Bill Dutcher – Modern Acoustic Guitarist

Happy New Year!  Here’s the schedule for January 2012.

Every Wednesday: The Compound Grill.  Acoustic Happy Hour 5-7pm.

Thursday, January 12th:  Jaxon’s Grand Opening Party! 8-11pm.  409 N. Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale, AZ 85257.    I’ll also be playing the 19th, 8-11pm.

Every Friday:  Cave Creek Coffee and Wine 7-10pm.

Saturday January 7th:  PRIVATE EVENT.

Saturday January 14th and 28th:  Electric Eel Sushi and Teppan 6:30-9:30pm.

Saturday January 21st:  Rare Earth Pizza and Wine 6-9pm.

Thursday, January 26th:  Rock Bottom Desert Ridge – Tapping Party! 6:30-8:30pm.

Hope to see you at a show!

It amazes me at the advances in electronics for guitar players.  Adding effects to your sound not only adds color but also can inspire you to play different, as well as come up with new ideas.  While many of today’s traditional f/x units are geared for electric guitar, don’t be afraid to try these devices with your acoustic guitar. If you’re going to delve into adding these to your sound I would first recommend buying a compressor pedal.  It’s great for controlling the dynamics of your playing and can be used to smooth out your sound.  It can also be used as a volume boost to make your solo’s jump out a bit.  Time-based effects such as delay, chorus and reverb pedals add color and dimension to the sound.  There’s no rule-of-thumb that if it’s “designed for electric it won’t work on acoustic”.  USE YOUR EARS!  If it sounds good, use it!

Distortion pedals are great for electric guitar but are somewhat problematic when trying to use them on acoustic guitars, depending on what type of pickup you use.  If you wish to try one, it will work best with a magnetic sound hole pickup or an under-the-saddle piezo type pickup.  You’ll have to experiment!  If you have a microphone in the guitar, forget it.

Get out there and try as much of these as you can.  Chances are you’ll find something that sparks your interest! Read more »

Proper care and maintenance of your acoustic guitar is essential in making sure it lasts a lifetime.  A big issue I deal with out here in Arizona is the humidity level, or lack of humidity.  When I lived back in Ohio I had no problem with making sure my instruments had enough humidity….sometimes I had too much.  Out here in Arizona during the summer months the levels can get down as low as 5%!  There are some tricks you can do to make sure your instruments don’t dry up and shrivel away. Read more »

So you’re heading to a destination and want to bring your guitar on the airline flight.  We’ve all heard the horror stories ranging from complete and utter guitar annihilation to theft, but there are some secrets to ensure that your prized possession gets off the plane in one piece.  First of all you want to Read more »