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Post by PistolPete on Mar 27, 2017 15:17:35 GMT
Hi,
Although I've done odd bits & bobs on my own instruments over the years & own a book on the subject, I'd like to gain a better knowledge of repairing & setting up guitars and I was wondering if there's any widely recognised courses or qualifications?
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 23, 2017 11:19:12 GMT
The things that's distinctive about it is it's thumb and forefinger only. Although, to be fair, Rev Gary Davis style piedmont playing also just uses the thumb & forefinger. Thanks for the responses though, I think I'm starting to get it...
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 22, 2017 9:29:38 GMT
So I've been teaching myself to fingerpick in recent months & I see much talk on internet forums of the Travis picking style. I've looked it up & watched YouTube instruction videos & they basically seem to say "a fingerpicking style where the thumb plays alternating bass & the fingers pick a melody or chord".
Which is easy enough to get, but what baffles me is the same description could very easily be used for any of the fingerpicking stuff I've learned, most of which would be described as piedmont or ragtime.
So what is Travis picking - why is it different from all the other fingerpicking styles that use an alternating bass?
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 20, 2017 10:14:46 GMT
No hard & fast rules for me I'm afraid - I like the C on my Yamaha & the hard V on my Gibson. I'm never sure why the V get's such bad press as the original V necks are usually a lot more comfortable to get your hands round than the tree trunks they put on reissues of the same guitars.
I had an Antoria with a "U" neck (like a D but bigger) I wasn't keen on & I recently played a Guild in a guitar shop that had a shallow C combined with a wide nut that felt really wrong to me, but generally it comes down to the neck on any given guitar rather than any particular shape.
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 14, 2017 16:43:37 GMT
If it's low end then I would probably say Gumtree. If it's higher-end reverb.com is pretty good. I've also had some success posting on local Facebook selling groups, as well as the classifieds on forums like this. (Ironically this is my 15th post here & the 12 string I had been anxiously waiting to post in the classifieds went via FB yesterday )
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 10, 2017 12:30:35 GMT
Hi Andy, I'm about 40 minutes away in Stafford - this might be something I'd be interested in performing at. Could you drop me a PM with some more details please?
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 8, 2017 15:12:06 GMT
I have found that if you are being paid to play, there are definitely people (and venues) who don't like to see tip jars, hats, etc., they only seem acceptable if you are doing a free gig. I found this a bit frustrating at first as in the US we'd probably make as much in tips as we were being paid to play. Many people in the UK seem opposed to tipping in general, so maybe it's part of the culture here (probably because the waiters etc. are paid at least minimum wage, which they aren't in the US). I have occasionally been able to do a deal with the venue where if people buy me a drink, I ask them to put it behind the bar 'for later'. The pub will put the money aside and give it to me at the end of the night. Most pubs want you to actually have the drink though, and as I rarely drink and don't drink at all during a gig, I tend to turn down most offers with a thanks. I have done several free gigs with a guitar case set out in front of me and never received a penny, which was a bit embarrassing. That's pretty much what I'd anticipated. I do however have a couple of mid-week gigs where the money is tight & an extra few pounds in a tip jar would make all the difference. Especially when everyone who wants my CD bought it last time I was there!
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Capo
Mar 8, 2017 12:58:10 GMT
Post by PistolPete on Mar 8, 2017 12:58:10 GMT
Pretty much anything where the tension is set with a screw rather than a spring should do it. As mentioned the Planet Waves NS & G7 are good (although I'd avoid the NS lite, which is the plastic version, since I managed to destroy one). I currently use an old school Shubb, which doesn't produce excess tension unless you forget to loosen the screw off when moving from a small neck to a bigger one.
Cheap copies of Kyser capos are pretty abundant & the springs on them can be lethal. I have owned a few ebay specials over the years & none of them were especially refined pieces of engineering.
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 7, 2017 15:10:27 GMT
A thread over on the AGF about the best receptacles for tip jars got me wondering what the general feeling is about them in the UK these days?
Anyone here put one out at gigs? How do you feel as a punter if you see one?
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