Guitar thread

I've been looking at sequencers and associated MIDI gear. I basically stopped playing for a while because without a band I had no motivation to pick it up really. I have basically no time, there is simply no way I could keep up any sort of rehearsal schedule.

So I'll record that shit and play with myself

You might also look at Band In A Box. We use it for our local steel guitar jams.

jdg

Well, I went and played one. I gotta say, for $2400.00, I was sorely disappointed. There were areas where the vinyl was pealing off the chassis. And, the noise! Electronic interference and radio station noise. Buzzing and humming noise. Pretty much unshielded, electronic, poor quality control noise. No way in hell I'm paying that kind of scratch for something that sounds like it was put together by a 5 year old.

The Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb I played on the other hand...

Me and a buddy found ourselves in a guitar shop on a single lane road in the woods yesterday. Inside, we played a Gallagher Ol Hoss. There's only 6 of them, modeled after Doc Watson's original G50. Pretty amazing sound.

If you haven't heard of Gallaghers before, they're neat. Made right here in Tennessee. Only a few thousand have been made since the beginning.

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A few years ago my dad started making guitars in his spare time. He has way more attention to detail than I do....

First one


Nice binding work





Next one


Nice low action



Third one


More nice binding work


Bolted on neck



And his first acoustic








His latest work in progress











One of these days, perhaps he'll make one for me.....

:eek1 Holy cow! Those are beautiful! I love the Tele style and the acoustic!

That Tele copy is a bit glitzy, the quilt top is beautiful, but the pick guard makes it too much.....of course that is a taste thing. The red one is balls on gorgeous.

Your boy has the finish down, how do they sound?

damn, those are pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing. I like the Tele, always wanted one with binding.

My dad started playing jazz piano at about age 60. It's slow going for him, but he's definitely making progress.

get into recording - $20K is just barely getting started on a studio space for live recording of more than one musician at a time if you want hardware better than consumer-level home studio gear. Preamps, compressors, mixer, monitors, and isolation. After living without sewage at my house for 6 months because the city shattered my sewer lateral and then refused to take responsibility, I've got a lawsuit pending which just might put $25K into my bank account that I had pretty much written off when I was digging up the street to fix the problem. If so, a bunch of that is going toward building a fully isolated live room in my garage, I think.

Yeah if you are doing full on bussed rack hardware it gets crazy fast.

Its better then it used to be, 24 channel mixing boards are down to a mere 3 grand, they were like 28 if you wanted full truck Midi and bussed architecture. That was back in the 90s. I have the luxury of not needing that, so a couple monitors and a midi interface that can handle two channels and get them to a computer and an effect controller of some sort and a couple sure mics.

Viva la second hand.

....and Jesus, talk about jumping straight into the deep end.

My one regret musically is that I poo pooed the piano when I was a kid, I was too fucking cool to play piano, I wanted to play guitar and sax. Well I play guitar and sax and know more compositional theory than I will even really need.....and the piano is THE best compositional instrument out there. Should have stuck with that one.

These should be in the thread of awesome!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the comments guys. My dad is quite good at building these things. Check www.jimcainguitars.com if anyone wants to see more pictures or get any information from him. I am a very amateurish guitar player but I have to say they all sound great.

I started at 45 so I think you can with out any doubt.

In shopping I would strongly suggest....if you can....take someone with you that knows guitars. Some beginner guitars are total garbage...and the truth is you will not know it going in.

Baring that I have had better luck at small mom and pop type shops over places like GC or the like....heck even best buy here sells guitars now....and not crap, american strats and the like....go figure.

Setup on a guitar is 99% of the game and a bad setup can make a good guitar totally not playable.

I would say (in general) stay away from any of the "starter sets" and the sub $200 guitars....in general again. If you are buying new I think that you are going to be in the $400-600 range depending on what you want....that jazzmaster I posted back a few pages was only $349 and it was brand new and plays like a dream....very light touch.

Just remember that guitars are a living thing...they are made of wood...and like all living things they all have a personality of their own....from I love you to I can't live with you....you evil pain causing bitch

I will also say you I did not have a very good experence going in....like you I was middle aged....but I was kinda fat balding wearing glasses. I walked into the first store and it was like I walked onto mars.....there where people there that had more ink on them then the news paper I read that morning....and more holes in them with bits hanging out...it was like the WTF thread had come to life.....and they are all kids. I walked around....looked at stuff for 30minutes with no one talking to me, and after turning to leave the only normal one in the store asked if I needed any help....all I said was not any more thanks.

I was about to wright off the entire guitar buying and playing and remembered there is a little shop next to the DMV...It is on my way home and I told the wife, if this place tanks I will just say the hell with it all....I walked in and an guy (older than me) asked if I needed any help....the front door had not even closed yet. I was amazed at this place, people that looked human, a nice man and his wife (owners) and a cleen cut kid working there....and I was helped right off the bat.

I told them I knew nothing, but knew the sounds I liked, Brian Setzer, old time rock and roll...and they showed me a few things....a Dot, Gretsch, Casino....they really helped, and I bought the gretsch. These people spend about 3hrs with me to buy a $600 guitar that I doubt they made $200 on. They could not be more friendly if they tried. There is another small shop near where I work...same experence...great place.

Sorry I got long and most will skip this but it is a good story....and from what I understand in visiting the Fender and LP forums not that uncommon....sad to say.

But learn it, do it.....nothing I have done is so cool as to when you play something and it sounds like music.

FPGT72

Where are the good shops you mention?

I wouldn't write off GC. Keep in mind that some brands require the store to have a fairly large stock on hand which a mom & pop can't always do. Those brands will also void their warranty if you don't buy them through authorized dealers.

Honestly, I have no problems going into a GC with all the other people. I end up walking into the Platinum room wich is usually empty anyway. That's where they keep their more expensive guitars. If anyone's in there a sales person will quickly appear out of nowhere. You can usually get 10-15% off if you ask for it as well. I'd get one sealed though. The ones they have hanging out front get handled a lot.

If I was buying an electric, I'd probably get a Squier Telecaster Classic Vibe Custom and a Blues Junior III tube amp. Or maybe a Gibson Les Paul Junior, Special or a Studio and the same amp. Would be really nice for blues/rock and a solid setup. I recommend not going cheap on the amp as that's another part of the voice of the guitar. A steril amp will make even a good guitar sound bad.

I've thought about getting a Casino but I think I'd want a ES-335 or maybe the smaller ES-339 for some rockabilly action. I keep dumping money into my Les Paul though. I'm thinking about changing the Tone-pro's bridge and tail piece with a Callaham.

Another group of Gibson's for a great price. I'd love to have a Yellow Special.

http://www.americanmusical.com/RSS_Feeds/weeklydeals.aspx

I did it! Sprung for, what I think, is an awesome amp! After listening to the Marshall and the '65 Deluxe Reverb side by side, I brought this bad boy home this after noon. I gotta say, I've never been so impressed with a low watt amp before. This thing ROCKS!!!

Congrats! I bet it sounds really nice.

Guitar Centers and Sam Ash both out here are always polite and helpful from jump. It may be due to the area and the abundance of seasoned players. You just never know what old band you've never heard of had that old guy as the lead guitarist or who just might be a top studio musician, or an instructor at the Musicians Institute.

I was in CG in Sherman Oaks one afternoon looking at a Tele with a B-bender, and an older guy (60s?(my age) 50s at least) was tearing it up on a Strat. He was doing surf, rock, rock-a-billy, jazz, country chicken-pickin' and never breaking a sweat. The kids there who could only play power chords at 11 and scream into the mics were dumbfounded. How could an old guy be so good on the guitar, and how did he get all those sounds? It got even better when I started playing back up to him and a bass player came over and the jam session really took off. His wife/girlfriend started singing. Oh yeah, it was nice.

Yeah, sometimes it's fun to be an old guy

jdg