- Somone in Atlanta posts a Craig’s List guitar lesson ad with a twist. The lessons are free for women who agree to be topless during the lesson. But not just any women: “Also, the free/topless offer only goes for attractive, not overly fat females. Seeing fat girls topless does not make my day better. Fat girls are welcome to take guitar lessons, but you have to pay just like any dudes.” I’m assuming he doesn’t get much of a response.
A few cool links from Gibson:
- Video lesson on learning how to play the guitar riff from Green Onions. You may not recognize the name of the song but you’ll recognize the tune of this instrumental from the 60′s.
- A gear guide on recreating Wilco’s live sound. If you haven’t been keeping up with Wilco, there music has taken a guitar heavy turn with the addition of Nels Cline. Their last album “Sky Blue Sky” has at times a Grateful Dead/Phish type jam band sound. But with fuzzier guitars. Check the performance of “You Are My Face” below. It’s starts off mellow and then kicks it up a notch.
Guitar Lifestyle found an old BBC video (below) of Eric Clapton explaining how he makes the “woman tone” that he used on Sunshine of Your Love and other tunes. Gibson.com also has an article on the same subject:
“Zeroing in on “Woman Tone” isn’t rocket science. That would be easier. There’d be a precise formula that would work for everyone, and no mojo factor. Nonetheless, a powerful neck-position pickup is essential. Start by turning your guitar’s tone dials all the way off. Next, place the pickup selector switch in the middle position. Now roll the bridge pickup’s volume to about six or seven, and crank the neck pickup all the way up to 10.
Amp choice is crucial too, although a carefully selected high-quality distortion pedal can turn some tiny practice rigs into snarling monsters. Clapton used heavy artillery: a Marshall 50-watt head through a 4×12 cabinet with 25-watt Celestion greenback speakers running full out – volume, bass, midrange and treble all set on 10. And while an electronic amplifier – especially one that emulates tube distortion – can get the job done, one of “Woman Tone’s” key elements is the smooth, creamy distortion that only tubes provide.”
“Simply activate your guitar’s Master-Control Knob (MCK), strum the strings lightly, and within seconds the Powertune’s digital brain and Powerhead tuners work together to put you perfectly in tune. Or to achieve any open or alternate tuning, rotate the MCK to the desired preset, strum, and you’re ready to play in Open E, Dropped D, Double Dropped D, DADGAD, Open G, Hendrix Tuning (half-step down), or any of your own custom tunings. In the time it takes you to say, “Hello, Cleveland—we think you’re gonna like this next one…” you’re back in tune, and ready to rock.”
The article also takes some jabs at Fender’s attempt at creating a self tuning guitar.
Which also leads us to the news that Gibson has retooled their site with a more entertaining approach. When you now head to Gibson.com you are given the choice of heading towards “Products” or “Lifestyle”. The Products section gives you what you’d expect from a guitar manufacturer website. From the lifestyle section you’ll immediately get a blog like layout, but also choices for interviews, downloads, podcasts,lessons, and more.
A short video on the making of a Gibson guitar by the Travel Channel’s Made in America. The clip features interviews with Steve Earl, Dan Seals, Joe Diffie as well as a fantastic tour of the Nashville factory.
