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Metal For Life Blog

~ The official blog of Metal Mike. I'm a heavy metal musician most commonly known as a long standing guitarist to Judas Priest frontman, Rob Halford. I'm a highly sought after heavy metal guitar and music coach. I am also a solo artist, an entrepreneur, a business owner, an avid car nut and a closet extrovert. I believe Heavy Metal should be lived loud & proud and it has been a highly motivating source in my life. I'm here to share my thoughts, pass on lessons learned and sometimes chew on big subjects. If you enjoy the content of Metal For Life, I only ask you to share my blog with one more person. Thank you & welcome.

Metal For Life Blog

Monthly Archives: December 2022

Can You Learn How To Play The Guitar In Your 50’s?

08 Thursday Dec 2022

Posted by Metal Mike in Uncategorized

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I’m going to give you an answer I really stand by – YES! You can learn how to play the guitar in your 50’s, 40’s, 60’s or at any age, really. Your age has nothing to do with learning the instrument; it’s your responsibilities and how crowded your brain is that make learning a new skill challenging.

Younger players have more free time if they choose to get serious about the guitar. Outside of school and perhaps a part-time job, their schedule should be free to pursue anything they choose. They can get better quicker because they have more time to dedicate to practice everyday. For adults, things are little more difficult, perhaps, but I have never met an adult whose fingers were too short or too long, or an adult who wasn’t able to grasp concepts of playing and so on. Adults don’t have as much disposable time as youngsters, but we do have experience in learning which is on our side. I actually strongly recommend learning any new skill throughout your life. If you set your expectations correctly and understand that picking up the guitar takes repeated committment for which you make time for – I say do it.

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Don’t Exchange Well Performing Components Of Your Guitar Rig Just Because You “Think” You Should

08 Thursday Dec 2022

Posted by Metal Mike in Uncategorized

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Guitar Tips

Some people would consider my approach to my guitar rig pretty interesting. I spent some time, a long while ago, searching for what equipment works for me tone wise and upon being satisfied I have been using the same rig for over 20 years. I seldom, if ever, change anything. Have you heard about guitarists who chase that perfect tone? Yep, that’s not me. I arrived at my sound 2 decades ago. Pretty interesting.

With above said, I am also very picky about guitar and speaker cables that I use. I purchase the best stuff that I feel I can get. Some things you can’t save on and cables are one of them. Just FYI, I have guitar cables in my rig that are close to 20 years old and they still perform flawlessly.

During the recent East Coast shows with my solo band I went against my better judgement and exchanged a cable in my rig to one I thought “should” sound better. Except – it didn’t. If Eric Johnson can tell a difference between an Energizer and a Duracell battery, I can tell a difference between 2 guitar cables. The problem is that while preparing for the shows, I already went through all of the single components of my rig and I solidified which cables I will use for the run.

Sure enough, before a show I started looking at a cheaply made cable plug from a major cable manufacturer. Truth is that particular cable sounded great the night before, but of course I decided to change it to what I perceived to be a better cable and not only the change challenged me mentally while playing, it effected my guitar tone and performance to boot. The old cable, cheaper looking plug or not, sounded better overall.

So, the lesson! Once you have a good reason to decide on something that still works well for you – stick with it. Don’t change components for arbitrary reasons.

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