Search options (Page 14 of 17)

I started, stopped and erased my entry here three times before deciding on what I really wanted to say. Absolutely essential and barring everything else get a guitar that you love to play. Everything else is superfluous.  So, what is that guitar for you? I want to know.

Wow,   I was so excited about these I put them on the wrong forum!  Should have been acoustic!

I've got a Style O guitar but it is not a National.   I can easily play a full set on it, but I would never consider it for my main guitar.  I alternate between Open E and Open G tuning on this guitar.  I refuse to play it in Standard E. Thats not what it was designed for.  I usually keep two guitars tuned in open tunings strictly for slide and finger picking variations. Keeping one of these guitars as the "main" guitar seems to me to be impossible.  Again, I say for me..  There are players out there that only do what you are saying and some of them are phenomenal. For instance, Slim Fatz and John Hammond Jr. Look them up on Youtube.

Purple Haze is probably where you want to go here.  Takes a little practice tho plus a big ole Marshall amp.  Good luck.

I own a Japanese Strat.  I  wouldn't trade it for anything.  It's an '86 or '87 with a Kahler flying tremelo which is still on it.  I've been through several iterations of pickups since then.  I'm now using lace alumitone pickups which have changed it dramatically and it still sounds like a strat.  The neck is amazing and the build quality is of course what you would expect.  Value to dollars?  Buy one if you can find it.

Check for sharp edges at the bridge and the nut.  Those will always snap a string. File them down if you find them.  I've voiced my opinion of these fad strings many times here, so suffice it to say that maybe you should consider a switch to something more time proven, reliable and a heck of a lot cheaper.

Crevs,

Being able to improvise is very important. It allows you to play confidently even if you don't know the song.  Learning the "note for note" gives you a look into the artists playing style, which will definitely influence your improvisation style.  I try to learn a song close to it original intentions.  Once I know it,  I never listen to the original version again.  From there it grows into something that is distinctly me.  I don't want to be labeled as a "Clapton Clone" or an "SRV Clone" etc.  These guys have a huge influence on my playing style but I'm not them.  It's nice when someone comes up to you and says, "I like the way you played that, its different".
To me that means I'm doing OK.

So, keep playing those scales.  Learn their variations. Learn the solos and then make them your own.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2495/385 … 665e_b.jpg

Russell,  I gave it a try.  I hope this works

Thanks,

Here's the link to the pdf file on this new amp: http://www.egnateramps.com/download/Rebel30Combos.pdf

I put that up first because I new there might be questions about it.  This amp is not a new version of a Fender. Nor is it a new Marshall clone.  It is its own beast but has characteristics that are familiar to both the "American" sound and the "British" sound.

For starters:  This amp is a completely modern , two channel, all tube amp. It has 5 12AX7's, 2 EL34's and 2 6V6's.  This amp is loud.  It is real loud.  Its one of those amps that your neighbors will call the cops about.  I had intended to buy this 30 watt amp for a couple of reasons but mostly because my previous amp was so freaking loud.  I assumed that a 30 watt amp would be a lot more quiet than my 130 watt amp.  Boy, was I wrong. I don't know how Egnater does it, but this amp is just about as loud as I remember the MusicMan was.  The pdf file file above explains why this is so.

I got a lot of comments last night about the amp.  Not only about it's awesome good looks but about what it was, where it was from and what is an "Egnater".  Mostly I got comments like, "That amp sounds great man, where did you get that?".  Then there's the other argument, it's not whether I think it sounds great. It's whether the audience thinks it sounds great.  There are a lot of guitar players where I live and a lot of competition for stage time.  This is a good thing.  It forces you to try harder and it forces you to try new things. The Egnater makes both of those things a little easier.

When I get guitar players that I know ask me how I get that "Fender/Vox/Marshall/Mesa/Randall" sound, I just point to the Egnater.

Disclaimer: I do not work for Bruce Egnater, I didn't even get a decal when I bought this amp.

Turning 48 in November.  Been playing since 1973.  Every time that I pick up the guitar, I realize how much I still don't know about it.  It sounds crazy but the more I learn about it, the more I realize how much more there is to know. Its like when you've figured out that riff that you always wanted to learn, a light comes on.  That light is in another room and you get to peek into that room for just a little bit and you realize that that riff has brought you to a new place.  Your footing is unsure. You want to turn and go back to the familiar; to what you know. But, that light makes you look into the new room.  Eventually, you walk into it.  I don't think that the guitar ever runs out of "lights" or "rooms".

The position closest to the neck is the neck pickup.  The next position is a combination of the neck and middle pickup. The middle position is just the middle pickup. The 4th position is a combination of the middle and bridge pickup. The fifth position, or position closest to the bridge is the bridge pickup alone.  I have a Strat and the one thing I can't figure out is why they put two tone knobs on it.  I haven't found a use for either of them.   I use the 5 way switch all of the time and I use the volume knob, but I've never touched the tone knobs.