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I think there is going to be a shortage of disposable cash across all markets. I'm a prolific buyer but everything is going in hold for now.
There's also runaway inflation and your guitar is more likely to hold its value than cash in the banK. I've ordered an acoustic, demand is such there is no deleivery date, just sometime hopefully.
Try being a lefty. Availability is even worse 🙁
Been on the lookout for an Epiphone ES-335 lefty in Cherry for months.
After @Edukator's comment I thought about what I should sell and keep. I've been plugged in for a couple of hours using just the BOSS GT-1000 Core into headphones.
It is so easy to get a great tone, so plans to sell that have gone too. Makes realise how much stuff I've bought without fully utilising the benefits of what I already have. 😳
I’ve ordered an acoustic, demand is such there is no deleivery date, just sometime hopefully.
What have you ordered?
Yamaha LL16 sunburst. I tried an LL6 in my local shop, nice to play but it had that slightly dull laminate sound so I ordered the all solid version. The local shop gets my business even if I have to be patient, I've already got three acoustics so it's not as if I'm short of something to play.
Anyone looking for a Polytune Clip in Black. Was bought one as a present. Already have one.
Used once to show the giver how it worked.
Boxed, still with the plastic on the screen.
£27 posted.
https://www.andertons.co.uk/polytune-pedals/tc-electronic-polytune-clip-black
Yamaha LL16 sunburst. I tried an LL6 in my local shop, nice to play but it had that slightly dull laminate sound so I ordered the all solid version.
Nice looking guitar. They aren’t able to give a lead time? That’s unusual.
I don’t think I’ve ever tried playing a laminate next to a solid wood from the same manufacturer. Was it an obvious difference?
I'm going on the basis of trying other laminates/solid wood back to back, the shop didn't have an LL16 to try, if they had I'd have walked out with it.
The Indonesian Epiphone Texan solid I've got is obviously quite different to the laminate especially when strumming. The solid is clearer, better defined and warmer to my ears. I can strum it hard without it sounding messy. Still not much bass, for that I'd have to buy the American built solid wood Texan which is lighter built with lighter bracing.
I bought the Indonesian Texan (a Frampton) after trying a few exotic and not so exotic guitars in a big shop in Berlin, it came close to the exotics without the price ticket making me wince. The Martin (D18 or D28 I can't remember which) disappointed. the Gibsons didn't disappoint, but how much! I'll probably buy a j45 one day but for the moment it's the Yamaha that's on order, at least I won't worry about dinging it.
And no, no lead time, it's a frsutrating time for guitar shops, especially the small ones.
Been a bit hectic with work and breaking toes on the bike but I did squeeze a gig in a few weeks back and a bit more next week hopefully. Been tweaking the Tele (poor old Strat is feeling very neglected) and along with the delayed
install of the Twisted Tele pickups I fitted a black anodised scratch plate.
It was a perfect fit, a good price and delivered the next day. I can’t recommend Guitar Anatomy enough if you need bits.
I also completed the Tele setup with the nut slots deepened and polished and the neck angle and truss rod sorted. Plays like a dream and TBH I simply don’t want to bother with the Strat anymore.
Hope to use it live a couple of times next week darn Sarf…
Other than the hectic work and breaking toes that all sounds great Eddie 🙂
I've barely tried playing recently as I've got a buggered wrist. Did manage a few minutes this evening which was plenty of time to confirm that I'm rubbish at using a looper pedal 🤣
https://youtube.com/shorts/6Y_2gFulHvs?
Sounds good @simondbarnes - I love a bit of looping. Timing is the main thing that can make loops sound terrible, but yours seems good.
One thing I learnt recently about looping is that when you're laying down a backing track, less is often more. A full 6-stringed barre chord with a jangly tone can be too 'busy'. Try thinning it out by turning the tone down and playing fewer notes. Just IMO of course.
One thing I learnt recently about looping is that when you’re laying down a backing track, less is often more. A full 6-stringed barre chord with a jangly tone can be too ‘busy’. Try thinning it out by turning the tone down and playing fewer notes. Just IMO of course.
I will try and remember this for next time, cheers 🙂
I had some beer on the ride home from work and gave it another go this evening. The beer hasn't helped the timing at all. I watch the Normans Rare Guitars YouTube channel, Michael Lemmo makes it seem so simple!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/797r01h7lEc?
Nice looping, Simon. And well done for leaping straight into the lead bit. I usually (actually always) listen to the loop at least once to make sure it all joins up in the right place... 🙂
Is this time to feature my all-time favourite looping video. Not super flash, or technical, but a lovely example of looping done beautifully.
That is indeed lovely Chipps. I will keep practising 🙂
Nice work Simon. You keep improving.
There's only one decent looping video though
Nice work Simon. You keep improving.
Thanks. If I didn't have semi-permanently buggered wrists & hands I'd be able to manage more than a few minutes here and there and actually improve properly!
You're right, @eddiebaby - the best looping ever. I had one of those pedals and there's very little memory on them, so KT did a great job of wringing the best performance out of it.
This is a proper finger workout! They're ruined after a few minutes of learning 🙁
https://youtube.com/shorts/ZQOGSneJTDA?feature=share
I need some advice (along the lines of recommend what you use) for songwriting/production.
As well as taking my guitar down the local on a Monday or Tuesday night for a singalong with a bunch of other like-minded folk I want to play and record complete songs, rather than just messing about a bit here and there. I'm too old and not good enough to join a band, and don't realistically expect either of those to change (although I will stop getting older sometime...).
What I want is the ability to put down some rudimentary and fairly shonky drum beats and bass lines, a couple of guitar parts and then add some keyboard lines. So I looked at the Andertons website and my eyes were drawn to a couple of Midi 37 key controllers, Arturia Keystep (£159) and Novation Launchkey Mk3 (£179). Both come with Ableton Live Lite and deep integration with it. But when I called Andertons to talk it through the guy, Cam, from the Pro Audio dept seemed to be really good but thought I'd be better off with a proper synth and said the Korg Krome EX-61 £799) was what I ought to take a look at.
But that's a bit more than I want to pay for an experiment that I might end up not sticking at, and the MIDI controllers aren't stand alone instruments. And then I looked at the ridiculous £70 Carry-On folding piano that's stand alone but also has USB Midi and the ability to download loads of voices and percussion. And I can stick it in my suitcase and take it with me when I go to Vass for 2 weeks.
I've got a good enough Windows 10 laptop, Android phone and tablet, no Apple products at all, a Boss Katana Mk 2 amp and a USB mic. I've got a spare amp and speakers to use as monitors.
Help me decide!
Currently playing along with the hold music on the phone to an insurance company....😞. Get your practice whilst you can
I was hoping for a slightly more versatile solution than that bu I might give it a go. 😄
Oops, sorry. Kinda crossed post, but I can help a bit. Ableton will do what you describe and comes with lots of useable basic beats. I got a midi keyboard off gumtree for very little. I _think_ you can get Ableton live lite without a product purchase.
Yes, it's not the Ableton itself that is significant, it's the integration. The lite version is limited (though some of the best albums ever have been recorded on half that capacity) but at the start I think the restrictions will be beneficial and if I outgrow it, I must be doing something right.
So you can bounce multiple tracks onto another track which helps. You lose the ability to adjust the volume of those independently, but it can help. You could try reaper, but Ableton is probably better for what you describe.
I have a Novation Launchkey Mini (Mk2 I think) which is about £90 IIRC and comes with Ableton Lite which seems versatile enough. I've probably used it more with GarageBand, though, which is excellent for simple stuff. Obviously it's small so it suits someone who can play a line or two but is definitely not a pianist. It's got velocity-sensitive drum pads and various knobs that I've spectacularly failed to grasp but would be very useful for using live. Check out YouTube tutorials on the matter. That particular model is good because it's very popular so there are good instructional videos available.
The other option is that loads of old electronic keyboards from the 90s have MIDI outputs. A cheap one of those + a MIDI-to-USB cable (£8-9) might see you right if you can find the right software. I have no experience of using it, but Reaper is supposed to be like Ableton but is free to download and use.
If you don't have one, I'd thoroughly recommend a looper pedal for this stuff. I use mine way more than the Launchkey (probably because I prefer playing and am better at guitar).
i just got one of these bad boys (have wanted to get one for years now).
man it will take some practise to use but already it is bloody great what you can do with it.
I've had a few EBows over the years. I think I sold my last one on here. I use them for a while then sort of lose interest. They are fun but I currently prefer to put my effort into improving my slide playing. And that needs constant work...
@bigjohn - if you had an iPad or whatever, I'd suggest Garageband. There surely must be a Windows version? (I've just looked, and there isn't - here's a list of runners up though: https://producerhive.com/buyer-guides/daw/free-garageband-alternatives/ )
Do you actually want/need a keyboard? There are other non-keyed gadgets that might do the job. Something like Native Instruments' Maschine Mikro is a bit of a hip-hop beat machine, but it plugs into your PC, comes with enough sounds and functionality to put together some finger drumming and some bass and there you go for £200.
Something a little more tactile to look at is the Digitech Trio+ - around £200 or so. You 'teach' it your song by strumming chords into it, then it comes back with a suggested drumbeat and bassline in-key. You can alter the musical style and you can sew different sections together to make a whole tune. And it has a looper so that you can add more backing to your arrangement. It's a fun machine that's pretty simple to use...
It might surprise you to hear that I recently got one, Simon 😉
I did have the previous Trio, which was good, but it lacked a looper - and trying to use it with a looper didn't really work as the two would drift unless you got them spot on. The addition of the looper really makes it work well now.
There are many good demos online. I like the Mick Taylor/Andertons one, as they approach it (like I would) without reading the manual. If you do read the manual, though, you can see how to make a five part song and use a lot more of the deeper features.
Ok, maybe not my first thought but might be just right. I'll take a look
Something a little more tactile to look at is the Digitech Trio+ – around £200 or so. You ‘teach’ it your song by strumming chords into it, then it comes back with a suggested drumbeat and bassline in-key. You can alter the musical style and you can sew different sections together to make a whole tune. And it has a looper so that you can add more backing to your arrangement. It’s a fun machine that’s pretty simple to use…
Spark amp by Positive Grid has this. Play chords, riffs etc, it analyses and creates a backing track. Has different pre-set "backing musicians" based on genre
I've got a Boss RC-2 Loop Station surplus to requirement here if anyone's interested? Decent nick, loves the back wheel, not for faint-hearted, first 2 see will buy etc...
I wouldnt recomend Ableton to anyone a their first DAW - even though it is the best if you invest time and lots of money
Arturia isn't integrated with Ableton its just a controller - a very good one but not integrated
I'd just go with garageband
Little free tip for bolt on neck owners.
With everything tuned up release slightly the neck bolts nearer the bridge then slightly loosen the bolts nearer the neck. The neck should pull back as far as possible into the pocket hopefully increasing toan and sustain does move as I have to retune when I do it. The benefit may be psychological but it all counts.
Don't forget to totally tighten the bolts. And loosen them in the order I mentioned.
When the strings are on and tight I loosen the neck bolts and waggle the neck around till I get the strings the distance I like from the edge. I like the low E quite close so it's easy to get my thumb over and the high e further away from the edge so I can use a bit of vibrato without it falling off. Then tighten obviously.
Just been mixing and mastering some tunes for our new EP.
I went a bit Jonny Greenwood on the solo 😉
Here's one I just did - Physical Education by The Supermercados:
http://sndup.net/bxnt
Sadly almost no space to move anything in the neck pocket. Super tight but feels good so not tempted to drag away at any paint. Yet. 😉
@ajantom spent ages working out what that made me think of. For some reason I was transported to Stan Ridgway and Wall of Voodoo.
Nice one.
On a side note I was supposed to be working hardish to finish earlier this week but that was scuppered by Amazon delivering the CD of Jeff beck at Ronnie Scotts in 2007.
Brilliant.
Here's the full concert or skip to 42:45 for Joss Stone and People Get Ready.
Random question, I've got one of these, a digitek gsp 2101 studio tube pre-amp/fx unit..
I don't really use it aside from noodling about, are they worth anything these days?
Probably not really BUT Andertons did look st the recently. I haven't watched it though. They may slog it off or be positive about it.
Nice! I think I might have to keep it!
Good find on the video! teh volume pot on mine is a bit dirty and scratchy but it's otherwise fully functional. it has 2 tubes in it aside from the digital effects, so it seems like a serious bit of kit, the instruction manual is more like a book.
My old man bought me it for my 16th or 18th birthdady I think, and they were super expensive, about a grand if i recall.
Cheers @chipps 🙂
@eddiebaby - I'll take that, love a bit of Wall of Voodoo.
Here's another mix of a new one called Invisible Illness...
http://sndup.net/cpb8