I’ve been tearing through Austin Kleon’s books again - this time in audiobook format. One statement really struck a chord with me from his book Show Your Work. Most baseball pitchers are secretive about how and why they throw their pitches, but then you have a guy like R.A. Dickey and the knuckleball. Here’s what he had to say in his memoir:

“Knuckleballers don’t keep secrets. It’s as if we have a greater mission beyond our own fortunes. And that mission is to pass it on, to keep the pitch alive. Maybe that’s because we are so different, and the pitch is so different, but I think it has more to do with the fact that this is a pitch that almost all of us turn to in desperation. It is what enables us to keep pitching, stay in the big leagues, when everything else has failed. So we feel gratitude toward the pitch. It becomes way more than just a means to get an out. It becomes a way of life.”

The reason why it struck me so much is because this is what I always want to accomplish with Chasing Sound, with this newsletter, with our Discord chat. I never want to keep secrets, and I want to share everything I know about guitar with you. Everyone I’ve talked to wants to share their wins, their secrets, and keep guitar moving forward. If we’ve ever interacted online and shared stories, thank you. And if we haven’t, please feel free to drop in to our chat. It’s one of the places that brings me the most joy each and every month. Alright, let’s get to those links!

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Inside Private Stock | Story and Factory Tour | PRS Guitars - I wanted to start this week’s issue with an incredible behind the scenes look at PRS Private Stock. There are some jaw dropping, beautiful guitars here, and it’s easy to see why these instruments can cost an arm and a leg. I’d love to go visit this factory when everything starts opening up again.
ESP Guitars: ESP Exhibition Limited Series 2021 - Not to be outdone, ESP also put up a video looking at their limited series for 2021. These luthiers seem to take so much care with each guitar, and it’s amazing to see what they come up with. Guitar World has a post that shows a few photos of each guitar as well, which you can check out here. And if you visit ESP’s YouTube channel, you can see demos of some of the finished guitars.
Steve Vai - "Knappsack” - Steve Vai never ceases to amaze me. Recently Steve brought back his Alien Guitar Secrets show to talk about hand health. The hand health video ties into his song “Knappsack”, where he literally, single-handedly rocks us all.
Paul Gilbert - Argument About Pie - Want more rock? Of course! Paul Gilbert just put out a new video for the first single off his upcoming album ‘Werewolves of Portland”. The song is called “Argument About Pie”, and even though there are no vocals, Paul is just so good and vocal with his leads, that you can hear them.
Mark Lettieri - "Star Catchers" (feat. Steve Lukather & More) - We’re not done with the good music just yet! Mark Lettieri just premiered a video for his new song “Star Catchers”. It features Steve Lukather and a bunch of other great musicians, and is from his upcoming album, ‘The Baritone Sessions: Vol. 2”. I absolutely loved the first baritone album Mark put out, and this video has me really looking forward to volume 2!
How Much Guitar Gear Do You Need? Mick's Vlog – That Pedal Show - We all love gear, but Mick from That Pedal Show poses the question, how much gear do we really need? How can we get “the most music, from the least gear”?
80's/90's EVH TONES + DELAY! Eventide MICROPITCH PEDAL - Ok, let’s throw that last link out the window, because it’s not fair how great Pete Thorn makes nearly every pedal sound.
Guthrie Govan - "Chromatic Fanatic" - FUSION LICKS WITH TAB - I was searching around the internet for cool Guthrie Govan videos, and I found this cool minute long Govan inspired chromatic riff. If you have a few minutes and want to challenge yourself, check this video out.
7 Lush Chords Modifying Satriani Shapes - Chris Brooks - Chris takes two chords from Satch’s classic song “Always With Me, Always With You”, and shows us 7 awesome “stretchy chords” we can create from those shapes.
One JIMI HENDRIX song you don't know... BUT SHOULD!! - Have you ever of the song called “Pali Gap”? If you have, good on you! But if not, it’s actually an under the radar song from Hendrix! Guitar Pilgrim guides us how to play some of the concepts from this gem.
How to Turn CHORDS Into RIFFS! - Uncle Ben Eller is back with another fantastic video - this time on how you can take chord changes and make riffs from the tones found in each chord. Target tones are something I’ve been working hard on over the past year or so, and really make your playing sound more intentional.
Woodshed Ep. 50 - The foundation of my alternate picking. - Ben Eller bandmate Andy Wood also put out a great video recently. Wood can shred rock and country alike, and in his latest video he talks about how he got his alternate picking to where it’s at today.
How to SEE walk-ups & walk-downs on the fretboard - David Pots shows us a great beginner’s lesson on walk ups and downs. If you want to spice up your rhythm playing, and start playing some lead in between your chord changes, you should check this video out.
You NEED to learn the SECRET to Eric Johnson Cascading Pentatonics - Johnathan Cordy figured out one of the secrets to Eric Johnson’s cascading pentatonic runs. It’s all in the initial upstroke.
A Guitar Players Guide to Alternate Tunings - I recently got a Swamp Slide from Rock Slide, and I’ve been playing a lot in open C tuning. I went searching for good videos on alternate tunings, and I found one from Samurai Guitarist that was really helpful. The only thing I can’t stand about this video is that he mostly uses his inverted Flying V. He also made a hilarious video about the worst guitar product ever. Did you ever have one of these?
What Makes This Song Great? Ep.100 "?" - Rick Beato’s “What Makes This Song Great?” Series got to episode 100! Rick goes over Pete Frampton’s “Do You Feel Like We Do” in the episode, and got Frampton himself to join! This is a really special video. Congrats Rick!
Joe Satriani - 'Crystal Planet' Anniversary - Satch’s ‘Crystal Planet’ is 23 years old - time flies! Joe talks about the album, his crystal clear signature model that Ibanez came out with at the time, and much more.
FREE METAL GUITAR PLUGINS - Ola Englund demos 3 free metal plugins. He goes over a few from ML Sound Labs and Ignite Amps. He also includes the impulse response so you can get really close to the sounds you’re hearing on Ola’s video.
In The Mind Of John Mayer: The TikTok Duet Explained. FREE Timing Chart. Riffs, Timing, Improv. - John Mayer recently joined TikTok, and similar to other social media apps he’s joined, he’s been wildly popular with the short videos he’s making. One of the most popular videos that’s been going around is John playing a backing track, so other musicians can “duet” his performance, and put their own leads on top of his rhythm. StichMethod goes inside the mind of Mayer in his latest video, to give tons of great advice and insight as to what John’s doing.
Gibson Custom Shop | Introducing the Murphy Lab - Cool gear alert: The Murphy Lab has put out some astonishing guitars for Gibson. You gotta check out this video where the legendary Tom Murphy talks about these awesome guitars that will bear his name. Be careful though, these axes start at about $4500, and go over $10K!
How to play blues like Buddy Guy | Guitar.com | All Things Guitar - Buddy Guy is one of a handful of legends we have from the early days of blues guitar who’s still kicking and making great music. Guitar.com did a great lesson with 5 licks (audio and tab included) that’ll get you started playing blues in the style of Buddy.
Meet The Beast, A Six-Neck Guitar That's Going Up for Auction | GuitarPlayer - Rick Nielsen, anyone? If you need a 12 string, a six and seven string, a couple basses and more…well, this just might be for you. Get your back ready though, because it weighs 37 lbs.!