Guitar talk, and easy guitar lessons from beginner to jazz with Birdsnake Brown
In this video, I documented the entire process of building a clone of Dumble Overdrive Special #102. It took me about a month of soldering in all of my spare time to go from parts to a guitar amp.
This was my second Dumble clone build and I am really proud of how it turned out. I’ve been playing it for over a year now and it’s still my favorite amp (don’t tell the Twin Reverbs). It’s such a versatile guitar amp… great cleans and a killer overdrive.
My first jazz guitar book was Mickey Baker Book 1. I was working at a music store and I think I only paid a couple of dollars for it. Turns out, this book is priceless.
I still use the chords from this book all the time, and the way the exercises are laid out and they build on each other taught me a lot about how to get good at something new on guitar.
I also bought book 2 right around the same time, but it sat for quite a while because the chord voicings were too hard for me back then.
Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar Book 1: https://amzn.to/2URFZwI
I love love love love the Fulltone Fulldrive 2! I had one the first year it came out, and I used it as my main overdrive for about 10 years. I foolishly sold it when I started building my own pedals. Eventually I bought another one, and out of every overdrive I’ve bought or built, it’s still my favorite. I also love the Klon clone, but to me, it’s better as a boost than an overdrive.
They don’t make the FD2 anymore but you can get the 3, or the 1 on amazon: https://amzn.to/2AXboJK
Here are some passing chord ideas for “Fly Me To The Moon” that will take you past what’s in the Real Book. I like to use altered 7th chords a half step above whatever chord I’m moving to. There is also a little diminished and augmented thing that works well on this tune.
These D’Addario Chromes Extra Light flatwound guitar strings were a great stepping stone to flats. They have some midrange punch without sacrificing the flatwound sound. When I reviewed these I was playing 10-46 on most of my guitars, so the extra light 10-48 string gauge was an easy transition.
D’Addario Chromes: https://amzn.to/2U6sZ9i