Daniel Aronowitz

  Having spent countless hours in my garage band, I have some thoughts on where I would begin if I was starting again. The first question, and the one that shapes a huge portion of your guitar journey is acoustic or electric? In this guide, we’ll go through all the differences between acoustic and electric guitars so you can make an informed decision when purchasing your first one. Easy To Play First things first, a beginner’s main concern is how long it will take them to learn to play. Acoustic guitars tend to have higher action, which can make playing them more difficult for beginners. Additionally, the strings on an acoustic are heavier which means you’ll need stronger fingers to press down on them. Electric guitars on the other hand typically have lower action and lighter strings, making them easier to play overall. When you’re just starting out and building up the callouses on your finger, you’re going to be in a lot more discomfort with an acoustic. That said, that extra disc...

  If you’re a fan of electric guitars, you’ve probably noticed that there is a booming market for Fender clones but slim pickings when it comes to Gibson clones, at least in the US. The reason for this is actually pretty fascinating bit of history. Visit any guitar store online or in person and you’ll find a wide range of brands offering their own take on Fender’s classic Stratocaster and Telecaster designs. From Harley Benton and Sire on the low end to Xotic and Suhr on the ultra high-end of the price-spectrum, there are boutique manufacturers building Strat and Tele clones that would be virtually indistinguishable from a real Fender if it weren’t for the logo and contour of the headstock. A large part of this comes down to the fact that when Leo Fender first created his iconic guitar designs in the 1950’s, he only filed design patents to protect his guitars from copy-cats, not trademarks. The important distinction here is that design patents expire in 15 years, whereas tradema...

  At times it can feel like the guitar world is caught in a never-ending arms race for players to show off new unobtainable levels of technical skill. You painstakingly figure out how to play a Satriani solo and then Guthrie Govan comes along and blows your mind playing things you’d never thought possible. On and on it goes; there’s no peak to mountain of guitar mastery. In this landscape, it’s deeply refreshing to find players like Chris Buck that are masters of simplicity. Chris has a penchant for playing extremely straightforward lines beautifully. After transcribing a couple of his solos, I came away with a couple of observations that I’m working on adding to my own playing: 1. Simplicity is key. Chris finds beautiful singable melodies and allows the notes to speak for themselves without distracting the audience with a ton of embellishment. He has solos where he holds a single note for 4 bars and, contrary to expectation, you don’t get bored. In fact, that single note builds so...