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Post by scorpiodog on Aug 10, 2023 8:36:37 GMT
I did have one. I gave it away. It was one of the first ones they made so they might have improved since then. Big and heavy with a ridiculously strong spring but without the leverage to overcome the tension. Put the guitar way out of tune every time I put it on. But they are pretty.
I can't, in all honesty call myself a fan, but I do have an acquaintance who uses one all the time and loves it. Horses for courses.
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Post by scorpiodog on Aug 9, 2023 10:52:48 GMT
That looks lovely, francis. The World needs more of your wonderful guitars. More power to your elbow (if that's the relevant bit of anatomy)in your continuing luthiery career.
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Post by scorpiodog on Aug 7, 2023 15:38:10 GMT
Another contender was the Inspired By Gibson J45 but apparently they had none in stock. Oddly enough, I (again, fairly recently) bought an Epiphone IBG J200. That's another incredibly good value guitar. I haven't yet tried the J45, but I'd be interested to hear what you think of it when you do.The J200 isn't as good as the best Gibson I've played by a long chalk, but it's a lot better than the worst. I don't know whether Gibson's QC is any better than it was a few years ago, but they had some horrible instruments leaving the factory.
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Post by scorpiodog on Aug 7, 2023 12:13:16 GMT
I was in Andertons yesterday. Came away with a Sire A4 Larry Carlton dread. Tried loads of others though. Aren't those Sire acoustics extraordinarily good value for money, solly? I bought the A3 Grand Auditorium a little while ago. I'm particularly enamoured of the electronics. Hope you're enjoying your Dreadnought. Welcome to the forum, by the way.
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Post by scorpiodog on Jul 31, 2023 11:11:44 GMT
I've always used a pick for strummage and a few very simple single note runs (in the strummagey songs). I really don't know why, it just seemed right when I was 14 or 15. I seem virtually incapable of strumming without one, and certainly it affects my damping if I try. I guess 70% of my playing is fingerstyle, though.
What I did discover though, when I launched a disastrous foray into mandolin, was that a thick (over 1mm) pick is far more useful for cross picking than the medium gauge (0.7 or 0.8mm) that I habitually use with a guitar.
I'd give a plectrum a go, if I were you, John. They're very cheap. Get a good selection of shapes, sizes and thicknesses to try out (pm me if you'd like me to send you a selection), then decide on one and use it exclusively for a fairly long period of time (weeks or months), and I think you'll be surprised at what you'll be able to do with one.
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Post by scorpiodog on Jul 21, 2023 9:09:39 GMT
I really enjoyed the film too, though some of the acting is questionable, as are some of the plot lines. MT is great in it.
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Post by scorpiodog on Jul 18, 2023 15:20:40 GMT
I popped in to Andertons in Guildford briefly yesterday (only about 15 mins). First time I had been there. It has very limited parking in front of the shop, but someone was pulling out as I arrived, so I got lucky. Very nicely laid out shop, lots of acoustics guitars (including a Sigma 12 fret dread, if I am not mistaken). Looks like the staff were knowledgeable and pleasant. I wandered to the back of what turns out to be quite a labyrinthine store, and wandered blithely through the doors that said "by appointment only" or some such - where they keep the good stuff - about 50 nice instruments, some second user. Lowdens, higher end Martins, etc. Eventually someone said, nicely, that if I wanted to play anything, let him know and he would take it off the wall for me, but otherwise let me browse. I am not in the market at the moment, and didn't have much time, but my impression is that it was a nicer place than Guitar Village in Farnham, which always feels claustrophobic and unfriendly to me. Peter My experience of Andertons is similarly good. They are particularly nice to you if you make it plain that you want to spend some cash. I don't think you'd want to go there on a Saturday, though. In the week they are very attentive when you want them to be, but leave you alone if you don't. Their mail order service is simply superb.
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Post by scorpiodog on Jul 10, 2023 9:01:55 GMT
Brilliant, Francis. So glad to hear you're continuing this build.
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Post by scorpiodog on Jul 3, 2023 9:10:40 GMT
Everything Keith says is spot on. I have a very small thing to add:
Thumb position is vital in barre chords, Larry. It's not always quite the same place, but the positioning changes in very small amounts. So if you're holding down a barre chord (and please don't start with F or Bb or anything on the first fret) and you're not getting clear notes all across the fingerboard, just try moving your thumba tiny bit. After a while the positioning gets lodged in your muscle memory and you won't need to think about it.
Also, remember that if you're not playing all the notes across the fingerboard, you don't need to fret the ones that aren't being played (although it can be convenient to fret some of them). A bit of lateral thinking can often make barre chords unnecessary.
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Post by scorpiodog on Apr 12, 2023 14:58:02 GMT
This is a pretty interesting question, and I hadn't thought about it before. I do finish songs and when I do, I perform them. I get a gig about once a month, maybe a little more, usually at the same venue, so I need a fairly big repertoire to avoid it all getting stale.
But not all the songs I set to learn get finished, and some take a bloomin' long time. I worked out a version of "If You Go Away" that took me eight years! I am still trying to polish "High Barbary" from a John Pearse tab that I've been working on intermittently since I was 18. I'll get there one day. I'm currently trying to sort out "Sweet Dreams" by The Eurhythmics and I've been working on that for a year on and off.
Then there are the ones I learned, played out a few times, didn't play for a while and I've discovered I can't play them any more (I don't make comprehensive notes, but I should). I can usually recover those if I've recorded them at any time, but I don't always do that either.
This memory malarkey is weird beyond belief.
Great question, John.
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Post by scorpiodog on Apr 5, 2023 8:52:59 GMT
We could go to The Ring O' Bells. You can see it from the Pennine Manor (well you can see the church, anyway). I'm sure a coach wouldn't cost very much money. However, I've had a quick shufti at their facebook page and the Tripadvisor reviews, and there's no mention of the extensive pie menu they used to have on the recent reviews or their fb page. One of the reviews from 2022 mentions pork pie, but that's it. They make a big thing of Sunday lunch, it seems, but that's not much good for most of us.
How much interest would there be in an excursion there on Saturday?
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Post by scorpiodog on Mar 17, 2023 10:59:41 GMT
Ever since I first saw this thread, it put me in mind of this video. It appeared again in my YT feed this morning, so I thought I'd share it here.
It does need good speakers or headphones.
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Post by scorpiodog on Feb 14, 2023 12:31:23 GMT
I have the one 4 S eight. I used it last Thursday in a pretty crowded pub for what I had thought was gig, but turned into something not far short of an open mic (don't ask!). I'm glad I'd taken a little mixer with me, because if I'd had to load what turned out to be seven different people directly into the Acus, I'd have been forever taking it down from the stand and putting it back up again.
The only thing about it that I'd wish different is to have the controls on the side (or even removable to use remotely - though I don't know whether that would be possible or advisable). It's obviously supposed to be used on a stand at or above head height - it has a socket for it. So why did they put the controls on the top?
As for absolutely everything else about it, it's bloomin' marvellous, and I have used it in a small pub setting where it's on a small stand just to take it off the ground. Absolutely no complaints about it then. Lovely piece of kit.
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Post by scorpiodog on Feb 13, 2023 12:55:41 GMT
Not a lot to add here other than to say that you definitely won't improve unless you play. I think it's undeniable that structured practice yields more improvement than unstructured practice or noodling, but why do we do this? For me, I've had enough periods in and areas of my life where constant improvement was the be all and end all and I've found it soul destroying. I'd rather love my guitar playing time, and let whatever improvement results from that exposure be a bonus.
I tend to spend most of my time running through stuff I can already play, and I appreciate how daft this sounds. But recently I came across a book I used to keep that had my song repertoire written in it and some notes about the way I play the song etc etc. I was astounded at how many songs I used to play that I no longer did, so I resolved to relearn them all. It's easier than learning stuff from scratch, but it gives me a real sense of satisfaction to spend a couple of hours running through a song I'd forgotten to get it to the point where I can play it out. I am leaving "More Than Words" by Extreme (which I learned by request for a wedding a few years ago) until I have a day or so free!
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Post by scorpiodog on Jan 27, 2023 11:22:32 GMT
I'm generally in the without camp. Couldn't honestly say why, but I don't need a cutaway. I do have one or two guitars with cutaways and don't feel that they are awful or anything, but all my favourites are without.
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