Most people know of the Ukulele as a little Hawaiian guitar like instrument that has one foot in the world of music and the other in the world of toys, or at best tourist souvenirs. Tiny Tim and his goofy version of “Tip-Toe Through the Tulips” from the late 60s did little to change this impression. The ukulele is thought to be a 19th century Hawaiian adaptation of a Portuguese machete, a small four string guitar-like instrument that made
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Here we’re looking at a common issue and some ways to address it. This is, of course, getting a Fender Stratocaster guitar – with the original style vibrato bridge – to stay pretty much in tune even when using the bar. As well, we’ll look at setting up the bridge to pull the strings up specific intervals from its resting position. First, it’s necessary to understand that the Fender Stratocaster vibrato bridge isn’t a part, or a set of parts;
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In my last article on fingerpicking, I introduced some of the basics needed to turn simple chord knowledge into some basic finger-picking techniques. Now, I’d like to introduce some slightly more advanced right hand techniques and start getting into some intermediate level exercises with a focus on Travis style picking. Travis picking is a very distinctive and specific right hand technique that takes its name from American music pioneer Merle Travis (1917-1983). Although the technique bears the name “Travis” today,
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Amplifying acoustic guitars is always a bit of a challenge. Capturing the lush, natural tone of your favourite guitar is not easy to do without introducing feedback, unwanted handling noise, and a list of other annoyances. But with so many pickups on the market, how do you choose the best one for your guitar? Which acoustic pickup is right for you? Today we’re going to do a little rundown through some of our favourites here at the Twelfth Fret, and
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Recently I was flown down to the Martin Guitar Factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania for a two day dealer-tour of the factory and Custom Shop. It is fascinating to see over 500 people building some of the world’s finest guitars in such a quiet, clean and organized fashion. The constant attention to detail and quality is what strikes me the most. Martin Guitar seems to understand that though some degree of automation is needed, a constant hands-on component is essential to
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In 1978, the legendary Ed Bickert visited my shop for the first time. As he dragged his heavily worn blond Tele out of his gig bag, his little daughter looked up and said “daddy, are you going to paint your guitar?” Ed never touched the finish but he did have me install a new pickup in this famous Telecaster. We experimented with several humbucker pickups, finally settling on a Gibson PAF reissue. Early in his career he played a late
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