Sanyo Pedal Juice

The Sanyo Pedal Juice is a portable, reliable, and rechargeable way to power your pedals.  This sturdy little unit will power multiple pedals for hours.  The Pedal Juice is a great solution to powering your pedals.

The power from the Pedal Juice is clean and quiet. No hum or ground loops here.  This is great for working in the studio.  You can track for hours without worrying about unwanted electrical interference or running out of power.

I used the Pedal Juice on a gig recently where power connections were limited and there was no other need for power at the front of the stage.  Rather than run power out front I just hooked my pedals up to the Pedal Juice and played a worry free gig.

The three stage LED makes it easy to tell how much power you have on tap.  I played my entire two hour gig including sound check and the LED never went off the green setting.

The Pedal Juice is a great alternative to long power cable runs, noisy club AC, or just a reliable backup for your pedal powering needs.

MSRP $199

Pedal Juice official site

Guitar Blog Roundup June 19th

Welcome to the weekend everyone.  It’s been a long week and there was a ton of great stuff in the guitar blog world.  Here are my favorites.

The Fifth Fret has a post about the etiquette of browsing in a guitar shop. It’s about time someone laid down the law with the do’s and don’ts of guitar shopping.

Trufire.com has some cool classic rockabilly licks.  These are always fun to have in your arsenal of fretwork. 

Not playing guitar has some info on portable guitar recorders. These little digital recorders are a valuable tool for recording your practices or lessons.

Fretterverse has a list of classic must have metal guitar CD’s.  I own several of these so I am totally behind this list.

Effectsbay has some cool video of Zakk Wylde’s rig.  I love it when you can get a run down of the big boys toys.

 Playgtr.net has a cool post about a shirt that plays like a guitar. I’m not sure what this is all about or what the application is but hey, it’s guitar geek stuff.

A few How To video's for guitarists

Youtube is a wonderful thing.  You can spend hours watching videos of people doing silly things.  You can watch your favorite hair metal videos from the 80’s too.   You can also learn a few things.  The ability to watch how to videos on demand is a great tool. There are plenty of good how to videos out there on just about every subject.
Here are guitar related how to videos for you viewing entertainment.

A new way to learn guitar

Ever have trouble remembering the notes on the fretboard.  Sure we remember some but the process of learning the fretboard can be a daunting task.  Sure you have cheat sheets or theory books with a diagram but that isn’t always handy. 

One guitarist decided to take it to the next level. He  always has a fretboard diagram with him.  How did he do this?  He had it tattooed to his arm.

The tattoo was done by J & J Elite Tattoos. 

Thanks to Geekytattoos for the pic.

Alfred iChord Guitar app

Alfred Publishing has jumped into the iTunes market with their iChord guitar app.  This cool little app from one of the biggest names in music publishing  is designed for guitarists of any skill level. 

It features a chord dictionary which allows you to select the chord by root note, type, or variant.  The built in tuner is a plus too.  How many of us wouldn’t kill for a tuner in our pocket at all times.

The iChord Guitar app allows you to listen to the strummed chords, arpeggiated, and even select clean or distorted sounds.  It even has an option to view it right handed or left handed. You can also select different neck positions to see the fingerings.

A link on the bottom of the iChord Guitar app takes you directly to Alfred.com where you can shop for sheet music on the go.

For $.99 this little app can replaced a whole lot of guitar books. 

Guitar Blog Roundup May 1, 2010

Mark Wein Guitar Lessons has a great lesson on the Dorian and minor pentatonic scale. I have always loved the Dorian mode as an alternative when playing in a minor key.

Jemsite has a cool article on one man’s search for the tone in his head and the revelation he had when he found the Dimarzio Norton pickup.

 Fretterverse has a guest post by Sommatone Amps on guitar woods. This is quite a comprehensive article covering a lot of ground. A must read for tone junkies.

We have a duo of Jeff Beck videos this week. The Guitar Column has a video from the studio when Jeff was cutting a track for Jon Bon Jovi’s Blaze of Glory.

Not to be outdone, Stratoblogster has some video from Jeff Beck’s guitar tech. This guy gives up the goods on the guitar god.

 Effects bay has a post on designing pedals featuring a video from Wampler effects.  This shows Brian Wampler with a breadboard prototype.  Good stuff for all you circuit benders out there.

I Heart Guitar has created a guitar word search.  This may be the first time the words Alnico, Bigsby, or Fasal have appeared in a word search.  Then again, with words like Way Huge, Fuzz, Big Muff, and Rotovibe, this word search could be taken in a whole different way.

Music Notation for Microsoft Word

We all have some version of Microsoft Word on our computer right?  It’s the default word processor these days.  Now how cool would it be if you could use it for music notation.  Forget all those expensive notation software programs or stacks of Staff paper.  Just use Word.

Musicnotationformsword.com has just released software that allows you to notate your music right in Microsoft Word.  You can embed, edit ,and publish music notation right there Word.

 

“Music Notation for MS Word makes it easy to transpose music and write lyrics in a familiar way. The product allows using a mouse, computer or MIDI keyboard, virtual piano keyboard or guitar fingerboard to write music directly in a Microsoft Word document, and to get access to all the features of a professional music notation editor without leaving MS Word.”

Educational and other discounts are available. Free evaluation version of Music Notation for MS Word is available at http://www.musicnotationformsword.com.  A limited-time discount of $40 is available to all customers, bringing the cost of Music Notation for MS Word to $99 from its full price of $139.

The Internet – Trash or Treasure

I was listening to podcast during my all too lengthy commute  today. The panel was talking about the newest fad on the web,chat roulette. This discussion led to the question, is there anything redeeming on the internet?  The information super highway has all but become a giant cesspool filled with pornography and stupidity.  Hmm… I wonder where these guys are hanging out when their surfing.

It got me thinking though.  While there is more than enough silliness and filth on the Web, there is also an amazing amount of great content and information.  I think in reality, the smut and schoolyard shenanigans have always existed it’s just that The Internet gave it a way to flourish just as it has all the great sites and content out there.

I think about my own Internet usage.  I read the news via RSS feeds from reputable new sources.  I entertain myself with YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix.  I pay my bills online, pay my taxes  online, and I communicate online.  The Internet has given us the ability to do amazing things to simplify, and sometimes complicate our lives.

High Tech Tablature

Back when I was in school, I had folders and notebooks full of paper. Sheet music to be exact. It was a constant struggle to keep it organized and in tact.  Well that was then, this is now.

Enter the company FreeHand Systems.  They offer sheet music and tablature stored on a USB stick.  This is phenomenal.  With notebook and netbook computers being so ubiquitous these days you only need to carry your computer and your memory stick loaded with your sheet music.

They offer a variety of styles as well as Piano sheet music.

Freehandsystems.com

The importance of a good band photo

Band photos are a staple in the music industry.  It let’s people see what the band looks like.  It helps market the artists.  If you are an up and coming artist you don’t have the luxury of a pro photographer, backdrops, lighting,makeup, etc..

Having said this, I would encourage every band to make the effort to produce a good band photo.  I know it can be difficult but in the age of digital photography you can take hundreds of shots allowing you to choose the best.

This will only help you when you are making up flyers and putting up a website.  The most important reason to have a good band photo however is because you don’t want it to end up at the RRC hall of douche bags.

 

Man there are some bad pictures there.  I haven’t look through them all yet, I hope I’m not in there.

Scott

A (floyd) Rose by any other name...

Back in the 80's your guitar was ill equipped if you weren't sporting a Floyd Rose Trem. Diveboms and squeals were part of everyone's bag of licks. The Floyd, and shred guitar, fell out of favor for many years but the die hard whammy addicts still kept them and loved them. Well the die hard Floyd lovers have something new to grab on to. Check out the Turbo Trem bar from Floyduprgades.com.

This unit combines a heavy duty trem arm with the proper allen wrench on the bottom of the bar. Now you don't have to rummage around in your gig bag looking for that elusive little hex wrench to unlock your nut.

They also offer brass and titanium replacement blocks for increased mass and sustain. It seems this site has really zeroed in on the few shortcomings of the often chastised bridge and made the necessary improvements to make this whammy a heavy duty tone machine.

The era of the Floyd Rose may be gone but the trem lives on and Floydupgrades.com is doing their part to make sure the unit is as durable and useful as possible for years to come.

Scott

Resources for teaching musicians

I usually focus on the performance side of being a musician. The gear, the gigs, and the recording aspects of life as a gigging guitar player. Today I thought I'd throw out a few tools for those who teach as well. Many guitar players rely on teaching for income as much or more than gigging so I thought I would touch on some things that I found that might be helpful.

Blank sheet music is a staple of music teachers. We would all love it if our students showed up with their own but we know that doesn't always happen. Here are a few resources to create and print your own as well as some other great tools to help you and your students make music.

Blanksheetmusic.net offers a great tool to generate traditional staff paper. The interface allows for time signature, Key signature, Tab, as well as many other options. Just set it up and print or download for future use. You have to set up an account to save your sheets and download but it is free so why not.

scribd.com has a really good looking blank chord graph as well as a pro tabs sheet which has chord graphs and lines for any text. Great for putting the basic chord structure on the graph and lyrics down below.

riff-o-matic.com has a good basic fretboard note chart. I had a pencil drawn one back when I was learning guitar and it was a very valuable tool.

celticguitarmusic.com has all sorts of resources for musicians. They have blank tab, blank sheet music,fretboard diagrams, and a ton of other music related resources. A site like this is a must visit and bookmark.

band-collab.net has an ASCII tab generator. Click your mouse on the line to designate the fret number and soon you have a riff in ASCII tab.

autotransposer.com is a very cool key transposer. Enter your chord progression and it will give you various transpositions. I generally suggest that musicians learn to transpose on their own but this is a great shortcut if you have a new song for the set that you need to get into a key that the singer can sing.

guitarteacherworld.com has a lot of great graphs, charts, lessons, and info for guitar teachers. I know you all probably have you own methods and favorite tools but I think this site can be very helpful for anyone who teaches guitar. Sometimes just having a look at some other material may motivate or inspire you.

I applaud anyone who teaches music. It is becoming a thing of the past in our schools and I truly believe that kids lives are better with music. I hope some of these tools will be helpful to you in your teaching endeavors.

Scott

20 gadgets for working musicians

I’m a gadget guy. I like doodads and widgets. Some gadgets are useful, some are pretty useless, and some are absolute necessities. Here are some great gadgets for the working musician.

Muscians gear multi tool with built in LED light. Everyone has seen or owns multi tools but now the benefit of LED technology has allowed for small yet powerful flashlights to be added to the tool.

American Recorder Technologies makes a multi tool/flashlight combo if you prefer to have your light source separate from you tools.

Farley’s journeyman pocket tool is a multi tool specifically for guitarists. It has Hex wrenches, a string cutter and a acoustic bridge pin puller.

Planet waves pro winder is a string winder with a built in cutter. A pretty handy tool to have in any gig bag to facilitate quick string changes.

How about adding another function. The Pro Winder with tuner is just that. A string winder/cutter with a built in tuner.

Planet Waves cable cutter/tester is a great tool to have for anyone who goes the DIY route with their pedalboard cabling.

The mighty bright roadie light is actually two small LED lights. One keychain light and one carabeaner light. These can be attached to your gig bag, your belt loop, or wherever.

Planet waves pick holder keychain LED light will assure you that you can always see in the dark and you always have picks.

Farley’s Pocket Tones is an electronic pitch generator that allows you to tune your instrument or your voice anywhere.

The S.O.S tuner is a small tuner that emits two out of phase LED beams on your strings. The light appears still when the string is in tune.

Dunlop’s neck cradle safely holds your guitars neck while you work on it.

The Quarter Note magnetic pencil holder keeps your pencil stuck to your mic stand, music stand, or any metal surface. Great for those song writing sessions or to have handy for mailing list sign ups at gigs.

The Pick List is a set list/Pick holder that mounts to your acoustic guitar. A great tool for the acoustic musician.

The Stage Player guitar stool/stand is a portable stool which doubles as a guitar stand. Great for resting your feet and keeping your guitar safe during breaks.

The Otray mic stand tray holds your drink as well as other items such as your slide, smokes,picks,etc..

The Wedgie is a small pick holder that clips to your mic stand. You can never have too many spare picks.

Dunlop’s mic stand pick holder takes it to the next level with a small hook for you slide.

Dunlop’s pick holder holds a few picks and sticks to almost anything. I personally have these stuck to each of my amps.

Dunlop’s bridge pin puller bottle opener will help you restring your acoustic guitar quickly as well as get you beer open in a hurry.

The final gadget for musicians is multi functional and really a necessity in your gig bag.

Gaffer tape is invaluable at a gig. You secure your set list, tape down cables, fix a broken guitar strap, and maybe even tape the drummer’s mouth shut so he doesn’t blow it with the cub owner.

Now go out and stock your gig bag with some of these useful,quirky musician gadgets.

Scott

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