VAUGHN SKOW's blog

The Difference Between A Regular PAF Style Humbucker and A Filtertron Style

Howdy toneful friends!  Last week I had a really interesting guitar in the shop, it was a sweeeet orange Chet Adkins Country Gentleman... but not the Gretsch you might expect, this was a Gibson version!  These are top-notch instruments in every way, and certainly rival the Gretsch models in quality.  However, there is one very glaring difference: the pickups.  The Gretsch comes equipped with real-deal Filter'Trons, while the Gibby has run of the mill humbuckers, which turn to mud in these guitars.  Now if mud's your thing, great, but most folks will find the tone downright uninspiring, and that is PRECISELY why this guitar was brought to me; the owner had already switched the pickups to Jason Lollar's low-wind Imperials but she was still muddy!  Let's talk about why.

The Musicians - Guitar Players Golden Rule

Gang, if you ever want to get out of the garage and be a true professional, then tattoo these words on the inside of your eyelids and meditate on them every morning upon waking and every night before retiring:

NEVER EVER BE A SQUIRREL!

Many things differentiate the pro player from the guy who will never be heard outside his hometown.  But nothing can hold a candle to this one personality trait.

Musicians & Guitar Players: Give Your Mentors Credit!

Howdy music friends!  So, a couple weeks back one of my old Minnesota music buddies expressed sadness and disappointment in himself for never telling his mentor, Prince, how much he he had helped him, and how grateful he was.  That got me to thinking about the folks that put their wings around me and helped me transition from being a kid who loved music into a full-fledged music and guitar guy.  I knew the time was NOW to publicly acknowldge these guys who saw something in me waaay before anyone else did.  So, let's put credit where credit is due!

I've made a nice little video, so check it out for the details!  Here's the super skinny condensed version:

The Best Way To Clean and Polish Your Frets (Don't use Steel Wool!)

It happened again last week, I was sent a pickup to fix, and when I took a look at it the problem was clear, STEEL WOOL!  You see, when you use steel wool to polish the frets on your guitar, you end up with thousands of tiny steel bits EVERYWHERE; and those bits will be strongly attracted to your guitar's magnetic pickups.  What's next?  Best case scenario is you wind up wasting a lot of time with sticky tape, tooth picks, and tweezers ridding the pickup of all the little steel intruders.  Worst case: dead pickup!  And, even if you don't

Pickups - The Number One Electric Guitar Upgrade By A Mile!

A New Speaker is The Number One Amp Upgrade, By Far!

It was about 1979.  I saved and saved, and took my aging Twin Reverb to the local Music Store for a full set of new tubes and re-biasing.  $180 (like $500 today) got me the hottest tubes of the era "Groove Tubes" baby!  And when I got her home she sounded ... exactly the same.  What?!?!  About this same time the other guitar player in the band, tired of me ALWAYS drowning him out, ALSO bought a Twin Reverb, exactly like mine, but with one overlooked VITAL difference.  Mine had a pair of the famous Orange basket Fender/JBL D120F speakers, his had the stock (Utah I believe) speakers.  His amp sounded like an anemic newborn calf and mine a thousand-pound BULL by comparison.  Yep, I STILL drowned him

Why No WGS Neodymium (Neo) Speakers Yet?

Okay, Neo's are all the rage these days, and I totally get it; I'm old enough to seriously appreciate anything that shaves few pounds off my load.  Neo designs are dominating the Pro Audio and Bass guitar market these days, but see here's the deal when it comes to Neo GUITAR speakers: they just ain't exactly 100% ready for prime time yet.  Think about it, the biggest boast anyone ever makes about a Neo (other than the light weight) is "They sound almost as good as our other speakers".  Cum on, are you seriously ready to accept that compromise?  I see it as EXACTLY like active guitar pickups, for decades now folks have been trying to make active pickups that sound 100% as good as the tried-n-true magnets and coils method but guess what? 

Why Staggared Pole Piece Strat Pickups Are Best

How To Get Good Gigs/Jobs Playing Guitar

Some folks just play for the sheer fun of it, this blog ain't really for those people; it's for the players that want to get out and PLAY.  In particular, I'm talking about pro level gigs here in Nashville, but it should translate well to any major market anywhere in the world.  I've been on both sides of the equation, as both a guitar player on major tours and also as an engineer and producer tasked with hiring the right players.  So yea, I think I'm qualified to speak to this

What Guitar Speaker Frequency Response Charts Really Mean

Okay, I'm back on point with a spec-related topic.  A couple weeks back we discussed just how VERY important the SPL (efficiency) spec is in choosing a guitar speaker.  This week is kinda the flip side of the coin ... how LITTLE importance the frequency response spec means!  Intrigued? Well then, let's jump in!