Hell yeah!
My Schaller locking tuners arrived today. The original pegs were the only thing on my Tyler that I had any concerns about. And I get to use one of the Park spanners I have that has never been used as my bikes have no nuts/bolts that size.
So, PMT today to look at some Strats today and....
....this followed me home. 🙂
You know how it is.
Oooh, I'll just try that one whilst I'm looking.....whoops.
G5422t Electromatic in **** off Orange.
It's delightful. Even stays in tune.
On sale too.
Happy days.
Anyone want to buy a Vintage VS6?
Schwiiiing!!
Everyone is raving about the new Gretschs.
Time to grow a quiff & strutt your cat stuff
Yup.
Just off to crap on next door's lawn. 🙂
It's the hollow body, made in Korea at WMI.
On sale as I think they're shifting production to China - all the centre block and solid Electromatics are now Chinese.
Nothing wrong with them, but this was too good an offer to turn down.
Tried the G5420T, the deeper singlecut, but it didn't feel as friendly to play and had a rattly bridge too.
Barely more expensive than the Streamliners but a much nicer finish.
Sounds lush.
ceepers, I’ve just bought a Jazzmaster too. It’s only a Squire Classic Vibe in Olympic white, but wow it’s lovely.
Music theoryists can you help?
If I was to play a I, IV, V chord progression in the key of G on the blues scale I'm left with the following chords: G, C# and D
Now, would the progression be played exactly like that? I'm a bit confused. With the blues scale being close to the minor pentatonic would you play minor chords instead? Or could you substitute with any chords as long as they are in the correct keys?
The only sharp in the key of G is F#. G, C, D is usual. Em is often added in to the mix.
I IV V in G major is G C D (major)
The b5 (C# or Db) is the "blue" note in the blues scale.
Lots of 'blues' uses a minor scale over a major chord (the blues scale is a minor scale)
Another quite common thing in a 12 bar blues would be that all of the chords would be dominant 7ths. If that's the case, then the blues scale works well over it and you can just add in a major 3rd over chord I.
Nice choice rusty! If you have a Tele in the house then strats aren't that different tbh so a semi acoustic with filtertron is the right call 🙂 hope you are well
Thanks to Rusty's guitar acquisition I been playing a lot of Cult this morning using the Gretsch models on the Variax. A bit of delay and a smidge of chorus and instant She Sells Sanctutary.
Forgot how much I loved Love and Sonic Temple.
I bought a 2nd hand squire vintage modified jaguar in January but just haven't bonded with it, so for sale or swap for anything duo-sonic or mustangy pref with a humbucker in there somewhere
Details on the Jag please.....
Typically you would plav the natural minor pentatonic/blies scale over the major chords
So G major C D would be Eminor Pentatonic or blues scale
C major F G Am pentatonic etc........................
I tent to think of major scale as more melodic and pentatonic as more guitary they are almost the same except the pentatonic is missing 2 notes
So G major C D would be Eminor Pentatonic or blues scale
I’m no expert, but don’t think that’s right. Em pentatonic is essentially equivalent to the G Maj pentatonic which will work fine over the G chord but won’t sound right over the C or D.
I’d use Gm pentatonic over those chords (or use the major pentatonic pattern but changing position on each chord change).
Happy to be corrected.
I tent to think of major scale as more melodic and pentatonic as more guitary they are almost the same except the pentatonic is missing 2 notes
The minor pentatonic is the (natural) minor scale minus two notes (the 2 and the 6). Ditto the major pentatonic is the major scale minus two notes (the 4 and the 7).
Music theoryists can you help?
If I was to play a I, IV, V chord progression in the key of G on the blues scale I’m left with the following chords: G, C# and D
No quite sure what you mean.
The sound of the blues is essentially playing a minor pentatonic scale over a I, IV, V dominant 7 chord progression so in G you would play G minor pentatonic over G7, C7, D7. The so called blues scale adds the flat 5 to the minor pentatonic so the C#.
You can also play the G major pentatonic over that progression which would be a major blues (just drop whichever pentatonic box you are playing in at the time down three frets and you are playing the major blues). In fact you can mix up minor and major pentatonics in the same tune/jam.
Things can get even more interesting if you incorporate the major 3rd of whichever dominant 7
chord you are playing over at the time especially when playing the I chord.
edhornby
Subscriber
Nice choice rusty! If you have a Tele in the house then strats aren’t that different tbh so a semi acoustic with filtertron is the right call 🙂 hope you are well
I'm well mate, thank you! Just passed my degree course, so now qualified as a Nursing Associate, yay!
The guitar was a present to myself, it's lovely, but I think it's going back - issue with the bridge allignment. I'll get my tech to look at it and report back on Wednesday.
Bah.
What didn’t you like about the jag?
Guess they are quite idiosyncratic sound wise and the scale length feels small compared to
Most other things?!
I have a squier vm jag that I put fender AVRI jag pups in. Made a massive difference to the sound for fairly cheap.
Lovely for Marr style jangle or biting fuzz tones! 🙂
Quick poll to the electric players out there:
When practicing do you plug the guitar in?
And if so, to what?
I play most if not every day but 95% + of my playing (practice?) is done un-amplified.
I have an Orange Rocker 15 Terror that attenuates to quiet listening levels but my wife and kids have the hearing of a dog and I get moaned at. I have a Boss Tube Amp Expander that I use for recording that I can plug headphones into but that all seem like effort and I just end up picking up the guitar and playing.
When practicing do you plug the guitar in?
always
And if so, to what?
marshall jmp 100w head with a 4 * 12 cab
99% plugged in. I have a Yamaha THR10 and I can run it with a great sound at low volume or I can plug in headphones that are always next to it.
If I want a bit more mucking around I fire up the pedal board that has a Strymon Irridium preamp with a headphone amp on there.
A bit more mucking around and I have a pair of Stagesource FRFR speakers for a clean 1600W. Possibly overkill in my attic room.
The Yamaha is so easy and I have a £35 wireless system for the guitar. Simples.
Good question.
Most of the time I plug in to my Vox Amplug and then headphones, although i do sometimes plug into my practise amp (Fender Rumble) I've never played in any setting other than my frontroom so sounds, etc. are mainly a mystery to me, I'm interested in playing the right notes first and foremost
However, I'm also getting interested into possibly now adding maybe a chorus pedal for some different sounds. Could I directly plug my <span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Amplug to the output of a pedal?</span>
for many years, rarely to avoid being antisocial volume wise, now almost always but into a vox amplug ( headphone amp )
If everyone else is out, into a vox ac10 or a 40w fender blues deluxe - Luckily my only close neighbours are sheep
I use a Boss Katana Air which is perfect for just picking up for a quick play. Only wish it had a footswitch to flip between effects
@DavidB it was the Katana Air I started looking at for practicing purposes but ended up wanting (needing) a GT-1000.
So far no other un-amplified twangers. Is it just preference then or is there an advantage to practicing plugged in?
The sound. I love the sound of electric guitars with little bit of reverb and a delay.
Yeah I don’t really enjoy any of my electrics unplugged. Acoustic is apparently acceptable to Mrs SF but as above, I have a THR10 which is fantastic at low volumes.
One of these days I’ll get a nice loud valve amp. Need a new house With no neighbours attached first, though.
Quick question for the guitarists here...
Where's the best place to sell a guitar? I bought a guitar and amp last year then after a bit of practice I realised I have neither the patience nor the enthusiasm to practice enough to play anything even resembling a tune.
eBay seems the obvious choice but it's always a pain selling on there.
marshall jmp 100w head with a 4 * 12 cab
That’s a nice quiet rig : ) bet your neighbors have either been blown away or have moved away : )
I play into a 30w vox valve tronic amp. It’s got an attenuator on the back so it gives some valve break up at living room volume.
I also play through a zoom b3 pedal into the laptop if I’m playing along to something off I tunes or you tube.
@notmyrealname I bought a guitar recently From the fretboard. If it’s expensive or unusual I’d try there. If it’s a more reasonable price gumtree was good last time I sold a bass
That’s a nice quiet rig : ) bet your neighbors have either been blown away or have moved away : )
it's fine, with the preamp @ 10 and the master @ 1.3 ish it's no louder than i have music on my pc... lovely overdriven valve sound too boot. 😀
Quick poll to the electric players out there:
When practicing do you plug the guitar in?
And if so, to what?
Always plugged into a Scarlett 2i2 interface then into a PC running Bias FX2. I listen using a pair of JBL studio monitors or Bayer Dynamic headphones when I need to be silent. I don't have an amp anymore.
What didn’t you like about the jag?
The flatter radius of the fret board & weirdly even though it's a short scale it feels really long with the offset body
When practicing do you plug the guitar in?
Yes, otherwise I play my acoustic
And if so, to what?
Picked up a Fender Mustang I V2 recently to replace a 30 odd year old Squire 15. I love it, lots of different amp sounds / effects to play around with. I think I'll probably get a footswitch so I can switch between settings while playing 🙂
@rocketdog - that Jag looks lovely, if only I had some money! (although I really want a Jazzmaster)
Always plugin to play...to a Marshall JTM60 1x12 cranked upto 10 (mostly using the clean channel). I get away with this due to using a Marshall PowerBreak between the amp and the speaker which sucks up most of the output power and turns it to heat. I get to run the power-amp flat out while having managable volume levels.
I've been doing some headphone practice using either an HX Stomp or UAD amps which both sound great, but I'm thinking of going for a small valve combo like a Champ instead for that amp in the room sound.
I have a Princeton amp but it rarely gets switched on since I got my Yamaha NTX nylon electro acoustic. The real electriques don’t get much of an outing these days (but when they did I mostly played them acoustic...).
I also have a blackstar ID core thing i tend to use if I want to use the looper...
That jag, looks nice. And I’m even looking for one... I really want one in olympic white though (or sunburst). Hmmm....
Yeah I guess the jag can feel quite long. I had a Jazzmaster for years first and the jag seems short in comparison but the JM is definitely quite a long guitar!
@simomandbarnes if you’re patient, the Squier VM jazzmasters turn up on eBay for pretty cheap often. Not bad guitars, and if you pop some aftermarket pickups in there, they can sound lovely for not much money.
The jag is definitely it’s own thing compared to the jazzmaster. Sort of thinner and janglier and more biting when overdriven. There’s a decent comparison video I’ll try and find the link for
Edit
Here you go
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WD5bq33_EY0
https://singletrackworld.com/classifieds/advert/prs-22-se-standard-guitar-amp/
Stuck my guitar and amp up on the classifieds here if anyone's looking for something suitable for a beginner etc.
I'd steer clear of a Fender Champ, they're absolutely awful unless you crank them....at which point they do a pretty average blues valve break up sound!
Most of my amps are pretty loud sound only get used at gigs (even though I hate my neighbors so don't give a shit about noise 🤣)
My Egnater Rebel 30 actually sounds alright on the drive channel at home volume.... there's zero drive obviously, but it still sounds and reacts basically like a valve amp should. It's got a nice built in reverb too. I quite like the jc120 setting on my HX Stomp through my studio monitors too.
I had a 1969 Yairi Soloist classical guitar arrive today. Neck is wider than a paving slab, but I actually prefer wider necks. Fairly nice sound though, and a real bargain tbh.
I currently use my Orange OR100 into a 4x12 at home in my flat. Barely on, and use fuzz pedals with the volume down to get my distortion.
If (when) that goes back to the jamroom I'll use a 15W Randall MTS head into a 1x12" cab made from its old combo box. It's fine at home - I can get by without power tube saturation which I feel needs volume to make it sound right (ear-drum distortion too)
I'd agree with the above. My DT25 doesn't really sound right until its cranked a bit. The low volume mode is solid state 'flavoured' by the valves and just isn't the same.
The Irridium amp model power stages very well and I think the IRs help a lot with the overall tone especially at low playback volumes.
It certainly sounds great through the PA system at bedroom volumes.
Your ear's frequency response changes with volume, so my opinion is that it's impossible to get *that* sound at home. No point chasing it. Just accept something that sounds fine (which can be excellent) for home practice and get out to play with a band in a jamroom as often as you can!
Well, the Gretsch went back.
My local tech confirmed the bridge and possibly the neck was out of alignment.
The scary thing was I checked all the other Chinese/Korean Gretsches in the shop and about half had problems, to a greater or lesser extent.
Gutted, but to be fair PMT were superb, they seemed more upset than I was.
So, what to replace it with?
Something to complement an Ibanez RG550 and a P90 loaded Tele......
Still quite fancy something hollow, so possibly a Ibanez Artcore.
The PRS SE Hollowbodies look decent but £1000 for a production line Chinese guitar just feels wrong somehow.
Also going to have a look at Godin, carried by my local shop and always a classy build.
Wish me luck!
Gibson 356?
I have an Ibanez Artcore AS93 and would highly recommend it. Heads and shoulders above the Gibson 335 Studio I tried at twice the money. If you're used to the RG neck the Artcore neck won't feel too different as it is quite slim
@Rusty_Spanner - I'm just about to put my Artcore AS93 up for sale - very good (Immaculate) condition if you're interested. Selling because I've just bought an Artstar AS120 because I wanted a violin sunburst colour. Currently it's got a IronGear Blues Engine pickups in it, but I'd probably put the originals back in for sale unless a purchaser wanted them of course.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50146819131_b469d53097_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50146819131_b469d53097_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2jpiyeR ]DSCF1757[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/85556236@N06/ ]markwsf[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50147058792_0b1701efd8_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50147058792_0b1701efd8_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2jpjMtW ]DSCF1760[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/85556236@N06/ ]markwsf[/url], on Flickr
This is the Artstar by the way ...
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50099473098_ec0a20d34b_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50099473098_ec0a20d34b_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2jk7TUW ]IMG-2619[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/85556236@N06/ ]markwsf[/url], on Flickr
https://soundcloud.com/barry-dodds/stw-blues-jam
Browsing my HD this morning and found this from 10 years ago. The contributors are listed below. Would be fun to do another sometime.
DavidB 0:00 – 0:36
grieviuostim 0:36 – 1:11
stratobiker 1:11 – 1:48
lodius 1:48 – 2:26
earl_brutus 2:26 – 3:00
jond 3:00 – 3:35
hummerlicious 3:35 – 4:11
guitarhero 4:11 – end
Sounds good.
Im not a fan of semis but that Artcore looks beautiful.
Has anyone got any recommendations for online guitar learning?
I guess I’m somewhere in the intermediate wilderness. I had a go on the fender site. It seems aimed at rank beginners. I’ve got rocksmith which I enjoy off and on.
I’m happy ish to pay a bit if it motivates me enough to practice and improve.
Cheers
Martin
I tried an AS73 which played really nicely but sounded too muddy. All it needed was some better pickups so the AS93 is the one to have. I bought a black top Tele instead but the pickups whilst better weren't much good either so I put some Duncans in. With hindsight the 73 with the Duncans would have been a better choice.
YouTube Tall_Martin, if you like a song there's probably someone who's done a decent tuto for it.
Wow, yes, that Ibanez is beautiful.
If I didn't already have a blue-ish guitar, I'd have had that.
Hmm.
Still looking. 🙂
Hi Martin. You probably know this already but JustinGuitar is the usual recommendation and I like what Paul Davids does too.
Justin, you can get for free but I bung him a tenner when I'm particularly pleased with a result, some of Paul's good stuff requires a Patreon sub.
How about this ? A bit pricier than the gretsch but gives that vibe and other colours are available like a lairy orange which I quite like
Or an epi Casino (they also do the coupe at the moment which is a smaller body size) ?
They're nice Ed.
It's odd, I think the experience with the Gretsch has put me off a bit.
My local trusted shop has just signed up to be a Tokai dealer, so I might just wait for a bit 'till they get some stock in.
The Ibanez AS93 is a lovely guitar, I've played the non flamed top version, the 83 and it was nice. None in stock locally atm.
The one and only time I've bought by mail order I got very lucky, that was with the Ibanez RG550, it's perfect, but being Japanese I'd sort of expect that. I'd tried a few and they were completely consistant in build and feel.
It's such a personal thing, hollowbodies especially, that I might just hang on 'till I can sit down and play a few.
Still a few other options that float my boat - still have the Strat itch. 🙂
I love Ibanez guitars.
I have a 1981 AS100 semi-hollow. Amazing guitar, beautifully made and stunning tone. Very hard to find now in the second hand market.
For anyone wondering about a cheap guitar/amp set up and how it could sound listen to what £209 can sound like.
I'd not heard of this guy before, then a double whammy as he was interviewed by Andertons this week:
Fascinating vids, it's rare I watch one right through but the Captain interview was excellent. The Squier Strat was no surprise but that amp was. He comes out with some unconventional ideas but then shuts you up with the sounds he makes. How can you argue againt someone who reckons Plexis never sound the same from one day to the next when he can produce expensive sounds like that from cheap solid state amps. I've used an MG and rated it about the worst amp I've ever used on the drive channel. If my JCM ever sounds different I'm incapable of noticing.
Marshall MG's are the worst amps I've ever played!!! Hateful things.
My Egnater Rebel that I'm currently using at home during lockdown definitely varies sound on a day to day basis..... fairly sure it's got an intermittent problem though!
Dave is ace!
Check out the vids where he just goes for a walk around Louth with his family. Spot on. 🙂
As was the Halloween special.....
Love the 'All the tones you can get out of an Orange Crush' series too, man's a genius and a great advocate for talking about mental health.
In other news I am having very bad thoughts regarding ordering a new Gordon Smith........
In other news I am having very bad thoughts regarding ordering a new Gordon Smith……
Does not compute. How can there be bad thoughts about a new GS?
I’m really taken with the idea of a guitar from Crimson after following the YouTube channel. Top bloke.
@eddiebaby, Do it, I love my Descendant Raw.
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It was you posting that pic originally that got me following Ben on Youtube.
Not heard of Dave Simpson, despite living in Louth, so thanks for that. Some great guitar playing, and the Andertons interview is great too.
eddiebaby
Subscriber
Does not compute. How can there be bad thoughts about a new GS?
Er, maybe not a GS 😐
I HAVE played a GS and loved it, but.....
.....I'm seriously thinking of an S-Type.
Swamp ash, thinish maple neck, possibly a rosewood fingerboard. Medium jumbo frets, although I can get on with pretty much all Fender type necks, from vintage to modern.
Vintage style low output pickups, Switchcraft loom & CTS pots. Gotoh bridge.
My only worry is that as a relative beginner, it might be a bit OTT. But I get on with pretty much anything Strat shaped, none of the current Fenders have everything I fancy in one guitar and I like the idea of something handmade.
Sonic Blue or Shell Pink.
Any alternative ideas much appreciated, but apart from a G&L I can't see anything that comes close for the cash.
My SG fetish demands that I at least consider the Gordon Smith version, but I have a pre Wilkinson Vintage SG that I have plans to refinish, so that plan might be on hold for a while....
So have just joined the club and bought my first guitar andbefore i can even play it i am looking at ways to modify it 🙂
Anyone know some places that can make pickguards?
i want to change it from glossy to satin but dont fancy doing it on the existing one in case i ruin it.
What guitar? There are a million after market guitar part companies.
It's a Gibson Les Paul Jr tribute DC, and I can't find any.
Found a nice rosewood PU cover to replace the plastic one though.
Can recommend Jack’s Instrument Services who can make you anything you like. Made me a lovely hot pink scratchplate for my Patrick Eggle
Thanks, looks like he can sort one for me for sure.
I had a TCElectronic PolyTune3 delivered today, so as soon as i'de cleared the desk I banged it on the pedal board and fired it all up. The poly tune was great as we all know but it was so good for tuning the floating Floyd Rose where it is so easy to get the whole thing out of tune and end up going all over the place. Seeing 6 strings at one is brilliant.
I also took advantage of the house being empty to run my rig as a wet/dry set up with the Plethora driving my DT25 with the effects and the effects loop send running into the MojoMojo and Sunset overdrives into the Iridium and then in to a FRFR powered speaker.
Interesting sound and one that has a lot of possibilities to tweak. Sounded much better than running everything in stereo through 2 powered speakers.
Minor epiphany today.
These are the perfect size/ shape for storing guitar strings.
😛
Minor epiphany today.
These are the perfect size/ shape for storing guitar strings.
😛
(The solid colour versions are on offer at £1.50)
Nice spot!
Oh God, it's happened again.
I pick up one of the 9 of these to reach the UK tomorrow morning.......
.....top of the line MIJ 2019 Limited Collection Strat.
.....I couldn't help it.
Nitro finish on Alder, Modern C, Custom Shop '69's, 9.5 radius, hard case and a nice colour.
Pretty much everything I ever wanted in a Strat.
If the quality is anything like 'er indoors' Paisley Tele I'll be well chuffed.
Is excited.
I love Strats and that looks excellent. Very envious now. 👍🏼
If anyone is interested in learning or improving their guitar skills, my guitar teacher has a YouTube account, The Charlie James Music Page.
He teaches online over Zoom or Skype in any style and in my opinion is one of the most expressive players I have ever heard.
It's worth a look just to hear his version of Nothing Else Matters on classical guitar, yes it's probably been done to death, but not like this.😎
I love the song Wicked Game and YouTube threw this at me last night. The girl is a bit lightweight in my opinion but Rabea Massaa's solo is pretty epic.
I only know him from more intense stuff with amazing tone.
So have just joined the club and bought my first guitar andbefore i can even play it i am looking at ways to modify it 🙂
Anyone know some places that can make pickguards?
i want to change it from glossy to satin but dont fancy doing it on the existing one in case i ruin it.
Stop fussing and Learn To Play a damn guitar! All that upgrade stuff will suck yr drive to learn and the guitar will be another step closer to being an expensive ornament/monument to underachieving.
Just recently got my first (cheap) drum kit and practise pad. Promised self that won’t ‘upgrade’ anything for 12 months or until I can play. Caught self looking for a nice chrome ‘stick caddy’ online. Spent an hour on ebay and other places at least. Could/should have been practicing.
Sellotaped a Pringles tube to the rack. Now have stick caddy. I suppose my point is to be careful about getting sucked into upgrading/further purchasing early on - as it can and will be an involuntary excuse/distraction not to tackle the musical rudiments and playing techniques. Upgrading an instrument because it’s inferiority/unsuitability is physically impeding your progress is a different matter. But that’s usually more about fundamental stuff like hand-size vs neck-width, not ‘ I need to buy that 1960s Binson EchoRec otherwise I’ll never be able to nail that ‘Shine On...’ sound‘
Head’s up, knuckles down 😎
Source: Have played in bands/composed electronic music for decades - but realised late on I’ve been many times been thwarted by distractibility and what I later figured out were really ‘excuses’ and ‘if onlys’.
If only I’d practiced every day an hour a day.