The Benefit of an Acoustic Electric Guitar
Acoustic Electric Guitar
Without a doubt, the guitar is one the most popular instrument of modern times. The guitar is played in almost all music whether it’s rock and roll, country, pop, and even classical music. The reason is simple. It’s easy to play the guitar, it’s portable and many people love the sounds.
There are also lots of different types of guitars. The acoustic guitar makes natural sound without using any electronics. It is hollow inside with a sound hole on the face that lets the sound out. Acoustic electric guitars are a little different. It can be used with an amplifier and it can also be played like acoustics without any electricity as well. Electric guitars always need to be amplified to be loud enough. When choosing a guitar, the acoustic electrics are a nice choice because they can be used in two different ways.
An acoustic electric guitar have more advantages over a normal acoustic with an added pickup. To start with, when playing the electric guitar there is no concern about the pickup falling out. Acoustic electric guitars are likely to include superior quality pickups, and they will be well mounted. Pickups added for a regular acoustic guitar are difficult to position to get great quality and consistent sound.
The best features of an acoustic electric guitar is the built-in equaliser controls included with it. It’s not easy to control the volume of an amplified normal acoustic guitar. But an acoustic electric guitar has its own volume controls built into the guitar itself. This is a really great feature. If your guitar volume level doesn’t sound the best to you, then you can adjust the volume on the side of your guitar instead, rather than going over to the amp. In a gig situation, this can be a timesaver and also looks more professional to the audience.
Vintage Guitars As an Investment
Vintage guitars are a great investment for a few reasons. First, they are beautiful and command a room where they are displayed. Second, vintage guitars don’t depreciate or lose value with time. On the contrary, these babies appreciate and gain value as they age, especially if they are kept up nicely. Third, they have superior tonality and action when played due to the quality workmanship that went into their construction.
the most popular is the Les Paul by Gibson. the older ones were made of superior materials like mahogany and oak. Some even had gold frets and mother of pearl inlays on the fret board.
Fender also has a stranglehold on a couple of highly sought after guitars, especially the Stratocaster, the Telecaster and the Thunderbird.
Among the reigning Kings of vintage guitars are those made by the CF Martin company. Many Martin’s are still in use at nearly 100 years old!
Guild is another vintage guitar that is vastly overlooked these days. Guild was only in operation for about 25 years and was bought by Fender in the 1990’s. Some of the older Guild guitars are extremely rare and sought after as they exhibited the same quality as the Martin instruments of the same time period.
Every one of these guitar manufacturers has made an exceptional line of guitars. When bought as an investment, the vintage ones hold the possibility of giving a fantastic ROI (return on investment).
Vintage Guitar Collectors Can Still Find Deals
Vintage Guitars
The simple thing to remember in vintage guitar collecting is American guitars. If you stay American-made, you’ll have the best chance of an instrument that will appreciate in value.
Look for American made guitars that collectors are currently ignoring. Soon enough, these will be at the top of the food chain. Well, think “student” models. Some models are already desirable like Fender Mustangs and Gibson Melody Makers, for example; other models haven’t gained notice yet, but they will!
For instance, Fender Bullets, made in the early 1980’s, are student model guitars, but are American made and use parts found in Telecasters of the same period (pickups, etc). Note, we’re not talking the Squire Bullet Stratocaster-type model, but the American-made Fender model (looks like a Telecaster).
There’s not a lot of action with Gibson’s Kalamazoo line, yet. These student models are similar in quality to the Melody Makers and Fender Mustangs.
Stick with Fender and Gibson, stick with American made, and keep your eyes on lesser-known student models … and you’ll find deals that will likely join other lines in appreciating over the coming years.
Ibanez Guitars: The Ibanez Jem Story
Ibanez JEM
There are a lot of professional music artists who use Ibanez musical equipment and call it the best among the ones that they have used in their career. Ibanez is known worldwide for its professional line of guitars and among them is Ibanez JEM. Ibanez JEM is an electric guitar, which was first produced in the year 1987. This guitar has gained high level of acceptance from guitarists.
Ibanez JEM was designed by Ibanez and the guitar legend, Steve Vai. The Ibanez company asked Steve Vai to tell them of the different features that he likes in the guitar so that they can combine all those features in one guitar. Ibanez JEM is the concept of Steve Vai, which was given its physical form by Ibanez.
This model became his signature. With the passage of time, Ibanez has produced the sub-models of the Ibanez JEM. There are about four sub-models of the Ibanez JEM, which were produced on the anniversary of Ibanez JEM, which included JEM90HAM, JEM2KDNA, JEM20TH and JEM10.
JEM10
The model Ibanez JEM10 was produced in the year 1997 and this model has the letter of authenticity, which is hand signed by Steve Vai. It has an aluminum pickguard and has an engraved vine with the JEM10 serial number. There are only about 825 units of this model throughout the world.
Ibanez JEM10
JEM90HAM
The Ibanez JEM90HAM, which was made for the 90th anniversary of Hoshino was not much different than Ibanez JEM10. There are only 831 units available throughout the world out of which 72 are in US.
Ibanez JEM90 HAM
JEM2KDNA
This model was the most interesting that Steve put his blood to the mixture of the paint, hence the word DNA at the end.
Ibanez JEM2KDNA
JEM20TH
Another anniversary sub-model of Ibanez JEM was JEM20TH, which was completely made of clear plastic with multicolored streaks. This model also has a green LED that lights up inside the body.
Ibanez JEM20TH
The other models of JEM include the JEM7, JEM77, JEM777, JEM555, JEM333 and the Universe 7 string guitar.
Ibanez JEM7V
The Electrifying Story of Jackson Guitar
Jackson Guitar
In the 80’s and the first part of the 90’s, Jackson guitars were very popular with the Heavy Metal and Thrash genres of music.
Grover Jackson was the owner and initial founder of Jackson Guitars. Grover was a partner of Wayne Charvel from Charvel Guitar Repair. The most famous guitar made by the Jackson Guitar Company is the Rhoads V model which was designed by the rock guitarist Randy Rhoads. The success of the Rhoads model drove Grover to create his own company, the Jackson Guitar Company.
the Jackson headstock is very similar to the Gibson Explorer’s headstock originally designed by the late Randy Rhoads.
With slim and stylish modern designs, hard rock and metal guitarists adored the Jacksons out of this world and innovative look. Artists such as Phil Collen and Rick Savage (Def Leppard), Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Vinnie Vincent (Kiss), Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot) and Robbin Crosby (Ratt) are some of the more famous Jackson guitar wielders.
Fender acquired the Charvel and Jackson companies in 2002 and the guitar making operation moved to Corona, USA where Fender has its factory. Many of the loyal Jackson guitar players jumped ship and went on to endorse other guitar manufacturers.
The Jackson guitar is still very popular to this day, especially in the Heavy Metal genre.
The Dinky Guitar by Jackson – Great Quality, Great Price
With fifteen modifications, the most popular Jackson guitar on the market today is the Dinky Electric Guitar.
A Dinky Guitar is a reasonably priced guitar which doesn’t sacrifice quality. There are a number of series by Jackson which has Dinky guitars.
A Dinky is made as a Superstrat and it is a double cutaway guitar. It has a two humbucker pickup configuration, with some models having a single coil pickup or just a one bridge humbucker pickup, double locking floyd rose tremolo, shark tooth inlays and 24 jumbo frets. A few Dinkys have hardtail, or String-Thru bridges
In the Pro series, there are five Jackson Dinky guitars models: the DK2L, DK2M, DK2S, DK2T and DK2FF. The Jackson MG series has three Dinky models – the DKMGT and the DXMG. The JS Series has four models – JS1, JS20, JS30DK and JS30DKT Hardtail.
Hard rockers or heavy metal bands can be usually found playing a Dinky. But other guitar players in other niches can play Dinky’s with success.
A Dinky Guitar is a reasonably priced guitar and doesn’t sacrifice quality. If you are just starting out or you are on a tight budget, you should try the Dinky guitars.
Jackson Guitar Dinky
Guitar Accessories? Which Ones Do I Need To Buy For My Guitar?
Guitar Accessories
There are many factors that could potentially interfere with your performance. Whether you are a budding guitarist or professional guitarist who has been playing for a long time, you can`t deny the importance of guitar accessories and their impact on your performance. There are a number of guitar accessories that you might want to buy for your guitar. Here are some guitar accessories that are always worth investing in to up the performance of your playability.
Guitar Bags and Cases
If you plan on gigging a lot or travelling on planes/trains etc. I recommend buying a guitar hard case, otherwise a padded gig bag will do just fine.
Guitar tuner/pitch pipe
There are hundreds of guitar tuners to choose from on the market. Some of the most popular guitar tuners are the Stagg Automatic Guitar/Bass Tuner and the Korg GA-30. They sold more than any other guitar tuner on the market.
Guitar strings
It’s always wise to have a spare set of guitar strings to hand. You never know when one will brake and leave you in a difficult situation.
You will need to buy steel strings for electric, bass or acoustic guitars and nylon strings for classical, Spanish or Flamenco guitars. There are numerous brands in the market,but my favorites are the D’addario and Darco.
Effects pedals
We’ll discuss the topic about effect pedals here and here
Amplifiers
There’s also an article about guitar amplifier here and here
Guitar stands or Guitar Hangers
There are lots of different types of guitar stands, it really depends on which stand is more suited to you.
There is the standard guitar stand, the universal guitar stand, the auto grab guitar stand, the double and triple guitar stand and the wall mounted guitar stand. My Favorite brand is the Hercules.
Plectrums (Picks)
Plectrums are very cheap and can be bought individually, or in packs. Guitar plectrums come in different gauges. I personally uses the 3.00 Dunlop Stubby series
Guitar Leads/Cables
Guitar Leads normally come in different lengths: The most common is the 15 feet/4.5 metre leads. This length is ample if you are playing in a band. Although ready made brands are available on the market, you can also make your own custom cable.
Guitar straps
If you want to buy a gift for a guitarist, there is nothing better than a nice leather guitar strap.
Guitar Capo
A capo is a clamp that you can use on different frets of the guitar to change the pitch of the open strings.
Guitar Slide
The guitar slide is a tube of some hard material about one to two inches long. Commonly, it’s made from glass and metals.
Headphones
If you want to play at home but don’t want to disturb your neighbours, then a good set of headphones is recommended.
Metronome
If you want to play your guitar in time then you are going to need to buy a metronome.
You can choose from modern electronic metronomes or traditional mechanical metronomes.
Cleaning and maintenance (polish, nut file set, wrench set, fret file set)
To look after your guitar you will need to at least buy some guitar polish.If you are serious about guitar playing then you might want to have a nut file, fret file or wrench set. You can keep your guitar in top playing condition.
Footstool
The guitar footstool is used mainly by Classical, Spanish or Flamenco guitarists.
Their style of playing and the way they hold the guitar makes the use of a footstool quite important.
Stringwinder (pegwinder)
The guitar stringwinder comes in handy as a real time saver. Instead of turning the guitar pegs by hand, you can use the stringwinder to speed up the process.
Straplok set
For replacing the bolt that holds on your guitar strap.
Power adaptor for effects pedals
If you use effects pedals then you will need a power adaptor to connect to the mains.
Guitar accessories may not help you improve your techniques; however, they are extremely essential as they help you feel easy, relaxed and comfortable to focus totally on how to play your guitar.
Guitars Accessories