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Trying to learn some Rory Gallagher but not making a very good job of it so far.
Maybe the arrival of a Strat at the weekend will help 🙂
I have an MIJ Strat - bought it last year for about £400? It's a Candy Apple Red 80s e-series one. nice guitar, especially once I put an SD Quarter Pounder in the bridge.
The one thing I've found (and a guitar playing friend who is much more skilled with me agrees) is that they are a bit harder to play than the LP necks I'm used to, just feel like I have fumbly fingers.
On an aside, any love for Parker Flys here? I love the idea of the originals, with the carbon fibre monocoque construction etc Never played one though and they are pretty pricey used!!!
On an aside, any love for Parker Flys here?
Played one in a shop back in the 90s for ten minutes and it felt super light and comfortable. I had the cash in my pocket but never did buy it. I tried a Steinberger headless about a year later and in that case went away to get together the money for it but they sold before I got back the next week.
I think the Fly is a remarkable guitar but it wasn’t really that grabbing to me.
This morning I somehow found exactly the sound I want for the James Tyler. No Battery in it for the Variax just the normal pickup into a Mojo overdrive with almost no drive, trble boos and a bit of bass cut and then into a very lightly drive clean amp on the THR10 with a little bit of delay, a tad of tremolo and a hint of spring reverb.
It is very touch sensitive with the vol rolled back to 3 and just driven enough at full volume and the pickups, solo and in combination, sound great.
If only I had separate volumes for the neck and bridge PU.
Oh and it sounds great on the cleaner end of the range with a Sus4 chord purring away as it lightly distorts.
A lovely man made a delivery today and I now appear to own this beauty

He has also loaned me this insanse pedal board. Cheers @chipps 🙂

That all looks pretty awesome Simon. 👍🏼
That all looks pretty awesome Simon. 👍🏼
It's lovely to play 🙂
Sounds great, Simon. Suits you.
I’m also glad you resisted turning all the pedals on at once so we could hear the guitar 🙂
I’m also glad you resisted turning all the pedals on at once so we could hear the guitar 🙂
I try to be a good neighbour after 9pm 🙂
Dave’s Blues part deux has hus5 popped up there:
He makes it look so easy!
Ace, I was wondering when Dave would get round to part 2 😁
This is quality, giving it some love on a classical guitar, sounds bloody amazing. Me and my 83 year old Dad are currently working on a Hotel California duet, adding some blues to our Wednesday Skype session just makes it even more awesome.
This guy is a Legend. 😎
Anyone found a good source of appleloops for garage band? I’ve got the drums side sorted thanks to learning how to edit the virtual drummers properly but my attempts at bass lines are a bit lacking.
And I still can’t get over how good an iPad Mini and Yamaha THR10 sound for recording. 😁
My old chum Cliff has started putting more videos up for his 633 amps. I worked with him at soundcraft on mixing desks. We both ended up moving on, but he set up his own boutique amp company (was chief design engineer at Blackstar inbetween). He was the analogue guy, I'm a 0's and 1's guy. We were clueless about each other's domains but it was great fun.
That does sound rather lovely.
It does, great advert for whatever that Telecaster is too. The sound at 3:14 with the EL84 is most satisfying, like a cranked Vox but at a bearable volume. Both my valve amps use EL34s which are sometimes a bit OTT. Tremelo sounds naff mind, too much especailly with the LP.
Ooh. Nice amp. I remember when 633 came out. Glad to hear they’re still around. Loved the thinline Gibson ES125TC(?) in the middle and the Jeff Beck at the end...
There was nothing on YouTube for a year, then 3 videos in as many days. Perhaps he got bored in lockdown!
@Chipps it's a '53 ES225 according to his Instagram
I'm still playing around with the Dave Simpson how to play the blues part 1 lesson (although I haven't re-watched it since first seeing it, just trying to play from memory). I have no idea if I'm improving, I always think I sound rubbish! Going to have a go at part 2 later 🙂
That Strat's sounding better and better! 🙂
Keep at that blues and you'll have it nailed. You just need to practise so that the mechanics are solidly under your fingers and you're bored with it, and then you can work on the timing and feel.
The guitar will never be the problem, only the person holding it. I'd love to hear a proper guitarist play it sometime 🙂
Sounding great Simon. The new guitar magic is showing through.
Just a thought, maybe drop the reverb slightly and add a bit of delay synced to the track tempo. The echoes will give you a guide to timing without the full backing track being there.
Cheers. I'm still trying to work out how these work 🙂

Always wanted an El Cap. Very nice.
Always wanted an El Cap. Very nice.
It belongs to Chipps
Having a go at part 2 of Dave's blues lesson today 🙂
Nice one Simon.
I traded a bit of design work for a pedal yesterday so I'll record something over Dave's backing track and post it later youll be able to guess the type of pedal by the overuse...
Looking forward to it 🙂
I really need to work on my bends. I can hear when they get to the right pitch, I just can't make my fingers do it consistently.
I got lost in beer and my new pedal and whilst it is crap I will post it as I said I would. Don't drink and pick chaps. I'll put some faster tempo stuff up tomorrow.
https://soundcloud.com/user-85082023/beer
Crap? It sounds great to me! I would love to be able to play like that 🙂
Thanks Simon but all I can hear is all the fluffs. No beer next time 😁
Another Bass question if I may? Any thoughts on the Ampeg Micro-CL Bass Stack
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I’ve got a couple of Fender Rumble modelling amps, but the sound is quite muddy IMHO.
I’m looking for a cleaner sound at lower volumes. Any thoughts?
Markbass amps just work for me, great on their own or I use a HX stomp to model what ever I need in the bass world
Wow. I just tweaked my thing from yesterday and I've had two emails from people offering to give it some heavy airplay on their internet station and promote it for me.
I haven't been so surprised since an outrageously stunning woman wanted sex with me. Just like these music 'promotors' she spoilt it by asking for money...
Having used both Fender Rumble and Markbass I didn't find either muddy. The modeling Fender 800 stage had some very nice clean models and the 200 was clean with low gain, master well up and the overdrive off. I found the clean sound I wanted in less than a minute with both Markbass and Fender.
Anyone good with iOS Garageband?
I have most things sorted now, especially after the tip about learning to edit the drummers and am happy with the automation of track volume but can I do this with other parameters?
I'd like to alter Pan, Reverb and Delay levels.
Here's a thing: I've an electric guitar (Harley Benton PRS copy); cheap, but I'm loving playing it - especially since swapping the Roswell P90s for Kent Armstrong noiseless P90s - which cost about the same as the guitar.
It's got quite tall frets, so I had to learn not to press down so hard to stop the notes going sharp. For the last year since getting it I've been playing sat on an upright chair. Last weekend I got a new sofa bed for the spare bedroom to turn it into my music room. So yesterday evening had a great hour or so playing on the sofa. And the note-sharpening came back. Is this just because I'm leaning back more and my fingers are feeling the force of gravity acting down towards the fretboard?
Or should I just swap it for a Telecaster?
Or should I just swap it for a Telecaster?
No, you should buy a telecaster to go with the HB. Funds permitting.
On a similar note (see what I did there), what Telecaster for the adequate guitarist who's got a PRS SE semi-solid, a pointy Yamaha thing and a Les Paul Studio that I'm likely to sell?
Likes playing rock, blues and 80s hair metal (badly). Budget not really an issue, but is there any point spending £1500 on an American Performer II vs £350 on a Squier?
I'll probably wait til I can try some out, but interested in the STW views.
I’d like to alter Pan, Reverb and Delay levels.
Can all be done on the ipad version of garage band. In the tracks view, click on the icon which has 3 sliders on it. You can then click on each instrument/ track. That then shows options for panning, compression, eq, delay, reverb plus other plug ins
I have a squier classic vibe, it's surprisingly good, I can't see the bonus of a mexican one over a decent squier and I'd have to REALLY like a full american one to justify upgrading. They also have a very big cavity under the neck so you can get creative with pickup change options if that's your thing (but the whole point of a tele is the pickup configuration especially that bridge pu). There are probably ones available s/h as they are pretty common.
EddieBaby, that's awesome well done 🙂
I've got a TC Electronic 250 2x8 bass combo @oldtennisshoes - it's very small, loud enough for a pub jam night and sounds great. Not too pricy either.
Can all be done on the ipad version of garage band. In the tracks view, click on the icon which has 3 sliders on it. You can then click on each instrument/ track. That then shows options for panning, compression, eq, delay, reverb plus other plug ins.
Hi Bob. Yes I can see and use that but with the volume I can automate changes of levels as the song progresses. I'd like to be able to do that with with other parameters.
Maybe I'm asking too much of a stripped back (but still very useable) recording device.