Category Archives: Music

The Noosa Melanoma song — chord tabs for ukulele

This little ditty was inspired by a holiday at Noosa Heads in Queensland, Australia. Despite all the leathery-skinned, wrinkled old people (they were probably a lot younger than they looked!), young people were still sun-baking on Noosa Beach and ending up badly sunburnt every afternoon. We used to walk along Hastings Street in the evenings having a competition to see who could spot the most sunburnt person. You can swap Noosa for your … more »

Marshall MG10CF amplifier — review

I recently purchased a Marshall MG10CF amplifier as a practice amp. I have a Roland Cube 15XL in the living room, but when my wife is watching TV and the kids are in bed, I am not able to practice in the living room. I guess I could always drag the Roland amp to the other end of the house, but it is much easier just to have a second amp to plug my … more »

Ibanez MiKro GRGM21M Jewel Blue — review

Ibanez miKro GRGM21M guitar

The Ibanez GRG miKro puts out sound way beyond its size. When you look at the specifications, it is obvious why. The miKro shares the same Powersound humbuckers at its larger siblings in the Ibanez Gio range. The specifications are: GRGM Maple neck Basswood body Medium frets Fixed bridge PSND1 (H) neck pu PSND2 (H) bridge pu Hardware color : Chrome Scale : 560mm/22″ Colors : JB (Jewel Blue), RD (Red) Recommended retail … more »

Roland Cube-15XL guitar amplifier review

Roland Cube-15XL guitar amplifier

The Roland Cube-15XL is a great little amplifier. The 15 watt amp is more than loud enough for home practice, but has a handy power squeezer function to achieve full gain at low volume if practising in a small room. The Roland Cube-15XL control panel includes: input jack three-band equalizer two channels, clean and lead with three BOSS distortion circuits to choose from AUX in jack recording out/phones jack. The recommended retail on the Roland … more »

How to pass the Rocksmith soundcheck

Jose Ferrer El Primo classical nylon-string guitar

Many people seem to be having trouble passing the Rocksmith soundcheck. I have passed the Rocksmith soundcheck using several guitars. Following is how I do it. Guitars I have used to pass the Rocksmith soundcheck I have managed to pass Rocksmith‘s soundcheck using the following guitars: Yamaha F310P acoustic guitar using a transducer (piezo) pickup blue-tacked behind the saddle on the body of the guitar Ibanez miKro GRGM21M (¾-size electric guitar) Cort Earth-Mini guitar … more »

Rocksmith guitar game — I’m hooked

Rocksmith

After a couple of weeks playing Rocksmith, I have moved up from the rank of Amateur to New Act. I’m hooked on the game and my guitar playing is improving. Many reviewers of Rocksmith write about playing Nirvana‘s song In Bloom. In Bloom is the final song of the third event. I was able to fairly easily reach it, despite having very limited guitar playing experience — let’s face it, I could play a handful … more »

Counterfeit D’Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte classical guitar strings

Counterfeit D'Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte classical guitar strings

In April 2012, I purchased three sets of D’Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte nylon, normal tension, classical guitar strings off eBay. Unfortunately, it turns out that they were counterfeit. Despite the low price of the guitar strings on eBay, I never contemplated that someone would bother copying and selling a low value item such as guitar strings. As a result, I thought I was buying authentic D’Addario guitar strings. When I opened up the guitar string … more »