In winning this contest I received John Browne’s signature guitar, the Mayones Duvell Qatsi.

Yeah, she’s gorgeous. Now that you’ve seen it, let’s hear it!

Finishes

This guitar comes in two finishes, Purple burst quilt top and a Juice burst quilt top (which incorporates different shades of green, highlighted in neon green on the border). I’m usually not a fan of neon colors but this guitar is absolutely stunning in person. I was extremely surprised and pleased by the look of the top and have fallen in love with it. In conjunction with the natural wood on the neck and back of the body it’s just beautiful. As if that really matters though, right!?

Playability

Besides looking great it is one of the nicest (if not THE nicest) playing guitars I’ve ever touched. Playability is basically flawless. The neck has a nice thin profile with a 16-inch radius on the fretboard. It feels great and has a very nice tung oil finish on the back, which allows your thumb to move freely without sticking. The Shaller Hannes bridge in combination with the Hipshot tuners are just amazing. This guitar stays in tunes for days and the intonation is killer, not to mention the bridge is one of the most comfortable bridges I’ve rested my right hand on.

Conclusion

These guitars run at about $4500 – $5000 USD and it is obvious why when you pick it up and play it. The craftsmanship is incredible! Also, when playing this particular axe, it’s obvious that it’s a metal machine. Besides looking that way, the Bare Knuckle pickups also cater to the modern metal sounds that John would use in Monuments. I wouldn’t necessarily bring this particular guitar to a non-metal/non-hard rock gig, but that’s okay because Mayones has plenty of other models that can hang in those situations. This guitar was made for metal and it does the job very, very well.

Do you own a Mayones guitar? Or do you have a particular model on your wish list? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Mayones Guitar: The Duvell Qatsi appeared first on Infinite Guitar.

With millions of guitar fans stemming all the way back from the 70s and 80s it’s also been a challenge to prove novelty of digital recoding and convolution to the purists of true tube amplifiers. If you’re a true guitar fan you’ll have to admit that no matter how great a digital unit sounds, it always eventually lacks that certain character only a true tube amplifier can give.

So the question is, who’s next in line? Who will create such a product that rids gigging musicians and roadies of the back breaking tasks of transporting ultra heavy 4×12 speaker cabinets and amp heads whilst maintaining that true authentic sound only a tube amp can provide?

Well, look no further! It seems the geniuses at Positive Grid have finally provided us with an answer. While other companies like Fractal Audio and Kemper have come the closest, it seems that they come as close as one could get really. Alas, Positive Grid has come to the rescue with their brand new “BIAS HEAD” that provides over 60 true amp tones, 600 watts of power, and is perfect for both studio and virtually any sized gig one can imagine.

Not only does this bad boy sound amazing, it also features cutting edge convolution technology that allows the head to record impulse responses from other live amps in real time to match their tone. That’s right, any amp!

Imagine walking into any music store with your 7lb BIAS head and literally capturing all your favorite amp tones you know and love, in an instant. As if already having over 60 precise amp factory presets wasn’t enough! Amazing.

The Bias Head is the future of recording and live gigs for all guitar players. A chance for the progressive minded and avid purist to come together in true tonal bliss! For more info, visit www.positivegrid.com.

Let’s check out a demo by Tosin Abasi.

Sounds killer! Have you tried the BIAS head? If so, let us know your thoughts in the comments. What other products have you used to amp match?

The post BIAS Head Review appeared first on Infinite Guitar.

Remember…

1. Analyze the accuracy of both hands. The idea is to find a way to make them work together smoothly. Take your time and DON’T force it.
2. Practice using subdivisions. Set the metronome low and increase by subdivision. This way you’re covering not only increments of speed, but also musical situations seeing as each subdivision will “feel” different against the tempo. This is a great way to add to your musical vocabulary.
3. Use a stopwatch. As you practice using subdivisions try cycling them by 20 seconds or so. Kind of like a long distance sprinter. 20 seconds on (fast) 20 seconds off (slower). This is a good way to develop muscle memory fast!

The post Shred Lick Lesson from “AJ’s Licks of The Month” appeared first on Infinite Guitar.

Lick 1

This one (as are all three of today’s licks) is in Em. It starts out with some spread interval hybrid picking, leads into some more “confined” Em shapes, and then extends into a Michael Romeo-esque string-skipped pentatonic tapping line.

The rhythm values are rather sporadic and random as this lick is meant to “float”, as opposed to be locked into any specific 16th note rhythm. Don’t pay too much heed to these values (5’s, 6’s, 7’s, etc.) as they are only written this way to keep the transcribed measures nice and even.

This article was originally published on Infinite Guitar in 2012 for the Feen’s Trick Bag! tutorial.

The post Lick #1 from “Feen’s Trick Bag!” appeared first on Infinite Guitar.