I begin this article by proudly declaring my unabashed love for chorus effects! While it may have been overused during its heyday and is not always my cup of tea in blues music, tasteful application of chorus can produce some of the most pleasing sounds.

The 80s, in particular, witnessed countless records across various genres, such as new wave, pop, and experimental music, that employed a flattering and captivating chorus.

The origins of chorus can be traced back to the Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 amplifier. This solid-state amp introduced the world to the Roland CE-1 circuit, which provided a fantastic stereo-chorus effect.

Welcome, fellow music enthusiasts! I'm thrilled to introduce you to the podcast series, "Anatomy of Tone." In this comprehensive series, we embark on a journey through the various elements of music creation, covering everything from the art of composition to crafting unique sounds, selecting the perfect gear, and engaging in insightful business-related conversations.

Some may ask why I only specialize in intermediate to advanced guitar lessons. Although I could and have taught beginning guitar students, I discovered my knowledge and skill set were best for players hitting walls or feeling stuck.

I started self-taught, except for taking drum lessons to learn to read music. After that, I spent much time reading books on music theory, learning songs, and composing and recording songs.

Unfortunately, I hit a lot of walls along the way and felt stuck. IT WAS INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING AT TIMES because I didn't have a mentor (and it was hard finding one living in a small town with limited arts).

The Analog Man ARDX20 is a highly regarded analog delay pedal widely praised for its warm, organic sound and versatile range of features. In this article, we will look closer at the ARDX20's design, sound, and functionality to better understand why it is such a popular choice among guitarists and other musicians.

If you are unsure of the differences between analog, digital, oil drum, and tape echo, please read my Brief but Complete Overview of Delay.

I found my way to the Analog Man ARDX20 while searching for a genuine Bucket Brigade Device (BBD) delay. Unfortunately, I was not satisfied with digital emulations that chop off some high-end to mimic the tonality of analog echo.

The different colors of delay are significant when creating sounds. Each variety can significantly affect the tone of your guitar, synth, or vocal. Therefore, delay is not just a generic repeating device that I place in my signal chain. Instead, I consider distinguishing factors such as the tone of the repeats, the degeneration of the repeats, the tone of the preamp, the headroom, and other factors such as the size of the pedal and power requirements.

In this discussion, I will focus on different environments and how I pair delays for the occasion.

Over the years, I've used every brand of guitar strings accessible for purchase. I was like many trying to find guitar strings that were right for me. So I strolled down a slot of avenues. I tried boutique strings and cheaper bulk strings.

Finding the right match of strings can be tricky. First, some strings are OEM-made, meaning they're not manufactured by the name you see on the package. This also means that you may notice little difference between a few more prominent brands because, technically, they are the same strings with different names.

Guitar capos are one of those under-appreciated accessories. Unfortunately, I've seen many guitarists over-consider the price tag when picking a capo. Maybe because capos have an unfortunate stigma of being cheaters, guitarists feel dirty about buying a capo.

I would like first to address this absurd idea before we discuss variances in capos and why you should care what capo you use.

A capo in no way is a cheater. We use capos to get an open sound on the guitar in different key signatures. It's rather ignorant to think it's simply about making parts easier to play. Yes, sometimes parts are easier to play with a capo. But, first and foremost, I consider sound when choosing to play with a capo.

A 1990 Gibson SG '61 Custom came into my possession last year. Upon spending some time with the SG, which acoustically sounded phenomenal, I decided the pickups needed an upgrade.

The stock pickups didn't sound as bad as they did on my 1990 Les Paul Standard. Those pickups we shall never talk about again! I would have felt bad sending them to be recycled even. If I were a man of resources, I would have purchased s ticket on Elon Musks' rocket to dispense the stock LP pickups into space far away from the hands of guitarists.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been testing out the new Reactovator pedal from Hagerman. I was excited to try the Reactivator as it's an entirely new design for a tube pedal. But, unfortunately, although it's similar in topology (solid-state boost into valve overdrive into the solid-state buffer) to a BK Butler Tube Driver, that's where the similarities end.

Here is a little info from the Hagerman website:

During the early days of TV, if a picture tube grew dim, servicemen could perform a trick called "reactivation," where heater voltage was overdriven to the point of regenerating a poisoned cathode, thus restoring brightness. That's where the name of this pedal comes from! Increasing power from 9V to 12V adds another 6dB of gain for even higher performance.