ezbass

Sore fingers are a rite of passage on all stringed instruments. Don't overdo it and you'll have nice calluses soon enough.

Sorted! Quality guitar with a headphone output all ready to go and at a bargain price too.

A mean, green, Tele machine. Nice!

Perhaps put a multimeter on the pickup leads to make sure it isn’t open circuit? You should be able to read a resistance not dissimilar to the bridge pickup. I’d also resolder all the joints in case there’s a dry joint there. The switch could be faulty too.

Those 2 notes are plucked together at the same time, not strummed. So thumb and finger of your choosing, or with a held pick and middle or ring finger (hybrid picking).

Over doing it in any new pastime is a rite of passage. You’re excited and want to give it your best and with stringed instruments, this means discomfort. I remember using all sorts of things to try and toughen my fingers up quicker, but nothing beats playing and little and often, as @Dad3353 says above, the way forward. It’ll come, but not in days, in fact you’ll probably not notice the improvement until you go to do something that was impossible seemingly the day before and is now achievable (it wasn’t the day before, it was weeks previous). I had Bert’s Play in a Day, I think everyone did back then. My nephew, who is a formidable player and left me in his wake once I showed him the blues scale, once played in a backing band for Bert.

It's the perception that distorted is loud, at least this what I have suffered from in the past. Add to that, playing in your personal practise space, is very different to playing with a band in bigger rooms. What's probably happening is the fuzz is compressing your signal somewhat and possibly adding some harmonics that are matching what's going on with the other instruments. If your fuzz has any kind of EQ, try adding treble. Although it might sound like a wasp in a jam jar soloed, in the mix it might be just the job. Another route is to have a dry/wet mix so that you maintain some of you 'clean' tone.

Looks like MDF OK, serious head on, aluminium?

Welcome to world of guitar with all its wonders and frustrations. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, we might have the answer collectively. And dive into existing threads, the way I see you have already; good for you..

Like it.

Yep, like that!

First up, guitarist's nipple, not something that I've ever suffered from, but it made me smile. Second... Er... nothing to add here.

Small valve amps can be incredibly loud. I had a Bassman reissue, ‘just’ 40 watts, basically unusable without causing walls to be blown over! I made it into a gain + master volume, as opposed to just volume set up, with a mod from Vyse https://vyseamps.com/index.html , worked a treat. The other option is to use an attenuator.

Doh! How many times did I look at edit profile? Quite a few I can tell you. Thanks for that and, yes, I am getting new specs next week!

Sorry, can't help, I haven't used multi FX units since my old Digi RP1.

I’m not a big user on BC but I was going to use it here as an RIP for the late Jeff Beck. Having already done a number of lengthy posts about his demise elsewhere, I didn’t feel like doing it again here.

It's getting properly exciting now.

Hello... is there anybody out there? I just want to know why I can't post a status update?

There doesn't seem to be an input area for a status update in my profile. My BC account has it, but not here it seems .

Be aware that, depending on your body’s chemistry, gold finish can strip off quite easily. I see that they’re apparently fitted with tall, narrow frets, these are quite a vintage appointment and make for a different feel. I like these on a bass, but not so much on a guitar. Your experience may vary of course.