Guitar Jar Articles – general topics, thoughts, opinions & discussions regarding playing the guitar.
Many individuals, guitarists, music fans or otherwise often state Jimi Hendrix as being arguably the greatest guitarist ever. Guitar Jar questions this statement, wondering if Hendrix would have claimed this title if he hadn’t have died at the peak of his career.
Recently, when visiting guitar stores across the UK, I’m often taken aback by the price of the current range of USA Standard Fender & Gibson guitars.
Continue reading “Are USA Standard Fender & Gibson Guitars Overpriced?” »
RoHS isn’t the most common acronym emerging from the lips of the everyday guitarist, but it’s more than likely to establish itself as a swear word over the coming months.
Continue reading “RoHS Compliance: How will this affect the UK guitar industry?” »
A debate among guitarists over recent years is the subject of the “relic guitar”. To many, the appearance of a well used and battered guitar is a beautiful sight to behold. Somehow, a worn looking guitar appears to have its own unique character and personally; a story to tell.
Continue reading “Relic Guitar Debate… Love them or hate them?” »
If you’re anything like me, you’re pretending to friends and family that you haven’t even started to think about Christmas, but secretly, you’ve been pondering over the thought of Santa ramming a spanking new Honeyburst Les Paul Standard down the chimney.
Seeing that it’s only 6 weeks until Christmas, it’s seems only right to start a guitar-based Christmas list. My only hope is that my friends and family read this list (especially with regards to numbers 1, 8 & 10 
)!
Continue reading “Christmas Gifts, Presents and Stocking Fillers for Guitarists” »
I love the fact that everyone’s creative and it’s amazing we have the ability to create art, music, literature, technology and much more. However, what we create is completely subjective; what’s aesthetically appealing to me could be the worst thing my peers have ever laid their eyes on.
Continue reading “Guitar Tone: a different flavoured sandwich?” »
Geocaching is a worldwide activity enjoyed by people of all ages, where individuals, quite literally hunt for treasure.
From time to time, you stumble across a website or an article that really catches your eye. Recently, I came across http://pedalboardplanner.com/ – a site that allows you to create a virtual pedalboard, selecting from a range of pedals that will leave you in a cold sweat, suffering from a serious case of Guitar Acquisition Syndrome.
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…” »
If you’re anything like me, there are times when a particular song or an album seems to take over your thoughts, almost defining that particular moment of your stage in life. I guess you could call it a temporary addiction or even an obsession.
Continue reading “The guitarists and music from Laurel Canyon” »
I’m by no way an expert on jazz, let alone jazz guitarists. I’m fortunate that as a kid, I was surrounded by music from all genres; my Mum was firmly into Motown, my sister was banging out AC/DC , Pink Floyd (Barrett era) and Iron Maiden at a very early age whilst my dad tried his best to enlighten me to essential jazz artists such as Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker.
Continue reading “Top five most influential jazz guitarists” »
Recently, I’ve had some interesting conversations with friends with regards to breaking into the mainstream music scene. For many guitarists, it’s likely you’re in a band, gigging regularly at venues on the local “gigging circuit” and your band may have a few 100 fans on Facebook.
Even if you can solo like Slash or improvise like Hendrix – is that really enough to help your band go to the next stage in their musical career?
Continue reading “Style Over Substance: Is image more important than talent?” »
I guess we’re all influenced to some degree by our “guitar heroes”. You know the drill: many Hendrix/SRV/Gallagher enthusiasts aquire a Fender Stratocaster. Angus fans will promptly purchase a Gibson SG and (optional) school uniform. Keef followers may purchase a Telecaster, tune to an open G and ditch the low E string. You may even do all three! Many iconic guitarists can be associated with a particular model of guitar, but what about the “other” guitars they use?
Continue reading “Guitars not often associated with iconic players” »
I’m absolutely sold by most “rockumentary” programmes, whether it’s talking about the hippies living in Laurel Canyon or Metallica recording the “Black Album”, I’m not too fussed. I just love discovering all the fine details about how musicians, especially guitarists, develop their art and creativity.
Continue reading “Thoughts on the BBC TV series “I’m in a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band!”” »
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