ezbass

No, that’s how the industry works GAS is a cruel mistress.

A tech will sort that easily, I would have thought, although I’d be tempted to try and track it down myself. E&B share particular harmonic vibrations, so that doesn’t come as a surprise.

Something is vibrating in the trem system I reckon.

Goldtops just do it for me, any make. Two of the best sounding guitars I’ve played was a PRS McCarty P90 Goldtop and an early PRS McCarty that I was lucky enough to own (turns out that PRS double cut ergonomics don’t work for me really ). On that basis, a PRS Dave Grissom, Goldtop (effectively a tricked out McCarty) ticks a lot of boxes for me.

I don't, it's often wrong . That said, interval training helps, but multiple octave jumps are always going to be a challenge. That said, memorise some intervals in tunes that mean something to you and that you can recognise (for instance the minor third of the Jaws theme or the octave jump in Over The Rainbow). Also knowing whether the key being used is major or minor flavoured can get you there quicker.

Either pickup, swap the hot and earths around.

As Dad says, it has to be playable and comfortable for your hands and body, whichever feels best should be the one you buy. However, that said, don’t overlook the visual appeal. The more you play, the better you’ll become, so having something you want to pick up and play, because of the way it looks, as well as the ergonomics, is also important.

If you're happy not playing barre chords, then that's fine. However, it will impede your progress. It's not all E/Em and A/Am shapes (dominant & minor 7ths too), a barred C shape is a great voicing to have available, for instance. It takes time and effort to build up the strength to play barre chords, but once you have it down, you'll never look back. Just to reiterate, you don't need to voice all 6 strings when playing chords, you often must (see should) mute some of the notes so as not give the wrong flavour to your playing.

If you can stretch the budget, just a bit, I'd always recommend Yamaha.

You may waver slightly from the actual beat during fast sections, either single note or strumming (it’s only natural when playing fast) but providing you start and finish on the beat, it’s fine and adds a human element to the passage. If you’ve ever heard famous drummers quantised, you’ll notice it feels unnatural, even though it’s bang on time. In short, feel it. At least this is what I do.

I’m only hearing what I would consider normal pick response (there’s always some extra harmonic content). Try not playing so quickly and see if you can still hear what you’re hearing with space between the notes. Something else to consider is pick-up height, if the pickups are too high, you might be hearing what are referred to as ‘wolf tones’.

Could be that. Could be that too. It won't hurt.

SRV by Eric Johnson. Took a me ages to get the main parts down and I don’t have the chops to nail the main solo. Still revisit it occasionally, which then becomes also a feat of memory, as alluded to by @Dad3353.

It’s been a progression really, so I’ll list them as they came into my consciousness. Les Paul - I was raised with Les in the house, the sound of guitar, front and centre was different from everything else. Hank Marvin - The Shadows were on my turntable a lot with records that I’d inherited, guitar front and centre again. Crosby Stills Nash & Young - The live album, 4 Way Street, made want to learn to play. Eric Clapton - Hearing Layla for the first time was a ‘wow’ moment, I wanted to play like that. I became the biggest fanboy, but can’t stand him now Paul Kossoff & Santana - I didn’t have fast chops and these guys showed that note choice and feel were just as important and I could actually play their lines (at least I thought I could). Eric Johnson - The master of electric tone IMO, I can’t play or sound like him, but still my favourite player. Carl Verheyen - Introduced me to playing bigger intervals for solo breaks, pulled me out of the typical, pentatonic rut. Brian Setzer - I was asked to join a rockabilly band, so started to listen to Brian, completely changed my style. These days, I’m more into rhythm playing and guys like Cory Wong and John Mayer for their rhythm chops are more my thing. As I play mainly acoustic now, I’m also developing a better appreciation for Jimmy Page’s acoustic playing (I think he plays electric like he’s falling downstairs, too messy).

You can lessen a good bit of the early grief of steel strung acoustic guitars, with a good set up and using light/low tension strings. Optima make a low tension set and, having tried them, they do make a difference, although sound projection is somewhat reduced (as you’d imagine).

These would make me a suggest a dreadnought or maybe a folk sized acoustic.

One of the advantages of YouTube is the ability to slow down the playback, without affecting the pitch. So you can play along at a speed that you can manage, then up it until you're at full speed.

Ooh, you’ve asked the wrong question for me as I’m a Gretsch fanboy. Worst thing I ever did was let my old customised Streamliner. If it were me, I’d get a Electromatic 5420, with a Bigsby (well set up, they’re pretty stable and definitely add something to the sound of the guitar) you don’t have to use it, but it’ll be there if you fancy a wobble.

Taking up any musical instrument is a permanent learning journey, there’s always something new to take on board, be it a scale, chord, technique , whatever. However, as Dad says, it should be enjoyable. When I first picked up the guitar as a youngster, I was taught some chords and I had a book or two, but what I did most of all was learn tunes that I liked and wanted to play and I didn’t get too bogged down with scales and theory. This may not have been the wisest course with regard to musical proficiency but, 50 years on, I’m still playing and playing tunes that give me pleasure, not what some book, course or latest internet craze tells me to. What makes you smile, when you’re playing? Do that more and the other things you want to learn, but give you trouble at the moment, will become easier. You may not ever perfect everything to your personal standards (who does?), but you will perfect some things and that’s not bad.

Yep, sounds like a partially pinched harmonic to me. You may find that part of the thumb or finger, holding the pick, are choking off the note and creating a false/pinched harmonic. This can be used to good effect, if you want it and that’s your thing, Billy Gibbons and Zakk Wylde are noted exponents of the technique.

I’d go with the Tonemaster. In various head to heads with its valve equivalent, tested by valve lovers, it has fared very well. Does it sound exactly the same? No, but then neither do 2 Deluxe Reverbs from different eras. The TMs sound really, really good (the guitarist in the band band where I play bass has one), they’re light, reliable (valve amps can be cranky when carted around and shoved in and out of cars/vans/etc) and have the attenuator built in, something extra you’d have to buy with a valve amp. I’ve owned great sounding and very average sounding valve amps, I’ve also owned solid state ones that other players thought were valve (take a bow Tech21). I currently own a hybrid Fender, which is becoming cranky, because of one of the valves. If I were buying now, I’d look at the TMs, a Roland Blues Cube (if I could find one), or a Jazz Chorus. YMMV.