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Make sure that your connections are tight. There is a nut on your guitar where the cord plugs in that sometimes comes loose. There is also a nut on the amp where the cord plugs in that may be loose.  If those are tight and you still cut in and out, you may have dirty pots, and I do not mean pots & pans. The potentiameter is controlled by your volume know on the guitar, and you might try pulling the knob off and spraying in a little WD-40 into the little opening. I am not sure if that is good for the guitar, but I have been doing that for 15 years with no ill effects on my guitar.  Another possibility is that your cord between your guitar and amp may be defective, may have a broken wire inside of it. That is repairable, often by cutting off the tip of the cord and soldering it back on.  Cords usually go bad on the ends.  If all that fails, maybe someone out there has a better idea. Keep on keeping on!

I can speak from my experience of playing guitar & bass for over 20 years in evangelical protestant churches. I play "praise & worship" music, which, as a previous poster stated receives little or no applause because it is all about playing for God, or mostly for Him.  We play alot of different music, ranging from hymns, to 70's easy listening style, to hard rock. Electric guitars, electric keyboards, grand piano, acoustic guitars, drums, everything/all instruments. We play in all keys, whatever keys lend themselves best to congregational singing. We have musicians from age 13 to about 61. The advantages are: the reasons why we do it, the "forgiving audience," it's fun, and it satisfies my drive to play.  We have about 30 musicians, I am probably the oldest at age 61 and I have no desire to ever stop doing it until I die. You all know how much fun it is to play, and that fun level only increases with the years. I play with 13 year olds, 30 year olds, and every age in between. I have played with about 100 different musicians over the 22 years that I have been playing in church.  If you are a Christian, and a musician, give it a try!

1978 Hohner 306 acoustic. Laminated top. Just kidding, but I played the guitar for over 30 years. Good action, acceptable tone. Then bought a Martin HD-28 last Feb. I still have the Hohner and never will part with it. Many hours of playing on it, many memories in it.

As an earlier post indicated, Epiphone Les Pauls are very good guitars. You will spend $700 or less on one.  I have a Standard Stratocaster made in Mexico, a very good guitar and not much different from an American Standard Stratocaster.  I paid $300 for it in 1994 and they go for about $400 now.

If I were president I would promise a new Martin guitar for everyone.  You're on your own for buying the strings, but I would give everyone a new Martin guitar.

61. I've got the hots for my wife.

Alan Sheeran,
No, no relation to George Bush. However, I was born on April 23rd, which is St.George day in the Catholic church. My parents did consider naming me George, back in 1947. Somehow that morphed into James.

Sorry Old Doll. I lost control. I hereby vow to not let that happen again. I swear on the top of my Martin guitar.

You call yourself Old Doll, but I am probably older than you at 61, so I'll just call myself Old Fart. By the way, I love that laughing/smiling face you put into your note.

I refuse (Obama *****) to get involved in any of this political talk. I will just play my guitar.

*****edited by administration SouthPaw41L( inappropiate content)*****
Chordie is not the place to lobby for, or against votes for candidates.

Keep trying. Play the B chord in all positions. Eventually your fingers little brains will learn to go on auto pilot and your fingers will strengthen.

I have developed a hybrid style of playing acoustic: use a pick on the bass strings (E, A, & D) but play the treble strings (G,B,E) with your fingers. That is the pick & Fingers style, and it gives a really nice sound to the bass and I usually end up using just my middle & ring fingers on the treble strings, but sometimes the little finger gets involved.