Crusoe

51 minutes ago, Richards Guitars said:

PS.... Its my Birthday today!  51   OMG

 

So be nice to me

 

I would actually love contributing to forums - but every single time I have tried to participate I get targeted by someone - I closed my own lovely forum for the same reasons - always someone who wanted to stick the knife in.  Its a very small but toxic group - its like being out with friends but you know the guy who hates you is sat at the table listening to everything you say - waiting for any opportunity to undermine you.    Sooo....  I keep myself locked up in my little bubble /world of happiness at rguitars.co.uk and if people need me they can find me there.

 

If anyone wants to have a nice conversation about Dowina - wants to know anything at all - I am happy to contribute here or at my website on chat - but like I say please just judge me on what you experience  (or maybe the several thousand positive reviews you can easily find online) - not what a tiny minority say they've experienced - as there is always more to the story that they dont want to share.  

 

Really sorry to ramble on.....  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ME!!!!  

Many happy returns. 

I've never played one, but did see a review on YouTube (40 Cycle Hum, I think it was). I get the impression that they are in the same league as Harley Benton, Donner, some Squier.

Welcome @Backonthehorse Unfortunately,  I can't offer any advice about multi-effect pedals, as I know bugger all about them, but I'm sure someone else will.

Well, today was the big day and she loved the guitar (though she seemed to be more excited by the Batman car Lego set ). The guitar looks great and the pale blue colour goes really well with the vintage look of the Mooer amp. The only flaw I can see with it is a slight gap in the neck pocket, on the top side, but it doesn't affect the playability and she'll not notice it. The amp is great fun. It has chorus, delay, reverb, flanger and vibrato. She loved the sound of the flanger. It sounds good too. There are clean, overdrive and high gain presets (plus bass and acoustic) and a bunch of amp models. 

I'm not sure if it would be available to you in Iran, but you could also look at the Mooer Hornet 15W amp. It would be cheaper than the Roland. There are a few different models of the Hornet, each with different amp models. The white one, for example, would be better suited to blues guitar, whereas the black one is aimed more at the heavy metal player. It also has a built in tuner, 3 modulation effects, 3 delay and 3 reverb effects.

I did a quick comparison and the 62 seems to sound a bit fuller than the 20. I'll maybe do a more comprehensive test tomorrow,  if I have time.

I still hadn't heard back about this, so went down to the shop again and asked if it would be possible to get a different colour. The guy was very apologetic and said that would be no problem. They had a red one with a black scratch plate, so I asked if I could try it. He lifted it down and I had a quick look over it. Big chunk out of the body work in more or less the same spot as the black one.  Like most guitar shops, they get a lot of kids going in at the weekend and lifting the guitars down to try. Obviously, they are less than careful when putting them back up again. Very unfair on the shop. I ended up trying a pale blue one and took it home. Her birthday is next week, so fingers crossed she likes it.

I do love the look of it. The slightly sharp fret ends are the only thing that annoy me, but you don't feel it if your finger is perpendicular to the neck. I'm torn between being a fret file and having a go at going it myself (I would tape of the neck and fretboard,  obviously) and paying someone to do it. 

I think the caramel maple is just roast maple. The laurel really does look like rosewood. I don't buy into the whole tone wood debate, so I'm not worried about anything there. 

It has a tele sound, obviously. I'm going to have to compare it with the cheap TE-20 to see if there is much difference in the sound of the pickups. I'll probably change the strings. The website says they are d'Addario EXL 110 10-46s. I'm not fussed on the feel of them. I thought d'Addario strings had coloured ball ends, but these are just brass. I might go for Ernie Balls.

9 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

For anyone starting out on guitar, I will always recommend this (very inexpensive...) method, which put me on an excellent track from an early age. Don't be fooled by the title; it's useful stuff in all genres of playing. Here's an Amazon link; other sources are surely available...

 

Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar. Book 1 ...

 

 

I've worn out quite a few copies, and am still using it over half a century later, and still coming across new things in there. For such a low price, what's there to lose..? Give it a go...

The downside is that you will end up wearing a black turtleneck and beret, and star smoking Gitanes.

New kid on the block

Oh my word! How can they churn out great guitars like this for the price? I haven't played it yet (will report back on that- I'm knackered after a 110 mile drive and there is someone else sleeping in the house). Out of the box it looks gorgeous. The finish on the body is great. I haven't found any flaws yet, other than a little bit of glue overspill om the back where I assume the string ferrules haven been glued in, and I was able to wipe that off with my finger. The neck looks to be straight as a die. Tuning was only out by maybe a half step, but I never worry about that on a new guitar that's been delivered. The neck and fretboard look beautiful. The neck is caramel maple and the neck is laurel. The bridge is the classic tele ashtray style and the tuners are kluson style, with the string ends going into the centre posts. The tuners feel nice and tight, but turn smoothly. The frets are reasonably well finished. They are all polished and there is no fret sprout. If you run a finger along them at an angle there are one or two that feel a little bit sharp,  but I don't think it'll be noticeable when playing. Even the edges of the fretboard seem to have been rolled a bit.

I haven't much to add other than, when you start learning about modes it can seem very daunting, but it's not really. If you look at the example of the C major scale mentioned above, the chords in that scale are CM Dm Em FM GM Am Bdim. If you play the notes of the C major scale at the 6th note you will realise that you are playing the Am scale or the Aeolian mode - Am is the relative minor scale of C major. You can do the same for each of the notes in the scale and you will be playing the different modes. I really hope I've got that right. I've only been learning about it recently and I'm sure someone can correct me if I've made any mistakes.

Welcome to the forum, Claire

3 hours ago, EdwardMarlowe said:

On the plus side, there are a lot of genuine deals out there too. If I was right handed, I'd have a bid in on this one... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334933526697?hash=item4dfb9808a9:g:UbEAAOSwJ75koIly&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwAvsgjrLmMPCecbgr%2FahbksSjlrFOLgccRZrHBOZILsVvU0w6%2BphO1mzp8JYiZgxbFnxSrlZ4%2FM7h1Q2VLKE%2FLda62zSaIsM2XgjIhv%2F1tW1h0HKsJWdaxNPcfctuG9fBIt1hbaeNJWrA7brjPjem0YZ8Vgso654ebR3sXNxiDwxpe8Rb%2FlCPv4xq6rNYREc3TfA1b7TcPZQ5j1eDfSmzCobQdLJvCZs%2BSSmJhZCH2m%2FRN3oJlEZYsXiaDjp3uD5Gg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR6CIw-mkYg

On the other hand... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314137684092

4 minutes ago, EdwardMarlowe said:

Dog Day Afternoon - yes, that's the one! Great show. Buzzcocks and Lambrini Girls on the bill too. 

Excellent. I'm going to see SLF at Custom House Square next month, with Peter Hook & The Light and Glen Matlock on the bill.

24 minutes ago, EdwardMarlowe said:

So..... 

 

I cracked and ordered one of these beauties a couple of weeks ago. Should be shipped in September or late August: 

 

I really want one of the JA60CCs in blue as well - the blue one I'll mod with a trem. They're not in stock currently either - I'm trying to hold off in the hope that post 2023, they do the anniversary spec as a DLX model in the CC colours. I'm indifferent on the "upgrade" of the body from basswood to alder, and the locking tuners instead of the standard, but stainless steel frets is a huge plus imo. The difference in price, once you take out the £20 gigbag is about the same as the upcharge for ss frets alone I've seen elsewhere. This sort of spec applied as a "DLX" model would be great elsewhere too - would love it on a 50s-model Strat type with 21 frets. (Probably my little, odd quirk as a player. It's not a deal breaker per se, but I do have a very marked preference for a 21 fret neck, shorn of that little 22nd overhang. I almost never play above fret 15 anyhow.... ) Left handed, with the 25th style specs, 21 frets, and a (roasted) maple fingerboard, LPB body... I honestly would buy that over the Tidepool Player Series strat currently on my want list... 

I'm really keen on the matching J bass for this as well - let's see if I can clear some space out at home to justify it before end 2023. I know it's easy to get carried away with "budget" guitars, but for a hobby player, this sort of spec could really be the perfect sweet spot between stock spec and price. Of course, HB's 'factory to buyer via Thomann's operation' makes all the difference. One of the best things is how broad their left handed range is. I just looked at Squier's website by comparison, very limited range. A lot of the big names are the same. Ironically, as a general rule I've often found over the years that the "copy" brands cater better to lefties than the "originals". I'm actually quite excited, to a sad degree, to be able to buy an LE like this. My old american Strat, bought new in 1994, was a 40th anniversary year American Standard. The AS guitars right handed that year had, as with much of the range, a special logo badge added, but for whatever reason (shape, probably) it was not put on the left handed models that year - nor anything in its place. HB score for remembering the lefties here! 

 

Full review to come when this lands. I've gotten a little excited about the offset shape all over again after watching one of Iggy Pop's guitarists wielding a brace of Fender offsets on Saturday night... 

 

Was that the gig with Blondie, Generation Sex and SLF?

Interesting. I did manage to guess which was which - I thought the SS frets were just a little brighter, but this could possibly be explained by slight differences in the pickups. It's hard to say if there is much of an actual difference.

Have you every looked at Daisy Tempest's videos on YT? She is a luthier and makes some lovely looking acoustic guitars with not so lovely prices, but when you see the work that goes into them, you can see why they are so expensive.

1 minute ago, EdwardMarlowe said:

Aye. His videos can be interesting (I watched the one on Ed Roman the other day), but he's a bit tunnel vision about everything. On the spectrum, I think. (Which all men are, of course, to some degree - hence male hobbies. Like me wanting the same guitar in all the colours.....)

I think he has watched a lot of YouTube videos and decided that you have to be annoyed about everything  when making content.

I'm still waiting on this guitar to arrive. Apparently one came in but it was also damaged. I called in to the shop at the weekend and the guy said he'd get the boss on to it and will give me a call when it comes in. Her birthday is in two weeks time and I'm worried that the guitar won't arrive in time, so I have ordered a Harley Benton TE-62 DBBK, just in case. I was wanting one of these for myself anyway, so hopefully the Squier arrives in time. The alternative is that I call in to the shop and ask if I can take one of the othes colours.

I got a Positive Grid Spark Go. It's brilliant for this sort of thing. You can plug headphones into it and even use the attached loop to put it on your belt loop, allowing you to walk around the house with it.

On 14/06/2023 at 08:57, EdwardMarlowe said:

The Voice of the Mysterons.... 

That's the sort of thing as could give you the willies til you figure out what's happening! For years, we lived right in front of the RUC station in Whitehead, with its huge radio tower. I didn't take up the guitar til we'd moved to another house, but it did make me wonder what could have happened if I'd had it then. (My mother did claim to hear the odd snatch of radio signal, through her amalgam fillings from it.) HB are lucky that kid who's raging at them on Youtube over microphonic feedback (same one as started the feud with Rob Chapman a couple of years ago) didn't have that experience.

Makes me think, though, there's another feature that those little travel amp-blutooth speaker combos should work in - DAB radio. That'd be a killer app... 

 

He gets on my wick. 

Stunning. I just want to run my hand over that finish. I'd love to gig it just to see the reaction it gets.

Paranoid is probably one of the easiest to begin with. If I can play it, anyone can.

11 hours ago, The Pinky said:

The quick answer is yes I am happy and have become even happier as my skills have developed.  I guess in retrospect I should have asked more how would a more expensive guitar reflect in feel and my playing.

I was lucky enough to come across a rather nice Epiphone Les Paul Studio electric guitar for what I have been advised is a reasonable price, there is not a mark on it.  The same guitar tech that checked the acoustic changed the pick up switch for me and he is suitably impressed with my purchase.  And bonus a work colleague gave me this little amp.

Result! I wish you many happy times playing it. 

I've never tried to sweep pick. Some day I'll give it a go.