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The TonePort UX2 made by Line6 is absolute bliss in a little plastic box. For the guitarist, bassist, pianist or vocalist it serves two main purposes.

Outstanding versatility for recording projects.

A standalone method of practicing for the dedicated musician.

The UX2 has been widely used in both home and professional studios for quite some time now. It features two 1/4 inch inputs for guitar, bass and keyboard. Two mic inputs that can be used for vocal or instrument micing and includes a piece of software called the GearBox, which is where all of the fun happens.


The GearBox includes 18 guitar amps, 5 bass amps, 24 guitar speaker cabinets and 5 bass guitar speaker cabinets, all replicas of real amps and cabinets, spanning 4 decades of musical technology. All of the amps and cabinets feature knobs for drive, bass, treble, presence, cut and volume, and some even have more features. All of these are tweak-able, along with the 29 stomp box and effect pedals.

The GearBox features an outstanding Equalizer that I like to use as a pre-EQ for recording. It is a blast to use, because the combinations are unlimited and even the pickiest musician can find what he or she desires in their sound.


It also includes a phantom power button for those extra picky mics, headphone volume, two mic gain knobs and an output gain knob, for your monitors of choice.

I also enjoy the fact that it is extremely user friendly, and can be setup and ready to go within a matter of minutes. Its so diverse, that I can hear a specific tone off of an album and recreate it with the UX2, almost to the T. I admit that I was hesitant when it came to shilling out the $250 for it, but I have gotten so much use out of it. I use it everyday, whether I am practicing or recording and have recorded complete works with it, time and time again. I've even done some recording for some other musicians who were skeptical of it. I showed them how to quickly use it so that they could get the exact sound that they wanted for their recordings, and they had a blast with it.

My verdict? - pure freedom

The origins of the instrument go as far back as 5,000 years. The guitar evolved from its ancestor, the Sitar, an instrument still in use today, whose origins are widely and correctly associated with India, but the Sitar was also in use in Asia many years ago. Some of the cultures that "got their groove on" were the Hittites, the Romans and the Moors.

The modern guitar started its long, structural journey with the Roman's Cithara, which was brought to Hispania around 40 AD. It was from here developed into the 4 string Oud by the Moors, some time during the 8th century. We must assume that there was a Samash-like store that existed, because the instrument really caught on.

The 6 string Scandinavian Lute became quite popular in areas of Viking conquest. The Norse Hero Gunther has made appearances in carvings, playing this instrument with his toes.


The Scandinavian Lute

By this point, the Moors had developed an instrument called the guitarra morisca, which had a very wide neck and several sound holes. This was from here, refined into an instrument known as the guitarra latina, which had a narrower neck and one sound hole. The guitarra latina is the closest instrument to the modern day guitar.



The guitar was from this point, refined even more by a man named Antonio Torres Jurado, in Seville during the 1850's.

Finally, the journey of the modern guitar was concluded with an electric form, developed by a man named George Beauchamp in 1936. Beauchamp founded Rickenbacher.

It was Danelectro that made the electric guitar widely public, however.

If you are new to the guitar world, let's say anywhere from no experience to a few months experience, you may feel that overwhelming sense of pressure. More specifically, I can put it into these exact words "I've got such a long ways to go and yet so little time". I'm not trying to speak for everyone, but I have seen this look of "where do I start? what is that? how do you do that? can I do that? will I ever be able to do that? where am I?", many, many times before.

So here is my advice to you if you are a new guitarist.

First, a word about theory. Some musicians start by learning musical theory, right off the bat. I do not encourage this. It is just too much at times to handle. A little bit is ok, but don't push it. You could very well learn scales, modes, modulation and thousands of chords early on, but the problem with a lot of musicians who start out this way, is that their playing becomes sterile. They lose the feel of music. Yngwie Malmsteen put it best. He said that "improvisation is the genesis of all musical creativity". I highly recommend that you put on some albums that you adore, and just find a note that seems to fit. Your ear will tell you when a note fits and when it doesn't fit. Add more notes, constructing a little bit of a solo. You will find that from these notes, you can create a chord, by combining them. Theory is important to learn at some point, but the idea is to learn everything that you can about it, and then throw it out the window. Learn to improvise. You'll be so far ahead of a lot of guitarists. Trust me

Consider yourself a master guitarist, now. You had the thought, well guess what? guitar is more addictive than heroin, so you're not going to just set it down any time soon. It is a gift that has been bestowed upon you for life now. A beautiful ball and chain, if you will. Have respect for yourself. Don't ever, ever say things like "I will never be able to do that", or "its time to move on to something else, now". These things don't fit with art, sorry.

Take your time. I preach this relentlessly. Do not push yourself. Your hands and mind are on their own clock, and that clock delivers much faster and better results than your ego ever will.

Listen to all types of music, including songs or albums that don't have a lick of guitar on them. Malsteen even said that, too.

If you encounter a guitarist who is further along than yourself, ignore the arrogance that he or she may possess, and pick their brain, instead.

If you are this arrogant guitarist, set aside your ego, and treat all people who are eager to learn, as your students. You were once where they are at, now.

Learning to tune a guitar, developing callus and finding the courage to play when you don't feel up to the challenge, comes easily after a few months or weeks. If you have been playing for three years and are pretty good, you will know that this is still true. Even the best guitarists have to stop and take their time with something new. That is where the passion lies. The challenge. Its a game and music beckons you to tame it.

An abundance of effect pedals never hide your inability to play. Eventually you will have to put in a little sweat, but the rewards are inconceivably gorgeous.

Work really hard to create new ways to express yourself on the guitar. Playing the same riffs for years on end does not aid anyone. Even if you find your own style (the ultimate goal) and have a niche, you should allow that niche to show you where it wants to go next. Listening to a lot of different genres of music will really help you with this. Don't get locked in.

This all sounds like a lot of work, but believe me it is not. It is a philosophy that delivers. It requires no work to become open-minded, though many people would tell you otherwise. Being open-minded comes down to making an instant decision to do so. When this is achieved, new ways of thinking and therefor, new philosophies are as easy as pie.

There is a major problem in the mindset of most people, when it comes to tackling a new challenge. As you may know, depending on how far you plan to go with maximizing your guitar skills, you will no doubt be stared down by the face of overwhelment.

The point is that whether you want to play like Keith Richards, or shred like Malmsteen, you will be challenged evenly, like the rest of us. This is a part of the learning process, and the more advanced the style of music that you choose to pursue, the more ground you'll have to cover.

This is very daunting for newer guitarists, so allow me to share with you some positive news.

The first thing that may be difficult for you to understand, is that learning and developing your skills as a guitarist improve over time. Its kind of like compound interest. It grows with speed and mass. What this means, is that as you get older, you will still continue to encounter difficult passages, but the difference is that you will be able to nail them very quickly. The reason for this is because you know how to teach yourself better now. You know how to take your time and you can detect when are really getting it. Your hands become more sensitive and you notice every little difference in the way you pick a string, and the way your fingers push down on the frets. If you are playing guitar and have just started, feel comforted in knowing that this process has already begun for you, and will grow very quickly.

Take your time. I can not put enough emphasis on this. If you are aspiring to become a fast guitarist, just promise yourself to be a little patient. Let me give you a scenario. You are just starting learn some fast riffs. You can only play them very slowly. Let's assume that you practice these riffs for an hour everyday, while taking your time. Now lets play around with the opposite scenario. Lets say that you are playing these same riffs for an hour a day, but you've decided to jump right in and try and shred them right off the bat.
Let us look at the progress after 3 weeks of practicing, involving both approaches.

1. After 3 weeks of picking cleanly and working your speed and dexterity up = insanely fast picking skills and amazing fluidity. Not to mention a head that is now full of understanding and mass amounts of creativity.

2. After 3 weeks of trying to be Malmsteen reincarnate = no one can even tell what you are playing. No distinguishable notes can be heard. You are trying too hard and its depressing. The worst part is that it is going to now take you at least 9 weeks to catch up to your wiser self.

A trick to keeping focused with this kind of development, is to enjoy the music that you are playing, even if it is slow. Speed can be beautiful, but music as a whole has been described as the language of God. Keep this in mind.

One more thing before I depart. Even the best guitarists wake up in the morning playing terribly.
Its just something that happens. I had a really good friend who would pick up a guitar, hit a few awful notes and then put the guitar back down, exclaiming "I'm just not feeling it today". The sad thing was that had he kept with it for about a half hour, he would have caught right back up to where he had been the day before. Once you reach that half hour mark, you can then build upon your current skill level. Increasing it by a notch. Tomorrow repeat this process. Just always take your time.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I wouldn't steer you wrong. These really are the ultimate secrets to becoming the guitarist that you see yourself as.

Charles Manson recorded an album called Lie.

Mr. Mojo Risin' is an anagram for Jim Morrison.

Most toilets flush in E flat

The horse in the song Jingle Bells, is named Bobtail.

The Dark Side Of The Moon was on the Billboard top 200 for 741 weeks, or 14 years.