Dad3353

Good evening, Lee, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share. Maybe indicate your location..? There may be a tutor nearby, or someone willing and able to give hints and advice. What stuff interests you, for learning, and as a later goal..? Don't be shy; we all here started as beginners 'not knowing where to start'.

He's using cheap Taiwanese pliers, so the all-important mojo escapes. Only a fule would do that.

First question : What guitar..? Second question : New or old strings..? Third question : Could you take a photo of the bridge..? With some bridges, it's possible to remove the bridge saddle and reverse it, giving more length to play with. We'd need to see your bridge, though, to see if it could help you. Over to you ...

Mine was so good it got stolen..!

Some useful notions ... WikiHow : How To Write A Guitar Solo ...

Persevere, in the reassuring conviction that it's only the first forty years that are the worst, after which things sometimes tend to get (slightly...) better.

This one fits the bill, according to my research... Peavey 2-button footswitch ... Hope this helps.

Our (excellent...) singer has one for his acoustic guitars, and occasional vocal use; we've used it on stage for guitar; it works very well at home, and equally well on a 'live' stage. We mic'ed it up, as our PA (at the time...) wasn't very good. It's a splendid amp; one of the jewels in the Marshall crown, in my view. A credible alternative would be the Roland AC40. Again, excellent quality, slightly more compact. I gave mine to a younger brother; he's used it for his duo, in restaurants, with classical guitar and voice. There are others, but those two get gold-star ratings from me.

The fastest way to build up speed is to slow down. Get a metronome (or similar 'app' type of thing...), and play the licks, scales, runs etc at a comfortable speed. Every week, turn the metronome up 5 bpm, rinse and repeat. Do not try to play fast. Play at a regular speed, and increase it slowly. That's the fastest, and most sure-fire, way to build up speed. Disclaimer : a medium-sized bucket of Patience is required; it helps a lot. Renew whenever it runs out (as I suspect it might ...).

Marshall Valvestate 8240..? Marshall MG100DFX..? Marshall Valvestate VS-100..? Marshall Valvestate S80..? Marshall Valvestate 8080..? 50W amps cost less, and do the job, too.

Of these two, which do you prefer..? Think about 'neat'n'tidy', and it'll make a world of difference. The soldering is certainly the main culprit, so start there. Are there any Mancunians willing to help, or recommend someone..? Now's the time...

Trishan... Give the guitar, in its present state, to someone who knows how to solder. Let them do the job, and at the same time show you how it should be done. If you follow his/her mentoring, you may be able to do a few of the joints yourself. You've done well up to now, and the end result will be worth it, so don't spoil it any more; use this as a learning experience and see how someone competent does the job. Even if you get it to work by chance, it will fail later on, that's certain. You don't mention your location; there may be a fellow member near you, willing to lend a hand. Hope this helps, sincere good wishes. Douglas

It's a shame you've spilt the pieces all over the floor, though. ...

I like the professional photo-shoot of a few planks..! ...

A tricky one, this. It might help to give your location; someone could recommend a suitable repair tech, or even be able to have a look at the guitar. The most expensive option would probably involve swapping out a defective neck pick-up. Not, in itself, difficult, but not a kitchen-table job for the inexperienced. Simple enough for a decent tech, though, for the cost of a pick-up and roughly an hour total 'fettling' time. A set-up for the guitar at the same time would be ideal, whilst it's on the bench. On the other hand, it could be as simple as a duff solder joint, broken wire or bad switch or volume pot. Again, not difficult tasks for any tech; he/she would be able to detect such a defect pretty easily. As for cost, I'm afraid it's a bit vague, so the spread is rather wide. Pick-ups start at around £30, but can rise to double that very quickly, or triple figures for more 'classy' ones. If it really needs changing, give the tech a ceiling on the cost of replacement; it doesn't have to be an original 'Epiphone' one. A second-hand pick-up would be fine, too, if it's from a reliable source. Hourly rates for a tech are too varied to enable guessing, but any decent workshop would give an estimate before involving expense. Give a budget, and the work may come out to be less than that. Hope this helps; good luck with the project. They're nice guitars, especially once set up properly to suit the player.

There's not much wrong (well, nothing at all, really...) with any of that, neither the video nor the Soundcloud. I've played with numerous front-line folks that couldn't hold down a rhythm like that (I play drums...). What do do to improve..? You just need to widen a little your 'palette', and I'd suggest that one way would be to listen to some others, to soak in some of their rhythms. Who, for instance..? Joan Armatrading springs to mind as an excellent 'strummer'. Maybe U2's 'The Edge'..? For enthusiasm and stamina, Ritchie Havens is as good as they come. Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders...), maybe, or Johnny Marr..? A tip, that may be useful... It's not necessary to play all the 6 strings all of the time. A lot can be done with brushing only the bottom 4, or the top 4; bouts of arpeggio are good, too (picking individual notes out in rhythmic fashion. Try some of this stuff; see how you get on. The essentials, you have already, with good timing (singing at the same time, too; very good, lad; very good..!). You're doing fine, so carry on. Oh yes; the most important bit... Be natural (as in the video...). If you feel it's right, then it's right. Hope this helps. Douglas

Yes, an HH Strat would be the way to go, I'd say. Have a look here; choose according to your budget ... Anderton's : HH Strats (Fender and Squier...)...

Have a look here for information on this ... Adding 'series' switching to a Strat ... Strat's are wired for parallel combining of pick-ups; this gives the classic 'Fender' tones. If wired in parallel, there will be more output, but the frequencies of that output will be different (lacking in treble...). There must be a valid reason for wanting this; what inspires you to go down this route..? Maybe a Strat is not the guitar you're after..? Where does this idea come from..?

Good evening, Steve , and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Clean production, clean execution, nice melodic lines. A nice 'break' in the middle (could 'take off' from there, instead of continuing in the same vein..?). Shades of The Shadows meet Carlos, playing The Beatles 'And I Love Her'. Less convinced by the drums (I'm a drummer...). Altogether Clean. Thanks for sharing.

Is it a Mac you're using..? If so, have you seen this..? UMC set-up for Mac ... You won't need USB drivers for Mac. Just plug in the UMC, then follow the Mac process (starts at 2:32 in the video...). Any use..?

Let's try a 'step-by-step' approach. Have you seen this..? UM2 Set-up video ... It shows how to acquire and install the drivers. That'll be the first step...

Good evening, TT, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.