FAQ's		Artist Interviews / Tips / Q and A's / Podcasts / Book Reviews

All the questions and answers that you see here
were asked by members of Access Rock to either
Mike Abbott or Analog Brothers Amps.

Remember to email any expert questions to experts@accessrock.com

Click On A Question:

>Guitar Vintage

>Finding A Song's Key

>E Blues Practice Tracks

>Noisy Guitar Electronics

> Low or High Amp Input

>Joe Satriani's Axis Theory

> Finger Barring

> Scales and Soloing

>Changing a Strat Bridge

>Attaching A Guitar Strap (1-5-05)

>Hollow Body Guitar (4-5-05)

>Trying to Find A Coiled Patch Cord

>Pressing Too Hard on Strings

SUBJECT: Finding A Song's Key

Question: I need more help in finding the key note in the song. I am finding it very difficult to do so as I have a very bad ear. Also I would like to find out what are the next notes played after the keynote. This is specific to finding the high or low voicing in the song. Will these high or low notes fall in the same scale of the keynote or is there a different formula for this? I had been to lots of music classes but nobody has been able to help me on this

Answer: I translate your question as - how to figure out the key that the song is in, right? First, if you haven't already, take our chord scale lesson. This will teach you about the seven chords that are in one key. Once you are familiar with a few chord scales, you can more easily find the key center of a song. The key center tells you the key from which most of the chords were chosen. Let's say you have F Major, A minor, and G Major in the Verse of your song. You need to find which key these chords have in common. Here are some clues:

G Major and F Major - Major chords are either the I, IV, or V in a Major key. Go through a few Major keys to see if they include the G and F Major chords. If you have played in the key of C a couple of times, you will know where these chords are from.

Ruling Out - There are 5 sharp keys - G, D, A, E, B, and 5 flat keys - F. Bb, Eb, Ab, Db. F# or Gb would be the sixth sharp or flat key, and C has no #'s or b's. NO sharp key contains an F Major chord - that rules those out. NO flat key contains a G Major chord. Therefore, the key has to be C.

Where is "home"? - Listen to the chord progression. Which chord sounds like "home"? The one that sounds like "home" is the key of that progression or section.

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SUBJECT: E Blues Practice Tracks

Question: I just ran across "Access Rock" on the Internet and think it is a great site for guitarists at all levels. I would classify myself as a beginner. With the E Blues Shuffle I can follow along with the E5 and E6 chords but have difficulty following the sounds in the practice tracks where more advanced techniques are used. The practice tracks sound great. Are there TABS or something that show what chords and techniques are used in the practice tracks?

Answer: Since you are a beginner, you should stay with the basic rhythm, which is shown on the tab, for a while. The more complex rhythm that I played is a combination of many different blues rhythm ideas which I have learned over many years. You can learn a couple of these techniques in our Advanced Blues Lesson

SUBJECT: Noisy Guitar Electronics Body Guitars

Q:I just bought an ibanez guitar on ebay, (for good or bad) hopefully good. the body is in great shape, but the electronics are a bit noisy, if sound at all. I have to toggle, shake the cord to get any noise at all, the knobs are "gritty" when turned up down. I'm going to clean the electronics with contact cleaner, and make sure the cord fits snug in the plug, inlet, clean fret board and lemon oil it and restring. . I'm assuming its a no no, but could you spray this electrical contact cleaner in or on the pick ups? I know they are "electrical" but figured I would ask before I do an ass thing and screw up my new ibanez more than it is..............thanks guys. I just found your site about a week ago, its AWESOME. I've been goin over all the lessons and the old fingers are coming back to me..the info is great as well...thanks again.......dave

1. Try a brand new guitar cable (cord). If the cord that you're using has an open (a spot where the wires have split), this would account for part or all of the noise problem.
2. Spray contact cleaner in the toggle switch. The toggle contacts can get dirty over time and can cause noise when moving the toggle switch.
3. Check to see that the nut on the guitar jack (the jack is the hole on the guitar where the cord plugs into) is tight. If it is not, tighten it with the correct size socket or monkey wrench.
4. If you have experience soldering wires, you can open up the pick guard and check to see that the wires coming from the pickups are solidly attached to the toggle switch, and that the wires between the toggle switch and the volume and tone knobs are solidly attached.

If you do not have experience soldering and you are not familiar with the wire connections on an electric guitar, take the guitar to a qualified guitar repairman.

-Mike, Access Rock.com

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SUBJECT: LOW OR HIGH AMP INPUT

Question: My name's Skip, and I'm a new comer to this site. I hope you can clear something out for me. I have a peavey "Rockmaster" preamp, run to a 120 watt amp. All tube. And a gibson style guitar with a "Tony Iommi" pick up in the neck and a "Angus Young" pick up in the bridge. I was told that because I have these pick ups, I should be plugging into the Low Gain input on the preamp. However, this reduces alot of tone. I like the sound I get from the High Gain input, but I don't want to damage anything. Since neither amp or preamp are made anymore. What is the input I should use?

Answer: Thanks for the inquiry. The low and high gain inputs are provided so you can choose between the gain levels that best suit your application. Though you have high output pickups, there is a substantial difference in the amount of gain between the inputs (one inserts an additional triode gain stage into the signal path). It's completely up to you and the tone you're
looking for as to which one you use; you can't hurt anything! About the only reason you may want to use the low gain input is if you're looking for a cleaner, undistorted tone; which it seems you're not. So, have no fear of damaging anything, plug into the high gain input and rock on!

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SUBJECT: Joe Satriani's Axis Theory

Question: Axis theory is a type of music theory. I think it was invented by Joe Satriani. Something to do with chords and scales. I want to know how can I apply this theory. What it's all about. Maybe you can give me an example?

Answer: Here's what I found. Axis theory is a way of applying basic music theory to improvising or composition. The idea is that any number of harmonies or scale tones are linked to one common tonal center. For instance if a song contains a C Major Chord and a C7 chord, You use the C Major Scale (C D E F G A B C) for the C Major Chord and the C mixolydian (C D E F G A Bb C) for the C7. If you have a C Major Chord and a G7 chord, you use the C Major Scale (C D E F G A B C) on the C Major Chord and the C Major Scale also on the G7 chord since it is the five chord of the key of C. The C is the axis point for all of these chords!

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SUBJECT: FINGER BARRING

Question: I am a budding 15 year old guitar player.  I have been learning 6 months but my old teacher said I look like I have been playing at least a year.  I practice 1-2 hours a day.
I was listening to a song and realized that I would have to make a barre of 3 strings with my first finger (index).  To do this I have to bend my finger so the joint of the end of my finger bends and the end section of my finger (the bit with the fingernail on) barres the strings, and the next section of my finger goes up at a diagonal (sorry, a little complicated). I have seen lots of people able to do this at will but I cannot. I was wondering if there were any exercises to build muscle strength and/or flexibility in this region.

Answer: This is a very common problem for all of the students that I have taught. I will give you some tips which will help, but it is important to remember that the barring technique will take time to master. Here we go:

1. The left thumb should be flush on the back of the neck. When I say the back, I mean the middle of the back. This will adjust your hand position so that the left palm is underneath the neck, with a large space between the palm and the neck.

2. The left thumb should also be directly across from the middle finger of the left hand. This will give you optimum squeezing power.

You have the right idea with the first finger hyper extending and the nail portion barring the strings. Take these lessons below which will help you with barring two, three, and 6 strings with one finger. Most of all, practice barring every day and this will strengthen the finger!

Double Stops (2 string bar) - this has some good pictures of barring.
Guitar Chords You Should Know

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SUBJECT: SCALES AND SOLOING

Question: I've been playing guitar for two years now and I need help learning how to solo. I like to play PUNK rock alot and I occasionally play some other types of rock. what scales do I need to know and where do I start????

Answer: Thanks for the question. The first step toward soloing is to learn how to play a few scales fairly well plus learn soloing techniques like bends, hammer-ons, and pull-offs. Access Rock has lessons on how to play many scales and soloing techniques. Here are some important ones to start with:

1. E Blues Scale
2. Slides
3. Hammer-ons and Pull-offs
4. Creating A Solo

OR browse all of our soloing lessons.

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SUBJECT: CHANGING A STRAT BRIDGE

Question: Will an American Strat bridge fit on a Mexican Strat. I want to replace the bridge in my Mexican Strat and have found an American Strat bridge for cheap, I just don't want to buy the thing and it not fit on my guitar.

Answer: If you are having problems with string breakage, you can just replace the saddles (the small piece that the string rests on) which is much easier and cheaper than replacing the entire bridge. This depends on the year and model of the American Strat and Mexican Strat. Look at the bridge saddles on both guitars. If they look the same, you are probably in business. You should also take measurements on both and compare. If they don't match up, you should check out these two web sites for a proper match or for bridge saddles:

1. Stew Mac - 1800-848-2273
2. All Parts

Once you install the new bridge, you should check the bridge saddle height. You can use a 6" steel ruler for this. Measure the string height at the last fret on each string. All strings should be the same height. If a string is too low or high, adjust the small Allen screws on the bridge saddles. Be sure both screws are adjusted the same (except for the 1st and 6th string where the outermost screw should be a little higher than the other to prevent the string from slipping off of the neck). Also, you will need to adjust the intonation. To learn about this, take our guitar stringing lesson.

Let me know how it goes!

SUBJECT: Attaching Guitar Strap

Question: Hi, this is probably a really stupid question, but how do I attach my guitar strap? my guitar has the ONE knob on the bottom, but that's the only one. I'm completely confused??

Answer: No question is too stupid for us!!

You must have an acoustic guitar, right? Here's what you do:

1. Get a shoe string
2. Thread the shoe string through one end of the strap.
3. Thread the same shoe string underneath the strings, right next to the nut on the headstock side (not on the fretboard side).
4. Tie a double knot in the shoe string away from the guitar's neck..preferably near the hole where you threaded the shoe string through.

SUBJECT: Guitar Vintage

Question: How do you figure out what year your guitar is?

Answer: There are many ways to date guitars. It all depends on the company and model of guitar. Here are a few ways:

1. Serial Number
2. Company Stickers - shape, color, text
3. Text Descriptions - writing on headstock, etc..
4. Guitar shape
5. Type and location of parts on the guitar

Your best bet is to contact the company that made your guitar. If that doesn't work, I would search on Google for "dating a guitar". Let me know if you are unable to find out.

SUBJECT: Hollow Body Guitars

Question: What is the difference between a hollow body electric and a solid body electric other than one hollow and one is solid?

Answer: You're right! That's the main difference. However, there are some others. First, there are different types of hollow bodies. There are semi-hollow bodies ( i.e. the Gibson 335 etc..) and there are fatter hollow bodies ( i.e. the Gibson 175 or L-5). Semi-hollow bodies can be used for many styles of music including blues, rock, and jazz. The fatter hollow bodies are used mainly for jazz. Other than these elements, hollow bodies are just hollow electric guitars that offer a different sound and feel than the solid body electric guitar.

Trying to find a coiled patch cord

Q: Dear guitar experts,I have a problem. I have been looking for a coiled patch cord for my electric guitar. I know that they havent been sold since 1985, but i really really need one. Ive been emailing many many people and no one will write back. Since you claim to be guitar experts, i figured maybe you could help me. I am on a mission to find a coiled patch cord. If you know where i might be able to find one, please please tell me?

A:Thanks for your question.
You have come to the right place..I have found a coiled patch cord for you. The cord is 20 feet long with two, straight 1/4" plugs. It is at a web site called Encore Music.

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Pressing too hard on strings

Q: Yes, you are correct about the pitch changing when you press too hard. All guitars and fretted instruments in general are like this. Your guitar can be adjusted so that the strings are at a reasonable height above the frets. However, you need to practice the guitar and "even out" your finger pressure so that you aren't pushing notes out of tune.
Instructions for adjustments are below: The action on the guitar (string height above the frets) should be set up properly. If you don't feel comfortable setting up the guitar yourself, take the guitar to a reputable guitar repairman.
Instructions for set up are below:

1. Neck and Saddle adjustment - you should adjust your truss rod first. If you haven't ever done this, here's how you do it.

Install a capo at the first fret.
If you don't have one, just push on the first fret for every adjustment. Adjusting Truss - On a Squire Strat, you should be able to adjust it from the head stock. There is a truss rod nut which you can see if you sight from the top of the head stock. The tool you need is an allen wrench long enough to fit into the hole and still be able to turn it. This allen wrench should have come with the guitar. If not, you should go to your local guitar store, or hardware store, and get one.
When you adjust the truss rod, 'less is more'! Don't turn the truss rod nut more than a 1/4 of a turn at a time. If you do, it could damage the neck. Turn the truss rod nut counter-clockwise to add relief (more curve) in the neck. By the way, you do not need to loosen the strings to do this. After a 1/4 of a turn, check the action again. Repeat this process to obtain just a little relief in the neck.
Install a capo at the first fret again.

Now you need to set the string height at the 17th fret by adjusting the saddles. You will need a small allen wrench (should be .050") that fits the saddle adjustment screws (there are two on top of each saddle). The string height should be 4/64" at the 17th fret. Be careful not to raise one screw more than another as this will affect the string-to-string spacing. After setting the truss rod and bridge saddles, you should set the intonation on each string. To learn how to do this, go to our String Your Guitar Lesson


I highly recommend that you buy Dan Erlewine's book, THE GUITAR PLAYER REPAIR GUIDE. This is where I learned how to set up my guitars. It has everything you need to know about guitar repair.

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When there are two notes separated by one or more strings, and are to be played at the same time, how would I go about doing this? |-----2--
|--------
|-----3--
Would I just mute the middle string, or what? I see this in some tabs, such as Paint it Black by Rolling Stones and I'm not quite sure what to do with it.

A: Hi...thanks for your question,

There are a couple of different ways to execute this double note:

1. use your first finger on the first string, 2nd fret. Use your 2nd finger on the 3rd string, 3rd fret. Flatten your 2nd finger slightly so that it barely touches the 2nd string. This will mute the 2nd string allowing you to strum the double note.

2. Mark Knopfler used this next technique. Use your right, middle finger to pluck the first string. Use your pick on the 3rd string. Pluck and pick at the same time. You will probably have to practice this technique quite a bit.

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