I play guitar because I like it, not because I'm good at it.

[Sydward Lartle]

To me, 'indie' was always synonymous with jangly guitars, dressing in black and crap lead singers.

[Spiteface]

You still get those in varying degrees.

[Sydward Lartle]

Oh, and this is going to show my age, the Macc Lads!
Bloody hell... that takes me right back, when the only 'indie' record shop in town was Spinadisc! Sadly no longer with us, but hearing 'Fluffy Pup' blasting out at ear-bleed volume was quite the revelation.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Is that the one that's essentially a rebranded J Mascis with a new paintjob? I have a Mascis, best guitar Squier ever put out (Although add me to the people talking up the Classic Vibe line - got a tele that I think I like more than the Baja I own).

Yeah. I had a J Mascis for a couple of months but had to sell it. Bloody lovely guitars. I prefer the aesthetics of my new one though. Cheery red with gold anodised pick guard

That Les Paul is a dream. My wife has promised me a white Les Paul one day as I'm a James Dean Bradfield disciple. That and a ES335 are my dream guitars.

I hope you play that every single day

[Dr Syntax Head]

Can someone please explain, patiently, as though to a child, what the fuck 'shoegaze' is, because I'm buggered if I know.

This probably sums it up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DEnwUAzPG4

[Dr Syntax Head]

Fuck it, I'm listing my gear because I don't usually. If you don't want to hear me bragging feel free to skip this.

USA olympic white strat. My workhorse. Bought in a pawnshop with inheritance money from my gran who bought me my first ever guitar back in 1991, which was a Jap Squier strat. It's in bits somewhere now after being heavily customed. I wish I kept it.

USA Tele. Blonde thin skin with white pick guard which has been an object of desire since I watched Crossroads.

Gibbo Les Paul melody maker, single cutaway. My wife bought it and I'm being honest I would have been slightly disappointed if it was a double cutaway. I'm a spoiled cunt

White Fender Precision. Probably my most life changing instrument. I can now make my own fully formed guitar music and learning to play it has renewed my love of guitar practice.

Squier Jazzmaster 2017 deluxe.

Fender twin reverb, silver face, broken. The only possession I have that survived my divorce, it's incredible and I need to get it fixed.

Pedalboard.
Korg Pitchblack tuner
A very old Dunlop wah
Good old Boss DS1 distortion
Boss blues driver
Pro Co Rat
Hardwire RV7 reverb, has reverse, useful
TC Hall of fame reverb
EHX small clone chorus
EHX Pulsar tremolo
EHX freeze
Boss DD7 digital delay
TC ditto X2 looper

I need a strymon blue sky reverb, an analogue delay and another digital delay and a Phase 90 phaser and I'm done for now.

Sorry about that. I fucking love my gear. After a whole life borrowing gear, buying gear and selling it for reasons I didn't want to I'm a bit precious about my rig.

[HappyTree]

This is a gear thread! Let it all hang out, baby.

I have a US Strat which is gathering dust. I played Strats for years but never liked the feel of the neck. I may sell it but I've got this cool tapping device (Hammer Jammer) so I may use the Strat just for that as I'm not going to install it on any of my other guitars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocnxXYjdJ6w

I mainly play acoustic. As well as the Gryphon mandolin guitar, I got the Martin travel guitar specifically to use for alternate tunings. It's not great as an actual guitar because the lack of body means there's nothing to hold onto. But it has a very interesting boxy sound, a bit like a dulcimer. And the neck plays surprisingly well for such a cheap instrument.

There's my old acoustic Yamaha LL6 which I kept for alternate tunings as well. I usually have one left in open D and the other in open C.

But my two main acoustics are a Martin HD35 which I would say is the "workhorse". Some people don't like its resonant bass end. I love it. It really fits well accompanying other people too. My other guitar that I prefer for playing by myself is a Guild Orpheum 12-fret 12-string. It has a very smooth sound for a 12-er, but I found that I have little use for 12 strings so I play it as a normal guitar with the extra 6 strings taken off. I love the wide spaces for clean finger-picking and the very round neck fits comfortably in the hand. Its sound is less bassy with its OM shape and different bracing. Sounds a bit more woody than the Martin.

There's also a 3/4 size nylon string jobby which I use if I want that kind of sound. But it's a bit broken as I fell on it once when going camping so I may replace it at some point.

GAS never leaves you. I feel I should have a Les Paul. It would have to be one with a Bigsby as I'd feel constrained not being able to put a shimmer on chords when I want. But we'll see. Nae money left!

[Sydward Lartle]

Oh go on then...

[HappyTree]

Weird that I never got a Tele. I always preferred them. They feel more "meaty" under the hand.

[Sydward Lartle]

Weird that I never got a Tele. I always preferred them. They feel more "meaty" under the hand.

The '69 reissues have a different feel to the modern Teles, and if it's 'meaty' you're after, they're definitely the way to go.

[Sherman Krank]

I've always preferred Fender type guitars over Gibson type guitars but I've no love for Fender Corp. or their overpriced instruments so I built assembled my own tele.





And I knocked up a hardtail Warmoth based strat with a set of Rio Grande's Vintage Tall Boy pickups.




I don't play either as much as I should as I've also got this..

'92 Robin Ranger Custom
(Around four times the price of an American Standard Strat back in the day)
(Cost me £140 and a (not very good) Japanese Strat)


And this...

'85 Robin Ranger Standard



And if I need something Gibsonish..

'00 Gordon Smith GS1.5

[the science eel]

I've only recently rekindled my interest in all this business, mainly because I'm moving back to the UK after years of piddling around in Europe.

I bought a Gretsch Streamliner last year. I've always loved the look of those things (Lou Reed, Duane Eddy), but they were always well out of my price range. This thing cost me £380!

BUT

- last night the cable socket fell inside the guitar body and me and my nephew had a fuck of a job trying to pull the thing back through the hole again with a pair of tweezers and fix it into place using the nut (which appeared to have fallen off). So my advice is - don't bother with the cheap Gretsches. If something like this can happen after just one year of very infrequent use, they're not going to stand up to gigging.

Oh - and I got one of those wee Vox amps delivered yesterday, as it happens. It's a powerful little bugger but I agree with all the moans about presets. I don't like the fact that it weighs about 20g either. There are good things about the digital age but if it means your guitar amplification looks like something you'd pick up in Poundland, you're welcome to it.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Happy Tree plays a mean mandolin

[Dr Syntax Head]

Oh - and I got one of those wee Vox amps delivered yesterday, as it happens. It's a powerful little bugger but I agree with all the moans about presets. I don't like the fact that it weighs about 20g either. There are good things about the digital age but if it means your guitar amplification looks like something you'd pick up in Poundland, you're welcome to it.

Valve amp all the way. There's debate about the tone but valve amps do sound better. And they are way heavy

[Dr Syntax Head]

Sherman that is a nice quiver of guitars (Partridge would be proud of that term). The guy that encouraged me to get a guitar and bought me my first set of strings played a Gordon Smith. A very underrated guitar maker. They are class.

[Dr Syntax Head]

I love this thread

[Sydward Lartle]

I had a Gordon Smith Les Paul back in the day before I became a confirmed Tele-head. I had to sell it because fucking reasons. Food or guitar... no choice at all, really.

[Dr Syntax Head]

I had a Gordon Smith Les Paul back in the day before I became a confirmed Tele-head. I had to sell it because fucking reasons. Food or guitar... no choice at all, really.

Been there too many times. Never again I keep telling myself

[Spiteface]

Yeah. I had a J Mascis for a couple of months but had to sell it. Bloody lovely guitars. I prefer the aesthetics of my new one though. Cheery red with gold anodised pick guard

That Les Paul is a dream. My wife has promised me a white Les Paul one day as I'm a James Dean Bradfield disciple. That and a ES335 are my dream guitars.

I hope you play that every single day

I do. At least when I'm in a big Les Paul/Humbucker phase. It's awesome. Edwards guitars, if you can find them, are fantastic for the money. Don't get me wrong, of course I'd like to have a Gibson (and maybe one day I will), but this does everything I want a Les Paul to do.

Obviously I got one because I also worship Bradfield. The pickups I'm waiting on are the ones he currently uses, actually.

[Sydward Lartle]

Arrived this morning...



Fender Champion 20. A modelling amp without the arseache, very 'hands on' operation, ideal for a technophobic doofus like me. Lovely warm sound with just the right amount of zing. I'm a happy camper.

[Dr Syntax Head]

I do. At least when I'm in a big Les Paul/Humbucker phase. It's awesome. Edwards guitars, if you can find them, are fantastic for the money. Don't get me wrong, of course I'd like to have a Gibson (and maybe one day I will), but this does everything I want a Les Paul to do.

Obviously I got one because I also worship Bradfield. The pickups I'm waiting on are the ones he currently uses, actually.

Can you tell me how they sound?
Bradfield is a force of nature

[Dr Syntax Head]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObEGerX3ZpU

Sakes!

[Dr Syntax Head]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gslKjS155Q

I spend my life wishing I was this good

[Spiteface]

Can you tell me how they sound?
Bradfield is a force of nature

When they arrive, I will. Been taking months so far. The guy who makes them is actually a postman, and he's been having problems with parts and such, he tells me. This is the kind of thing you tend to run into with some "boutique" makers. He's not taking new orders at the moment, though:

http://www.shedpickups.com/

Whenever he gets his site up and running again, they're the "Hot Bastardos" set. They're the ones in his guitar on the vid where he shows how to play his riffs, if you want an idea of how they sound. He had them installed around the Futurology tour, I believe.

[thraxx]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gslKjS155Q

I spend my life wishing I was this good

I love JDB, a proper guitar hero.  He makes everything look so easy, and then he can sing over it.  He looks like a plasterer now, but round the Holy Bible time, when he was in the sailor outfit, all cut with the scraggly beard, and straggly hair, was there a cooler guitar slinging frontman in the 90s?

[Sydward Lartle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gslKjS155Q

I spend my life wishing I was this good

I've only just noticed how similar the riff from Slash and Burn is to some of the riffs on the Who's Who Are You, right down to the use of barred power chords high up the fretboard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdLIerfXuZ4

[thraxx]

I've only just noticed how similar the riff from Slash and Burn is to some of the riffs on the Who's Who Are You, right down to the use of barred power chords high up the fretboard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdLIerfXuZ4

From the clips it looks like he's playing more or less yer classic memphis scale type stuff, which I recently learned by accident and is a brilliant cheap trick for making your playing sound much better than it actually is.

[Sydward Lartle]

From the clips it looks like he's playing more or less yer classic memphis scale type stuff, which I recently learned by accident and is a brilliant cheap trick for making your playing sound much better than it actually is.

Indeed it is!

[thraxx]

Indeed it is!

I've been playing guitar in a lazy, half-arsed, sloppy, shit way for years and in recently trying to work our Precious Angel off of Dylan's Slow Train Coming, it all clicked into place!  I have unlocked the achievement of now being able to knock out any number of badly approximated Dire Straights tunes.

[Sydward Lartle]

I don't play any lead stuff at all, I'm more content playing rhythm. Open chords, 'cowboy chords', the bread-and-butter stuff that formed the basis of a billion popular songs. Sometimes I like to branch out and play some Townshend / Wilko Johnson power chords with my thumb damping the bottom strings but that's very rare. I like my guitar to sound ringy and melodic.