Video Question: tube amps

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Date: March 24th, 2008 | Length: 1.44 | Instructor: Mark Lincoln

Hgnative asks, "im still new at guitar and dont understand it all (yet) my question is whats the diffrence between a tube amp and what i guess you can call a regular amp just found out about the tube amp in a magazine checked it out on the net a little the only thing they explain is the price what can be $$wow$$ i am completley iggnorent to it can anyone explain the diffrence thanks." Another benefit of being a member of JamPlay is the video response section. Our expert staff fields questions from our members and provides video responses each week.

Other Video Responses:

Quick Question - March 10th, 2008 (3 minutes, 24 seconds)

Jimmycrowder asks, "Quick question... Do I need to learn to read Notation as a guitarist? I am new to guitar and I am praticing to play in a praise and worship band at church. They play mostly pop and rock songs. They just use a sheet of paper with the chords on top of the verses... Also, could you please recommend a good practice routine? I can play about 1 hour a day " View Response

- February 11th, 2008 (2 minutes, 27 seconds)

Mav67 asks, "Okay here is a little problem I am having just now. I am playing the acoustic guitar and I am having problems deploying palm muting. I just wondered if anyone could suggest any exercises to help get over this little hurdle. I would be eternally grateful if I could get some help with this as it is starting to really annoy me." View Response

Strumming Patterns and Timing - April 21st, 2009 (4 minutes, 24 seconds)

Lucasholland asked "Hello, I'm following Steve's lessons and am practicing 2 chord progressions (G, Em, C, D7, and G, Em, Am, D7) using the 5 strumming patterns he teaches with my metronome. This works fine for all the strumming patterns except pattern D (d, d, u, pause, up, down, up / d, d, u, u, pause, u,d,u). The problem is (I think) that I only have beats per measure. So I start the first down-strum on the first beat. The up-strum should be before the second beat, right? So... what I think is confusing me is that I also have strum on the offbeat... Could you show me how to practice the 2 variations on the strumming pattern (variation 1: d, d, u, pause, up, down, up; variation 2: d, d, u, u, pause, u,d,u)) with a metronome (e.g. on which beat to strum etc.)? Thanks! Lucas." View Response

Stage Fright - July 18th, 2008 (13 minutes, 12 seconds)

Abadcoverband asks, "Hey there, I'm new around here and loving the site. All the instructors are so talented and it really blows my mind that I was missing out on so much - I've had to pay high prices for tutors once a week and I've learned more in a few days here than in a month elsewhere. So thanks! :) So, on to the questions. The first one concerns scalloped frets - I'm considering purchasing the Steve Vai JEM 77VBK guitar, and I've noticed that the frets closest to the bridge are scalloped. Could you tell me a little bit about the pros and cons of scalloping, and the differences I would expect between a scalloped and unscalloped guitar? Second, I was wondering if you had any suggestions or tips to deal with improvising on the neck, and dealing with stage fright. I recently turned down an offer to join a friend's band as a lead guitarist because I'm really unsure if I could handle the spotlight and not just end up embarassing myself. Do you know of any ways to deal with performing in front of people or tips to work up to it? When I perform in front of friends I really feel the pressure and often times my mind goes blank and I mess up the verse. I've considered busking for some money downtown but again...I'm kind of a shy guy. If you had any tips for improvising a solo, say...a back-up measure to get me out of a bad situation - let's say I forget a verse, but I know in a roundabout way how it should sound - that would be great. Thanks for your time and have a great day! -Matt" View Response

Refretting Guitar - August 2nd, 2007 (1 minutes, 57 seconds)

Stabec says, "I am starting out on an old guitar that my mom used to play. I was noticing that some of the frets were worn down and had flat places on them. Would this make an already difficult task of playing this instrument even harder? Should I refret the worn ones or do I just need to suck it up and mash til my fingers bleed? Thanks, stace" View Response