In response to questions I get a lot
here’s a quick and incomplete list of what I use regularly. The links are affiliated, which means I might get a small small percentage from Amazon on a sale, but as you’ll see, these are hardly high-ticket items, and I’m linking because they’re the best deals I’ve found – if you find better, let me know- I wanna hear it.
Guitar Strings
- For live work, I use Elixir Guitar Strings. great longevity and they keep their tone for a long time, so they have that “workhorse” that I look for to get the job done.
- However, there are other guitat tones that I get from other strings and one of my favorites has always been John Pearse Guitar Strings. I personally use gauge 12, and I love their bright tone. If you haven’t tried ’em, give ’em a shot.
- For some studio work I’ve done, I stumbled upon GHS Silk and Steel Guitar strings. Silk core, and a really beautiful almost bell- like tone. I loved recording with them.
…..and while I’m at it, a word about guitar picks. A lot of folks I run into are interested in accompanying traditional Irish music, and one of the first thing I recommend is what I regard to be the best guitar pick for the job.
It’s a Jim Dunlop .5mm. Cheap ‘n’ cheerful. If Backing Irish tuhes is your thing, go get you some. This pick, coupled with 12 or 13 gauge strings will give you that percussive “thwack” that can really “tighhten” your rhythm playing.
- And these exotic wood guitar picks are FUN!! I was gifted these some time ago and I love noodling around with them- I’d love to hear what you think..maybe it’s just me.
Recording Guitar- stuff I use
- I keep recording very simple, with a few mics I go between. I have used Karma Silver Bullet mics in teh past with great success , but they’re not available anymore so I can’t offer a link, although yoyu could try scouting around for second hand models. I used two of them in an X-Y pattern for a lot of the Irish Guitar album.
- For a large condenser mic that I place in front of me at various angles , I like the RODE NT1000 – great and well-priced, really well balanced and pretty much an all round favorite with those I’ve spoken with.
- The best guitar cords I’ve found are these guys; MONSTER CABLE. Although there’s no such thing as the perfect cord (and I have a stack of broken “lifetime warranty” cords to prove it), these guys come close.
So that’s the partial list, folks, and I hope it’s of some use to you- drop me a line with any questions.
If you want to talk Irish Guitar, and get the free tip sheet, click here.
I hope we chat soon.
Best
Patsy