This feature was submitted by Guitar Jar contributor: Pedals For Hire

Long, long ago in a land far, far away, before council tax, Miranda Hart and X Factor (what a lovely thought), there were cavemen who roamed the wilds doing cavemen-type things. As well as hunting beasties and drawing lopsided pictures in excrement on their walls, when they saw something new and interesting they were drawn to it and collected it for their cave.

Continue reading “Is it all about the thrill of the chase?” »

Being a guitarist in a tribute band is daunting. Not only do you need to nail the chops of some of rock ‘n roll’s greatest axe-slingers, you also need to have the tone.

US-based guitarist Chris Manning has the daunting task of filling the shoes of one of rock’s greatest guitar legends; Jimmy Page.

Continue reading “Performing in a Tribute Band” »

This feature was submitted by Guitar Jar contributor: Pedals For Hire

I remember exactly when it hit me. I had been lurking on guitar forums for a year or two, reading all these posts about true bypass, boutique pedals and something called a Klon. I had bought a few nice pedals and amps but never really got into what I was really doing with my sound chain.

Continue reading “When the GAS monster strikes…” »

Guitar Jar contributor, Philip Hancock takes us through ever so familiar situation of “Guitar Shop Blues”.

Surely everybody experiences the same fear when buying a guitar from a shop on the high street. No matter how many years you have been playing, how many chords you know, and how many crowds you have won over; the question that haunts every guitarist who walks into a shop to buy a guitar must be- what confounded riffs shall I play? Unless, maybe, I am an exception. However I am sure it must cross all of our minds when we consider purchasing that lusted after axe gleaming in the shop window.

Continue reading “Guitar Store Blues” »

A few years ago I purchased my first delay pedal – a used Ibanez DE-7. Whilst the transaction was taking place, the shop owner was insistent that a delay pedal is the secret weapon to a guitarist’s arsenal and no guitarist should be without one.

Continue reading “Can you recommend a good Delay Pedal?” »

This article was submitted by Guitar Jar contributor: Mark Angel

I was 11 when I got my first guitar. Actually it was my second guitar; the first was a complete junker from a jumble sale, so we’ll ignore that one, but as my mum thought I had a flair for the guitar she bought me a “proper” guitar.

That was back in January of 1974 and the guitar in question was an Egmond Lucky 7 Semi-Acoustic in a beautiful cherry red.

Continue reading “My First Guitar: Egmond Lucky 7 Semi-Acoustic” »

I’ve been interested in music for as long as I can remember and on a spontaneous impulse during the mid-late ‘90s, I headed to Guitar Mania in Poole to equip myself with my first guitar; a Yamaha Pacifica 112.

Continue reading “My First Guitar: Yamaha Pacifica 112” »

Is it really that easy to re-string a guitar? To be brutally honest… I’m useless at re-stringing guitars!

Continue reading “Re-stringing guitars successfully” »

Picture the scene: You’ve read a couple of reviews on the Internet, whipped out the credit card and laid down some plastic on the “amp of your dreams”. Finally, this is the weapon of choice that’s going to turn you into an undeniable rock god; and it goes to 11.

Continue reading “Choosing a Guitar Amplifier” »

Are you just starting out in your musical career or are you in your twilight years, playing some of the sweetest sounding riffs and licks you’ve ever created?

Wherever you’re at with your guitar playing, here’s a somewhat tongue-in cheek 100 guitar things to do before you die. How many can you tick off…

Continue reading “100 guitar things to do before you die…” »

From time to time I find myself in the predicament of hunting down a decent overdrive pedal, that sounds good and won’t dent the bank balance. This usually involves many hours reading review websites, watching countless videos on YouTube, often leaving me none the wiser.

Continue reading “Choosing an Overdrive Pedal for Under £100” »

For the first article to appear in the “Are you Experienced?” Guitar Jar feature, I thought I’d kick off proceedings by recalling the first time I ever played the guitar in front of a live audience.

Continue reading “My First Gig: The Beer Engine, Coventry” »

So, you’re mid-way through a gig and your band mates are looking to you ensure the gig goes down in legendary status. What are you going to do? Shred as hard and fast as you can in a neo-classical Beethoven meets meets Malmsteen style whilst roosting the most ugly “guitar face” ever seen? Maybe donning a cowboy hat and handlebar moustache like The Edge? How about using a semi-clad woman to dance around you in a Stacia-Hawkwind style?

Continue reading “How do you grab the attention of the crowd?” »