Hobbies and pastimes.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

To avoid further derailing the photo thread...

Pulled the trigger on the red over black Ibanez solid body i'd previously posted:


Just looking at the image makes me want to pick her up and play! She arrives Dec. 29th. This is gonna have to be it for a while. I'm either gonna run out of money or my wife's gonna file papers.

I still want the other two I posted at the same time, but I think I've got the itch pretty well scratched for now, except for, maybe...


I've got a birthday in January, after all.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I still want the other two I posted at the same time, but I think I've got the itch pretty well scratched for now, except for, maybe...


I've got a birthday in January, after all.

Mind you, those are low-output pickups and that may or may not be your cup of tea.

On Tuesday I went into Austin to pick up meds from the VA clinic, and on the way back stopped into one of my favorite stores evah!, South Austin Guitars. Thinking of our convo in the pics thread, I took some guitar porn:

78 Les Paul, with two late 60s Melody Makers, and some sort of Gretsch at the far left:



Three early 70s SGs at the far left, two 70s Les Pauls, a reissue ES-335 dotneck, and a BB King Lucille in the middle, then two ES-339s and two other unknown to me Gibby semi-hollows:



Their vintage and repair room, didn't walk in to look at tags but good shit:



1946 Gibson ES-125. P-90 pickup is later mod, the pickup postdates the guitar by about ten years, but still hot:




.. and an early-80s Marshall JCM800 50w 1x12 amp, great stuff. I borrowed a JCM800 2x12 for a couple of show, these amps are the dog's bark.



Roland Jazz Chorus 40 on top, another damned good amp and sleeper.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

Mind you, those are low-output pickups and that may or may not be your cup of tea.

I've got a soldering iron and I know how to use it!

It's a great thing about my background with electrical and electronic design. The circuitry inside an electric guitar is dead simple. Swapping pickups, changing out pots, adding coil splitting, revising the way the switches work... All within my abilities, and if I screw something up, I know how to fix it.


Second from the left, if you know, is that an early explorer?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Second from the left, if you know, is that an early explorer?

No, it's an early 70s Gibson Firebird. Even the earliest Explorers had the sharp points on 'em.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

On top of new chords and new songs, i'm now learning more strumming patterns, and it's really helping me to sound like I'm playing a song instead of just strumming to a beat.

The more I learn, the more fun I have and the more I want to learn!

[Mathilda]

I've got back into guitar playing. I used to play several hours a day as a teenager but then dropped it when I started university. I then played other instruments until almost 8 years ago when illness rid me of flexibility and sensation in my hands. I didn't think I'd ever be able to play again but two years ago found that I had recovered enough to play a single scale. So I've started playing guitar again. I've been buying guitars that I couldn't afford when I was young. My most recent purchase is a MIJ Fender Telecaster from a Black Friday deal. I've got too many strats (including my husband's) so this is my first proper telecaster. I love it.

Show ContentSpoiler:

I used to be a rock guitarist but now only play clean. No pedals, just straight into a handwired valve amp. I'm trying to learn all the chords that sound rubbish when playing with overdrive. I'm using the CAGED system and trying to mix triads and shell voicings with melodies. I plan to learn slide guitar and finger picking.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I've got back into guitar playing. I used to play several hours a day as a teenager but then dropped it when I started university. I then played other instruments until almost 8 years ago when illness rid me of flexibility and sensation in my hands. I didn't think I'd ever be able to play again but two years ago found that I had recovered enough to play a single scale. So I've started playing guitar again. I've been buying guitars that I couldn't afford when I was young. My most recent purchase is a MIJ Fender Telecaster from a Black Friday deal. I've got too many strats (including my husband's) so this is my first proper telecaster. I love it.

Show ContentSpoiler:

I used to be a rock guitarist but now only play clean. No pedals, just straight into a handwired valve amp. I'm trying to learn all the chords that sound rubbish when playing with overdrive. I'm using the CAGED system and trying to mix triads and shell voicings with melodies. I plan to learn slide guitar and finger picking.

It's really cool you're getting back into it. The CAGED system is a great way to learn the fretboard. The cycle-of-fifths is great for learning chord relationships. I'm not a big Tele fan, but I know that any MiJ Fender has got to be a damned good guitar.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Hey, @Mathilda, you'd said something about complex chords sounding like crap through dirty tones, and this song or style may not be your cuppa tea, but Beato here takes you through a song that has strange chords that's gritty and it might be enjoyable? or at least workable?



Another band, also perhaps not to your taste, might be Rush, perhaps "Free Will". They got me into learning complex chords which led to me learning how to use them both filthy and clean. A lot of it boils down to muting technique, and a lot of it boils down to one's tolerance for loud dissonance. But check out Alex Lifeson's chording in the pre-chorus (00:39 -- 01:02 or so). Again, maybe not to your taste, but it illustrates how half-diminished chords and a really gritty amp can coexist with technique.



As a fan and player of both jazz and metal, I like this sort of thing. Johnny Marr is another guy who uses odd voicings and sometimes a bit of dirt and makes it work.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

Expanding my repertoire...

Songs I can play through, mostly:
Louie, Louie
Wild Thing
Lay Down Sally
Stand By Me
Sing
Silence is Easy
Rock Star

Songs I can stumble through, but they're recognizable:
Crossroads
Bad Moon Rising
Edge of Seventeen
Call Out My Name
The Tide is High
Follow You Down

Songs I'm Starting:
Love Me Do
You Shook Me All Night Long
Hey Joe
Dreams
Oye Como Va
Here I Gos Again
No Rain
Bad Company

Songs I can play through from memory:



If you've noticed they're mostly 2- 3- and 4-chord songs in standard tuning... Well, yeah. But, less than two months ago, I didn't even know how to finger any chords.

[SYZ]

If you've noticed they're mostly 2- 3- and 4-chord songs in standard tuning... Well, yeah. But, less than two months ago, I didn't even know how to finger any chords.

(my bold)

I can only commend you mate for your self-taught guitar
abilities.  Well done.    

I tried guitaring (is that a word?) many decades ago before
I discovered my total lack of eye-hand coordination—which
prevented me from playing any/all ball games at high school.
My mother tried to teach me to play the piano around the
same time, with not the slightest bit of success.  

She played a Dobro square neck guitar too, with a Bakelite
tone bar.  Her forté—of all things!—was Hawaiian music.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Expanding my repertoire...

Songs I can play through, mostly:
Louie, Louie
Wild Thing
Lay Down Sally
Stand By Me
Sing
Silence is Easy
Rock Star

Songs I can stumble through, but they're recognizable:
Crossroads
Bad Moon Rising
Edge of Seventeen
Call Out My Name
The Tide is High
Follow You Down

Songs I'm Starting:
Love Me Do
You Shook Me All Night Long
Hey Joe
Dreams
Oye Como Va
Here I Gos Again
No Rain
Bad Company

Songs I can play through from memory:



If you've noticed they're mostly 2- 3- and 4-chord songs in standard tuning... Well, yeah. But, less than two months ago, I didn't even know how to finger any chords.

That's a great, and ambitious, worklist. I gotta say, if you can get through "Edge of Seventeen" without your right wrist collapsing and dying of lactic-acid buildup, you're a better man than I. Waddy Wachtel's meter on his rhythm guitar part is stunning, like he was wired into a drum machine.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

Expanding my repertoire...

Songs I can play through, mostly:
Louie, Louie
Wild Thing
Lay Down Sally
Stand By Me
Sing
Silence is Easy
Rock Star

Songs I can stumble through, but they're recognizable:
Crossroads
Bad Moon Rising
Edge of Seventeen
Call Out My Name
The Tide is High
Follow You Down

Songs I'm Starting:
Love Me Do
You Shook Me All Night Long
Hey Joe
Dreams
Oye Como Va
Here I Gos Again
No Rain
Bad Company

Songs I can play through from memory:



If you've noticed they're mostly 2- 3- and 4-chord songs in standard tuning... Well, yeah. But, less than two months ago, I didn't even know how to finger any chords.

That's a great, and ambitious, worklist. I gotta say, if you can get through "Edge of Seventeen" without your right wrist collapsing and dying of lactic-acid buildup, you're a better man than I. Waddy Wachtel's meter on his rhythm guitar part is stunning, like he was wired into a drum machine.

I'm pretty sure I'm getting easier versions with the beginner song list available from JustinGuitar, and I'm learning rhythm parts for now. Lead techniques come later in the program.

It was indeed the BPC acoustic under the tree. I upset the fam a bit buy unpacking and tuning, or at least trying to, before all the unwrapping was done. What can I say? I get a new guitar, I want to play! It's a considerably better instrument than I feared it would be, especially for <$100. I doubt it's a guitar thatt will last for years and years, but hopefully it'll allow me to learn and play some cool acoustic stuff until I can score a better one. I've already got my eye in an Ibanez acoustic-electric in a very similar blue finish.   There's a couple others as well, including a Yamaha, with less sticker-shock then the Ibanez, but they're straight acoustic.

Now that I have an acoustic, I'm adding Country Roads and More Than Words to my starting to learn play lists. I've always had a soft spot for John Denver, especially "Rocky Mountain High" (for obvious reasons), in large part because mom and I listened to him incessantly on road trips. I can see myself wanting a 12-string down to road just so I can learn to play "The Eagle and the Hawk." Extreme is one of my all time favorite bands, and Nuno is the guy I aspire to. I used to want to be Eddie, until I heard Nuno play Eddie better than Eddie.

The red over black Ibanez is arriving later today. I'll have to pull all the ladies, and the amp, together for a family photo soon.

I've also (maybe) had a change of heart on the Epiphone. Instead of the white over black Les Paul, I'm seriously considering this:


It's a Bullfighter, yet another Strat clone, but made in Japan and from all accounts I've heard, it's one with some real teeth. A Strat that's really good for down and dirty distorted tones. I like the Epi, but once again, this one's speaking to me, telling me "come, pick me up and play."

Of course, If I could spend stupid money on a guitar, it would be a Tele, but not just any Tele. The Jack White signature Triplecaster Tele:


Not only is it gorgeous, but the tonal range is off the freakin' charts! But, $3500 for a guitar is 'wife filing papers' type lunacy, at least right now. But, in a year or so, once some debt that has crept up on us is payed off and the savings is back where it should be... Hey, a guy can dream, right?!?

[Cavebear]

One of the sadnesses of my life is that my brain does not communicate with my fingers well.  I can't play any musical instrument.  Music is in my head all the time but it won't go any further.  

An example is that Mom bought me a one day.

I struggled for a week to understand how to play basic notes and gave up.  But some people are better at that.  My brother picked it up and in just 2 days could repeat songs he heard on the radio immediately,  Arrgh!  But good for him.  He never pursued that skill, but he had it and I sure didn't.

I can't touch-type either.  My brain had to see what my fingers are doing...  If I can't see something happening, I can't do it.  

[TheGentlemanBastard]

Wow! What a difference lowering the action can make. The Strat just became much easier and more fun to play, especially as I get farther away from the nut!

[TheGentlemanBastard]

Since this is a hobby and pastime thread, not an exclusive guitar thread...

Got a new mechanical keyboard under the tree. Black, RGB backlit with black keycaps and blue switches. It's got a hot swapable main board, but since it came with the blue switches, I have no need to switch them out. It even came with a handful of spare switches, so I can fix the one that was damaged from a fall and put the keycaps back on, always assuming I can find the Esc keycap that came up missing.

Black on black. Even with the RGB backlighting is kinda boring, so I'm dithering about what colors to change them out for.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Wow! What a difference lowering the action can make. The Strat just became much easier and more fun to play, especially as I get farther away from the nut!

Take measurements of your Strat's action at the 12th fret. The next time you buy a guitar, make them throw in a setup with those measurements as part of the purchase. Most good stores will do that much. It still may not be perfect, because a Fender scale-length will give different string tensions than Gibson or other lengths, but it will get you much closer to what your fingers like.

What strings do you play on your guitars? I put .011s on Gibson scales, and .010s on Fender scales. With acoustics, I let the guitar tell me what it wants.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

Wow! What a difference lowering the action can make. The Strat just became much easier and more fun to play, especially as I get farther away from the nut!

Take measurements of your Strat's action at the 12th fret. The next time you buy a guitar, make them throw in a setup with those measurements as part of the purchase. Most good stores will do that much. It still may not be perfect, because a Fender scale-length will give different string tensions than Gibson or other lengths, but it will get you much closer to what your fingers like.

What strings do you play on your guitars? I put .011s on Gibson scales, and .010s on Fender scales. With acoustics, I let the guitar tell me what it wants.

Along with learning to play, I'm also learning my preferences. I left the action high on the Strat since I was comfortable enough playing that way, especially never getting above the third fret early on. It was the Firefly that showed me the joy of lower action. I'm still trying different strings and tweaking setups, but I do like lower action and am leaning to .009s for the slightly lower tension.

[pattylt]

Since this is a hobby and pastime thread, not an exclusive guitar thread...

Got a new mechanical keyboard under the tree. Black, RGB backlit with black keycaps and blue switches. It's got a hot swapable main board, but since it came with the blue switches, I have no need to switch them out. It even came with a handful of spare switches, so I can fix the one that was damaged from a fall and put the keycaps back on, always assuming I can find the Esc keycap that came up missing.

Black on black. Even with the RGB backlighting is kinda boring, so I'm dithering about what colors to change them out for.

I love mechanical keyboards, too.  I love the feedback.  I still use a gaming keyboard that’s going on 10 years old now.  I can type like a speed demon on it! 

[TheGentlemanBastard]

Since this is a hobby and pastime thread, not an exclusive guitar thread...

Got a new mechanical keyboard under the tree. Black, RGB backlit with black keycaps and blue switches. It's got a hot swapable main board, but since it came with the blue switches, I have no need to switch them out. It even came with a handful of spare switches, so I can fix the one that was damaged from a fall and put the keycaps back on, always assuming I can find the Esc keycap that came up missing.

Black on black. Even with the RGB backlighting is kinda boring, so I'm dithering about what colors to change them out for.

I love mechanical keyboards, too.  I love the feedback.  I still use a gaming keyboard that’s going on 10 years old now.  I can type like a speed demon on it! 

Yeah, I am so over the mushy keystrokes of the membrane keyboards. If others like them, that's all good for them, but I want that positive feedback.

I also like the clicky blue switches. If I'm building one for an environment where a noisy keyboard would be an issue, I'll go with the brown switches. Anyone who complains that mechanical keyboards are too loud has never heard one of my red switch, felt padded masterpieces in action.

And they look so much nicer!

I really should start listing my creations on Etsy. There are people who throw absolutely stupid money at one-off keyboard styles.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

So, my new lady has finally arrived. The red over black Ibanez I started the thread with, and I couldn't be happier. She's far lovelier than that photo can show. The black body is very well complimented by the three layer pick guard, black, white, and transparent red, and the red binding that runs around the body and the length of the neck. Frets are nicely polishes and level with no sharp edges, tuners work smoothly and are keeping in tune, and except for the D string being slightly sharp, intonation is spot on.

Then there are the tones. This lady has a beautiful voice. From buttery smooth to a decent amount of crunch all on a clean amp. The five way switch allows selection of the neck humbucker, the bridge humbucker, and a variety of neck, neck/bridge, and bridge coil splits. And, amazing sustain for such a lightweight.

All in all, a true beauty and a great addition.

[skyking]

Everything fun is on hold while the house is getting built.
That said, woodworlking stuff is my happy place.
This 20" bandsaw followed me home in March and waits for the shop to get set up for a rebuild and new motor installation. I can do some resawing with that thing.

[Fireball]

I too enjoy woodworking. My 12" and 6" bandsaws don't add up to that beauty!

[Cavebear]

I have absolutely no idea what you guys are talking about regarding guitars. But it is amazing to read all the details. I know there is that world out there that I will never experience. But I like music and am glad you guys are there to do it. Thank you so much for this informative thread!

[TheGentlemanBastard]

My newest lady:




Stainless steel frets with no sharp frets or fret sprout, a straight, roasted maple neck with no fret buzz, locking tuners, and a brushed copper pick guard, it's hard to believe this guitar can be had for under $250. 

Setup was very good. Action is a hair lower then the Ibanez, but comfortable to play. Intonation needs a minor tweak on a couple strings that I'll get to in a couple days.

Right now, she's freshly strung an telling me to come play.

Some better photos of the Ibanez:




As you can see, the earlier image really didn't do her justice. 

And, as promised, some family photos.




Now it's time to find out what kind of voice the new lovely has!

ETA:
Well, the new one is an easy player, but her voice isn't what it could be. The coil splitting on the bridge pickup leaves a lot to be desired and that humbucker is very base forward and somewhat muddy. The neck and middle single coils have decent tones, but are rather noisy, even for singles. I see a pickup upgrade in this lady's future. Probably a single spaced humbucker hot-rail on the neck and a cleaner, brighter single in the middle to go with a cleaner bridge pickup. I'll have to research some style and colors that will suit. Still a good addition and a beautiful guitar.

Now, If I can just convince the wife that I need that rainbow/pink Tele knockoff for my birthday...

[Thumpalumpacus]

ETA:
Well, the new one is an easy player, but her voice isn't what it could be. The coil splitting on the bridge pickup leaves a lot to be desired and that humbucker is very base forward and somewhat muddy. The neck and middle single coils have decent tones, but are rather noisy, even for singles. I see a pickup upgrade in this lady's future. Probably a single spaced humbucker hot-rail on the neck and a cleaner, brighter single in the middle to go with a cleaner bridge pickup. I'll have to research some style and colors that will suit. Still a good addition and a beautiful guitar.

Now, If I can just convince the wife that I need that rainbow/pink Tele knockoff for my birthday...

One trick to fine-tune a pickup is to raise or lower the polepieces. I prefer lowering them because polepieces too close to string = shitty intonation. In your case here, lower the humbuckers bass polepieces, it may help clean it up -- depends on how strong the magnets are and how many windings the pickup has.