What's In A Name?

After a lot of thinking and considering, I have decided that the name I like most for the new band is: Harting Hill.  I wrote a narrative poem around 10 or more years ago.  I simply saved it and filed it away, like a lot of my other short stories.  It was about a man that gives a lift to a girl, whom may or may not have been a ghost. 

Well, I am currently reading through 'The Mistletoe Bride And Other Haunting Tales' and to my great surprise her story 'On Harting Hill' is almost exactly like a longer version of a poem.  I found the story very captivating and as a result I thought that it would make a good name.  It doesn't pidgeonhole the band to any one style and it has a nice air of mystery.  So there we are - Harting Hill will be rocking your socks off soon.

How did you come about your own band name?  Did it last or did you change it a few times before you felt happy with the moniker?

A New Band Emerges!

So here we are guys, this is the first track that the new venture has written.  It is called Animal Carcass and it was designed to be just a straight up blast of thrash for a minute or two.  It was a lot of fun to play and the recording is totally live with no post production.  Let me know what you think!

My experiences with a looper pedal (early days)...

I recently bought an EHX (Electro-Harmonix) 720 looper pedal.  It is a hugely impressive product that has a whole lot of power under the hood.  It can however be as simple as you like, with a single button press and recording straight away.  What have I learned so far?

1. Timing your loop is hugely important
2. You must ensure you end the loop correctly or it'll be totally off
3. It's actually quite hard to ad lib an overdub of lead guitar over some rhythm guitar you have laid down

I'm thinking that for a future YouTube video I'll take a look at some hot tips on how to get the most out of a looper.  In the meantime, I'll be devouring loads of content to make sure that I have a grip on how to do exactly that.

My coverage of the North East Guitar Show 2017

Hi guys and gals!  So I realised I have been neglecting my blog a little and as a result this is my update.  My previous post mentioned that I was attending the North East Guitar Show 2017 and I did.  Happy days.  As a result, I produced this little slideshow of some of the rather cool stringed instruments that were on display.  I also had a go of a cigarbox (or cigar box?) guitar.  As a result, I might invest in one in the future, we shall see.  I hope you enjoy the coverage.

I am going to the North East Guitar Show 2017!

The great news last week was that I got the 19th March 2017 off work.  What that means is I will be going to the North East Guitar Show (http://www.guitarshows.co.uk/ARPages/NorthEast.html)!  I went last year (or was it the year before) and there was some fantastic new gear being demoed, some cool bargains and much more.

If you see me there, please do say hello and let me know what new videos you'd like to see on my YouTube Channel!

-Gary Stephen Shaw

Stone Deaf FX Warp Drive high gain pedal

There's nothing I like more than a new effects pedal.  Stone Deaf FX are producing some seriously hot products at the moment in that vain and so I'm considering the Warp Drive.  Why is that?  Well, at the moment I can't get out of my head that I need a VERY high gain pedal.  Few things seem to do what I'm after - the sound in my head if you will - but this certainly does.

There are a huge amount of controls on board this pedal as well as an in-built noise gate (making is very similar to the Precision Drive from Horizion devices, which you can buy at Andertons https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/PRECISIONDRIVE/overdrive-pedals/horizon-devices-precision-drive-overdrive-gate-pedal).

So you're probably wondering what all of those wonderful knobs do?  A lot of them are actually filters.  This is useful for shaping your tone to a very exacting fashion - again very good for achieving the sound in your head that will otherwise be hard to pin down without this level of control on board.

Lastly this pedal works with the Stone Deaf EP-1 expression pedal, meaning on the fly manual control.  I'm hoping to test this pedal at a dealership soon but unfortunately it seems nowhere has any in stock at the moment.  Watch this space for more on this epic high gain pedal.

Andertons is, at time of writing, taking pre-orders for this pedal but does not have stock:
https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/WARPDRIVE/overdrive-pedals/stone-deaf-warp-drive-high-gain-distortion-pedal.

Hotone Heart Attack - a great amp that photographs really well!

Hi guys and gals.  You can tell from my most recent videos that I am a hugely proud owner of a Hotone Heart Attack.  If you don't know what this little amp is, the easiest way to explain is to say it is a very small solid state amp head designed to sound like a Mesa Boogie Rectifier.

I love the form factor of this thing and the build quality is excellent.  As a result I decided to ask my photographer wife to take some photographs and put it the resulting slide show on YouTube.  Please take a look and see what you think.

How often should you practice playing guitar?

This is a good question and not really an easy one to answer.  I've played guitar for around 16 years now on and off.  And when I say off, there have been some big 'off' periods where I haven't picked up my guitar for years at a time.  This definitely does not help my playing.

What I can say though that endless noodling, whilst fun, it's going to make you into a better player as such.  What is going to improve your playing is learning more scales, chords, modes etc.  Not always as much fun I know!

On another note, gear is a massive deal.  Sometimes, to unlock the tone in your head you need new gear.  Other times, you need to simply experiment with what you have to create something sonically pleasing.

What I mean by that is use the tone controls on your guitar, contour the sound on your amp and go to town with any pedals you have.  Don't stay in the box of one sound.  You'll be far happier (as well as more knowledgeable) by ensuring you know what everything sounds like when you turn those dials.

The PRS SE Custom 24 7 string guitar - my favourite axe for some serious...

Hey guys and gals!



I got a few professional shots of my guitar taken and decided to have them uploaded to YouTube.  I think the lighting effects really bring out the beauty of the veneer and the texture of the neck.  This is easily my current favourite guitar in my ever expanding line up!

Tone City pedals - unboxing time!

There's nothing quite like an unboxing video.  Seeing that shiny new guitar gear that's clean, new and making you drool...  That's why I thought I would share with you all the unboxing of my Tone City All Spark boost pedal and Tone City Comp Engine compressor.  I've never owned a boost nor compression pedal so I'm going to have loads of fun showing them off in other videos when I do some playthrough tests.

New guitar gear - Valentine's Day 2017

So guys, in this video I am super stoked about receiving some new guitar gear from my wife.  It was ordered from Andertons and I was amazed that it arrived exactly on Valentine's Day.  Watch the video to find out what I got!

Some lazy blues for the evening...

There's nothing quite like a little bit of blues - good for the soul if you like.  I've had my Fender DG-4 for around 18 years now and in 2016 I treated it to a professional setup and restring. It now plays better than ever and for that reason I'm more than happy to whip it out of the case and take it for a spin.  If you've got the blues, I hope you enjoy the video.  Maybe it will inspire you to play some yourself.

-Gary Stephen Shaw

An audio interface to beat lag?

I'm a relatively new artist on Bandlab (you can see what Bandlab is all about here). I really enjoy the creativity it offers and it's so much easier to use this medium to record. Don't get me wrong nothing is better than playing some live music with friends but I absolutely recommend Bandlab for a good recording session.

One thing I found quite early on though is for faster and more accurate music, lag is a problem. Lag is when you're playing and there's a signal delay between what you play and what actually hits the computer. This is where USB audio interfaces come into play.

They are effectively external soundcards that beef up the audio processing power and use a USB connection to reduce latency/lag down to single rather than triple digits. USB interfaces make recording easier and more enjoyable.

I haven't indulged in a USB audio interface yet because I'm still saving the pennies for other things (such as a new high gain pedal). However, I am looking to buy one in the next couple of months but there are so many on the market I'm finding it difficult to narrow down. Would anyone have a recommendation around the £150 or less ($220) mark?

Hotone Heart Attack and Hotone Nano speaker cabinet - low gain settings - was it made for this?

In the quest for tone,  I've recently been playing around with my Hotone Heart Attack and Hotone Nano Legacy cabinet. For something so small, it really can put out quick a bit of volume.  It also means that, because the speaker is so small, it's quite easy to get some natural harmonic feedback.  I haven't covered that in this video though because of the time it was recorded (I don't want to annoy the neighbours too much).

Whilst my previous video with the Hotone Heart Attack was all about Metallica style riffing and a big punchy distorted sound, this video is more about when it cleans the act up.  So I rolled back the gain, settled in to play some blues/fusion and switched the pickup selector to each of the three settings to let you hear how it sounds with less aggression.  I hope you enjoy the video as much as I've enjoyed playing.

-Gary Stephen Shaw

Are you buying new gear this year?

NAMM 2017 is now officially over.  There was a whole host of new gear on display from guitars, amps pedals and so much more.  Did anything in particular catch your fancy?  I quite liked the look of the Horizon Devices Precision Drive pedal.  Misha Mansoor (or Periphery) is pushing this and I quite like his djenty, heavy styling - so what's not to like?

The pedal has huge gain but with plenty of separation and even a built in noise gate.  The only catch?  It's not available on general retail and pre-order dates direct from Horizon Devices are quoting a several month lead time.  I'm considering it but I don't know whether I should take the plunge.  What do you guys think?

Hotone Nano Legacy Cabinet and Heart Attack Amp

Hi guys, I finally got my mini combo!  It's great fun having such a little combo that can be cranked loud for some proper gain without annoying the neighbours.  I'd definitely recommend Hotone products.  I hope you enjoy the demo!

-Gary Stephen Shaw