Every once in a while I like to preview what my weekly newsletter is, for folks who aren't subscribed. If you're not signed up yet, Six String Sunday is a weekly newsletter where I get together 6 of my favorite things in the guitar world that week. It's gone out consistently each Sunday for years now. I hope you'll sign up!
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Happy New Year, and welcome to the first issue of Six String Sunday in the new decade. New Year’s resolutions are cool, but starting a whole ‘nother 10 years gives way to so many new possibilities. I hope the 20’s (still weird to say that) gives us the best guitar playing ever, and that we learn more than we ever imagined. I’m here to help you out on that journey. Thanks for all the great emails in 2019 - it’s great to know people really enjoy getting cool guitar stuff each weekend. With that said, let’s get into 6 things I thought were worth your time.
The Guitar Is Wide Open As A Creative Tool
I really enjoyed checking out this short interview with Fender’s VP of Product, Justin Norvell. In it, Norvell talks about how digital amps and pedals are on the rise, and why you might record with analog and vintage gear, but bring out modelling and “relic’d” gear on the road. He also talks about the place of guitar in the coming decade, and how it will always be a “chameleon” fitting into different styles. The interview is nothing but positivity for guitar’s space in the musical world, and how strong it will be for years to come. Great interview if you’re looking for some good news about our favorite instrument.
News From Winter NAMM 2020
Winter NAMM is coming up this month, and already we’re getting some awesome stories of gear that’ll be shown at the show. ESP has been sending out emails to its email list with tons of new guitars for 2020, but it might be Ibanez stealing the show, with an announcement of brand new guitars that have some beautiful finishes, amazing hardware and electronics, and lots more. You can check out Guitar World’s preview of the guitars here.
You can also expect a ton of new effects pedals. One already making news is the EHX-2020 from Electro Harmonix. The mini tuner has true bypass, a super small profile, a bright LED...and the best part...it’s only 39 bucks. Oh, and it comes with a power supply too! Of course we’ll have to check this pedal out in action and see how it holds up, but for that price I feel like we’ll be seeing a lot of these on guitarist’s boards soon.
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Early Days on the Road & Texas Flood
While we’re all looking ahead to what’s to come in the next decade, it’s never a bad thing to look back to some of our favorite guitarists. Ones who’ve influenced countless others. For Christmas I got an amazing book about Stevie Ray Vaughan, called Texas Flood: The Inside Story of SRV. The book is SO good, and I’m really taking my time with it, trying to enjoy every page. SRV has always been one of my favorite players. Recently, in combination with the book coming out, Guitar World took some of SRV’s closest friends, family and bandmates, and asked them about his early days on the road. You can check out the interview here.
My favorite quote came from Stevie’s former drummer Chris Layton - “It was like watching a Polaroid develop. What was once a cloudy picture was coming sharply into focus.” Stevie truly was on another level. If somehow you’ve never listened to him, you immediately should check out his live concerts from the El Mocambo in 83, and from Austin City Limits. It’s some of the most otherworldly blues playing. I remember as a kid wearing out the DVDs, watching SRV and wondering how he was grabbing such good licks as if from nowhere. Needless to say he was a huge inspiration on me and so many others. Go check out his story!
The Technique Secrets of the Decade’s Best Guitarists
Guitar World recently put out a number of lists, one of them being the top 20 guitarists of the decade. And while I liked that list, I think the more important thing is knowing “why” these guitarists are so influential.
Thankfully, GW also put out a post about the top 4 guitarists on that list, including Nita Strauss, Mark Tremonti, Tosin Abasi, and Gary Clark Jr. The post talks about the techniques of each player, what makes their songwriting special, even down to how they tune their guitars. Between the 4, there’s a wide style gap, but there’s a good amount of information to take away from each and every player.
If you’re just getting started on guitar, both lists are a great starting point to checking out a wide array of players who just might inspire you. Oh, and if you want even more Mark Tremonti stuff, check out this new vid that Anderton’s did, featuring Mark from AlterBridge and Zach Myers from Shinedown, backstage before a show.
How Tool’s Adam Jones Really Plays Aenema
A guitarist who didn’t make GW’s list, but has definitely been hugely influential over the past couple of decades, has to be Adam Jones. Not only has Adam lent his great guitar work to the band, but his art style has influenced the aesthetic of the group in such a major way. Recently, Ben Eller broke down how Adam plays one of Tool’s most popular songs - Aenema.
Ben shows us (with live footage to confirm) how to pull of Jones’ hammer-ons from nowhere technique for the intro/verse riff. This is such a cool technique that’ll even help you with legato playing down the road. And if you want to get the real Adam Jones-esque type of sound, you gotta check out Fluff’s latest video, where he recreated his tone.
Best and Worst Gear of the Decade
To close out this week’s issue, I thought it’d be a good idea to see what Phil McKnight thought the best and worst gear was from the last 10 years. Check out his most recent vid if you’re looking for a great new acoustic, electric, amp, or effects pedal. There were brands I’ve heard about on here, like Strandberg, who made a big dent in the headless guitar game over the last ten years, and other brands like Tagima who I’ve never heard of, but seem to have a great lineup of guitars that are inexpensive. What’s your favorite gear of the last 10 years? Let me know by leaving me a reply to this email!
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If you’re struggling with something on guitar, or if you have any guitar, music or recording/mixing questions, I want to hear from you! I read every single email, tweet, FB post, IG and YouTube comment. And I always try and make new lessons from your requests!