Category: News

Welcome to the revamped Guitar Inspiration!

21/02/2024 News No Comments

Hey everyone! As you might have noticed, things look a little different around here. Don’t worry, you haven’t stumbled into the wrong guitar multiverse! Actually, Guitar Inspiration has undergone a bit of a makeover, shifting gears from its previous blog format to a more structured and focused website.

Why The change?

While the blog served us well for some time, I felt it was time to streamline and elevate the learning experience for you. The new website structure has been designed with one key goal in mind: making it easier for you to find the guitar solos and lessons you’re seeking.

Navigating Guitar Inspiration

Use the familiar menu to explore my guitar solos (organized by genre), or guitar lessons (organized by topic). Each lesson includes a video and a free lesson guide or tab. Additionally, each lesson is now connected to other resources available on the webshop, such as play-along packages with Guitar Pro tabs or downloadable jam tracks.

What lies ahead

This newly upgraded website marks just the start! I am dedicated to bringing in fresh content, enhancing the platform according to your feedback, and ultimately creating an inspiring learning experience for guitarists of all levels. Therefore, stick around and join the Guitar Inspiration journey!

Maarten

Happy New Year!

01/01/2024 News No Comments
Recording A Solo
Recording A Solo

Happy New Year, Guitarists! Exciting Updates Ahead!

As we welcome 2024, I’m thrilled to share some exciting Guitar Inspiration updates for all you guitar enthusiasts.
After a break for reflection in 2023, I’m back in the studio (see photos), ready to share new guitar solos and compositions with you all. In the past months, I wrote a lot of fresh music for my YouTube channel. Also, expect a comprehensive guitar e-book packed with tips and techniques coming this year (expected in Q3)!
I’m also updating the website to make it more informative and user-friendly. If you see some wonky graphics here and there, I’m working on it!


Thank you to everyone who supports my passion for guitar. Your encouragement fuels my creativity and inspires me to keep creating.May 2024 be a year of musical inspiration, growth, and excellence for all guitarists!

Maarten

Misirlou Cover (Pulp Fiction) By T.A.F. Surf Trio

22/05/2020 News No Comments

Cover of the famous Dick Dale song Misirlou (from Pulp Fiction) by Jan, Maarten (me) & Arvid from The Art Factory music school in Roeselare, Belgium. 

About the track

During the time The Art Factory music school was closed (because of the global health crisis), we wanted to create a music video (online collaboration) to lift the spirits of our students (and colleagues).

Our music school just re-opened this year, so the temporary closure was a big setback.

Our choice fell onto a Misirlou cover (or Miserlou), this wild surf guitar song by Dick Dale and His Del-Tones, made famous by the Pulp Fiction movie by Quentin Tarantino.

R.I.P. Dick Dale, what an amazing song you recorded!

This video was so much fun making, even though the frenzied tremolo picking almost gave me a tennis elbow 🙂 

Trying to match the style and vigor of Dick Dale was quite the challenge. Plus, I absolutely love the contributions by Jan & Arvid here. Both the drums and trumpet parts are spot on! Great musicians!

The end result of our impromptu project is too entertaining not to share here, so I hope you enjoy this Misirlou cover! Maarten.

Misirlou Cover
My Misirlou Cover Outfit
Tone tips for guitar

Download the Fractal AX8 Preset here

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Misirlou AX8 preset

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I did not match Dick Dale’s tone exactly, but these things helped me to find a satisfying tone:

  • Strat-style guitar with Jumbo frets (my Suhr was up for the task, the frets on my Strat were too worn unfortunately.)
  • Single coil pickups (bridge position)
  • Heavy pick: I use Dunlop Jazz III Carbon Fibre 0,73 mm.
  • Boost pedal: TC Electronic The Spark (“fat”-setting).
  • Delay before the amp I combined my MXR Carbon Copy Delay (+/- 90 ms slap setting) with a 131 ms Delay from the AX8 and put them before the amplifier.
  • Spring Reverb (from AX8)
Misirlou signal flow
delay before amplifier helps to get that vintage tone
Misirlou practice tips
  • Practice with a metronome
  • Start slow (below 150 bpm) to learn the melody, but speed up once you get the knack of it
  • Practice short intervals (10 min.) at high speed: 150 bpm, increasing to 172 bpm
  • Watch out if your picking arm starts hurting (seriously!), try not to play too tense
  • The intro is the hardest part, so practice this ‘hit-the-ground-running’ concept
  • Give yourself some time to learn this song
Credits
  • Credits to Arvid for editing the video www.bluetown.be
  • Credits to stringtheorist for sharing the original AX8-preset for this song. I modified it a little bit to my taste and ears.
  • We do not own the rights to this song. Misirlou is originally performed by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones (1962) written by Nick Roubanis e.a.