In this edition:

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1 - FREE GUITAR CHORD FINDER
2 - PROTECT YOUR FRETS
3 - STICKY NUTS?
4 - FLOPPY TREMOLO ARM FIX
5 - GOT THE WOBBLES? STICK IT!
6 - THE CHORD OF THE MOMENT.
7 - POT POURI MIX OF GUITAR SITES
8 - JOKES
9 - LAST WEEKS WINNERS
10 - EASYJAM'N GUITAR CENTER
11 - AMERICAN SCHOOL OF LUTHERIE

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1 - FREE GUITAR CHORD FINDER
From: Erik van der Neut
erik@looknohands.com
At http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/ I've built my own guitar chord finder, which currently holds a little over 750 guitar chords. Visitors can scroll through my chords database and - instantly - see the finger settings for it graphically displayed, including finger numbering, optional notes to play, names of the notes, etc. It works really fast, since client side Javascript builds up the picture of several little pictures.

It is totally free to use, and there are no ads or banners. I recently added a very useful print feature that allows you to select a series of songs, and then print them all out at once along with your own header and footer text. You can even specify the detail of the pictures and what size you want them to be.
Erik van der Neut
erik@looknohands.com

It's pretty neat - take a look:
http://www.looknohands.com/
 
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2 - PROTECT YOUR FRETS

I just had a quick comment about an article posted in newsletter #24

http://www.GuitarSite.com/newsletters/24.htm#cleanfrets

One of the topics was "Music Tips" from the Play it Again Newsletter. In the article, tip 2 told you how clean all the crud from your fretboard to make it look like new. Everything was good but the author forgot to mention that once you are done cleaning the fretboard with the steel wool, you should use a drop of lemon oil (I use Old English) on each fret to protect the wood and to keep it from cracking, because it is possible to get cracks in the frets if you don't protect the finish. That's it...
Just thought I would add my two cents.

Brian Newtz
Original article here:
http://www.GuitarSite.com/newsletters/24.htm#cleanfrets
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3 - STICKY NUTS?

Another quick fix type repair. If you have problems with a "sticky-nut", ie. tuning the guitar produces sudden jumps in pitch usually accompanied by tell-tale "pings" as the string "jumps" through the nut (leading to unstable long-term tuning) then try placing a layer of Plumbers PTFE

tape across the nut before restringing. The PTFE tape is essentially the same non-stick Teflon used on frying pans and can be found at most plumbers merchants in England for about £2 a roll, which is enough for 20+ restrings.

It's no substitute for a proper set-up but it can get you out of a corner if you have to use a borrowed guitar, or can't afford a set-up.

The PTFE tape mentioned will also do the previous job well if the thread is not so worn. Simply wind 2 or 3 turns anti- clockwise around the thread of the tremelo arm before replacing the it and it should stay stable for half a dozen gigs before needing replacement.
From: Steve Coates steve@westgardens.demon.co.uk

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4 - FLOPPY TREMOLO ARM FIX

Following on from the article in newsletter #24:
http://www.GuitarSite.com/newsletters/24.htm#tremolo

Another quick and easy "floppy tremolo arm" fix. This works well with the straight screw-in Strat type arms. If the thread has become worn and loose so that the arm will not stay in a convenient place, unscrew the arm completely. Then take about 3cm of an old top E string from a NYLON

strung guitar and place this in the hole before screwing the arm back in. Try to leave about 1 cm protruding from the hole so that you can remove it if necessary. The arm will be a little difficult to screw in initially but once the first few turns are completed the string will be

deformed into the worn thread and take up the slack, allowing the arm to move freely, but remain wherever it is placed. From: Steve Coates steve@westgardens.demon.co.uk

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5 - GOT THE WOBBLES? STICK IT!

I read over your tips to keep your tremolo arm from wobbling on the traditional trem units.
http://www.GuitarSite.com/newsletters/24.htm#tremolo
Great idea- now here's a way to keep the arm from wobbling on the Rose/Kahler units: Go to any hardware store an
purchase a roll of teflon tape. Teflon tape is used by pipefitters, and when the tape is wrapped around pipe threads on gauges and such, it provides an airtight fit. It also provides excellent friction on those
threaded tremelo arms! Just one wrap around the bar, rethread or snap the arm back in to place- and the wobble is gone...
From: Jim Earp jim_earp@hotmail.com
 
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6 - THE CHORD OF THE MOMENT.
From: Kirk Lorange lorange@kirk.net

Read all of Kirk’s great Newsletter Articles:
http://www.GuitarSite.com/tuition.htm#articles

Music is a multilayered structure of interconnected relationships, the guitar is an instrument of non identical repetition. No wonder we get confused, especially when trying to master the art of spontaneous invention, or improvisation.

It all seemed impossibly overwhelming when I started down this road. I still remember where I was (at home practicing in Montreal, 1969) when it dawned on me: If I master the chord of the moment, as I later named it, I'm home free.

I suddenly saw music as a chord that moves time. Sometimes it's minor, sitting in its B flat position, sometimes it's a major seventh sitting in its F position, and so on. It is always related to the chord that came before and the one that will follow, and it is setting the rules.

The revelation was that there is only ever one chord happening at any one moment, and somehow this gave me heart. I didn't have to know everything about all music at all times, I just had to keep tabs on the chord of the moment.

If you're still looking for a constant, reliable, ever present reference system for the fret board, presented in a very user friendly, plain English comic strip format, come visit my site. I've been busily sending my book PlaneTalk to all parts of the globe and hearing back from some very happy guitar players who now know the ‘trick’. All thanks to the WWW and, of course, Neil.

Until next time,
K i r k
Kirk Lorange
PO Box 186
North Tamborine
Queensland 4272 Australia
Ph / Fax +6175 545 0138
lorange@kirk.net
http://www.lorange.cjb.net

More info on Plane Talk:
http://www.GuitarSite.com/tuition.htm#kirk

See cartoons:
http://www.GuitarSite.com/kirk-cartoon.htm

Read all of Kirk’s great Newsletter Articles:
http://www.GuitarSite.com/tuition.htm#articles

Heaps of info & chord resources here:
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~guitar/chords.htm#chords

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7 - POT POURI MIX OF GUITAR SITES

 
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