Blog - The Guitar Learner

“Only they who believeth in their guitar quest shall be granted passage”

Direct Input for (much!) better Output

Have you ever consider using DI box for your live performances, or your recordings? what is EXACTLY a DI Box anyway? does it really a tool for better sound output? all these questions are being asked around here and there, but actually, for me, i can’t hear the differences,at least, not with passive DI box. okay, so what’s the point in this post anyway?well, i tried to read and summarized all sources i can get which brought me to some conclusions. yes… (one of stupid things I’ve done is writing something i don’t actually know, but here it is)DI box is important it regains the lost signal of your guitar sound. it converts high-impedance, line level, unbalanced output guitar signal to a low-impedance microphone level balanced input to mixers. the low impedance allows the signal to be sent over long cable runs with significantly less signal loss.

…. the lower impedance (around 600 ohms is normal) allows an insignificant load to the input of a mixing console or preamp which is also designed to accept input from low impedance microphones. – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DI_unit

something you might find on stages is, you don’t hear the honest sound from the stage output. it is different from your sound set while you want the output is exactly the same as you hear on stages. A direct input box will help you to get that. by lowering the risk of lost signal, you will get your sound much better.

which one do i choose? passive or active DI box? that’s a good question. well, honestly, what i’ve done to get the answer is by searching on the internet and find stuff with “built especially for guitar: label.. hahaha, and i got a DI Box, not too cheap, The ULTRA-G GI100 active DI box made by Behringer.

Behringer ULTRA-G GI100 active DI box

things i got from using this active DI box are great. the cabinet simulator button helps me so much in getting the warm tone at the output sound from the mixer. it’s really helpful for you who uses analog effects with hi gain distortion and overdrive. sometimes our analog effects are just too harsh for the PA speakers, the cabinet simulation button will handle that problem. you can see on the next picture here, the ‘virtual 4×12″ cab’ button, yes, that button helps me in any stage conditions.

Behringer ULTRA-G GI100 active DI box

this DI Box has a dB cut feature. it cuts -20 dB plus more -20 dB , so you don’t have to worry about damaging your Head-cabinet Amp. you can see the connection examples provided by Behringer in PDF file. the pad button will cut your frequency as you can see on the next picture here:

Behringer ULTRA-G GI100 active DI box

well, this DI box isn’t like the class A DI box, and i haven’t try other DI Box. if you need suggestion, of course i will say that i wanna have a Radial JDV™ Active Super Direct Box on my setup, hahaha.. see you next post.

Radial JDV™ Active Super Direct Box
January 30, 2014
Fun In Basics, Minor Chords

Happy New Year 2014! yes, i congratulate all of guitarists who still fight for their music until today, i hope all of you stand still with me. Well, this post will be the continuation for my post: Fun in basic, Major Chords, and now is about the minor chords on guitar.FYI: these minor chords follow the natural minor scales, so as you can see the A natural minor scale notes are A(1) – B(2) – C(♭3) – D(4) – E(5) – F(♭6) – G(♭7) – A(higher octave) and its interval is w-h-w-w-h-w (w = wholenote, h = halfnote)Basically Minor chords consist the root, the flat-third and the fifth note. if you have an A minor chord, that would be A as the first note (root), C as the flat-third note(♭3rd), and E as the fifth note.

A (root), C(♭3rd), and E (5th)

so, what you have to do next to get B minor chords is write down the B natural minor scale which is B(1) – C#(2) – D(♭3) – E(4) – F#(5) – G(♭6) – A(♭7) – B, see the bold font, and you’ll get B(1) – D(♭3) – F#(5)as your B natural minor chord

B(root), D(♭3rd), and F#(5th)

the rest chords are easy as long as you hold the natural minor scale as your guidance

C(root), D#(♭3rd), and G(5th)

D(root), F(♭3rd), and A(5th)

E(root), G(♭3rd), and B(5th)

F(root), G#(♭3rd), and C(5th)

G(root), A#(♭3rd), and D5th)

easy isn’t it? hahaha
i hope it helps, happy new year everyone!
January 4, 2014
Is It That Great Gretsch Sound?

Today is a cloudy day and i can’t get bright picture of silver sparkle of my new guitar (but it’s okay though, my old cellphone camera can handle this), oh yes it’s a Gretsch guitar. The Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary with silver sparkle finishing. It’s a beautiful pre-owned guitar with nice deal, no scratch and made in China. here are bunch of pictures about it:

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

And I like it!! this electromatic pro jet defines overdrive and distortion effects in wide range although it seems i’ll never get tele twang sound or strat glassy tone from it (of course, it’s a Gretsch!). it has unique sound, yes that great Gretsch sound does exist. Its pickups and chambered body deliver tones nicely through amps, even direct input to mixer.

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

Gretsch mini humbuckers pickups

Gretsch mini humbucker pickups

well, this series isn’t the perfect one actually. my first negative review is about the fretboard craftmanship. it has deadnote on 9th fret and it bothers a lot. i had to take it to my luthier shop to repair it. some say that the Gretsch quality decreases after they put their factory overseas and i think this is the prove. It’s made in China. but enough about it since that will be my only negative review.

overall this Gretsch came with gorgeous looks. it’s Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar, you can see the logo on its headstocks:

Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar logo plate

Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar logo headstocks

Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar headstocks

beautiful vintage accessories in affordable price. i should put this guitar in “on budget guitars” list.
can’t wait to take it on stage with me 🙂
November 15, 2013
Fender Stratocaster Highway One, is it the ONE?

last week i got lucky. my friend lent me his Fender Stratocaster Highway One and it was my valuable moment of learning guitar characteristics. stratocaster has my respect because of its tone originality and how many songs made with this guitar, also how far the guitar players has become legends with this guitar existence. you can easily find names, let’s say yngwie malmsteen, richie sambora, eric clapton and many more use the stratocaster as their main guitar, or using stratocaster as their tool of exploration (see a Frankenstrat)you might be one of them. a stratocaster lover. i can’t say I’m in it, but actually right now I’m still trying to get which series that suits me. and i got a milestone to start with, a Fender Stratocaster Highway One USA made, year 2002 i guess. here are the pics (it’s relic!) :

what i got from this guitar so far? well, i can’t say i’m in love with this one. it was about againsts my guitar playing style. the volume knob is TOO close so everytime i pick the strings, i accidentally touched it and made the volume knob turned the level down often. it happened to the switch too. for me it’s just made my playing become so unnatural. i need sometimes to get used to this guitar, the neck radius, the super jumbo frets, yes.. i need more time to get the best of it.

i read some articles on guitar blogs and find out that there isn’t so much love for Fender Stratocaster Highway One (this is the earlier products. the latest has big headstock and some users said that the new one is the upgraded one and it rocks with comfortable handling). one thing that doesn’t change is its tone, a glassy tone is stratocaster and i think Fender Stratocaster Highway One has a lot of it.

surely some real stratocaster can define this guitar in big details and i had my time. now it’s the time to take this guitar back to its owner. 😀 it was a great time in exploring and learning though. still wondering which stratocaster is best for my playing.. what do you think?
November 8, 2013