I've always enjoyed working with my hands, and I've had an itch for a while to build my own guitar. A friend of mine built a fretless bass using exotic wood. It was beautiful! He built it from scratch and did an excellent job for his first try. I don't have the tools I would need to build a guitar from scratch, so I'd probably need to build one from a kit or from parts if I … [Read more...]
How It’s Made: Steel Guitars
In my continuing quest to learn how all musical instruments are made, I recently watched another episode of the Science Channel's How It's Made series, this time featuring a segment on how pedal steel guitars are made. I've heard that they are difficult to play, but I didn't realize how involved steel guitars really are. Check it out: … [Read more...]
How Electric Guitars Are Made
Earlier this week, I posted a video about how amps are made. I thought I'd follow that video up with a two part series about how electric guitars are made. These videos are from the Science Channel's show How It's Made, and they highlight Godin Guitars. Part 1 discusses the crafting of the wood, and part 2 discusses the electronics. Part 1: Part 2: As a bonus, … [Read more...]
Jeff Beck Interview
Gibson has recently released the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood tribute guitar. Gibson recently sat down with Beck in London to talk about the guitar, why he chose Gibsons early in his career, and what drives him musically: … [Read more...]
Baritone Guitars
Have you ever wondered what the difference was between a standard guitar and a baritone guitar? Premier Guitar has a pretty good write up about baritone guitars, written by Sweetwater Sales Engineer Art Hill. In essence, it comes down to scale length. The scale length of a baritone guitar rests between a bass guitar and a standard guitar. As a result, baritone guitars often … [Read more...]