Posted on

How Often Should You Change Your Guitar Strings

I like to get as much life out of my strings as I can, and how often I change them really depends on the situation.

When I have fresh strings I can be reluctant to take them to a gig if it’s going to be humid or if there is a chance that someone else will play my guitar. In the summer time I will even pick one guitar and just leave terrible strings on it for the season.

If a set of guitar strings starts to physically feel bad I will always change them, even if they still sound good. Over time the strings will get bent at the frets and stop intonation properly, but that’s usually way after they start to sound dull.

Posted on

.047uF Tone Cap In The Stratocaster

Tone Capacitor

I thought I’d give the .047 cap a try for the neck pickup setting in my stratocaster. It produces a fairly dark sound as you roll the tone knob back. You could almost call it a “jazzy” tone.

A .047 tone cap is a larger value than I was used to when I made this video. Basically with tone caps, the smaller you go in value, the more midrange it preserves.

Posted on

Fuzz Face Demo with 2G308 Germanium Transistors

Germanium Fuzz

This was one of my favorite fuzz faces. I ended up selling it on reverb but I do have a set of these transistors left for a rainy day.

I used a .1uf poly cap for the input, and a .01 for the output, so it’s not as bass heavy as a stock fuzz face.

The 2G308 transistors clean up really well with the guitar volume knob, but they also get a huge sound with the volume all the way up.

Posted on

Stratocaster Neck and Bridge Together

Middle Pickup Setting Stratocaster

You can call it a Telestrat if you want, or even a Strelecaster, but either way, it’s the best middle setting on a Stratocaster!

Using the strat neck and bridge together is one of the greatest Stratocaster tones and it isn’t even an option with the standard switching.

You can get a great funk tone, and it also does a great fake Telecaster sound.

Posted on

Treble Bleed With A Fuzz Face

More like trouble bleed. When you have a treble bleed circuit in your guitar, the fuzz face doesn’t clean up with the volume knob the way it’s supposed to. This isn’t just a fuzz face thing. A lot of vintage fuzz pedals interact with the volume knob and the trouble bleed will have an effect on the tone.

In this lesson I demonstrate the fuzz face with and without the treble bleed circuit. I like it a lot better without the treble bleed.