EdwardMarlowe

This may be a case of teenage exposure to early Bob Dylan talking, but sometimes an acoustic does just hit the spot that even with the time to plug up an electric won't. (Is that a reverse Judas? Ha!) That said, over the years I've had a weird enjoyment from playing my electrics entirely unplugged around the house. Like an acoustic, but much quieter! Can't hear it in the next room, doesn't drown out the TV if you're watching yourself and just want to noodle... I had an oddly great acoustic sound some years back from - no lie - a late 90s Chinese Squier Standard Stratocaster, with the plate / pots / pickups removed, and the bridge blocked with a synthetic wine cork. Of all things.... A semi (think 335 type) will give you the next level of volume up unplugged - though again without causing annoyance in the next room.

Was ever one man so indelibly associated with a specific guitar? Probably in that regard, Brian May and the Quo boys are the only ones that come close? Hendrix is a good example. He was associated with a few guitars, but I'll always picture him with an inverted Start. This image in particular in in my mind, as this photo was in a poster on my bedroom wall for years: Although my Strat is a 94 American Standard, actually left handed, and lack the big headstick of the CBS era, this is the reason it's a three-tone burst and a rosewood board. Of course, eventually I do want to have an actual Hendrix replica Strat. Either a Partscaster (most likely), or a black CIJ 68RI if ever a deal came up, or even a Squier Classic Vibe if they saw sense and did a 68 model.... Just like Black Beauty, Jimi's reputed favourite, and one of two (rumour has it three - that there was another white 68 other than the Woodstock guitar) he had towards the end of his life. I did once get to play this.... That is the actual Black Angel, Jimi's custom lefty Flying Vee. Now, ti might just have been my imagination, but never have I lifted a guitar with as much mojo as was seeping out of that one, and I normally don't even like Vees.... A spiritual experience. I wish I'd had the change o plug it in, but even playing it unplugged was such a rush. Particularly special as a left handed player, given most of my guitar heroes' instruments would be upside down for me. (Including, ironically, Dick Dale's).

Steve Jones and his legendary ivory white LP Custom: http://img.wennermedia.com/920-width/rs-136459-e03d576a3be5ca7cf841357d5e452e4ee019ab33.jpg (widely considered the "Bollocks" guitar, though the LP he actually played on the album was a black Custom - a 58, I think - with p90s!) Joe Strummer and his '66 Tele Dick Dale and The BeasT:

I can think of a few. 1] If you're left-handed, buy a left handed guitar. DON'T listen to that (inevitably right handed) guy who gives you a load of guff about "the guitar isn't handed" or who tells you "you'll be better off with your dominant hand on the fretboard (id that were true, *he'd* - and it's ALWAYS a 'he' - be playing with his right hand on the fretboard). 2] Learn full songs. Even if it's only basic open chords. It's far more fun to play full songs with other people than it is to show off dozens of intros to famous songs and bits of solos you've learned. 3] Get lessons (I never have, and I regret that - plan to do something about it in the next year.) While it's cute to be able to say you're "entirely self-taught!", the vast majority of us will progress faster with some good guidance as well as the practice. 4] Play what you enjoy playing. Don't sit there feeling inferior to the guy doing all the shred workouts because you can't. Sure, you could learn, but do you want to? I'd love to have the level of skill Steve Vai does, for example, but it's not stuff I personally get any joy from listening to, and it would be a chore. (I'm thinking of years of taking piano lessons because middle class, at a time when I had zero interest in piano based music... I never put the work in and just didn't really get into it. Would have been better on guitar all that time.) If you like Link Wray or Johnny Ramone, learn to play in that vein and make it your own. It's not to say that I think there's nothing to learn from being open to something outside your normal parameters, just that, well.. music isn't a competition, and being able to play one genre isn't qualitatively better than another if that's what you enjoy. Johnny Ramone forged an entire career from the root 6th barre chord, and not many players (other than Daniel Rey, ha!) have excited me as much with their sound on a primal level. 5] Listen to music, not instruments. I honestly think the people I've encountered who were the best guitarists were those who didn't limit themselves to only listening to guitar music. (This doesn't conflict with #4 , that's about being who you are, this is about appreciating who other musicians are. And finding inspiration in the oddest of places sometimes: that piano riff that makes Elvis Costello's Oliver's Army so melodically compelling was inspired directly by Dancing Queen by Abba - Lemmy's favourite band.). When it comes to equipment... 1] Buy quality not brand. Don't assume that the bigger brands are always best, equally don't assume that they have to be overpriced. When I started out, I doubt I could have much told you the difference between a Squier and a US Fender, much less an Epiphone and a Gibson in a blind test (and those differences were a bit starker back then). In time, I could - and lusted after all the high end stuff. I've now reached the sweet spot where I can tell all the differences, and I'm a lot more confident about the point along the track of the law of diminishing returns at which I jump off the train. I no longer feel I *have* to spend as much as I possibly can, and I'm a lot more confident about assessing a guitar, knowing it's foibles and what the next price rung up will get me, and being happy about my own choice when I decide that I don't want / need / consider that "more" to be either worth the extra or necessary to me. A real Eureka moment for me was realising that I actually prefer the specs of Fender's Mexico lines (at least much below a level of cost in the US models that just isn't worth it to me as a hobby player - were I a pro, that might be different). I think this is something that just comes with experience (to judge an instrument on its own merits confidently, instead of the security of it being "reassuringly expensive", though I also believe that with the right mindset you can get there a lot faster. A psychological breakthrough with this came for me when I started to think of guitars in the same way as I would clothes, or a car... Sure a Rolls would be nice, but a Morris Minor is more me - and cheaper to buy, insure, feed, less likely to get keyed by some class warrior down the supermarket carpark.... and still does everything I need it to. I also no longer buy flagship mobile phones.... I think what I'm emphasising here is the importance of knowing your own needs as a player, and being realistic about what point at which those are met, and what's just spending more money... I should note, I'm' not against spending more money if you have it, aren't going into hock for it and want the pricier guitar - just buy it knowing it's a luxury, not a necessity. And yes, there is a value in buying a "dream guitar" if it really will make you want to play more and enjoy it more. 2] Not judging a guitar by country of origin is another one - though I think that's also helped by the fact that I've never really felt a great need to buy a guitar "made here", and when you're not in the US, a US guitar is just another import the same as one made in China or Korea or Germany, all other things being equal.

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...

So without getting involved in a lot of unnecessary background, I did a bit of digging around reading online about stainless steel frets. Found this article, which is pretty cool - about the whole process at Sweetwater in the US: https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/do-stainless-steel-frets-make-a-difference/ (Plus props to the lady doing this in what is still all too often an overly male-dominated world.)

Belated thanks! I've noted that for future reference.

I've heard of folks favouring a slightly heavier string for this (more a thing with electric rather than acoustics), but yeah, I can't see it being an issue. I once tuned by ear and played a full step down for a week or so before I realised - nothing different than the norm. (As an aside, for years I felt that I was cheating by using a capo until the penny dropped that it's no different than using an alternate tuning. I particularly liked playing d chord shapes with the capo on 1 - basically playing in e flat, but with a much brighter tone than down tuning half a step and playing E shapes. AFAIK it's how Dylan recorded Blowin' In The Wind.)

Ah, didn't know it was gone entirely! I remember those preformal nights, about five songs that were "our" stuff, then us all thinking it was a great idea tot tit bout to stuff like 'Rhythm is a dancer' the rest of the night... fun times. In the days before mobiles, I missed Darren's eighteenth due to a glitch in meet-up times (if memory serves, the party wither skipped Dobbins' Inn, or was late to it). I remember the photos, though.... carnage is not the word!

Strongbow and Black, down the Northgate.... that brings back memories of our pre-formals!

I hear you. I can well appreciate the quality of high end acoustics, but in all honesty (even moreso than electrics) however beautifully made they are, a lot of them just feel somehow soulless in my hands. I suspect in part that's down to the realisation as I get older how much of the music I really love was written and recorded on "budget" stuff. I sometimes think we hobbyists get hung up on "better / best" gear in a way that working musicians don't, at least not in the same way. Those little Gretsches really appeal to me; the only reason I don't already have one is they don't make 'em left handed. I've seen a few converted (peeling off the scratch=plate sticker I *might* be able to manage myself, but I'd be wary of messing with the nut....), but with the Recording King available lefty, it seems a better idea. What's the state pf play with Lowden these days? I remember all sorts of rumours when George left, then there was Avalon(?), then he was making "George Lowden Guitars" - is he still involved at all now? Also stumbled across the facebook for Kitara electrics - they look really nice. Beyond what I can justify these days, but definitely something I'd be looking at if I was in that market.

Oh, yeah - way back in the day. I wish I'd discovered Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard much earlier, I'd love to be able to play boogie woogie like that now, but I don't think I have the patience / time / coordination any more... That is the big bonus of the web - for kids so motivated these days, it's a great way of finding cool old / niche stuff. (Mind you.... old..... *our* music..... I taught kids this year - final year undergraduates that will be graduating next month - that were born in 2002.... Kurt Cobain was dead by then over three times as long as Hendrix and Morrison were when we were born. Nirvana is like Elvis for them, in terms of relative timeline. This gives me the willies..... I make it a point to tell them their youth disgusts me. They think I'm joking...)

Heh! Sounds like there's a bit more of an interest developing there - bodes well for the birthday! Thanks - that does look a manageable size. That's the line I've been looking at, thinking of going for the flightcase one for ease of storage. All my pedals / strings/ tools / bits are currently stored in a flightcase box that was once set up for a drill; my dad picked it up somewhere in the early 90s, and we sliced out the foam internals so it's a foam-lined big box now, great thing. Almost like a record box, handy keeping everything safe in my chaotic flat!

OHHHHHHH I just discovered on the Googles that this is indeed a five minutes with a screwdriver job..... I also note I discovered Harley Benton via this forum. When Mrs Marlowe catches up with you lot of enablers, there's going to be hell to pay....

Welcome! Which HB is that? I have my eye on a couple, for different reasons - the nice Custom parlour type, and the Dirty Thirties Recording King for a rude and rasty old school blues sound...

Hope it goes well! I tried to interest my late cats in plucking the strings years ago (I had these crazy notions of trying to record them, sample it into something...) but couldn't get the into it at all. Not tried this with the dog, but she'd probably try to eat the guitar. Bless her, she's enthusiastic about *everything* but about as subtle as half a brick.... When I was twelve, Iasked for a keyboard for Christmas. My parents spent a small fortune one something really nice, but despite several years of piano lessons I just never took to it. I think the problem, ultimately, was I got big into guitar music, then didn't have the motivation for keys. Could be with a n electric around if that's the stuff she listens to, she'll take to it more than the acoustic. Is she still a bit young for Riot Grrl? WE're surely due a revival of that and the grunge end of things now, aren't we? All the 90s stuff I've been hearing about the kids getting into now has been more the Britop end of things, but we're doubtless one more episode of The Gallaghers away from that getting old....

Is that one of the Harley Benton boards? I was looking at those, but couldn't get my head round the sizes, whether they'd be too big... that one looks like it would be a good size for me, though... Used to pick up pricier (but still production run) pedals, but these sort of minipedal Donner / Mooer / Moskey are my favourties now. The Moskey Golden Horsey is a cracking little Klon Clone. No idea how close it is to the original (never had a chance to actually try one of those), but it works for me. Too a long time to learn it, but what works best for me is just a *little* dirt, so it's not quite clean (you know, like when a radio isn't *quite* on the right frequency... just a bit...off.... ), and then it gets dirtier the hard you hit the strings... The MGH is great for that.

I remember Boss did one in the 90s that had a bunch of inbuilt stuff, then you could clip in three outboard Boss pedals to tweak it to your preferences (more modulation, more varied drives, whatever). I think it was aimed at players who already had a bunch of pedals and could be persuaded to try midi.... not sure it ever took off, though?

Where do folks find these smaller pedal boards? I was looking at the Harley Benton one with the flightcases on Thomann, but they seem awfully big for what I had in mind (about five small pedals, most of them around the size of the Golden Horsey).

It's be interesting for us southpaws to hear what is there - though without know what "local" means....

Those Zipps looked fantastic. Danos are still around, though they seen only to do limited runs of limited designs these days (and used ones are shockingly pricey - I wish I'd bought a U2 RI in Camden in 199 when I saw it new for £150; now they go for twice that, at least, used often.) I wonder how long it will be before we see a Harley Benton take on the Dano concept? If their (lovely) Mosrite models have done well, that might be a logical next step...

Anyone using the Harley Benton Tube 5?

That Fishman operation looks the business! In terms of one of these over an electric, for me the appeal is purely the combination of that vaguely Gretschy look (well, if you squint at it....), and the acoustic sound, which will be different than you'll get from magnetic pups in a regular electric guitar. Course, past a certain point, in a live context few in the average audience will notice the sound difference or care, but...

Heh, yeah - I know you're not a fan. In this case, I'm sort of eying up one of the HB Jazzmasteralikes; they come as stock with a Gibson style bridge and tailpiece two-piece arrangement. I think the trem piece would give it a much nicer aesthetic flair. The other option, of course, is to ditch that for a one-piece bridge, and find some nice cosmetic studs to screw into the holes for the tailpiece! If it were workable, a pair of dice or something on there could look cool...

Reverb is a start, though the completed listings on ebay is often more realistic.