Ask Zac

To Support the Channel: https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com My 1981 Martin HD-28 has been by my side for close to 30-years. It's seen time in bars, churches, studios, and even a time or two on the Grand Ole Opry. Today, I look a bit at the history of the D-28/HD-28 Martins and then tell the story of...

To Support the Channel: https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com Guitarists have been personalizing or branding their guitars for many years. Some simply used their guitars as portable billboards, like a young BB King, who had his name along with the radio station he played at emblazoned on the top of his gui...

To Support the Channel: https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com Spotlight on the greatest unknown Memphis guitarist, Clarence Nelson. He was a major influence in both style and tone on Steve Cropper, Reggie Young, and Chips Moman. Clarence was an African-American guitarist who worked with bandleader, Ben Bra...

To Support the Channel: https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com The pick is how many of us strike the string and create a sound with the guitar. Like most of you, I have been on a pick journey for many years, and I must say an enjoyable one, as most picks cost a dollar or less. The pick we choose makes a hug...

To Support the Channel: https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com I have gotten numerous questions over the past 2-years about the Ask Zac theme. Here I show both how to play it, and the story about how it came about. I touch on the hand pain issues I have dealt with over the past 3 years, and how the theme ca...

To Support the Channel: https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com Anyone playing Delta-Blues with deep tremolo, whether on an album or as frequently used in soundtrack work, owes much to Pops Staples's groundbreaking guitar style. His spooky and tremolo-soaked guitar set the mood for the Staple Singers br...

To Support the Channel: https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com In a recent Livestream, I was asked if there was any certain piece of gear I was looking for, and I responded that I would love to find a good old (1930s-50s) acoustic guitar. I then followed with that I was not in a position to afford something...

To Support the Channel: Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com When LEGO released their Fender Stratocaster and Princeton Reverb amp set, my childhood and adult obsessions collided. As a child, I was given LEGO sets for Christmas and birthdays throughout the late 70s and early 80s. By 1985, I was 13 years old and had switched gears from...

To Support the Channel: Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com In this episode, I walk through the process I use for stringing, stretching, and tuning on a vintage-style Telecaster. These methods are geared towards Telecasters with split-shaft tuners and 3-saddle bridges. These methods were learned...

To Support the Channel: Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com Being a huge Bass 6 fan, there are 2 major types, the Danelectro and the Fender. And of course, being fully immersed into the "sickness" I had to finally have one of each. In today's episode, I look at the strengths and weaknesses of both designs. Not really a...

To Support the Channel: Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com One of the biggest questions you should ask yourself when setting up in a room is "How should I position my amp for the best tone?" This is the struggle of every guitarist, as they strive to get a good tone to inspire themselv...

To Support the Channel: Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com Duane Allman wasn't always a Gibson/Marshall guy. In today's episode, we cover the era while he was with the Allman Joys, The Hourglass, and his much-celebrated session career in Muscle Shoals. During this era, he mainly playe...

To Support the Channel: Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com I did another run of shows with the Paul Bogart Band, including a New Year's Eve show in Wichita, Kansas. This run had me playing with Paul's regular guitarist, Nick Palmer, instead of filling in for him, which necessitated me taking a different approach to the set....

To Support the Channel: Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com As I was contemplating my last AZ episode of 2021, I realized that 4 out of 5 of my top videos of the year were all focused on amps. So this episode both looks at the importance of amps and lends some additional insight into those amp videos. I take a look at my videos featur...

To Support the Channel: Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com You don't change until you have to..... I have always been an amp guy, and have always had a preference for tube amps. With a recent fly date I did with Paul Bogart, I ran into a situation that caused me to finally make the jump to...

To Support the Channel: Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com Robbie Robertson and The Band turned the music world on its collective ear with the release of Music From Big Pink. Extended guitar solos, fuzz, psychedelic references, and screaming vocals were nowhere to be found. Instead, the listene...

To Support the Channel: Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com Ever wondered why the amp world shifted from 100-watt amps to 25-watts or less? The short answer is the advancement of P.A. systems. In the not-so-distant past, the typical P.A.  was only capable of handling 2-3 vocal mics. Because of t...

To Support the Channel: Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com I couldn't help myself, I had to mess with the amp that really did not to be messed with. In this video, I tell how using different tubes and speakers in the Chris Stapleton Princeton changed the sound. Just to be clear, I thought it was great out of the box, I just want...

To Support the Channel: Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com Owning and loving both a 1965 Deluxe Reverb and a 1959 Harvard has caused me to become more and more curious about revisiting the brownface amps of 1960-1963. The last time I owned a brown amp, I was in High School. I looked around and...

To Support the Channel: Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com NRBQ was one of the most talented, versatile, and wacky groups to ever play together. From 1971-1994, Big Al Anderson held the guitar seat, usually with a Telecaster in hand. Al's singing, writing, and playing helped define the group during his 23-year stay, yet he was t...

To Support the Channel: Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com The Fender tweeds from1947 thru 1960 are some of the finest guitar amps ever made. They are simple and raw sounding, and their job was mainly to make the guitar louder, not to do much tone sculpting. My favorites are the narrow panel 1955-1960 models, and today we are going t...

To Support the Channel: Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com Here is the tale of my trip to Tulsa, to play some shows with my good friend, Paul Bogart. Besides the road story, I also talk about the gear I took with me, and how I used my 1964 Vox AC10 and the new Fender Tone Master Blonde Deluxe amp in a stereo setup. To do this, and to...

To Support the Channel: Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com Shots of Jerry Jones early builds, including the original Tuff Dog Tele for Merle Haggard. https://www.askzac.com/post/the-histo... In 2010, Jerry Jones auctioned the entire contents of his Nashville factory. Drill presses, unused custom fabricated parts, prototype instrument...

To Support the Channel: Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com How you prepare for a gig dictates whether you will be asked to work with that client/artist again in the future. In this episode, I show how I prepare musically, what questions I ask the client, how I choose what gear to take, and the importance of having backups for everyth...

To Support the Channel: Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/AskZac Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac  Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com When Leo Fender released the Broadcaster, he was laughed at by his competitors. His detractors claimed that no serious guitarist would be seen playing Fender's "boat paddle" with strings. But old Leo knew just the guitari...