Dad3353

Can I just get some precision about answer 4, please..? For me, the thickest string is the low 'E', and, for your, 'lefty' guitar, I would expect it to be furthest from the floor, when in playing position. Is that the case..?

@Richards Guitars... I am one of several Moderators of this fine Forum; this task has been very simple for several years past, as the folk here are a great bunch. We enjoy the occasional bout of banter (whilst remaining civil, naturally...) between friends that are used to each other's little ways and foibles; nothing wicked or hurtful. If there is any doubt as to any posts here, there is, top right of every post, three little dots (...), from where it's easy to create a Report. Every Report is brought automatically to the attention of the Mods and Admin, and what rare issues that do crop up are handled with serious and diplomacy. Feel free to avail yourself of this function at anytime (this goes for all that read this, naturally...). This site is an extension of Basschat.co.uk, which has been active for many decades now. Here, things tend to be a little slower-paced, but there is a healthy cross-over from one Forum to the other (many here are members of both...). This leisurely pace suits us fine, so don't be surprised if some replies to posts come only after a few days. I'm usually here sporadically several times each day, but then again : I'm retired, so... Glad to have you aboard; meanwhile... Have a wonderful day. Douglas

We are very close to the incomprehensible, here. Can we try to un-weave some of the strands, please..? Please answer the questions below... 1 - Are you left-handed..? 2 - Is your guitar a left-hand guitar..? 3 - When holding your guitar, ready to play, is the neck of the guitar to your left, or to your right..? 4 - When holding your guitar, ready to play, is the thickest string at the top (furthest from the floor...)..? With the answers to these questions, we will have something from which to start explanations and assistance. Over to you...

@Richards Guitars ...

Mmm... Tea...

Unknown here, too, but at a guess I'd suggest that 'a guitar is a guitar is a guitar'. Nothing special, and probably just as good/bad/indifferent as all the others at that price point. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to prove otherwise, when there are so many equivalent makes and models easily available (Harley Benton come to mind; others exist...). Sorry.

In my now-very-distant youth, I foolishly swapped my splendid Hofner President for a Burns Bison (yes, I know; idiot move I've regretted for decades...). The daft idea I had at the time was to dabble in Lead Guitar Playing. To this end, I knew that bending notes was The Name Of The Game, so what better than to have bendable strings, eh..? I cobbled up a set with a high 'E' '7'; the rest went from there (probably taking a set of 10-46 and moving 'em all over by one...). Yes, of course, it was unplayable, partly because I was, and have remained, a pitiful Lead Guitarist, but mostly because these strings were not strings, but cobwebs..! The slightest touch produced notes hitherto unknown to musicology, worthy of the best synth oscillators, wobbling about between [note played] and [note played plus several random half-tones]. It is not to be wondered at, why I chose to switch to drums. The Burns was traded in for a keyboard for my girlfriend at the time, which in turn became a Hohner Pianet for my parents (my father wanted to learn the piano...). The moral of this sad tale..? Use 'standard' strings unless there is a very, very good reason dictated by experience and wisdom; there's a reason why most folk do so. a set of 10-46 suit most folk playing most electric guitars, end of. OK, OK... I'll make an exception for those playing heavy metal riffs, that may evolve to 'top light-heavy bottom' sets, to go 'chunkachunkachunka' with for hours, but that's all. I'm off now to do a bit of drumming...

Just to suggest cooling down a tad. The fastest way to mastering the guitar is to go slowly. If your fingers hurt, you're playing too much, for too long at a time. This is holding you back. Play several short sessions, several times a day, rather than one long 'blitz'. Five minutes warming up, going over chord shapes, a few licks you're learning, then 10-15 minutes, no more. Do something else (have a look at Music Theory or Notation Reading if you must...), but leave the guitar alone. Rinse and repeat. Progress will be made by regularity, far faster than by 'bingeing'. Hope this helps.

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

OK for the above ^^^^, but the 'standard' string gauge is really those that were on it from new (typically 10-46...) Most brands are OK (I use Elixir... ... which cost a little more, but last a very long time, and play and sound good, to me; other brands are good, too...). If you're bending strings unintentionally, you're gripping too hard the neck. Is the guitar supported properly (not needing your left arm to hold the neck up...)..? If not, get a decent strap, adjusted so that the guitar stays in place 'arms off'. There's never any need to use much pressure on the strings, for solo work nor for chords. When pressing down on the fingerboard, try, as an exercise, to use only as much force as is needed to get the strings to sound out clearly, no more. Make each chord shape, and make a conscious point of using as little force as possible. Do this, as an exercise, before each session, and see if it helps. Are your fingers being applied directly downwards, and not at an angle, pushing the string 'sharp'..? Again, take care when playing to think and look at each finger, slowly, to make sure it's all good. Of course, a lesson or two with a competent tutor should sort out issues like this, so I'd recommend that course, if at all possible, just to get this technique issue sorted. Ye, heavier strings will be harder to push out of tune, but it won't correct errors being made, which will remain for decades to come if not jumped on early (No, I don't mean to suggest that you jump on your fingers; that would be silly, and would hurt ...). Hope this helps.

There is no protective layer; the finish will age as well (or as badly...) as any other nitro finish. Hope this helps.

Pristovnik 'Derri Air' artwork Dean guitar ... A better photo ...

Short answer : Yes, but largely dependant on the robustesse of the instrument, as well as the extremes encountered. Stuff riding in a hot car can easily reach the 40's; that's not good at all. It's the rapid swings of temperature and humidity that cause problems; instruments can handle heat and cold quite well, as long as they have the time to acclimatise. This won't be the case for a holiday trip, of course. I took my 12-string acoustic for a motorbike trip around France, camping, and it came to no harm, but it was a rather inexpensive Antoria 'humming bird' copy, not a vintage Gibson. I wouldn't recommend taking any valuable instrument; better to 'invest' in a budget-level equivalent that can take some punishment without risking coming apart at the seams or warping. Heat itself is not a problem; it's the abrupt changes that are to be avoided, but that's difficult when touring, and a hot car is a definite danger. Hope this helps.

My (Windows...) drumming laptop and my (Windows...) desktop PC have been 'doctored' so as to stay in 2015, except for AV updates, so there's no risk of this occurring. I have no need, still less want, any of the stuff that comes with later versions, and my drivers thank me for it.

Of those two, yes. I'm not sure about availability, nor local pricing, but I would highly recommend the Blackstar ID Core 10 as an alternative. I've recently acquired one of these, second-hand, and it's excellent. Just sayin'.

No contest, for me; the Roland has models of several amp functions, and is far more flexible, on its own, that the Marshall. That's not to say that the Marshall is not a decent amp (it costs quite a bit less, for a start...), but it's only a Marshall in that it bears the logo; nothing like the classic, typical 'Marshall' tone. What country are you in..? Maybe other options could be suggested, if we knew your location and budget..?

Certainly, but what great guitar work..!

For anyone starting out on guitar, I will always recommend this (very inexpensive...) method, which put me on an excellent track from an early age. Don't be fooled by the title; it's useful stuff in all genres of playing. Here's an Amazon link; other sources are surely available... Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar. Book 1 ... I've worn out quite a few copies, and am still using it over half a century later, and still coming across new things in there. For such a low price, what's there to lose..? Give it a go...

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..!

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

Good evening, @CCL, and ... ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share. Give us an idea of the style of music you're interested in and I'm sure tips, hints and recommendations will flow. My starter tip for pedals and settings is to set everything to the middle of its range and leave it there, until there's a need to change it. Less is more, and messing about with black art voodoo of the sort is less time spent practising, which is what really counts..! Hope this helps. Douglas

See my reply to the other question, then. Good luck with the project.

Is that a Marshall 50W valve amp, or a 50W solid-state amp..? The valve amp has the potential of blowing the cones off, if mis-used; the solid state should be OK if volume levels are reasonable. I'm assuming, of course, that these two speakers are in a suitable cab (sealed or open-back..?). Wattage is not a good unit of measure, though, for this type of question. The best unit is Listening (with one's ears...). If it starts to sound 'off', back off a bit. Don't expect too much, but back in the '60s, we played through just about any combination of mis-matched gear. Yes, we busted a few speaker cones, too.

Impedance is a rather nominal notion, and 'exact' figures are fairly meaningless, really. The actual impedance is only for a specific frequency and power input. There is no noticeable difference between 8 and 8.3; treat is as 8 and you'll be fine. Would it be suitable for guitar..? The answer, I'm afraid, is 'a lemon; suck it and see'. If it sounds OK, it's OK. Be aware, however, that typical PA stuff, 'back in the day', was not rated highly for power handling, as only vocals from a modest amp were expected. Don't connect a 100W Marshall amp turned up to 11, as it won't last long, I'd say. Vintage gear can be nice, if played in vintage manner. Watkins Westminster amps from that period are now collector pieces, but their 17 watts won't fill a stadium..! Go easy on your find and enjoy it for what it does, not what you think it should do.

Most chord shapes are movable, as long as you don't need to play all the strings. In fact, seldom does one have to play all the strings at once, I'd suggest. Other than that, I would agree that playing 'metal' is an off-shoot of playing the guitar, and needs at least some basic fundamentals in place, including some notions of music theory. No, it's no harder than any other genre (and a lot easier than many...), but the quickest way forward is to go slowly. If you've not the patience for that, be prepared for decades of frustration. There are no 'metal' players that have jumped straight in and 'rock', with no previous knowledge of how to play. Learn some basics, in whatever way you wish, then (and only then...) break through the 'metal' ceiling. Hope this helps.