Skinnyman

Any recommendations for long-lasting (electric) strings?

Its to use with my guitar synth so I’m not too worried about their tone, more interested in feel and longevity

This looks interesting. Not sure I’d pay £2k though.

My GR55 has a decent nylon guitar patch so I’ll stick with that

A friend had the Variax briefly and got rid because the build quality was terrible.

This may not be true of all of them but worth bearing in mind.

10 hours ago, Kiwi said:

Ooh, pics was already posted.  Is it an S2?

“Just” an SE but one of the best put together guitars I’ve seen. When I bought it they had a couple of S2s in which I also tried and they really weren’t all that special. Lovely looking things but not noticeably better than the SE.

7 hours ago, Kiwi said:

Pics please!

 

What Ez said…

The more I play it, the more I fall in love with that neck. I have another PRS (the Hollowbody) which has a regular rosewood fingerboard and a slightly different scale length and that’s also very nice but the roasted maple on the 24 is just fantastic. I don’t know if all Custom 24s are the same or if it’s a characteristic of the roasted maple, but whatever it is, it’s lovely.

Just a shame about the puke-bowl colour but even that’s growing on me

1 hour ago, Kiwi said:

I can sell you a set of PRS Mira pickups...a much cheaper way to release the gas.

That’s a kind offer but my GAS is satisfied for the moment (we’ll, I’m after a new synth but guitar-wise I’m sorted). The bilious green Custom 24 is a keeper and I no longer need a Mira

I had a Faith for years and I agree, they’re amazingly good guitars - even more so at that price point. 

That looks very nice - is it really as compact as the pictures suggest?

Guitars:

A nice PRS Custom 24 (US) with Roland GK MIDI pickup

A black Gibson ES335

A Taylor 614CE

FX:

Line 6 Helix

Roland GR55 Synth

T Rex Acoustic Soulmate Multi-FX/DI 

Cab:

A decent FRFR for me please

16 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Well that's not very exciting.

I was hoping you'd throw up on the front row or something.

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

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.

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?

I’ve tried a Zoom rehearsal and it was awful. The latency wasn’t too bad when talking but long enough to make music awful.

Is Sonobus any better?

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!

8 hours ago, Kiwi said:

It's a bit like swimming though, it takes practice and a lot of tenancity if you're not naturally extroverted.

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.

14 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

The solution is simple enough, and you've given the clue to it, yourself ...

Once on stage, deliver a speech to the audience (large or small...). Not for too long, naturally, or they'll all leave. 

Good idea.

Designing Systems for High Availability in Critical National Infrastructure always goes down well.

Or I could do them the Queen Mab speech from Romeo and Juliet.

That should break the ice

50 minutes ago, ezbass said:

You’ll be fine as soon as you play the first note/chord/whatever.

So long as I can remember what it is and where it lives on the thingy. The sticky out thing with the lines on it.

Y’know. The flats. No, not flats. Like that though. Begins with an F.

Neck. That’s it. The neck.

Which doesn’t begin with an F.

Fretboard.

That’s the one.

Ooh, I like that.

I’ve been lucky. I’ve never suffered from stage fright or nerves or performance anxiety (or is that one more of a bedroom thing?).

Anyway…

I’ve been in plays, I delivered speeches at conferences large and small and I’ve played bass at hundreds of gigs - and I’ve never suffered with nerves. A little extra adrenalin pumping round the system perhaps, and maybe the need to pee a bit more than usual beforehand but nothing that would affect my performance or even be noticeable.

I’ve now taken on Second Guitar duties in the band and so, for the first time, I’m playing guitar in front of other people.

And I’m bricking it. Even just at rehearsal. OK, once I’m a couple of songs in, things get back to normal but at the start I am shaking like the product tester at Ann Summers to the extent that I can’t even finger basic chords.

Hopefully, this will pass as I build confidence but it’s a very unusual and unnerving feeling and I don’t care for it one bit!

11 minutes ago, leftybassman392 said:

Well you're not f****ing taking mine mateypoo.

So there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Sigh*

This forum definitely needs an iniquitous place to hang out.

Charming, I’m sure.

But yes, I agree. We need more iniquity around here. Or… what’s the opposite of iniquity? Perhaps there’s scope for an equal and opposite? Less militaristic and more hippy-like?

And where’s your NGD post? Or are you keeping it to yourself?

23 hours ago, Arnold Layne said:

A 60s Gibson Les Paul that someone gave him

Nice.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with the build!

On 16/05/2021 at 00:29, leftybassman392 said:

What, like this you mean?:

On 16/05/2021 at 02:22, Dad3353 said:

... or this ..?

Quite.

They’re very lovely as pieces of furniture or as art but I can take or leave them as guitars

14 minutes ago, leftybassman392 said:

Call me a weirdo if you must, but I actually quite like it. Not convinced it goes with the fretboard hue if I'm honest, but whatevs...

 

Er, okay.

Weirdo.

I’m not a massive fan of quilted finishes or highly-figured grain anyway but in fairness the combo probably works better in the flesh than pictures.

The good thing is, I only have to play it and don’t have to look at it

16 hours ago, Si600 said:

Sorry Skinz, but that looks like a Wickes melamine kitchen worktop that's been glued on and polished. 

The rest of it looks nice though  

No worries, it is a bit bilious.

From what I can work out, they only did a roasted maple neck in the SE range in this colour so it’s not like I had any other options - but fortunately, I don’t give a stuff about the colour, it’s just a dream to play.

I’ve had mixed experiences with the Dummies books. Some have been good but the ones on music theory and composition I just didn’t get on with at all. The thing I enjoyed about the David Meads book was his writing style. Very accessible and enjoyable.

There are many, many books on music theory but the one I’ve found most useful (and very readable) is “Chords and Scales for Guitarists” by David Meads.

Anyone got any others that they’ve found helpful or particularly well written?