The Benefits of Personalized Music Lessons

Why Music Lessons?

I could go into a long winded rant about the benefits of music lessons. How it builds language skills and IQ in children and adults, how studies have shown it lessening the risk for dementia in older population, and how a large percentage (80-85%) of people making six figures or more have had some form of musical training. Instead, long time instructor James Lipka gives you his opinion on why face to face lessons have a hard time being replaced regardless of all the apps being developed.

Music Enriches Your Life.

You don't have to have aspirations of being a professional musician to experience the joy of playing a musical instrument.  It will just make a more well rounded human being. Music is a primitive form of enjoyment. It's difficult to even quantify why we enjoy these patterns of sound. It's specific to each individual person, we have clients that are 70 years old that want to share music with their grandchildren, we also have kids that want to play metal and head bang. We have professional musicians and people that just want to play in their basement to blow off steam. It's a different function for everyone but most people have some desire to play, and the better you are the more enjoyable it is. Let's not forget community. I can personally attest, and just about every musician I know can attest to the fact that music has taken their life on a different trajectory.

What Do You Get Out of In-Person Guitar Lessons?

There are many kinesthetic and mechanical aspects that are learned and reinforced with real time face to face feedback. You see stylistic differences amongst players but good technique can go a long way in your development as a player.  Learning from a qualified instructor doesn't mean you are going to compromise individuality, it just means you will maximize your style to work for you. And the longer you let that bad habit go, the longer it takes to correct it. So, instead of having to overcome challenges in the beginning, you will have instantaneous feedback. Lessons take the guesswork out of technique.

Is Music Theory Important?

Some players just learn tabs so they can learn to play songs they like. A good instructor emphasizes importance on having the player learn where that solo or song has come from. This way, you can really dissect what patterns that piece of music is comprised of, giving you a sound understanding of not only how to create your own compositions but learning other songs you enjoy quicker. If you're just learning numbers on a piece of paper, you have only one way of applying that information. You might be able to play that particular riff, but it ends there. If you want to play something similar to that in a different context and you don't understand where it came from, you have no way of applying it down the road. Our instructors are big on teaching where these rudiments are coming from. There is a lot of myth that there are great musicians/guitarists that don't know music theory. There are many great musicians who claim that they don't know much about music theory, however, we don't believe that they don't at least have a solid foundational understanding of how it works. I think they just have a different way of thinking about it. It's really important to conceptualize all that information when learning a song or practicing so you can use that information later. In a collaborative sense, music theory is your language when you are playing with other musicians that is how you're going to communicate with one another, that's where a lot of really great ideas come from. 

What Are the Music Lesson Apps Missing?

The biggest issue is that there is no realtime feedback. Some of the apps have a play along feature that listens to what you're doing and lets you know if you're off time or playing the wrong notes. But the feedback it is missing is largely mechanical (the way you're holding the pick or how you're fretting a note). If you start a bad habit through those apps, there's no real way of correcting it unless you are under a watchful eye. And what we think is the most important portion it's missing is that you are not able to ask questions. The back and forth interaction between student and instructor is priceless and it's what you are really getting the value of. Everyone has a different learning style, whether it be tactical, auditory or kinesthetic, a qualified instructor can cater the way they teach you so that you are learning and retaining the information in the best way possible that suits you. A good instructor can ensure you're not missing little gaps of knowledge. Not to mention, you will rise to the occasion and be challenged by an experienced musician (your instructor). Something important to remember is to consider the platform where these apps exist. A lot are on youtube or apps that have a subscription service but especially youtube where a lot of ad revenue is generated by traffic. These apps promote an instant gratification aspect, slogans like "play your first song in five minutes" or "four weeks and you can shred like Eddie Van Halen." Typically what they are trying to do is get you to keep clicking and purchasing upgrades. And while there are parallels because instructors make a living from their students, the quality of having a qualified instructor far surpasses an app. What you get is accountability, from both student and instructor. The instructor has to sit with you every week to make sure what they teach you will make you a better player the next time they see you. It gives the student the accountability to practice what they were taught. Also, we are promoting long term development of your craft. James says, "you don't get anything for free on the guitar, you get out exactly what you put in." Developing a comprehensive long term approach on the guitar is priceless.

What We Offer

We offer lessons for voice, piano, guitar and bass. Our instructors each have a personalized approach and laundry list of qualifications. You can see their bios here.

Daniel Donato: Leading the Charge of New Tele Masters.

If you haven’t heard Daniel’s style of “Cosmic Country” do yourself a favor and check out his music. He plays tonight (3-30-19) in Lancaster at the Chameleon Club starting at 7 P.M. This is the third show of his 30+ show tour. You can check out the dates on his website (danieldonato.com)

Daniel describes his sound as cosmic country. The musical aspect of Daniel’s playing is influenced from his love of players like Jerry Garcia, Jerry Reed, Jimi Hendrix, and improvisational players like Danny Gatton etc.  The lyrics in the music stem from the storytelling of greats such as; Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Waylon Jennings, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton and Kacey Musgraves. This marriage lends well to one of the coolest new artists out there.

Who Is Daniel’s Dream Collaboration (both Artist or Producer?)

DD: Producers, Dave Cobb, Danger Mouse, Mark Ronson, Diplo (maybe even playing on a track,) Dan Auerbach, I love Dan’s production style and Jack White. “I would love to collaborate with Jack White musically in any way. If could do something with John Mayer or Dead and Co. that would be my ultimate universe ask.

What’s in Store for the Next Year?

DD: Firstly a tour all over America followed by a month in Europe tour in the fall. We are releasing a song every month this entire year. Which is a feat due to balancing touring, progressing as a musician, rehearsing, traveling and finding time to record in the midst of everything. Once you roll your sleeves up and start doing it, it’s a full time thing. Just in this past year I’ve entered the tier of, ok here is what I am going to be doing for a while. I am going to be writing songs, rehearsing songs and touring songs. So I am working on songs in three different timelines at all times. It’s really intensive and is a full time life.

What Advice Would you Give to Young Artists Looking to go Viral?

DD: You can scale a living off going viral because it’s anything you’re trying to do is to gain the currency of attention. It depends what you do with the attention that matters. If you go viral and don’t use the attention to your advantage, it’s just like getting a bunch of money and wasting it. If you look at someone like Julius Dein (instagram magician) who had one viral clip with Drake and now he’s doing world tours. I think if you go viral after you’ve hustled it out for a number of years you gain the perspective to know that limelight isn’t the only light. There’s a lot of dim neon bar lights that you have to work through before you get to those. That’s very much Sturgill (Simpson) and Jason Isabell’s perspectives. They went through so much to get through where they are at. So their perspective simply won’t allow them to ruin the platform they have now. I kind of feel that same way, I haven’t had the same friction in my life with alcohol problems or drug problems but I’ve been at it for 11 years non-stop. I kind of have this more and more experience addiction, problem saying, “ok, music is the medium to gain all the experience I can in my life. I want to take it everywhere I can.

The Electric Guitar Has Taken a Few Knocks Recently, Can you Elaborate?

DD: I hope so, I just want to make a piece of music that will be really useful. Because when I hear people say that the electric guitar is dead I think that it stopped being really useful. I feel like the ‘90s was the worst time for guitar. I have listened to so much guitar music and then music with nothing to do with guitar whatsoever. You listen to music from the ‘90s with no  guitar in it and it’s some of the best music. Country music aside, that was the best time for country guitar. But rocknroll guitar in the ‘90s just wasn’t good and maybe that did something for the general perception of the guitar and that did something to guitar moving forward. But I can never see it going away, just like acoustic guitar, it’s not ever going away. We’re just in a phase. It’s coming back hard.

You can check Daniel out on instagram at @thedanieldonato or his website danieldonato.com. And once again he is playing tonight (3/30/19) @chameleon_club.

Tips for a Gigging Musicians Rig and Pedalboard with Bob Bradshaw of Custom Audio Electronics

Welcome to this week's edition of the Tone Tailors Blog. This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Bob Bradshaw of Custom Audio Electronics. Bob is a pioneer of audio-engineering. He has built multi-component rigs, audio interfacing units, routing patch bays and/or effects interfacing for the best guitar heroes in the world.  If you would like more information on Custom Audio Electronics it can be found here on the website. My intention for this week's blog is to get Bob's tips for the gigging musician's pedalboard or rig.

So let's get into it.

Pedalboard Order: What Are Your Pedal Chain Order Recommendations?

BB: Well, First of all I want to start by saying, "anything goes." There is no one set configuration you can place your pedals in. There's no rules, whatever you like and whatever works for you. However, there are specific configurations that people go with and usually in a nutshell that is; gain things first right after the guitar, modulation things, delays and reverbs at the end of the line and then you go back. That is the basic signal path that is pretty typical most people would do but then again, anything goes, you can do whatever you want. I personally put delays last, where most people put reverbs last and I do that because I like the delays to decay off with everything else that precedes it including reverb and I think it makes the delays more distinct. They don't fall away as much into a wash of reverb as if they were before the reverb sounds. This all depends on whether you're using long delays and a lot of repeats or you have the delay signal relatively high in the mix. Just subtle uses but you can try it either way.

What Kind of Power Source Do I Use for My Rig?

BB: Usually these days with smaller, more compact rigs it's important to keep your power away from sensitive devices like gain things (distortion pedals, wahs.) Things that are susceptible to picking up electromagnetic interference from the transformers inside the pedals.  Now the other consideration is the voltage and current requirements for each pedal. You shouldn't "starve" your pedals for current. There's such a wide variety of pedals out these days and it's something you need to be aware of. In my experience be careful of the linear type power supplies that are common (like Pedal Powers and other types that use transformers.) The more current load that is put on them the more they radiate electromagnetic hum. Be aware of that and keep sensitive things away from the power supplies themselves.

BB: A tip for you: one power supply that does not radiate any hum and is a real lifesaver is the Strymon Zumas and Ojais.  Those are extremely well made power supplies. They come with the best cables in the business. They are a switching supply so they are worldwide compatible. There are 7 standard 9V outputs, each tap is a 500mA power output. And 2 more outputs can be switched between 9-, 12-, and 18-volt operation. You can pretty much use practically any pedal out there from a Strymon to a tube screamer with one of these outputs and they work. So you don't have to worry about current or the placement since they don't radiate any noise. They are very very good with smaller compact boards.

There are other great supplies from manufacturers like Dunlop. (Iso-Brick, Mini Iso-Bricks are both great) I often use these on rack mount trays for powering pedals.

Let's Talk Cable Quality

A patch cable is a tone control. If you're a guy like Derek Trucks and you plug your guitar right into an amp, that's all well and good, but you better consider a nice cable too. Your cable is a filter to a high impedance guitar. If you don't use anything be aware of that and use the highest quality cables you can.

What Deciphers a Bad Cable from a Good Cable?

BB: The connections, the quality of the cable, the jacket, whether it coils nicely, the connectors and how robust they are and the capacitance which is really important. The lower capacitance per foot the cable is the less it's going to act as a filter to your high impedance guitar.

If You're Starting a Board What Are The Essentials?

BB: A good power supply to start. Good Cables, those are the main things, a layout that is ergonomically easy to deal with and comfortable for you when you're performing on stage. Don't put everything super close together. I see boards on instagram and they are ridiculously non-functional. It doesn't look like they are taking ergonomics into play to have a functional performance board. I think in terms of a professional performance situation, not that it takes a pretty picture on instagram.

What Sets Your Custom Audio Electronics Wah-Wah and Boost Pedals Apart from Others?

BB: The Wah was a collaboration with Dunlop based on modifications we used to do to stock wahs over the years. First and foremost I put in a proper bypass switch so that they are 100% bypassed. Another thing was tonal options, little tweaks to adjust tonality and the voicing of the wah. The MC404 (that you're talking about) has options on the side so you can switch between two inductors to give either a more vocal wah or more of a quackier shaft type of sound. Also it has an output buffer because the old wahs have a relatively high impedance output. So we added the buffer circuit so you could drive the line back to wherever it was going (amp, rack or a pedalboard that's offstage or something.) This helps it retain its tone and character (because again, long cable runs from a high impedance output are susceptible to noise and filtering of the cable links themselves.

BB: The boost is based on a custom built device we made that solved other problems. We buffered the system (long cable runs) and provided a real transparent signal path so it's super clean. It's a flat frequency response that just raises the volume and doesn't change the tone.

Pickups

BB: Pickups are the electronic component that plugs into the system itself. You could have humbuckers in a strat and the cable and rig don't know what kind of wood is wrapped around that pickup. So that's pretty much it. In the systems that I build, my philosophy is to do no harm to the original guitar signal (as much as possible) That's where it starts, your baseline is plugging your guitar straight into the amp and listening to the tonality of that and then plugging into your pedal board or system of choice to see how it's different. And if it's different then start searching for where it's different and why is it different.

The Role the Guitar Players: What's Most Important with Your Guitar of Choice for Your Tone?

BB: What's important is aesthetics (that you like the way it looks and feels in your hands.) I mean this is what you're touching and the connection you are making to that instrument. The first thing you do before you have an amplifier is you're touching an instrument. How that feels to you and how that responds to your playing style is extremely important. The electronics, down the line, don't know what type wood is involved. The electronics are processing the impedance of a humbucking pickup vs a single coil.  The electronics are processing whatever stuff is in line after the pickups, what signal is getting back to the board not to mention the length of cable that's involved. It's all interconnected from here to the speaker.

Ending Tips

BB: The best way to dial in your tones is to do so in a band setting. You can do it in your practice room at low volumes by yourself but then all that shit blows right out the window in a band setting. Make your settings at stage volumes, don't do it at little volumes because everything changes when you're up to stage. Volume, especially balances between delays, choruses and reverbs need to be set the level you're going to play at.  It's really important. Volume totally changes how the guitar reacts to the amp (whatever feedback component might be there depending how close you are to your amp), the speakers respond totally differently when they are driven harder, the amp responds differently especially the output stage to larger volume then doing it at bedroom levels.

Desert Island Pedals

BB: Tube Screamer, Some kind of delay, something else for fun, who knows, man haha, your favorite guitar, amp, delay and tube screamer and that's it haha.

Written by: Mike D'Arc

Guitar Upgrades with John LeClair

So you want to upgrade your favorite guitar with some new pickups, a new bridge, pick guard or even change the color. Here are some things to consider before you pick up a router and add a humbucker to your prized Stratocaster.  Tone Tailors owner John LeClair has performed successful surgeries on multiple guitars for the last 20 years. This is his humble-yet informed position on optimizing your upgrades and keeping value on a stock guitar.

What is the Best Way to Approach Guitar Upgrades?

One word, RETROFIT, retrofitting means that you are buying parts that don't require any structural changes to your guitars. When you buy retrofit parts you are getting parts that already fit your guitar or bass without picking up a drill or router.  If you want new guitar tuners, find the same screw pattern. In perfect correlation with buying retrofit parts, you should keep the stock parts that came with your guitar. If you want to resell be ready to include the new parts or reinstall them. This will ensure in the event that you sell that guitar or want to watch the value inflate with time, be able to get that guitar back to its original condition.  The guitars that yield the highest resale value are the ones that are closest to their original condition. Just like John LeClair's teenage mutant ninja turtle collection, the ones that are most valuable are the ones that are still in the box. If you want to make major changes, get them professionally done and be prepared not to get the same value for that guitar.

What Are Some Good Upgrades to Make a Beginner Guitar Play Better?

John, "The first thing you should do is get the frets leveled and set it up, then putting on a nice set of tuners is a great start." If you don't like the way the guitar plays to begin with putting on a nice set of tuners won't do much. Make the guitar play the way you want it to first then worry about upgrades. Upgrading the pickups to something that's more conducive to your playing style isn't going to do much. If you start making all these upgrades to a guitar you don't like that much and end up selling you could have just bought the guitar you really wanted in the first place. Hindsight is 20/20 but we want every player to get a guitar they absolutely love.

Pre-Wired Pickguards and Pickups.

When you are looking at replacing your pickups there are many things to consider. For the purpose of generality of this blog, I am not going to scrutinize every detail of pickups. (That will be a for a detailed blog about pickup styles for a later date.) What I will say is that we can cater and design any prewired customizable pick guard for you. There are companies out there promoting pre-wired pick guards but the problem is that you are getting the exact same thing as everyone else who ordered that. If you have us do it, John can TAILOR (no pun intended) your pick guard to you. You can pick exactly which capacitor you want, how you want your pickups wired, if you want a 4-way tele switch, which brand of switch that you want. We will typically use push back vintage style wire. You can choose what pots you want if you don't want CTS pots and want Alpha instead. We can customize you pick guard in ways that you don't get from other suppliers.

How to Sell Upgraded Parts

This will be a simple and short paragraph. If you put together a "parts guitar" and decide to sell, or have upgrades in your guitar we would suggest sell those parts individually.  You will get more money for your parts, bottom line.

If you want to upgrade anything in your guitar, we would love for you to bring it in first, have the basics assessed if you need a fret dress or set up first. Then after that we can help you decide the best parts for the style and sound that you are looking for.

Written By: Mike D'Arc

Guitar Humidification with JP Painton (owner of Tone Tailors)

How about this weather lately? One day it’s a snowstorm the next day it’s 50 degrees and sunny. Can these temperature fluctuations be harmful to your acoustic guitar? If so, what precautions can you take to ensure your guitar has the right humidity level? Is a humidifier something you want to invest in? Tone Tailors owner, Jon Paul Painton answers these questions and gives you suggestions. As a dealer of Martin Guitars, Taylor Acoustic Guitars, Fender Guitars and many others, we know the best steps to take to ensure acoustic guitar health.

Weather Changes and Your Acoustic Guitar

A guitar is a piece of wood - it expands and contracts with different moisture levels. Being winter now, it’s drier in your home which means your guitar is going to shrink. This is when a guitar humidifier comes in to maintain the proper moisture level. A guitar that is too dry can cause cracks, frets popping out, bridges lifting and many other costly repairs.

What is the Optimum Humidity Level?

There is no “optimum temperature.” But if it’s freezing out, it shouldn’t be kept in a garage. It's the same reason why you shouldn't leave beer in a garage. Temperature fluctuations cause it to get skunked. What were we talking about? Anyway, colder temperature means drier air. If it’s too incredibly hot it’s going to absorb more moisture. What you need to be careful of is the extremes. Temperatures that are too cold can equal cracking, and too warm can mean mold along with tuning issues. Ideally, humidity levels on your acoustic guitar should be between 45-55% humidity.

Every Day Use Humidifier

We sell the Music Nomad Humitar - a simple system that has a sponge encased in a plastic container that slides between your strings into the sound hole. Very simple to use with a cost of $14 and essentially minimizing the event of expensive repairs. 

High End Humidification

There are also some really nice ones out there from Music Nomad and D’Addario that have gauges that will interact with your smart phone to alert you of your guitar’s humidity level. If you travel a lot or are a touring musician this might be something to consider as you are in an ever-changing environment. This device will send you a quick little update on your guitar’s health. 

If you are in tropical climates, your guitar can be overly hydrated and that plays into whether or not you’ll have tuning issues or neck adjustment issues.

What If My Guitar is Already Cracked?

If it’s too late and your guitar is cracked and in need of repair, we offer high end professional repairs. Our guitar tech and owner, John LeClair can fix your guitar and will recommend you the best humidifier for your needs. We will store your guitar in a humidified room until it’s at the right humidity level, then will repair any additional issues, if needed. It’s something we see a lot of in the changing of the seasons, from November through December or April through May. Additionally, we see a lot of guitars needing repair simply because of neglect.

How We Store Our Acoustic Guitars

We have a professionally built and controlled room for our acoustic guitars. Much like a humidor for cigars, our guitar room is perfectly controlled to make sure any acoustic guitar we sell has the proper humidity levels when it goes out the door. We can also give you a great recommendation for acoustic guitar care systems.

How Often Should I Look Into This?

If you’re in Lancaster county, get your guitar prepped and stop in during the spring or fall. If you’re in other locations across the US, you'll have to analyze your climate and take precautions based on your particular area.  Essentially, when dry season and wet season are impending, taking it for a quick stop into a reputable guitar repair shop can save you from concern or extra money spent. They may make minor adjustments if needed, or educate you on a product that is potentially beneficial to the health of your instrument.

Stay up to date on our latest gear and information on our website tonetailors.com!

Written By: Mike D'arc