Nashville luthier and repair tech Dave Johnson from Scale Model Guitars leads you through a simple process to improve your guitar's playability by showing the steps to execute a neck adjustment, dial in your string action at the bridge, improve your nut slots, and lock down stable intonation.
Switching picks is the fastest and easiest way to switch up your tone and attack.
Greetings, tone hounds! It can be all too easy to get lured into purchasing a new pedal, new pickups, or a new amp, while potentially overlooking the quickest (and cheapest) piece of gear we can experiment with. You guessed it: the pick! A different pick can significantly affect both tone and feel, which is why I keep an assortment on hand when working in the studio. This month, I’d like to talk about some of my favorite picks and what I like to use them for.
My main squeeze. If I had to pick just one (no pun intended), it would be the teardrop-shaped Dunlop Ultex .73 Standard. It’s been my pick of choice for over 10 years now. The Ultex material is incredibly durable, and I find I can often play an entire gig on just one pick (if I don’t drop it). The tone and attack provide good note clarity, and I find this pick works well for everything: acoustic, electric, lead, or rhythm. I don’t mind switching picks for specific things while in the studio, but live I don’t want to be bothered with that, so the Ultex is my go-to “all-’rounder.”
Specific picks for specific tasks. For electric guitar, especially for burning solos, it’s fun to experiment with smaller, thicker, and/or pointier alternatives. The Dunlop Jazz III has long been the pick of choice for Eric Johnson, who actually has his own signature version now. This type of pick can feel tiny at first, but the sharp-yet-smooth tip glides across strings with little resistance, which facilitates fast runs. At the same time, the Jazz III makes for a strong, clear attack that feels and sounds markedly different than a traditional teardrop shaped pick. In a nutshell, this style of pick can give you improved clarity, articulation, and speed for single-note runs. Because of their size, thickness, and shape, however, I do find them more difficult to use for funky rhythms or aggressive-rock rhythm-guitar parts. The Jazz III is also available in a signature John Petrucci version that’s made from Ultex. Other notable users include Tosin Abasi, Kirk Hammett, and Joe Bonamassa. Seeing a pattern? The players using these picks are known for their blistering single-note lead techniques.
Paul Gilbert’s signature pick from Ibanez is somewhere between a Jazz III and a traditional teardrop pick shape, and is another favorite of mine when I’m tracking solos in the studio. Once again, thanks to the sharp point, there is a clarity that is markedly different when using these picks. Because they are slightly bigger than a Jazz III, they also work well for rhythm guitar. They can be tough to find in the U.S., so I buy up a ton of them whenever I travel to Japan.
Traditional celluloid-style picks in a variety of thicknesses are great to have in the studio. I find they wear quite quickly, and I don’t like the feel when they get rough edges, but they do have a unique feel and tone that just works for some things—especially when cutting rhythm-guitar parts.
Dunlop’s Tortex picks are another favorite of many because of their tone and durability, as well as their smooth yet easy-to-grip texture. Electric guitarists who use them include Billie Joe Armstrong, Slash, and Jerry Cantrell. Once again, there’s a pattern here. Players using Tortex picks tend to play a mixture of rhythm-guitar parts with some lead work thrown in as well.
Nylon picks, on the other hand, have a distinctly different feel and sound, which is generally quite warm. They are very durable, too. The black 1 mm Dunlop Nylon pick was my all-around choice for many years before I moved to the Ultex.
Acoustic guitar. Nylon picks are also a terrific choice for acoustics, and I really love the sound of thin to medium nylon picks for strummed or arpeggiated parts. The nylon material seems to have an almost compressed sound, attack, and feel, and I tend to hear less distracting pick noise when recording. When cutting strummed parts using a thin nylon pick, you can use ample amounts of studio compression to get an incredibly smooth and even effect. Herco nylon picks were very popular in the ’60s and ’70s, and continue to be a great choice for acoustic guitar.
Other brands. I’ve mainly focused on the Dunlop picks I use, but there are certainly many other brands out there. Steve Clayton picks, for example, are manufactured in Oregon and have long been a favorite of guitarists everywhere. A sort of boutique pick industry has sprung up over the last couple of decades, and manufacturers such as V-Picks, Gravity, and Red Bear produce picks of all shapes, sizes, materials, and prices. Notably, Red Bear produces a Guthrie Govan handmade signature pick with unique holes to enhance grip, and a serrated-edge top for bow-like effects. They also sell for a whopping $35 each!
Bottom line: Switching picks is the fastest and easiest way to switch up your tone and attack. And even the aforementioned Guthrie Govan pick is more affordable than (most) new effects pedals. Until next month, I wish you great tone, and happy picking!
Parallel versus series routing, and how your choice impacts your effects palette.
Get in line. Series routing is the most common scheme. Generally speaking, it's simply plugging in all your effects one after another. The output of each effect feeds the input of the next effect and the result is kind of a cumulative sound. For example, imagine feeding your guitar signal into a chorus pedal and then into a delay. The signal gets modulated by the chorus and the delay then “sees" 100 percent of that modulated signal. Thus, each delay repeat will be chorused as well. Series routing is by far the easiest method when hooking up effects, and it does work great for many applications.
Parallel routing, on the other hand, is similar to adding effects when using a mixer. Imagine a mixer channel that sends its dry signal to the master bus. Most mixers have at least a couple of auxiliary sends (and corresponding returns) to patch in effects, so let's assume we patch our chorus and delay into those sends and returns. You'll want to set the effects for “kill dry" (or 100 percent wet). Turn up the aux-send knobs and you now have chorus and delay that are independent and not impacting one another, and mixed into the master bus along with the dry guitar signal.
This differs from series routing in a couple different ways. First off, your delay no longer affects your chorus, and vice versa. You'll hear the chorus when you play, but when you stop, the delay repeats will tail out with no modulation on them. Now, imagine doing this with delay and reverb. You'll hear the delay tail out more distinctly than if it was feeding into the reverb effect. Why?
Because the delay repeats will have no reverb on them! It is a distinctly different sound than series routing, but it isn't necessarily better or worse. It's just different, and it really depends on what you are trying to achieve. There is a clarity and purity to the tone of effects in parallel that can be a real bonus at times, especially when blending in lots of reverb and/or delay.
From A to D. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, only a tap off the dry signal is sent to the effects. The signal is never completely digitized like it would be if run in series through a digital effects unit. (Some effects units have an analog dry path, but many do not.) Analog to digital converters have no doubt come a long way, but it's still impossible to avoid some slight latency when using them. This is especially true if you're hooking up multiple effects in series, where the result can be a slight disconnect or lack of immediacy in playing feel.
You might be asking yourself about something like a choppy, hard tremolo effect, and if having some dry signal always mixed in would make it impossible. The answer is yes! Parallel routing only works really well for some things: notably and mainly the aforementioned delay, reverb, and chorus (or flanging). It's not really that effective with effects like tremolo, vibe, and overdrive/distortion/fuzz, but as with all things sonic, your mileage may vary.
So, just how do you achieve parallel routing anyway? Well, some amps feature parallel effects loops, which make easy work of adding at least one parallel effect to your arsenal. An effects switcher/router unit like the RJM Music Technology PBC/10 actually has four stereo-effects loops that can be switched between series and parallel, which really gives a player the best of both worlds. Other units such as the Suhr MiniMix II and The GigRig's Wetter Box (Photo 1) essentially add parallel capability to any pedalboard or amp effects loop.
I hope I was able to clarify some misconceptions about series versus parallel routing. As always, I recommend trying these configurations yourself, so you can discover what will work best for your rig. Until next month, I wish you great tone!
They’re typically simple affairs, but oh what a difference treble boosters can make.
Greetings, tone junkies! This month, I'd like to shine a spotlight on an effect that I feel is almost criminally overlooked and underrated, an effect that has been an integral part of many a legendary guitarist's tone formula. Yes, the classic treble booster! Some of the most iconic early rock, hard rock, and metal tones were created using one of these babies.
If you're not super familiar with treble boosters, they don't add distortion or clipping of their own, but instead drive guitar amps into overdrive naturally. Treble boosters originated due to necessity, because many early British guitar amps were voiced relatively dark. (Think Vox AC30 pre “top boost" models.) Anything but the brightest-sounding guitars—even Fender Stratocasters—could easily get lost in the mix.
So, a few creative designers set about making boxes that would boost the guitar signal in the mid and treble frequencies. These devices would certainly alter the tone by clarifying the guitar signal, but because they boosted the signal, too, they also caused the amplifiers to overdrive. And the results were legendary. The following are just a few of the impactful players who used the treble booster/dark amp combo to great “effect."
• Ritchie Blackmore. He's known for often using high-power Marshall amps, but so many of Blackmore's iconic recorded tones (Machine Head, anyone?) are allegedly a Hornby Skewes treble booster feeding into a Vox AC30. Blackmore has gone on record stating that he loved the tones he achieved with his Vox setup, and that he was always trying to get his Marshalls to sound similar.
• Brian May. Since the beginning, May's rig has featured a treble booster feeding into a Vox AC30's normal channel. Cranking the normal channel on an AC30, like May, typically creates an unusable, muddy tone. But when hit with the treble booster, it's time to “Tie Your Mother Down!" By using the volume control on his Red Special guitar, May could go from shimmering, edgy not-quite cleans all the way to full-on raunch and blistering overdrive. May started out using a Dallas Rangemaster and went on to use Rangemaster-style boosts built by Pete Cornish, Greg Fryer, and others.
• Tony Iommi. Black Sabbath's guitarist is another legendary player who put the Rangemaster treble booster to good use. Iommi boosted his early Laney amps into a searing, thick distortion, and the results laid the foundations for what would become known as heavy metal.
• K.K. Downing & Glenn Tipton. Both Judas Priest 6-stringers utilized a Rangemaster into the normal channel of four-input Marshall 1959 heads, and created some of the most iconic metal riffs of all time. Once again, a perfect balance was achieved by running a treble-boosted hot guitar tone into the often rather muddy, veiled tone of the normal channel on these amps.
What's in a Name? If you think about it, “treble booster" is almost a misnomer. While these devices do focus the tone in the treble frequencies, they also boost the upper midrange and make a guitar cut through the mix in just the right range. Treble boosters are also sensitive to a guitar's control settings: Rolling back the guitar volume will clean things up quickly and reveal glassy highs that really sparkle.
What I love most about these “primitive" boosts is that seemingly every well-known guitarist who used one forged a unique sonic and musical path. When Brian May played, you knew it was him. The same goes for Iommi and Blackmore. Even though the effect was similar at the core, these guitarists certainly didn't sound the same.
Playing a loud amp with a treble booster is not the same as playing a modern amp with a ton of preamp gain, or even a clean amp with an overdrive or distortion box. There's just something so unique and expressive about sending your tone over the top with a treble boost. It could just be the missing link in your tone quest! If you're a fan of overdriven tube-amp tone and if I've inspired you to explore what a treble booster can do for your rig, the following represent just a few of what's available on the market:
• Cornish TB-83, TB-83 Extra, and TB-83 Extra Duplex. Originally designed and made for Brian May in the early 1970s, these units are considered by many to be the crème de la crème of boosters. Like most Cornish pedals, they are priced at a premium. The Duplex model actually features two TB-83 units in one housing, which allows you to set different boost levels and stack them if you wish.
• BBE Bohemian. Like most treble boosts, this is a re-creation of the classic Rangemaster circuit in a simple pedal format. It's true bypass, and it won't break the bank.
• Electro-Harmonix Screaming Bird. It doesn't get much simpler than this one. You get an on/off switch and a single knob to control the amount of boost. The Screaming Bird is also a good choice for those looking for a treble boost on a budget.
Until next month, I wish you great tone!
Just say no to expressive tap dancing—at least on or around your pedalboard.
I had my first “pro" guitar rig built back in 1996. It was a relatively small rack-based affair with a Rocktron Replifex multi-effects unit that I'd run in my amp's effect loop, and some pedals mounted on a shelf. The pedals were each connected to individual effects loops on a Voodoo Lab GCX eight-loop audio switcher, where I'd plug in my guitar. I could store and recall presets using a MIDI controller with the various effects loops active or bypassed per patch. (The Replifex was switched via MIDI as well.) Once I got used to this rig, I was hooked on switching systems. The ability to hit one button and have all my effects change at once was addictive. No more tap dancing!
Switching systems are commonplace these days, but with one difference. Racks are rather uncommon now, as switching systems are usually pedalboard-based affairs. So, this month, I'd like to touch on the many advantages of using pedalboard-based switching system as the organizational and tonal “heart" of a guitar rig.
Who makes these things? Pedalboard-based audio switchers for guitarists used to be relatively rare. A few companies, such as MusicomLab, The GigRig, and RJM, have been making units like this for some time, however. (I've personally used MusicomLab switchers since 2011.) Boss recently entered the market with their ES-8 eight-loop unit, and followed up with the ES5 (five loops), and the MS3, which has three loops and is also a multi-effects processor. Because Boss is such a global powerhouse of a company, quality switchers are now readily available to guitarists just about everywhere.
They do more than just switch pedals. Many pedalboard-based switchers feature multiple outputs, which allows you—per patch—to A/B/Y different amps, or switch between an amplifier and a DI, which is handy if you want to switch from electric to acoustic guitar. Most units that can do this feature isolation transformers and phase-reversal switches for the outputs—a must for solving ground loops and phase issues. Many are true bypass with selectable buffers, which allows players to balance tonal purity with the need to drive long cable runs to their amp(s).
The GigRig's G2 unit even features programmable pre-gain on every preset, which allows you to buffer, boost, or attenuate your signal. That's a very useful feature when switching guitars. And as I mentioned earlier, the Boss MS3 unit features onboard effects of its own. You can use the internal effects for most tasks and add a few favorite pedals in the three loops. A good number of switchers also feature 1/4"jacks for external control, which allows you to control amp-channel switching and other tasks per patch. Endless possibilities!
What this all means. For me, a well-thought-out pedalboard with a good audio switcher at the heart makes gigging infinitely more enjoyable. Your guitar signal is never running through a pedal unless you actually wantit to, so the tonal purity is a huge plus. It's easy to change from, say, a clean preset with some compression and spring reverb to a full-on high-gain solo tone with delay and plate reverb—all with the click of a single button.
With a rig like this, I can keep my mind on the performance and my eyes on the neck, rather than having to tap dance on multiple pedals. My MusicomLab MK-V MIDI switcher is sometimes controlled by my tech when I'm not close to my pedalboard. He has a MIDI controller offstage at his tech station, which is hooked up to my pedalboard. So, I can be downstage rocking out and he can do my patch changes for me! If you are doing a gig that runs pre-recorded tracks from a DAW along with the live players, you can even have the computer do your pedalboard preset switching via MIDI. This leaves you completelyfree to roam the stage.
What about instant access to my pedals? Most pedalboard-based switchers will allow you to access the individual loops in an on or off state, within a preset. Usually, you can also program the switches to perform functions like amp-channel switching. In other words, if you want to be able to switch amp channels and turn on your tremolo pedal without changing patches, most switchers will allow you to do that. You can always make a preset that has allthe loops on, and then you can just manually switch your pedals on and off at will.
Until next month, I wish you all the best tones!