Seven String Guitars

Reading through several guitar periodicals, I have noticed a trend in monthly features regarding seven string guitar method, licks and tabs. I spent a couple of days thinking about and researching the topic and I think the next guitar I get will be a seven string, and here's why...

The method I used to teach myself guitar was based upon shapes and patterns. Incidentally, I think a mistake that a lot of teachers make, mostly because it is in every method book you pick up (Mel Bay, Fender, etc...), is to spend a ton of time on open chords. Not that there is anything wrong with open chords, they are full and bright sounding. But when someone wants to learn guitar, it is typically because they want to play songs. Open chords simply are not the fastest way to learn your favorite songs. Especially when it comes to younger students, whit shorter attention spans, I think it would be more fruitful to teach them an E-shaped bar chord and a few rock progressions and let them have at it. Then, teach them the A-shape, a few more songs, maybe mix up the E and A shapes, and let them rock out. Then, teach them the major and minor pentatonic, which are minor variations of the same shape, and teach them a couple solos to go along with a couple of the songs they already learned the chords for. I think it would keep them excited longer, and thereby keep them practicing and improving.

Now that I have become comfortable with bar chords and the pentatonic scale, I have started experimenting with different sounds and textures. I think this is probably a natural learning progression. All that to say, because of the intervals of the seven string guitar, it is very simple to transition these same shapes from a six string. The bar chord shape for a major chord on the seventh string, a low B, is the same as the E shape on the sixth string.

Check this out:

E shape, open fretting, E chord (six string)

.e:--0
B:--0
G:--1
D:--2
A:--2
E:--0

E shape, open fretting, B chord (seven string)

.e:--2
.b:--0
G:--x
D:--1
A:--2
E:--2
B:--0

Don't let the last three strings fool you, if you strum the B, E, A and D strings, you get a nice full and powerful low B. Move this shape up the neck and you get a C, C#, D, and D# that are all lower than any chords you can get on a standard tuned six string. Of course, you can play these lower chords by drop tuning your six string, but this has two negative effects in my opinion. 1) drop tuning messes with your chord and scale shapes, and 2) you lose the high end of the register because you have to down-tune your high e string.

All in all, I am excited about experimenting with a seven string. I am a firm believer that great things can be accomplished by focusing on mastering the basics. A SWAT instructor of mine once told me that the difference between basic and advanced is the number of repetitions. In other words, the difference between a beginner guitarist and an advanced guitarist is how quickly and accurately you can play the same scales. Not that I feel that I have mastered any aspects of the six string guitar, but a seven string is a natural progression of my learning theory. A while back, I won an American Standard Stratocaster in a giveaway. I'm not a huge fan of the single coil sound, so maybe I will use that traditional little beauty to trade my way into a decent Schecter or Ibanez seven string....... Hmmmmmm

Remember...

Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast!!!

B

Peavey AmpKit Link Review

I was pretty excited when I read about the Peavey/ Agile Partners AmpKit Link in last months Guitar World. The idea of being able to sit in my recliner and play without dragging out my amp and having power and guitar cables strung across the living room was pretty appealing. The same issue ranked the Amplitube iRig as one of the top apps of the year, so I was interested in comparing the two. Based on the articles, both products are quite similar. I own a Peavey guitar with which I have been very pleased, and a friend of mine swears by Peavey amps. Those factors as well as the fact that Peavey is an American company and the Ampkit Link is about $10 cheaper led me to my decision to go with the Peavey product. I called Guitar Center to make sure they had some in stock, and headed across town on my day off to get my new toy. 

First, I downloaded the free version of AmpKit onto my iPhone 3G. The free version comes with several emulators;  a Peavey Valve King head, a 1x12 and 4x12 cabinet, two microphones, a noise gate pedal and what boils down to an overdrive pedal. 

Next, I opened my new treasure, chucked the el-cheap-o batteries that come in the package, and put in two brand new, name brand AAA batteries.....Check. 

I plugged the link into my iPhone..... Check.

I plugged the guitar cable into my Ibanez AM77 (with black nebular finish!!).....Check.

I fired up the AmpKit App and chose the Valve King with 4x12 cabinet with no effects pedals..... Check

I plugged the guitar cord into the Link and got the green light..... Check

I wind up in my best Pete Townshend fashion and strum a monster E power chord ................ Nothing.

I checked the volume on the guitar, the iPhone and the amp head, all were OK. I unplugged the headphone jack and plugged it back in. Other than a tremendously horrible scratching noise..... nothing. In my frustration, I went for the users manual. When all else fails, read the directions! Only problem is there is no manual in the package. But, lucky for me, the box says there is a manual available online. So I go onto Peavey's site, but to my disappointed, there is no users manual to be found anywhere.

Next step, I email Agile Partners customer service point of contact designated for any Link problems. Now, the longer I wait, the more frustrated I become. After several hours of checking and rechecking, deleating and redownloading and changing every conceivable setting, it' stime to go to bed, back to work for me in the morning. Due to long work days, I didn't have a chance to mess with the Link much for a couple days. Unfortunately, it took Agile roughly three days to respond to my initial email.They recommended I try the Link on another iPhone, so I tried it on my wifes to no avail. I emailed them back with the results, at which time they told me it is probably a bad link, take it back and exchange it. So, it's back across town. I exchange the defective link for a new one, which I test out in the store with a demo guitar, and to save myself another 1 hour round trip. 

This time, my iPhone identifies the Link, and its beautiful music..... Well, sort of... I was getting a lot of static. I remembered reading in a forum that some users had issues with excessive static. Many blamed it on their phones. For me, I quickly identified the culprit as being low E string buzz!! So, after a few turns of the bridge screw on the low E side and a quick tune-up, any noise was virtually gone and it was back to playing. The Valve King head provides a very punchy and bright sound. I switched it to the lead setting, and it gave a gravelly grumble, but not the dirty, garage rock tone I was hoping for. I am a big fan of the Fender Hot Rod DeVille, so when I saw the "American Rebel" available in the gear store, I just had to know. For $4.99 I am now the proud owner of yet another virtual amp. I should learn to read the descriptions better. This amp only comes with the 1x12 cabinet, not the 4x10 I was hoping for. Getting past that, I readjusted my settings, picked the DeVille and matching cab and gave it another shot. At first, the sound was drowned in low end. I adjusted the equalizer, bumped up the treble, turned down the bass and tried again. Better, but this emulator sounds nothing like the warm, classic blues/ rock tone of the DeVille line. I suppose that for $995 less than the real thing, it isn't awful. 

All in all, if you are looking for a replacement for an actual amp and cabinet, this is not for you. If you are looking for a cool and affordable gadget to make practice more fun and convenient, than it's worth the $30 for this little piece of kit. 

Gear Upgrade - Line 6 Spider IV 30 Review

While the SP-10 is a great little starter amp, it just didn't have the lungs to keep up when playing with the band. When I first showed up, the room where we play is roughly 15'x20', with about a a 10' peaked ceiling. My little 10 watt amp with 6" speaker had to compete with a full drum set, a Fender Jazz King, a Marshall combo, and a bass head with 2x12 cabinet. So needless to say, I was a little out gunned! I really didn't want to spend a ton of money, but I wanted to be able to run with the dogs, so to speak.

 I first looked at tube amp combos, and quickly realized these were out of my price range. Then I started shopping online for solid state combos. I found there to be three relevant price ranges for me. The first was anything under $150. Most of these amps were only slightly larger than what I was currently playing, 15 to 25 watts with 8-10" speakers. Some had a few effects, but nothing to get excited about, and certainly nothing worth spending 150 of my hard earned dollars on. The next group was the $250 and over crowd. Some of these were very nice, mostly when you get up to the $350- 400 range. Decent power (40+ watts), some neat bells and whistles and even some foot pedals. But for the most part, at the lower end I found stripped down versions of the nicer amps. Better than the $150 amps, but not nice enough to justify $300. A friend of mine first recommended the Line 6 amps. He owned a pod, and had high praises for Line 6's amp, cab and effects modeling capabilities. So on my next day off, I drove over to the guitar shop and checked out the Spider IV 30.

Speaking with the clerk at the guitar shop, he told me that Line 6 had such good modeling and effects capabilities because they use the same hardware and solid state technology in their amps that they use in their pedals. Basically it's just like having a bunch of pedals hardwired into your amp, in contrast to a central processor which processes the signal to create the effects you request. So, after a few trips to the shop, and playing a few different guitars through the Spider, including my Squier Strat, I shelled out the $199 to Firehouse Music in Wyoming, MI. When I got it home, I plugged it in and took it for a spin. The first feature I used was the built in tuner. The interface is pretty simple, there are four lights. If the far left light lights you are flat. If the far right light lights you are sharp. If both middle lights light, you are in tune. After tuning up, it was time to get rocking. My favorite feature of the amp is the 1/8' input jack which allows you to play your mp3 player or iPod through the amp and jam along, the next best thing to playing with an actual band. This is great for practice. Not only is it fun, but it helps you learn to keep time and tempo. The down side is the 1/4" headphone jack. Really? Does anybody even own 1/4" headphones anymore? Unless you are a DJ in a New York nightclub, or that dude from the Gorillaz, you just look like a big dork. Especially if you have the big spiral, stretchy phone chord ones!! But, I already owned the $5 1/4" to 1/8" converter from Radio Shack, so it was easily overcome.

While there is a wide range of tones and effects, I really didn't find "that tone" from the Spider IV. When plugged into the Squier Strat, I found the clean tones to be a bit too tinny. When using the "dirtier" settings, the bass has a tendency to overwhelm the sound. If you are a fan of metal, the distorted channels on the Spider IV will be right up your alley. The "Insane" setting has crazy saturation, and still manages to keep it's punchiness. When playing rhythm with the band, I'd usually stick to the neck pickup, and use the dirty blues channel with pretty decent results, something vaguely resembling a warm, anemic version of the Jazz King. My daughter has since inherited the Spider IV. She plays a Peavey (which I will review later) with two single coils and a humbucker at the bridge. She likes to play some 30 Seconds to Mars and Thousand Foot Krutch. Through the humbucker, she can get good crunch and sustain. In my opinion, the Spider IV is definitely more ideal for hard rock or metal, and less for classic rock or blues. All together, while the Spider IV probably isn't a "gig" quality amp, it is definitely an affordable alternative if you are looking for some decent chops in the garage with your buddies and don't want to break the bank.

In the mean time, remember......

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast!!

Have fun,

B

Getting the Band Together

After bar chords and the pentatonic scales, the next ingredient that supercharged my learning curve was playing with other musicians. About 6 months into reading do-it-yourself guitar books, online tab searches and repetitive scale exercises, my next breakthrough came from work (of all places). I had just started a new job, and was orienting with Andy, another new hire. We went through all of our training together, and eventually had to go out of state for a week of training. We both had extensive military backgrounds, so we hit it off right away. One day I was telling him about my new guitar hobby, and he told me he had been playing drums for over 20 years. He invited me to come play with him, a bass player and another guitar player.

I was a little intimidated at first, but Andy and the guys were very encouraging, and the focus was always (and remains to be today) on having fun and growing musically. One of the many benefits was helping me focus. When playing on my own, I spent more time browsing through different tabs, trying to decide what song to play and learn than I spent actually playing. When I arrived, they already had a list of songs they played on a regular basis. I had never played any of the songs before, but by the end of the night, with the help of more experienced musicians, I was able to play six or seven different songs from beginning to end. This pace of learnin was light-years faster than anything I would have accomplished sitting on my couch with a guitar tab book.

I had more fun that first night than I'd had in a long time. I left that night with a whole new level of confidence and a desire to attack my playing and keep moving forward. That excitement and enthusiasm carried over into my practice routine. With new found focus and renewed spirit, I emmersed myself in that set list. I downloaded the songs off of iTunes and listened to them when driving back and forth to work, working around the house, in the shower and when laying down for bed at night.

After a couple more jam sessions, we all felt pretty comfortable with the songs, and quite frankly, we were starting to get a little bored. So, the following get together some of us brought new material, and the learning process started all over again, this time with an expanded library of musical references built on our past experiences.

I was lucky enough to have a great bunch of musicians fall right into my lap at just the right time. However, you don't have to wait for someone to invite you to jam with them. Visit your local guitar shop, and you are likely go find a bulletin board where individuals or groups will post looking for musicians of all types and skill levels. You can post there too!! Either way, find yourself a group of fellow musicians, and it will fast-track your development to that next level and beyond.... Not to mention, it's CRAZY fun!

Keep rockin', and have a blast.
Remember, slow is smooth, smooth is fast.....

B

Scales

I am apparently a very visual learner. Just like with bar chords, nearly all of the soloing that I do revolves around two shapes. When reading elsewhere, they are usually referred to as soloing scales. As a logical progression in my playing, I suppose it is no surprise that I built my use of these scales around the E and A bar chord shapes. For simplicity sake, let's look at what I call the E shape, starting at the 3rd fret, or G on the low E string:

G root:

 e:--------------------------------------6--8--10

B:-------------------------------6--8-----------

G:---------------------3--5--7-----------------

D:--------------3--5----------------------------

A:----1--3--5----------------------------------

E:--3-------------------------------------------

Just about any solo you hear in a blues or rock song, with the exception of some metal, revolves around this scale shape (AKA the fabled minor pentatonic scale).

You can also play this scale with the root on the A string like this:

C root:

 e:----------------------------------6--8--11

B:------------------------4--6--8-----------

G:-----------------3--5---------------------

D:-------1--3--5----------------------------

A:----3--------------------------------------

E:--------------------------------------------

Use the scale rooted on the E string when soloing over E shaped bar chords, and the scale rooted on the A string when soloing over A shaped bar chords.

You can extend the A shape scale down to the E string too, it looks like this:

C root:

 e:------------------------------------------6--8--11

B:--------------------------------4--6--8-----------

G:-------------------------3--5---------------------

D:---------------1--3--5----------------------------

A:--------1--3--------------------------------------

E:--1--3------------------------------------------

My personal experience, when it comes to my training plan, is that there is no substitute for accurate repetition. Start ridiculously slow until you get the feel for the chord shapes. Also, listen to the progression. I bet it will only take a few trips up and down the neck before you hear something that reminds you of a song that you know or solo you have heard. 

When I started playing and got the scale patterns down, I would literally sit in my chair, with the TV on or whatever, and just play ascending and descending scales over and over and over again. This creates a few different results. First, if you are new to guitar, you need to build up the callouses on your fingers, and nothing does that better than running scales. Second, when you are playing these scales, get in the habit right away of alternate picking. Alternate picking means that you pick the first note of the scale with a down stroke, the second with an up stroke, the third with a down stroke, so on and so on. This is critical to eventually building skill and accuracy. Finally, chances are, these scales will make up the majority of soloing you will do going forward, so the sooner you learn them the better.

Remember when you are practicing .... Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast

Now go rock it!!!

B

Minor Bar Chords

After learning major bar chords using the E and A chord shapes, the next step took me to minor bar chords. This progression had little to do with conscientious decision making, and more to do with the fact that it seemed like a lot of the songs I was trying to learn via tablature included minor chords. The transition from major to minor chords was simple once I understood the E and A bar chord shape concepts. Here are examples of some E minor shaped bar chords:

E minor bar chord:

e:--0
B:--0
G:--0
D:--2
A:--2
E:--0

G minor bar chord:

e:--3
B:--3
G:--3
D:--5
A:--5
E:--3

As you can see, playing an E minor shaped bar chord is nearly identical to the E major shape, the only difference being that you lower the G string by one fret. The E minor shaped bar chords can be identified the same as the E major, by simply identifying the note the index finger is playing on the low E string. The A minor shape is formed the same way, except with your root on the A string. Here are a couple of examples of minor bar chords in the A minor shape:
A minor:

e:--0
B:--1
G:--2
D:--2
A:--0
E:--X

C minor bar chord:

e:--3
B:--4
G:--5
D:--5
A:--3
E:--X

You can see that the A minor is the same as the A, with the exception that the B string is lowered one fret. Again, you can identify the minor bar chord by what note the index finger is playing on the A string.

Bar chords are a pretty simple concept. The trick for me is to think of them as shapes; the E shape, the A shape, the E minor shape and the A minor shape. Once you grasp the shapes, all that is left is to identify the notes of the low E and A strings, and you can quickly play any major or minor chord up and down the neck of the guitar.

Squire Strat and SP-10 Starter Pack Review

I wanted to take a break from the more "academic" topics (to use the term as loosely as possible). I want to talk about what gear I use, and what my experiences have been up to this point. In the spirit of full disclosure, just let me say I am a tight wad when it comes to buying equipment. As a matter of fact, had it not been for me winning a Fender giveaway, I still would not own a guitar that cost more than about $200. That being said, I figure the best place to start talking about my gear was to start with the first guitar and amp I ever bought.

 A Chinese made black Squier Affinity Strat with white pick guard, and Squier SP-10 10 watt practice amp. It was an open box, and was missing the tremelo bar, so I got it for $100 at Firehouse Guitars in Wyoming, MI (check out their online store at geartree.com). A steal by any standard.

This starter pack is the closest thing I could find a picture of online, but it's not exactly the same. Mine did come with the strap, method book, cable, tuner and gig bag. However, the pickguard in the picture is pearloid, mine is plain white. This fretboard is rosewood, and mine is maple. 

The factory specs are as follows:

Model Name	Strat® (Maple)
Model Number	031-0602-(Color#)
Series	Affinity Series
Colors	(506) Black, (525) Metallic Red, (595) Metallic Blue, (Polyurethane Finish)
Body	Alder
Neck	Maple, (Polyurethane Finish)
Fingerboard	Maple, 9.5” Radius (241 mm)
No. of Frets	21 Medium Jumbo
Pickups	3 Single-Coil Pickups
Controls	Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. (Middle Pickup)
Pickup Switching	5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup Position 3. Middle Pickup Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup Position 5. Neck Pickup
Bridge	Synchronous Tremolo
Machine Heads	Standard Die-Cast Tuners
Hardware	Chrome
Pickguard	1-Ply White
Scale Length	25.5” (648 mm)
Width at Nut	1.61” (40.9 mm)
Unique Features	Large Headstock ‘60s Style Headstock, White Plastic Parts, Black Silkscreen Logo, Dot Position Inlays
Strings	Fender Super 250L, (.009 to .042) Nickel Plated Steel, P/N 073-0250-003

As far as starter guitars go, I think this was a great find for me. There were some minor issues, but when you get a guitar and amp for $100, what do you expect. First of all, I couldn't get it to stay in tune out of the box. My brother in law has played guitar for almost 20 years, and he said it just probably needed set up by someone who knew what they were doing. So, the next day I took the guitar back to Firehouse, and Justin set it up for me for free. Less than an hour later, I was on my way back home to try out my newly set up strat. MAN was there a huge difference. Not only did it now stay in tune, but Justin lowered the action, which made it a lot easier to play. 

The other issue I have had is that I have to be conscientious about how hard I press down at the first fret. Too hard, and the notes go sharp. I am assuming this is because the first fret is too high(?). Maybe I could have someone shave it or tap it down, but it would probably cost me a large fraction of what it cost to buy the guitar in the first place, so  I just deal...... no biggie.

When it comes to tone and overall sound, at this stage i n my playing, this guitar sounded the same as any other with the exception of one. Shortly after I bought this guitar, my family and I went on vacation to Chicago with my brother in law and his family. He took me to Chicago Music Exchange where I was able to play a $10,000 1959 Gibson ES-335. Even not knowing anything about guitars, I could tell that this was an amazing axe!! That being said, if I had to chose today between buying the $100 Squier Strat or the $10,000 Gibson, I would chose the Squier (I prefer to be able to pay my mortgage for the next year!!!)

The SP-10 amp is about as basic as basic gets. It consists of an input jack, volume control, treble and bass controls and headphone jack. My only complaint is the 1/4 inch headphone jack... Really?? The last time I saw anyone with 1/4 inch headphones was on an episode of That 70's Show. This can be fixed with a $3 adapter from Radio Shack so you can plug your 1/8" ear buds into the 1/4" jack. While it has a "Over Drive" button, it would probably be better described as "fuzzy mess". It basically offers a distorted alternative for when you get tired of that twangy, treble sound, and want to sound a little more "Rock and Roll". When played clean, the amp does an adequate job of letting the beginning guitarist clearly  hear the notes and chords they are playing. The real deal breaker here is this little 10 watt shoe box's ability to crank out power chords loud enough to make your mom (or wife in my case) complain about the noise :) All in all, a great little starter amp. 

Looking on eBay, you can pick one of these guitars up pretty darn cheap, usually less than $100. The amps can be found for under $40 including shipping. Looking at Guitar Center and  Sweetwater online, a new starter pack runs about $200- $250. After you figure the tuner (a must for starting guitarists), the cable and the bag, I would probably recommend just spending the $200 for the new pack. This also gives you some buyer protection should there be any out-of-the-box manufacturing issues. The new bundles that are around $250 come with the 15 watt Frontman amp which includes an input jack so you can play your mp3 or cd player through the amp and jam along, a huge help when trying to learn that new chord progression or solo from your favorite band, or just to play out your rockstar fantasies in the comfort of your own bedroom!!!

Either way, this little bundle beats the pants off of the Daisy Rock or First Act hunks of junk that you can buy at Wal-Mart or Best Buy out of which you will be lucky to get a year of consistent playing before they fall apart.