I can't say it's working because it's too early, but I'm doing a combination. I bought several books and instructional DVD's as well as using justinguitar.com, but I took my first lesson Tuesday and worked out a loose arrangement where I'd see the instructor as a floater when he gets cancellations and such. I'd like to work the area I want to at the time and use the instructor to answer questions I couldn't figure out on my own. If you find the magic technique of learning quick, let me know.
2 2008-08-13 15:49:59
Re: TUBE SCREAMER (6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
Excellent. Thanks for the help.
3 2008-08-13 11:49:02
Re: TUBE SCREAMER (6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
Purlnekless wrote:
, and of course sat in a lynx all day the subtle sounds of a Fender may not get thru the Dave Clarks .
It gives it all a good vibrato.
4 2008-08-12 11:43:23
Topic: TUBE SCREAMER (6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
Just bought Fender Blues Deluxe, and as I would expect from what I've read, it doesn't overdrive so well (or maybe doesn't until you are breaking glass with the volume?). I was willing to accept that shortcoming since I love the sound of it. I've read on other bulletin boards that to get a good clean overdrive that won't taint the amp's tonal quality one might consider using Ibanez Tube Screamer. One BB said the TS wasn't an overdrive device??? If local shops have one, I'll certainly try it, but meantime does anybody have any experience with the TS? Recommendations for it (or another device) to comp for lack of ability in the amp? Thanks in advance.
Dave
5 2008-08-12 09:36:09
Re: PICKUP UPGRADE (6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
cytania wrote:
Also check out the pot of your Epi. The classic LP pot is a 500k one, if your Epi has a standard 250k pot then think of changing that too to go with the pickups. Also are you trying for the P-90 or the humbucking Les Paul sound?
Will check out the pot situation. I put the BB Pro's in and it definitely sounds better. Also got a Blues Deluxe, so now it's much better.
Was considering wiring the pots for independent pickup control rather than neck+master or bridge+master (can't remember which). Any thoughts on doing this?
6 2008-08-08 19:46:27
Re: Burstbuckers (5 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
I'd venture a guess that a serious player who was restricted to a budget and got stuck with an Epi LP instead of the Gibson would consider it a good investment. I did, but I'm not all that serious yet. I certainly don't know enough about which pickup to recommend and my choice was based on customer reviews and a couple of articles in emags about the BB Pro's. With my guitar, I'm now about $600 into it. I'd love to have a high range Gibson LP, but then I wouldn't have money for all the other junk. My next project is a Fender Blues Junior per recommendations right here on chordie. The BB Pro's really seemed to be an improvement to me and made the stock pickups sound kind of bland. I say go for it.
7 2008-08-08 01:14:51
Re: Burstbuckers (5 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
It said "Alnico Classic" and nothing else on both the advertisement on the website where I bought it and on the manual. Epi website doesn't give any more info. They have an Epi logo on the back side. Not sure how the build is different. I got the BBP's at ZZ for about 100 each. I'm no expert for sure, but even I could tell the difference.
8 2008-08-07 01:27:10
Topic: Burstbuckers (5 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
Just swapped my stock pups with burstbucker pro's in an Epi Les Paul Standard. Wow.
9 2008-08-03 03:04:46
Re: When you hit a wall (19 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
johnemac01 wrote:
I have been there several times and in fact have hung up the guitar for long periods of time but I was lucky enough to find some friends who were in the same boat, that used to play in their basements by themselves, so we got together and played a few songs, now we meet each week on a Monday at one of our homes, eat some snacks, drink some wine and play some music.
You talk about motivation, you want to be sharp when you arrive cause you don't want to let anyone down. We have been doing this for almost 2 years now and I am still motivated and look forward to each and every Monday night. My family knows I am booked that night and nothing can get in the way of it.
Don't know if it helps, but try to find some friends in the same boat, you will be amazed how many there are and who they are.
I think that's great. I've seen that before, not necessarily guitar, where somebody books a regular time and holds it sacred. I'm not very good at that and I'm envious. I'll keep that one in mind. Thanks.
10 2008-07-31 11:37:55
Re: AMP RECOMMENDATION (3 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
HD and RD. Thanks. I'll go look at Fender tubes and Line 6.
11 2008-07-31 03:05:51
Topic: AMP RECOMMENDATION (3 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
Given a situation where you would only play very small venues but would like the ABSOLUTE best reproduction quality of your electric guitar sound, what amp would you recommend.
I'd like to mod and tweak my guitar to it's absolute best but I'll never play a stadium. If I'll only do family events, small pubs and such, and want a combo amp, within some degree of fiscal sanity, is there a REALLY good small combo amp out there?
12 2008-07-29 23:25:42
Topic: PICKUP UPGRADE (6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
I've done the requisite search and have found varying degrees of answers, but would like to ask in my own fashion to come to a more sensible conclusion. Thanks in advance for any replies.
I recently got an Epi LP Standard Plain Top and the rest of the goodies and would like to maximize bang for buck. Maybe erroneously, I'm assuming that 99% of the tonal quality of a solid body electric lies in the pickups. I don't really know where I stand on my Epi. It said Alnico Classic Humbucker pickups. Bottom line question is, drum roll, could I mimic the Gibson LP and buy replacement pickups that the Gib uses, install them in my Epi, and be a little bit closer to tonal nirvana???
I'm happy with the neck straightness on the guitar. Action was high so I lowered it. I may pull out the tuner and work on intonation adjustments, but it doesn't really seem to need it. No fret buzz after lowering action so I'm happy about that. Everything is fine and I'm not sure if I'd even notice the change with new pickups, but who knows and I've got a couple hundred I could spend on it. I like gadgets and I like making things better, so this is more of just a fun project than a need.
If you think I might benefit, what pickup would you recommend? I looked at what the Gib's come with stock. Depending on model, there must be the perverbial 'best' one. If going this route is good, would they likely fit in the space left by the Epi stock pickups? Wiring should be no issue (I have 9 electrical/instrumentation technicians who work for me).
Let's say I buy a pair of Gibson Burstbucker Pro's. Am I moving forward?
Again thanks in advance.
13 2008-07-28 22:57:09
Re: Proposed Forum Rules . . . please comment (38 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
This seems like a pretty tame forum from what I've seen elsewhere. Hopefully your rule set is already assumed. Looks like a good list.
14 2008-07-23 00:41:24
Re: So who inspired you to play? (109 replies, posted in Electric)
I just thought of a second reason. I was in the US Navy on exchange to the Royal Navy for a 3-year stint and, among other events, I noticed that everybody had a "thing" they could do. It could be simple, useless something or really viable talents, but at least something. Being talent-proof myself, at social functions I found I had little to offer other than my good company (har har). We had pulled into Gibraltar for about a week's visit and, to my surprise, somehow we ended up in a bar. There was a guy and a gal that had a bass, acoustic guitar, keyboard, and a couple other hoo-yahs to do a 2-person gig so the bar could have live music. They went on break after a set and one of my friends asked if he could use the acoustic and mic and do his little song. They let him and he proceeded to do "Stairway to Heaven" (the long version) flawlessly with nothing but a voice and an acoustic guitar. It was impressive. There's been many a camping trip or whatever where I would have liked to pull out a guitar and let everybody join in for a song, but lacked the experience or talent. My goal now is to be able to get through a select few songs flawlessly, at the right moment, and prove to myself that either I don't have talent but I do have the will to practice enough and fake it, or I actually have the talent and skill to make music that somebody might actually want to hear. So, long story short, his name is Dan. Forgot his last name. He's not famous. Just another swabbie like me.
15 2008-07-21 09:48:14
Re: Did Garth Brookes KIll old time Country? (27 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
I think it's a mistake to group all of them under a single moniker like "country". I wouldn't expect Garth Brooks to sound like Tommy Horton or Shania to sound like Tammy Wynette. They have their style of music, whatever it may be labeled as, and you can take it or leave it. Garth made some big bucks on what he did, so there's no reason for him to believe that what he was doing wasn't worthwhile. I don't really care for a lot of the music that's coming out right now and making the charts in the rock/pop/whatever arena, but then again my parents didn't like what I used to listen to. I could be mistaken, but the most recent remnant of older style country music that I can think of is Randy Travis and I haven't a clue which corner of the earth he fell off of. If you re-introduced Merle, it probably wouldn't be a commercial success and that's a lot of what drives the industry. It changes. Garth didn't kill anything. He gave birth to a new style. Nothing wrong with that in my mind.
16 2008-07-18 14:10:28
Re: So who inspired you to play? (109 replies, posted in Electric)
Grant Geissman from Chuck Mangione's 'Feels so Good' album. That was my first failed attempt.
Recently, Keith Urban. Uses so little of his talent on songs that make radio but I saw him on some sort of documentary thingy and he's actually pretty good.
17 2008-07-18 14:06:14
Re: SMALL HELP REQUESTED ON CHORDS (5 replies, posted in Song requests)
Thanks. I'll give it a try tonight.
18 2008-07-18 09:34:54
Re: SMALL HELP REQUESTED ON CHORDS (5 replies, posted in Song requests)
Oh and the youtube link you used was exactly the performance. I just bought the DVD. I grew up in the Eagles heyday but never knew anything about them. It was interesting. Really good performance too.
19 2008-07-18 09:32:15
Re: SMALL HELP REQUESTED ON CHORDS (5 replies, posted in Song requests)
I think the first time he did it was line 4 as shown in your link to the chords. The chart shows G for the whole line, but Walsh used a progression between the G and the next line (A7/A) and then again in line 6. Thanks for the quick response. Cool website by the way.
Dave
20 2008-07-18 00:36:18
Topic: SMALL HELP REQUESTED ON CHORDS (5 replies, posted in Song requests)
I'm brand new at this. Hope I'm asking the right thing in the right forum, but:
I'm looking at chords and tabs for some popular but simple songs to get started. One was "Heart of the Matter" by Eagles as seen on "When Hell Freezes Over". The song is on youtube so it's easy to see where I'm talking about. I'm having no problems with the simple chords, but if you see and listen to the vid, Walsh does a few transitions between chords where otherwise, I'd just be strumming the same chord waiting until the next shift. Anybody know what he's doing in the transition? I'm not familiar enough yet to pick out the chords he's using. I'd sure appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.
21 2008-07-16 00:10:51
Re: BIG DILEMMA (8 replies, posted in Bands and artists)
22 2008-07-15 02:53:35
Re: Is chordie in danger? (26 replies, posted in About Chordie)
I just ordered a DVD to get the fine details of an Eagles song to get some more details for potential future performance use. I started looking here. Eagles made money. No threat.
23 2008-07-15 02:49:12
Re: If you could pick two musicians (31 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
Frampton on guitar. Moon on drums.
24 2008-07-14 09:19:26
Re: When you hit a wall (19 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
I had that happen with golf. I took a lesson. It helped.
25 2008-07-13 03:32:27
Re: RYTHM / TEMPO (7 replies, posted in Electric)
Thanks. Appreciate the encouragement.