Yeah, something like that Mike.

My playing has gotten to a stage where I'm basically doing one of three things since I don't have a band. One, I record backing tracks for my mother to use when she plays at church or for another event. Two, I record covers of songs, almost always instrumental versions of songs. Three, I record originals. Being that it's still hockey season, I haven't done a ton of recording lately, but I've been working on a version of "Falling Slowly" from "Once" (great song, great flick).

Then, around Mother's Day, my wife made a very rare request - she asked me to learn a song for her on my Larrivee acoustic. That's the one guitar I've owned that she absolutely loves. She made a couple suggestions, but said it was basically up to me. Until yesterday - she heard Alice Cooper's "You And Me" on her way to work, and she said, "That's it."

So, now I've got two in the pipeline. I'm going to be curious to see where the Alice song goes. Some songs end up fairly straight covers as far as the arrangement goes, some get a little different treatment (think about what bands in the 1970s did live - you know, before someone decided that live versions should sound just like the record), some come out very different.

Alan

Nice work, Alan! It's great when your significant other enjoys your playing. My wife is a big inspiration to me.

I just got a new guitar pedal today, and put another on lay-by. The one I got was a Behringer Spectrum Enhancer. My nifty green guitar hasn't got a tone control, so I needed something to "shape" the sound a bit for me, and this thing does it. Behringer are a budget brand, but the electronics are no different to any of the other brands (they're way cheaper since the units have a plastic casing, not metal. These things are less than half the cost of a BOSS pedal).




The one I put on lay-by is more of a "fancy" one - an MXR Dyna Comp compressor/sustainer pedal (as used by Dave Gilmour).



The one I'm planning to get is this - a noise suppressor/power supply (it can power up to seven other pedals). BOSS are the masters of this, so the expense is justified, IMO.

This is useful - a guide/review site for guitars and related gear, with plenty of links.

http://www.betterguitar.com/

Bookmarked. Nice site. I'm planning on checking out their instruction pages.

If you haven't been to Harmony Central, check it out. They usually have several user reviews for any instrument or electronics you may be looking at. http://www.harmony-central.com/

Hey, Mike!

I'm a fan of harmony central myself - I always check their reviews before even trying out a new bit of equipment. You can get a good idea of what uses certain things are best put to, etc. You also get opinions uncoloured by hype or salesmanship.

Better Guitar is great for being able to check out a large number of manufacturers wares from one site - you can comparison shop with the greatest of ease from there.

Well, it's that time of (financial) year again, and I've just had my tax return done (well, two days ago).

Holy HELL!


So...there are the inevitable home repairs and maintenance, the inevitable "time to get the car serviced, etc" expenses, the dreaded "we need to fix the step on the front porch" (which is true, and I can't deny it) expenditures, and so on.

But where there's a will there's a way. Where there's a will, and some money, and both of them are mine...we all know what's going to happen, right?

A trip to the guitar shop.

Oh, I'll still have to save up a little bit more for a little while longer...but so what? I'm going to get a brand new Fender Highway 1 Stratocaster.

http://www.fender.com/products//search. ... 0111160375

Yeah, baby, yeah. That's what I'm going to do. Two new guitars in one year is a record for me, and it's even more amazing (and frivolous) given the current economic climate and so on, but I really wanted a Strat, and the H1 has huge frets, a comfy neck, and hotted up single coils pickups. I played one in the shop today...and I'm sold. As soon as I have the cash, I'm going to get one. Probably with a Midnight Wine finish (it's actually someone's job to think of the names of these different paint colours; a simple fact that always astounds me for a moment when I stop to think about it). I tried a few different ones - the "Classic 50's" one looked amazing, but wasn't my thing (the v-shaped neck killed it for me, although it sounded good). I tried a "Classic 60's" one, and the skinny little frets wrecked it for me, although it sounded just great. I tried a "Roadhouse Strat", and disliked the Texas Special pickups, although the neck was nice (fussy bastard, I am). The Highway 1 is just right, though. I was a bit perturbed by the "greasebucket" tone control feature, but got the hang of it quickly enough.

My wife just laughed and said "Why didn't you just buy a Fender one last time if that's what you wanted?" - but I explained to her that, although I do love the ESP to bits, a Strat is unique. But I had this weird compulsion to get that green ESP, and haven't regretted it. I saw one exactly the same in a catalogue the other day for $350.00 more than I paid for mine (it pays to be a loyal customer at the same guitar shop for well over a decade - you get good rates on stuff, I've found. Also, I buy shedloads of stuff there, so they like me). Ever since I sold my '74 Stratocaster, back in 2004, I've missed it terribly. My wife is a very, very understanding woman. She made me promise that whatever I spent on the Strat, I'd give her the equivalent amount to spend on shoes!

Of course, I said yes. I love my wife dearly, and she means the world to me.

Also...it's a Strat. Whatever it takes, y'know?

Also - I spoke to my brother the other day, and told him about the Dyna Compe pedal, and my plan to get a noise gate pedal. He said "don't do that - I've got one I bought three years ago that's still in the box". He's going to post it to me, as his effects rack doo-dad has a built-in noise gate, so he's never even used his BOSS one!

Everything's coming up rosewood.

My apologies for that terrible, terrible pun.

Yup, bought myself a Highway one Strat last year, and it's just amazing... I've owned a couple of other strats over the last 25 years or so, and I can't believe how good these guitars are! Absolutely amazing! I had a little trouble with the truss rod pin causing some sympathetic buzzing, but I did a bit of research, did a few back and forth quarter turns on the truss rod over a couple of weeks and now it's been fine ever since.

I have kinda got my eye on maybe seeking out a Baja Tele though, as I've never owned a Tele, it gets good reviews, and I feel I should get one Having said that, I have a hankering for a 335 type too, maybe the Epiphone Lucille (although I've read mixed reviews about it)

I also need to get myself a good home practice amp, preferably a fender valve one...

ahh, decisions, decisions...

I'm glad to hear you've had a good experience with the Highway 1, Robert.

I'm amazed that I could get an American made guitar for such a relatively good price. Over here, the American Standards cost more. I'd originally planned on getting a Mexican Standard...but they're just not quite the same, somehow. They're not as nicely finished off (frets a bit rough, selector switch crackly - that kind of thing, in my experience).

The Baja Tele is a nice guitar - I was once tempted by one of the Korean Koa Tele's (which I noticed they've stopped making, as it's no longer listed on the Fender website), but backed off at the last minute for some reason. As much as I love Tele's, I just had to have a Strat.

I found that the Highway 1's neck was comfortable when I was playing chords, and I liked the tone controls, even if it was odd at first.

I've only got a small practice amp myself - a 10 Watt Marshall one (solid state). One day, I'll get a "real" amp. Maybe next year.

If I was really going to be daring, I'd get a Gretsch Billy-Bo (the guitar designed by Billy Gibbons, based on a guitar given to him as a gift by by Bo Diddly).







But I just wanted a decent Stratocaster, so I'm happy I found the Highway 1.

That Gretsch does look pretty cool

Billy Gibbons plays that now for most of his songs on stage. He pulls out "Miss Pearly Gates" on some of the older songs and the "Fuzzy Explorer" for Legs but most of the time he plays a Gretsch now. I'm wishing I could make it to the Aerosmith / ZZ Top concert here this weekend. Ticketmaster says lawn seats are sold out (which seems odd to me) and reserved seats are going for $200 (which is probably why lawn seats are sold out).

Congrats on the new Fender, Simon.

Thanks, Mike!

ZZ Top and Aerosmith would be a GREAT gig to see!

I just got the noise suppressor pedal - I like it a whole lot. It does what I'd expected it to do, and really "cleaned up" my sound. I'm impressed by it.

I'm having second thoughts about the H1 Strat, though. I played a Mexican standard (yes, I do spend embarrassing amounts of time in about five different guitar shops - yes, it's the only place I go that isn't home, school or work! ), and preferred it. I may well go for one of those, as the sound was more "Stratty" than the H1, even though the frets are smaller. I played Fenders with vintage frets for years - my blue Strat copy has vintage frets - so I reckon I can get used to medium jumbo's. The super jumbo's on the ESP have spoiled me, it seems.

More research on the subject is needed, before I make any decisions.

It's all down to the individual guitars.

My son has a Fender Squire Affinity Strat that feels much better to me than my American Standard. It doesn't sound as good plugged in but the playability of it makes it more enjoyable to me.

Yup, I've got an Affinity Strat, and feel exactly the same Mike. All it really needs is a decent set of pick ups and you'd have a perfectly good gigable guitar. I can't believe the quality of "starter" guitars today compared to the cheese graters I started on some 30 years ago

Hmmm.

They've got an '88 Strat in my favourite guitar shop for a grand. It's a little road worn (not the cosmetic variety from the factory ), but it's easy to play. I may give that another look this week.

Then again....I may get a Fender neck off eBay and put it on the blue Strat copy I have. Might be more fun. I don't want to end up with too many guitars.

What? I don't understand - "too many guitars"????? There's no such thing!!!!

(Dude, shut up - my wife's right over there!)

Alan

I played a great Yamaha Pacifica model yesterday - it had a great neck with a really thick slab of rosewood on it, a stainless steel trem and a Seymour Duncan humbucker (along with two single coils). Also, you could split the coils so that the 'bucker could be used as a single coil.

Here's a link - http://www.yamaha.com/guitars/products/ ... TID=600003

For the price, the Yamaha was great value for money. The Japanese Strat I went there to get (maybe....probably ) had been sold two days beforehand!



I really wish those blokes would update their website when they sell stuff.

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... +112V/10/1

Looks like a good deal. Some of the reviews here say it might be a little noisy but I wouldn't expect that with a Seymour Duncan p/u. Were you able to crank it up a little?