Long before the advent of rock and roll, and high-speed shredding was a key part of any lead guitarist’s arsenal, there was jazz. Bold techniques, inspirational improvisation, and encyclopedic knowledge of music weren’t just desirable for post-war jazz musicians. They were a minimum requirement. Among the kings and key innovators in the genre was Wes …
Whether you are looking for an amp to serve as a clean pedal platform or looking to highlight the natural sound of your guitar with smooth clean tones, an amp with enough clean headroom for your volume needs is a critical factor in dialing in your sound. Oftentimes, clean guitar amps are also capable of …
When it comes to creating unique guitar tones, effects pedals provide musicians with the platform to express themselves in an original and interesting way. Indeed, amplifiers and guitars have a notable impact on the tone and style of a guitarist, but when you throw effects pedals into the mix, a new dimension of possibilities opens …
Tube amps are often perceived as being louder than solid-state amps, which is technically true. A low-wattage tube amp, of say 10 or 15 watts, will actually sound as loud or louder than a solid-state amp of 50 watts or more. Speaker impedance, which is the amount of resistance that a speaker offers to the …
Chris Stapleton wasn’t always going to be a musician. Born into a family of coal miners in Kentucky, far from the bright lights of Nashville, Tennessee, he was a high school football player. Stapleton actually enrolled in Vanderbilt University to study engineering, when his prolific songwriting habit led him to leave for Nashville. Upon arriving …
Few guitar players have managed to redefine the boundaries of the art of guitar like Polyphia’s mastermind Tim Henson. Even fewer managed to do so in the twenty-first century, when it seemed like all that could be said on the electric guitar was already said. After all, didn’t Eddie Van Halen already redefine guitar as …
Throughout the history of solid-body electric guitars, there are a few electric guitar designs that have become an icon of American music and culture as the Fender Telecaster. You might think of guitars like Stratocaster or a Les Paul, but the oldest and the original, iconic American solid-body guitar is the Telecaster. Telecasters are the …
Bruce Springsteen, aka The Boss. Frontman of the E Street band, sleeves rolled up, leading nightly worship at the church of rock and roll. No singer or songwriter before or since has so relentlessly and so wholeheartedly documented the distance between the American dream and American reality. Armed with his Fender Esquire, a book brimming …
Dave Matthews burst into the spotlight in the 90’s as one of the most unique guitar players of the era. His band, The Dave Matthews Band, which he fronts as both the lead vocalist and primary songwriter, has been one of the most commercially successful live acts of the last 25 years. In this article …
Harmonizer pedals often go under the radar, perhaps because of the similarities they share with pitch-shifters and octave pedals. However, these devices produce a unique effect that is well suited to a wide range of styles and genres. Over the years our team at Guitar Lobby has owned and tested dozens of these pedals, and …