Leaderboard

Here we are, the morning after my first gig* as a guitarist and I’m wondering what I was worried about. Apart from the fact that it got really cold when the sun went in** which made fretting a challenge at times, everything went fine and the GR55 was incredible (hilarious watching people looking for the sax player when I did the solo in Dancing In The Moonlight). A little tense before we started but any nerves there were, as @ezbass predicted, vanished as soon as I played the first note. Thanks all for the wise words. *Private party outdoors, socially distanced and within the guidelines. **That happens.

Excitement and nervousness share similar physiological symptoms, so adjusting your mindset can help.. If you like gigging, the next time you feel nervous about it, tell yourself 'I'm not nervous, I'm excited!' and smile while you're saying it. "even a fake smile — can have a positive impact on mood. Essentially, triggering certain facial muscles by smiling can "trick" your brain into thinking you're happy". Psychology innit!

So what does it sound like? In the hands of a bass player who was in the wrong place at the wrong time , like this: 188268471_1082340528960452_8640598449057920688_n.mp4 Sunday afternoon jangliness created by using both pickups. The Duncan Distortion (bridge) and Warman P90 (neck) when played together have the curious effect of cancelling out a lot of bass frequency giving an almost Telecaster sound that I really like. At the end I play a few chords on the bridge pickup , then neck and finally back to both.

Despite adding oily lemoness to my fretted instruments, I’m not not putting on my fretless as it, I’m reliably informed by shouty types who know better than wot like I does, causes fret sprout. I’m buggered if I’m going to start the guitar equivalent of weeding.

I applied lemon oil to the rosewood fretboard of my 1976 Epiphone acoustic. By the morning it had shrunk so badly, all I could do was retune it as a ukulele.

I have seen it, his guitar is actually made in Scotland though and by a scot (I'm only 50% scot and never lived there) I believe the wood is from whisky barrels too.

Social distancing meant that I could only have got one or two at best so not really worth it.

Well that's not very exciting. I was hoping you'd throw up on the front row or something.

I totally forgot I started this topic I've had it for a while now and it's absolutely fabulous ! A Princess Isabella Benson Tribute with Piano black finish and gold alloy frets

*ears prick up* I didn't know there was such a thing...

It’s the first gig as a guitarist this Saturday (private party outdoors following social distancing rules) so we’ll find out if the nerves are still a thing! Preparation seems to be the key so I’d best go practice some more!

I went through a phase of being almost crippled by it, I think it had a lot to do with stress I was going through outside of music. I ended up on Prozac for a few months and it went , I'm pleased to say that it broke the cycle and I've been fine since. The nearest I got to serious stage fright since was when I accidentally became lead guitarist after a lifetime of bass or rhythm duties. I took a very systematic approach and worked out solos where I needed them with no improvisation , no stepping into the unknown.Early on I realised that I couldn't fill the previous guitarist's shoes but I could put on my size 12s and do it my way. I borrowed about 20% his stuff and filled in the gaps with what I was comfortable with. The band was well rehearsed and as someone said earlier as soon as I hit the first chord I was off. Not the most relaxed gig I ever played but no silly mistakes and no mistakes caused by worrying about making mistakes. Just before we started one of the best guitarists I know came through the crowd and stood right in front of me....a few seconds later and for the duration of the gig he was dancing with a cheesy grin on his face.

There are loads of products already out there that I think should be more mainstream. The Wilkinson VS100C vibrato bridge for example. Or any number of innovative modular pickup systems. It's not the guitar or guitar makers that are the problem, it's the retro-obsessed market. One part of it is retired middle class professionals with cash to burn. Another part of it is young players with no clue about how gear works beyond brand names. But the net result has been a market that eschews technology and innovation (in guitars, less so in effects ironically) as if it's an anathema to 'authenticity'. The only real innovation in guitars that I can see is in prog metal. They've re-embraced headless guitars and active pickups.

For Sale - Godin ACS Slim Cedar Black SF - FIRST AND LAST PRICE REDUCTION - NOW £800 Alright then, serious offers considered. Bought this gorgeous slimline classical guitar on a whim three weeks ago on the 18th of May from Peach guitars at a reduced price of £999 as it was considered a cosmetic factory second. I’ve looked all over the guitar but can barely see a mark that I would consider as a cosmetic flaw, there is a very fine scratch on the back but you can only see it if you angle the guitar into light (see pic# 7, pic# 6 shows where the scratch is). I got the guitar home and put it straight in the rack, notice how unblemished the fretboard is and that’s because it hasn’t been played at all, it is unused and in the same condition it was in the shop. These guitars are well over a grand new and you are would be getting it for £149 less than I paid simply because I brought it home! Godin gigbag included. This is in too good condition to risk a courier, I am prepared to deliver or meet half way depending on distance. For those who don't know me I'm a regular on Basschat and here is my feedback from that forum. Here is the ad on the Peach Guitars website, they obviously had a few of these.

Wow it pays to research this... ... and don't forget most acoustic guitars are plywood where the timber choice is more critical...

Me, I'd love to see a high quality, solid body electric guitar.... made from plywood. I've come back to the material after years of looking down on it as a green, sustainable wood that actually looks great in the sort of furniture that appeals to me (mid-century modern; I hope to move house in the next few years, and my intention is to give it a very late 50s and earlier aesthetic). This has made me look back on the era of affordable, plywood guitars. When I first took up guitar in late 1991, plywood was the norm. Then Yamaha hit the marketing triumph of selling the Pacifica 112 with a natural finish to emphasise that they were solid wood, and everyone else soon followed suit. As I've come to find the ply aesthetically pleasing, I've come to wonder whether a truly great guitar could be made from it - an extension of the "tonewood is a superstition and nothing more" philosophy, I suppose. I'd love to see someone with crazy money have a Strat made from ply by Fender's custom shop, and then play it off against the one-piece, exotic swamp ash types. Of course it's not in the industry's interests at present to do something like that in case it undermines years of marketing expensive woods, but I can't help but wonder if necessity will bring it round again one day, perhaps from the environmental perspective. I mean, twenty years ago who expected bamboo guitars would be available now?

Of course plywood necks would probably look awful take this example... Or this Gibson Zoot Suit...

Plywood trumps most if not all tonewoods for rigidity and stability, it just falls down on three counts - aesthetics for most people, weight and cost - using cheap materials undermines pricing strategies. I have two plywood guitars, they both have several faults but none of them are plywood related, rather to other budget aspects of their designs. I also have a blockboard bass which is very nice, thank you. And if this sort of thing is superior to a single piece of wood, surely even more plies would be even more superiorer...

When are you getting them repaired..? ...

I had a go on the A5 basses and loved how they felt and sounded. Just never had a purpose for one in my collection.

Well, do you? I occasionally give a rosewood board a light oiling but I understand that there are other schools of thought on whether this is a sensible idea. So… do you?

Godin make some lovely stuff.

Pretty accurate

Love the title of this video. No' even close Jimmeh! To be honest, I've not watched the video so he may have made it from heather wood with a thistle stem fretboard all sourced from the Highlands.

Useful blog here (not mine, but the info is good) on the process with links to the form to get to your GP by 23rd June for the Type 1 opt out, and an online link for the Type 2. Doesn't seem to be any online way of doing Type 1, unless your GP surgery set it up (but unlikely!). https://medconfidential.org/how-to-opt-out/

Yes, difficult to take any pics of a guitar, especially one this mirror-like, without getting the ceiling roses involved (sounds like a trio of backing singers).

Sorry about the de-rail, but I genuinely thought that there was a beautiful rosace on that guitar table..! Yes, I realise now that it's a reflection of your ceiling, but still..! A great photo, and a real mirror finish on the guitar. Good luck with the sale; that's a corker. Almost makes me wish I wasn't a drummer..!

I don't think it's bunk but it really depends on terms of reference. If someone just wants an instrument to make a noise, well...yeah. A piece of driftwood will do that...or cardboard...or concrete. All it proves is the importance of rigidity. If someone wants to talk about the influence of structural rigidity, mass, density and dampening on timbre then I think there's plenty of room for discussion. But there's also a lot of misinformation out there as well...like the influence of species. At the end of the day, I'm aware that a number of manufacturers like Dingwall and Ernie Ball (and maybe PRS) just weigh a piece of wood from a desired species and if it's within acceptable range, it goes into an instrument. Their instruments, on the whole, are remarkably consistent in sound given how variable wood can be in its characteristics.

Do you have links for the opt-out?

I don't think look has anything to do with function, it's got more to do with marketing and memorability as you suggest.

Pac Man ghosts have retrained as guitar picks following redundancy.

Good advice from all above, the only thing I would say is that for me playing along to a metronome is slightly less boring than watching paint dry. Playing along with drums can make things a bit more interesting, plenty of free apps available on the t'internet. Also playing along with songs can be good as this will also work your 'ear' as you find the key and how to fit the licks.

Glad it all went swimmingly.

If you're talking about using construction grade ply then it really depends on how far it's short comings could be compensated for in the other components. Things are different for guitars compared to say, basses. Less string tension so potentially guitars could use cheaper materials with less compromise on sound given for most guitars a lot of the character comes from the pickups. I'd say slap a set of EMG's on a ply body with a carefully laminated neck of say soft mahogany with some maple for structural stiffening and a richlite fingerboard and it might sound OK.

I think we're talking about different kinds of ply. One one hand there's construction grade marine plywood and on the other there's high quality laminate from exotic woods. The two are pretty different in most respects. I can pick up a bass and tell just by playing it acoustically whether it has a cheap ply body because I lived with two of those basses for five years. I came very close to buying a switch guitar once. The original Parker Fly was laminated as was the neck on a Kubicki bass. I think there are limitations with plastic 3d printed guitars due to the structural qualities of the thermoplastic used but with metallic sintering there might be some opportunities. It's quite expensive to invest at the moment though.

This. All the this, in the world.

Almost everything I've ever done I've had a little bit of a rush. I've been teaching law for twenty years now; in about twenty minutes I'm going online to do a lecture for a class in Beijing on Chinese Data Protection Law - been teaching this for over a decade now, and I'm legit getting an adrenaline rush right now.

sonobus and jamulus work o.k have a listen to full rock bands playing in time , and they are free sonobus only needs ethernet , jamulus needs ASIO

Totally get you on this. My own tastes are pretty caveman when it comes to guitars: I've tried but didn't cared for locking trems and active pups and such. Thing is, I gave them a go and decided they weren't for me. Aesthetically, I like my guitars to look like they could have been made prior to 1962, but even then I find the market very limited and closed minded - especially as a left handed player. (It's incredible how often some idiot these days still trots out the old lie about "guitar isn't handed", "you should find it easier with your dominant hand on the board" and such). Even within my own tastes, which do have their limits, I find the market narrow. I'm sick to the back teeth of hearing about "tonewood", or dogma that "guitarists should always buy the best [best meaning most expensive] they can afford." The worst I remember was when the first Variax was released, guys all over Harmony Central falling all over themselves to be the 3,009th say "Enjoy your toy" in sneering condescension. Even those who said they'd try one if they put fake pickups on it and made it look like a "real" guitar.... Honestly, I know Leo Fender had a time of it back in the fifties, but if he had to deal with selling something innovative to today's market, I don't know how he'd cope. Probably the one that drives me up the wall most is the abject refusal by so many to try something other than tubes - I've even seen many flat out reject the idea of even trying non-tube where it was guaranteed to sound exactly the same, simply because of, as you say, this misplaced notion of authenticity. The absolute worst are these fifteen year old kids who sound like their grandparents haughtily announcing "there's no good much like Led Zeppelin being made any more." You're bloody fifteen!!! Find your own thing, you have the time!!! MARLOWE ANGRY! MARLOWE SMASH! RAAAAHHHHHH! Ironically, I'm going to end up with tubes myself for no better reason than I can find a small, simple Champalike much cheaper than anything else I've looked at, but I always have an eye out for the price coming down on those Roland BluesCubes, or a chance to try one of those Session Blues Babies that claims to make SS sound like tube. If that works at the right price, I'll dump the tubes in a heartbeat. I'm already perfectly happy with SS for bass. I always have a laugh when some brand-snobs criticise the like of Tokai for not doing "something new", then when they do see something new (even from Tokai)....

You're in good company if you have a touch of the stage fright; Brian Wilson was regularly crippled with it (to the extent of serious stomach cramps and vomiting) before he went on stage with the Beach Boys. It's one of the reasons he went off the deep end originally.

Some sort of phase cancellation going on with the mixed position perhaps? Very Peter Green.

I saw an Andertons video the other day (I think the video was about 2 years old) where Lee and Rob were showing the new Danelectro range. At the start Lee was adamant that Danos are "a bit shit", but they had some of the coolest jams and I think he might have changed his mind (but maybe wasn't ready to admit it!)

I wondered what this thread was about initially as fun bags are what an old friend of mine used to call bobbies . However, back on topic, black seems to the rather dull standard option, as you have found. But, digging a little deeper, I found these 2 links, although I don’t know if they’ll be too big: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glenmi-Bohemian-Acoustic-Backpack-Protector/dp/B07LCN53YT/ref=asc_df_B07LCN53YT/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=256001072850&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1165433688170745420&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046984&hvtargid=pla-719976734370&psc=1 https://www.wish.com/product/5bab4b3dd89e577dda95f246?from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=GB&_force_currency_code=GBP&pid=googleadwords_int&c={campaignId}&ad_cid=5bab4b3dd89e577dda95f246&ad_cc=GB&ad_curr=GBP&ad_price=20.00&campaign_id=8163884845&guest=true&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4ImEBhDFARIsAGOTMj-ZPiBhvbG0UlDLKZdP0NHtLhAyfMOhmaenD_RVjvSuhUB7CoXURwwaAiclEALw_wcB&hide_login_modal=true&share=mobileweb

There are all sorts, from a plastic bar with elastic, up to ones that you can roll on without affecting tuning (apparently). The teeth you speak of are probably just contoured rubber and just look different. For the most part, it’s find an action/mechanism you like. I use a Shubb that you have to set the pressure with a screw and then apply that pressure with a lever, I find this type of one works better for me as I can set how hard the strings are held down, rather than a constant, unadjustable spring pressure. If you use a capo on a number of different guitars with varying neck thicknesses, a simpler ‘one touch’ action may be for you.

By ‘dead’ do you mean buzzing? Sounds like you just need a set up.

AFAIK, my 1994 US Fender Strat uses the same set-up as a right handed guitar; the only difference it makes is with the pots. Because they taper the way they do, fitting everything in in mirror image (basically upside down to achieve that - you can't have the pup wiring running the opposite direction, remember, it won't fit), the numbers on the knobs run the 'wrong' way around - e.g. if memory serves (it's been a long time since I looked down at it, and my eyesight isn't what it was to notice this when playing....), the volume knob on mine effectively runs 10 to 1, loudest to quietist, opposite what it should. Never bothered me, tbh, though I am sure somebody somewhere probably makes a knob that just pops in and give it 'right'. If you're big on those volume knob 'violin swell' effects, the volume pot will run the other direction using a r/h loom on a let handed guitar, so you'd have to factor that in. The other thing, of course, is pickups. If you're using flat poles there will be no difference; 50s style staggered poles will end up the other way up from designed. Course, Hendrix wasn't exactly held back by that. Some will claim Jimi made that part of his tone, but tbh once you're amped and cranked, you'd probably need at least a touch of canine dna in you to notice the difference.

Yeah on my guitars by the time I'd finished faffing about with setting the trem, the original tension had returned regardless of the gauge. Could be different for a hard tail though.

I bought Guitarist for years until they stuck a CD on the cover and massively upped the price. It also got a bit Old Fart for me (they went through a phase of being weirdly obsessed with Brian May and Paul bloody Weller). Total Guitar and Guitar Techniques I never really got into - expensive, plus I never got into the tuition side of it. TBH, when it came to the mags I was mostly interested in the gear news and reviews. Guitarist lost me a bit there too as it started covering mostly stuff I could never have afforded, though it was still nice to read about some (not all - fancy flamed maple and all that just isn't my bag) of it. I still see guitarist on the shevles in Sainsburys; occasionally it has articles that look intersting, butg I'm usually put off by the cover price of around six quid, and the fact that.... well, how many more articles can I read about Hendrix and *still* fidn something new? I know that guitar ain't as popular as it used to be in new music, but damn are the mags stuck in the past! My default these days is usually "The Guitar Magazine". It's much better now than it was in the early 90s (it was a bit, eh... ITV in those days. A bit Melody Maker, if you catch my drift - no NME (RIP)). The best ones for me, though, were both UK mags that sadly didn't last long. There was Guitar Buyer which ran for a coupel of years arounsd 2000/2001, which was all gear - the odd interview, but it focussed on their gear very specifically. Then there was What Guitar?, which was really good on multiple tests... instead of getting a review of the latest Fender Tele variant, you'd get a review shootout of ten different Tele type guitars of roughly equivalent status. Was a great way of finding out what was available in your pricec range and narrowing to two or three to actually go out and try. The worst bit about Guitar mags for me was always the almost inevitable line in the spec on anything both interesting and affordable: "No Left Handers." I remember reading several issues of Guitarist where not a single instrument was an option for me asnone were available left handed. Not their fault, granted.... and they did briefly in the late 90s do a nice little column where a left handed player reviewed a let handed guitar, though it didn't seem to last much longer than doing the obvious stuff (Strat, LP, Tele....). I do miss having a mag I could get every month, though. The internet has largely taken over from a lot of hobbyist publications, but it's not entirely the same thing. Youtube is useful, but only to an extent. It's a pity something like Guitar Buyer doesn't come out even just as an annual thing. Some one of the American mags used to produce an annual guide to All The Gear on the market, but that was pre-web, and of limited use in the UK market where everything was less avaialble and more expensive.

Yes, a little loosening of the truss rod (probably half a turn) should be all you need. Does it have a trem? If so, you might need to loosen the springs a little as well.

That’s the odd thing as I would consider myself to be a bit of an extrovert (or show-off if you prefer). Certainly, something makes me want to keep getting onto a stage to perform in some way or other - there’s probably some deep psychological issue at the root of it all, probably something to do with being bottle fed or not having nappies changed or some such. As far as nerves go, it’s literally just this, the guitar thing. And it’s not as if I’m doing any solos so, to an extent, I can “hide” in the mix if I need to. I just find it odd that I (usually Mr Confident) am so affected by the prospect of playing a guitar in front of strangers. I’m sure it will pass and I’ll be back to being my usual smug, obnoxious, over-bearing self but right now this is strange territory for me and it feels…unsettling.