MegaSack DRAW - 6pm Christmas Eve - LIVE on our YouTube Channel
Blatant Plug time
If you are in Leeds on Saturday, the Dana Ali band are playing The Domino Club, if you want to hear a top quality guitarist then go and see them (I'm playing sax with them but you won't be disappointed seeing Martin Chung he's brilliant)
I have a fingerpicking question. How do people who actually know what they're doing get crisp, clear sounding notes when they fingerpick? Mine always sound dull & muffled. Do they have long nails and use those rather than the end of the fingers? Any advise appreciated as ever 🙂
Martin Simpson, about the finest fingerstyle guitarist you will find, predominantly uses his nails for picking, but uses 'silk wraps' I believe to reinforce them, but I know nothing about nails...see twitter...
I use bare fingers and short nails. With time you get callouses just like on your fingering hand which improve the attack. I also play around with fingerpicks kind of like these but find them a bit harsh acoustically but it depends on the sound your after. You can also get plastic versions which have a softer tone. Getting used to them is tricky though if you are used to fingerpicking with fingers alone.
oh...and Richard Thompson uses fingers combined with a thumb pick:
Cheers @jca
I love Richard Thompson. He was the last person I saw live before covid shut everything down.
sounds fine Simon IMO
just waaaaaay too fast, chill. 🙂
Just a PSA.
If anyone is thinking of getting a Line6 Stomp or a Helix buy it NOW if there is one in stock.
Andertons have no Stomps in stock and the new price jumped up from £399 to £529 yesterday. Helix LT has jumped from £799 to £999.
That's interesting - I didn't see your post before I ordered a Stomp (less than a month ago), managed to get it for £399 but I see it's now £508 on PMT. Apparently it's a chip shortage of the slightly obscure chips they put in Helix.
Anyway, at first I couldn't get to grips with the Stomp, then something clicked and I started getting great sounds - I loved it. Then I found myself wanting a few of the things the full-fat Helixes (floor/LT) offer - more looping options, more stomps and more DSP. I found a guy near me who was willing to trade a Helix floor for a Stomp + cash. So despite enjoying the Hx Stomp, I only owned it for about 3 weeks and I'm now the proud owner of a Helix Floor. I've only had a couple of hours playing with it, but it's great so far - definitely feels like a more premium bit of kit compared with the Stomp.
I didn't get a Stomp in the end. Picked up a Boss GT1000 Core. Totally in love with the amp sounds. The effects are pretty good too. Who'd have thought Boss made decent effects. Oh, right, everyone.
Only had it less than a week but it is pretty darn good to my ears.
Ooooh. The pots are CTS 500k already, so they'll be decent. Switch feels cheap. Annoyingly I've got a CTS push-pull spare, and a fancy six way gibson style switch, but not a spare 3-way!
I'll check out the wiring pattern, and give that a bash later on!
I ended up ordering some '59 Brandonwound Humbuckers from the states. I've got his Wide Range fender ones, and they're astonishingly good. I'm pretty impressed with the standard epi ones though.
The next question for all your noodlers!
It's my 40s in a few weeks. The wife wants to buy me something.
I reckon something guitar-related that I'll use a lot, so it means something and is useful.
What do you reckon? £200 max.
I have a fingerpicking question. How do people who actually know what they’re doing get crisp, clear sounding notes when they fingerpick?
Mine tend to sound crisp as long as my nails are all a similar length. If one breaks and is noticeably shorter than the rest then that will sound dull because I'm not picking in the right place. I normally then rim them all back a bit.
With time you get callouses just like on your fingering hand which improve the attack
Curious. I've never developed callouses on those fingers, regardless how much I'm playing. Currently I'm working through a blues book, learning techniques etc, playing for a few hours a night, and my l/h fingers are in bits from all the bending, hammering etc, but my r/h is exactly as normal.
I, uh, ‘picked up’ a pro II Jazzmaster today 🤪
Oh it is a thing of joy and beauty; 3 colour sunburst and rosewood neck, so it looks like it should do...
Sounds good through the Princeton, even enjoyed it through the Soul Food...
Can’t really see me needing the 22nd fret though... 🤣
Dave Hill of Slade used the 22nd fret regularly live and did a bend on it for good measure. Things in Em, G, Am and C all give you scope to use it. Like Nod screaming into the mic between numbers I reckon he did it just to see the crowd wince.
What do you reckon? £200 max
For £200 I would either get something to record my own stuff on, or to enhance my recordings like a keyboard, somewhere comfortable to sit while playing... or some lessons.
No matter how good you are you'll always get something from a good teacher.
needed a practice amp for home use, for playing along to backing tracks etc, but it needed to be quiet but still sound good. My Cornford Harlequin needs to be cranked up.
came away with a Boss Katana 100w 2x12. i know it sounds ridiculous but this thing sounds great even at conversation volume.
in answer to the fingerpicking question, with a steel acoustic i prefer to have long nails for a clear crisp tone. if im having a spell playing the nylon string more regularly then i prefer bare flesh.
@Edukator: I rarely venture past the 15th fret. Kind of A, D and, if I’m really letting it all hang out, E...
Jazzmasters historically only had 21 (hence my comment) 🤪
if im having a spell playing the nylon string more regularly then i prefer bare flesh.
much prefer the punchy "attack" nails give you on a classical.... just fantastic.
My fingerpicking video up ^^^ appears to have attracted a copyright claim on YouTube. I must be getting better! 🙂
@sailor74 I've got a Boss Katana MK2 50w. It's an awesome little amp, loves to be pedal driven, and has a bonkers assortment of digital tricks with the tonestudio.
@sailor74 I've just picked up a Fender Mustang Micro, which I am incredibly impressed with. Super-light, with a really good range of amp models and effects. I'm using it for noodling/practising around the kids, so being able to stick headphones on, stream some music from my phone and just practice, it's really nice.
I'm lazy. When I'm messing about in Ableton, I like to use my guitar to loop some bass lines, but can't find a good octaver. I've got guitar rig and amplitube, but don't like either of them octavers in there. Can anyone recommend a good vst that will do this?
@AdamT - when jamming in Ableton to get a quick bass line, I record a guitar phrase, loop it, abs then use the pitch control to drop it 12 semitones.
Works surprisingly well, especially if you then out the bass cab effect on it from the audio effects menu.
Yeah, that works well, but I was hoping for something for live looping and for ninjam, so need a live octave Vs a post shift.
Hi @eddiebaby how does the GT1000core compare to the Plethora x5? You still got that?
I'm thinking of getting an X5, I have the GT1000core already but possibly looking for something simpler for my modulation pedals. Have external drives a plenty.
Hey @Atomizer.
I love the Core but find some of the FX a bit lacking. I don't have the X5 any more but I loved most of what it did. The delays in the Core seem to lack what I want from a tape delay and I find the Spring reverb a bit uninspiring. An APE with a Flashback does the tape thing and a Specular Tempus sorts out the lusher reverbs. The Flashback in the X5 is great but again I find the Tape echo lacking and I did like the Spring reverb in the X5 but in the end I didn't go down the HoF route.
I think the X5 would be a great combo with the Core and would balance out the weak spots.
I love the Core's built in drives and I think the Rotary modulation is pretty stunning but it's the amp sounds that really appealed. Very glad I bought it.
Currently I'm trying to work out the cabling for my pedalboard based around the Core and then find a power supply that can drive the Core (9v - OK. 670Mah - not so easy to find.) It'll all be fun though in the end.
Hi @eddiebaby
Thanks - useful info. I was maybe planning to swap one for the other but as complement could be even better!
I do like the look of that APE pedal.
My pedalboard is a mess but I keep trying out different combos:
GT1000core
Cheapo expression pedal for volume
Boss Looper
Behringer Super Fuzz
Homemade EQD/Sunn O))) Life Pedal
Homemade Coda Effects OECD and Black Hole Doom Machine
The GT1000core PSU powers all of these pedals with some daisy chaining.
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/bNJxyVrT/Pedalboard.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/bNJxyVrT/Pedalboard.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
I'm really trying to get away from daisy chaining and also only want one power line going into the board so if I get a loop switcher I'll need 8 lowish current 9v supplies and one high current, plus probably a couple of spares as if I get the Morningstar loop switcher that I really DON'T need I will have a spare loop and enough realestate free on the board to fit another pedal or two on there.
Any info on the Sunn))) pedal?
Hi @yourguitarhero
It's a PedalPCB Parentheses Fuzz -
https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/parentheses-fuzz/
Octave Fuzz, RAT and Boost all in combination and it is pretty evil!
Not a difficult build but I built the two Coda Effects ones first to get my hand in.
Hand painted by my daughter - a Death's Head Hawk-Moth apparently.
Oooh! Looking tidier. My first proper pedalboard ever.
Cables and power sorted tomorrow.
Finally got around to posting up photos…
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sofaboytt/51441478227/in/photostream/
New guitar day!. First one for 18 months.
Say hello to my Vintera Road Worn Strat in Surf Green.
Very comfortable to play, a beautiful aged aged nitro finish with a decent amount of checkering and a fairly minimal base level relic-ing that will soon get more authentic as it gets played.
Very happy with it and expect to be even happier as it ages.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/uCk9kj96WkmBdR466
Very nice 🙂
That's nice.
I've been looking at Strats again. Proper nitro finishes are really rare these days. I finally took mine in for its long-threatened re-fret and I can't wait to get it back. Hopefully it'll feel good enough that I can stop yearning after a new one...!
I'm coming back guitar after a 12 month break. I've struggled before with bad posture while practicing sat down, resulting in neck pain and tension. Having just sat on the chair I used to always sit on whilst practicing, I've realised how uncomfortable it is! Any recommendations for a supportive, comfortable seat for practicing guitar on?
No idea on the chair, I like playing wandering around, mattgee.
Lovely Strat, Eddie, vintage almost everything from the pic. I note You've not threaded the string tree, presumeably to cut friction over the nut so it stays in tune.
I've been playing my Mexican Strat a lot recently, lovely to play but the pickups are a bit hot for my taste, one day I'll change the pickups for something more vintage.
Actually @Edukator I’d forgotten to rethread it as I’d just popped the neck off to adjust the truss rod.
It all seems pretty nice but the high E string is a bit close to the fingerboard edge so I need to tweak it a bit. The bridge feels a couple of mm too far towards the treble side. I will sort it though. Very vintage feel, probably more so than my Custom Shop 50s Relic that has a larger board radius but it feeling different is no bad thing. The satin neck and the very light relicing on the fingerboard mean I can play with it a bit. The fingerboard is smoothly rounded at the edges without trying to be too worn, but at this narrow vintage width it would be easy to overdo it and make it less playable. I’m still working on the truss rod, action and spring tension to get the bridge feeling right and there is fair bit of adjusting to do as everything is interconnected. And of course I have to fit in actually playing the beast.
On that front I’ve finally got the miniboard sorted (still working on the big board power routing - planned for this weekend) the Mini board is great for the real world where finessing about little bits Of tonal tweaking will never be noticed by anyone in the audience. So out goes the Ape/Flashback and flanger and elady and boost.
Works well through most amps/PA/FRFR if I set the output IR on the GT1000Core to suit.
@mattrgee I struggle at home to find a chair the correct height when playing in different rooms - but I went for my 1st guitar lesson the other day, and the tutor had a height adjustable foot rest. Allowed me to get in the right position, regardless of the chair. I might get one for home for when I get banished to the dining room etc...
That's an interesting setup, @eddiebaby. I was a bit underwhelmed using the THR as a speaker for my Helix - it just didn't sound as full and intricate as either the THR built-in amps, or the Helix via headphones. I haven't had a proper play, though. Any tips for getting it right?
@Superficial
I just use the THR for noodling but where I am living I can’t use volume so if I want to get serious I go through phones or via USB into the iPad, elsewhere I just bang it through my new Stagesource L2m
The Core has lots of different out put IRS for different amps, plus you can load your own, so with the THR set in one of the flat options I can find something to work with.
If I am just learning a song I usually just stick with the THR on its own.
I haven't experimented with different ways of connecting E.g. instead of using the Aux-in, using the Helix 1/4" line-out (in mono) to the guitar input on the THR, then using the 'flat' response + a bit of Reverb. Obviously you'd lose any stereo effect.
The bridge feels a couple of mm too far towards the treble side.
From the pic it looks like the neck needs centering, Eddie. Just slacken the screws, and tip it to where you like and tighten. I tip my necks slightly up so the low E is close to the neck edge so it's easy to get my thumb over. It also means I don't roll the high e off the frets doing vibrato or being clumsy.
Well the love affair with that Strat is over. I had a couple of minor niggles when I bought the guitar that Andertons solved on the spot.whilst looking at the string alignment problem I took the neck off and that exposed an open can of worms, or rather where worms had possibly been so I took it back to Andertons for a total no-quibbkw money back. And now here I am with a new American Professional II Stratocaster in Miami Blue with a maple neck.
Note to self: move further away from Andertons. 🙂
Nigh on 5 hours later and I have finally broken away from playing the new Strat.
Simply epic. It feels better than any other new guitar I have ever picked up and the sounds are simply amazing. I need to take it down to Weymouth to compare it with my '96 Custom Shop relic 50's Strat, but I think I know it will blow it away in terms of both feel and playability due to the new heel shape. Sounds will inevitabyl be different but the new one seems so versatile.
Simply brilliant, and Miami Blue may be my new favourite colour.
Time for a quick coffee and back to the playing.
Something more modern then. What do you think of the tall narrow frets on it? I really like Fender medium jumbo frets they've been using on most of their guitars for years. They put properly jumbo frets of the American specials a few years back which required a light touch and they've put tall narrows on the Sqier Classic vibe butterscotch Tele recently.
Sorry to interupt your noodling. 😉
And now here I am with a new American Professional II...
Simply brilliant
This was my experience with the pro II Jazzmaster, the tall frets were noticeable when first taking it out the case but second time I’d already forgotten...
It had me seriously looking at at pro II tele (but that I’ve already bought three, no four, guitars this year I decided I really need to stop).
And, yes, the extra sounds available are useable and useful.
The pro II jazzmaster now officially my fave guitar...
@Edukator
Like @metalheart I hardly noticed the frets although they are massively taller than the frets on the JTV59.
In fact I hardly noticed anything as it just fits and does what it is supposed to do the plug in trem is faultless (the adjustment to vary if it rotates or stays where you left it works well.) The push push switching pot that brings in the neck pickup in with any other combinations looks a bit odd but works perfectly and gives a couple of very usable sounds and the overall pickup sound is brilliant - in every sense. I've never had to roll off quite so much treble before yet at the same times they are very balanced. I think there is an extra upper presence there without affecting the mids and bottom.
It just works. I'm struggling to think of anything to improve it other than the addition of locking tuners, but I've not had any reason to worry about the ones fitted, I just find lockers easier for string changes.
In summary it looks like a Strat, quacks like a Strat and feels like the Strat I always dreamt about.
Have I mentioned the rolled fingerboard edges and the excellent fret finishing yet... 🙂
We've got a gig! Yes, the 'dad rock' band I've been rehearsing with since last spring (full lockdowns notwithstanding) appears to have snagged the bass player's daughter's friend's* engagement party gig at a rugby club in November.
So, apart from super-rehearsing the 30 or more covers that we're doing (everything from Message in a bottle to Ace of Spades...) I've got to work out what guitar I'm going to play, what amp, whether to bother with any pedals (apart from a tuner, of course) and what outfit and matching boots to wear... 😉
Looking forward to it!**
(* Something like that... friend of a friend, kind of thing. I'm not entirely sure how appropriate a load of (loud) '70s and '80s rock is going to be for the occasion, but I imagine that we're very cheap... :-))
(** And then I'm going to have to fire myself from the band (after 18 months and one gig) as I'm moving house again out of the area... Boo!)
And then I’m going to have to fire myself from the band (after 18 months and one gig) as I’m moving house again out of the area… Boo!)
Steal their amps, sleep with their wives and girlfriends and blame it all on addiction (to bikes?). Yes, I'm reading Steve Jones' autobiography!
We’ve got a gig!
Congratulations 🙂 I know you know this but get the setlist together and all the other decision making becomes easier because you can focus on practising those songs and getting the gear sorted. As for the outfit, you don't need any encouragement from us !!
Yep, set list is coming together (although the graceful ebb and flow of the arc of the set is yet to be determined... Saying that, though, everything is pretty loud and pretty fast-past. There is no real ebb...) 🙂
Nice one.
I may be guesting with one of the ex's bands next time I'm down the coast. Luckily I know her sets pretty much off pat. And equally she knows my abilities so there'll be no tricky stuff in there. Pretty much blues and soul covers.
Just the Strat and the mini pedal board will do it and run it all straight into her PA.
Which is a shame as I finished this today (bit big to carry on the train though...)
https://flic.kr/p/2mxAmXF
https://flic.kr/p/2mxK9bt
https://flic.kr/p/2mxK9a6
https://flic.kr/p/2mxEqVX
GigRig for the power supply and I love the patchbay built in, all I do just plug in the power cord and the guitar and then outs to the PA or an amp o FRFR. I just have to do decide how to mount the expression pedal. (And even decide if I actually want it on the board or an a fly lead off to one side.)
First proper pedalboard ever.
Nice looking board! I love the patchbay too...
I think you need to get the set-square out on a couple of those top row pedals though... 😉
Set-square? - thats the day job. I don't do right angles after 6pm. 🙂
One day I'll sort out a pedal board, one day. Thanks for the inspiration.
Your comment "favourite" had me thinking "which is my favourite guitare". The acoustic is easy, my Epi Texan with a 41mm nut. The electric is far more complicated. A guitar will be left hanging on the wall for months then get taken down because it's good for a particualr tune and stay down for months as I readopt it. I can't even decide which is my favourite neck, two are more or less identical (Fender), but the others are different widths, radii, frets, woods, profiles, finishes... . As I sit playing a Warmoth shredder neck with a 43mm nut I think "should I have ordered it with a 41 or 42mm nut". Spoilt for choice. Or just plain spoilt. 🙂
Favourite and Best?
My 'best' guitar is my least favourite, and I'm not sure what to do about this situation. It's a Les Paul Standard which is a work of art. After 6 years at university, I spent my first paycheque on the first instalment, the guitar I wanted ever since I started playing. All my guitar heroes had one. It's got a flawless flamed maple top with honey burst, and hanging on the wall, it looks <chef's kiss>.
But... I don't love playing it and I'm always reaching for the Tele first. The LP is a bit lardy, the neck is a bit big, the sound a bit dark for me. Perhaps I'm just a Fender guy? It feels weird playing a (relatively) cheap Mexican Tele or Strat and leaving the expensive thing collecting dust. But at the same time, it's a lovely object and it represents a particular period in my life, so I don't think I can bring myself to sell it. Perhaps the answer is to buy a really expensive Custom Shop Strat so I can end up playing my 'best' guitar all the time. Does anyone else feel guilty for neglecting an expensive guitar? WWSTWD?
My best and favourite guitar is a quilted maple top Japanese Tokai Les Paul from the early 2000s I've had from new.
Best playing and sounding out of any of my guitars and with an HB-sized P90 in the neck and treble bleed caps it's also the most versatile.
The one guitar I'll never sell.
I do normally play my Dean Z explorer on stage though as it's cooler looking
Strat update: https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/my-lockdown-project-complete-guitar-content/#post-12064532
Am I allowed to call it 'Red'?
Been doing some looping recently. This is a pretty ambitious one. Realised I’m ok if I can scrub out mistakes, but doing it flawlessly in a single take is really hard. Single pedal loop, one take.
Anyway, it’s good fun.
I like that a lot. Nice work.
Good work and topical. I'm intrigued how you do that with just one loop. How about doing a Youtube?
I thought about doing a video (dressed in Tux, naturally), but it seemed like a lot of work!
Brief explanation: It's one loop, overdubbed. Using my Helix floor which has a built in looper.
Start the loop, did the first two bars you hear, then close the loop. Overdubbed the 'drum' track (muted strings), then stopped overdubbing while playing the main theme. Overdubbing back on for the rest of the mix, with various layers of effects and bass sim at different times. I struggled to end it coherently, I just ended up abruptly stopping the loop and playing the last bit as a normal guitar part.
I have done a better 'mix' with stereo panning of different parts which sounds cool (and a slightly more accurately timed loop) but I found it too complex to fit it all into one take.
Who knows about Tremolos?
I want one of my guitars to have a trem.
My current one is a Harley Benton PRS copy. It's a really enjoyable thing to play. I've set it up really well, with the help of a local luthier who filed the nut for me. It's now got Kent Armstrong noiseless P90s so I've spent as much on upgrades as it cost but the trem is awful. It goes out of tune as soon as it's used so I blocked it off. It's (or says it's) a Wilkinson, but came as standard on a Chinese £200 guitar so who knows?
My future guitar is a Telecaster. Well, it will be as soon as I've made it. There's a brilliant local maker near to me, MD Guitars, and Martin Dixon does "build your own" courses. As a carpenter - well, why wouldn't I? I've seen some Telecaster tremolos from Wudtone and Super-Vee Maverick that have the brass saddles and ashtray bridges with the diagonal pickup cutout. Yes, I know they cost getting on for £200 but I'm going to be spending a fair bit on the guitar. Martin makes excellent instruments and he assures me the end result will be worth it.
So, what's the chance of one of those being any good at keeping in tune? Or should I replace the "Wilkinson" on the Harley Benton with a good quality Strat type trem that should fit straight in, with minimum re-working?
Thanks for the explantion, Superficial, my ears told me a lot was going on and you've confirmed it. A nicely constructed piece.
I've managed to get every trem I've spent time on to balance and stay acceptably in tune, BigJohn.
Essentials are:
1/ strings sliding freely through the nut. Infuences are the position of string trees (I prefer just one on e and B and not too close to the nut), the cut of the nut (not tight), lubrication (a bit of pencil lead) and the strings (some cheap ones dont slide well).
2/ the 2/6 screws holding the trem on, the trem needs to move smoothly and return to the same point each time which it won't if the screws are too tight or too loose.
3/ The height of the saddles. You can get the same action with low saddles and a high trem or visa versa. I find it easier to balance the trem if the saddles are quite high but this does limit how much the trem can raise a note - but means you can dive bomb lower.
My experience of trems suggest that most problems are set up or expecting too much from a non locking system.
A well made nut and good string trees are essential. Without these you will struggle to get back in tune. Crappy tuners can cause problems as can poor stringing technique with too many winds or overlapping winds on the posts.
The bridge itself has seldom been a problem if it has been installed and tweaked properly. 6 bolt Strat trems have a definite need to be understood before you tighten or loosen the screws too much. There are a lot of good videos on setup on the Tube of You.
The tone and note selection/fingering on that James Bond one above are nice but the timing makes me feel queasy.
Just trying to get Little Wing proper sorted and I found this great take of it with some signicant guys commenting...
“Does anyone else feel guilty for neglecting an expensive guitar?”
I struggle with playing more than one instrument in a given phase of my life. My first proper bass was a nice old Warwick, one I got that I defretted my beginner bass but it didn’t get used much. Then I had a custom five built and the Warwick got sidelined. Now I’ve got a StingRay and the other two have been sidelined. I got given a Wattplower and that isn’t really me. If I didn’t need them for work I’m not sure what I’d do - I don’t like instruments sitting around unused, it feels wrong!
Ironically 99% of my playing time over the last few years has been on a cheap acoustic bass guitar I got to play at home. Just came up with the bones of a new song on it:
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/K8YAj8n5uixSsUZi6
I feel there's a single-coil missing in my life. I've got a p90 loaded Les Paul, and some split coils on another Les Paul. But it's still not that Fendery twang and spank.
What would you guys reckon is worth looking at, single-coiled. My head is just stuck in Strats or Teles!
Blues, and rock, and a bit of smashing it through a Hoof fuzz for fun.
How about a Duo Sonic? Short scale fun with a choice of a bridge 'bucker or single coil.
Jaguar/Jazzmaster?
But you won’t go wrong with a Strat or Tele…
Hey guys
My kid has Solar guitar with a Floyd rose tremolo...he has had it a year now .
My question is do you need to change on this type guitar every year to keep the tune?
Do you mean do you need to change the strings often?
If so, it depends on much you play. And how much you care about tone and staying in tune.
Bedroom playing a couple of hours a day, I'd probably change once a month.
Playing a couple of hours a day? That means I'd have to change strings about once every two years! (I do share the playing between several guitars, though) 🙂
Yes sorry ..seemed to miss the word strings...lol
He hasd a problem with a certain string last month D I think....it was intune but 12th fret it wasn't.
In the end I sussed it was because he had changed 2 strings in 12 months and they were changed to regular slinkys....and because the other strings were blacksmiths.. it was causing the Floyd Rose be out ( well its what ithink anyway).
So I changed all the strings to new reg slinkys and hey presto..its back in tune.
Wow once a month..he does play a fair bit, he likes his rock and thrash metal..so when he plays , he plays hard!!
He best get himself a part time job..ha ha ha
What would you guys reckon is worth looking at, single-coiled.
If you want a Strat, buy a Strat. Otherwise, a Tele.
I'll elaborate a bit: Strats are great guitars, they're obviously perfect for certain tones of some great musicians, and they're super comfy/playable for me. So if you want a guitar to specifically emulate a Strat tone, there's only one choice and a Teles can't really get that near. But Teles are far more versatile - if you want a generally playable, do-everything guitar, I wouldn't go for a Strat. I'd go for a Tele, ideally with some parallel-->serial switching. In your case if you have other guitars to cover that warmer humbucky ground, I'd be tempted by a Strat.
Obviously there are non-Fender options too. I keep ogling Yamaha Revstars. Or Jaguars. Or Jazzmasters.
But Teles are far more versatile – if you want a generally playable, do-everything guitar, I wouldn’t go for a Strat.
Bollocks.
I’d like to be polite but Strats are versatile.
A strat will do most of what a Tele will and then some more, they're versatile. I've got both but whenever there's a public I take the Tele. If I break a string it stays in tune and then there's the sound. The first time I heard a Tele live was Slade at Birmingham town hall in 72. Nod was using his black Noddycaster and the intros to each song were glorious. This one in particular:
I will admit a weakness for country too: Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, James Burton... . And pop, the pretenders, Francis Cabrel... . And punk... . And. A Tele covers them all just fine. I like the P90 sound too, Téléphone in particular. Humbuckers? Plugged straight into a Marshall you get "that sound". But most of the time I don't want "that sound". I'm forever flicking the split switch and wishing there was more bottom end growl and chime split, or not quite so much dirt in bucking mode.
Learning “Can’t find my way home” for a gig next month and after a bit of searching on the Tubes this opted up in my recommendations. I really like it.
BTW: No relation to Edukator’s Slade link...
