Recording Guitar Lessons

Hey guys! This month we're going to go over how to use a Graphic Equalizer to shape the tone of your amp in a very powerful way. Grapic EQ's are a must have pedal in every guitar player's co...

In part 2, we're going to prep the preamp of the amp for use with the Graphic EQ. You'll notice that some of the things I'm doing here may seem a bit extreme but that is only because we have...

In the final section, we'll take a look at how each of these faders effects the tone of the amp in practice. Every amp, speaker and cab is different, so you need to experiment to find the ri...

Hi all, This month I'm going over how I use reamping to dial in a guitar tone I like in a very measured and controllable way. Tips: 1. Remember to use the guitar you are going to use for ...

In part 2, you can watch as I play ideas that allow me to focus on specific tonal benchmarks that concern me. Notice how I continue to play some kind of rhythmic chug throughout the track so...

And now that we are prepared, lets reamp and start twisting knobs! Some general rules to follow: Set the amp at the volume you intend to play at. Being whisper quiet or AC/DC loud isn't ...

Hi all! This month we're looking a some tips for getting a good, clean mix doing your own recordings. In this first example we'll deal with some ways to treat heavy electric guitar tracks. ...

Next lets tweak our bass sound! Bass can be a little difficult to mix into a track, particularly with a really thick sounding track that is drop tuned like our example. Since the low note w...

Now lets address the lead guitar. First and foremost, I like to use a different amp sound to contrast the rhythm guitars. Since we want the lead to sit on top of the mix to show off our hot ...

In this last section, I'll listen through the track and make minor adjustments so that everything is clearly separated. Remember to listen to all the sections of your song back to back, so t...

And here's the demo track!

Hi guys! After having conversations with several of my guitarist friends, I thought it might be prudent to talk a little about gain staging with pedals. I made three videos to demonstrate th...

In part two of this lesson, we're going to talk about overdrive. Specifically, we're looking at the Ibanez Tubescreamer. Arguably the most popular overdrive ever produced, the Tubescreamer i...

In the last section, we'll look at the tiny orange wonder that is the Boss DS-1. This pedal has been around since the late 70's and has remained mostly unchanged. Its a very simple tool that...

Hey Folks, So I've been getting a lot of questions about my tone over the last couple years or so and thought I'd take you through my mindset when creating my tone. As a disclaimer, this i...

I tend to get a lot from John Petrucci, Joe Satriani, Marco Sfogli, and Andy Timmons when it comes to infuencing my amp tone. They are (or were) Mesa Boogie users at one point of another. H...

Equalization is not that crutial for live sound in my setup. However, it is needed for home recorded projects in my experience. Experiment with these and try not to tweak so much that you f...

Creating ambience for your amp is crucial. Add a touch of reverb to your guitar tracks to add that space of a real life room.  You will dig the difference. Beware not to add too much w...

When playing live, I like to use one amp setting for the whole show which means I'd have to set my amp for my rhythm setting, then kick on my tube screamer pedal for more gain. It's a win-wi...

Using the FX Loop is crucial for a signature sound. I'm not big on FX but the ones I do use are in my FX loop.  In this video, I explain why I use these particular FX and why they're i...

And here is Part 2 for FX. Using the FX Loop is crucial for a signature sound. I'm not big on FX but the ones I do use are in my FX loop.  In this video, I explain why I use these par...

Here's my rhythm tone (untouched) in a recorded setting. All I did was sit these tracks from my Eleven Rack comfortably with the rest of the mix. Check it out.

Here's my lead tone (untouched and with my tube screamer engaged) in a recorded setting. All I did was sit this track from my Eleven Rack comfortably with the rest of the mix. Check it out.

So that's all folks. You've learned what amp I use, the FX, and even a little bit of how I use outboard gear. If you haven't noticed already this whole setup comes more from my thoughts as a...