Mantle clocks can be made in a variety of materials such as spelter, bronze, copper, silverplate, silver and gold the last two will cost the most because of what they are made from. You can also have mantel clocks made from stone such as marble or slate these are very heavy and will need to be placed on a substantial surface. Mantle clocks can also be made from wood such as mahogany, walnut, maple, boxwood, oak and fruitwood these can be a cheaper option but still look great. Other materials which mantle clocks can be made from are tortoiseshell, ceramics and porcelain. Although, these materials are more delicate and so over time have been damaged or broken, not as many examples of mantel clocks made from these materials are left so the price for a good example is very high. No matter wha... [Read More]

The arrival of the industrial revolution and mass production techniques resulted in the mantel clock being produced in great quantities. This helped most families to have a mantel clock and many of these types of clocks have lasted. This has made it possible to get a good vintage or antique clock for a fair price and from a lot of different places. You will find all sorts of vintage or antique clocks available on the market today and the only thing which will restrict the price of the clock you pick will be your budget. Mantle clocks with a wooden case from the 20th century tend to be the least expensive but you could pay many thousands for top quality antique clocks made from sterling silver or even gold or dating back to the 18th and 19th century. Mantel clocks from the Art Deco era ar... [Read More]

  I've noticed from my guitar teaching experience that many guitarists often feel immense frustration when it comes to their electric guitar playing. And while there are many potential reasons for this frustration, a very common one is having a short-term mindset. What I mean by this is that they are putting too much pressure on themselves to progress quickly. They want to get good, and they want to get good yesterday! On the surface wanting to progress faster and faster may seem like a positive thing. (And there is certainly nothing wrong with being ambitious!). But unfortunately for many guitarists this all-consuming focus on their speed of progress can cause quite a few problems such as... --A shallow level of learning. In their rush to get good they don't take the time t... [Read More]

For me the word Jukebox is evocative of the 1950s and 1960s and pure simple entertainment. Not that I remember the 1950s, or some of the 60s but growing up watching the Fonz being cool on Happy Days with an old fashioned full sized flashy chrome Seeburg in the background made a big impression on me.   That was the days of vinyl records and I still have most of the singles and albums that I bought back then. There used to be a market stall that sold cheap vinyl singles when I was in my early teens. I didn't know until I got home with half a dozen records that they were ex jukebox and had the centre missing. I was really disappointed until my older brother took a loose centre out of one of his singles and I was able to play my treasures on our record pla... [Read More]

The name jukebox is said to be derived from African languages. Some think that Juke comes from the African word jooy which means wicked. Others say that it comes from the word joog which means dance. Without live acts jukeboxes became one of the best things to get people up dancing for nearly a century now. People loved the music to be found on them and anybody who wants to pay for the privilidge is in control of what everybody in the room is listening to. The invention brought them closer to their favorite artists. The ones they like to know their songs by heart.   Jukebox  manufacturers were well aware that folk will always love to have the most well known and successful music on jukeboxes. The more successful the artist and his trac... [Read More]

  One of the cool things about working on your guitar technique really hard is that you start to gain new insights. And these insights, although they may appear insignificant at times can actually make a huge difference to your playing. In fact, they often can make such a massive difference that you'll kick yourself that you didn't notice them sooner! One insight in the realm of alternate picking is this... The speed that the pick moves will not always be the same as the speed of the notes being played. At first glance the previous sentence might seem completely wrong. I mean...shouldn't the pick move at the same speed as the notes? Many of my less advanced students think that it should...at least initially. The Two Functions Of A Pick Motion When you are alternate picking, eve... [Read More]

  A common goal that crops up all the time when I'm teaching guitar is the goal of joining the band. And let's face it...it's a great goal. Being in a band will help you learn many musical skills that you just can't learn by yourself. Not to mention it's a fantastic way to stay motivated with your own guitar practice. But here's the thing. Often guitarists are waiting to get "good enough" before they join a band. They want to get to a certain level of playing before they take the steps needed to be part of a band. Can you see some a problem with that? On the surface it might appear sensible to "fully-prepare" yourself. But for many guitarists, delaying being in a band is a form of procrastination. And I feel that this procrastination is often caused by fear or self-esteem issu... [Read More]

  Have you ever noticed how guitarists who can alternate pick fast often make it look really easy? For Example: I remember watching a video of Tiago Della Vega setting the Guinness World Record for World's Fastest Guitarist. It was incredible to watch his picking hand as he played Flight Of The Bumblebee at a frightening 320bpm. Considering that song makes large use of sixteenth note rhythms, I think the tempo he played that song was otherworldly. (And it certainly inspired me enough to do lots of alternate picking practice for the rest of the day!). The thing I really noticed about Tiago's picking hand was just how small his pick motions were. He obviously is a guitarist who understands the value of  economy of motion. And there is absolutely no way he could have played at su... [Read More]

  Sometimes the best thing you can do to improve your guitar playing is to stop focusing so much on your guitar playing. Yep...that's right. You'll get better by focusing on it less. Right now you might be thinking that I'm crazy for saying such an outrageous thing. But before you stop reading, let me explain myself quickly. I promise it will make sense soon. The Guitar Is a Musical Instrument. Yeah, I know I'm stating the obvious...but you'd be amazed at how many guitarists don't keep this in mind when learning electric guitar. They focus so much on the physical aspect of learning guitar that they forget about developing their overall musicianship. And this is a fatal mistake...because the better a musician you become, the better you'll become at playing guitar. Understanding ... [Read More]

  If you're new to rock lead guitar then you might be wondering what scales you need to learn. You probably notice that there are a seemingly infinite number of guitar scales out there. And it can often be hard knowing what the best ones are to learn. Who wants to waste valuable time learning scales that aren't essential to rock guitar? Before I tell you the two essential scales, I need to quickly mention another scale...the major scale. Although this scale isn't the most essential for soloing in a rock style, I need to explain it so that you will understand the theory we'll cover later on in this lesson. Understanding The Major Scale You may have read in a book that the major scale has the following formula... W  W  H  W  W  W  H (W=Whole Step... [Read More]