176

(30 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

I'm gonna put in a shout for Chet Atkins too.

Jerry

177

(7 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

naolslager wrote:

I will admit part of the reason I bought this guitar was I was looking for the woody (sad?) mahogany tone and I love the look and feel of a satin finish but I am not naïve to believe this is going to make me a better guitar player or one capable of playing the blues, or any other type of music for that matter. No, what comes out of the guitar is directly related and somewhat proportional to what goes into playing the instrument.

For what it’s worth I own three guitars, three different shapes and tonewoods and I can’t play anything on any of them.

While I agree that different guitars won't make you a better player, certain guitars will make it EASIER to play, which should in turn make your playing more accurate, and by default make you a better player, or at least sound a better player! A well constructed, quality and well sest up instrument will almost certainly be easier to play than a poorly constructed instrument, so while it may not make you Robert Johnson or Stevie Ray Vaughan, it'll make it easier for you to reach that goal.

Eric Clapton, of all people, very nearly gave up guitar almost before he started when his first guitar had an action so high that it was almost unplayable. Worth thinking about I think!

Jerry

178

(6 replies, posted in Acoustic)

HI NYKG and welcome to Chordie. I have a piece of software called Guitar Pro that includes both tab and the sheet music. Finding chords for whatever you're looking to play is easy, there are loads of sites all over the internet as I'm sure you're aware. Take a look at Guitar Pro, I use it all the time and I reckon it's the dogs, there are something like 40000 songs currently available from the internet! Here's a link to their website

http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php

See what you think but if I were starting again I'd certainly be learning how to read the dots!

Jerry

179

(16 replies, posted in Acoustic)

In accordance with "the rules" here are some pics of the new Guild.

http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h432/buzzwagon1/PICT0017-1.jpg
http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h432/buzzwagon1/PICT0019.jpg
http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h432/buzzwagon1/PICT0020-1.jpg
http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h432/buzzwagon1/PICT0021-1.jpg

I just love those open Grovers.
Ain't she sweet!

Jerry

180

(8 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Okay, as posted elsewhere, I found myself playing around with a couple of Guilds, (a GAD F20 Parlor and a GAD F30), a couple of weeks ago and I was completely blown away by the tone of both. In the end I went for the little Parlor, how the hell do Guild get that amount of tone out of a Parlor guitar? I love it, it plays beautifully and apppears really nicely built. It's hard to believe the tone will get better with age but I know it will! A definite winner!

Didn't like the Stratbond neck on the mid price Martins and I just don't like the tone of Taylor's.

Jerry

181

(16 replies, posted in Electric)

stedgett wrote:

Just joined up here but have played some 46 years now.  Don't get too caught up in looking for "the" pedal.  You just want to make sure it doesn't have that fizz sound.  As far as solid state amps go, a few of our predecessors used solid state amps.  Overdrive, which differs from distortion is obtained by literally overdriving (overloading) the tube(s) in a tube amp.  Pedals and some solid state amps have electronic simulators to obtain this sound.  Many say the pedals and such do not have the warmth of tubes but honestly, unless you are a seasoned guitarist and listening specifically for such, your audience does not know or hear the difference.  My suggestions are these; first play around with your amp in all its settings.  The only thing I know about your amp is that it is renowned for being clean.  When you find you can't get what you are looking for then time to go to your local music store and play through them all.  Take your guitar with you and use it while you are looking. Try to use your amp as well so that it will sound the same when you take it home.   I cannot emphasize enough to find what you like and you will know it when you find it.  It will just fit.  The worst thing you can do is try to find something so you will sound like (fill in the blank).  Our uniqueness in our playing style, tone, effects, etc, etc. is what it is really all about.  Carlos Santana did not set out to sound exactly like someone he admired.  Clapton listened to the old guys, their styles, their phrasing, etc. but decided to use an unthinkable (at the time) guitar and amp combination.  Just with these two examples you do not have to look at the credits to know it is Santana playing or Clapton playing because they are unique in their sound and style.  You be the same.  Your goal should be to find your sound and when others hear you, even without seeing you, they know it is you.  Just remember there is a lot of hype created by marketing animals (forgive me if I offend anyone) and too many musicians buy by brand name and what their "heros" are using.  Don't ever fall in that trap.  Some years ago the guitar makers literally laughed and a guy who took a band saw and created a guitar out of a plank of wood.  What respected musician would play a guitar like that?  That guitar became known as the Telecaster and the rest is history.  Good luck and most important...have fun!

Just wanted to say what an excellent post, well said that man.

Jerry

182

(145 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Bill Hailey said

183

(2 replies, posted in Song requests)

Here you go Drrip, I can't find anything easy though!

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/tabs/eagles … -6430.html

Jerry

184

(145 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

, chickens hate 'em

185

(145 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

with the chicken

186

(3 replies, posted in Electric)

I'd recommend taking it to a decent luthier for a set up. I had problems with my strat, half an hour with a very good luthier and £30 later and it's a different guitar.

Jerry

187

(145 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

and a donkey

188

(16 replies, posted in Acoustic)

I've been after a new acoustic for some time and had set my sights on a Martin. I just can't justify spending over £1000 for an acoustic when I have 4 guitars at home already so I was looking at their X ranges. How disapointing then to find that the stratabond neck is awful! I found it rough and "sticky" and I was left wondering how a company like Martin could put out something like that. I don't like the tone of Taylors and I couldn't find a dealer local to me who sold Larrivee. I tried a Yamaha APX900 and 700 and thought they sounded like what they are, a mass produced guitar, nice enough but a bit samey and I couldn't find a Takamine that really floated my boat.

So on Saturday afternoon I found myself in Andertons in Guildford playing around with a couple of Guilds, a GAD30 and a GAD F20 Parlor. I was amazed at the massive tone and projection these guitars have. How the hell do Guild do that then? In all honesty I could have quite happily walked out of the store with both and straight in to a row with Mrs Buzzwagon so I settled on the GAD F20. Beautifully finished, just oozes magnificent tone, (I still can't get over the sound of this little thing), and plays beautifully. It comes with a really nice tweed case too all for the bargain price of £560.

All I can say is if you haven't tried a Guild give it a go, the tone that comes out of them will put a huge grin your face!

Jerry

tubatooter1940 wrote:

I ride a 1976 Yamaha RD400 mortorcycle every time I get a chance.

Nice one Tuba, of such things are magical memories made!

Jerry

Mrs Buzzwagon and I have a fully loaded Landrover Discovery for when we need 4 wheels but we like to spend our time on our bikes, she has a Triumph Sprint ST 1050, (being traded for a Triumph Tiger 800 next month), and I have a fully loaded BMW R1200RT. I'm a trainer for our local advanced riding group and probably do around 10,000 miles a year on the bike, I'm rarely off it at weekends!

This summer we're off to Southern Germany for two weeks and to take in the annual BMW festival on the bikes and we've been all over Europe in the last few years, as far as Spain, Italy, Croatia and Bosnia so far. My ambition used to be to ride around the world on a bike but unfortunately ill health has put the block on that so these days we stick to the UK and Europe.

Jerry

191

(2 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Check this out, funniest ad I've seen in ages!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? … escription

Jerry

192

(15 replies, posted in Acoustic)

As important as the key is the range. You will have natural keys that are easy for you but if you have limited range, and 90% of us do, you won't be able to sing all songs in that key. There will be songs that you simply can't sing, but that's life. You will be able to improve your range however by practising and getting singing lessons, just don't expect miracles.

As an earlier poster said, the way to find out what keys you can sing in, and what songs you can sing in those keys, is by trial and error. And as other posters have said you can always transpose songs outside of your keys either using a capo or by playing the song in open position in a different key.

Good luck and enjoy!

Jerry

193

(8 replies, posted in Acoustic)

I was thinking about treating myself to a Martin 00016GT when I came across Larrivee who are getting a lot of very good press on this side of the pond but there aren't many dealers so trying one ain't gonna be easy, (over here it's all Martin, Taylor or Guild).

So my question is has anybody had any experience of Larrivee and specifically the OM3? I've seen the clips on You Tube and it sounds as if it has massive tone but it's difficult to tell without hearing one in the flesh so to speak. How are they straight out of the box? Do they need a lot of setting up? What's the finish like?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Jerry

194

(9 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

+1 on the Marshall, cracking little amp.

Jerry

195

(34 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down / Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard or Elvis Costello
What's the point of Gettin' Sober if you're gonna get drunk again / Joe Jackson
Old Red Eyes / The Beautiful South

Jerry

196

(4 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

and a very nice chap he is. Interestingly for the first set he used a Musicman with humbuckers which, as far as I know, is something new for Albert, great sound though. He might be 68 but he's still got the chops! Superb player and a great band behind him in Hogans Heroes.

http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h432/buzzwagon1/PICT0005.jpg

Jerry

197

(54 replies, posted in Acoustic)

You rotten git Pete, we've been waiting ages to see this! I'm struggling to hold back my credit card for a Martin 0028 at the moment!

Jerry

198

(28 replies, posted in Electric)

The most famous guitar riff of all time just has to be Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple.

Jerry

199

(30 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Albert Lee, Stevie Ray Vaughan, James Burton, Peter Green, Django Reinhardt, Gary Moore..... I could go on but these'll do to start!

Jerry

200

(14 replies, posted in Electric)

Same as above really, I've owned a Les Paul and have a Tele and a Strat and for me I could never get on with the LP neck, I found it too chunky. The Strat is also far more versatile than the LP, that'd be the way I'd go.

Jerry