Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

  • Log In
  • Weekly Lessons
  • Take The Tour
  • Forum
  • Hear From Our Members
  • Membership Sign Up

EP636 : DIstortion madness.

Home › Forums › Showcase Your Playing › EP636 : DIstortion madness.

  • This topic has 14 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 10 hours ago by Geoff.
Viewing 7 reply threads
  • Author
    Posts
    • August 8, 2026 at 4:25 pm #420231
      Geoff
      Participant

        This was a great Chicago Blues lesson from Brian. Pretty standard pattern 1 and pattern 2 blues, i think. There is a lick in there where you play a note on the 6th fret and jump to a bend on the 9th fret with the third finger. As a classical guitar player, that always kilks me because my instinct is to reach across that spacing using the fourth finger but that doesn’t work when there is a bend involved with playing the note 🙄.

        True to the title of this , i would say i threw too much distortion at this. In my defense , playing with lots of distortion is not my usual style and I am pretty rubbish at it 😁

      • August 8, 2026 at 6:05 pm #420234
        Garry
        Participant

          Great lesson, this one Geoff and really well played. Loved your impro also. Distortion is definitely fun to play around with (and this definitely sounded cool) but I know what you mean. I sometimes try to add more overdrive or crunch or grit (or something) to give a harder edge but I reckon it’s difficult to find the sweet spot without it sounding like death metal! 🤣😂🤣 Anyway thanks for sharing. Rock on and all the best! 😎🎸😎

          • August 9, 2026 at 11:22 am #420276
            Geoff
            Participant

              Exactly Garry. It is really hard to find that tone between Death Metal and a nice crunch. I know people who spend a fortune on effects pedals in search of that elusive ‘somewhere in the middle’ distortion sound.

          • August 8, 2026 at 7:11 pm #420236
            Michael Krailo
            Participant

              It almost had a 60’s fuzz sound to it. Nothing wrong with coloring your sound. I am familiar with that lesson, but the tone threw me off, so I had to go back and listen to that lesson again to see where it’s all coming from. There is some hybrid picking in this piece that really makes it shine if you play Brian’s version. I see you improvised it. That’s extra special.

              Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.

              • August 9, 2026 at 11:24 am #420278
                Geoff
                Participant

                  Thanks Michael, you are too kind. I don’t recall Brian using hybrid picking in this lesson but I got so caught up coming up with my ideas I probably forgot that he did that. I played something close to Brian’s version on the jazzmaster but the Guild part was completely my own drawing on some of the ideas from that lesson.

              • August 9, 2026 at 6:39 am #420257
                charjo
                Moderator

                  It’s fun to go a bit mad at times. Like Michael said, your distortion verged on fuzz. I find the nicest distortion is the sort of “edge of breakup” sound. It distorts when you attack the notes but sounds almost clean but a little fuller and compressd at low volumes.
                  Really well played Geoff. Just be careful on the quick bends to get up to pitch. It’s easy to under bend on those.
                  John

                  • This reply was modified 5 days, 16 hours ago by charjo.
                  • August 9, 2026 at 11:14 am #420274
                    Geoff
                    Participant

                      Thanks John, I will admit that bending has never really been my strong point especially when it requires a jump across three strings and a bend on that third finger. I tried the edge of breakup sound just like you suggested but then I didn’t get the sustain I wanted – sigh!

                      Generally I just prefer to play it safe and not bother with distortion at all but that’s just me.

                      • This reply was modified 5 days, 11 hours ago by Geoff.
                  • August 9, 2026 at 7:04 am #420260
                    Sal
                    Participant

                      Wow Geoff, that’s a long way from classic!! lol Loved the distortion and you had a lot of sustain from that great ax!! Again,great job!!

                      • August 9, 2026 at 11:25 am #420279
                        Geoff
                        Participant

                          Thanks Sal, i mentioned to John that I used more distortion that I would have liked because that is what gave me the sustain (..that combined with the compressor on my effects unit).

                      • August 9, 2026 at 7:41 am #420264
                        JoeD1
                        Participant

                          Great fuzzy tone Geoff. I have a difficult time with getting the right amount and have been trying to do as John suggested…distortion when I attack the string but clearer and lots of sustain when I lighten up a bit. It’s tough for me. I liked how you panned the 2 guitars to different sides.

                          Joe

                          The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
                          Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
                          --Graeme Edge

                          • August 9, 2026 at 11:26 am #420280
                            Geoff
                            Participant

                              Thanks Joe, I live in a democracy and I try to give all my guitars equal rights. -:)

                          • August 10, 2026 at 5:01 am #420306
                            Dieter
                            Participant

                              Sounds great, with heavy distortion and “wild” improvisation.

                              Dieter

                              • August 10, 2026 at 4:37 pm #420324
                                Geoff
                                Participant

                                  Thanks Dieter -:)

                              • August 14, 2026 at 1:56 am #420489
                                Liam Innes
                                Participant

                                  You’ll not be surprised to hear that I didn’t think the distortion was too much.

                                  Agree with others that it’s almost a fuzz tone you’ve got going there. I like it.

                                  Hard to see what pup your on from the video but I’ve always found playing lead or solos on a bridge pup with any sort of grit can feel on the border.

                                  Still, nice playing on a very popular lesson.

                                  Liam.

                                  “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams. “

                                  • August 14, 2026 at 12:50 pm #420643
                                    Geoff
                                    Participant

                                      Hey, thanks for giving this a listen Liam 🙂

                                      On the jazz master, I was using the rhythm circuit which I think just adds a more mellow tone to the neck pickup and, on the guild, I was using the neck pickup. I generally prefer the neck pickup for most of what I do because I like the more mellow tones I get out of those – just me and just what my ear gravitates to.

                                      On listening to this more, I actually think the fuzz tone I got is not too bad. I don’t use distortion much but I would like to learn how to get that little bit of crunch on some things. Good suggestions from you and Chargo on this and I will play with those ideas some more. Thanks 🙂

                                • Author
                                  Posts
                                Viewing 7 reply threads
                                • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
                                Log In

                                Search Forums

                                Quick Links

                                • Latest posts
                                • Most popular posts
                                • Posts Freshness
                                • Posts with most replies
                                • My active posts
                                • All my posts
                                • Posts with my reply

                                Links

                                • Blog
                                • Resources
                                • About
                                • Contact
                                • FAQ
                                • Refunds & Cancellations
                                • Sitemap

                                Recent Lessons

                                Classic electric Blues lead by blending the Major & Minor Pentatonic scales – Guitar Lesson – EP640

                                Open-String Licks for Your Next Guitar Jam – Guitar Lesson – EP639

                                Play the Blues by yourself using Triads as your guide! Guitar Lesson – EP638

                                Contact

                                For all support questions email: support@activemelody.com
                                For all other inquires email: brian@activemelody.com
                                • Facebook
                                • Twitter
                                • YouTube

                                © 2026 · Active Melody. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

                                Free Weekly Guitar Lessons

                                Enter your email address below to have the weekly guitar lesson delivered to your email address. I take privacy very seriously and will not share your email address.

                                • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

                                Active MelodyLogo Header Menu
                                • Weekly Lessons
                                • Take The Tour
                                • Forum
                                • Hear From Our Members
                                • Membership Sign Up
                                • Log In

                                Insert/edit link

                                Enter the destination URL

                                Or link to existing content

                                  No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.