strumstrum™ » Video

Chili Peppers’ Flea and Chad jam: DnB

Brandon — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:50:04 +0000

This video is a bit old, but it’s one of my personal favorites. If you aren’t familiar with Flea and Chad, they are the bassist and drummer (respectively) for Red Hot Chili Peppers. Flea is absolutely one of the greatest bass guitar players of all time. Chad does some really cool stuff with him in this clip. If you’re interested, there is a short instructional bit at the end.

Flea and Chad of RHCP jam (drum and bass)

Guitar smash of the week: Paul Stanley

Brandon — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:07:04 +0000

This week’s guitar smash is brought to you by KISS’ very own guitarist, Paul Stanley. The Great Alive 35 Melbourne GP Outdoor Concert was capped off last year by Stanley taking his guitar to stage – literally. Apparently the crowd wanted an encore, but the band was too lazy so they just sent Stanley out to smash his guitar.

KISS’ Paul Stanley smashes his guitar

Foo Fighters recognized at Classic Rock Awards

Brandon — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 17:21:39 +0000

The Marshall Classic Rock Awards were announced this week. I have never cared about the Marshall awards, but the concept is pretty interesting. Similar to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Classic Rock Awards recognize different artists within the genre for their contributions. Band of the Year for 2008 went to the Foo Fighters, which is an intriguing pick. I wasn’t aware that the Foo Fighters qualified as “classic” yet, but I guess they have been around for 13 years now. Check out the complete award list below.

The Rock Awards in 2 minutes

The Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honor winners list:
Album of the Year: Whitesnake’s Good To Be Bad
Band of the Year: Foo Fighters
Re-issue of the Year: Metallica – First three albums vinyl re-issues
DVD of the Year: AC/DC’s Plug Me In
Event of the Year: Led Zeppelin at the 02 Arena
Best New Band: Airbourne
Classic Songwriter: Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac)
Showman Award: Paul Stanley (KISS)
The Armand de Brignac VIP Award: Harvey Goldsmith
Gibson presents the Tommy Vance Inspiration Award: Syd Barrett
Classic Album: Cream – Disraeli Gears
Metal Guru: Wayne Kramer (MC5)
Classic Rock/Childline Award: Bryan Adams
Outstanding Contribution: Jeff Beck
Marshall “11” Award: Slash
Living Legend: Ozzy Osbourne

Guitar smash of the week: Dave Grohl

Brandon — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:54:05 +0000

This week’s guitar destruction is brought to you by Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. The story goes that Grohl started playing the Foo Fighters’ “But, Honestly” on stage. A few moments into the song, Grohl decides that he doesn’t like his guitar’s tone. So he smashes the hell out of it.

Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl smashes his guitar

Guitar Smash of the Week: Pete Townshend

Brandon — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:24:20 +0000

Pete Townshend has been playing with The Who for over 40 years, 1 of which is rumored to have been in the womb. The Who is not one of my favorite bands, but they were certainly influential on the rock era, not to mention their amazing live performances. With out further ado, here is the first in our new weekly segment of guitar smashing!

Pete Townshend smashes his guitar on stage

The fastest guitar player ever

Brandon — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 11:13:48 +0000

How fast is he, you ask? Really really fast. Tiago Della Vega set out to break the world record for guitar playing speed this year, and he has certainly achieved that. In what scenario would it be useful or appropriate to play a chord at 320 bpm, you ask? Only two: showing off or breaking records.

If you think this video is tame, then skip to the end. He shreds like a machine.

World record: fastest guitar picking

If you weren’t paying attention to the opening tribute, Vega has spent his life playing guitar for 16 hours a day, every day. The lesson here is that when you have nothing else to offer, offer ‘em technique. Here’s part two of Vega’s guitar awesomeness.

Part two – World record: fastest guitar picking

Three players… one guitar

Brandon — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:44:56 +0000

What happens when you run out of guitars? You make teams of three! This talented trio, composed of a father and his two sons, perform Hava Nagila on a single guitar. A family tradition?

Three players on one guitar

The timing! The coordination! It’s not quite guitar sex. Guitar fondling, perhaps? I am always impressed by the skills of fellow guitarists. If one hand was even slightly off, the whole show could be ruined. I can’t imagine the agony of leaning over my father’s guitar for hours on end practicing that. Kudos to them.

Orange Micro Crush amp

Brandon — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:28:18 +0000

Last year I started exploring some different options in guitar amplifiers. As a personal fan of Orange Amps, I was very intrigued by their “Crush” amp line. So I picked up the Orange Micro Crush, the smallest of the Crush family (and one of the smallest amps that I have ever seen).

This tiny terror measures 14.5 x 14.5 x 8 cm, small enough to stash in your backpack or strap to your belt. The Orange Micro Crush looks just as cool as the rest of the Orange products, including the Orange basket weave tolex, woven speaker grille, and signature “picture frame” edging in the design.

I purchased mine for a little under $60, a reasonable price for a portable amp. The price is even more justified by the face that the Micro Crush doubles as a guitar tuner, with an easy-to-use LED tuning system. Unfortunately, the tuner is pretty lacking. The system only tells you A) what note you are playing and B) if you are flat, sharp, or in-tune. Alas, the flat/sharp LEDs are not very precise, so I still prefer to use my regular digital-needle tuner.

Another highlight of the Micro Crush amp is the Overdrive function. The overdrive is decent, and definitely offers some crunchy distortion. And for portability’s sake, it’s nice to have this built in. The overdrive switch was the biggest complaint that I heard about the amp before I bought it. But I can honestly say now, that I don’t have any problem with it. The overdrive isn’t amazing, but for portability’s sake, it’s a damn nice feature to have.

The amp also includes a volume nob, tone nob, headphone out, and uses 9 volt batteries. The amp also supports a DV power cord, which unfortunately is not included with the amp. I would either suggest investing in rechargeable 9v batteries or purchasing a power cord, because you WILL be burning through a lot of the disposables.

If you are looking for a decent tuner, you would be better off spending 15 bucks on a digital one. If you are looking for a plug in-in amp, you would be better off looking at the rest of Orange Amps’ line. But if you’re looking for something portable, that you can use to rock out in the park with, then this is a must buy.

The world’s biggest Gibson Flying V guitar

Brandon — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:31:18 +0000

Not only has this guy created the largest Flying V electric solid body guitar known to man, but it’s actually playable! Ralph Ciociano of Port Jefferson, New York’s Guitar Shack has created one big ass guitar.

The massive guitar is modeled after the 1950′s Gibson Flying V. The final product took six months to complete, and is credited as being the largest playable guitar in the world. Check out the video of Ciociano jamming below.

“Take me out the the ball game” on the giant Flying V guitar

In fact, if you’re ever in the New York City area, more specifically Times Square, you may even catch sight of this dude in person. Ciociano enjoys shredding on the giant hand-built replica among passing tourists.

Weezer holds a Hootenanny

Brandon — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:20:31 +0000

As you have probably learned by now, Weezer recently came out a new self-titled album. To celebrate the release, they held Hootenanny’s in several major cities where fans/musicians could come out and jam with none other than Weezer themselves. Although all of the events are finished now, you may still be interested in their instructional video.

In the video, Weezer frontman Rivers explains how to play Pork and Beans, Say it Ain’t So, Island in the Sun, Radiohead’s Creep, and more.

Learn-to-play Hootenanny with Weezer!