knirirr

Following on from this, I have found that Vox do a very similar amp called the Clubman 60. This has a line out. It also lacks or simplifies some of the effects and doesn't have the various emulation (inc. distortion) settings, being designed for a clean tone with (semi-)hollow guitars. It sounds ideal, if I can sell the VX50...

This has been traded and is no longer available.

Thanks for the pedal link - I might look into something like that. A Roland Blues Cube would be great, but is 3.5x the weight and rather expensive. That DV Mark amp is only 2x the weight, though... Perhaps something to consider in the longer term. Micing up the amp might be a possibility as I do actually have a microphone and stand.

I've got a Vox VX50 GTV(*); this is very small and light and therefore good as a practice amp, but if turned up(**) is capable of being loud enough clean to play at a local jazz jam, which is not bad for a small combo with an 8" speaker. But, it's sometimes difficult to find a good place for it so that everyone can hear clearly and I wonder if it would be worth plugging into the PA as well. But, of course, there's no line out on this amp. It does have a headphone and also a USB socket, but I don't know if anything useful could be done with those. If I understand https://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_die_dibox_passiv.htm correctly, could this be used to send the guitar signal to both amp and PA? If so then presumably the signal the PA receives won't have the amp's effects, modelling etc. applied. Could the amp perhaps be omitted entirely and some sort of pedal used to connect to the PA (if so, what might suit?). If there's a similarly light/small/loud/clean amp with line out that might be worth getting instead. (*) https://voxamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/VX50GTV_VX15GT_OM_EFGSJ1.pdf (**) Power on full 50W, gain on half, volume a little over half, usually does the trick.

A couple of books of jazz soloing technique turned up amongst my presents.

I've probably got too many jazz books already but why not order this one as well? I just have, for delivery before the end of the holidays. Already got the turtleneck.

This was purchased earlier this year and has been little-used; I have a G&L ASAT and find that gets the most playing time. The leather strap won't be included but the gig bag will. I have a box and could in theory post it but I would prefer to avoid that if possible (it would cost extra, also).

An event I still remember was a Martin Taylor gig. Probably about 1991 or not long after. So, I was very much a novice with limited exposure to the music. What was so astonishing about this gig was that it was simply him playing solo, doing the melody, chords and bassline all by himself. I'd never seen or heard anything like that, and wasn't expecting it either as I'd never heard of him and didn't know anything other than that it would be a jazz guitar gig.

Indeed! My fencing students groan at hearing the phrase “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” over and over again, but tense muscles and rushing will never give them good point control and quick ripostes. At the moment I’m at the stage of trying to (re-) learn how to change chord shapes, and the method mentioned above (slow, frequent practice, with a metronome) is necessary.

The players who got me interested years ago were, in order: 1. Hank Marvin. 2. Albert King. 3. Wes Montgomery.

Thanks - that Laney looks interesting, though the price appears to be quite a bit higher than the Harley Benton. Apparently there's a Vox AC4 available as well, though that lacks reverb.

To follow on from this comment, I stopped guitar for a while as I had other things to do, but now I'm trying again. I'm still wondering about a small valve amp. Bugera do a 5w combo which seems to be well received. They also do a 5w head which I could (presumably) plug into my 1x12 Orange bass cab. Harley Benton's 15w combo looks interesting, as does their 5w one, though I'd prefer something with reverb built in to avoid faffing with pedals. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with any of these?

Thanks. I'll try it out for a bit longer and will see how it goes.

Despite thinking that I can't play guitar and should stick to bass, some incoming money (bass sale), appearance of a nice guitar at a reduced price, and the appearance of a good excuse to buy it mean I now have a Telecaster. Previously, I had the following inconveniences with the right hand when playing guitar: Thumb - excellent tone from downstrokes when playing chords (I did this in a jazz big band), but useless for single note soloing. Plectrum - adequate for single note soloing and chords, though I don't like the tone and though I can use them they always feel awkward. Proper guitar fingerstyle, or anything involving plucking with nails - not happening. I've been trying the two fingers and floating thumb approach I'd use on a bass guitar and it sort of works, though it's a bit fiddly due to the relatively small strings. Is there any reason I shouldn't work on this? I wonder if it might be worth stickiing with, with switching to the thumb for downstrokes on chords (I'll only be playing jazz).

Sold locally. I hope that the buyer, once they've done the necessary maintenance work, will get as much enjoyment form it as I did.

Now sold locally.

Some more photos are now available. According to https://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/potentiometer/ the pots were made in 1975 and the guitar in or after 1981. Clearly, the guitar parts and the new case are worth something (though the chance of me being willing to sell off parts is zero), but I'm still hoping that someone who can work on this themselves and get it back into good order would be interested in it.

I wondered about that as well, but had no particular desire to start scraping off paint (which does appear to be quite thick) just in case it was still visible beneath.

I'll investigate when I get a chance.

This guitar is discussed in another thread, where an overview of the work that needs doing on it was given. I think I'll stick to basses so this might as well go to someone who will make use of it. More photos are below, which show the new case I got for it as the old one was falling apart. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions, though I probably can't provide any more information than what's in the thread. For example, no serial number is visible externally so I don't know the date (a previous owner having repainted it a rather nice colour).

No luck yet, I'm afraid. If anyone has one spare please let me know.

I realise I have a basic Fender gig bag, equally good condition, which I don't need so it could be included with this guitar.

According to the serial number (https://www.squierwiki.com/Serial-Number-Tracking) this was made in 2019. I got it early in 2020 and have barely used it other than for a few minutes' noodling here and there; it turns out that I still find guitar strings a bit too small and fiddly for my liking. I had a local tech set it up and put new strings on (flats) after I got it. He thought it a good instrument other than the very dry fretboard, which he oiled. It remains in excellent condition with no marks I'm aware of. I don't have any suitable box to post this, I'm afraid.

Apologies for not spotting this comment earlier. Funnily enough I was thinking today that if I were to move it on I might be able to squeeze a double bass into the spot it currently occupies... I'm not really sure about value, but I would guess that £250 for the guitar plus £500 for the work would give someone a vintage Gibson at a reasonable price. There's certainly a sentimental value attached to it but whether that's worth using up limited storage space is another question.

It might end up going that way, eventually.