Ask Zac

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ Today we look at forgotten R&B guitar greats Chips Moman, Tommy Cogbill, Booker T. Jones & Joe South. They each played on huge hits, yet are rarely hailed, and worse yet, many times their parts are...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ Today's episode features two legends of the Nashville music scene, Joe Glaser and Steve Wariner. Glaser's innovations include a neck plate mounted bender system, 3-pickup Tele-style builds, Plek f...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ If you play gigs with an electric guitar, you have most likely been told to "turn it down" multiple times in your performing career. To help you address this common problem, we look at a variety o...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ Albert Lee shares the background and process of recording Emmylou's seminal Luxury Liner album released in December 1976. From the gear he used, to how the musicians were presented with the tunes befor...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ Nacho Banos, the patron saint of the Telecaster, compares a 1950 Broadcaster and a 1953 Telecaster backstage at a Brad Paisley concert in Zurich, Switzerland. He takes us fully down the rabbit hole comparin...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ My first memory of seeing a guitar in person was seeing a Buck Owens “American” guitar leaning against a couch at a neighbor’s house while visiting my grandmother in the mid-1970s. Soon after seeing it, I u...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ One of my Patreon members offered to send me his PRS NF-53 to check out, as he was curious as to my take on Paul Smith's version of a Tele-Style guitar. Being both a Telecaster fan, and having a great...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ Ever wondered how Leo Fender came around to making the G&L Broadcaster after a decade of Music Man guitars, and the early G&L designs with active electronics and too many knobs and switches? The tru...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ We kick the episode off with a direct comparison using my 2023 Danocaster guitar which is equipped with a bridge that handles both top loading and string thru. We then take a look at the history of Fender&a...

John Leventhal returns to go in-depth on his first solo album, Rumble Strip. We discuss his process of composing, recording, and the gear he used to create the 16 poignant tracks on the album. Leventhal also discusses his signature acoustic guitar tones that utilize both the natural "acoustic" sound, plus an "electric" sound hole pickup run-through effects and a tube amplifier....

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ After rebuilding my board numerous times depending on if the gig was an amp or direct situation, I decided to have a pedalboard built that could easily do one or the other, or both if needed. I started off...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ Eldon Shamblin was Leo Fender's favorite guitarist, playing in his favorite band, Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys. Fender supplied the Playboys with amps and steel guitars but he wanted badly to get...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ What started as a walk-thru, became Dan Strain sharing a gold mine worth of tone-tips for Telecaster fans. We talk about tuners, string trees, saddles, bridges, pickups, neck pockets, swapping necks, and th...

Duke Levine's resume is filled with a catalog of stellar solo albums, high-profile sideman gigs, and essential session work. We have Tom Bukovac to thank for making this interview happen, as he had requested Duke on a recent session here in Nashville, that gave us a chance to catch up in person with the Boston-area great. To kick off, we begin with a discussion of his latest gig, touring with...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ For years I have had pedalboard envy. Not for a huge board with tons of effects, but for the super clean and buttoned-up look of the pro-built boards. Xact Tone Solutions has built my favorites, so I finall...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ The Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive is one of the best overdrive pedals of all time due to its groundbreaking clean mix control. Released in December of 2000, it could cover the standard TS-type tones, yet also be...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ The story of how JD Simo played the Ryman with Chris Isaak using my Stratocaster built by Brad Paisley. I also go in-depth on the Stratocaster that my old college buddy crafted for me.  Gear used: 2023 Head...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ Introduced in 1954, the Fender Stratocaster could have died a quick death if it had not caught on with key players on the music scene of the day. The guitarists who put it on the map, Ike Turner, Otis Rush,...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ Today I look at my 2 favorite options for Strat tremolo setup, fully floating, or deck it and removing the bar. Also, we look at some handy tips for helping you stay in tune when floating the bridge, adjust...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ Today, my old buddy Austin Skinner takes the helm of the show. While we were in Las Vegas doing a 7-night residency, Skinner filmed on the street, on the stage, and backstage during our time there. I hope y...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ In 1986, Warner/Reprise took an indie-released EP, added 4 newly recorded tunes, and launched Dwight Yoakam into the stratosphere with the revamped version of Guitars Cadillacs Etc, Etc. The album's fi...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ Adam Levy has an established guitar voice that we first heard on Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason," then on albums and tours with Norah Jones, and sharpened to a fine point on his latest r...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ A deep dive on Luxury Liner, the album that was my gateway drug for both the Telecaster and Country Music. My father bought the album for me on a road trip, and once I got home and placed the album on the t...

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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ A look at the history of the G-Bender. From the Bigsby palm pedal to the modern Glaser convertible B/G Bender. We also discuss the major players to use the G-Bender, Jeff King, Jimmy Olander, and Brad Paisl...

Jimmy Olander, Diamond Rio founding member, and lead guitarist, and I sit down along with new drummer Micah Schweinsberg to discuss the backstory of their latest single "The Kick." 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  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/ #askzac #Diamon...