can’t add it to your profile. Despite the fact that my 81/85 EMG Pickups and Line 6 Spider II amp are very popular, they are not available on musiciansfriend.com, so I couldn’t recommend them. This is problem with the music recommendation section as well. If you do a search for an album that is not currently available on iTunes or Amazon.com you wont be able to add it to your profile.
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I know, in my previous post I bashed the Logitech Z-2300 speakers for not being as crisp and clear (and cheap) as the superior Creative GigaWorks T20. In all honesty I do believe the T20s have a better overall sound. However, there is one area where Logitech’s THX 2.1 speakers excel and that is volume. I’m not exactly sure what the specifications are for THX certification, but I think there is a rule in there that says they must maintain a specific level of sound quality at a high volume. The thing I love about these speakers is whether I have them just loud enough to hear or cranked to 11 the sound quality is the same.

I think my one complaint is the size of the subwoofer. Although it’s size is nice for playing games because you get that rumble when things explode and whatnot, I find music sound quality is slightly diminished. Because I have the speakers above the desk and the sub below there is that separation of the sound. Also, because the speaker cables are only a few feet long your are limited with how far you can move the sub.
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Creative has a great product on their hands with the GigaWorks T20 speakers. To be a serious guitar player one thing is usually true… you have to love music. If you really love music then you’ll want it to sound as good as it can when you listen to it.

Now I know what you are thinking: “they don’t even have a sub”. Well it doesn’t matter. I bought these speakers for my girlfriend’s Mac Mini and they have better sound then my 200-Watt Logitech 2.1 THX-Cirtified Z-2300s. Creative has incorporated this new feature that they call BasXPort which basically puts a sub in both of the two speakers.

From the Creative website:
BasXPortâ„¢
Acoustically engineered to enhance the lower mid range tones. This is done by efficiently channeling sound waves from the inner chamber to the soundstage, for fuller, more encompassing sound.

This BasXPort technology means the speakers can produce better bass then possible with a 2.1 setup.
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There are many different guitar tuning tools out there ranging from chromatic tuners to self-tuning guitars. The String Master Robotic Guitar Tuner falls somewhere in between.

For the guitarist who doesn’t want to tune his guitar, but doesn’t want to buy a whole new bridge and nut system that’s required for a self-tuning guitar, the Robotic Tuner is here for you. The tuner acts the same way a standard chromatic tuner does, but comes with a tuning peg attachment that tightens your strings for you.

All you have to do is plug your guitar into the tuner, put the tuner over a tuning peg on your guitar. Then pluck the string and the tuner will do the rest. The tuner’s motor turns the tuning peg up to pitch and then will beep when it is in tune. The unit runs off of a 9-volt battery.

The Zakk Wylde Signature Les Paul is one of the most popular signature guitars from Gibson. The original features a stunning black on antique white bulleye trademark paint job and a raw oiled maple neck. The Zakk Wylde CAMO is an alteration of that 80’s Les Paul using a black on camouflage for the bullseye.

The body is a 1 piece mahogany back under a carved maple top decorated with gold hardware. For sound it sports the signature EMG ZW (81 neck/85 bridge) active pickups for playing those heavy screaming Black Label Society riffs. I have the ZW set in my Les Paul and I couldn’t imagine another pickup for playing metal. Active is the way to go if you ask me. The sound of the overdrive is unmatched and the sustain is infinite. (more…)

As we all know ESP is pretty much the guitar when it comes to metal. The company has 17 different signature models and most of them are for metal guitarists. The first thing that catches my eye about the Ninja is it has this classic flying-v look with an edge. The guitar was introduced like many others at 2006’s NAMM show. It comes in black and has chrome hardware and chrome pick guard.

Some of the features of the guitar include a set neck, 2 volume controls, a 3-way pickup switch, and Seymour Duncan pickups with a JB at the bridge and a 59 at the neck. For the shredder in us all the headstock sports Sperzel locking tuners and 22 XJ frets. To add that extra signature look the rosewood fingerboard has X shaped ninja star inlays. (more…)

Yngwie Malmsteen is sort of in a genre of his own. To call his music metal is sort of a stretch by today’s standards. Regardless, the guy can shred better than 90 percent of the players today, and without him, shredding wouldn’t be the same.

Inspired by to pick up guitar by powerful footage of Jimi Hendrix sacrificing his axe, Yngwie (Ing-vay) started playing with Hendrix and Deep Purple as his influences. Later he would become interested in classical composers like Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi. Studying classical music, Malmsteen developed his own style of neo-classical metal. (more…)

All of the guitars I have ever owned have been fixed bridge guitars. I have always associated tremolo’s (wammy bars) with people like Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and John Petrucci. Since that is really not my style of playing, I have never really had much of an interest in using one.

However, lately I have been learning a lot of metal and there are more and more riffs which are hard to play a fixed bridge. Players like Alexi Laiho and the late Dimebag Darrel use them regularly in their leads. As a result I have been thinking about purchasing a guitar that can free me from the shackles of my fixed bridge.

The reintroduction of the Kahler 2300 tremolo was announced in March 2006’s Guitar World Magazine. The 2300 was popular in the 80’s, but as the hair metal music of the 90’s faded and the grunge movement took over, the bridges were in less of a demand. Kahler discontinued the bridge in the 90’s but interest lately has prompted them to reissue it. (more…)

It’s always fun to play with another guitarist. But what if you have the urge to jam but can’t find anyone to jam with? Sometimes when you are writing songs you need someone to play the rhythm part so you figure out a solo. Have you ever been the guy who has to play that rhythm over and over again?

The DigiTech JamMan Looper Phrase pedal is the solution to all of those problems. The JamMan is a 24-minute looper that allows you to record and play back up to 99 tracks. You can record your rhythm, record a lead, and then record a harmonizing solo on top of that.

This isn’t your ordinary looper though, it’s packed with tones of exciting features. The pedal supports compact flash cards up to 2GB to allow for 6 and a half hours of loops. It comes complete with a USB port for downloading your tracks to a computer. To help you get those loops just right it also has an auto record function to start when you start playing.

The pedal is a standard stomp box style floor unit. It has two switches, one to control playing and recording, and another to control the built-in rhythm and tempo features. If you have difficulty keeping your timing without a beat track the JamMan is for you. It has a simple percussion function that will have listening to a bass and cymbal track with a few simple toe taps. The JamMan isn’t limited to just 4/4 timing either.

In addition to the compact flash and USB ports the JamMan includes a mic Input, aux Input, and a port for an auxiliary footswitch for added live control.

ature Overview

• Compact Flash Slot supports up to 2GB of storage (128MB Included)
• 99 Loop Banks
• USB Port for downloading loops to a computer
• 44.1k Sampling rate
• Rhythm function with tap-tempo and multiple time signatures
• Sturdy stomp box metal casing
• Included power supply

For any guitarist who loves jamming this is the one pedal they should have in their setup. It is also an essential tool for the songwriter.

Ever want to take your electric guitar somewhere but hate lugging around your amp? Well the Marshall Micro Stack MS-2 Mini amp packs all the punch and tone of a Marshall half stack in a 14cmx11cmx6cm package. It sports the classic Marshall look yet is small enough to fit into your guitar case. The MS-2 includes 1-watt of raw output power, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a headphone output port. There is a switch for moving between clean and overdrive modes, but for independent gain control you’ll have to move up to the MS-4 full stack. The unit is powered by a single 9-volt battery and comes with a fancy belt clip.

There are three different versions of the amp available. All have the same technical specifications; the difference is in the look. The MS-2 has the standard Marshall look of white on black with a gold faceplate. The MS-2R is the same but bares a blood-red color. For a classic look the MS-2C is decorated with a checkered fret cloth and gold Marshall logo.

To sum up the features:

• 14cmx11cmx6cm size
• 1-watt output power
• Single tone knob for full treble to bass focus
• Single volume knob
• Switch for clean and overdriven
• Headphone jack
• Powered by a 9-volt battery
• 3 color schemes to choose from

For more power and a full stack look you can go with the MS-4. This amp also provides a gain control knob.

If it’s Marshall it’s usually black. Not the new Limited Edition DSL100SL Stack though. In response to artist and consumer requests for different colored amps Marshall has released this limited edition stack. In fact, it’s so limited there will only be 200 half stacks and 50 cabinets available in the US. This is the first time a modern Marshall amp has not had the signature gold faceplate since the Silver Jubilee models in 1987 when Marshall celebrated its 25 year anniversary.

The special edition amp includes a modified version of Marshall’s 100-watt Dual Super Lead head (JCM1960ASL) and straight (JCM1960BSL) cabinets. The set is running for about $2,599 USD.

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I had a buddy when I went to college who used to rip all of his music to his computer and pass it through a BBE Sonic Maximizer plug-in before he would listen to it. He said after listening to the optimized sound he couldn’t go back.

BBE Has introduced their popular rack sound processor in a stomp box format. Naturally through every connection and wire that sound travels between your guitar and your amp it looses quality. The BBE Sonic Stomp is put right before the amp to regenerate that lost sound. It is there to create more fullness, clarity, and presence to the sound of your guitar.

Guitar World reviewed it in their 2006 Holiday Guitar Review Guide and said “The BBE Sonic Maximizer’s patented BBE High Definition Sound process - which helps correct the effects of phase and amplitude distortion, improving music’s punch, presence, definition, and harmonics - is now available in a compact and gig-friendly pedal; the BBE Sonic Stomp. Powered by a nine-volt battery, the sonic stomp packs the same processing chip found in the more expensive, AC-powered units.

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I took computer engineering in college and our final semester was a project semester. For the 4 months we were to work on a project that included all of the software and hardware skills we had learned throughout the two years. I had an idea for a guitar that had LED’s on the fretboard that connected to a computer. I thought it would be a great training guitar for beginners and for experienced guitarists looking to learn new scales.

After doing some planning we realized it was beyond our budget and technical ability, so we scrapped that idea. About a year ago I guess, a friend of mine forwarded me this link to the Fretlight 421 Standard. It seems as though while we were planning this project, someone had already gotten it working. Not to mention much nicer than we ever would have. (more…)

The Strobopick is a stroboscopic guitar tuner. What is that you ask? Well the Strobopick website says that “By shining a flashing light at a vibrating string you can clearly see whether the string is in tune with the light source. StroboPick emits 6 light frequencies matching standard guitar tuning with great precision.”

Now just incase you are confused, it’s not really a pick, it’s just a tuner. It may be shaped like a pick, but you are not supposed to use it to play, only to tune.

The only thing with this though is that it is set to tune for standard tuning. If you regularly tune of out standard tuning this wont really help you.

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The Spider II 212 is a model amp that has 12 different sounds. I have owned one for almost 2 years now and its great practice and jam amp. The Spider II sports 12 different amp models that give you the sound of popular amps by Marshall, Fender, and others. They allow you to change the sound of the amp for playing all sorts of different styles from rock, to blues, to metal. The amp also has 7 different effects including 3 delays, 3 echoes, and a reverb. Also, there is a built in tuner. While it’s pretty good for basic adjustments, I still like to use my box tuner for tuning. Finally the amp has 2 12″ speakers that pump out a loud 120W of sound.

Musician’s Friend reviews the amp and says “The Spider II’s 12 amp models are double the number on the original Spider, and they’re a very useful selection. From soft jazz to pounding power chords, you just turn one knob to access the right amp for the feeling you’re after. Six bicolored LEDs around the knob let you know which of the 12 models you’ve selected.” (more…)