Palm Muting an Acoustic Without Killing the Tone
There’s a belief that gets passed around a lot, usually by someone who came up playing electric and picked up an acoustic later: palm muting is … Read the article
Duke
28 articles
Guitar Serial Number Lookup: Where to Date Every Major Brand
If you have ever bought a used guitar, sold one, insured one, or just stared at a stamped number inside the soundhole wondering how old the … Read the article
Comparing Looper Pedals: A Decision Framework for Acoustic Players
I have owned four loopers over the years, and I still keep two of them on the board depending on the gig. The mistake most acoustic … Read the article
Flat Fee or Percentage of the Door: How a Solo Acoustic Act Should Actually Price a Gig
I’ve been asked “what do you charge” more times than I’ve been asked to tune up before a set, and for years I gave a different … Read the article
Solid-Top Acoustics Under $400: A Beginner’s Guide to What Nobody Tells You
I’ve set up more cheap acoustics on my kitchen table than I can count, mostly for younger players who bought based on looks or a salesperson’s … Read the article
Fingerpicking Patterns That Sound Harder Than They Are (And the One That Doesn’t)
Every few months somebody at a gig asks me to show them “that fancy fingerpicking thing” and points at my right hand like it’s doing something … Read the article
Capos, Compared: Kyser, Shubb, G7th, and the $9 One in Your Case
I own about a dozen capos because I keep buying one after every gig where I couldn’t find the good one in the case. So this … Read the article
Stopping Feedback on Stage: The Fixes That Actually Work, in Order
Feedback with an acoustic on stage is almost always the guitar’s own top and soundhole acting as a resonant chamber that the PA is pumping right … Read the article
The Dreadnought Isn’t the “Default” Guitar: Here’s How to Actually Pick a Body Shape
The dreadnought isn’t even monolithic once you start comparing across brands, and that’s a caveat worth knowing before you assume “dreadnought” means one sound. A Martin … Read the article
The 45-50% humidity rule is a target, not a cliff
The belief: your acoustic guitar has to live at 45-50% relative humidity, and if the reading drops below that, the wood is about to crack. The … Read the article