Going into a music store without knowing exactly what you are looking for, can be dangerous to your credit card balance... at least it's that way for me. None the less, occasionally I will indulge my gear lust and wander down to my favorite guitar shop just to see if anything strikes my fancy. A couple of months ago I had a moment of such weakness. On my way home one afternoon, I felt that old familiar tug. I found myself passing up my street and heading a little farther down the road to one of the most wonderful places on earth: DaPray/Maytas Guitar Gallery. Gorgeous guitars, sweet amps and colorful accessories all beckoned. Wandering through this wicked garden, I saw other players I know hanging around and talking about what was hot and what was not. That's when one of the guys started talking about this nifty little box he had picked up. Something called the Seymour Duncan SFX-01 pickup booster. He and I have similar tastes in tone so I asked Vic (the owner) if he had one. Luck was to be with me that day as he did have one left in stock! "Great," I said. "I'll take it." Okay, I know what you are thinking. Yes, it was an impulse buy, fueled by my chronic case of G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), but this story of lust and desire has a happy ending. I promise!

The controls are simple. There is a bypass switch for turning it off and on, big "chicken head" knob (big enough to adjust with the toe of your shoe in mid riff) for boosting your instrument signal from 6db to 25 db, and a 3 position rocker (Resonance) switch that modifies your instrument's tone. This feature is designed to make a guitar with a single coil pick up sound more like a humbucker. The SFX-01 works with either a 9 volt battery or power supply.

This is a straight boost pedal. It is fairly transparent. I've been playing with this thing for a couple of months now, and for a pedal with essentially only two controls it has several very useful applications. It works very well at beefing up your single coil pickup. You can go from Telecaster thin to EMG active thick with the click of the switch. You can also use it to push your overdrive pedal or overdrive channel on your amp from crunch to singing lead. It also works well as a volume boost when placed after distortion. You can put it last in your effects loop to boost volume as well. If you are using an amp with a tube output section, you can get more output tube compression and overdrive this way.

I am currently using the SFX-01 as a lead boost in conjunction with my primary over drive pedal. With my PRS or Tele I can get a very nice volume and gain boost when I want to step out for a solo. I also use it to push the front of my Dr Z. This gives me more sustain and compression for a clean lead.

With my non-master volume amps, the SFX-1 can really hammer the pre-amp without adding the tone coloration that you get with traditional overdrive devices. Using this pedal with my Marshall rig elicits rave compliments about my tone.

For my purposes, I haven't really found much use for the "Resonance" switch. I am usually not interested in trying to make my guitars sound like different guitars. None the less, it does live up to its claim of making your single coil sound like a humbucker. It really fattens up the bridge position pick-up on my Tele. It's also good for triggering controlled feedback.

If you are into stomp boxes this is a must have. This is the most fun I have had for $60 and change in a long time!

Lou Lombardi, Your Guitarist
http://www.yourguitarist.com
http://www.myspace.com/guitartracks
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/guitartracksonline/

A great way to optimize your time in the studio is to do some pre-production before you begin the actual recording process. This can include planning where and when you will record, setting a budget, deciding the number of songs you will put on your CD and what producer and engineer you want to work with, among other things. It is all about planning and preparation. Remember, no one plans to fail, but a lot of people fail to plan! For this article I am going to focus on the recording aspect of pre-production. Think of it as the recording you do before you record. I would recommend that you keep it simple and as inexpensive as possible. The idea is to discover what you need to do (change, improve) before you start racking up studio time. Remember that your CD project will be under tremendous scrutiny. You want your performance in the studio to be as confident as possible. This is a great opportunity to rehearse what you will do in the studio. It will also save you time and money in the long run.

There are basically three ways that you can approach pre-production. You can rent a digital recorder, purchase a DAW (Desktop Audio Workstation) or find someone in your town with a small project studio. I think that there is tremendous value in having your own set up. So if you have the time to learn how to work the equipment, and the financial resources, putting together your own project studio around a DAW or digital recorder is the way to go. If you aren't in a position to put together your own project studio, this really isn't a problem. Project studios seem to be popping up all over the place these days. There is probably some one in your home town with a small "basement" studio. There are some advantages to hiring out too. In addition to the financial savings, you can spend more time concentrating on the music and less time on figuring out the equipment, and by working with someone else you gain an additional "set of ears"... an outside perspective on your music, sound and performance that can really be invaluable.

Once you have either put together your own set up or you have found a really cool dude (or chick) with sweet basement set up, it's time to get to work. For the purposes of this article, I am only going to discuss aspects of recording (only VERY basic principles) that I feel directly relate to pre-production. There are many great websites, books and magazines that can help you understand the process in great detail. Knowledge is power so learn all you can. In any case, it's time to get to work. The quickest way to hear what you sound like is to record as many instruments live (all playing together at once) as possible. You will probably have a channel limit of about eight tracks that you can record at once. For the purposes of pre-production, it isn't really necessary to mic every drum. Consider using a couple over head mics, a mic for snare and one for the bass drum. Now you have channels left for bass, rhythm guitar, basic keyboard parts and a scratch or guide vocal. You can then add vocals, lead guitars and whatever else you have by overdubbing.

You now have the song recorded on about 8 tracks. What do you hear? Is the band in time? This is important. I know that there are bands that don't use a click, and that is their choice but most quality music is in time. I know that some will argue this point... write your own article.

The next thing you want to address is pitch. This is usually an issue concerning vocals, but not exclusively. There are some guitar players who will play out of tune by squeezing the strings too hard. It is important that you correct everybody's pitch issues. An out of tune performance can totally kill a great song.

Some other questions to ask are:

How does the arrangement sound, and is it consistent with what a listener would expect for the type of music you are doing?

While it's cool to take chances and surprise your audience, you want the over all arrangement to make sense. Don't bog the song down with annoying repetition that doesn't enhance the song. Use long intros sparingly, if at all. Listen to similar artists to get ideas. You want the song to flow. Remember, your songs have a beginning middle and end, like a story or movie. Move the story along nicely. Keep the action swift, and keep your audience interested.

Are the length of solo sections (if you have any) appropriate for the type of music you are playing?

Long jams are cool but probably not appropriate for more mainstream pop and rock... just a little food for thought. On the other hand, if you are a "jam band," it may be completely appropriate to have extended solo sections. If you do have some short solo section it is probably best that the soloist "works out" his/her solo during the pre-production phase. This is a matter of debate among many players, but if you are recording something in a pop genre a prepared solo is totally fine. You can always mix things up live. Remember preparation is the point of pre-production.

Have you considered things like back up vocals, or vocal harmonies?

Well arranged backing vocals can make your song's hook really come alive. Listen to how artists similar to your self approach back up vocals. Don't worry about reproducing them live at this point. Right now your concern is to make the recorded version of this song sound the best that it can.

Take a little time to experiment.

One of the cool things about the pre-production phase is that you have the opportunity to explore different techniques. Who knows? Maybe some wacky arrangement is just what your song needs or you may discover some cool effect that really enhances a section of the song. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Obviously you have more freedom to experiment at $15/hour in a project studio than at $60 in a big studio! This is also an excellent learning environment. Take time to ask your engineer questions about the gear he/she is using. Ask questions like: What does a compressor do? What is panning? Why did you choose that mic, and anything else that comes to mind related to the recording process? If you are working with your own gear, read everything that you can and consult the many internet forums that are available on the subject. Having a general understanding of how everything works will be an asset to you when you get to the "real" studio.

If you have a little extra time, have your vocalist try cutting the vocals with different mics. If you find one that just seems to make the vocals sit perfectly in the mix, you can save yourself a lot of time later. Keep in mind that when you get to "the big" studio that you probably have additional choices for mics, effects and tracking than a small project studio can offer. Someone once pointed out to me that there was literally a million dollars in equipment between the vocalist and recorded signal in a particular studio. If you can get a great sound with only a decent mic and your computer than all that other stuff will only make you sound more professional.

Technology aside, the most important thing is your performance. A great sound means little if your performance lacks energy and passion. Ask yourself, "Am I really conveying the meaning of the song?" You may want to have your singer work with a vocal coach who can help him/her produce the vocals. Bring your coach to the studio when it is time to lay down the vocals. A coach can help your singer find places in the vocals to accent, help resolve any pitch, and vocal tone issues and make suggestions for taking breaths, etc...

Once you have your song recorded, listen to it. How does it sound? If you are going for a mainstream sound is it something that you could hear on the radio? Try putting it on a mix CD with songs by your favorite artists. How does it hold up? It's a good idea to actually set it aside for a week or two then come back to it. You'll be surprised at the perspective this will give you. Also play your pre-produced songs for other people outside of the band whose opinion you trust. Get input. If some one makes a suggestion that you really like, jot it down and try to implement it when you start the actual recording phase. Make sure that you send your pre-produced tracks to your producer or engineer. A good producer will listen to them and make notes to use for the actual recording. This is also the time to discover if some of your songs just aren't record worthy. Yes, it happens to even the best artists. You write and record something only to discover that it just isn't going to work either because thematically it doesn't work with the other songs or maybe the song itself just needs to be completely reworked. Don't let it get you down. If nothing else you have some raw material for the next CD.

This is your discovery time. Make the most of it. Having your pitch, timing, arrangements and over performance together before you walk through those studio doors is going to save you time, money and a lot of headaches!

Lou Lombardi, Your Guitarist
http://www.yourguitarist.com
http://www.myspace.com/guitartracks
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/guitartracksonline/

It never fails. I'm sitting in my studio jamming away. When I discover the greatest riff of all time. The riff to slay all other riffs. The King Kameamea of riffs. I HAVE TO record this! Okay... so I put the guitar down, (first mistake), go get a mike, run some cable, open my recording software, adjust all the settings... figure out what tempo I am playing... I should put a drum loop down? Yeah... That would totally rock! I go through several loop folders; find something close to what I want. It's now about 30 minutes or so later. What was I doing? Oh yeah... that killer riff. Finally its time to record. Oh...crap! What was I playing? I think it started in E. Damn! That's not it. An hour later all my hopes and dreams are dashed. My riff that would align the universe in perfect peace and harmony, solve world hunger, and stop global warming is gone... forever! And even worse... my guitar is in pieces, on the floor and my computer is in the swimming pool!

Okay, maybe it's not that intense with you, but I think that you get the idea. The point is that when you get an idea you want to get it down as quickly as possible. You don't want to spend time fiddling with your DAW when you should be capturing your idea.

RiffWorks is a very easy to use recording software designed to help you do just that. You simply connect your guitar to your computer's sound card, open the RiffWorks software and start recording (You WILL need a sound card with an ASIO driver for WinXP or a Core Audio device for the Mac). While the company offers the AmpliTube LE plug which is very helpful, you can also use your favorite direct recording gizmo or mic'd amp. These days I keep a rig connected to my machine via the Koch Loadbox. I was set up and ready to play in probably about 30 seconds... not bad eh?

The next thing you want to figure out is what tempo you are playing. This is pretty cool. RiffWorks has a feature called "JUNT." You simply start playing and the software tells you what tempo you are playing.

Riffworks comes with it's own drum looping application called InstantDrummer. What sets InstantDrummer apart from a program like Acid, is that you can vary the complexity of the loops with the turn of a virtual knob. By cranking up the "intensity" knob, the loop becomes more complex... more fills, variations etc... How do they do that?!!! This beats the hell out of scrolling through hundreds of loops to get the groove that you want.

In addition to these features, RiffWorks also includes several of the most common effects associated with the electric guitar, which all sound very respectable. Once you have recorded your masterpiece you can post it for all the world to hear with a feature called "RiffCast." You can also "jam" in real time with a feature called "RiffLink."

The interface is pretty simple and user friendly. Most of the controls have on screen knobs. The program's default recording setting loops what you've recorded which allows you to add different layers with each pass. This is great for being able to quickly hear how different parts will work together. Once you record a section you simply save it and move on to the next section. RiffWorks organizes each section together into an arrangement, so you can quickly tell if the key change after the second chorus is going to work going into the bridge, etc..

RiffWorks is fairly simple to use, and it is priced right ($129.99 for download). This makes it an excellent "get your feet wet" recording program for beginners. Okay. So it doesn't do nearly as much as say Cubase or Nuendo, but it is also much easier to use, and MUCH less expensive. The ease of use also makes RiffWorks great for capturing song ideas while they are still fresh. However, I would like to see the InstantDrummer feature expanded. It is a great concept, but could there be some way to easily move the fills and accents around the arrangement? While I found InstantDrummer compelling, I couldn't quite get the fills and accents where I wanted them.

I have talked with some other guitarists about this software and the consensus is pretty much the same. RiffWorks is a very good program for beginners just learning to record, as well as great "sketching tool" for pros.

For more information check out http://www.sonomawireworks.com/

Lou Lombardi, Your Guitarist
http://www.yourguitarist.com
http://www.myspace.com/guitartracks

Do you want to really beef up your lead tracks? Are you jonesing for that huge vocal sound? Maybe you're having trouble getting a track to "sit" in the mix without sounding tacked on. This is a common problem with vocals.

Try this:

Using the track copy feature in your software make at least 2 copies of the track. EQ each track differently. Make one track very bright, leave one flat and create a track EQ'd with a lot of bass. Don't be afraid to get drastic with your settings.

Now you have three frequencies that you can simply access by working your faders. If it is sounding a little thin, blend in the "bassy" track. Too dark? bring up you "treble" track, etc…

You can also experiment with varying degrees of pan and effects. Try creating a track that is soaked in verb and then just barely blending it in with the others. If there is a certain frequency that you just can't seem to hear create a track just for that one. Then blend it in as needed. I have songs with ten or more tracks all EQ'd and effected differently…very fat!

You can apply this technique to other instruments as well. A cool thing to do with the kick drum is to create 2 tracks. EQ one for "snap" and one for "thump". You can have both sounds and simply mix them to taste.

This yields a much more of the "three dimensional" sound that you hear on most recordings today.

This isn't a "cure all". There are lots of other factors to consider, but I have found this technique to be very helpful.

Experiment...have fun!

Lou Lombardi, Your Guitarist
www.yourguitarist.com
www.myspace.com/guitartracks

Hey Friends,

The Loadbox II allows a guitarist to couple a tube amp to a mixer, computer or another amplifier directly from the amp's speaker output. There is no need to use a speaker or "dummy load" as the Loadbox II utilizes a reactive load as part of it's circuitry. You can read more out the Loadbox here.

I've been working with this thing for about a month. The sound is very impressive. I am running into my sound card (Aardvark Q10) and the sound coming from my studio monitors sounds like a WELL miked speaker cab. I have used other direct boxes in the past with disappointing results, but this actually delivers. The Loadbox has several connecting and wiring options depending on what you wish to use it for. The only thing you have to beware of is that the output from the Loadbox is still very "hot". I am using my ART Tube eq to reign in the volume and make some minor tone tweaks. Another cool thing is that you can ad any effects or "global" eq after the power amp stage. This means more tone options without tainting the original sound.

I want to add that the sound is genuinely inspiring. Unlike modeling devices and amp simulating plug-ins, which tend to wear on your ear after a while, the Loadbox FEELS much more like what you've come to expect from a good speaker cabinet.

Lou Lombardi, Your Guitarist
http://www.yourguitarist.com
http://www.myspace.com/guitartracks

Very often the key to getting tracks to sit well in the mix or be heard without over powering the other parts lies in the playing and not the tone, effects, gain, etc...

Color your roots.

It isnt always necessary to play full chords. Very often you muddy the mix by doubling the bass part. When working with a bass player try playing chord forms that dont have the root note as the bass or leaving out the root note all together. To do this you will have to change the way that you look at chords. Instead of thinking of them as finger shapes learn to see them as harmony to the melody and the bass line.

A brief lesson in harmonic structure

In every key there are 3 major, 3 minor and 1 minor flat 5 a.k.a. half diminish chords that naturally occur. In the key of C the major chords or triads for C are C F G. The minor triads are D minor E minor A minor, and the half diminish is B diminish (B minor flat5). The triads are formed by harmonizing or playing 3 notes together. The formula for a triad is simply every other note of the scale up to 3 notes. Think of tri meaning three, and ad as in to ad together; equals adding three notes together, and youve got the idea.

For example the C scale is C D E F G A B C. You create the first triad (chord) by harmonizing the notes C E G (the C major chord). The second triad would be D F A (the D minor chord), and so on. The first note of the triad names the chord. For example the triad E G B is called the E minor chord.

FYI

You can play any triad three different ways, The first is Root Position meaning the root note (the note that names the triad) is the lowest note. For example the notes low to high for the C major triad would be C E G. The second is First Inversion meaning the second note of the triad is the lowest note ex. E G C. The third is called Second Inversion with the third note of the triad being the lowest note ex. G C E.

Practice.

Learn the inversions for the major chords in all twelve keys. The best way to do this is to learn songs in all twelve keys. Chord charts and books are fine for reference, but not worth the paper that they are printed on for actually learning chords. Pick some easy tunes. Songs like Shenandoah, Amazing Grace, and Pay me my money down, etc are good for this exercise. You can find these songs in most beginning piano and guitar method books. Usually they will be written in the key of C as in no sharps (#) or flat (b) notes. Most of these songs have no more than three chords.

Lets rock!

Now that you have some back ground in how the chords are structured and you have taken some time to learn a few different voicings its time to put the theory in to practice. But how do we know what inversions will work best? What works best is very subjective. Keep in mind that most things in music tend to flow better when you have notes in common. If you study the melody of most songs you will find certain notes and note patterns repeated over and over. When you were learning the various ways of playing the triads did you notice that all of the major chords have notes in common with each other? For example The F Chord (FAC) and the C chord (CEG) both have a C note in them. The G chord (GBD) and the C chord both have a G note in them. This will help to give a good starting point. When moving from chord to chord look for those common notes and try to keep them in the same place as you move. For example when playing the progression (C to F ) use the same C note and simply change the other two notes.

Observe the movement of the individual notes as you change chords. For instance when going from C(CEG) to F(FAC) while the C note stays the same you raise the E note a half step to the F and raise the G note a whole step to the A. Being aware of these movements will help your chord playing to sound more melodic, and interesting.

Remember to keep your voicings small, no more than 3 notes, and stay out of the bass register as much as possible. You will notice that your parts now seem to leap out of the mix. You may even find your self turning your volume down!

This is just a suggestion. As always...experiment, and have fun.

Lou Lombardi, Your Guitarist
http://www.yourguitarist.com
http://www.myspace.com/guitartracks

For many years I have been wrestling with the problem of being able to hear myself the way that I wanted to and still get a good (full) guitar tone. I have always preferred the sound of my cabinets on the floor, without the speaker pointing directly at me. The problem with this set up is that I don't hear myself very well unless I really crank the amp. Cranking up is cool if you are in a big enough room to get away with it, but for most clubs you end up pissing off the sound man, and/or the rest of the band. The answer has always been to angle the cabinet toward your head, by either tilting it or putting it on some kind of stand. The problem with this is that high frequencies always project farther and faster than the middle and lower frequencies. You perceive this as a lot of piercing treble, no bass and few mids. When the speaker is on the floor or angled away from your ear the highs are deflected and you will hear more lows and mids. I have tried many things to correct this problem. For years I put cardboard over the speaker usually attaching it to the grille cloth. It did get me a lot closer to what I wanted hear until the cardboard started rattling against speaker or grille.

About a year ago I started hearing about the Genz-Benz G-Flex 2x12, and my hopes were raised. I'd been looking for a smaller cab (was using a couple of different 4x12s) that would sound good off of the floor and this sounded like just what I needed. I read several reviews and played as many 2x12's as I could in music stores, but nothing really impressed me. Unfortunately I was not able to try out the Benz. Finally I decided to take a chance and order one from Musician's Friend. I had read a lot about this cabinet, some good and some not so good. However, I found the negative reviews to be just as informative as the positive. From the descriptions by other players I had an strong feeling that I would like this box. Although I did have some reservations about buying it unheard from the net, I rationalized that I could return it if I really hated it.

The G-Flex is an interesting design., a little different from the garden variety guitar speaker cab. There are two primary features that set this cabinet apart. First of all the baffle board (the piece of wood that the speakers are physically bolted into) is "flexed". The causes each speaker to face slightly away from the other. This feature helps to reduce standing waves within the cabinet and provides better sound dispersion, reducing some of the "beaming" of high frequencies that is common with the usual closed back design. The other feature that sets the G-Flex apart is the ported design. There are 4 round ports evenly spaced just below the baffle board. The ports allow more lows and mids to escape the cabinet. The effect is similar to having a semi-open back design, but with the opening being on the front. The G-Flex also features some other conveniences that are more common to other guitar cabs including separate input jacks for mono/stereo operation and 4, 8 16 ohm connections (8ohm connections are for stereo operation only)

I've been playing the G-Flex using my 3 primary amps, Budda Superdirve 30, Dr Z Maz 18, Marshall 1987x, and the cabinet has enhanced the sound of all three. The First thing that I noticed was that the mids are accentuated yielding a vocal quality to the sound. This is very useful for leads and definitely contributes to the overall tightness of the sound. It can also be easily dialed out with the amps tone controls if desired. This cabinet also produces more low end than any cabinet that I have ever played. Even with it about 3 feet off of the floor(used an old keyboard stand for this) I could still feel the thump of the low strings in my chest. I have been gigging with this cabinet for a few weeks now, and I am hearing myself better than ever. Even my band mates have commented on my improved tone.

The G-Flex weighs in at little over 60 pounds, and even with the recessed corner handles is a bit awkward to carry solo. It seems sturdy enough but only time will tell. The speakers are 75 watt British made (Made my Celestion?…not sure) , but I am wondering what the G-Flex would sound like with a nice set of alnico speakers or hemp cones, but for the time being I think that I'll leave it as it is.

For more information visit the Genz-Benz website.

Lou Lombardi, Your Guitarist
http://www.yourguitarist.com
http://www.myspace.com/guitartracks

Songwriters, Producers & Fellow Musicians,

You have music that you want to hear fully realized.  You have been
hard at work getting the lyrics and melody just right.  Now you
want to know what this song is going to sound like with a band.

How are you going to do that?

You can always hire session players.
They come to the studio and you work with them (possibly for several
hours) at $30 to $60 per hour not including their talent fee, to get
the parts to sound the way you want them to.

You could always place ads for band mates, but this often proves
unreliable even in the larger markets.

Now you have an alternative.  I can create the guitar parts that your
song needs in my studio.  You pay NO STUDIO FEES!  This frees up your
studio time to work on other things. Any one with studio experience
will tell you that you will need the largest part of your studio
budget for the vocals.

Save your studio time.  Call me today.

Lou Lombardi
info@...