Skinnyman

Welcome to the forum, Noob.

I started learning when I was in my early fifties so you’re a mere slip of a lad still

Whether it’s scales or songs doesn’t really matter - what matters is that you enjoy what you’re doing. Having a decent grounding in theory will serve you well in the future and I think you’ve made a wise decision to work with a tutor.

Good luck with the practice and have fun!

20 minutes ago, ezbass said:

C’mon, you know the rules, photos or it didn’t happen. 

Oh, all right then…

Update;

I used it at rehearsal last week and I’m blown away (as were the rest of the band).

I wouldn’t use it for every song but it opens up all sorts of possibilities for arrangements.

On 05/05/2021 at 13:21, EdwardMarlowe said:

It does take getting used to. I bought one years ago as a 'travel' guitar, as it's the perfect mix of being compact without being an unplayable, small scale. Funny thing..... I always considered them pig ugly. Not my first choice of guitar, but having experience of one and enjoying how it played I have a whole new appreciation of the design. Really quite nice to play, too. 

That’s why I bought mine - as a travel guitar that I could take as hand luggage. 

And for that it was great but I still found the absence of a headstock very disconcerting.

In other news, I got into my local guitar shop today and had a play with every PRS in the shop.

I fully intended to get either a Mira or Starla but the one I left with was an SE Custom 24 (a 2019 limited edition in bilious green with roasted maple neck).

The neck is just a joy to play and is what sold me on the guitar (and ignore the colour).

The Starla was a real disappointment. Initially looked good owing to the light weight but there’s a boominess to the tone that I couldn’t get rid of and which was there on a couple of different amps and irrespective of pickup selection.

The Mira was nice in a sort of SG-on-steroids sort of way and I would probably have got it if I hadnt picked up the Custom 24.

So, GAS attack has passed.

For now….

I bought one of these used a few years ago on a whim and after an initial play around with it, never really had occasion to use it.

We’ve recently had a bit of change round in the band (long story, I was going to leave but now I’m not) and I’ve handed bass duties to someone else. I’ve now taken on rhythm/second guitar and I figure this is the perfect opportunity to start using the GR55 to add the extra textures that we’d get from a keyboardist without the hassle of actually having to have one.

So far I’ve only used it for practice at home but it seems to work really well. I don’t want to use it on everything but for quite a few songs it will help add some pad textures or let me do little horn stabs and sax fills. Rehearsal next week so I’ll find out then how practical it is and how well it sits in the mix.

I’m wondering if anyone else uses a guitar synth live and whether there are any hints and tips to be shared

Haha!

I’m sure I couldn’t afford it!

I did have one of the current Spirit models and just couldn’t get on with it. The absence of the headstock just freaked me out somehow and I just couldn’t play it with any sort of fluidity.

13 minutes ago, leftybassman392 said:

@Skinnyman Have you considered a self-build?

 

Tempting but that’s a little beyond my woodworking abilities

Is that Ned Steinberger’s original prototype? Be worth a lot of money, that.

Peach guitars seem to have bought up all the Antique White Starlas (discontinued colour) and are knocking them out for £449 rather than the RRP of £599.

Tempting but I just can’t get on with the colour. I’m leaning more towards the Mira in Cherry at the moment.

Or would be if I hadn’t just had to buy a new lawnmower.

Rock’n’roll, eh?

3 hours ago, NickD said:

You're not buying a new guitar, you're exploring new approaches.

Now that’s what I mean!

Helpful, insightful and just the kind of self-justification I was looking for!

3 hours ago, NickD said:

JFBI!

Well, inevitably, I will.

But where’s the fun in just giving in without at least the semblance of a struggle?

And I think I’ve worked it out and the (visual) attraction seems to be the fact that’s it’s an unbound neck.

My local guitar shop has just reopened and they’re a PRS dealer so I’ll go in and see if I can have a noodle on one.

The risk being that I’ll end up with the rather lovely but much more expensive satin Vela S2 that they have in stock.

14 minutes ago, leftybassman392 said:

Best of luck Skinz. Fortunately it's a problem I don't have, because unless they've changed their policy since I last looked, PRS don't make lefties.

 

Seriously, get a grip man. Think of the children; and the third world; and, umm, the polar ice cap. Then give yourself a sound thrashing with a wet fish. Better make it two just to be sure...

Might work, might not. Frankly, who cares: it'll make great viewing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. Hope this helps.

My favourite Python sketch. Utterly stupid and hilarious  

And I don’t see why I should suffer alone;

https://prsguitars.com/electrics/model/se_custom_24_lefty_2021
 

6 minutes ago, Circu5 said:

I'm in good company then!

I like to think of this as the calm refuge. My safe place, as it were.

Hi Steve and welcome!

The EXTC project sounds interesting - would you describe it as a “tribute” band or a project in its own right?

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

That vintage cherry is rather pleasant, I must admit.

That’s not helping

15 minutes ago, ezbass said:

That was not helpful was it? Sorry.

Not in the slightest, lol.

Oddly, it’s the fact that they don’t follow the usual PRS aesthetic that appeals in this case. I like the idea of a “plain”, workaday PRS guitar.

I think I’d give the “let’s use the left over paint from the Ibanez guitars” metal paint finishes a miss but there’s something about the black Mira.

And the Vintage Cherry, come to that.

I have serious GAS for a PRS SE Mira.

I don’t know why it’s suddenly come over me but I was idly wandering the ‘net the other night, as you do, a d YouTube decided to show me one of the PRS demo videos for it.

That then turned into an obsession with watching every video and reading every review.

And there’s no logic to this.

I don’t need a PRS Mira.

I have a very nice Strat, a lovely Mexican Tele, a gorgeous PRS SE Hollowbody and an absolutely spiffing K-Line.

I like them all and don’t want to get rid of any of them.

Sonically, I have all the bases covered. Single coil, P90s, ‘buckers; all catered for.

So why the lust for the Mira? It’s not especially pretty, it’s PRS’s take on an SG - and I’ve got no particular hankering for an SG.

Strange.

Please talk me out of this. If you had one or tried one and hated it, tell me. If you’ve had problems with PRS’s build quality, tell me. Explain to me that I’m not a professional guitarist and I can never make guitars sound the way they do in the demo videos.

I need to get rid of this obsession.

And that Starla looks pretty nice too...

Aaaaaaargh!

Bumped with price drop 

To answer the question though, if you know what BPM is needed for the track in question, there are lots of metronome-type apps available for smartphones. One of those and a set of earbuds would give the drummer the tempo and a click to play to.

There’s a discussion here...

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/154452/hofner-senator

...in which someone suggests Phosphor Bronze 12s.

In the pictures later in the thread, the guitar does indeed seem to have acoustic phosphor-bronze strings on so, in the absence of any better/more knowledgeable answers, I’d try those. 

I had a Faith which I liked a lot, I have a Takamine which is excellent and I’ve always fancied a Breedlove because they look nice

Hi Alby

An interesting journey, thanks for sharing.

I had a Nighthawk for a while and really liked it. In fact, I’m now wondering why on Earth I sold it....

13 minutes ago, EdwardMarlowe said:

I've often wondered whether "tonewood" is a product of superstition, guitarists like Eric Johnson with dog-level hearing, or just damn good marketing...  

I think, for most of us, it’s the latter. Perhaps if you’re playing an intimate gig with an unamplified acoustic but as soon as you add in effects, amps, cabs, room acoustics, a mad drummer and a screaming vocalist and the subtleties of tone wood start to disappear.

I think I prefer the feel of an unglossed rosewood fretboard - all the maple ones I’ve played have had a high gloss finish on and been really hard under the fingers. Probably my imagination but RW seems to have have just a little “give” which I like.

I think we need a bit more data to try and diagnose.

I’m guessing that those DiMarzio pickups are pretty hot so the extra input gain might be why this guitar is exposing the issue rather than your others?

So it would be good to try and pin down the issue to either the amp or the guitar. Can you try a different amp? Try a similar guitar into the Katana?

How does this noise manifest itself? Is it constant or does it sometimes sound more noticeable than others? If you can try altering things to see what effect it has on the noise it might be possible to narrow it down to either the guitar or the amp.

Does this happen at all frequencies or just with particular notes? Does it only happen at specific places on the neck? With both pickups or just one? What happens if you roll the guitar volume back a bit? Or the guitar tone? What if you roll the amp tone back? Switch effects in and out?

If your amp had tubes I’d be suspecting one of those starting to go microphonic but while Boss’s tube emulation might be good I doubt they’ve gone to the trouble of emulating a knackered tube. . So this could be a resonance thing that’s exacerbated by the high gain of the PAFs. Or something else entirely.

So - can you give us a bit more to go on? Even record it and post a clip here?

And if you do sort it, let us know how it got resolved!

On 09/02/2021 at 09:35, EdwardMarlowe said:

but I much prefer the feel of a well-shaped,  unbound neck. 

Couldn’t agree more. I don’t mind it so much on my acoustic but I much prefer unbound necks on my electrics. And rosewood* rather than maple. 
 

* or whatever the modern, sustainable version of rosewood is