Normally I’m not the type of old man to apologize for anything, but I must do so when it comes down to my students.

For the past year I’ve neglected my students, subscribers and friends. Many of you wondered where I’ve disappeared off to for the past year, and I’m sorry I’ve let you down.

To make a long story short, during my travels to China I fell madly in love with a Chinese zither player. She could play the zither like no other, it made my old heart quiver with delight when she plucked the strings of her zither.

Then one friday afternoon I was playing the ole’ acoustic guitar waiting for her to come home from a concert in Beijing. She never showed up. So there you have it, I was ditched by a 23 year old Chinese zither player.

Was it because of saggy balls at the ripe old age of 72?

No my balls are as hard as a rock from playing ACDC songs on the guitar all these years.

I don’t know why she rode out, and quite frankly I don’t give a damn!

I’m back to teaching students guitar because that’s what I enjoy and that’s what I care about.

 Here’s a guitar setup tip for you that is often overlooked. When your guitar equipped with a floating tremolo is in tune you need to make sure the bridge is parallel to the surface of the body of the guitar. Basically make sure when your tuned to the right pitch your bridge isn’t sitting at an angle.

To fix the problem you will need to tighten the screws that hold the springs to bring the bridge parallel. If the action is high or the bridge is tilted away from the body of the guitar then first slightly loosen all the strings, turn the spring screws clockwise 1/4 to 1/2 turn, and then retune. You may need to repeat the process until the guitar is in tune and the bridge is parallel to the body.

If the problem lies in very low action or the bridge leaning to far back towards the body then you will need to loosen your springs. Turn the screws counter - clockwise 1/4 to 1/2 turn each, and retune.  You don’t need to loosen your strings first because they will detune as you loosen the springs. Repeat the process as needed.

Cmon people. If I had a dollar for everytime I’ve heard a band’s guitarist play an inaudible solo I would be a rich old man instead of crazy. No it’s not because I’ve lost my hearing over the years, it’s because they’re not boosting their solos! Man, get a freaking solo boost on your amp or an equalizer pedal, the crowd cannot hear your damn solos! Too poor to afford an equalizer pedal or don’t have a solo boost on your guitar amplifer? Then try keeping your volume around the 7 position on your guitar. Crank it up to 10 when your about to dive into your solo. (You may have to hide this from the sound man though, always give yourself some room with that volume)  I know this may seem like common sense, but it amazes me how many musicians do not boost their solo playing live.  It’s actually quite funny at times. Watching the guitarist all into the solo, feeling on top of the world, hitting every note with perfection, crazy facial expressions…tiny little sound. Now go boost your damn solos.

This is the CrazyOldMan here. Today I woke up and turned on the TV to the MTV channel and to my surprise and amazement there was absolutely no guitar playing or band performing instead there was some reality tv crap airing that got my hickory stick swinging like a madman.  When I wake up in the morning I want to hear some guitar playing coming out of that damn TV! Some good ole’ fingerpickin’ and pluckin’, not about how Britney spears shaved her head bald! So It’s time I do my best to give some free guitar lessons to the folks out there that want to learn. Time for the young people out there to get off the playstations and nintendo’s, get motivated and start learning how to play the guitar. Time for me…to go get a cocktail.