Earlier this year, Fano Guitars announced the Alt de Facto GF6 model, which is inspired by and loosely based on the Fender Starcaster models from the 70s. I finally had a chance to play one for a short period of time and have a few thoughts about it. One of the things you can't really tell based on the pictures is the size of the guitar body. I've owned a few 335-style … [Read more...]
Review: Guitar Zero by Gary Marcus
Gary Marcus, a professor of psychology and language at NYU, decided in his late 30s to learn how to play the guitar after years of believing he couldn't do it. He chronicles his journey in his book, Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning. In the book, Marcus examines how we learn in general as well as how we learn music specifically. He attempts to … [Read more...]
Jazz III 30-Day Experiment Follow-up
In November, I conducted a 30-day experiment of exclusively using the Dunlop Jazz III pick. I started using the Jazz III as my only pick on November 1. I thought I'd give this follow-up to discuss the results. I should note that my experiment consisted only of trying the red standard Jazz III picks. Prior to the experiment, I had used the Jazz III pick sporadically, but had … [Read more...]
Review: NS Mini Headstock Tuner
The folks at D'Addario/Planet Waves recently sent me a review unit of their NS Mini Headstock Tuner. Headstock tuners have become more popular over the past few years. I tried one made by a different company in the past and was not impressed. As a result, I was skeptical of the NS Mini Tuner. However, I've found the NS Mini Tuner to be a great blend of simplicity and accuracy, … [Read more...]
Review: Essential Fretboard from StevieSnacks.com
Anthony Stauffer of StevieSnacks.com has been providing free blues guitar lessons in the style of Stevie Ray Vaughan since 2007. He started out by providing free lessons on YouTube and later progressed to providing premium guitar lessons that cover a number of specific topics related to playing Texas-style electric blues. For example, his most recently released premium lesson … [Read more...]