Guitarists – if you had £500 for something new…

Well, the 6505 guy ghosted me and never gave the street address just as I had driven to Cumbernauld. Dick.

My Orange sounds amazing. Did try it out in a 3 at once setup along with a 200W Hiwatt stack and a original 60s SVT and 8×10″. Just the Les Paul, a Fuzz Factory and the splitter.

Hot damn!

Talking of P90s, I have a GFS Dream 90 (P90 in a humbucker case) in the neck of my Tokai Love Rock. Set up an anti tone-suck capacitor thing too so you can roll the volume right down and it won’t go all wooly. Great pickup, would recommend. Use a PAF in the bridge and can basically channel switch with the pickup selector

An update form my side of the fretboard.

I’ve been trying out new sets of strings lately. I’ve been using NYXL 10’s on most of my guitars for a few years, only really changing them when the G starts to look all tainted. And it’s been a while since thinking “change brands” so I ordered a set of Curt Mangham 10-48’s which I ordered from ThatPedalShow.

And so Friday I thought I’d not only change the strings, but give the Strat a set-up at the same time. I bought it in Mar, so I thought now would be the time to give it a once over.. I’ve changed strings 3 times over the months, I’ve played it a lot.

Well, I checked all the neck relief and saddle settings before i started (woohoo a spreadsheet created) and at least thought I’d have a base to turn to if i cock it all up.

Got some CS settings from Fender, which they happily obliged me with (thanks chaps) and set about the set-up.

I’m not that confident at neck relief TBH, nor saddle adjustments. I normally just set it up so the action is as low as I can get it without it buzzing…

So set about the neck relief, string buzz and intonation. I wasn’t that difficult TBH, way less challenging than I thought it would be. I thought I’d do it all then the thing would be all crappy and it wasn’t.. I had to wind off a bit of relief to bring it back up a bit but the saddles were pretty much all ok with the D and G needing a bit of wind off to lower it and thats it really.

Sounds a lot better with the Curt’s on, not sure if thats psychosomatic, or whether it does indeed sound better.. but the string are lovely and the tone does seem a bit nicer and mellower which is what I like.

So, I’m kinda saying.. don’t be put of setting your guitar up or having a go yourself.. It’s worth it if you run through the settings methodically (and create a spreadsheet 🤡)

I seem to have ordered a Yamaha CFS3M ‘travel’ guitar…

https://www.guitar.co.uk/yamaha-csf3m-vintage-natural#

I broke my arm (falling off a climbing wall) about 15 yo and it set slightly ‘out’ by a couple degrees rotation. That coupled with a previously dislocated index finger (fell off my bike in a motel car park in Utah) that isn’t 100% and can’t hold a b string first fret for C I’m trying it (literally) for size. I had a 50th anniversary FM(FG?)150 dreadnought but it was just too big/uncomfortable to play…

And under the £500 mark to boot!

Should arrive Tuesday… 🤪

Well this may be the wrong crowd to ask this question to, but here goes:

I have a 2003 Gibson SG Special faded cherry that I bought new in 2003. It’s nice, ebony fretboard (before they went to rosewood for a while) and I like the way it plays… when I play it. Which is incredibly infrequently as I mainly play my acoustic… which isn’t actually a great acoustic.

I’m considering trading the SG towards a Taylor and have seen a few second hand 300 series Taylor electro acoustic mahogany tops that I want to have a play on.

The question is: Am I daft? Will I regret it? How much will my son hate me when he turns 13? (he’s 1 at the moment)

Should I consider a 12 fret guitar? as there is one of these available (300 series mahogany top as well)

So the result of my visit to the shop today:

I went home with one of these: Taylor 322e 12 fret It just sounds great, looks lovely, got a decent deal on it and they gave me a good price for the SG.

That is a nice looking Taylor.. I’m sure you’ll get a lot of playing out of it and think more about what it brings you as opposed to what you should/how you should play it.

Lovely looking thing, I’m sure the SG will understand.

Christmas update: I decided against the stompbox in the end because I’ve realised that I much prefer playing my acoustic. Trouble is it’s loud (and I’m crap) so it drives everyone in the house mad.

I love how my cheap yamaha acoustic plays, so I’ve just taken the plunge on one of these (and it’s bang on the op’s original £500 budget). Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.

Ohhh.. review please 👏

Whoever recommended the G1on Zoom “thank you!”. I got it from Santa and cannot believe how good it is for the money. Now to properly learn Painkiller 😉

And the verdict on the silent guitar is…..

It’s bloody brilliant. It’s not silent , it’s actually pretty resonant for a guitar with no body (reviews claim its about 18% the volume of an acoustic guitar) but I can happily strum away in the next room without aggravating the rest of the house.

The best thing by far is the ability to plug in the iPad or phone into the aux and play along with stuff and with my headphones on I can be playing for hours (or until my fingers beg for mercy).

The “acoustic” sound is pretty damn convincing to my ears. And with one half of the body removed it  fits in a tiny case. love it.

Awestrum.

Tell me, what interface are you using to “plug” it into your iPad.. ?

but I can happily strum away in the next room without aggravating the rest of the house.

that’s not very punk! what ever happened to annoying the neighbours ?

“Awestrum.

Tell me, what interface are you using to “plug” it into your iPad.. ?”

Just using a 3.5mm jack from the headphone socket and into the aux on the guitar. You can adjust the input level to get the balance right.

any bass players on here to advise…..

I’ve been going about a year and I’m improving but I really struggle to cover a wide jump in frets. My little finger is virtually useless (a lifetime of GK and WK isn’t good for your pinkies), no strength to hold a string down and while I don’t particularly have small hands, my hand shape when I spread my fingers wide due to the shape of repaired breaks is more like a claw so doesn’t stretch as far as it might.

How much difference would a short scale bass make? I know I could go and try one but is it a case of keep going and it’ll improve, can I do hand stretching exercises, would a smaller radius neck help…….

Accidentally bought a 2012 squire VM jaguar last week

So, I’m kinda saying.. don’t be put of setting your guitar up or having a go yourself.

basic set up is a dawdle tbh, basically just go with the standard, then adjust from there, you’ll piss about for ages learn how different changes feel, but you’ll eventually settle on what you like. for example i like a bit more relief and strings a touch higher as i batter guitars.

Saves you money and once you do you can set up and intonate the guitar everytime you change your strings, so it’s always bang on for you.

It’s like setting up a bike, nobody can set it up better than you.

well, I sort of answered my question. I went in to Andertons and spent an hour or so bodging around on one of their Fender American Performer Mustangs and had a wonderful time. Far easier to play than my (only experience) Ibanez.

Sadly, I couldn’t stretch to the £900 for that but I’ve put an order in on the Squier version, due to land in March, for about 1/3 the price.

@theotherjonv Looks nice that. Same colour?

yep, it’s a gloss PU finish rather than the satin of the Fender, and the pickguard is flat white i.o. ?mother of pearl-ish? but I saw a 6 string gloss and although it’s not as nice in gloss, it’s still a cool surf green colour. The pic below is a bit too blue compared to in the flesh.

Nice, always fancied giving the bass a go but never got around to it.

SMJ Reserve Collection Guitar Straps

If you need a new strap then I can recommend these. Got one for Christmas and it’s really comfy, good quality leather end UK made and donation to charity as well, What’s not to like. I got the red admiral. Rather than just cheap polypropylene it uses car seatbelt style fabric and the pattern is stitched through.

I play a short scale Squier Jaguar bass and have the direct comparison with junior’s Jazz bass, theotherjonv. I find even a simple walking bassline a stretch on the Jazz and comfortable on the Jaguar. I tried a Fender Mustang and the Squier Jaguar back to back in the shop and prefered the feel of the skinny satin Squier neck. The P pickup in the Fender had a slightly rounder sound but the Squier P is fine, the jazz pickup in the Squier is feeble.

My only reserve about the Squier would be if you intend to use heavy strings suitable for drop tunings, the thin neck requires quite a lot of truss rod tension. Better buy a p-bass for that.

Cheers Ed. I’ll confess that a lot of that goes a bit over my head, drop tuning, string weights, etc. I get the bit about neck profiles and while I struggle to stretch my span of 1st to 3rd fingers particularly when I’m stretching to the first couple of frets, I don’t struggle to get them round the neck. From reading, and while I didn’t specifically play a Squier Mustang, and the neck profile isn’t exactly the same as the Fender, I’m comfortable that neck profile won’t be an issue.

Re sound – most of the time I’m through headphones and frankly at this stage I’m not sure my skill particularly is the limiting factor to the sound. And also without being ‘ooh look at me!’ if I suddenly got good enough to exceed any limitations of the equipment – I could then justify and afford a higher spec such as the Fender I played with yesterday.

Oof.

That’s a very cool looking bass.

And if it looks and feels good, you’ll play it all the time. 🙂

I can’t get on with full scale basses.
I had a Westone as a kid that properly put me off, just could not deal with the stretch.

I tried an Ibanez Talman 30″ recently and that was much better, enjoyed it very much indeed, although I do think your Mustang is very, very cool. Lovely colour.

Enjoy!

I once played bass, a very very long time ago and I wasn’t very good either. All I wanted to do was sound like Billy Sheehan… and my (then, brief) band mates hated me for it. Until I landed a gig with a band that sound like Treat (80’s Swedish Rock band) and I started down the route of sounding like Rudy Sarzo… We actually got some money for an EP and some pro-mo photos… and was about to meet someone “from the industry” about some gigs with a (then) good rock touring band..

Anyway, I played one of these… I’d almost forgotten about it.. Washburn B20 sunburst. Not my pic BTW.

That looks like a piece of sporting equipment crossed with an Eastern Block cartoon character.

I like it. 🙂.

I always wanted to be a bass player, but I hate cocaine and can
sometimes form coherent sentences.

Thomann do really REALLY cheap short scale basses, I’m half tempted to get one and report back but the cheapness is also slightly off-putting.

Jonv don’t be afraid to have the strap short and get the bass high, the straighter the wrist the more finger power you have

I’ve got the cheapest short scale Thomann bass, edhornby. I leave it where’s it’s needed so I don’t have to carry a bass around and don’t worry if it’s nicked (who’d nick it ? ). It’s fine. I added some more foam under the pick up to raise it and it now sounds nicely P. The neck is a bit fatter than I like, more P than Jazz. The finish of the neck is really good, frets tidied up nicely. The balance is awful, let go of the neck and it will plunge. I extended the top strap fitting a couple of cm with a block of wood to reduce the imbalance but it still plunges

Thanks Edukator (I wonder why a shortscale should dive so much? it’s a Pbass copy.. )

Because the neck is big, thick and heavy, and the body is small, thin and light. The proportions are nothing like a p-bass.

Jonv don’t be afraid to have the strap short and get the bass high, the straighter the wrist the more finger power you have

This is now going OT a bit from £500 to spend on equipment, so apologies but it’s really useful.

I’ve spent a few months noodling about (my explanation about how / why I decided on bass are a few pages back) and really I listen to interesting bass lines in songs and then try and work out the line or get a tab off the web and try to play it. I’m getting better – but I don’t know if I’m now also limited by technique which is where little comments like the above are interesting.

I’m now at the stage where i feel i should actually learn properly, and get a few lessons to fix bad habits / give me some direction; maybe get an understanding of set-up as well so i can see whether a different set up would work better for my physical limitations; and lastly I know about scales and arpeggios (I’m grade 7 recorder I’ll have you know!) and how they can be used to create walking bass lines so i could do with learning some of them – but what scales are the ones that would be most common / useful to start with.

(it’s not dissimilar to cycling is it – I mean, you can buy a bike, ride it out of the shop and onto the trails and have a load of fun, but to get good you need a visit to Jedi!)

Obviously getting some one on one tuition may well be worth the money though. And a set-up will definitely.

But as a skinflint, I’ve found that YouTube (e. g. I like Adam Neely – although he does cover more than just bass and some of it’s a bit ‘jazz nerd’) and spending time concentrating on the sound and the feel (am I moving fluidly? Where’s the buzz coming from? Why does my wrist hurt?!) have helped me come a long way.

Also look at Scott’s Bass Lessons. I think he’s good with helping out with the basics: form, patterns (this is really useful, shifting up and down the neck, playing in different keys, just learn the shapes).

Also, I’ve found playing with others, ‘in anger’, is massively beneficial. Probably the best way to sharpen up, work on improvising, and develop new skills and techniques.

My son and I have birthdays coming up and we share a pedal board.

Currently only have a few pedals, boss overdrive, honey pot fuzz, octave and looper.

So where next in our pedal journey? What should we put on our joint birthday lists?

Playing into a Laney cub valve amp so looking for analogue sonic craziness. (And we have reverb covered. )

Some sort of chorus pedal?

I’d recommend some kind of delay. You can do some fun things with them to get the self-oscillating.

Got a fuzz pedal kit as a Christmas present.
It’s a clone of one called a Fuzz War by Death by Audio.

It’s been interesting – had to learn/revise a lot since I haven’t ever done much with electronics before.

Progress is coming along nicely though (finished wiring now), but still haven’t had a chance to test to see if it works yet

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Building a fuzz pedal

A post shared by Craig Turner (@iamthebeerjesus) on Jan 14, 2020 at 1:07am PST

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Fuzz progress

A post shared by Craig Turner (@iamthebeerjesus) on Jan 14, 2020 at 1:32pm PST

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Further fuzz features

A post shared by Craig Turner (@iamthebeerjesus) on Jan 20, 2020 at 11:04pm PST

Just a little indiscretion in the shoppe..

Stop with that Gretsch! I DO NOT need another guitar!

That gretch looks mint 😀

It looks closer to a million dollars than £500 😂

@theotherjonv I had some bass lessons as an adult. Mostly to make sure I spent the week practicing. I didn’t want to fork out for a lesson as an adult and arrive to say “I haven’t done anything since last week”. As a result my playin came on loads. I was picking the things I couldn’t do, getting great advice and then actually practice the things I couldn’t do. Finding someone who you gel with makes a massive difference.

Well if we’re doing blue semi-hollowbodies…..

An ebay buy just before Xmas – now with Irongear Blues Engines in – I quite like it.

IMG-1597 by markwsf[/url], on Flickr

IMG-1667 by markwsf[/url], on Flickr