just been yapping with my daughter. shes stated that she'd prefer to learn on electric as shes read its easier on her fingers as she has arthritic joints. and more importantly if we're going to source one for her.... shes left handed! 😀
i assume shed be better off getting a left handed guitar rather than learn to play 'cack-handed' yes?
I don't think electric is easier, what you do get is many acoustic guitars aren't set up right, they come from the factory with a high action and should be set up by the shop for the customer, and if they not that makes them hard to play.
If you look online somewhere like Andertons, you can select left handed as filter to get an idea of what is out there, they probably have starter packs for electric with guitar, amp, cable and strap, although I would probably steer away from the very cheapest starter packs.
I think an electric guitar is easier on the fingers, but that's mostly down to the string tension. Lighter gauge, and with some types, a shorter scale length. Also the action is often lower (height of strings above the frets) which can be difficult to impossible on some acoustics.
One thing to watch is neck (nut) width. Some prefer wider, some narrow. Go to a shop with a ruler to find what's best. Also vintage electrics (like '57 reissues') have more rounded fretboards (7" radius rather than flatter 12") which are easier for forming chords.
I bought a £200 PRS copy from Thomman during Covid and it's absolutely fine from a playing point of view so you needn't spend a fortune.
They've got some lovely looking left handers in stock for under £200
I'd echo that it's generally easier to play an electric than an acoustic. I do a lot of playing at home on an unamplified electric rather than my (lovely) parlour acoustic. I have a mahogany bodied Yairi GF-1 which is a dark-sunburst 'blues' acoustic, but I'd much rather noodle around on an electric. It's just easier on the fingers.
And if you do get a semi-acoustic, like a 335 or PRS Hollowbody, there's enough acoustic volume to play along with the YouTube without needing an amp. I'd start that way first and add a headphone amp and finally a practice amp. When you're starting out, you rarely want everyone to hear your wrong notes amplified. I'd reckon spend more on a guitar and not worry about you about an amp until later.
That was fun, picked a few off the rack, narrowed it down to two, and then sat in the little test room and played them side by side. A Fender and a Sigma, and when both were played side by side we all agreed (mum came too) that the Sigma played and sounded nicer - warmer, more resonant.
The one we liked was the electroacoustic version (000MC-15E) with Fishman preamp, so deposit has been put down - wife's contact wasn't in - and will finalise next week. It's over budget but after he played it (and I'm taking back my 'reasonably well' - he's actually pretty good) we'll find the money somewhere.
i assume shed be better off getting a left handed guitar rather than learn to play 'cack-handed' yes?
Guitars are one of the few instruments that come in left handed versions and as you use both hands to play guitar (with the fretting hand arguably doing the complicated bit) I don’t understand the point of them. I’ve got a few left handed staff and they all play guitar right handed. My son has just started learning right handed despite being leftie.
Incidentally I’m now doing beginner tennis with him left handed because it’s easier for us to match and my right shoulder is a bit faulty.
I think if you learn left handed you then have a future of far fewer guitars you can play and far fewer to choose from when shopping.
I’m sure some lefties will get annoyed with me at saying this but show me a left-handed piano or someone playing violin, viola, cello or double bass left handed!
Mark Knopfler is famously left handed but plays right handed. Actually, come to think of it, I'm left handed and play right handed, but I don't think I'm very left handed... I write left handed, but that's about it... There are 10x more right handed guitars out there.
Mark Knopfler is famously left handed but plays right handed. Actually, come to think of it, I'm left handed and play right handed, but I don't think I'm very left handed... I write left handed, but that's about it... There are 10x more right handed guitars out there.
That’s interesting about Mark Knopfler as he has really unique and amazing right hand technique!
I just looked up electric guitar for sale on Reverb. There’s 73,000 on there but only just over 1000 are left-handed! So it’s closer to 100:1 than 10:1
I know as a right-handed bassist I’ve only had a few moments over a few decades of encountering a bass that’s the wrong way around for me to be able to play it.
@chiefgrooveguru - nice pedalboard 😉
Liking The Machinist pedal(s) 😎 I'll show my bass player the pic as he's a massive RATM fan.
Here's my gig board - DIY job, designed to be a specific footprint to fit in a briefcase sized flight case, with a built in li-ion battery power supply (it'll do about 8 hours on a charge).
lefty guitarist (and bassist) here I can only agree with Chipps and Alex CGG - left handed people should play a standard guitar because of availability and practicality. Despite the planet being about 15% lefthanded, that doesn't make for 15% of the guitar buying population wanting a lefty. ebay and reverb are therefore just really cheap that have been tried and moved on, or eyewatering expensive from pro's letting stuff go.
The reason I don't play righty is because I found I was 'lefty coded' for some reason I just could not fight the instinct to play lefty. And because I already played other instruments I self-taught on a lefty, which makes the majority of the lefty players, because any new starters (esp children) will be given a righty by the teacher as default.
Add Duane Allman and Gary Moore and Guy Pratt to the 'lefty not lefty' list
Interestingly my brother is right handed, does not play guitar and does lefty air guitar, which is really weird
any advice on a first proper acoustic guitar for my soon to be 19yo lad.
My lad has just upgraded his classical guitar. Got one of these on the advice of his teacher.
Admira Concerto - Admira Guitars - Traditional Spanish Guitars
He really likes it and it sounds a lot better than his old one.
Here's my gig board - DIY job, designed to be a specific footprint to fit in a briefcase sized flight case, with a built in li-ion battery power supply (it'll do about 8 hours on a charge).
That’s a much more practical board for going places! The battery power supply is a cool idea because it removes all the changes of mains and power supply noise and no need to get mains power across to the front of the stage.
I have a nice gigbag for the pedalboard I got in the year 2000 so with this new board I went as big as would fit in the gigbag, so I could have things more spaced out to minimise the chance of mis-stomps. When I manage to pin my bandmates down for a recording date I’m intending to track everything live so I need to be on it with my stomping!
I’m going to record wet and dry signals in case of mistakes and so I’ve got more flexibility when mixing but the bass rig will be bleeding into the drum mics so there’s not a lot of wiggle room.
Reverb (the buying/selling site not the effect) - what a pile of poo! At least the return and refund process is ☹️
I've only ever bought 2 things from there, the first was fine, but the second was so poorly packed (a midi foot pedal wrapped in a shopping bag!) that it was, unsurprisingly, damaged.
Now the whole returns process is down to the seller accepting a return, then the buyer (me) has to buy the return postage and try and get a separate PayPal refund from the seller. Then the seller has to confirm receipt of the returned item, and then authorise the refund.
If, like in this case, the seller is dragging their heels and doesn't seem to want to actually do the refund, then you're shit out of luck.
Reverb customer service is just an AI bot that takes you round in circles 😡
TLDR - Don't try and get a refund on Reverb if you value your sanity.
Hmm.
Gotta say that all my many (many) Reverb transactions have been fine. Sad you got a bad one.
Happy to see the thread I started is still getting traffic.
I'm not here too much these days, still cycle but just the 5 mile each way to work and the occasion gravel trip on my singlespeed. Did have fun on Sunday on the Ash Ranges in the sun.
Cut my old pedalboard down to suit my new light gigging setup.
The M-Vave chocolate switcher just swaps between increasing gain amps in a given bank and banks for general use, blues, blues rock and heavier stuff. The three buttons on the Player are usually set up as 1 for drive/boost/fuzz, 1 for modulation and 3 for delay/reverb. the 1+2 combo and 2=3 combo settings usually switch modulation effects. The FS-7 top switch triggers morphing and the lower one is tap tempo. All fairly easy to remember.
I have another PRS SE, this one is a Seth Myers Limited Edition Quilt and it feels and sounds great. It will be getting a set of PRS 57/08 pu's from my Bernie Marsden as that is getting a set of Bare Knuckle PG Blues.
Seth Myers with a wraparound compensated bridge and new locking tuners:
Berni Marsden with locking tuners, Mannmade bridge and PRS 57/08 pu's
All fun...
Zach Myers surely! I have one too.
Strandberg is still going strong, it's my e flat tuned guitar.
I also have a Zach Myers SE. It's an older one in trampas green
Damn! Lucky I didn't say Mike Myers. 🙂
Love it. Light and very toneful. Its a 2014 made in WMI Korea and I think thats the high water mark for SE production. It comes with recessed control cavity plates that the Indonesian guitars dont and a higher grade of build in general. (After 11 years I got this one and it still had the ptective film on the covers...
Glad you're still loving the Strandberg.
I too have a Zach Myers - we all have great taste (obviously!)
Mine's upgraded with Hipshot locking tuners, nicer colour knobs, and a P90 as the neck pu.
Another happy PRS SE owner here. A Hollowbody SE (with obligatory locking tuner upgrade...)
I do also have an S2 Vela, which is awesome in different ways. And a McCarty... er.
Some guitar music - but not as you know it 😉 improvised pieces, recorded in one take with no edits.
Guitar > Hotone volume pedal > Hotone octave/pitch > TC Electronic Magus Pro > Tech 21 Sansamp > EQ Devices Arpanoid > Mooer Ocean Machine II
+ bonus track where I processed the guitar through a MicroKorg and effects.
Any recommendations for a My First Looper Pedal?
I know zero about these, Tyred Jr is after one and his birthday's coming up. Don't want to spend a fortune, and I'm relaxed about him finding it inadequate after a while. What's half decent for 100 quid or a little more?
The new Mooer GL100 is £110 from Andertons and has some pretty good drums built in according to the reviews. Might be a bit complicated for a first looper but if he’s young he’ll probably get on with it super quick. It’s only us old men that have to read the manual!
Perfect, thanks Winston!
The Thomann/Harley Benton one is £42 or so and has three memories. The only quirk I've found is that the volume level knob turns down the 'live' guitar too (so it's just a volume control for everything, which is bonkers...) so just leave that up and learn to record quieter guitar in the loop.
The 'original and best' Ditto now has a Mk2 out too, that's £89. No drums or other fancy stuff though. Very simple to use though.
TC Electronic Ditto is good - about 5 mins looping time I think. Original is about £70.
Mate has a Lekato looper that has a bonkers 40+ mins of looping time. He seems to like it. Think it was only £35!
Hi all
I'm sure I had some really helpful replies some time ago about my 1969-made (1959 model) Marshall super lead head + 4x12 cab (original Celestion speakers + cones, etc).
Retrieved from my parental home after 30+ years sat idle).
But this being the forum and it's search capability, I'll be buggered if I can find them.
I've had the head checked / serviced, filter caps slowly brought back up to voltage, etc, and all tickety boo. Or should I say BOO as it is just as loud as I recalled.
Anyway- the Q. Where's the good places to sell - as I know I'm not going to make it as a stadium shredder any time soon.
Without the hassle of time wasters and rip-off scammers coming to the house to case out what else to nick. Any particular 'we buy any Amp' / music shops / 2nd hand traders worth talking to ? I'm in Derbyshire if that makes any difference.
I'm not trying to wring the last penny out of them - but equally I'm not totally stupid and giving them away for £100. I just want to get a reasonable payment with least hassle and the space back ! (I'm using a Blackstar 1a practice valve amp now, which is more than loud enough for my own playing / re-learning / development).
(I have photos of the innards, caps, valves, speakers etc on the Marshall for those interested!)
Cheers
I sold my 1974 (year) 2100 Lead and Bass 'Paul Weller' combo on eBay with a 99p start... £600 seemed a decent amount of money, given the limited places you can play the things these days. Or you could take it to someone like Rich Tone in Sheffield - they seem to do a decent selection of used valve amps and it's where I look for stuff a lot of the time.
Any particular 'we buy any Amp' / music shops / 2nd hand traders worth talking to
https://www.theguitartradecentre.co.uk
This guy, Jim, is excellent. I've bought a few off him. He regularly travels all over the UK to buy guitars and amps.
Well now... I just went onto Fleabay and searched on Marshall Super Lead.
As it happened this had about an hour to go... a 1967-year variant, not even working - had about 20 bids on it, and...blimey!
@robertajobb - for selling the amp locally to a decent dealer - have a look at Rad Guitars. Based in Congleton, Chris the owner is sound, a good MTBer and occasionally still posts on here I think...
Other than that, Rich Tone in Sheffield would probably take it off your hands.
Figured i needed a Telecaster in my life!
Arrived yesterday. Very happy with it.
Which model is it?
I like the colour.
Colour looks to be 'Aquatone Blue' which looks fab!
Fender Telecaster Player II in Aquatone Blue 🙂
I was going to get a Squier Classic Vibe 50s, but worried i may get one with a lot of QC issues, so went for this..... the colour is very lovely in the flesh.
Did you try out different models or just choose on spec (/colour)? I tried about 15 telecaster shaped things before I bought one, mainly because I like the neck. I've not really bonded with it, but it did scratch the "I should have a tele" itch.
I've had a couple of 'normal' Teles, but I ended up selling them both (a double-bound Japanese Custom and a fancy partscaster) and now have two Cabronitas and a '70s-style Tele Custom instead. But I still want a '51 Blackguard Tele - just because it's one of the Pantheon, right?
Yeah, went into GuitarGuitar few weekends ago and tried lots out. Id been thinking about a Tele shaped guitar for a while. And i wasnt actually after the Aquatone Blue, had been more drawn to Butterscotch or Coral Red, but a good deal came up so went for it at the weekend.
I ended up with the Jason Isbell one despite the fact I don't get "road worn" guitars and don't like the colour either. It just felt nicest.
I'm trying to avoid buying one of the discounted PRS NF3s at Andertons at the moment. If they did the orange with white scratchplate I think I'd have folded already.
But I still want a '51 Blackguard Tele - just because it's one of the Pantheon, right?
You have to be dead to be put in the Pantheon, and the Tele isn't dead yet. 🙂 I've got a partscaster that looks like a blackguard but its got a compound neck radius and N3 noiseless pickups. Looks the part but easier to play and no horrible noises.
Had a mate stay recently who'd been exhibiting at Haydock. On my sofa was 10 335s and a Les Paul. Apparently a bloke at the exhibition had a 59 335 that Richards had given to Mick Taylor that was used on Exile, worth a fortune. My mate had a call from Paul McCartney's guitarist after his 59, not for sale. But you can go to that annual exhibition and have a tinkle on those wonderful machines and talk to other suitably obsessives.
Did they come out of the cases? Any more pics?
Only a few, I'd look at the exhibition photos if there are any. It strikes me like wine you get fine and rare, they're all fine but with the rare ones silly money is involved. He sold one about a year ago for £100k to an American (who bought it a flight seat) then sold it at a profit over there. I haven't got a clue about this stuff but they sound nice.
If you want a blue T-style the best way is to build your own.
On the subject of telecasters- where's best to sell, Reverb or eBay? I'm going to sell my Jason Isbell Tele (sneaky ad if anyone is interested...)
I’ve always sold on eBay (three day auction with a 99p start) or via Sound Affects on commission.
I sold all my guitar stuff about 7-8 months ago due to depression (I have tried to play the guitar for the past 30 odd years on and off but still rubbish).
Anyways I missed having a guitar so I recently got a prs se paul"s guitar in faded blue (have always liked the paul's guitars).
Just got a headrest flex prime multi fx and ordered a spark go which should turn up tomorrow hopefully.
It's bloody fab to have a guitar again 👍
Welcome back to the fold! 😊
There’s always something good about winding a guitar up to send the blues away. Big open G chord and all is good…
I’m a similar 30 (hmm 40?) year rubbish guitar player, but I recently found that one of my neighbours, an unassuming retired lady has been learning blues harmonica, but had only ever practiced on her own to YouTube videos, so I volunteered to be her live backing track on acoustic guitar. We had our second session last night and it sounded pretty good. Music is fab, even if you’re not a virtuoso…
I remember trying to learn blues harmonica at uni... it's easy to get some noise out of it in key, but much harder to get any kind of decent tune! Fun though.
On the guitar front, Jason Isbell tele is currently up on ebay, and has been replaced with...
A PRS SE NF3. Bargain at £499!
Really like it, much nicer to play than the Tele.
I like those! I’ve just seen the new SE 53 NF3 - the Tele-shaped one and I reckon it looks so much nicer than the US ones
I remember trying to learn blues harmonica at uni... it's easy to get some noise out of it in key, but much harder to get any kind of decent tune! Fun though.
Harmonica is a weird instrument, isn't it. So many professional musicians play it really poorly that when you hear a properly talented player it really stands out.
Welcome back to the fold! 😊
There’s always something good about winding a guitar up to send the blues away. Big open G chord and all is good…
I’m a similar 30 (hmm 40?) year rubbish guitar player, but I recently found that one of my neighbours, an unassuming retired lady has been learning blues harmonica, but had only ever practiced on her own to YouTube videos, so I volunteered to be her live backing track on acoustic guitar. We had our second session last night and it sounded pretty good. Music is fab, even if you’re not a virtuoso…
thank you @chipps 🙂
This evening’s 10 minute guitar doodle: an ode to ITV coverage of the TdF in its final ever week
Shouldn't we all be contributing something from Ozzy and Sabbath. I've no doubt posted this before but under the circumstances:
Loved that throwback @superficial - and @edukator always delivers. I remember (finally) being in a band where we played Paranoid, with two guitars, loud drums and a half-decent singer. I knew I'd arrived 🙂
And now Superficial's vid has appeared and makes his post less confusing - good stuff, Superficial. Junior "lost" our looper. 🙁
I remember trying to learn blues harmonica at uni... it's easy to get some noise out of it in key, but much harder to get any kind of decent tune! Fun though.
Harmonica is a weird instrument, isn't it. So many professional musicians play it really poorly that when you hear a properly talented player it really stands out.
Coincidently I saw three harmonica players Friday - one supporting a solo resonator playing blues guitarist/singer for one song at "Ain't Nothin But the Blues" bar, one as a member of the Mustangs (supporting Kenny Wayne Shepherd) and the 91 year old Bobby Rush playing with Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The Mustangs player was good, but Bobby Rush was so clean in his playing - my favourite.
This looks an awesome bit of kit.
and following on from the harmonica conversation, I am looking at horner chromatics on ebay, I wonder how long it would take me to learn to play the theme from midnight cowboy.
I had a play around with making another pedalboard (I do this far more than I practise guitar - anyone need a guitar tech?) with the newish toy - a Victory Kraken V4 pedal amp and some other bits and pieces. I discovered that the 500mA 9V 'courtesy outlet' on the Kraken appeared to power my TC Plethora, so that means I have a 180W, two channel amp and a fridge full of effects in the space of a biscuit tin...
The other bits are a wireless, as my life is cluttered enough, a cheap A/B switch so I can switch to a cable easily if needed, a random drive pedal (because you always need a 'more' option, right? Besides, if you see my 'Box of Drives' below, I need to justify having so many drives...) and then the Little Twins pedal is just a remote switch for the Kraken (Ch 1/2 and Reverb on/off) and finally the Leech pedal which is just a passive volume dropper pedal, as even on 0.1, the Kraken is too loud for late night noodling... Oh, and there's a Voodoo Labs power supply underneath as it was bolted to the board anyway and I needed the 9V for the other bits and pieces.
It all went together surprisingly well. I just need this and my Barefaced 1x10 and I've got a massively loud and pretty versatile outfit. Doesn't quite fit into a rucksack, but it's not far off...
I'm sure I'll pull it apart and add/swap things next week, but it was a fun Monday night project.
(I've just realised there are a load more drive pedals upstairs... Ah well, gotta have a hobby, right?) 🙂
@chipps yes you definitely have a hobby alright with all those pedals lol.
i took a photo of my new guitar rig hopefully the link works?
ah never mind it won't let us post the link to photo.
@racefaceec90 - Do you not have the linky icon on your text box? (Or is that just a subscriber/member option?)
i think it's sub only (i do plan on re-joining again just a little short of funds atm lol (pats guitar and multifx pedal)
Ahh, well you could always email me the photo and I'll upload it... 😉
@chipps that would be very kind of you thank you 🙂 will try to email/message you the link (it's google photos).
btw i also wanted to add that i live in devizes wilts which is around 15 miles from where you grew up in bradford on avon i believe. it's still a beautiful place. i will shut up now lol.
@chipps thank you (and apologies again for me being an idiot 🙂
speaking of ozzy i do plan on trying to learn planet caravan as it is one of my fav ozzy/sabbeth tunes. love the dream like quality of the song.
@chipps it's cool to see you're back with a Victory Kraken 🙂
The one I bought from you is still going strong and making loud doomy noises weekly at band practice. In more recent times it has been supplemented by a 2x12 Zilla cabinet (used -- there's an argument for it having belonged to Periphery which is quite exciting if entirely irrelevant) and an Actual Gibson SG.
speaking of ozzy i do plan on trying to learn planet caravan as it is one of my fav ozzy/sabbeth tunes. love the dream like quality of the song
Ha.
Just remembered I performed that for my Higher Music exam way back in the early 90s. I don't think the fuddy duddy examiner had a clue who Black Sabbath were, but I still got an A grade!
