ezbass

Although not absolutely necessary, if you want to play live at some juncture, you’ll want an amp. You can get away with modelling FX boxes into the PA and these are also ideal for playing at home, but it just isn’t the same as hearing and feeling a conventional amp behind you (opinions vary on this, so is really just my POV). In terms of recommendations, a lot depends on budget, followed by the kind of tone you’re aiming for. However, a good starting point would be a modelling amp, something like a Fender Mustang or Boss Katana, which allow you to tweak the different voices and include a bunch of FX too.

Fundamentally, any guitar is good for a beginner, whether a particular guitar is more suited to a certain style is another question. The ES335 is generally regarded as one of the best all round guitars made (certainly Gibson’s). However, it’s a big beast for some, so the 339’s reduced proportions makes it a great choice for anyone. Then we come to the Epiphone variant, which, due to its coil tapping, makes it even more versatile. The one thing it lacks to make it truly all round, is a vibrato system, but you can add a Bigsby (or a Stetsbar if you can source one) at a later date. I nearly bought an Epi 339 myself some years ago, but I’m a sucker for P90 pickups, so I bought a Casino Coupé instead. Since owning it, I’ve upgraded the pickups and added the aforementioned Bigsby (plus a few cosmetic touches). The one drawback of my Casino is that it’s more prone to feedback because it’s a full hollowbody, whereas the 339 isn’t because it’s a semi.

Great guitar with very friendly proportions. A friend of mine had/has one of these and I was very impressed by the range of tones. A good choice for your chosen genre IMO. Oh yeah,

Another Boss pedal worth a look at is the DS1, that’s the one Joe Satriani uses, or at least used, and he’s a Marshall type amp player. Another DS1 user, albeit modded, is Marillion’s Steve Rothery (although that’s probably into a Roland amp), I love his tone, especially on Easter.

No, not directly, but it gives an insight (albeit highly, negatively biased) into what the TS does. For Marshall type amps, something like a Boss OD1 is probably more appropriate.

In short, yes. You’re cascading one boost into another (distorting a distorted signal) and also driving the front of the amp harder. In addition, Tube Screamers are very mid centric and whilst often sounding great in front of a clean Fender style amp, adding them to an amp with more mids (typical Marshall type voicing) you’re getting a rather large hump, mid range in your EQ, which adds to that harshness you’re hearing. Rhett Shull recently did a video on TS boxes.

Sometimes the simplest things provide a fix. Glad you got it sorted.

If you tap on the add files box, you load photos directly from your photo library.

Take your guitar to a shop (if possible) and try a bunch for a potential budget. Usual suspects apply: Marshall, Fender, Blackstar, Vox, etc. Personally, I always seem to veer towards Fender, or Fender style amps, but that’s just my preference.

I saw that release the other day, still not particularly pocket friendly, but heading in the right direction.

I had a Tokai Love Rock many years ago, I only have good memories of it. However, I can’t help in terms of a comparison as I didn’t try Epi or Gibson LPs at the time.

Can’t help you on the patches front, but…

I always seem to always go back to D’Addario XLs 10-42. Pick wise, despite trying numerous ones, all of which offer something different, I seem to go back to Dunlop Jazz 3s.

You can drag and drop into the ‘Add Files’ or browse to them.

I’m a big fan of Yammy Pacificas, a guitar that has always punched above its price point, no matter which level of Pacifica it is. I don’t know much about your amp, other than it’s very small and it’s this where I think your issue might lay. Try and use your guitar through a bigger amp, if possible, and see how that sounds to you.

Tokay Tele, eh? Nice. Make sure to post some pics of that beast in the Tele Tuesday thread (it ceased being just on a Tuesday some time back).

You might find this thread over one our sister forum useful. https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/248509-beginners-guide-to-home-recording/

There’s a bunch of gear heads here (myself included) so you won’t be short of wallet depleting suggestions. Ask away and we shall help as best we can.

Wow!

It's from '97, which would make him 43 at the time. However, he isn't bad looking these days for a 67 year old, so maybe right about the monkey glands.

Great intro there, complete with gear photo too; just the ticket. It’s not super busy here, but then it doesn’t take hours out of your day catching up with all the updates, but we’re always willing to throw our collective weight behind any questions, guitar related or otherwise. Many of us are also bass players and contribute to BassChat, where it’s a lot busier, but we come here to chill and talk about the 6 stringed thing without the gentle ribbing we receive there (all very good natured though, they’re a nice bunch). Chris

Love a bit of Eric Johnson and having Roscoe Beck on bass in the same video is always going to get my vote. I’ve recently been learning The Rain Song by Zeppelin and came across this very nice solo adaptation.

New one on me, can’t help you there, sorry.

No Bluetooth means no potential latency issues, so not a bad thing.

Might be something to do with using headphones, but you'll always have some sort of pick/finger attack, but it can be reduced. The way I achieve that really 'singing', violin tone (Eric Johnson is my go to guy for this tone), is by using a fuzz face style fuzz. With what you have, you might get closer by cranking up your distortion pedal into your already gain driven amp and then rolling the tone off at the guitar until you get where you want it to be. In short, more knob tweaking. If you place your compressor after the distortion (not the 'normal' way, I know) you might be able to set it up to add sustain without emphasising the note attack. Happy tweaking.