whenever i have a guitar lesson i'm so nervous i can't play shit. any tips on how to not do this?
Fake it till you make it! Seriously, just try to chill, teachers are paid to help you, not to judge you :)
Ask @FrancescoFiligoi
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Hey! I was just going to pm you but thought more people could find your reply useful. Anyway, what headphones would you recommend me to mix on the fly? No amp, just headphones plugged into the PC/MAC. stuff in the style of Nine Inch Nails, Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction (last album). take care!
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Bugra Sisman
Miguel Batalha
Hey Fran, You take some AWESOME pictures of your guitars that really show off the tops. Any tips on how to do this without expensive cameras (maybe the best way to show the top on an iPhone or something?) Thanks! :)
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DJ
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I've been practising a really fast lick for over 5 months 1 hour per day exept sundays and i am still not able to pull it off in real speed,what you suggest?
I suggest to go back playing actual music instead of focusing on something pointless like this - playing guitar is not a competition :) speed comes with time, and only AFTER good technique and posture. Noodle around, cover your favourite band's tunes, be inspired and write some riffs or songs.
And if you still can't get over that lick, just give it time, and even if after a loooong time you still can't get over that lick, maybe your body is just not meant to do that lick at that speed - each guitarist has his own weak and strong points, I'd suggest to value more your strong ones rather than continue to struggle on the weak ones.
And if you still can't get over that lick, just give it time, and even if after a loooong time you still can't get over that lick, maybe your body is just not meant to do that lick at that speed - each guitarist has his own weak and strong points, I'd suggest to value more your strong ones rather than continue to struggle on the weak ones.
I've thought about starting taking guitar lessons from you sometime soon. How should I prepare for my first lesson?
Just hit me up on facebook and we'll chat about your priorities, what you want to address regarding technique, and everything else that comes to your mind. Then of course we set a lesson or a series of lessons on all the subjects you want to absorb. Thanks :)
Hey Francesco, it's been a few months since I heard from you about your band and your music. How is life these days? Still a big fan
We've just received today the first draft of our new video, so fuckin' epic!!! We're close :) A couple other things to sort out with merch and then we're ready.
I know you've been waiting a lot, like us, but good stuff requires time. I promise it will be good!
Life is excellent btw, never been so busy but I'm living out of music and teaching so I definitely can't complain :)
I know you've been waiting a lot, like us, but good stuff requires time. I promise it will be good!
Life is excellent btw, never been so busy but I'm living out of music and teaching so I definitely can't complain :)
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RAWNAK OMI
Dans Huang
Cory Phillips
TheInsurgent
Hi, I know that this topic has already been discussed a lot, but I want to hear some information from a guitarist that can actually be trusted: Axe fx versus Kemper, more precisely, Axe fx ultra vs Kemper since they are in a similar price range, what do you think works better for live usage? thanks.
Take a look at my FAQs, specifically #7: http://bit.ly/1arouVC
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James R. White
Hey Fran, what's your opinion of the KRK Rokits? What would you say the best "bang for your buck" studio monitors are? Thanks!
I definitely think Rokits are the best bang for the buck, the third gen RP5 are solid! If your budget is a bit higher, strive for Adam A5X or A7X depending on your room size. I use Event Opals which are amazing but so so pricey, had to save a lot to afford them.
When it comes to hardware- bridges, frets, etc- do you believe there's such a thing as overkill with them for the sake of a recording guitar to stay in tune, or otherwise? i.e- not only use an Evertune, but also true temperament, buzz feiten, earvana, anything else I missed, etc etc?
Never too much, really. Retuning after every riff is so fucking tedious, time wasting and ear-frying. I badly want a new 7 and 8 with Evertune and TT frets!
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Felix Lehmann
Do you think general exercise such as weight lifting, bodyweight exercises etc. improves guitar playing at all especially when it comes to plateaus in your playing?
I noticed for certain techniques it helps, especially legato, bend, vibrato and generally left hand stuff.
I should specify: not in doing them cleaner or faster, but I personally feel less tired, less fatigue in my left arm when I have time to lift regularly.
Although regarding the right hand it's mostly endurance and control, not actual strength.
Also people who lift are generally more health conscious, and that definitely doesn't hurt your playing at all :)
I should specify: not in doing them cleaner or faster, but I personally feel less tired, less fatigue in my left arm when I have time to lift regularly.
Although regarding the right hand it's mostly endurance and control, not actual strength.
Also people who lift are generally more health conscious, and that definitely doesn't hurt your playing at all :)
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Luca Moqi
Felix Lehmann
dal
Bugra Sisman
Hi Francesco, after checking out plenty of your solo works, I'm really impressed by the way you actively pan and harmonize your solos, not that I haven't heard anyone else did it, but your approach really stands out to me. Mind sharing who inspire you to do that and possibly some insight? Thanks!
Thanks! When doing leads, I want to literally emulate the human voice when it sings, to make the guitar as vocal-like as possible. If you think about that, there's plenty of songs in which the vocal line by itself sounds bigger because it's being harmonized by backing vocals, and that's exactly what I do to make a certain part "sing" or "stand out" a little more :)
The fact I've listened to tons of Children Of Bodom, In Flames, Arch Enemy, Cacophony and Jason Becker in my teens surely helped in that as well, because they do it all the time!
The fact I've listened to tons of Children Of Bodom, In Flames, Arch Enemy, Cacophony and Jason Becker in my teens surely helped in that as well, because they do it all the time!
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Felix Lehmann
Dans Huang
Mitch Baker
Hi Francesco, I was wondering if you had any tip for someone starting to get into learning solos? I've been playing for a couple years but never really been a solo guy, and technically feel I should be able to play some of the ones I've looked at, but just have real trouble learning them.
I'm not sure which solos we're talking about, but to be honest I don't think two years is enough to get already into solos that might be full of bends/vibratos/nuances that one can control properly only after a longer time of playing (unless you're crazy talented).
Also there might be complex licks that would require you to first analyze and study the technique itself (sweep/alternate/tap/hybrid/legato/whatever) and practise it in depth with basic to advanced exercises, before actually applying it musically into something more various and "chaotic" like a solo.
I started playing leads after 8/9 years of just riffing lol :) of course that is a bit too extreme and you don't have to wait that long, but my advice is that there are no shortcuts - spend the time bringing each technique to a proper level, and then you'll be more than ready for more complex solos :)
Also always dissect into sections, never play everything at once, that just doesn't make sense if you wanna learn something properly. Hope it helps!
Also there might be complex licks that would require you to first analyze and study the technique itself (sweep/alternate/tap/hybrid/legato/whatever) and practise it in depth with basic to advanced exercises, before actually applying it musically into something more various and "chaotic" like a solo.
I started playing leads after 8/9 years of just riffing lol :) of course that is a bit too extreme and you don't have to wait that long, but my advice is that there are no shortcuts - spend the time bringing each technique to a proper level, and then you'll be more than ready for more complex solos :)
Also always dissect into sections, never play everything at once, that just doesn't make sense if you wanna learn something properly. Hope it helps!
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Ilenia Kniferoom
Dans Huang
Bugra Sisman
Hi man! What do you think about roasted maple as a tonewood? Do you prefer it to 'normal' maple? Thank you very much! Bye!
I love it! I hope for Carvin to start including it soon since it has a lot of plus:
- more stable than non-roasted maple (the roasting kills any bacteria that might affect the wood and basically makes it super weather/humidity resistant)
- looks way cooler imho
- if done properly (roasted just slightly) it still retains all the good properties of maple, no tonal change. If you notice when companies first started baking their maple necks, they were much darker than now - it killed all bacterias and shit but also kinda ruined the resonance a little, the wood was basically almost dead then. Right now they're doing it slightly so it's just perfect.
Our guitarist Giacomo has a JP7 with roasted maple neck and pau ferro fretboard, it's gorgeous!
- more stable than non-roasted maple (the roasting kills any bacteria that might affect the wood and basically makes it super weather/humidity resistant)
- looks way cooler imho
- if done properly (roasted just slightly) it still retains all the good properties of maple, no tonal change. If you notice when companies first started baking their maple necks, they were much darker than now - it killed all bacterias and shit but also kinda ruined the resonance a little, the wood was basically almost dead then. Right now they're doing it slightly so it's just perfect.
Our guitarist Giacomo has a JP7 with roasted maple neck and pau ferro fretboard, it's gorgeous!
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Yaresh-Bartholomeus Soekhlal
I'm trying to learn some Italian to impress a girl who I go to school with. Any tips on what to say apart from, "porco dio?"
I'm posting this to Facebook so my italian friends can help you!
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Christopher Tuason
Dear F-Bomb: What is your take on Evertune Bridges? I live in an area with limited resources for trying gear such as this. I question the "feel" of them more than anything, having not played with one. I'm curious about bends, etc as well. I'd love to hear your 2cents. Thanks!
Evertune is such a game changing concept. I love it and I want my next 7 and 8 string to have it!
Only Improvement I'd like is for the bridge to require less space, to retain more wood and consequently more tone out of the guitar. But if you have a good quality guitar it will of course still be amazing overall.
Haven't tried bends on it - people around say it requires a little bit more strength but it's almost negligible and you get used to it very fast, so I'm not concerned at all.
Actually I'm more interested about its property of being set to NEVER EVER bend - this means I can strum hard as fuck and still get a perfectly in tune chord rather than the usual "boooowwwww" effect normal bridges have.
This will be a huge timesaver in the studio and I can't wait to get my hands on it!
Only Improvement I'd like is for the bridge to require less space, to retain more wood and consequently more tone out of the guitar. But if you have a good quality guitar it will of course still be amazing overall.
Haven't tried bends on it - people around say it requires a little bit more strength but it's almost negligible and you get used to it very fast, so I'm not concerned at all.
Actually I'm more interested about its property of being set to NEVER EVER bend - this means I can strum hard as fuck and still get a perfectly in tune chord rather than the usual "boooowwwww" effect normal bridges have.
This will be a huge timesaver in the studio and I can't wait to get my hands on it!
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Jalon Hall
john
Mitch Baker
What are you looking for in a guitar pick? What pick do you use for general riffing and soloing and what made you choose that pick?
Good question! some stuff to consider:
- it shouldn't slip (stuff like nylon or v-picks is very slippy for me, on the other hand Tortex and Max-Grip Dunlops are perfect)
- shouldn't get stuck in the strings (pick too big or too pointy like the Tortex Sharps)
- good tone of course (not too small, not too big, good material, not too thick, not too thin, shouldn't sound too "clicky" or lacking certain frequencies).
With all these aspects taken into consideration, I basically tried every boutique manufacturer out there - V picks, Red Bear, Hufschmid, Winspear, you name it. Some of these were awful and some of these were actually pretty interesting with cool concepts, but still (to me) they don't sound or feel as good as tortex (the material).
With that being said, for a lot of time I've used Jazz III style picks (specifically the carbon fiber Max Grip), they helped me a lot during my practice hours to achieve faster speeds, but they're too small and because of this they sound a bit too "transparent" without adding that fierce attack that a bigger pick provides, especially on rhythms.
Then I switched to Tortex Sharps since they were sounding so brutal during riffing, but they were kinda hindering my speed since the tip was so pointy it was getting stuck in the strings sometimes.
I needed something with the same material but with less pointy-ness so I checked these Dunlop TIIIs which are basically the best pick ever: same size and material of a Tortex but with the tip of a JazzIII, so I can get faster on leads but still retaining all the tone a bigger pick provides. They sound INCREDIBLE on everything I'm doing, from rhythm to lead to bass.
I bought a bunch of these TIIIs in different gauges to check which one sounded the best, so I just recorded the same riff with all of them. The thicker the gauge the more low end power I had, but too thick and I was losing a bit of high end clarity. That's why I chose 0.88 that in my opinion has the perfect amount of low end and high end clarity. 0.73 and 1.0 are also very good, 0.73 for gigs is a bit thinner so doesn't detune the strings as much, and 1.0 has just a hair more low end if you pick like a pussy and need more power lol :)
Tortex sounds so precise and clear that even my sweep stuff retains an alternate picking-ish attack. On the other hand stuff like the Petrucci Jazz IIIs, or Red Bear or V-Picks stuff, has a very "clicky" overtone that I really don't like at all. Good if you're after warmer tones though.
So that pretty much sums my experience - I strongly suggest anyone to just buy a bunch of picks and do all your recording tests, because my hands surely differ a lot from yours and results may vary!
With that being said, which picks are you using? :)
- it shouldn't slip (stuff like nylon or v-picks is very slippy for me, on the other hand Tortex and Max-Grip Dunlops are perfect)
- shouldn't get stuck in the strings (pick too big or too pointy like the Tortex Sharps)
- good tone of course (not too small, not too big, good material, not too thick, not too thin, shouldn't sound too "clicky" or lacking certain frequencies).
With all these aspects taken into consideration, I basically tried every boutique manufacturer out there - V picks, Red Bear, Hufschmid, Winspear, you name it. Some of these were awful and some of these were actually pretty interesting with cool concepts, but still (to me) they don't sound or feel as good as tortex (the material).
With that being said, for a lot of time I've used Jazz III style picks (specifically the carbon fiber Max Grip), they helped me a lot during my practice hours to achieve faster speeds, but they're too small and because of this they sound a bit too "transparent" without adding that fierce attack that a bigger pick provides, especially on rhythms.
Then I switched to Tortex Sharps since they were sounding so brutal during riffing, but they were kinda hindering my speed since the tip was so pointy it was getting stuck in the strings sometimes.
I needed something with the same material but with less pointy-ness so I checked these Dunlop TIIIs which are basically the best pick ever: same size and material of a Tortex but with the tip of a JazzIII, so I can get faster on leads but still retaining all the tone a bigger pick provides. They sound INCREDIBLE on everything I'm doing, from rhythm to lead to bass.
I bought a bunch of these TIIIs in different gauges to check which one sounded the best, so I just recorded the same riff with all of them. The thicker the gauge the more low end power I had, but too thick and I was losing a bit of high end clarity. That's why I chose 0.88 that in my opinion has the perfect amount of low end and high end clarity. 0.73 and 1.0 are also very good, 0.73 for gigs is a bit thinner so doesn't detune the strings as much, and 1.0 has just a hair more low end if you pick like a pussy and need more power lol :)
Tortex sounds so precise and clear that even my sweep stuff retains an alternate picking-ish attack. On the other hand stuff like the Petrucci Jazz IIIs, or Red Bear or V-Picks stuff, has a very "clicky" overtone that I really don't like at all. Good if you're after warmer tones though.
So that pretty much sums my experience - I strongly suggest anyone to just buy a bunch of picks and do all your recording tests, because my hands surely differ a lot from yours and results may vary!
With that being said, which picks are you using? :)
Often, I hear other people say that some particular gear (on guitar/amps/pedals), or some techniques in playing or in the recording process are, "cheating." What say you? I personally grow tired of hearing this sort of b.s., but I'd like to hear what a touring musician has to weigh in for this stuff
Do what it's needed to deliver the message you want on a recorded format, regardless of the method. If you plan on playing it live though, you better practise your ass off!
I must say though that I definitely don't agree with the tone/mix choices some bands are going for these days - some are lacking "human feeling" to the point of devaluing their music. Music is subjective though, and this is just my opinion :)
I must say though that I definitely don't agree with the tone/mix choices some bands are going for these days - some are lacking "human feeling" to the point of devaluing their music. Music is subjective though, and this is just my opinion :)
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Yaresh-Bartholomeus Soekhlal
Luca Moqi
I don't think I ever seen you playing a 8 string WHY?! :/
Mahagony or Black Limba as a tone woood? And what with what would you top these ones?
They're very similar sounding, mahogany having a bit more "oomph" in the lower mids and black limba a bit more "airy resonance" on the higher mids/highs. Black limba is generally heavier than mahogany.
Also there's a huge difference between genuine/honduras mahogany (which in my opinion is the best sounding one) and sapele or african species, sapele sounds awesome as well but is generally heavier, and african I don't like much, but it's generally very lightweight.
Also there's a huge difference between genuine/honduras mahogany (which in my opinion is the best sounding one) and sapele or african species, sapele sounds awesome as well but is generally heavier, and african I don't like much, but it's generally very lightweight.
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Dans Huang
Hey Francesco, what do you think of swamp ash as a tone woods?
Swamp ash is not the most consistent tonewood at all - you can get a good sounding piece with firm lows and full mids like the one on my B6, but on my experience ash tends to be very bright with lots of highs and lows, but lacking a lot in the mids.
It's tight for sure, but there's always the risk the guitar might be too boomy or too thin sounding, without having the warmth in the mids that mahogany or limba provide.
Ash tends to sound amazing with rosewood fretboards as they add mids and warmth, so they balance out. On the other hand I would personally never pair it with ebony as this would produce an overly brittle/twangy overtone.
If you want to add a top over swamp ash, I would choose walnut or redwood since they'll warm it up a little and add some much needed mids to the instrument.
It's tight for sure, but there's always the risk the guitar might be too boomy or too thin sounding, without having the warmth in the mids that mahogany or limba provide.
Ash tends to sound amazing with rosewood fretboards as they add mids and warmth, so they balance out. On the other hand I would personally never pair it with ebony as this would produce an overly brittle/twangy overtone.
If you want to add a top over swamp ash, I would choose walnut or redwood since they'll warm it up a little and add some much needed mids to the instrument.
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Dans Huang
Mitch Baker
Ben Glass
Kartik sharma
In your experience, how would you compare the Blackhawk and the Warpig? How would the Miracle Man stand out, in comparison?
Black Hawk: high perceived output, very compressed, overall balanced and very extended EQ response, but a bit more prominent on the bass response. I wouldn't say scooped but it's definitely flat EQ-wise. Alnico Black Hawk has even more lows and more mids as well, sounds fatter.
Warpig: huge and brutal sounding but still tight as fuck, especially the ceramic version. Alnico is very very fat sounding. I personally prefer Warpig to BH.
Miracle Man: the tightest of the bunch, a bit scooped with more prominent low mids and very present highs, think Zakk Wylde tone and you get an idea. Rhythm wise could be perfect for something like Necrophagist, Dying Fetus, or generally speaking technical stuff that has a bit of old school vibe to it, given the tight but a bit scooped nature of it. It's chuggy as fuck, I absolutely love it! Probably my favourite between the ones mentioned but it's very risky to put it in the wrong guitar, might sound either too bassy or too bright. Works well in basswood or generally speaking balanced guitars.
Warpig: huge and brutal sounding but still tight as fuck, especially the ceramic version. Alnico is very very fat sounding. I personally prefer Warpig to BH.
Miracle Man: the tightest of the bunch, a bit scooped with more prominent low mids and very present highs, think Zakk Wylde tone and you get an idea. Rhythm wise could be perfect for something like Necrophagist, Dying Fetus, or generally speaking technical stuff that has a bit of old school vibe to it, given the tight but a bit scooped nature of it. It's chuggy as fuck, I absolutely love it! Probably my favourite between the ones mentioned but it's very risky to put it in the wrong guitar, might sound either too bassy or too bright. Works well in basswood or generally speaking balanced guitars.
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Luca Moqi
Dans Huang
Joshua Mills
Is there a guitar you regret selling?
What was your first ever Carvin?
This DC727 beaut!
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Милка Милка
CandysCoreee
Dylan Taylor
Cory Phillips
Carvin is going HAM, what is your next order going to be?
CRAZY. Crazier than what you think :)
Hey dude, do you have an instagram account?
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john
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