I was so excited to sit down and write this week’s issue of Six String Sunday. We have awesome looking guitars, a bunch of new music, a handful of lessons and more. Hope you’re enjoying some good woodshedding time! Let’s get into this week’s links.

"Jackhammer Ballet" feat. Vocalist Joseph Secchiaroli (168 LED GUITAR) - First up, we have the brand new Scale the Summit video for “Jackhammer Ballet”. This is the first StS music to feature a vocalist, and it turns out 8 different vocalists will be helping them on their upcoming album. Chris Letchford also stated on Instagram that there’d be a instrumental only version of the album. While all that is fun and good, you’ve got to take a look at Letchford’s new signature Kiesel guitar. It features 168 LEDs on the fretboard, and is hypnotizing to look at. Can’t wait to see this guitar in person!
The 15 Focus Points of Funk Guitar (ft. Mark Lettieri) - If it seems that I link to MusicIsWin a lot, it’s because Tyler is consistently putting out great videos all the time. This week he got Mark Lettieri to help him out with a video on the 15 focus points of funk guitar. Stick around for tip number 15!
Tight, snappy, percussive hybrid picking techniques of Van Damme - Guitar Lesson - Mika Tyyska just came out with the song “Van Damme Dance” - check out the video here. But he also did a great video on the hybrid picking that he’s using throughout the song. Check out the full lesson, with tab! If you dig Mika’s style, I can strongly suggest his lessons page, and ultimately his store. I’ve picked up a few of his lessons over the years, and they’ve really challenged me.
Julian Lage - Familiar Flower - One of my absolute favorite jazz guitarists is back with his trio for the song “Familiar Flower”. Plus he’s using his beautiful, Collings signature guitar. Keep an eye out for Julian’s new album ‘Squint’, which is due out June 11th. I’m sure I’ll be talking more about it in this newsletter.
Melodic SHRED Concepts for Guitar! - Ben Eller has had two recent videos that are excellent. The first one is all about this 24 note sequence that’ll have you working on your alternate picking. And the second has you ditching the pick for some hyperspace hexatonic tapping. Enjoy!
Chord Of The Day | How To Play FMaj9 on Guitar #Shorts - In the “why didn’t I think of that” realm, JustinGuitar is taking full advantage of YouTube’s new “Shorts” feature to show off one cool chord of the day, each day.
The Queen of Tone.. (Abigail Ybarra) - I was mesmerized watching the legendary Abigail Ybarra, hand wind a pickup for Fender. I went down a rabbit hole learning about how she had been working for Fender for nearly 60 years, and now has retired. There’s also this great interview from She Shreds with Abigail where they talk about how she got in to pickup winding in the first place, training her apprentice, her work ethic, and a lot more.
The History Of Roland Pedals (ORIGINS OF BOSS) - Josh and the team at JHS take a look at the history of Roland pedals. They go over some of Roland’s earliest pedals - with an awesome look at some of the earliest phasers, wahs and more, and then go on to talk about the huge impact that their brand Boss made on the guitar world.
ZEUS DRIVE - Official Product Video - And speaking of pedals, this week T.C. Electronic is making waves with their Zeus Drive. The pedal is a clone of the Klon Centaur. The tone is great, but the best part? The pedal is just 59 bucks! If you’re looking for a Klon type drive pedal, but don’t want to break the bank, this is a perfect pedal to go for.
Play THIS Over Blues Turnarounds! | Matteo Mancuso Spicy Licks #13 - Ross Campbell is back with another edition of Spicy Licks. This time he takes a look at a blues riff from Matteo Mancuso (if you’ve never heard of Matteo, check out this video - fantastic playing).
The Captain Meets Paul Reed Smith - Long Distance Crossover- Andertons has been doing a pretty cool series of videos where they have a brand take over the channel for about a week. This week it’s been PRS, and they’ve been putting out a ton of great videos. I enjoyed watching Paul himself sit down with The Captain.
Ariel Posen - Acoustic EP Release Show - Ariel Posen recently put out an acoustic version of some of the tracks off ‘Headway’. To celebrate the release of the album, he did this fantastic solo livestream.
(4K) Jimi Hendrix - Spanish Castle Magic (Stockholm 1969) - The Vintage Blues in 4K channel has quickly become one of my favorite for checking out old performances from Hendrix, SRV, the Kings, etc. Recently Anthony put up a version of Jimi’s “Spanish Castle Magic” from Stockholm in ’69.
HOW TO: Fit In and Play Music With Other Musicians. Guitar Fundamentals - There’s nothing worse than joining a jam session, and having that sinking feeling that you’re not meshing with the rest of the band. StichMethod put out a helpful video this week on how to fit in with the rest of the band. Where to jump in, when to lay back, and more. Really helpful advice.
How Guitarists Can Prevent Injuries with The Musician's Physician | Wong Notes Podcast - Cory Wong’s ‘Wong Notes’ podcast has been so fun to listen to over the past coupe of seasons. This week he had the musician’s physician on, Dr. Charlie Kautz. Here’s a clip from the show where Dr. Kautz talks about how guitarists can prevent getting hurt. And if you want more stretches, here’s a great article one of our readers (hey brewsea!) found from National Guitar Academy.
Wolfgang Van Halen used his father’s original Frankenstein guitar on the upcoming Mammoth WVH album | Guitar World - If you’ve heard any of the new releases from Wolfgang Van Halen, it turns out there’s been a surprise all along. Wolfgang had been using his father’s Frankenstein guitar for a couple of parts on the songs! Check out this article for more, including what Eddie thought of the guitar after pulling it out of storage.
Artic Monkeys’ Guitar Secrets - R U Mine Breakdown - The Recording Revolution takes a look at the isolated guitar tracks of the Arctic Monkeys’ “R U Mine”. I love this type of behind the scenes stuff where an engineer breaks down a tone. The coolest part of this lesson is that the engineer attempts to recreate the tone himself. This is one of the best mixing lessons you can learn - guide tracks are so helpful when mixing your own music.
How to Make an Acoustic Guitar Cover | Orangewood - Acoustic covers have been a staple of music for decades, and more recently have been mega popular on YouTube. Orangewood, who knows a thing or two about acoustic guitars, just put out an article on how you can get started creating your own acoustic cover.
Nine Things That Guitarists Get Wrong About Guitars | GuitarPlayer - And finally, I thought this post from Guitar Player about 9 things guitarists get wrong about guitars was spot on. I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve believed some of these gear myths in the past.