I’ll never forget the first time I heard Blackened by Metallica. That riff completely captivated me to the point where I didn’t just want to listen to metal anymore. I had to be a part of it. I had to learn how to play this stuff. By the way, Blackened uses a really cool technique…
Before we get into this, let me first encourage you to trust your ears more than anything. Tabs are a great tool, but you never want to rely on them 100%. The real superpower for metal guitar players is combining solid ear training with the ability to read tabs. That said, this post is your…
I’ve never been a fan of tone-chasing. To me, a quality amp (or amp sim, in this case) should deliver a killer tone right out of the box without endless tweaking. That’s exactly what the Bogren Digital Ampknob BDM Bundle does. In this post, I’ll break down what makes this bundle special, why it’s perfect…
The Blackstar HT-5RH MK III amp gives you the best of both worlds with hardware (aka a real amp) and software. And it’s great for small home recording studios as it fits perfectly on your desktop. You don’t need a speaker cab (I’ll show what you’ll use instead, which comes with the amp). You don’t…
Setup was at 2 PM that day, February 17th, 2024. The lighting crew started unloading and assembling massive amounts of gear on the stage. We were setting up our merch tables. More members and help from the four bands started to roll in. Backstage food, sound check, and wardrobe changes sprinkled with hints of butterflies….
What if you could have a 100-watt tube amp but also be able to dial it down to 10 watts? And what if I told you that you could have all of that and not need a cabinet (perfect for studio recording)? Oh, more thing… What if I also told you that this 3-channel amp…
As a metal guitarist, there’s nothing like plugging into a tube amp and cranking it. Whether it’s a combo amp, 2×12, or 4×12 cabinet, you get this dominating sense of power when you start riffing. But it can get tiresome lugging around all that gear show after show. And it’s not always realistic to crank…
Dokken, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Cinderella, Warrant, Poison, Winger, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Firehouse, and the list of 80s hard rock and heavy metal bands go on. And although each band had its own distinct style, there was a particular sound that seemed to be the foundation of this extremely awesome era of music. One of…
Welcome to the Jason Stallworth Music Gear page! Below you’ll find all the music gear and equipment that I use for guitars, amps, studio gear, and for playing live solo shows.I keep this page updated as things change! Contents: ***I’m now a proud affiliate for Sweetwater and Bogren Digital. I do get a small commission…
To date, this is the absolute best heavy metal guitar tone that I’ve ever dialed in. In this post, I’m giving you the details of my settings with images of what I consider an amazing metal tone. Here’s what you’ll learn below (I’ll also be sharing some additional tips throughout this post): Gear for a…