Search options (Page 5 of 21)

aabb...thanks for the info...I'll try that soon!

I love using open tunings for slide and fingerstyle playing...I have a Dan Electro that I keep tuned to an open G all the time...

Keith Richards played a lot of the Stones music with an Open G tuning...great for those chunky riffs and such! Sure wished I could play like that...

#1. A 16 year old American Telecaster with Bigsby and Van Zandt pickups...this is the keeper. Would be the one to save if house burning etc...
#2. Gibson Les Paul Classic: Great guitar and bone stock!
Peavey Wolfgang Special: A stock Goldtop and this one absolutely rocks! One of the most versatile guitars I've seen and owned! Has the D-Tuna Floyd Rose bridge:
#3. Martin 16 GTE Acoustic/Electric: This is my church guitar. Great sound, very durable and easy to play: Can plug straight into the Church sound system via direct box and/or into an amplifier and effects...
#4. G&L ASAT Classic: I believe that this is the last word in Telecaster guitars...can't say enough about this one...bone stock!
#5. Dan Electro: Cheap Korean made version: Crappy construction, lousy set-up, hard to play...but absolutely cool sounds...especially for slide blues...if it wasn't for the sound I'd give it to some one I don't like!
#6. Fender Stratocaster: Made in Mexico Strat! This one is my constant project. Great neck and body...currently has Seymour Duncan Lipstick tube pickup in neck position, Carvin AP-11 in middle, and Seymour Duncan JB jr in bridge...this is the one that I play all the time...

We have several places here that have inside and outside dining...the outdoors has a stage for performers and often sponsor "Open Mic" or "Jam" sessions...most of the people dining are there to hear the music and see the performers...it can still get a bit loud and boisterous (drunks) but works fairly well. When we go to a Jam session or Open Mic we want to hear the music and not the crowd! When we go out to eat and talk we don't want to compete with a loud band trying to perform over the crowd noise...  It's a tricky balance at times...

I was tempted to buy some fake Gibsons at a Guitar show a while back and use for "project" guitars...then I decided that I don't want to support an illicit industry...

I have a Peavey Wolfgang Special that was designed by Peavey with Eddie Van Halen...the goal was to produce a guitar that was made to Van Halens specs and would need no modifications or upgrades to play like Eddie. He is an extremely versatile player and this guitar right out of the box with a proper set up is amazing! Mine will get some sweet Les Paul tones and then get downright nasty if wanted...Yet I've known people to buy one of these and then change out the pick-ups and stuff. Or they would spend over two thousand for a Gibson Les Paul and then switch to Seymour Duncan or Dimarzio Pickups...
I have a Wolfgang Special and also a Gibson Les Paul Classic...both are stock and I wouldn't dare change anything in either. But I do have a couple of hotrod/project guitars that I constantly mess with...

Good Dogs Are Everywhere   GDAE from top to bottom...I use a guitar tuner and just start slowing and carefully tune to pitch...

www.mandolincafe.com  as suggested by marcalan is an excellent site...

Lots of good info here from everyone...my .o2 worth is this. Have fun with it and don't make it more complicated than it is! Some people get into all these chord charts and such and try to learn and memorize jillions of things that they don't really need. If you are a serious professional session musician or into jazz and such then you can dedicate a life time of study...otherwise just have fun.

The entire body of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash work can pretty much be done with four chords...learning to build variations and expressions on those chords will eventually come out...

For me it's important to practice some scales...the pentatonic scale is a good one to learn and is a building block for some much rock and blues...as Craig23 mentioned, practice everyday regardless! Start the scale slowly and the speed will come soon. Also you'll find yourself sneaking in some extra notes here and there and suddenly some of those cool riffs you've heard from Clapton, Hendrix, BB, and others will jump out... Sorta fun to crank up the amp...get some really nasty distortion...shove that guitar right in the face of the amp with the volume cranked up and play that same scale at warp speed...it can be scary at times!

If you are using an electric guitar the the Boss TU-2 pedal works really well...easy to use, accurate, can mute so you can tune quietly, and is reasonably priced. For accoustic type instruments I have a little clip on Seiko tuner that clips to the headstock of my guitars or mandolins that works well for me. Also have an older Korg that has always worked well with acoustic and electric instruments ... it can also be recalibrated.

I remember many years ago Gretsch having a little device that would lay a piece of felt across the strings near the bridge...I've seen others stuff or tie something across their strings to mute...  I like that idea of using a scrunchie! But not a pink one!

For Electric I've had good results with the D'Addarios...I usually stop by the booth at Guitar shows and buy them in bulk...  remember that if you change string guage...ie: going from 9-42 or 10-49 to 11 or 12 that you might need to re set-up your guitar. For the pinch harmonics I've done much better using the bridge pickup with volume at full...then set the volume and tone at the amp...   Hope this helps some!