Another thing to try Harvey would be Flatwound strings. I've heard they are easier on the fingertips. Never used them myself , so I can't say firsthand.
2 2012-07-25 01:59:26
Re: Lacking enthusiasm for playing (16 replies, posted in Electric)
You gotta wanna.
Otherwise put it down and find something that does interest you.
Trying to learn to play guitar (or doing anything....., sports, work, have sex, crossword puzzles) without enthusiasm is a sure path to frustration and depression.
If you don't enjoy it , don't do it. One day you may get the uncontrollable urge to pick it up again.
I started playing around 22. Played a few hours a day for my own enjoyment.
Few years later , I got busy , playing got boring, and put I it down.
Few years later picked it up again. And it felt good.
Got busy again building a business. Picked it back up when the business went bad.
Finally I got to where I do not want to put the damn things down.
For an example of playing with enthusiasm..... I was fired from a pretty good job a few months back.
I saw it as an opportunity to play 4-5 more hours a day for a few months.
Right now I'm nursing a sore ring finger from playing 9ths in a load of Blues progressions all day yesterday.
I start with an idea of practicing for an hour or two , then finally look at a clock and see 5 hours have gone by.
Happens all the time. I make a lot of "sorry, I got caught up and forgot " calls.
When I was working my schedule was:
Get out of work at 10pm, eat something quick, start playing by 11pm.
Wake up at 5-6 AM in my playing chair with the damn thing still strapped on and my hand clutching the neck.
Play for another hour, till 6 or 7am, then go to bed for real.
Get up at the "crack of noon" , go to work, and do it all over again.
And I SUCK! Seriously. If I can get through "Over the Hills and Far Away" without a misstep it's a very good day.
I play with friends on the weekend, 8 - 12 hour sessions with a break for dinner.
They tell me I'm better than I think.
But nobody's gonna pay to see me play. Not yet anyway.
I'm always forgetting songs, still can't sing and play at the same time.
And I've been playing for 30 years!
Pathetic? Yes. But nobody is going to stop me from playing.
So don't worry about it. If it's not your thing right now, find something else to do.
It'll be there when you get back.
3 2012-07-25 00:30:28
Re: Help I have very sore fingertips (19 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Good on ya Harvey! You lend fact to one of my favorite beliefs. "You don't stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing!" One more believer here in checking the action to start. Maybe switch to lighter gauge strings. Proper technique is important. Wrist and hand positions that strain can do damage. Carpal Tunnel for one. And if the fingertips aren't sitting on the fretboard as they should you may be putting too much pressure on a sensitive spot. Also , no offense, but as we get older our skin thins out a bit. If you have a harder spot in a callous, like a corn on your toe, that presses down into uncalloused flesh , it'll hurt like hell. I know. See your Doctor because it may be possible to remove it or shave it down. Everyone is right though. If it hurts something's wrong. Take breaks. Play different songs. I've found making sure the songs I'm playing don't have a lot of the same chords, gives my hand a bit of a break from straining. I don't play too many songs in a row with full Barre chords. Switching to a few songs with more open chords, or playing lead for a while, practicing scales and such keeps my hand from getting .... bored I guess. Welcome back to the wonderful world of making music. But get the offending fingertips checked out by a physician. If it hurts so much you decide to stop playing again you'd be losing a great source of enjoyment. Take care sir.
4 2012-07-23 19:51:24
Re: fan frets (3 replies, posted in Acoustic)
I played one recently. Rosewood body , Spruce top. Sounded fantastic! Surprisingly the fanned frets feel very natural. There is no learning curve to readjusting your fingers for chords or leads. I was really surprised. Pleasantly so.
5 2009-10-27 10:43:40
Re: Townes Van Zandt (9 replies, posted in Bands and artists)
Townes was the man. I noticed wlbaye's list was all Texas boys. Like Townes. There is something about Texas songwriters that is uniquely outlawish. Although Jerry Jeff was actually born and raised in Oneonta New York, he is still a fave down in the lone star state.
And I second his whole list.
Guy Clark is considered the founding father of Texas singer/songwriters.
Ray Wylie Hubbard has a lake outside Dallas named after him.
Blaze Foley , was genius walking that thin line of insanity. Tragically shot to death while coming to the aid of a friend.
Slaid Cleaves is another Yankee turned Tex/Louisana boy that is doing some great work today.
More native Texans
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Joe Ely
Robert Earl Keen
James McMurtry
Dave Carter , a lot of duets with a golden voiced Tracy Grammer. Sadly Dave is no longer with us either.
Anything with Gurf Morlix either producing or playing on will always be great.
Another yankee, Chris Smithers !!!! "Live As I'll Ever Be" is an extraordinary showcase. Doesn't have a bad album out.
Jeffrey Foucoult, a midwestwerner I belive, is also doing great work. "Ghost Repeater" is a classic.
Chris Knight has a couple of well received albums too.
But yeah, Townes was probably the best of 'em all.
6 2009-10-27 10:15:01
Re: what am i missing???? (13 replies, posted in Electric)
Scales , scales , scales. Pick up a copy of the " Guitar Grimoire" for scales. They also have other editions for chords and theory etc... Don't have to read music. Shows the fingerings for every different scale in various positons on the fretboard. Then just let your ear be the judge. It'll come with practice , practice, practice. Basic Major and Minor, Pentatonic, Diatonic and Mixolydian would be the first places I'd start. So long as you can remember which string and fret the "root" note is for the chords your playing over, you can really start to express yourself. Stagger your picking patterns. Don't just play up and down a scale in 16ths. Jump around to root notes in different positions. Most importantly, don't worry , just have FUN. Best advice I ever got was it's not the notes you play that are important , it's the spaces in between.
7 2009-10-27 09:56:40
Re: Jaguar or Strat? (11 replies, posted in Electric)
You can't go wrong with a Strat. It's what the vast majority of "surf" style players use. I picked up an American Deluxe Strat with the new S1 switching system 18 months ago and absolutely love it. I don't play "surf" though. However the G&L line everyone's been mentioning is another Leo Fender triumph. The ASAT (Tele) and Legacy(Strat) are both top of the line axes. Some of my friends even prefer them to the Strat. All you can do is play 'em before you buy 'em. Hear for yourself which one you prefer.
As for Reverb pedals..... I've never heard one that sounds as good as a Fender amp with a mechanical Spring Reverb. Buying a new amp just for a great reverb is a rather expensive option though. Have fun searching.
8 2008-11-07 06:05:26
Re: Strat (6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
I own an American Strat and I do believe, for the money , it's a better deal than a Gibson. A professional quality guitar for half the price a Gibson would cost. Two completely different sounds, but both make great guitars. Depends on your own style of playing. I like the strat for country/blues, but to hear Toy Caldwell or Duane Allman play their Les Pauls is heavenly. Paul Reed Smith is making some of the better guitars,(ask Carlos Santana) as is GHL, Leo Fender's start up after he got bought out. There are a lot of fine indy luthiers out there also making top of the line axes. Now if I could afford it I'd own a Les Paul as well, a Tele, and a PRS , GHL etc.etc.etc
9 2008-04-22 06:02:31
Re: Your Top 5 Guitarists of all time (167 replies, posted in Electric)
just 5 ? Impossible task.
I'll try.
My favorites, in no particular order....
Frank Zappa
Carlos Santana
David Gilmour
Toy Caldwell
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Terry Kath ....go ahead and laugh,he was a monster player!!
I know , that's six. Could'nt cut a favorites list down any further.
And then there's Jimi Hendrix,Buddy Guy, Ali Farka Toure, Duane Allman, Dicky Betts? sure why not, Leo Kottke, Chet Atkins, George Cromarty, Tommy Emmanuel, Rainer Ptcek, B. B. King, Scotty Moore, Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton( the Yardbird gang) Ronnie Earl, Duke Robillard,Tom Verlaine , Richard Lloyd, Dick Dale, Nels Cline, Brad Rice,Mick Ronson,Steve Hunter, Eric Johnson, Danny Morris, Robert Quinne , Albert King, Alan Holdsworth, Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons, Freddie King, Anson Funderburgh, Charlie Christian, Robert Johnson, Son House, Blind Willie Johnson, Peter Green, Ry Cooder, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, David Grissom, Joe Bonamassa (who at twelve it was said " Plays the Blues like he's had women " to quote a local player), Michael Hedges, John Mc Laughlin, Paco de Lucia, Al Dimeola, Mark Knopfler, Mick Ralphs, Andres Segovia, Jim Hall, George Benson, and on and on for pages and pages.
There have been thousands of great players.
Right now , there are hundreds more, playing alone.
They will never be heard of outside a small circle of friends. And they would smoke anybody that any of us have listed.
10 2008-04-19 05:32:03
Re: Why does everyone like the Strats so much? (17 replies, posted in Electric)
Just bought a new Fender American Deluxe Strat recently.
Can't stop playing it.
It's definately a personal preferance as to what kind of tone you want out of your guitar.
What do you want to sound like? What kind of music do you want to play?
Had a 70's Tele for a while. Too tinny for my taste, but still a nice guitar. Great action. Good all around guitar for rock , country , blues , it just did'nt suit my ear.
Gibsons are great for rock and blues with the fat humbucker sound. Lot of jazz cats play their hollowbodies.
The players I find myself listening to the most play Strats, or custom copies. The solos I seem to like best were played on Strats.
The Strat has the tones for the kind of music I'll be playing. Little rock , blues , country.
With the bridge p/u only there's a bite to it. Bit like a Tele.
The switching system gives you a whole pallette of sounds to draw from the three noiseless single coils.
It can sound sweet, fat , grungy and everything in between.
The actions fast. The bridge has a bit of a give to it so bends are easier than the Gibsons I've played, but it still stays in tune.
Someone put a lot of work into the Tobacco Burst finish too. Its gorgeous.
And it can be had for about half of what a new Gibson will cost you. Price is a big factor , especially for beginning or intermediate players. You can get a professional quality guitar that will last a lifetime for a lot less. Gibson makes a lot off it's name.
Still I'd like to have a 57 goldtop to go with my Strat.