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Reverb has been an essential part of the electric guitar and all genres of music since the 1960's.  I’m a sucker for reverb. Always have been. I want to live inside my electric guitar. I always play piano with the sustain pedal depressed. Perhaps this preference has primordial roots, an inheritance from our cave-dwelling ancestors. It’s impossible to say for certain, but I’m …

Charvel and the Dawn of the Hot-Rod Guitar The “ gear-head” is integral to the advancement of any technology. I am referring to the sort of individual who is rarely satisfied with stock options. While most of us simply buy carefully, play, and let be, gear-heads tend to view new acquisitions as blank canvases rather than completed masterpieces. Not content with simply expressing …

Swart Amplifiers | Midwood Guitar Studio Guitarists and recording engineers alike know that the best studio amp is often small and tweed. There’s something about a tiny, vacuum-tube powered box pushed to its limits that perfectly captures the spirit of rock & roll. Before there were full stacks and arenas full of screaming fans, teenagers learned to channel their angst through diminut …

The Fender Guitar Legacy | Midwood Guitar Studio It’s impossible to imagine where the musicians of the world would be without the innovations of the Fender Musical Instruments Company. From the first production solid-body electric to the first 100-watt amplifier (the latter requested by Dick Dale to satisfy a gymnasium full of ecstatic teenagers), Fender guitars are finely woven into the fab …

What's in a Guitar Finish | Midwood Guitar Studio A group of butterflies is called a “kaleidoscope”, and given the amount of finishes available, that would be an appropriate term for a group of guitars as well. In a sense, guitarists can be classified based on their chromatic (pun intended) leanings. That said, it may also reflect one’s maturity and self-confidence. Case-in-point, my fir …

A Mythology of 12 Tones | Midwood Guitar Studio From an architectural standpoint, music is like a spiral staircase. The same intervals repeat, while each floor is a new octave. In the west, we divide each level into 12 separate tones that can be selectively combined to create different scales. Assuming a static key signature, 11 of these tones can be defined by their relative distance from t …

Three of My Favorite Chords On the guitar, all inversions are not created equal. Assuming standard tuning, there are certain groupings of notes that the instrument seems to like best. Some shapes make inspired use of open strings, some are exquisitely symmetrical. Some chords test the limits of our physical capabilities, but make us stronger, better guitarists in the process. Here are some of my f …

A Love Song to the Piedmont Blues | Midwood Guitar Studio I first learned to “Piedmont” pick from the late, great John Cephas of the Richmond blues duo, Cephas & Wiggins. I had just turned 15, and my fledgling identity was intertwined with music. I gravitated towards anything that struck me as sincere and authentic. This took me from punk rock to folk and blues. At the encouragement of my …

The Boutique Amplifier - Dr. Z Amps For all your tubular amplifier needs, Midwood is proud to offer Dr. Z Amps. As the son of a 1950s television repairman, Michael Zaite grew up surrounded by vacuum tubes. As a teen, he was a drummer in garage bands, and performed modifications on his bandmate's amps. He went on to pursue a career in electronics, focusing on medical equipment (thu …