Musician's Thread

Back in January I gave the world a peek at me trying to play electric. Apparently I did well, my bandmates were pleased. This past weekend I tried some stuff out on songs we've done a long time with different effects. Most of it worked, but a couple times I cringed and thought, "won't try that again." But again, they were happy with most of it.

My hands are getting better with playing a new way, and I'm really enjoying this thing.

I borrowed my buddy's Fender GTX-50 for the past two gigs with the intention of buying my own, along with he GTX-7 with switch pedal, which is sold separately. The two combined would come in at about $500.

Except they 50 watt is out of stock. BUT, the GTX-100 which comes with the with pedal, was available. The price?

$500.

That's what we call a "no brainer". Twice the watts for the same price. I'm glad I did a little more looking into it.

 

Just ran across one of the most amazing blues session I've ever seen... Eric Gales just sat in with Cory Wong... and Eric was just fucking mind blowing. I don't think anyone else out there sounds like him right now... never mind that Joe Bonamassa is producing his shit now.

Totally made my night.

 

Last month I had to send my new amp back to Sweetwater for a really weird clicking sound it was making. They were amazing, and they guy said since it was so new, he was just going to replace it rather than put in a repair order. Problem was, they were back ordered so it'd be a few weeks. Turns out, the new one arrived two weeks faster than promised and I shipped the new one back. They were great to work with.

The past couple days I've been noticing a weird static sound when I strum, move hand positions, and even run a finger across the pick guard. At first I thought it was the amp, then I thought it was the guitar, then I realized that it's the amp. Long story short, it turned out I just needed to turn the gain down on all the pre-sets and the volume up a little. Problem solved. My buddy ( lead singer ) laughed and reminded me this amp is meant to recreate the sound of much bigger amps and concert sounds.

I've been an acoustic player for nearly 30 years, but my poor acoustic guitar has been neglected. I need to focus on this electric because while I've been getting away with being an obvious noob in the bars, I'll be at some big festivals this summer, surrounded by musicians who I've been listening to for years. And they'll know I'm a hack.

I've been watching a lot of tutorial videos, picking up tips and so one.To better learn and practice moving around the neck faster, I've been playing stuff WAY outside our genre. It's also a lot of fun, and knowing the songs, I know when I'm on the mark or screwing up. The current practice playlist is:

• Midnight Train To Memphis - Chris Stapleton ( which I sing and play already but needs improvement )
• Long Way To The Top ( If Ya Wanna Rock And Roll ) - AC/DC
• TNT - AC/DC
• Enter Sandman - Metallica

I've noodled on some other stuff, but it's mostly these over and over and over. My hands are getting faster and position is improving. I'm also playing while standing up instead of sitting, which shifts everything body-wise.

I'm also working on some scales, just dipping my toe in the Am pentatonic waters. Like, I know it, but I need to get it down cold. Then learn how to utilize it.

This morning 2 1/2 hours flew by and I hardly noticed. I'm having a lot of fun with it.

 

Well our band is coming off our busiest and most successful year including taping a show for the regional PBS station. Just one more show left for this year and then a break.

However looking ahead, we have members who aren’t motivated to learn newer stuff. Our lead singer wanted to cut back, partly because he’s tired of stagnation and doesn’t feel he’s growing as a musician. And I get it. But apparently his idea of cutting back meant WAY back. I’m trying to figure out a way to get some people motivated so we don’t lose this momentum, but I don’t know…

I’m not really sure what the future holds for the group, although we’re booking for ‘24 so at least there’s that. And maybe in that time he and I can light a fire under some asses. We’ll see.

In the meantime I’m making strides with the electric guitar finally. Whatever mental block I had that was making it difficult to learn lead type stuff I seem to have broken through. YouTube videos have been very valuable. I’m learning scales, and their use, and even had some fun playing stuff in the Am pentatonic scale with a backing track I found on YouTube.

I’m one hell of a rhythm guitar player, especially acoustic, but for the first time since I bought it I’m feeling comfortable and more confident with the electric.

So if nothing else, I’ll be better prepared when we start playing out again

 

Nice! One thing I found that really helped me was getting a simple looper... just put down some simple chord progressions and then play over top of them.

There are some really cool looper examples I've found from Joe Bonamassa, Nuno, and a bunch of others that really opened my eyes on how to practice with them.

 

That’s a cool idea! I think my Dad has one, although I think that Fender amp I bought has a looper too come to think of it.

 

I saw Loop Daddy do his magic with a Boss RC-505 series, so that's what I picked up.... way way more functional and capable than I can use it, but it is super cool and capable of some incredible things.

The more you learn about the mechanics of song structure, the more you can use it to back an entire song structure of noodling/soloing. Really helps with those major song transitions rather than just noodling over the same chords over and over.

 

https://www.long-mcquade.com/245276/Pro-Audio---Recording/DJ/Boss/RC-505MKII-Loop-Station.htm

I got it for a few hundred bucks cheaper than that, but it rocks.

 

I tend to see a lot of one-man bands use that a lot... it seems incredibly capable.