New Guitar Strings

Guitar strings do loose its tonality, intonation, tone, etc., when strings becomes old. Basically, we do have physical contact with the strings, and most-likely, most of the dirt and moisture from our finger will be transferred to the strings. This is bad because strings will tend to go dull and rusty, so it will become inaccurate. Besides, you will actually notice the difference, and when this time comes, change your strings.

There are tons of good strings to choose from. It is all up to you, and choose that best suites your playing and of course your desire. There are strings that are made to last longer than usual, and those are engineered with a good technology. But of course, there are some up and downside. The important things is the strings are fresh. There is actually no specific time that will tell on when to replace strings. Sometimes your strings-life can take 2 to 3 weeks, or sometimes shorter. Well, artists do change strings between concerts actually, to provide them the tone accuracy and precision. Try to listen and feel what your guitar is saying, and that will tell you on when to replace the strings.

Also, you will also get a chance to clean your fretboard thoroughly because it is wide-free to clean.

Well, I am talking in general, and it could be the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, bass, whatever... Fresh strings will give you great tone, and the feel of their full capability.

Changing Guitar Strings

Changing guitar strings is very important, because it is where the notes of our guitar comes from. There are actually tons of guitar strings available these days, and they only differs in very little tonalities. Choosing the guitar strings will depend on the player, and we are free to explore.

Anyway, when is the right time we need to change guitar strings? Actually, it is very simple. If you notice the difference on the intonation on any fret, then that is the time you can change them. Others actually only change their guitar strings if they are not already playable and full of nasty rust. There are times that out of tuned strings can be cured by adjusting the saddles of the guitar. However, if the guitar cannot identify the notes anymore, then change the strings.

There are two ways on how you can identify the out of tune guitar strings. First of all, is by hearing the notes. If you are already a good guitar player and you have played for a very long time, then it is easy for you to notice that. You can as well use a tuner, and most tuner nowadays can determine the intonation of each strings.

There are also different timelines on when you will change the strings. Basically, it all depends on how the guitar is played, whether, etc. There times that strings can be replaced as fast as one week or two days, or maybe shorter. There are as well times that you will need to replace them after two months or so. It depends, and it is only a matter of having a good hearing.

DD-3 problem solved!!!

The Boss DD-3 is a great pedal, and I only found it that way when I solved my problem about it. Delays are one of the best effects pedal, and of course, we need to learn on how to use them properly. Most delay pedals I have used gave me some problem that I know many of you encountered already. The first lesson I have learned is to don't throw a pedal when it does not worked for you. Instead, test it ten or twenty times, and soon you will find their use. The first time I got the DD-3 I want to throw it out the window, because I thought it, was a junk and was a waste of money. However, I realized that I already bought it, so I juts planned of finding its use on my pedal board. Luckily, I found it very useful.

Anyway, you will get problem with your delay pedal if you will place it before the distortion pedal. Never do that my friends!!! Remember that a delay pedal will repeat any notes that are passing through its system. When a distortion is placed after that the distortion pedal will boost the signal "with its repeats". The result is a set of notes having almost the same amplitude. The best thing to do is placing it after the distortion pedal or in the effects-loop (which is ideal).

Now, the DD-3. I experienced a lot of trouble on that certain pedal. It repeats the signal with a nasty noise on all of its repeats. The secret is on the settings of your distortion pedal, the treble. Distortion pedals do have treble, and for others the tone knob. All you have to do is to decrease the treble, and that will solve the problem. DD-3 cannot handle signals with high treble. The next problem would be, "how about playing metal?" Yes, definitely you can do use a DD-3 as well. Boosting the treble should be after the DD-3 pedal. You can use something like an equalizer pedal or the equalizer in your amplifier. Just remember to always place your DD-3 before any pedal that will boost the treble frequencies. I hope this short advice of mine will not make you throw your DD-3 pedal.

Guitar Chords

I am sorry guys, because I think I forgot this topic for a while. However, it's never too late, so now let us check the guitar chords.

Anyway, guitar chords are very important simply because it is the pattern that we should be following when playing guitar. Well, it is really great if we can read the actually notes, like the ones used by pianists. The guitar chords as we know it comes with lines and dots. This is probably the simplest way to look for the notes that our fingers should follow.

Basically, a guitar chord chart has sets of notes from A to G. From A to G, there will be variations, which will give you their Majors, Minors, 7th, 6th, Sus, Dim, etc. The best way to learn this is to follow what it tells you to do. A good example is the Amaj. Every chart you will see on a guitar chord chart has six vertical lines, which represents the string number. From left to right it simply means string 6 to 1. Another is the lines arranged in horizontal, which only indicates the frets and downward means towards high notes. The next thing would be the numbers on the top o the guitar chord chart. Number 1 is referring to your index finer, then 2 is your middle finger, 3 for ring finger and 4 for pinky or baby finger. If you ever see a strong line on the top or rather a bold line then it only means that you should start doing the chord on the first fret. Otherwise, it will be indicated at the side of those lines on what position you will be starting the guitar chords. Nevertheless, it is granted that you have your guitar, of course. Without the guitar, it is very hard to understand this.

Anyway, the chord of Amaj is (as you can see on the image below) starts on the first fret. However, you will start pointing your fingers after it. In the case of this image, there are no bold lines or strong lines above it, and yet you will start on the first fret. The thing is, it doesn't have any number on the side of the chord either. It is then considered on the first fret, and this is another way of determining where to start the guitar chords. As you may notice, there is also a letter "X" on the sixth string. This only means that you shouldn't be including that on your strum. And the "0" only means that it is an open note where you should include it to the set.

Another example is the Gmin, and notice that it is set to start on the third fret, which is indicated by the number 3 on its side.

Well, these are only examples of guitar chords, and they have the same concept on how to learn. There are tons more, and you can even create your own. I hope this helps to you fellow newbies out there. Thanks. Enjoy. =)

Compressor Pedal

As newbies, you may be asking what is a compressor pedal, and what it can offer to our guitar tone. First of all, a compressor pedal is a pedal that will put all the string volumes into equilibrium. Each string of the guitar differs in volume actually, and this what cause you to learn dynamics. Learning on how to do dynamics is really a big help, and it will create great guitar sounding. However, there are times that a guitarist would want compression on his or her sound when it is needed, like maybe on rhythm sections.

Many guitarists do use a compressor pedal on their guitar sounding because of its ability to introduce sustain. It can actually amplify the guitar's sustain, and this what gives guitar tones last longer than without one. Of course, a good setup of guitar and using other pedals can also add sustain. However, the compressor pedal does it actually, and it intends to give you that on a snap.

Sometimes too much of everything is not good. What I am trying to say here is too much compression will decrease the signal attack. It is better to set your compressor pedal into the setting you want as minimal as possible. You will set it just enough to balance the volume of all strings.

A good example of compressor pedal is like the one made by MXR, the dyna comp. It has been uses by different guitarists all over the world including those famous ones, and even today. The dyna comp is a compact-designed compressor pedal that does great compressing sounding to your guitar. It got only got two knobs, the output and sensitivity knob, and a good mixing of the two can introduce a great sound. Dyna comp runs on 9V DC, and I think the company already gave it an input to run on AC to DC adapter. Anyway, you can try that, but of course, you can also do test all the pedals a music store does have and buy one that will suit your taste.