This week we’re talking about 5 easy tapping licks, the best guitar cable, help with playing fast, and so much more.

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Before we get into this week’s massive issue of Six String Sunday, I wanted to thank all the readers that have been giving me ideas on what they’d like to learn on guitar in the upcoming year. If you haven’t replied yet, it would really help me a lot if you sent me a quick reply to this email to let me know what you’re looking forward to learning on guitar this year.

It could be as simple as learning new songs or techniques, to deeper topics like recording and mixing your own songs. It’s my #1 mission to be able to create great guitar content each and every week, so you can become a better guitarist.

With that being said, this week’s issue of 6SS has a ton of lessons, new gear, and much more. Let’s get into the links!

Top Ten GUITAR COLLECTIONS In The World - I won’t give away the #1 spot, but I really thought it would have been Joe Bonamassa!
Can These Tone Experts Agree on the BEST Cable? - The Rig Doctor put together a virtual roundtable of guitar YouTubers to decide what was the best guitar cable. Later in the week the channel also showed us tips and tricks on how to route cables cleanly on a pedalboard.
Ep3: I Tried Mateus Asato's Guitar Warm-Up For 7 Days - This Is What I Learned - Mateus Asato is one of the most melodic players in the world. Reverb sat down with him to see how he warms up before playing. I really enjoy this series of vids, because there’s a short recap of each warmup after each step during the video, which makes it easy to understand.
NEURAL DSP QUAD CORTEX "A VULGAR DISPLAY OF TONE POWER!" - Everyone has been doing a video about the Neural DSP Quad Cortex in the last couple of weeks. Here’s Pete Thorn’s take on the new modeler. If you use an amp modeler, which one are you using? Neural DSP, Kemper, Fractal, Line 6, something else?
Neural DSP Archetype Cory Wong and Plini - Speaking of Neural DSP, if you’re interested in their plugins instead, here’s Johnathan Cordy playing through their Archetype Cory Wong and Plini sims. Don’t miss Cordy’s great vid on transposing a lick too.
Plini – "PAN" (Quad Cortex Playthrough) - Combining both bits of news, here’s Plini himself playing through the Quad Cortex with his track “Pan”.
5 EASY Tapping Licks That Sound HARD - If you want to channel your inner Eddie Van Halen, and are just getting started on tapping, check out Cameron Cooper’s latest vid. He shows us 5 easy tapping licks, on a very bright pink Charvel. I also really enjoyed Cam’s video on writing solos with 1 scale.
Help, I Can't Play Fast! Avoiding The Most Inefficient Motion In Picking - Troy Grady breaks down what string hopping is, and how it might be affecting your maximum picking speed.
10 Acoustic Songs Every Guitarist Should Know (easy to IMPOSSIBLE) - It’s one of the coolest things to be able to grab an acoustic guitar and play something for your friends and family. In this vid, Tyler from MusicIsWin goes over 10 acoustic songs that every guitarist should know. He starts off simple with the White Stripes, and ramps up the difficulty to John Mayer’s “Why Georgia”.
Learn How To Solo Using... CHORDS! - The title of this video says it all. Chords are the key to great lead lines.
Build Your Own Guitar Practice Routine... - Over the past couple of years, Tomo Fujita has become one of my favorite guitar teachers on YT. In this video he talks about building a practice routine, with the blues as a base.
Tone Exploration Tuesday - Setting up a Stereo Guitar Rig - Dave Weiner takes us through how to set up a stereo guitar rig. Must be nice having two Friedman amps to do this with!
John Frusciante, Is Theory Necessary To Play Guitar Or Is Playing Guitar Emotionally Enough? (2009) - This clip from 2009 just popped up on YouTube recently. In it, John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers talks about whether learning theory is necessary to play the guitar.
Master Guitar Sight Reading - The Three Things You NEED To Know - One of the top transcribers out there, Levi Clay, talks about 3 things you need to know to master sight reading. This is an invaluable tool to have as a musician, and definitely gets weaker over time if you don’t practice reading new music.
Hybrid picking exercise challenge! Wake up the fingers! - Mika Tyyska is back with a picking exercise to “wake up the fingers!” You have to check out this short video, just to read the video’s description alone. Fantastic.
How To Make 4 Chord Vamps That Sound Great - If you’re into jazz, you owe it to yourself to check out Jens Larsen’s latest video on making 4 chord vamps sound great. He has a lot of ideas at taking apart the chords and giving them more movement.
Freak Audio Lab - Blasphemous Blues - Absolutely no one plays the “blues” in 10/4….except Mattias Eklundh.
James Hetfield "Kill 'Em All" Flying V Replica by MCG - It was super cool to check out Mills Custom Guitars recreate James Hetfield’s original Flying V that he used during Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All” days. The relic’ing of this guitar truly looks like a labor of love.
Weird & Wonderful: the Way Huge Atreides Demo - First Look - Premier Guitar takes a look at the newest Way Huge pedal, the Atreides. The pedal combines fuzz with phase shifting, octaves, envelopes and much more. I love the pedal’s tag line - “analog weirding module”. Can’t wait to hear who makes new music with this!
How to get better at guitar using the CAGED system (Part 1) - If you know how to play open and barre chords, it’s likely you already know part of the CAGED system. This is a really in depth part 1 primer on everything the CAGED system has to offer.
Marty Friedman Unleashes His Pro Series Signature MF-1 Purple Mirror - When I saw Marty a couple of years ago he had this same guitar in black, and it sounded incredible. Now with a cracked purple mirror finish, it looks stunning too.
Brian May gets in on the sea shanty action with a sizzling rock guitar cover of the viral TikTok smash - Sea shanties are big on TikTok right now. Who the heck knows how these trends start, but now they’re in full effect, and even Queen’s Brian May has recorded a version of The Wellerman.
“I don't care who plays it; I just love the sound of the instrument” George Benson on his love for guitar - And finally, I really enjoyed reading this interview with George Benson. He talks about his new live album, his epic career, and how he loves the sound of the guitar.