The semi hollow body guitar is used to get a thicker, more "acoustic" guitar sounding tone without losing the integrity of the instrument. In attempting this the guitar achieves a unique tone. This instrument requires a little more care in live situations than a solid body guitar (such as the tele, strat, LP or SG) because it can have more problems with feedback when playing at high volumes or higher gain settings. This isn't a bad thing, though. One should have that knowledge and then make necessary adjustments to get the tone you'll be rewarded with when playing thi...

The hollow body guitar is a blues staple because it is a throwback to having a guitar that you can play unamplified and it has the shape and feel of an acoustic guitar with pickups. It is the link between the acoustic guitar and the solid body guitar so many blues guitarists use today. It's no common middle man, though. What you're left with is a dark and creamy sound that your listeners will love if you've placed it tastefully. The hollow body can produce a good deal of feedback if played at loud volumes. If the volume is just right, though, it can punch like Joe Lou...

In this video I'll show you how to attach the bolt-on neck to the guitar body. The whole of the guitar neck has the fretboard and the headstock, and can also have truss rods inside to keep the neck straight.

This series of lessons covers the functional aspects of various parts of a Stratocaster style electric guitar. Also covered is a Gibson style for comparison and contrast. In this fifth lesson I talk about the body style and shape. On a personal note, I find the Strat style to be the best combination of form and function; beauty and utility.

There was a time in the '60s and '70s that Semi-Hollow Body guitars were THE guitar to have. Venues weren't as large so feedback wasn't an issue. The result was sound that is often imitated and hard to replicate in our decade. This setup gives you a creamy (pun intended) sound that isn't like either of the solid bodied guitars we've looked at so far. Our amp is set with the volume at 7 to get a nice breakup. We set the Highs at 5-6 and the Lows at 4. The guitar is set on the bridge pickup with the volume at full tilt and the tone at around 8. Be careful with t...

Many great blues guitarists use a semi-hollow body guitar. It has a woody tone that can have a deep and mellow sound as well as a bright and thin sound. This guitar also has a resonant, acoustic quality that produces a unique sound when pushed through overdriven amps or pedals. If you're a traditionalist, this guitar is a viable choice for you. Pros would be the sound, the look, and the range of tone. Be careful of stage volume and placement of this guitar near the amp. It can produce a healthy amount of feedback if you're standing in the wrong place or playing ...

Solid State amplifiers come in all shapes and sizes and can have many different functions. It's not unusual to see solid state amps with many effects and countless features. A solid state amp doesn't use tubes. They don't use current to directly alter the sound you are amplifying. The power supplied to the amp runs a chip that simulates the sound you desire, so it's wise to buy a solid state amp geared to sound like the style you wish to play. We don't cover the effects that can come on the amp in this lesson. We'll focus more on that in the effects section of these l...

This lesson is a brief overview of what we'll be looking at when discussing the features of a solid state amplifier. First and foremost, know that solid state amplifiers are meant to emulate the sound of tube amps. They are seldom used in the classic country sound for many reasons. The old touring country guitarists used the tube amplifier in simple setup. The glory days of music row still favored the tube sound but also experimented with the direct-to-board sound. In modern country music, there is a tendency to lean toward the classic rock gear in the arena format, o...

One standard feature on many models of solid state amplifiers is that of multiple channels. Most will feature two channels. In the game of amps, you get what you pay for, so a more expensive amplifier will usually have more features per channel. On the amp we use in this lesson, the first channel is a basic clean sound with the minimum equalization settings needed (low, high). This is the channel generally used by most players using solid state technology. These players usually use effects pedals and rack units to supplement this channel. This is effective as a setup ...

Here we will look at the basic equalization and drive controls of a solid state amplifier. Notice that channel 2 has a midrange EQ control that the first channel does not. Because the second channel is used for drive/gain, the mid control is necessary. You'll find it has a considerable effect on what your gain sounds like. Experiment and find what you like when setting your amp up for great tone.

Guitar 3 plays palm muted power chords using 8th notes. In this lesson, we'll focus on the verse section, but keep in mind this guitar plays throughout the entire song. This is very steady, consistent strumming using palm muting. With the exception of the bass lick underneath the main riff of the song, this part plays completely ensemble with the bass line.

The third verse contains two 10 measure phrases, one 12 measure phrase, and one 11 measure phrase. Phrase one, guitar 1 plays a riff over the first 8 measures - then the high fill. Phrase two is standard with the low fill, and phrase three is standard except for the extra two measures to give time for the "siren" in guitar 2. This ends with the high fill, and phrase four begins standard then stops after "hot", bends low E, "rod" (bend again), "lincoln" - then a two measure fill on the low E. Guitar 2 doubles the riff in phrase one, makes "flame" effects and a D dopple...

After the first chorus we get the melodic hook once only followed by a four measure solo. Then after the second chorus we get the second solo which is 8 measures long.

Yes, this riff is all about feel. This is what you'll be playing for the most part of the song so you want to invest some time in getting the groove right. It's all in the pick hand, too. Keep that pick hand moving in time to help get this right. Your pick hand will get a break from strumming when you play the pentatonic lick here. Pay special attention to how these notes are phrased: 3 notes grouped together, 2 notes staccato, 2 notes connected with a slide. To get the B minor pentatonic lick, move the A minor pentatonic lick up two frets.

When some players are looking at amps or are trying to get tone out of the amp, they do not fully consider the effect of the guitar on the amp's tone. The guitar has a huge effect on the gain of an amplifier. The guitar acts as a "preamp" before it hits the actual amplifier and can really fatten or dirty up the overdrive when you crank the guitar volume. On the flip side, you can really clean up the guitar's sound from a heavier overdrive to a dirty clean sound by simply rolling off the guitar's volume. To most younger player's disbelief, you can clean your guitar up for a ...

Here a a couple of my favorite settings for effective tone. The first setting will be for a clean sound used for rhythm guitar. The second will be for a dirty lead sound. You can copy these sounds if you want, but you'll be far more satisfied to come up with your own. Use these sounds and tweak the individual controls to see how they each effect the tone. If nothing else, give 'em a try just to see if you like or hate them. Make a special note that these settings won't necessarily work on a tube amplifier. Amplifiers are like guitars in that they each have thei...

This series of videos covers various types of necks and fretboards used to make electric guitars! In this third part I feature a bolt-on maple neck that has been scalloped. Since this neck was originally a solid piece of maple, it has no separate fretboard piece. It's a non-cap.

This lesson is an overview of the parts of the electric guitar. These include the body, the neck and fretboard, the bridge which raises the strings and sets the action, the headstock which has tuning pegs to which the strings are attached, etc. A full list is below. Neck: head stock tuners (tuning pegs, machine heads, tuning gears) nut (the "zero fret") fretboard frets Body: top, back, sides pickups bridge saddles bridge plate, block or bar pickup ...

There's only one tone needed in this song. What we're looking for is a high gain Marshall sound with a solid body guitar and I recommend using humbucker or mini humbucker pickups. Now, when I say high gain in a "Ramones" sense, it means high gain in the 70's. Not modern sounding at all; it's a pretty even EQ with the treble set to about 6, mids are at 5, and bass is around 7. I'm playing on the bridge position pickup to get the right bite, so start there and work your way towards the right tone.

This series of lessons covers the functional aspects of various parts of a Stratocaster style electric guitar. Also covered is a Gibson style for comparison and contrast. In this sixth and final lesson I detail the parts of a Gibson style guitar and how it compares and contrasts with Stratocaster style guitars.

Hi all, it's Mike from Guitar Tricks teaching you "Surfin' Safari", as made famous by The Beach Boys. This is a super fun surf/rock classic that features some solid rhythm playing and an energetic solo. In the following lessons, we'll talk about the Chuck Berry rhythm pattern, triads, and minor pentatonic licks. We're in the key of A, a 4/4 time signature, at a tempo of 160 bpm.

The tune features a simple chord progression that is repeated throughout the song. The chords are D7 (I7), Am7 (Vm7), and G7 (IV7), with a quick C7 (bVII) near the end of the 24 bar progression. The presence of the dominant IV chord (G7) and a bVII chord make this progression mixolydian. The role of the guitar here is nothing more than a solid accompaniment for the vocal and narrative. You'll find this type of guitar approach in all genres, but it is quite prevalent in folk music. Supporting a vocal with a solid foundation without getting in the way is an important ...

In this lesson we'll learn the song's intro. Remember that we're capoed at the 2nd fret; you'll notice that I'm playing an open C major shape chord, and that's how I'll be naming the chords with the capo on. However, this sounds out as a D major chord. This song has a honky-tonk sound and feel, and uses a lot of dominant 7 chords to convey that. We'll be starting on C, then E7, A7, D7, and G7 (numerically, this is I-III-VI-II-V). Notice the walk-up from G to C at the end of the phrase. Try to hold down all the notes in the chords to prevent as many "wrong" notes as po...

In this lesson we'll look at the main body of the song form, which is a traditional A-A-B-A form.

I'm using a Les Paul style guitar for this tutorial, but any guitar with a humbucker pickup in the bridge position is a fine choice here. Billy Gibbons used a Dean guitar equipped with a Dimarzio Super Distortion humbucking pickup for the recording, so if you have a guitar with any high-output humbucking pickup, that's a bonus. The amp used on the recording is a 50W Legend combo cranked all the way up. The interesting thing about this amp is that it featured a Marshall style tube pre-amp section, running into a solid-state power section. You can get in the ballpark thi...