What does actually a "Guitar Technician/Guitar Tech" do?

Hello dudes!

Tomorrow I will be of with the band Dead and Living to Västerås in Sweden. I will act as there guitar technician during there show. Check out the bands myspace here: http://www.myspace.com/thedeadandliving

If you play a lot live, or maybe play in a "bigger" band, you probably already know what a guitar tech is. But just in case if you don't know. I will tell you some about it.



Here is an outake from Wikipedia about Guitar technicians:

A guitar technician (or 'guitar tech') is a member of a music ensemble's road crew who maintains and sets up the musical equipment for one or more guitarists during a concert tour. Depending on the type and size of band, the guitar tech may be responsible for stringing, tuning, and adjusting electric guitars and acoustic guitars, and maintaining and setting up guitar amplifiers and other related electronic equipment such as effect pedals.

Once the guitar equipment has been set up onstage, the guitar tech does a soundcheck to ensure that the equipment is working well. If there are any problems, the guitar tech will replace or repair the faulty components or equipment. Since guitar techs need to soundcheck the instruments and amplifiers, they must have basic guitar-playing skills, a musical "ear" for tuning, and a familiarity with the way guitars, amplifiers, and effect pedals are supposed to sound in the style of music of their band.


Guitar techs learn their craft either "on the job", by working in a range of music, sound engineering, and instrument repair jobs; by completing a guitar repair program at a college or lutherie school; or from a combination of these two routes. The salaries and conditions of work for guitar techs vary widely, depending on whether a guitar tech is working for a minor or regional touring bar band or a major international touring act.



So a guitar tech does actually do that tuning/stringing work during, before and after the gigs. A pretty big responibility, but what the heck! It's all fun :)
If you want to read more about guitar technicians, click here!


Did you enjoy reading this post? The you might want to read:
3 ways to get a "FAT" metal guitar sound
and
7 tips to make the time "on the road" golden!



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Cheers!//Kristofer

Win A FREE T-Rex Monster Pedal!

Hello guys!

A guy called Milan Polak have announced a new competition at his Youtube site, where you have the chance to win a free T-Rex Tonebug Overdrive. Maybe not the best looking pedal, but what the heck! It still sounds like a MONSTER! Check out the video below, or go to his youtube page for more info. http://www.youtube.com/user/MilanPolak





If you like this post, check out this other guitar competition: Win endorsements!


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Cheers!//Kristofer

New poll!

Hello guys!

A new poll is up, and the question is.....
Whats your favorite music genre?

The Poll will be up for one week. So go and answer it right away!



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Cheers!//Kristofer

Did you know that....#5

Did you know that....the correct order to put your pedals in, or at least, in most cases the best way to put your pedals in, are:

Guitar
-----
Filter effects (like wah-wah and phaser)
-----
Compressor
-----
Distortion/Overdrive
-----
Equalisers
-----
Pitch effects (like whamy pedals, and octave pedals)
-----
Modulation effects (like flanger and chorus)
-----
Level controllers (like boost pedals, limiters, noise gates and volume pedals)
-----
Echo effects (like delay and reverb)
-----
Amp


If you want to read more about how to put your pedals in the right order, click here!


Did you like this post? Then check out the other "Did you know that...."

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Cheers!//Kristofer

3 ways to get a "FAT" metal guitar sound.

Hello guys!

It's been a while since the last post. I have been really busy in the studio. So i thought i could talk about some of the problems and solutions i have gone through the last two weeks.

The band i have recorded with is a band called "Bermuda". They play, or should i say we play (i'm only a stand-in guitarist), melodic death metal, and which of course needs a FAT rythm guitar sound. Problems often occures when recording the guitars because of different reasons. So here comes some tips from the coach :)  This is for you who dub the rythm guitars at least two times, which i think most of you do?

1. Try to use different guitars when recording. If you only use one guitar, it can sound pretty weird because that your two(or more) rythm guitars sounds to equal.

2. Also try using two amps, if you have two great amps of course! This is because of the same reason as above.

3. Be sure that you tune in the same way all the time. Believe it or not, but there are at least two ways of tuning the guitar. You can tune while you hitting the string as hard as you doing while playing the riffs in the song, or you can tune the guitar when the string has rung for a little while. You will probably have to swap between theese two ways of tuning depending on what kind of things you are playing. So in other words.....
Tuning sucks :( haha!

The first time this problem accured for me was when recording guitar with my other band Inferior, and i couldn't understand why it sounded out of tune, but in the end I understod that it was the two ways of tuning problem.


Did you like this post? Then i think you would like to read 10 tips to be a better guitarist/musician


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Thats all for now!//Kristofer

A masterpiece!

Hello guys!

Anyone here listening to Bon Jovi? I'm a big fan of  Richie Sambora (guitarist of Bon Jovi), and if you havn't heard that guy play guitar, i suggest you to CLICK HERE to listen to some Sambora solos!

I just had to post you this video of Jon and Richie playing "Livin on a prayer" and "Wanted dead or alive" , live, and acoustic. This videos incorporates both great singing and great performance, and of course really great guitarplaying! So this 6:52 minutes long video is definitely worth watching!







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Cheers!//Kristofer

Guitarist to check out!

Hello guys!

Today i have a new guitarist for you guys to check out. The guitarist is Shawn Lane. That man actually had it all! He could play fast, he could play slow and with a LOT of feel and attitude! Really amazing. So you peoples who are anti-shredders don't look away already!

Check out theese videos:







If you wan't to read more about Shaun, click here!

Shaun's website

R.I.P March 21, 1963 - September 36, 2003


Do you like this post? Then go and check out the other Guitarist tips.


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Cheers!//Kristofer

Did you know that....#4

Did you know that..... the two companies that popularized the solid electric guitar was, Gibson in collaboration with Les Paul, and Fender by Leo Fender. This was after World War II, but it was as early as 1931 when George Beauchamp did the first successful magnetic pickup for a guitar, and put i on a "frying pan guitar".

Do you want to read more about the history and development of guitar, click here!


Did you like this post? Then go and read the other "Did you know that....."



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Seee yaaaa//Kristofer

Poll results and new poll

Hello guys!

Last weeks poll of "Whats the best amp company?" has now ended, and the winner is.........

Marshall!

Closely followed by Peavey, Fender and Mesa Boogie.

A new poll is up, and this is a interesting one!
The question is "A well respected and well hated man in the guitar business is Yngwie Malmsteen, What do you think of that man?" You can answer this poll untill next sunday.

Here's a video for the all the lovers, and underneath that, a video for all the haters.





You can read more about old polls here


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Cheers!//Kristofer

7 tips to make the time "on the road" golden!

Hello guys!

I just found this great tips for bands being "on the road". It's from the great guitar blog "Guitaro Jam News". This is for all of you guys who gig a lot, but also for you who doesn't gig at all, because it tells a lot about respecting your bandmates and so on. Really great reading!

Here's an outtake:

Hello, er, um…” (pause and look down at set list) “Flint, Michigan! Are you ready to rock?!”

Well, it sounds like you’ve done it. You’ve taken that giant leap of faith, piled in a van with your band mates and hit the road. You’re all so excited and everything is going perfectly…except for your drummer’s BO…and your singer’s insistence on singing the falsetto portion of “Bohemian Rhapsody” in your cramped, non-resonant living quarters ad nauseam…and your keyboardist’s musings on the musical legitimacy of 80’s synch-pop…and your guitarist, drooling on your shoulder.

Though becoming touring road warriors is not a perfect science, there are things that everyone can do in order to live together in a less stressful environment. The following are tips on how to co-exist with your band of brothers and how to bring about a little Kum Ba Yah on the road.

Click here to read the article.
 
 
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See yaaa//Kristofer

Lick of the day #3

Hello guys!

Lick of the day #3 is finally here! Comment the video and tell me what you think of it, and if you learned something from it! You find the link to the tab and backing track below.






A minor pentatonic scale position 1:

I---5-8------I
I---5-8------I
I---5-7------I
I---5-7------I
I---5-7------I
I---5-8------I


Download the tab and backing track: http://www.2shared.com/file/8220641/38e90a0b/Lick_of_the_day_3__tabbacking_.html

You will need winrar, or something like that,  to download this file.


Did you like this post? Check out the other "Lick of the day"

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See yaaa!//Kristofer

Last day to vote for "Best amp company"

Hello guys!

There should have been a new "Lick of the day" today, but my computor isn't with me today....so it will be delayed one more day. Sorry!

Tomorrow is the last day to vote for "The best amp company" so if you havn't voted, go do it right away! It will be a close one this time, cause there are three companies in the lead right now:)


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Seee yaa tomorrow!//Kristofer

Check out this blog!

Hello dudes!

Check out this awsome guitar blog! You can learn a lot from this guy! It's the Rock House Method Blog!
http://rockhousemethod.blogspot.com/


And don't forget to come back later today for a new "Lick of the day"!

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Cheers!//Kristofer

Looking for backing tracks?

Hello!

First of all, i told you that there was going to be a new lick of the day today, but because of some more computor troubles it will be delayed untill tomorrow. So remeber to check by tomorrow, i think you will like this one!

Have been looking for some free backing tracks recently, and been frustrated because you couldn't find any? Then look no further! Because it's right under your noose.
Check this site out: http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/
It has everything from Gary Moore to Cannibal Corpse! That's cool!

Btw, follow me on twitter! http://www.twitter.com/Kriiiistofer


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Cheers!//Kristofer

Check this out!

Hello guys!

I have had a lot of computor problems today, but its all great now:)

Today i want you to check out this awsome guitar blog, it's for all of you crazy f'***ing shredders out there!
I know you will like it!
http://truthinshredding.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow i will be posting a new "Lick of the day"! So come back tomorrow for a great guitar lick to learn!

Cheers!//Kristofer

Guitar competition!

Hello!

The Monkey lord (http://www.youtube.com/user/RobChappers)is up for something new guys!

Today he launched a competition for all the guitarists around the globe. He teams-up with Faith guitars and Shadow electronics and they bring you the chance to win an Official Guitar and Pickup Endorsement deal plus £2000 (Euro2250 / US$3000) worth of great prizes. Isn't this AWSOME!? So go and make a entry for yourself!

Check out the video or go to this adress for more info: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY1ruSvY7Oc


Read more about Rob Chappers other competitions: Riff Competition


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That's all for now!//Kristofer