Blog
Welcome Guitar Players! Come on in! Everyone is welcome!
It's story time. Hello, my name is "Us" and I am ‘somewhere’. It’s very noisy and there are a lot of people I know, along with some that I don’t, all around me. I feel quite light-headed, it’s like some kind of intense sensory overload being here. As I look around, I...
My back demanded I downsize my rig
As you can expect, half my life appears to be talking to people that have a new pedal day. Often it’s on Social Media congratulating them, or maybe it’s after I’ve advised them what to buy, or in rare cases talking to them if something isn’t right or they don’t bond...
The Pantheon and associated pedals…
You may have noticed that we dropped a new pedal last week - the Pantheon Overdrive - a pedal that we’ve been asked so many times for I’ve stopped counting… it was Brian’s take on the old Marshall BluesBreaker pedal that was released in ’91 and discontinued not too...
Originals v Covers: Play for the Audience?
I was doing my typical boredom-induced zombie scrolling deal on Facebook the other day and happened upon a Woody Harrelson meme that said, “When people who only play “original music” crap on my cover band” and has Woody drying his eyes with money. It made me laugh,...
Is tone all in the fingers? Does Satriani sound the same with cheap gear?
A very, very, VERY interesting vlog was released from Brian today, and it is about a subject that has perplexed me for many years. It’s directly related to one of the most common and least thought our retorts on social media “Tone is all in the fingers, man”. This may...
And the winner of the free pedal is….
Everyone at Wampler would like to congratulate Justin Budlow on winning the free Wampler pedal from our giveaway on YouTube last week! Justin chose a Velvet Fuzz as his free pedal, and as you can see from this video on Instagram, he's been ripping it up ever since!...
Seeing three of the best within 5 days – Joey Landreth, Adrian Legg and Kris Barras.
Well, I’ve just one of the best weeks I can remember for a long time! As you probably already know, I play in what bDub calls a “Dad-Rock” cover band and love every damn second of it. If I am honest, we are OK, we are tight and we always have good tone – we play the...
Girl guitarists gear thoughts
We asked Haley Powers, a guitar teacher and blogger from Nashville, about her experiences in the world of guitar, gear and finding your way in the male-dominated world of the music industry...Haley says as part of her introduction to her lessons page on Facebook -...
Seeing Joey Landreth again and knowing that music has a future, just by meeting up with someone from your hometown…
Once again, last night, I had the distinct pleasure of seeing quite possibly my favourite guitarist perform at close quarters… Mr Joey Landreth. I know, ask me tomorrow and my favourite will be someone else, but right now the endless carousel of my ‘favourites’ is...
Being blown away by Cory Wong from Vulfpeck…
Life in the gear industry isn’t always as glamorous as it may seem. My idea of it years ago was playing guitar through prototypes, testing new products and talking to famous people all the time. Some of those are true, but it’s far less than most would imagine. Most...
Chasing the tones of Jerry Cantrell and…. It’s time to win a free pedal!
It’s been literally AGES since we’ve done a giveaway, so we thought it was about time we caught up with ourselves and give you the opportunity to win a pedal, for doing very little at all. It’s all contained within the video that Brian posted yesterday… In the video,...
But the audience can’t tell the difference!!
How many times have you seen that comment as part of an argument online and kinda rolled your eyes at it? Well, if you are anything like me, you stopped counting when you ran out of fingers and toes. So, to counter that, here is a bold statement. “Who cares if the...
Does gear make you a better player?
Quite often you will see a conversation on the internet - usually started by a meme - that ends up with a few people arguing that playing isn't all about the gear, it's about the player. But what happens when the gear transforms the player? Here is a short piece sent...
Isolating Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody
As some of you have noticed, especially if you saw my blog piece from July 2018 and are connected to me on Social Media, I’ve been on a real Queen trip recently. Dusting down those old and vintage records is always great, but every now and then you get your hands on...
Coming full Circle on Gear Buying
The time has come where I’m burnt out on gear, and my chase for tone has come full circle. In 2011 I was probably the happiest with my playing that I had ever been. My tone was great, my rig was stable, and I was focused on playing more than anything. My skillset was...
Why is it called music theory? Shouldn’t it be called music rules?
This week, I am giving the floor to a FB friend of mine called Nik Harrison… Who is Nik I hear you ask… Well... “I teach music (piano, guitar, theory, GCSE, A Level etc) but I also teach thinking skills. Critical thinking, applications of (and limitations of) logic,...
Queen, Adam Lambert, and playing THE Red Special…
Monday, July 2nd 2018 will go down as one of the greatest, mind-melting nights of my life. If you disregard the day I met my wife and the two nights I become a Father, I’m pretty certain nothing has been as monumental as this was. I first ‘met’ Jamie Humphries many,...
The Comfort Zone?
I’m a creature of habit, 100%. Borderline OCD makes me happy when things are “normal” and in a routine. It’s something I’ve noticed for many years that permeates through all of my daily life, down to food choices, what deodorant I use, all that stuff. When I go to one...
What would I say to my younger self about playing live
A few days ago Brian, Alex and I were talking as Brian was thinking about video ideas for YouTube, and we were discussing guitarists who play live regularly but still get a few things wrong. Not necessarily in terms of their playing, but their approach to the...
Tone chasing on social media has its drawbacks
I’ve been trying to write this blog for over a week, and each time I sit down it just hasn’t clicked. I normally have no problem with just starting to write and letting it flow, but here lately it’s just not clicking. I read Jason’s blog last week, and in the midst,...
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