How to Tune a 12-string Guitar and what Gauge Strings?

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Fernandes Nomad Deluxe

With its Nomad Standard, Fernandes managed to pack a speaker and five-watt amp into a tiny, bean-shaped guitar body. Designed as a self-contained electric travel guitar, the Nomad Standard offered all the benefits of full-size models in a compact and portable package.

Fernandes must have a miniaturized ray in its factory, because the Nomad Deluxe manages to add on a 24-patch effects processor and an auto-chromatic guitar tuner. The result could be the world’s most versatile travel guitar—one that can easily make the transition from bedroom to studio to stage.

The Nomad’s body (what little there is of it) is machined from hardwood laminate. In addition to being cleverly shaped to hug your knee, the body balances perfectly well for strap-on action. The bolt-on neck features some substantial, tidy frets as well as a headstock that could have been designed by the cartoon-making folks over at Hanna-Barbera. You’ve got to appreciate a peghead so blobulent that it leads the whole guitar a unique wide-angle, baby elephant look. Planted along its fat curves are some solid sealed machine heads and an accurately filed graphite nut.

The Nomad’s 24 factory effects presets offer a rack’s worth of multi-dimensional sounds ranging from brutal to ambient. Among the many effects are chorus, compression, delay, distortion, doubling, flanging, fuzz, reverb, overdrive, wah, phasing, pitch-shifting, eq, amp emulations and even an acoustic guitar simulator. An easy-to-read LED shows which bank, patch and effects are active, and a handful of switches are provided to help scroll, edit and store patches and effects parameters.

It only takes a few minutes to get familiar with the system and its editing process. Up to nine of the 24 effects can be used at once and stored in any of the 24 patches. Simply select a preset, press the edit button and move sequentially through the seven effect blocks. Each block allows you to scroll through a series of preset parameters (all of them clearly tabulated in the manual) and select the one best suited to the tone you want to create. After tweaking through the chain, you can store the results. Should you ever decide to revert to the original factory presets, a few simple maneuvers will return the multi-effects unit to the factory specifications.

Although the Nomad Deluxe features a built-in speaker from which to blast its effects, the guitar also has an output jack that gives you the option of listening in private via headphones or plugging the Nomad into an amp. A second jack allows you to hook up a footswitch for hands-free bank switching, or an expression pedal to make full use of the wah and pitchshifting effects. And because the Nomad Deluxe is, in essence, a travel guitar, Fernandes has equipped it with onboard 9-volt power. They’ve also quite thoughtfully provided an AC-adaptor socket (adapter included), for those moments when you run out of batteries.

Despite its dinky dimensions, the Nomad Deluxe has easy action and a full-scale neck, allowing it to play an easily as any full-bodied electric. Both liberating in its portability and inspiring in its wealth of effects, the Nomad Deluxe is one outspoken little axe that could well make you a one-man Lollapalooza at your next barbecue.

The Fernandes Nomad Deluxe can be had at a very reasonable price at MusiciansFriend.com.

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Marc Bolan 1947 – 1977

On September 16, 1977, just after five in the morning, an Austin Mini carrying English rocker Mark Bolan and driven by Bolan’s girlfriend, Gloria Jones, swerved off a road in Barnes Common, England, and crashed into a tree. The 29-year-old Bolan, who had never learned to drive, was hurled from the passenger seat into the back of the car and killed instantly.

While he began his career as a trippy-hippy in an acoustic and bongo duo, Bolan is best remembered for his work fronting T.Rex, the electric-pop-boogie band that is often credited with giving birth to the British glam rock movement of the early Seventies.

On the strength of two classic albums,1971’s Electric Warrior and 1972’s The Slider, as well as a flurry of strong singles, among them “Bang a Gong (Get It On),” T.Rex enjoyed enormous success in England in the first two years of the leisure-suit decade, topping the charts repeatedly and inspiring millions of young teenyboppers to fits of frenzy unseen since the rise of the Beatles. Unfortunately, T.Rex, despite numerous attempts, were unable to repeat their success in the United States, and their popularity in the UK waned rapidly as the public grew tired of the band’s essentially stagnant musical formula.

Ironically, at the time of his fatal accident, Bolan was enjoying something of a comeback. His final album, Dandy in the Underworld, charted respectably and was proof positive that his creative juices were once again beginning to flow. At the same time, the diminutive rocker’s cred was given a huge boost when the leaders of England’s punk revolution, who had come of age at the height of T.Rex mania, frequently cited T.Rex as one of their most important influences, embracing Bolan as the “Godfather of Punk.”

After Bolan’s death, his body was cremated. His memorial plaque, along with those of the Who’s keith Moon, T.S. Elliot and Sigmund Freud, can be found at Golden’s Green Crematorium in London.

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Fishman Rare Earth Acoustic Guitar Pickups

For years; acoustic guitars have been trying to perfect a system of amplifying their “unplugged” styling without the use of a microphone. Though many guitars these days come with built-in piezo electric transducers Read more

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Acoustic AC1800 Amplifier

Acoustics’ AC series consists of three amps which differ mainly in their power ratings. The AC 1800 sits in the middle of this range, offering 300 watts per channel in 8-ohm stereo configuration, and up to 1400 watts at 4 ohms in bridged-mono mode. Frequency response is a reported 10 Hz-20kHz. Read more

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Washburn P3 and DLX Guitars with Buzz Feiten Tuning System

For all the advancements made in guitar design, one thing has remained essentially the same: try as you might, you can never get the damned things in perfect tune. If an open E chord sounds great, chances are a barred A will sound decidedly less so. Blame it on Pythagoras. Back around 500 B.C., the Greek philosopher and mathematician developed a formula, albeit an imperfect one, for tuning stringed instruments. His formula was popular—so popular, in fact, that it’s still in use today. Which is why your guitar relies on a design that’s about 2,500 years old. Read more

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John Lennon Anthology

Capitol’s John Lennon Anthology Box Set sheds some fascinating light on rock’s first intellectual. The set’s four disc contain nearly 100 tracks, nearly all of which have never been officially released; many hadn’t even appeared on bootlegs. Read more

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John Lennon Epiphone EJ-160E Guitar Review

John Lennon’s songwriting was so visionary, his cultural impact so deep, that his guitar playing is often overlooked. But lest we forget, it was with six-string in hand that Lennon changed the face of rock and roll. While he wasn’t the world’s flashiest guitarist, he was one of its most tasteful, tuneful and sometimes even terrifying practitioners.

Two of the instruments immortalized by Lennon in his work with the Beatles and his subsequent solo career were his Gibson J-160E acoustic electric and his stripped Epiphone Casino. With the full cooperation of Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, Epiphone issued a series of limited-edition John Lennon Signature models based on these two guitars. While these instruments may be collector’s items aimed primarily at the Lennon enthusiast, they are also reasonably priced, functional instruments, perfect for any working-class hero.

JOHN LENNON EJ-160E
Patterned after the Gibson J-160E acoustic-electric that were perennial Beatles workhorses, the signature model EJ-160E features an advanced Jumbo, sloped-shoulder body shape, solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides, a chunky solid mahogany neck and solid rosewood fingerboard and bridge. The impeccable fretboard is adorned with handsome “split parallelogram” inlays that are common on many Gibsons and Epiphones. The EJ-160E’s neck has the fat, rounded feel of many late-Fifties era Gibson electrics. A mini humbucking pickup is seated discreetly between the end of the guitar’s fretboard and the sound hole, while volume and tone controls are located on the guitar’s lower bout, as they would be on a standard electric guitar.

Played acoustically, the EJ-160E has a meaty, midrangey tone that’s perfect for bold rock strumming and bluesy fingerpicking. Players who enjoy the crystalline high-end ping controlled low end of many “boutique” acoustics may find this guitar lacking subtlety or definition, but if you’re looking for that meaty, woody acoustic tone that gives so many Fab Four tracks their characteristic punch and warmth, this guitar is an ideal choice. Perhaps because of the hefty girth of the neck, which is big enough to have it own very lively resonance, this guitar has a responsive rumble that lets the player feel the energy of every not, and playing it rivals the satisfying, bone-tickling experience of getting it on with a high-ticket Gibson J-200.

Plugged through a blackface Fender Super Reverb, this instrument delivers a full yet clear sound that is only enhanced by the tone-fattening proximity of the pickup to the neck. And while the tone and volume controls don’t have that versatility of the graphic equalizer and feedback-notch-filter layouts found on many more “modern” electric acoustics, the controls are intuitive, effective and easy to grab on the fly.

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EPM Acoustic Guitar Transducers

So you and the band decided to make like Travis Meeks and cash in on the acoustic craze. Problem is, the group just depleted its bank account buying new acoustic guitars, not too mention a mandolin and a fiddle, and there’s barely enough money left for the next van rental. Fortunately, Engineered Products Marketing has come along with a batch of excellent pickups that will fit almost any scenario and budget.

For guitarists who want to go acoustic with minimal cost, and without modifying their priced instrument, EPM offers two magnetic soundhole pickups: the AGT-400 Acoustic Ace Bronze and the AGT-500 Ace II. These single-coil pickups come in an attractive maple housing with foam-lined grooves that slip onto the rim of your soundhole. EPM has cleverly fitted both models with a two-foot cable that terminates in a vinyl sheathed female connector; this, in turn, slips over your strap pin. The thin profile of the pickups, combined with the strap pin hangar, made installation a breeze, and left my Martin D-18 with nary a scratch.

Plugged into a Fender Pro, the AGT-400 had a clear, even output, similar to Telecaster’s neck pickup with the tone rolled back a notch or two. Dynamic response was remarkably true to the acoustic original, with very little pickup compression. The “hot B-string” syndrome that plagues almost all magnetic soundhole pickups was minimal, and the plain strings balanced very well with the wound strings. Feedback was nonexistent, unless I deliberately turned and stood a couple feet from the amp.

The AGT-500 is the stage model of the Acoustic Ace, so its output was hotter, which a noticeable peak in the high midrange, which is ideal for cutting through drums and bass on a live gig. The hot B-string was more noticeable on the AGT-500, but the pickup’s individual, adjustable pole pieces allowed me to balance string-to-string output. Both the AGT-400 and AGT-500 get points for ease of installation and aesthetic appearance.

If your acoustic axe is spending its prime time in the studio but you don’t have the bucks for a dedicated guitar microphone, the AGT-200 Quick Mount or the AGT-300 Perma-Kit may be the answer to your prayers. Not much thicker than a few stacked nickels, the AFT-200 attaches to the face of your guitar with a clear, reusable adhesive that leaves not a trace of residue. Like its magnetic cousins, the AGT-200 has the handy strap pin hanger on its output cable.

The AGT-200 captured the tonal distinctions between my D-18 and my Ovation Custom Balladeer as well as any good condenser mic. However, I would shy away from using the AGT-200 for live performances, since its superior sensitivity makes it all the more susceptible to fierce resonant feedback. This is an ideal tool for recording almost anything that vibrates. Should you decide you want to permanently mount the AGT-200 in your guitar, the AGT-300 Perma-Kit provides the pickup, hot-melt glue, output wire and endpin jack. Installation is easy, and, if you ever change your mind, the pickup can be removed with the help of a hot spatula.

Lastly, we tested the Quantum EQ system, which consists of a saddlemount pickup, onboard electronics with volume and three-way eq, and an endpin jack. Naturally, installing a system like this means you’ll have to make a few alterations to your guitar, which includes cutting a 1” —by— 3” hole for the controls. I chose an overbrace ply-top Korean import for installing and testing the Quantum EQ.

While Piezo pickup systems are well-suited to live amplification of acoustic guitars, they tend to produce rather brittle tone. The Quantum EQ’s three-band equalizer went a long way towards warming up the tone, allowing me to shape the output for different mixes. My Korean import came through with flying colors, providing a hot yet, well-balanced signal, with minimal feedback.

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