In 2017, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which consists of delegates from 183 countries, implemented strict rules governing the import and export of Rosewood species, effectively banning the use of Rosewood as a guitar tonewood. CITES had to react to the overexploitation of Rosewood, especially in furniture exports, which poses a threat to the survival of m... Read more
At Artist Guitars, our mission has always been to make guitars of incredible value, giving customers the best price for instruments with unbelievable specs. Now, we've taken that to the next level with our most recent range of handbuilt&... Read more
What Frets are on my Artist Guitar? When it comes to guitars, one of the most important, yet often overlooked, components are the frets. While many players focus on the body shape, neck, and pickups, the material of the frets can have a significant impact on your playing experience. Not all guitar frets are the same, and the type of fret material used can influence the tone, playabi... Read more
What are Locking Tuners and how do they work? If you’re just starting out with your electric guitar, or even if you've been playing for a few years, you’ve probably heard the term "locking tuners" thrown around, especially if you're browsing for gear upgrades. But what exactly are locking tuners, and how do they work? In this post, we’ll break it down for yo... Read more
Lowering the pickups on your P90-equipped guitar should be a straightforward process. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you: Prepare your workspace : Find a clean, flat surface to work on. Lay down a soft cloth or towel to protect the guitar's finish. Tools you'll need : You'll typically need a small Phillips... Read more
What’s Under the Pickguard? - Our S-Style Guitars’ Routing In the past, we’ve talked about the different pickup configurations that are available on Artist Guitars. For our S-Style guitars, we have a few variations: HSS : AS1, AS1L, ST62II, AS72 SSS... Read more
How Many NUX Wireless Systems Can I Use at The Same Time A complete Guide to Wireless Systems and the Importance of Bandwidth Wireless systems for instruments and microphones have come a long way in the past couple of decades, with the technology getting smaller, more efficient, and more affordable. Gone are the days when a rack-mounted wireless hub was required, and now... Read more
The various different guitar body types can be confusing, and it’s important to understand what the differences are so you can select the right tool for the job! I’ll outline below the main construction types for electric guitars and the common features of each. Use this resource to choose the right style of guitar for you! ... Read more
It can be very confusing looking for your first amplifier if you are just starting out, there is a lot of terminology to learn and a daunting number of options. In this blog, I will outline the top things to consider when choosing an amplifier, so you can find the perfect amp for your rig! 1. Choose the Correct Type of Amplifier for your Instrument. There is go... Read more
What is a Coil-Splitting pickup and how does it work? So, you’ve read our post about the difference between a humbucker and a single-coil pickup, but what is a coil-splitting pickup? You may have noticed this term is used frequently in the descriptions for some... Read more
The world of guitars is filled with abbreviations and lingo used to quickly describe the configurations and set-up of a guitar. This comes in handy as guitarists love to experiment with different sounds, often swapping out different bits of hardware, pickups, and even whole bodies or necks in the pursuit of their ultimate tone, so the shorthand is worth learning! When it comes to pick... Read more
There are a few important things to consider when you are thinking about buying a drum kit, they all look largely the same, and to the untrained eye, it can be difficult to know what to look for. So, here are some common mistakes people make when buying a drum kit, and some important things you might like to consider before you buy. 1. Buying the wrong kit for your needs... Read more
Looking to buy a power supply? Need to power up your pedal board? This is the post for you. We have narrowed down the purchasing of a power supply into 6 things which you need to know. Voltage, Current, Polarity, AC vs Battery, Outputs & Daisy chaining and Isolation. ... Read more
Phantom power. It’s a term that is thrown around a lot and to the beginner musician or audio enthusiast, it’s hard to know what it really means. Phantom power is the term given to delivering DC (direct current) power through a microphone lead from an amplifier, mixer or audio interface. All Condenser Microphones require Phantom Power to function. 1. How Phantom... Read more
Cleaning and conditioning your fretboard is an important part of guitar maintenance that is rather easy to do. Cleaning your fretboard is an easy way to extend the life of your guitar and to breathe new life into a beat-up old guitar. On a new guitar, if you notice any coloured marks on your fingers after playing, it could be that the fretboard just needs a good clean. We will walk through the... Read more
Button/Coin Battery Safety Info In December 2020, the Australian Government created new safety standards for consumer goods that contain button/coin batteries. In compliance with these new safety standards, we are updating the battery compartments on all Artist products and will no longer sell any non-compliant products provided by other companies. ... Read more
The Electronic Drum Kit Electronic Drum kits are comprised of a few different parts. Firstly, you have the metal frame. This is the base of the drum kit and the start of the support structure for the drum kit. Next, you have the pads and cymbals. These pads are built to emulate how an acoustic drum feels. Next, you have the wiring harness, which transmits the signal from the pads an... Read more
In January 2017, our very own Ian Bush was able to attend the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show. It is an annual gathering for those who buy and sell musical inst... Read more
The Artist EDK range has the ability to send MIDI data either from a MIDI OUT port (edk260) or using USB (EDk822 and 924M). We’re here to dive a bit deeper into this and understand exactly what that means. The 822 and 924M both have a USB port. To get the MIDI data to your PC, you will need to use a USB type B cable, pictured below. ... Read more
4 Important Steps for a Great Metal Tone - Metal Matt's opinion Getting a good metal tone is often quite counterintuitive. We are aiming for a distorted tone that still retains clarity, and the secret here is high output, relatively low gain, and wide-open tone controls. This blog post will discuss gain stages, which you need to understand if you want to achieve... Read more
There are a few different ways to tune your guitar. If you are looking for accuracy and to meet the actual pitch then you will need a tuner. But there are 2 other tricks to get your guitar to sound close to in tune if you don’t have access to a tuner. #1 - Tu... Read more
The best way to troubleshoot your pedals Getting your first FX pedals setup can be a difficult process for a beginner, and there are m... Read more
Artist Guitars currently sells in Four Countries, AU, NZ, USA, and UK Because of this, we make different versions of all Artist Branded electronics. For example, Our EDK260 Kit Comes supplied in each country with an adapter that is made for your local market. This is one of the reasons we can't ship Items from Australia Internationally, as they are not made for the local market.... Read more
A lot of people are confused about what the different acoustic guitar woods are, and what they do. When I first started working in guitars (it doesn’t seem that long ago but it’s close to 30 years now) I had no idea what the different woods used for acoustic guitars were, and what the differences actually did. I’m going to distil some of the information I have learnt over the y... Read more
Why you shouldn't change the strings on your classical guitar from nylon to steel. A lot of people think that you can change the strings on your classical guitar from nylon to steel, and on your steel string guitar, from steel to nylon, but today we're going to explain to you the four reasons why you shouldn't do this: Too much string tension No truss ro... Read more
The following is an interview with our founder, Ian Bush, answering some Commonly Asked Questions. Where Are Artist Guitars Made? Are they Made in Australia? Which Factories do you use? We have more than 20 factories, and it varies. We have lots of different sub-factories that we might use to make our pickups or our hardware. But we have over 20 factories p... Read more
Much like changing a guitar string, changing your drum heads will liven up the sound of your drums, breathing new life and restoring them to the drum tone you want. Where guitar strings should be changed every 2 – 4 weeks (or every show for most professional players), drum heads need only be changed 2 – 4 times a year, depending on how much you play. Generally speaking, your snare drum cops the... Read more
The Pocket Port is a very small and easy to use USB Audio Interface. DO NOT be fooled though by its size as it is a professional USB Audio Interface specially designed for guitar recording. Boasting 24-bit resolution at 192 kHz sample rate, it allows you to have high quality music recording. ... Read more
Many people who have grown up, listening to heavy music in the last 20 years have come to know the 7-String Guitar as synonymous with the low chugging riffs of Korn’s - James ‘Munky’ Schaffer and Brian ‘Head’ Welch. This sound extended into the genre we came to know as Nu-Metal. The guitar in this style of music was known for its intensity and low heaviness but not always for its complexity. Fo... Read more
What is a balanced signal? A balanced signal is when you have 2 copies of the same signal but one is phase reversed. This is used to remove noise from your signal because when the 2 phase reversed signals are switched back in phase, any noise picked up by the cable is phase reversed - effectively cutting in out completely (It's really ingenious when you think about it). ... Read more
A Capo (short for capotasto, meaning "head of the neck") is a small device that clamps to the neck of your guitar to allow you to quickly and easily change the key of the guitar. For example, by clamping a capo onto the 2nd fret of the fretboard, you can rai... Read more
5 Simple Steps to Adjust Your Pickup Height The purpose of adjusting your guitar’s pickup height is to achieve the best possible tone. If the pickups are set ... Read more
How to perform a complete setup on a Floyd rose, including changing your strings. Floyd Rose tremolos are one of the most complicated bridge setups Available today. Floyd roses are what is known as a “Floating bridge”. What this means is that tension on the bridge is held by strings on the top and springs on the rear. These types of bridges are great for the ability to dive bo... Read more
What adjustments do acoustic guitars have? Usually? Not much . When it comes to set up, the only thing you can usually do is to adjust the truss rod, without major modifications to the saddle and nut. Let's talk about that and go through it. Tune your Guitar This is always the first step, no matter what. Get your guitar in tune, and s... Read more
So we have all been there. you’re at a friend’s house and they have a guitar and it’s terribly out of tune - but they don’t have a tuner. What can you do? Tune with harmonics ! So what is the best way to tune a guitar using harmonics and how does it all work? I learnt this great little trick about 20 years ago, one of the guys... Read more
1. No Need to Rush into it! Focus your goals on what you actually want to achieve. You run the risk of becoming overwhelmed if you try to take on too much. Pick a few good exercises or a song you want to learn and work on this. Say you want to learn a particular song. Spend the first session learning the finger positions of the chords. Next time, come back and practice cha... Read more
How To Fix An Earth Loop! Electronic equipment is earthed (or grounded) to prevent serious injury to the user if the equipment fails. Earth loops (or ground loops) are... Read more
What's a Truss Rod? A Truss Rod is a long metal rod that runs the length of the guitar neck, underneath your fretboard. It anchors at each end so that when you tighten or loosen th... Read more
How do I setup a mandolin? Your mandolin setup is critical to the note accuracy and enjoying the playability of your instrument. The setup of the mandolin depends on your preference, however, no matter how you like your action, there are sev... Read more
What should I think about as a lefty? This is a subject which a lot of people have an opinion on. honestly? there is no right or wrong answer. the best way is to decide what is right for you. ... Read more
Tuning a 12-string guitar is a little more complicated than tuning a regular 6-string. There are twice as many strings and a lot more tension on the guitar. You may find you'll need to tune it a few times over before you get it right because, by the time you finish the first round of tuning, the... Read more
You've just broken into the gigging scene after lots of practice and tryouts. That big gig is coming up so you decide to change your strings. You start your first song but something is wrong... The guitar is already out of tune! But how? Is the guitar low quality? Maybe the new strings are bad? You tune it again. halfway through the next song, it's out AGAIN? What is going on?... Read more
How to stretch the strings on your guitar to help it stay in tune, and why! Stretching your strings is really important for correct tuning stability. Let me explain how it works, why you want it, and how to do it. Okay, what is it? Stretching your strings is the act of pulling on your strings to even out any imbalances of... Read more
So a lot of people think that you can change the strings on your classical guitar from nylon to steel, and the strings on your steel-string guitar from steel to nylon. But today I'm going to explain to you the 4 reasons why you shouldn't do this. 1. String Tension The first reason is string tension. On your typical classical guitar, you have a string tension of about... Read more
Why Do I Need A Guitar Stand? You've bought a guitar from us, and if you're a beginner, it probably came with a gig bag, spare strings, some picks, and a strap. So why do you need a guitar stand as well? There are three broad reasons to buy a guitar stand: protection, convenience and display. This blog post will address these as well as how to choose the best guitar stand... Read more
To the beginner and experienced guitarist, the topic of guitar wood is a very interesting one. For acoustic guitars, there is a pronounced difference in the tone created by different woods, and this will not be discussed here. There are arguments all over the internet about the importance of tonewoods on your electric guitar. Some say that it makes a big difference to... Read more
A Brief History of Boost Boost pedals are one of the first innovations in the neverending pursuit of tone. It was a way of increasing the signal amplitude after the pickups but before the amp (that's why these are sometimes called pre-amp boost pedals, but that's a separate debate). A key concept to understand before we dive into boost pedals is amp headroom. Headroom is the th... Read more
There are four main contributors to the D-string breakages that plague many classical (nylon string) guitar players. String construction Restring technique Guitar construction Playing style String Construction String construction is arguably the largest contributor to the D-string breakage problem. As a genera... Read more
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