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This is what I meant, presented in a much more concise way...!!

Pentatonic scales are just abbreviated, 5 note versions of full, 8 note scales. Learn the full scales and then you have more notes to choose from. The scales used, as mentioned above, tend to reflect the chords they’re being played over. As a starting point learn the major (Ionian scale), minor (Dorian or Aeolian) and dominant 7th (Mixolydian). These three will give you all you need to play over a major or minor 12 bar blues. I find the most important thing is to hit the chord tones (the major third over a major Chris for instance), so that you imply that chord with your note choice. However, don’t be constrained by the scales, go ‘outside’ them, a short, chromatic run can add interesting ’flavour’ to your solos.

Oh my word! How can they churn out great guitars like this for the price? I haven't played it yet (will report back on that- I'm knackered after a 110 mile drive and there is someone else sleeping in the house). Out of the box it looks gorgeous. The finish on the body is great. I haven't found any flaws yet, other than a little bit of glue overspill om the back where I assume the string ferrules haven been glued in, and I was able to wipe that off with my finger. The neck looks to be straight as a die. Tuning was only out by maybe a half step, but I never worry about that on a new guitar that's been delivered. The neck and fretboard look beautiful. The neck is caramel maple and the neck is laurel. The bridge is the classic tele ashtray style and the tuners are kluson style, with the string ends going into the centre posts. The tuners feel nice and tight, but turn smoothly. The frets are reasonably well finished. They are all polished and there is no fret sprout. If you run a finger along them at an angle there are one or two that feel a little bit sharp, but I don't think it'll be noticeable when playing. Even the edges of the fretboard seem to have been rolled a bit.

New kid on the block

I prefer to concentrate on chord tones, which make more sense to me when improvising. It's true that I don't often play over anything monochordal (funk riffs for twenty minutes spring to mind...), but rather pieces from the Real Book and the like. It depends, then, on what genre of music you're playing over, I think. If any one scale was to be worked on, I'd recommend the 12-tone chromatic scale, which can be slotted in almost anywhere..!

Nothing wrong with major and minor pentatonic, but I suppose it depends on what material you are playing. If you have a search for the '7 modes of the major scale' that would give you a good start as well as the 'harmonic minor scale'. The modes work in a similar way to the positions of the pentatonic scale in that they are all parts of the major scale played in a different part of the neck, but it does allow you to play over different chords and give a different feel rather than always playing in your root scale. People such as Vai and Satriani use these types of scales a lot and often concentrate on one scale at a time to give a specific sound for an instrumental melody, but a lot of guitarists don't use scales as a limit, they use bits of them as a base to play something that sounds right to them. Although I did learn scales, I just worked out (what I believed to be) the relationship between the root and the remaining notes in the scale (the intervals) and the differences between each mode, and then played based upon that to form my own licks and style. Although still broadly mixing major and minor pentatonic I then throw in other notes (such as the minor 3rd, 7th, 9th etc) as I choose to make the sound that I want. So a solo broadly in the Chuck Berry style of pentatonic might suddenly have the flat 2nd from one mode combined with the 3rd from one of the other modes. Hence, I really couldn't play any of the major scale modes well now, I just have absorbed the information to suit my own needs. I effectively worked out the differences: Ionian = basic major + 2, 4, 6 Dorian = basic minor + 2, 6 Phrygian = minor + b3, b6 Lydian = major + #4 Mixolydian = major + 4, b7 Aeolian = minor +2, b6 Locrian = minor + b2, b5, b6, b7 If you were playing the major scale in C, then any of these scales would sound right over a C major progression, but it gets more interesting if you played the Dorian scale (still in C major) now based on a D minor progression (D minor being the second interval of C major). Although the progression might be D minor, a D dorian scale is still essentially playing in C major, but now gives a completely different feel. I am sure there are far more schooled theorists than myself who can agree or completely shoot down this information... and I give no guarantee that I am correct! Just have a google and I am sure there will be a YouTube channel dedicated to this information.

I’ve recently been given my grandads Kramer, I’m struggling to find what electrical system and pickups it’s running. I’ve been told it’s stock but can’t seem to find anything online. It takes a 9v battery and I only get a crackle when it’s attached to the amp. Does anyone know how I can go about repairing this?

It's pretty basic, being a piezo pick-up under the bridge saddle, into a 2-band pre-amp (Volume, Bass, Treble...), powered by a standard 9v battery. Any decent luthier would be able to check it, and replace any parts that are no longer working properly. The only slightly fiddly part would be changing the piezo strip, but even that is straightforward for a luthier, and shouldn't be expensive. Not to be done by an inexperienced player, but quite within the realms for someone with decent electronic knowledge (our Eldest does this quite regularly...). Take it to a reputable luthier and he/she will fix it in no time at all. There's nothing magic about it, nor 'voodoo' collector that needs religiously preserving, and the guitar itself is well worth getting properly repaired. Hope this helps; good luck with it. It'a a very nice guitar. Douglas