Guitarists of Singletrack…

But think of the Twin Peaks theme tunes you could play!

JTV59, baritone tuning and soapbars. At the flick of a switch. Drop D as well.

I’ve learned always to use straplocks, Lord. Change a guitar mid-set, and if the strap has rotated it’ll jump off as soon as it’s loaded. Start messing with the voice mic (two hands needed) and let the neck drop (the Kingman is neck-heavy) and the strap might pop off. I’ve had straps I thought were secure pop off so if there’s any doubt I use a strap lock now. The strap grove in the Kingman jack socket is really shallow and I’d have dropped it sooner or later with no straplock.

If you know the strap is secure whatever you do it’s one less thing to go wrong/worry about.

What do you think of the Kingman? I’ve only had mine for a couple of months. It’s loud enough to accompany acoustic guitar and non-amplified voice and sounds pretty good plugged in. I can push my amp quite hard without feedback and the plugged in sound has a nice acoustic twang on the high notes. Downside is the very noticeable clatter of the strings – have you got round or flat-wound because mine is very noisy on slides and squeaks when I roll on and off strings (original strings).

I’ll do a vid when Madame goes out to illustrate the squeaks and clatter.

Edit: the squeaks and clatter may be less apparent from the front so doing a vid will be useful.

I like it to have besides me at home to quickly pick up and play and not have to faff around with amps if I want a quick break from work. Like you say, it is very neck heavy, but I do like the short scale nature of it, makes it pretty easy to play. Got mine about 12 months ago

I don’t find it quite loud enough with my playing style (fingers) at the folk club (in the function room of the local WMC) when i’m playing with 1…2..3..4….7 acoustic guitars (depending on how many join in.) Especially since during lock down when it’s been acoustic only nights with everyone sat in a circle. I can’t take a little amp like I normally would (or on electric nights, i’d plug into the PA) And I find that the tuner button gets knocked on when transporting it in the gig bag it came with and drains the battery down. Taken to taking the battery out when I don’t need to plug in.

Am still on the original strings – Dont find too much of an issue with clacking strings, obs a bit more noise on sliding, compared to my main bass – which has (heavy!!!) flatwounds (50-110 – in standard E tuning)

Well recording myself tells me it’s quieter and less clattery than I thought. It also takes some getting used compared with an electric bass as it’s so light and moves around when moving up and down the neck.

I reckon it’s better on 99 Luftballons than the arrangements I’ve tired to do for acoustic guitar though, the synth parts work quite well on it:

I like that. What’s the scale length?

770mm, that’s about 30″ in your money. 😉 That’s about the same as short-scale electric basses in the Fender range so it feels very familiar. I tried a Takamine with a 34″ scale which felt huge even for a bass. The Takamine was a little warmer/rounder sounding and the Fender a bit punchier. The Fender won hands down in terms of playability with a neck similar to a Jazz or Jaguar and lower action.

I hadn’t realised what a racket the 3-doors away neighbour’s karcher was making.

Very good – I liked that!

Thanks, fellow tennis shoe wearing bassist, STW is the only public that will ever get, 80s German pop isn’t considered cool in these parts.

In true blues style I woke up this morning. But then I deviated from the traditional path by doing some photoshopping.
After that I was back on track with the replacement Ditto X4 looper that arrived this morning after 7 weeks with TC trying to fix the old one.
What did we do before loopers?*

A simple acoustic groove in C, a sitar baseline and some resonator slide and the oodles of swampy jamming over top. All through the lovely THR10.
Life is good. As is coffee so I’m going to make some now.
Hope your day goes well too.

* Yes I had a Portastudio. And an 8 track and mixing desk. But loopers are just so instant. 😁

As requested – pics of the new purchase…

And good work on 99Luftballons… I struggle to remember the lyrics in English. One of my fave tunes from the eighties.

@chipps-schwiiiing!

@Edukator the song works so much better in German. The third verse especially has so much rhythmic emphasis (99 Düsenjäger, Jeder war ein großer Krieger, Hielten sich für Captain Kirk, Das gab ein großes Feuerwerk) that the english version lacks and makes it almost unlistenable in comparison.

Hi all, just found this thread, some beautiful guitars! Have a few knocking about just now, go to one being the Gristlemaster, such a fantastic guitar for the money.
Left to right – Taylor GS mini – Westbury Standard – Shecter Nick Johnston – Reverend Gristlemaster – PRS Custom22 SE

I just bought another. After a year of bass twiddling and plentiful enjoyment but little ‘progress’ my attention has turned as well to the very cheap Strat copy that we got my son some years ago a bit on a whim.

And then based on this thread and other musings I thought something that looked a bit better, and was maybe made a bit better, so it would look nicer on the wall and encourage me to play that too…… I’ve just received a Harley Benton Les Paul copy.

I’m learning chords to strum, a little bit of soloing (but strings are far harder to find than my bass ones, so I’m very Eric Morecambe-esque right now) and also trying to figure out how barre chords work….. I should be able to do them but they sound tripe currently!!

The muscle memory will come with practice. Find yourself a few tunes with ALL the chords in (like House of the rising sun or Comfortably Numb) and you’ll soon stop sticking your tongue out while aiming for chord shapes

Talking of Portastudios – apparently they’re back in vogue again! You can’t find one for under £300… Even though you can do way more digitally…

https://reverb.com/news/the-tascam-portastudio-through-the-ages

Find yourself a few tunes with ALL the chords in (like House of the rising sun or Comfortably Numb) and you’ll soon stop sticking your tongue out while aiming for chord shapes

Or join a Status Quo cover band.
Nice wall of guitars there @Brake-neck.

@theotherjonv nice looking LP there. I really fancy one og the Explorers they released earlier this year. They’re a bit too raaawk! for me though.

Jonv – try not to press the strings too hard, a skill I have to keep reminding myself of 🙂 good old youtube (justin guitar) has lots of tips on getting changes smooth but regular practice helps the most.

Nice guitar chipps, I’m not a fan of white guitars normally but I like that you can see the grain 🙂

I’m not _that_ into white guitars either, but I realised I’d sold many of my colourful ones and was left with black and brown (and orange and purple) so I thought white might be a good shout. It’s a super-thin, eggshell finish that seems to wear quickly, which I’m fine with.

I should be able to do them but they sound tripe currently!!I should be able to do them but they sound tripe currently!!

I you’re playing chords on a Les Paul, theotherjonv, have a look how Billy Gibbons, Pete Townsend, Malcolm young and Steve Jones play them. You’re probably using too many fingers and too many strings. 2-3 fingers and 3-4 strings, and mute the strings you’re not using either with your thumb or the fingers you’re using for the chord by nudging the string above and resting on the string(s) below.

Playing solos I find it easier if I rest my hand on the bridge/low E when playing high strings and tuck my little finger under the ash tray on a Telecaster or the pickup cover/high e on anything else. You’ll soon find the strings.

I’ve already ordered a new wiring harness for the Les Paul – to replace the surprisingly(?) shonky PCB job that’s in there. Booked it in for a set up too. I usually do my own, but I’m happy to share the love/cash over lockdown and my guitar tech guy needs the work. Plus, he’s way better than me at it 🙂

Does everyone work on their own guitars? Or is it off to the shop for fitting new strings/pickups and the like? I find I enjoy the tinkering as much as the playing…

I usually work on my own stuff. If anyone sends their guitar to a tech for new strings then I really wonder what is up with them or their guitar.
I am very cautious about truss rod setup but beyond that I’ll do anything short of a re-fret although I don’t have fret files for some sizes so re-crowning isn’t always possible and I can’t be arsed to buy any more files.
And I cant find my nut cutting files so if I bought something secondhand now I’d get someone to do the nut work. On a new guitar I’d raise the question in the shop and would expect it to be set up by their in-house tech before I took it home.

Does everyone work on their own guitars? Or is it off to the shop for fitting new strings/pickups and the like? I find I enjoy the tinkering as much as the playing…

Happy to change strings but not done much else.

My Tokai 335 copy is in the music shop to gettheshonky selector switch sorted and full set up (so they will restring it this time… 🤪). My excuse being I don’t have a soldering iron…

Does everyone work on their own guitars? Or is it off to the shop for fitting new strings/pickups and the like? I find I enjoy the tinkering as much as the playing…

Yep, love working on guitars and have never taken one to a shop but then I have never taken a bike to a shop either. Fitted a push/pull pot last weekend to coil split a humbucker but I am crap at soldering and don’t have a great understanding of wiring but that never stopped me.
Guitars are pretty basic things and pretty much everything can be done with a quick Google although saying that I probably wouldn’t try a refret although I have done a refret on a bass to make it fretless and that turned out well.

That’s an ‘unfret’ surely? 🙂

I’m stil a total beginner at playing but love working on the old mystery guitar I bought, currently waiting to get it to a pro to refit the neck but doing everything else myself
And being tempted by a kit to build a semi hollow electric at the moment.

That’s an ‘unfret’ surely?

I typed defret but the auto spell corrector keeps changing it, usually to “secret”

I’ll do basic stuff like string changes and action and changing the tuners is pretty simple (usually the worst thing on cheap guitars) but I don’t own a soldering iron (!) so I leave the electrics alone. If it has cheap switches and pots I’d get those done and set up by a pro because it’s like a good mechanic at an LBS, contributing to the economy, and the time spent doing other stuff.

I do everything except make the parts. I’ve done a partial refret on a rose wood acoustic but I’m not sure I could face a total refret on a Maple fret board, especially when Fender/Warmoth necks are such good value for money. I file my nuts lower than standard, barely higher than if it were the next fret.

I have a strong preference for bolt-on necks because they are so easy to set up. I have an acoustic which is an example of what I don’t like about glued neck joints. It’s warped slightly, not surprising on a 30-year-old guitar what with string tension and living in a humid climate. Once the action and neck relief are set right the deck height is too low, and I don’t fancy trying to get the neck off to correct it. Sounds great, plays shit, not worth enough to get fixed by a luthier, firewood?

Might be worth a quote though. I’ve had a couple of guitars I liked, that didn’t play that well transformed by a luthier. My Japanese Strat had a 7in (or even tighter) radius rosewood board and skinny frets. I got it refretted and the board sanded to a 10in radius – it’s now a fantastic guitar and well worth the money I’ve sunk into it. Yes, I could have sold it and put that £200 and the £200 refret money towards a new guitar, but that wouldn’t buy me a great sounding ’90s Japanese Strat…

To my mind and skill/tool set guitar fettling / maintenance is quite binary.

Fretwork of any description, anything to do with the nut, any ungluing = give it to a luthier

Everything else = easy, adjustable (mostly) reversible including electrics, acoustic bridges, strings, hardware etc.

This means that the stuff I am happy doing is probably what’s useful 90% of the time. The other 10% requires expensive tools and practice.

Having said that I want to make my own guitars and it feels like a cop-out to just buy a neck so one day when I’ve got more time etc etc..

Does anyone else have a Trio pedal ?
I’m loving mine and would love to hear of anyone’s tips, tricks etc.

IMG_3296 by markwsf[/url], on Flickr

I’d be happy to invest in a Japanese Strat, my acoustic is an 80s Sigma-Martin dreadnought. Sanding the neck is one of the things I’ve considered, it’s got plenty of meat in it and needs the truss rod far too tight to get the relief right. Taking a few mm off the head end and sanding flat with the truss rod tight would help both issues.

Edit: just had another look at it, this thread is motivating me.

There’s a good video on That Pedal Show where Mick and Dan get their fave guitars fixed up. Mick ends up sanding the fingerboard on his Strat and suddenly it’s playable again. Worth a watch.

markwsf – I had one of the early Trios – without the looper. It was probably the difficulty of setting it up with a looper that made me sell it again, so you’re one step up. I currently either loop or just noodle to Youtube backing tracks…

I did some work on my bass yesterday – much better now

And for those of you lefties – Andertons are doing a run of Danish Pete Telecasters

I currently either loop or just noodle to Youtube backing tracks…

I’m having fun playing over the recent Paul Davids track that he had those ten guys do a short solo. You can download a long version of the backing track free from his patreon site.

I think I learnt a lot for working on the stuff the assorted guys laid down. Chris Buck even does a guide on how to play his solo and includes a tab for the bits I couldn’t work out. Always good to try to copy someone elses technique and see what you can steal.

I’m a bit late to this party. Hardly ever look in the Chat forum. Primarily a bass player but started many years ago on guitar and still occasionally pick it up. Used to play Bouzouki and Mandolin in a folk band but spent the best part of the last twenty years playing bass and backing vocals in a Grunge/Alt Rock covers band. Do most of my own set ups and repairs unless it requires the skills of a proper luthier and tinker with basic amp repairs.

Any thoughts on audio interfaces to use on a Mac with Garage band? I’m thinking of setting something up to record me playing so I can hear where I need to improve.

Was thinking about something like this
Behringer UMC22 Computer Audio Interface https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FFIGZF6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_Wj.RFb5411HQP

Alternatives?

That Berry unit looks fine for what you want.