Articles

  • Cleaning your Guitar Fretboard using the Jim Dunlop Fingerboard Kit

    If you haven’t noticed already, there are a number of new videos uploaded on the A Strings website and Youtube channel. In this ‘how to’ video, I clean the fretboard of a Burn Brian May Red Special using the Jim Dunlop 6502 Fingerboard Kit. The before/after shots shows exactly how effective this product is. If [...]

  • Hofner 4572

    This is a Hofner 4572. Back in the mid-late 60s, my grandfather was a foreman for a building company. He bought this guitar off a workmate who was struggling to pay some debts. He gave it to my Dad and the guitar was forgotten about for 20 or so years (Dad managed to work out [...]

  • So I made myself a Pedalboard…

    I know I sell ‘em, but it always seemed to me that Pedalboards are a bit of a rip-off. I mean, a piece of ply, gaffa tape and you’re done right? I’ve never been a heavy FX user. I’ve only ever really used a Peterson floor tuner and a Treble Booster (sometimes 2 x boosters [...]

  • Mango Duo Attenuator – Brief review

    A bit of a delay in submitting the review i’m afraid but here are my initial thoughts on the prototype Mango Duo Attenuator… Application – Simples. Plug in, plug out. I used the settings i usually use – switch the small dial to Variable, control the volume with the larger dial. The real beauty of [...]

  • Mango Duo 50 Attenuator Prototype

    A while back I suggested to Nigel Butters of Mango Amplification that a 2 in 1 or even 3 in 1 Attenuator would be handy for many people. I reckon around 75% of people who i’ve sold the Mango Attenuator 50 16ohm units to are using them in Brian May style setups, and a good [...]

  • A Strings Newsletter from June 2011 – Picks Special

    A popular Newsletter from back in June. Click the link below to read up. http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Take-your-Pick—The-A-Strings-Newsletter.html?soid=1101670179454&aid=HHdMOKasG_8.

  • Ex-Queen Roadie Peter Hince (Ratty) answers your questions…

    Many of you Queen fans will be familiar with the name Peter Hince (or Ratty as he was affectionately referred to). Peter is releasing his new book ‘Queen Unseen’ in early October. As the head of Queen’s road crew and studio equipment supervisor from the early 70s through to ’86, this book is an insiders [...]

  • How thick is your Pick?

    Here is an extract from an article I wrote for my newsletter customers this week focussing on guitar Picks. This section looks at guitar pick thicknesses and their benefits/limitations. If you would like to add anything to this article, please email me or respond to this post. Thickness One of the first things to ascertain [...]