As you become a more confident and experienced musician however, it is only natural to want to explore new possibilities and capabilities of your instrument. You might start developing ideas or sounds that you can’t quite reproduces on the guitar in its natural sounding state. t is at this stage that you might want to explore the world of guitar effects, guitar FX or stomp boxes as they are sometimes known.

There are many different types of guitar effect and we will go into them in more detail in another post but here we are going ot take a look at some of the more cost effective, affordable guitar FX pedals that you might want to experiment with.
Guitar FX pedals, especially hand-made, boutique and vintage models can be very expensive indeed and often run in to several hundred hundred dollars on terms of price range. These are all great introductory devices however and each should set you back no more than around $30.

Danelectro D-1 Fab Distortion Effects Pedal
First up is this Danelectro D-1 Distortion pedal. If you know anything about guitars at all then you will no doubt be familiar with distortion and the way it sounds.
If you don’t know much about the guitar, then distortion is the heavy, crunchy sound that you normally associate with rock and punk music. Imagine the sound you would get if you picked up an electric guitar that was plugged into an amplifier and struck a chord loud enough to rattle all the windows on your street. That’s distortion!
This pedal is fantastic because, like all of the products in the Danelectro range, it offers you great versatility for its modest price.
It looks great and features 3 knobs, one for adjusting the amount of distortion, one for adjusting the tone, and one for adjusting the output level or volume. With this combination you should be able to get some pretty good sounds ranging between metal (think Metallica) to punk (think Ramones) to pop rock (think Blink 182, Greenday)
Like most pedals it will run off a 9V battery or a power supply.

Behringer UM300 Heavy Metal Distortion Pedal
Another great pedal for its modest price. Don’t be fooled by the slightly feminine colour, this pedal can get well and truly gnarly!
The thing we love about the Danelectro D-6 Fab Flange Effects Pedal is that it features more EQ or tone controls than mmost pedals, even ones far more expensive. Whereas a lot of FX pedals will tend to have only one knob for controlling the tone, this one has several for adjusting the three most common ‘bands’ of EQ which are lows, mids and highs. What this means is that you have a far greater variation of EQ combinations which will allow you to manipulate the effect in order to come up with the sound you want.

Danelectro D-6 Fab Flange Effects Pedal
Flange is easily one of my favourite guitar effects. If you are unfamiliar with this type of effect, think of the noise that a jet makes when passing over your head. That swooshing, washy sound? That’s flange!
It basically occurs when the same sound is mixed with itself but for whatever reason they are slightly altered.
This effect can be recreated very well in pedal like this and it is a very fun effect to use.
What’s great about this effect and pedal is that you can control the rate and sweep of the flange. So you can opt for a gentle flange that kind of drifts in and out or you can go for a full on flange which is quite intense and stands out.
All of our favourite bands have used flange on at least one of their records, from Guns N Roses to U2. Why not try it out yourself and see what you can come up with?

Behringer UC200 Guitar Chorus Effect Pedal
Chorus is another of those less common and effects that when used creatively can create some truly stunning results.
What chorus does is reproduces the same note that is played and alters it enough so that you know there is more than one note being played, but not so much that it sounds like a completely different note.
A little bit like if you recorded yourself talking, and then played the recording back whilst saying exactly the same thing.
What this allows you to do is play a guitar line whilst sounding like two guitars are playing the same thing. because of this it’s a great effect for allowing you to build up a bigger sound picture and fill out a space within a composition.
This pedal features Level, Tone, Rate and Depth controls for excellent sound shaping possibilities.

Danelectro D-7 Fab Fuzz
Fuzz is an effect that is similar to distortions but is far less severe.
It sounds pretty much like teh name suggests too. It was a very popular effect in the 60s, before high gain amplifiers and distortion came about and was used by al of the great artists of that era including Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.
Where distortion or overdrive creates too much of an intense effect then fuzz comes into play. You can use it to create some really sounding lead lines that give you just enough bite without ever going over the top.
This pedal is therefore a good choice if you’re playing more melodic music.

Behringer CS400 Compressor Sustainer Ultimate Dynamics Effects Pedal
Have you ever wanted to know how you can get your guitar to hold those really long notes without having to turn you guitar up to ridiculous volume? Well then you need a compressor/sustainer.
First of all, a compressor is a great FX pedal to have because it is designed to make all of the notes you play the same volume. That is, it will make the loud notes quitter and the quitter notes louder so that no note is ever quitter or louder than another.
The sustain element of this FX pedal will allow you to get those longer notes out of your guitar although you will probably need to use a distortion type effect in addition just to drive the signal a little bit and give the sustainer something to hold.
With controls for adjusting the levels of compression and amount of sustain this is another versatile guitar FX pedal.

Dean Vendetta XM Solid Body Electric Guitar, Mahogany Finish
This is a solid, great looking guitar that comes from the same manufacturer who make guitars used by the late, great, Dimebag Darell and other renowned metal guitarists such as Dave Mustaine.

The body of the guitar is made from the lesser known Paulownia wood, a mahogany substitute which is cheap to produce yet has good characteristics as a material, hence why it is also used in surfboard construction.
As with most if not all guitars at this price, the neck is bolted on to teh body which features a cools looking trans-black finished which is also found on guitars with a much higher price tag.
With 24 frets, the guitar is very suitable for shredding up into the higher registers. What makes the upper frets even more accessible is the scalloped upper cutaway and the extended lower cutaway, as can be seen in the pictures. This means that your fingers wont face to much obstruction when trying to hit those real high notes.
With die-cast tuners, a tune-o-matic bridge, string-through-body configuration and two Dean hum bucking pickups this is a god choice for the beginner electric guitarist who is looking for a strong rock or metal guitar.

Dean EVO XM Satin Natural Solid Body Electric Guitar – Includes: Planet Waves 12-Pick Shredder Pack & Ultra Stand
Another Dean guitar, the Evo XM features a slightly more classic design which is reminiscent of a Les Paul and a Telecaster.
This model is mae from basswood (which is tonally warm) with a mahogany finish to give that beautiful, natural wood appeal.
A guitar like this would be capable of some wonderful tones and the kind of sustain that you moght think would cost you a bit more than the $100 asking price so it is a good choice for even the more experienced player who is looking for a well crafted and versatile guitar which can be thrown around without the worry of damaging an expensive piece of equipment.
weighing in at around 6lbs it is a very light guitar which makes it suitable for younger users too.
The double hum buckers mean that the guitar is capable of some varied tones, however, unlike the Vendetta XM the Evo only has 22 frets which although isn’t a big deal might be a consideration depending on what you want to do with teh guitar and what music you want to play.
The most common complaint on this guitar is that the tuners aren’t so great but if they really bothered you, you could very easily replace them.
As with the Vendetta, if you look at the customer reviews on Amazon.com, you’ll find that most people are very happy with this guitar.

FENDER STARCASTER PACK
If you’re looking for a guitar that is a bit more traditional looking then you will probably be thinking of a guitar that is what is know as a “Strat type”, that is a guitar that is based on the legendary Fender Stratcoaster.
If so, you might want to check out the Fender Starctaster which is an entry level guitar made by Fender and purposefully aimed at the beginner electric guitarists.
The pack contains the guitar itself, a cable, a strap, a guitar stand, a chromatic tuner, strings, 3 picks and a 10W practice amp. To buy all these things individually would set you back a bit more than the $100 aksing price from a few Amazon marketplace sellers.
As for the guitar, it features a classically Stratcoaster maple neck with rosewood fretboard, a classically Stratocatser white pick guard and the classically Stratocaster electronics configuration of 3 single coil pickups which controlled by one volume and two tone knobs and of course the 5-way selector switch to enable you to select the various pickup combinations that make teh Stratocaster such a great guitar.
This Starcaster beginner pack is definitely one of the best guitars for under $100

Everyone loves a good gadget. something that is fun to use yet is practical and serves a purpose.
When you are passionate about a particular pursuit or leisure activity such playing the guitar, it’s always great to get your hands on cool, related gadgets that can enhance your experience.

As massive gadget geeks ourselves, we know there are some great guitar gadgets out there on the market, so in this post we are going to detail Beginners Electric Guitars’ top 10 favourite guitar gadgets. They make ideal Christmas presents.

1. Vox amPlug – BEST GUITAR GADGET! 
Some guitar amplifiers are big and bulky and heavy and therefore are not very portable at all. Even some smaller practice amps are not that practical if say, you want to play your guitar in the garden or at the park. And that’s before you’ve even considered power issues!
Vox have come up with a solution to this by producing the  Vox amPlug Guitar Headphone Amp series which are completely portbale and take all of the associated hassles out of playing your electric guitar in locations where taking an amplifier with you just isn’t an option.
They’re also great for those times when you want to jam but perhaps don’t want to disturb your family or neighbours.
The unit is small, measuring 8 x 2 x 5 inches and weighing in at 1Lb. It takes 2 x AAA batteries but the sound the produce is just fantastic.
 The Vox amPlug is available in three main tonal styles which are the classic Vox AC30, Classic Rock, Lead, Acoustic and Metal. For fans of legendary guitarits Joe Satriani you might want to check out the
Vox Amplug Joe Satriani Headphone Amp and bass guitarists can also check out the amPlug for Bass Guitar.
Other than looking great, all of the the products within the Vox amPlug Guitar Headphone Amp series have some great features going for them including
- Plugs directly into your guitar
- Excellent build quality
- Aux inputs which allow you to attach and jam along to your CD or MP3 player
- 100% analog circuitry which accurately simulates the tones of the famed AC30 amps.
They cost a little more than the average guitar accessory, but my are they worth money. So there you have it, the Vox amPlug Guitar Headphone Amp series.  A fantastic Christmas gift for the guitarist in your life!

2. Deluxe Guitar Tool
Because the guitar comprises many different mechanical elements you really need several different tools in your toolbox in order to be able to maintain it.
To make this more convenient, you might want to look into purchasing a guitar multi-tool. This great, professional quality  example by Farley features an industrial strength carbide steel cutting blade,  four different sized hardened steel hex wrenches, phillips head and flat head screwdrivers and an end pin puller. All of these great features are stored neatly inside the tools handles so that it can be used as string cutting pliers.
The guitar tool also comes with a really neat nylon carrying bag so you can keep the tool in a gig bag or guitar case without fear of its hard steel scrathcing your guitar.
Deluxe Guitar Tool: It’s the Swiss Army knife for the guitar player

3. Allparts Bullet Guitar Jack Tightener
This is easily one of the best products we have ever featured at beginners electric guitar. Loose guitar jacks use to be one of the most difficult to remedy problems you could ever face as a guitarist, now they are easily fixed using the Bullet Guitar Jack tool. Taking your guitar to a workshop to fix a loose guitar jack can be quite costly. For much less than the price of a workshop fix you can buy this Bullet tool, fix the problem yourslef and be able to tighten your guitar jack if it ever comes undone again. The beauty of it is that you can also use the tool to loosen the jack should you ever wish to access your guitar’s pickup assembly or other electronics.
Definitely a Beginners Electric Guitar favourite!

4. Planet Waves Renew String Cleaning System
Planet Waves make some absolutely fantastic guitar related products. All of which are of good quality, reasonably priced and wonderfully practical. This string cleaner is one such product.
When we play the guitar we are inadvertently covering the strings with grime, dirt, grease and sweat from our fingers which makes them corrode over time. Once they begin to corrode, strings tend not to sound so good. They become dull and worn which affects their tone and ability to stay in tune, so you find yourself having to replace them frequently.
You can prolong the life of your guitar strings by cleaning them periodically, though ideally straight after playing. This string cleaner is one such tool that allows you to do just that.
It is incredibly simple and easy to use and comes with replacement blades and a string cleaining solution to effectively remove all the contaminents that will reduce their life.

5. Ernie Ball PowerPeg Battery Powered String Winder
Any product that takes the burden out of performing monotonous tasks is a good product in our opinion.
Even the most passionate guitarist will tell you that changing guitar strings is one such boring task. A necesseray and importnat task, but boring nonetheless.
Winding on the new strings is a task that can take quite a long time, expecially when you mutliply this by all six strings.
Enter the PowerPeg String Winder Ernie Ball. The tool winds your strings up 70% faster than a manual winder and therefore significantly reduces the time it takes to change your strings, which ultimately means that you can spend more time actually paying your guitar.
Because of its great design and functionality, the PowerPeg is a must have tool for guitar techs who need to replace strings and tune up guitars quickly and efficiently and it  can be used on guitars with a variety of sizes and shapes of tuning peg, including that of bass guitars.

6. Guitar SideKick iPhone/iTouch Holder
I don’t know about you but at Beginners Electric Guitar we cannot keep away from our iPhones. Be it for recording song ideas, recording lyrics or quickly looking up guitar chords and tabs to our favourite songs, they are just so handy.
Now there is an easy way to use our iPhones whilst keeping both hands free for playing the guitar and it comes in the form of the Guitar SideKick iPhone/iTouch Holder. 
Although we use it for our iPhones and iPods, you can actually use it for anything that will fit in its clamps, be it any other smartphone, a guitar tuner or recording device.
It works by clipping the attachement to the guitar between the nut and the tuning pegs.   In this position the Sidekick does not subject your guitar to any tonal or other such variations variations. Once the attachment is in place you can then add on the clamp which will hold your device in place. Because of its great design you can also angle the clamp and rotate to find the best vieiwing position for your device.
If you make use of the great variety of guitar apps which are at your disposal these days  or you want an easier way of viewing chords than using an old fashioned music stand,  then the Guitar SideKick is a must have for you. Excellent value for money.

7. Planet Waves S.O.S. Guitar Tuner
This is another fantastic item we have featured previously here.
It is a great little tuner that is real fun to use. Being a light based tuner you don’t need to plug your guitar lead into it and its small size means that you can slip it right into your pocket for use when you really need it, unlike other tuners which are a little bigger. It is similar in shape to a guitar pick meaning that you can grip it easily.
The Planet Waves SOS Guitar Tuner works by sending out two out of phase red LED light beams which you need to aim at your guitar string. As you pluck the string and it vibrates the lights react to it. If the string is out of tune then you will see the lights dancing erratically on the vibrating string. As you turn the tuning pegs to adjust the pitch of the string it will approach the correct frequency  and LED lights will come to a complete halt.
This unique, visual method of tuning is just perfect for dark and/or noisy environments such as those you might encounter backstage when tuning up before a gig. The Planet Waves SOS is a very cool and modern take on the humble guitar tuner.

8. Planet Waves VariGrip Hand Exerciser
When you first start lesrning to play the guitar one of the things you will notice almost immediately is that your hands ache after playing. This is simply becauase the muscles within them are simply not used to having to stretch to fret chords and notes.
One way to overcome this problem and strengthen the muscles is to use a hand exerciser such as the Planet Waves VariGrip. This model of hand exerciser is particularly good because unlike many conventional models, it features four individual spring loaded sections which means that you can condition your four fretting fingers independently. Better still, each of the spring loaded sections is adjustable so that you can increase or decrease the tension required to press them.
It features a well considered ergonomic design and even has simulated strings which help you to develop the hard skin on your finger tips that you need to be able to fret your gutar strings without discomfort.
All-in-all, a great guitar product!

9. Schaller Strap Locks
Guitar straps are very important to guitarists as the provide support and stability when you are playing standing up.
Not all guitar straps are as good as others however and some will let you down from time to time as they loose their strength and the holes which the strap buttons sit inside become stretched or worn. This can be very dangerous as it means that the guitar can fall from the strap, causing damage to the instrument itself or to you, the player.
If a premium quality leather guitar strap is a little out of you budget you can still protect yourself and your instrument by investing in some good quality Schaller Strap Locks.
They are very easy to install. All you do is loosen the screws that hold in place your existing strap buttons on you guitar and replace these with the Schaller strap buttons.
Once you have done this you then need to attach the locking mechanisms to teh ends of your strap with the washer that secures it. Now, when you want to attach and remove your guitar strap you just need to pull the spring loaded central pin which will allow the locking collar to be move round to the open position, which when closed will mean that your strap stys securely attached to your guitar! Schaller Strap Locks are available in black, gold and silver to match the colour of the other hardware of your guitar.

10. Guitar Chord Stamp with Black Ink Pad
We’re not really sure if we should call this a gadget as it contains no moving parts at all and is incredibly simple, but at the same time it is very functional and comes in very useful, particularly in teaching situations.
We’re talking about the Guitar Chord Stamp. As the name suggests it is just a rubber stamp which allows you to reproduce an illustration of the guitar’s fretbopard.
What this means is that you can map out the chords to your favourite song for other people or you can map out the chords to your own songs and compositions.
Taking note of chords in this way is also a grate way to help you learn the names and shapes of papoluar and advanced chords nd also the different chord voicings that can be used to create different moods within a song.
 The Guitar Chord Stamp comes in small or large sizes, both of which come with their own black ink pad, allowing yout to get stamping right away!

Click here to see the SN-2 tuner

We’ve discussed guitar tuners before here at Beginners Electric Guitar. They are an essential addition to any guitarists equipment list, be they beginner, intermediate or professional. You simply cannot expect to sound good and be taken seriously as a musician if your instrument is not in tune.
There are many guitar tuners on the market but today we’re going to take a look at a particular favourite of ours, the Snark SN-2 All Instrument Clip-On Chromatic Tuner.

As the name would suggest, this particular tuner is suitable for all instruments which is great because it means that if you play guitar, bass guitar, banjo, mandolin or other such instruments you will be able to tune them all with this one great product.
Straight out of thew box, one of the fundamental features of this tuner that makes it so good is the fact that it is of the clip-n variety with a built in vibration sensor and microphone. What this means is that you can clip it on to any part of the aforementioned instruments, leaving your hands free to sound the strings and adjust the tuning pegs accordingly without having to plug in jack lead and without the trouble of having to rest the tuner on your lap or another surface like you have to do with many other models of guitar tuner.
It is because of this that there tends to be a greater degree of accuracy with clip-on tuners. You might have found that other tuners tend to get confused by extraneous or background noise, well this tends not to happen with such tuners as the Snark because it is sensing the vibration that it is getting from its direct contact with the musical instrument.

The rubber coating on the clamps mean that you can clip the tuner on to your instrument without fear of damaging it.
The lower jaw of the clamp is in fact hinged allowing the SN-2 tuner to fit the varying contours and shapes of instrument headstocks, some of which will be more angled than others.

As for the face of the tuner, it is a great size and features an excellently vibrant colour display, allowing you to clearly see the note you are playing and whether or not it is tune.
Many other tunes feature a very basic, bland LCD display which makes tuning up in dark places and low light situations, like those backstage, incredibly difficult.
It is powered by a very reliable 3-volt CR2032 Lithium battery which is actually the same battery that a lot of computers use for their clocks and which can also be found in many handheld devices, so you can be sure of their reliability and longevity.
The head is actually fixed to the clamp with a ball joint which allows for convenient tilting and 360 rotation which allows you to see the display from most any angle.
The unit is lightweight and a good size allowing for it to be not all intrusive or heavy on you rguitar’s headstock. You can even leave it on the guitar while you play so that you can monitor your tuning between songs or change tunings as your set requires. It can be kept in a a gig bag
and carried everywhere.

Because the tuner has extended range it will tuner notes beyond the standard EADGBE tuning of a guitar, which is what makes it so useful for tuning other instruments.

Snark themselves describe this tuner as one that “Tunes Tighter So You Sound Better”.
This quite a statement but it is one that is absolutely true.
I have had many good guitar tuners but I did sometimes have problems with the accuracy whereby I would have the turn the tuning pegs quite a way before the tuner would pick up the change in frequency. With the Snark this is a thing the past and I now only need to to turn teh tuning pegs a minimal amount for the tuner to register the change in frequency which means that I am more in tune than I have ever been before and the results are certainly audible.

Features
- Full colour display
- 360 Degree rotation for easy viewing
- “Stay Put” clip
- Tap temp metronome
- Flat tuning / transpose function
- Picth calibration
- High sensitivy vibration sensor
- Extended frequency range suited to all instruments
- Vibration or microphone option.

Click here to see the great selection of padded leather guitar straps

One of my all time favourite guitar accessories is my padded leather guitar strap.
The reason it is among my favourite accessories is simple, it looks incredibly cool and is very comfortable. If there is one thing we love at Beginners Electric Guitar it is a product that is both great looking and practical. It’s what we call a winning combination.

Leather guitar straps look great on either acoustic or electric guitars and are synonymous with country and rock players alike because of their heavy duty ruggedness, authentic appearance and ability to withstand the rigours of constant use on the road, supporting the weight of a guitar night after night after night.
We know that certain guitars can be very heavy indeed. Guitars with solid, slab bodies like Telecasters and Les Pauls can take their toll on your back after many years of prolonged playing.
Many leather guitar straps however are substantial enough to include extra padding to take the discomfort out of playing heavy guitars.
They fact they are often 2 or 3 inches wide also means that the weight of the guitar can be more evenly distributed across the back and in particular the shoulders of the player.
Cheaper guitar straps which are made from webbing will just not offer this kind of support and may even feel like they are cutting into your shoulder after a while.

Here’s a look at some great leather guitar straps…

Levy’s Leathers Garment Leather Guitar Strap
Available in a great range of colours including blue, green, navy, brown, white, black, dark brown, red, tan and burgundy, all of which look absolutely fantastic. Levy’s are a brand who are known for their excellently crafted leather goods so you can be assured of the quality of these particular guitar straps. I personally own this one in brown and find it to be very comfortable indeed. Check out the other colours here.

Planet Waves Padded Comfort Leather Guitar Strap
Of course, Plant Waves make some great products which we’ve featured here at Beginners Electric Guitar before. This leather strap is no exception to their outstanding selection of products.
It’s 3 Inches wide which makes for excellent weight distribution across the back and shoulders and as such is actually stated as being “Providing ultimate comfort” and “Ideal for heavy guitars” and comes with many recommendations and testimonials.
This one comes in burgundy which is great if you want a subtle chnage from brown or black leather. Click here to see all of the colours in the range

Perri’s Soft Garment Leather Padded – Leopard
Again, if you want a leather padded guitar strap but are a bit bored of the usual black, brown and tan colours, there are some really cool, funky straps available for you.
This Leopard print strap is a great choice which features expert workmanship and would look great on any rock guitarist, male or female.
Also available from the same manufacturer is the padded Zebra print guitar strap

Levy’s Padded Leather Strap with Conchos
This is another strap from well known leather goods manufacturer Levy’s. What we love about this strap is the conchos which make a great feature. They’re often found on leather items such as leather jackets, leather bags (including pannier bags on motorcyles) and hats.
In fact the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan had conchos on some of his guitar straps and hats, so it is truly a great look favoured by a few great musicians, adding a real sense of authenticity.
This is of course a padded strap and is 2 1/2 Inches in width so it will be comfortable and supportive for heavier guitars.

So there you have it! A small selection of the great padded leather guitar straps that are available, each offering you more comfort and support than a conventional strap made of synthetic webbing material.
These guitar straps might cost you a little more but I personally would never put a price on my comfort whilst playing guitar and the longterm benefit to my back and shoulders.

Follow the link to see our reviews on the pink guitar strap.

Click here to buy the Scratch Pad Velvet Guitar Finish Protector

Guitar protection is an important consideration that many people tend not to consider beyond perhaps buying a guitar case for keeping your prized axe safe during transportation.
This is of course all well and good, but what about protecting your guitar from wear caused by actually playing it?
One of the things that damages guitars whilst they are being played is what is known amongst guitarists as “buckle rash”. This is caused by the abrasive effect that hard items such as belts, jean rivets, zippers, buttons and keys can have on the finish on the back of a guitar. Buckle rash often results in deep gauges, dings, divots, dents and chips which not only look unsightly and siginificantly reduce the resale value of your guitar, but will also might leave the resulting exposed and untreated wood susceotible to things such as damp other elements which, over time, might just end up damaging your instrument.
The worse cases of buckle rash are usually exhibited on older guitars and those with thin lacquer or nitrocellulose finishes, see image below.

Newer guitars are often finished with polyurethane which is a lot more resistant and durable but will still scratch, removing the lustrous shine of the finish and leaving a dull surface.
Of course, there is always the option of having your guitar refinished, but this is a special skill that requires specialist equipment, specialist paints, involves many processes, is time consuming and is therefore prohibitively expensive for most us.

Luckily for us guitarists there is a product on the market that was designed to eliminate the problem of buckle rash. Behold the Scratch Pad Velvet Guitar Finish Protector, a simple yet ingenious patch of material that can be applied easily to the back of your guitar, leaving you to play as vigorously as you like without the fear of damaging your guitar’s paintwork.
For such a simple product the Scratch Pad has a lot going for it.

It is lightweight and therefore almost completely unnoticeable as you play.
It is non-adhesive and so therefore will not leave any sticky residue or marks on your guitar. It requires no clips or straps, instead it makes use of some very clever Micro-Pore technology to keep it firmly in place.
It can be applied and removed in seconds, meaning that if you are changing guitars for different songs in your set you can use it on those guitars too.
The size and shape of the Scratch Pad has been designed to protect the most vulnerable areas on most, if not all, models of guitar such as Strat and Les Pauls and even irregular shapes such as Flying V.
It can be used on acoustic guitars also
It looks great and is incredibly effective.

With a modest price, the highly practical Scratch Pad should definitely be considered if you have a high value guitar, a guitar that you may one day wish to sell, or even just a guitar that you care about and want to keep in good condition.

Another great, innovative guitar product that might in long run help save you money.

Click here to see a great selection of string winders

Whether we like it or not, changing the strings on your guitar with a reasonable degree of frequency is an absolute must.
This is becauase over time, strings can become worn and corroded because of all the bending and being pressed against the metal frets and even teh sweat from our fingers that they have to endure when we are playing.
Newer strings will undoubtedly help to improve your overall sound because they retain their shape and malleability meaning, that they sound brighter and crisper which in turn makes those chords and notes much cleaner.
In all my time as a player a and guitar teacher I have never come across anyone who actually enjoys changing their guitar strings and unless you are practised at doing it, it can take a while and seem like a very boring task.
The easiest part is removing the strings, a simple air of pliers will help you out here. What most people often find the hardest part though, is winding the strings onto the tuning pegs once they are in position, to get them in tune again.
There are hiowever, several tools that make this a whole lot easier and a Beginners Electric Guitar favourite is the humble string winder.

The string winder is made by many guitar and guitar accessory manufacturers including Fender, Gibson, Jim Dunlop and Planet Waves and is usually a simple plastic affair. There are a few different designs with some claiming to be more ergonomic than others, but the common feature of all of them however is a rotating tuning peg shaped socket attached to a handle with which to operate the string winder.
They come in a variety of colours and usually cost about $5 or less.

All you do is get the string in position on the tuning peg, making sure it is placed securely in the eyelet or (split if you are using split pin tuners), then simply place the socket over the tuning peg and use the handle as leverage to wind the peg until the slack of the new string is taken up and the pitch starts to get higher.
Using a chromatic tuner to check, once the string is almost in tune you can then remove the string winder and do the remainder by hand for a little more accuracy.

With practice this can speed up the boring task of changing your strings to the point where you can do all six in five minutes. This is great because it means you can start playing and sounding great a whole lot quicker and can spend more time doing it.

You’ll most likely get change out of $5, every guitarist needs one!

So, if you want to save a ton of time and a ton of hassle. Get yourself a string winder right now!

Click Here To Buy the Allparts Bullet Guitar Jack Tightener

A common complaint from fellow guitarists is that over time, due to constantly inserting and removing guitar leads, jacks and the nuts around them can become loose.
Because of the position of guitar jacks and the fact that they are often recessed into the body, they can be very difficult to tighten.
In the past it has been the case that a guitarist would need to undo the screws that hold the jack plate in place, remove the jack plate iteself, thus exposing the wiring, and tighten the jack with a wrench or other such tool whilst all the time taking special care not to damage the wiring, before putting the screws back in and tightening them up.
This is needlessly time consuming, not to mention highly frustrating, particularly if it is a common occurrence.

Thankfully there is a very simple tool that eliminates the need to do any of the above and it is the AllParts Bullet Guitar Jack Tightener.
AllParts are known for their great selection of guitar accessories and tools and this one is no different.

The Bullet Guitar Jack Tightener is made from extra strong plastic meaning that it is less likely to damage your guitar’s hardware and bodywork than any of the metals tools you previously had to use to achieve the same result.
Its patented ‘Grip Tip’ essentially holds the jack in place whilst you tighten it, meaning that your wiring doesn’t get twisted which is a common occurence. Using the AllParts Bullet Guitar Jack Tightener there is far less chance that you will inadvertently break your signal chain.

It is so simple to use in three easy steps, all you do is…

1) Position the socket head around the nut on your guitar jack.
2) Firmly push the Grip Tip down onto the guitar jack opening to hold it in place.
3) Use the swivel handle to tighten or loosen the nut and the jack.

Of course, it can also be used to loosen your guitar’s jack in the event you want to remove it to work on the wiring  in order to incorporate new components or pickups or just touch up the soldering on old and faulty contacts.

At such a great price it is a wonder why more guitarists don’t have one of these in their arsenal of tools and accessories.
If I had had one when I had to tighten my Telecaster’s jack plate a few months ago I wouldn’t have had to resort to the extreme method I did, which resulted in me having to actually remove the jack plate  and install a brand new one as the previous one got so damaged in the process of trying to tighten it.
If a friend of mine had known the Bullet Guitar Jack Tightener existed when he needed to tighten the jack plate on one of his guitars he could have done it himself in a fraction of the time it took him to drive out of town to his nearest guitar store and have the workshop do it for him, over three days at a breathtakingly crazy price for such a simple task.

So, if you have ever had the problem of needing to tighten your jackplate and not had the most appropriate tool to do it with, do yourself and your wallet a favour and get an AllPArts Bullet Guitar Jack Tightener today!

Click here to see more excellent guitar hangers

With everything becoming so expensive these days it’s no surprise that we are living in smaller houses.
Of course smaller houses means less and less storage space for our prized possessions like our guitars. Fortunately, there are such ingenious inventions as the guitar hanger!

Guitar hangers are great because they allow you to mount your guitar or guitars on any hard wall or solid vertical surface. This means that they are out of the way of children or pets and leave your floor space less cluttered, allowing you to store other things where your guitars may once have been situated.
Having your guitar(s) hung on a wall looks great and whether you one or several they can make any boring wall a feature of any room with your favourite axe taking pride of place like a piece of prized artork.
Provided you are fixing your guitar hang to a good solid, they are strong enough to support the weight of pretty much all guitars you can think of, regardless of their shape or size.
Let’s take a look at some models.

String Swing Guitar Hanger
My favourite and perhaps the most popular of all the guitar hangers for many years now is the String Swing.
I personally own several of these and use them for my Les Pauls, Telecasters and Stratocasters and I have to say that I have never had a problem with them. Love them in fact!
I was first attracted to them because of their GREAT price, simple design and ease of installation. I also really like the wood effect which goes well with pretty much any decor that you might find in a contemporary or modern decorated home and does not look out of place in any room.
The size and shape of the arms mean that the String Swing will take an acoustic or electric guitar or bass quite comfortably and securely, whilst the padding ensures that there will be no damage to the guitar’s neck.
The String Swing comes with screws and provided that you check for a suitable mounting surface you can have it up and displaying your guitar within minutes.
In my opinion the best guitar hanger on the market and great value for money.

Grip Studios Custom Grip
Next up is the range of super cool guitar hangers by Grip Studios. Incorporating a truly awesome and innovative design, these hangers look like a hand is reaching out of the wall and holding your guitar by the neck.
They are available in a great range of colours including black, pearled white, metallic red, metallic green, metallic silver and possibly my favourite, a skeleton hand design.
Because of the unique, heavy rock image that these hangers promote, they might suit all tastes or guitars but they are great fun and are a must have for any metaller’s room!
They are a bit more pricey than the wall hangers with the more basic designs but you’re paying for some serious coolness!

The Guitar Hanger 1001
The last product here is another standout, practical product that does exactly the same job as the two previously mention guitar hangers, but in a slightly different way.
The Guitar Hanger 1001 takes its design from a regular coat hanger in that it has a hook at one end of it.
This means that you can hang your guitar from a closet rail, a dado rail or any such beam or bar that can bear a decent amount of weight.
This hanger is IDEAL say if you’re living in rented accommodation, like a college dorm or apartment where you may not not permitted to drill into walls. You might even perhaps be living in a home that doesn’t have a strong, solid wall for you to drill into.
It’s also ideal for situations where you might not have enough room space, so you could literally hang your guitar among your clothes in a closet and out of the way without taking up any extra space.
Above all, what makes this product so practical is that you don’t have to drill anything making it ideal for use in the home, the studio or on the road. It is just GENIOUS in its simplicity!

Click here to see more Left-Handed Epiphone guitars

Epiphone guitars are simply fantastic. They comprise all of the looks, tone and quality of their more expensive Gisbon relations but at far more affordable and accessible prices, making them ideal guitars for beginners. If you are looking for a great Les Paul, SG, Flying V or ES style beginners electric guitar then look no further than an Epiphone. Why go for an imitation that has no connection at all with the historic company that first made these awesome instruments?

It’s a fact of the world that most electric guitarists are right handed and this sometimes means that finding a suitable left handed electric guitar can be quite a task, but Epiphone cater to all and have a great selection of left handed electric guitars, here are a few in ascending price order.

 Epiphone Lefty LP Special II in Heritage Cherryburst
This is a great beginners left handed guitar featuring all of the aspects that Les Paul’s are famed for in one economical instrument.
The LP Special II has a great basswood body which is light in weight but incredibly durable, qualities that are certainly useful in a guitar that will be played often and therefore must be built to last.
In terms of electronics, the guitar has two uncovered humbucker pickups in the timeworn neck and bridge positions. In the manufacturing process the pickups are emersed in wax to stop any impurities entering them, As such they work very efficiently and effectively and will go some way to helping you recreate some of those classic Gibson Les Paul tones that can be heard on some the most well known rock records like ‘Sweet Child Of Mine’ by Guns N Roses and ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by Led Zeppelin.

Specifications
Pickups: 700T, 650R
Hardware: Chrome
Scale: 24.75 inches
Nut width: 1.68 inches
Neck: Bolt, Mahogany
Fretboard: Rosewood
Inlays: Dot
Body material: Basswood
Tailpiece: Stopbar

Finishes available: Ebony, White, Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Vintage Sunburst, Wine Red

Epiphone Lefty LP-100 in Heritage Cherryburst
This is the next guitar up in terms of specification and therefore price from the LP Special II. The Epiphone Lefty LP-100 is an all round better guitar beginnning with body material which is Mahogany as opposed to Basswood which will mean that it is more resonant with better tone. It also has a carved top just like the genuine Gibson Les Pauls, only this guitar available a a for more affordable price.

You may notice that the Heritage Cherryburst finish is far more appealing than that of the LP Special II. In fact the whole guitar is a more convincing Les Paul specimen and this is also due to such details as the positioning of the controls and the addition of a scratchplate.
The controls are in the correct LP, diamond shape configuration and the toggle switch is in the correct position sitting neatly on the top horn of the guitar.

Specifications:
Pickups: 700T/650R
Hardware: Chrome
Scale: 24.75 inches
Nut width: 1.68 inches
Neck: Bolt, Mahogany
Fretboard: Rosewood
Inlays: Dot
Body material: Mahogany
Top: Maple
Tailpiece: Stopbar
Finishes available: Ebony, Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Vintage Sunburst

Epiphone Lefty LP Standard Plus-Top in Heritage Cherryburst
Now this is where it starts to get really exciting. Each left handed epiphone guitar we have featured looks progressively more and more like the wonderful Gibson Les Pauls they are based on and this is no exception. This is the left-handed Epiphone LP Standard with its gorgeous flames maple top and bound mahogany body, rosewood fingerboard and awesome trapezoid inlays.
To add to all this it has classic sounding Alnico humbuckers which will produce some absoultely wonderful tones and the quality chrome hardware including Grover tuners will ensure that your guitar works as it should and lasts for years.
One of the most significant features of the left-handed Epiphone LP Standard is that it has a set neck. This means that the neck is glue to the guitar to try and simulate a guitar that is made of one complete piece of wood and therefore sustains better with a more appealing tone. Usually in guitars of this price range and below the necks or bolted on and therefore comprise two distinct pieces of wood that are attached together by a metal neckplate. There is nothing wrong with this as such, in fact most of Fender’s most popular guitars have bolt on necks and they certainly make for easy replacement should the neck ever ever get damaged. Set necks are commonly associated with pricier Gibsons so having one on the left-handed Epiphone LP Standard certainly makes it a most desirable left handed electric guitar indeed.

Specifications:
Pickups: Alnico Classic Humbuckers
Hardware: Chrome
Scale: 24.75 inches
Nut width: 1.68 inches
Neck: Set, Mahogany
Fretboard: Rosewood
Inlays: Trapezoid
Body material: Mahogany
Top: Flame Maple
Tailpiece: Stopbar
Finishes available: Vintage Sunburst

Epiphone Lefty LP Custom in Ebony
This guitar is the absolute icing on the left handed Epiphone guitar cake! It’s based on Gibson’s beautiful and much sought after Les Paul Custom but is of course available at a much more modest price.
The Epiphone Lefty LP Custom has a mahogany body and mahognay top and awe inspiring detail in its bound ebony body.
If you like your guitars with aa bit of bling then you will also notice the gold hardware which looks incredible against the black finish.
The headstock features the famous split diamond Abalone inlay that is only featured on Gibson’s Custom range of guitars meaning that you are getting a great priced guitar that bares a genuine hallmark of some of the most incredible electric guitars ever made. It’s therefore known as the ‘Tuxedo’ Les Paul because looks awesome and it is dressed to kill! The Epiphone Lefty LP Custom is very reminiscent of the feted Gibson Les Paul beauty that artists like Jimmy Page and Keith Richards are noted as using.