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

[Dr Syntax Head]

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?

Was there? No. JDB is a god. I've seen him do that spinning on one foot playing a solo thing that he does in real life. At that point my life became complete

New page I AAAAAM! STRONGER THAN MENSA MILLER AND MAILER

[thraxx]

I have peddled and chiseled my way through dozens of guitars over the years.  About 10 years ago I worked my up to a Gibson two grand SG Supreme, which I was stunned to discover was a fucking awful guitar, though it looked amazing.  Badly balanced, heavy, wide neck, nasty sounding.  I was terrified of chipping it as I was using it as a live guitar.  It was at that point I realised that you should follow your heart; I embraced the fact that teles are the best guitars by a long chalk and I built my own from the corpses of several £50 guitars that I liked, many of them bought from The Rok Shop in Shrewsbury (RIP best music shop ever).

It's basically a tele custom that I stuck two humbuckers in and wired then ineptly the wrong way round, and stuck a lacquered maple neck on it from a strat so the action is appalling.  I then lovingly painted it banana yellow and let it fall over on the carpet ruining both carpet and paint job.  I then lovingly painted the headstock yellow and let it fall over on the carpet again ruining that too.  The result is a guitar that looks like shit and is horrible to play, but it's my shit and horrible guitar that I built, saved by the fucking amazing sound it can produce.  Fuck knows how I did that, but it baffles the shit out of every one who gets their hands on it and I love that.

I've also got a Washburn HB33 (washburns are always great guitars cos you get loads for your money), but essentially is never gets played because it's a wonderful guitar easy going guitar that has space to play what ever you want, but that just reminds me how shit I am.

I've got about 5 other decent guitars in a cupboard somewhere that I should really sell but I can't even be fucked to remember what they are.

I've owned at some time just about any guitar worth having, but never had a rickenbacker guitar, well not a real one (basses yes), but don't have the money these days to invest in one.

What I'd love to have a go on is one of those weird tele copies with the 'thumbs up' headstock that John Squire played for a while.

All those PRS and musicman guitars can FUCK OFF, they look like guitars for wankers.

[thraxx]

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.

Playing lead if a mug's game if you're shit like I am.  I learned that the hard way.  Much more fun doing it your way.  If I'm walloping more than three strings then I'm going to expose myself as a fool.  I like working out Quickspace style droning rhythms, and I love Wilko Johnson's style.  Townsend is a great guitarist, but when you get down to it he's a technically brilliant and innovative player; he just mixes the easy stuff with the impossibleBest example:  Overture going into It's a Boy.  I'd love one day to be able to play that the whole way through.  One of my fave riffs ever is I'm Free, there's so many ways you can play it and they all sound amazing and are fun.

[Dr Syntax Head]

What kind of mug says they play lead? If you really love the guitar you play guitar, both rhythm and lead, you be consummate. It's a musical instrument, you make music on it. There is no such thing as lead or rhythm. You just play. Hendrix for fuck's sake! Does nobody learn that fundamental?

[Dr Syntax Head]

Playing lead if a mug's game if you're shit like I am.  I learned that the hard way.  Much more fun doing it your way.  If I'm walloping more than three strings then I'm going to expose myself as a fool.  I like working out Quickspace style droning rhythms, and I love Wilko Johnson's style.  Townsend is a great guitarist, but when you get down to it he's a technically brilliant and innovative player; he just mixes the easy stuff with the impossibleBest example:  Overture going into It's a Boy.  I'd love one day to be able to play that the whole way through.  One of my fave riffs ever is I'm Free, there's so many ways you can play it and they all sound amazing and are fun.

You're probably brilliant at 'lead' stuff. Neil Young, Cinnamon Girl, nuff said

[Dr Syntax Head]

You all need a well equipped pedal board

[thraxx]

What kind of mug says they play lead? If you really love the guitar you play guitar, both rhythm and lead, you be consummate. It's a musical instrument, you make music on it. There is no such thing as lead or rhythm. You just play. Hendrix for fuck's sake! Does nobody learn that fundamental?

Lead / rhythm is useful distinction, but you are of course correct.  In my last band i stuck to the rhythm parts because i am incapable of playing anything decent without horrible errors or bum notes. I'm very far from consumate but that doesnt mean i don't love playing. I suppose i just know my limits and am not interested in exanding them. Fun - that what i want.

[Sydward Lartle]

About 10 years ago I worked my up to a Gibson two grand SG Supreme, which I was stunned to discover was a fucking awful guitar, though it looked amazing.  Badly balanced, heavy, wide neck, nasty sounding.  I was terrified of chipping it as I was using it as a live guitar.

One of my Facebook friends realised the ambition of a lifetime, coincidentally around ten years ago, by landing a job at the Gibson factory on the assembly line. Surprise surprise, he fucking hated it, and he told me in great technical detail (a lot of which went right over my head) that Gibson have virtually been coasting on a combination of brand and reputation for decades now, confident that there will always be people willing to pay top whack for a Les Paul or an SG simply because of Jimmy Page or Angus Young or whoever. He told me that Epiphone have been the superior guitar makers for a hell of a long time now, and if you really want a Les Paul or an SG, an Epiphone is the way to go because they're absolutely superb quality and more importantly won't break the bank.

[Shit Good Nose]

Most solid bodied (genuine) Gibsons have always been very heavy and quite wide necked compared to most other makes anyway, though.  70s SGs in particular weigh a fucking ton, and there are always people choosing a Les Paul Studio over the standard/classic because of the weight difference[nb]at least those that aren't getting the Studio as the cheaper option, or because they want to replicate the Leslie West tone[/nb] (despite the fact that there isn't actually that much between them).  But that's no excuse for them not giving a shit now and producing crappy guitars for the money they charge.

The two best guitars I've ever played, at least in terms of comfort, tone and sheer enjoyability of playing them, were one of my tutor's PRS customs (but at four grand, that was a guitar I was never going to be able to get) and a mate's cheapo Strat style either Westone or Washburn (always get the two confused).

[Sydward Lartle]

I'm not sponsored by these shops but I feel duty bound to mention them anyway because I've bought stuff from all four...

Wunjo Guitars, Denmark Street, London WC2
Regent Sounds, Denmark Street, London WC2
Guitar Guitar, Delancey Street, Camden
Professional Music Technology, Bridge Street, Northampton

[h4huggy]

1962 Powder blue Burns split-sonic  with "Wild dog" setting and "split" pick ups.
1963 Sunburst Burns as above
1962 Red Burns sonic .
1995 Midnight blue Rickenbacker 360/6
1970's Black "lawsuit" Rick 360/12
1972 Black thinline  fender telecaster  custom
1960's Vox Phantom in White
1960's Gibson 335  "Trini Lopez" in Red

Selmer Treble n Bass 50 watt 1962
Fender Twin 85
Vox AC30 TB
Vox Cambridge 30
Vox AC15
Fender Champ 15
Selmer Zodiac 30
Vox AC30 TB Fawn reissue
Marshall JCM 600 combo

No effects pedals except a fuzzface and an echoplex very rarely.

Listed in the order they came and pretty much went. Gone All gone.
On reflection incredibly fortunate to know and live close enough to  an instrument shop in Dartford run by Alan Pine who designed and worked for Vox.

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Most solid bodied (genuine) Gibsons have always been very heavy and quite wide necked compared to most other makes anyway, though.  70s SGs in particular weigh a fucking ton

I remember picking up a 70s Les Paul Professional in Denmark St that weighed 16lbs. Must be one of the heaviest electric guitar models ever made.

[HappyTree]

Look at all that lovely Burns and Vox stuff! I suspect Brian May was heavily influenced in the design of his own guitar by those Burns models. And of course he put (modified) Burns Trisonics in it. You can get a kind of Wild Dog setting on his guitar by putting on all 3 pickups and flipping the phase on the middle one.

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

Yeah, been playing since about 16. Got myself a nice old Fender Strat[nb]this is the guitar that "Gloylot the Glen-Lonely Potty Clowne" was recorded on, Clowne! The Musical fans[/nb], sunburst and all - amp-wise just tended to use whatever's to hand. Started with a bunch of chords and then went on to riffs (shite indie landfill and classic rock) then lead/soloing and that, then towards metal-shreddy type stuff around the time I started getting into that kind of stuff. Sort of plateau'd skills-wise around 2014 - mainly cause my musical tastes were diversifying and I didn't really have much musical interest in the kind of music that lent itself to widdly wanky stuff and that. Picked up a few more skills like jazz chord voicings and fingerpicky kind of stuff. Thing is that I mainly used the guitar as a tool for composing tunes and that, and now I guess I prefer the piano/keyboard for that kind of stuff (number of reasons for that, eg you can whack the fuck out of a keyboard/piano proper loud without having to turn the gain up and have all the notes mulge together)

[h4huggy]

Look at all that lovely Burns and Vox stuff! I suspect Brian May was heavily influenced in the design of his own guitar by those Burns models. And of course he put (modified) Burns Trisonics in it. You can get a kind of Wild Dog setting on his guitar by putting on all 3 pickups and flipping the phase on the middle one.

I got one of the "Brian May Burns" pickups from the bay to pep up an Eko Phantom that was a bit weedy for my needs. Like a beefier trisonic , it came with his signature etched all over the front. Good sixties garagey howl from what is a modern piece of kit.

[Dusty Gozongas]

Possibly a daft question here Sydward Lartle:

What's the wah like on the ME-80?

I ask because I have the ME-70 and it's disappointing. There's hardly any range between the _wikka and the wukka. HUGE disappointment :(

HUGE!

It's got a decent delay (tick), overdrive (tick), tremelo[etc] (tick). Not bothered about most of the options, including the amp modelling stuff if I'm honest, but that wah is fucking shit on the '70.

SHIT!

reckon i'm gonna have to hunt down a hack to beef the fucker up because otherwise it's gathering dust. more dust

[Dr Syntax Head]

Sincere advice. You are way better off with pedals rather than multi effects units in my experience. You have so much control and you can swap out pedals depending on your needs. With a multi effect unity you're stuck with what you've got.

You can't go wrong with a classic Dunlop Cry Baby for wah. It's worth the investment

[Dusty Gozongas]

You are way better off with pedals rather than multi effects units in my experience.

Can't disagree with this. I just fancied something I could store settings on and the ME was ideal for this and affordable at the time.

You can't go wrong with a classic Dunlop Cry Baby for wah. It's worth the investment

You certainly can't, and I wish I hadn't lent mine to that thieving bastard who kept "forgetting" to bring it with him. The Dunlop and my dearly departed Ibanez DM1100[nb]No "tap" function but I left such trivialities to our keyboard player when we gigged. A born knob twiddler that feller.[/nb] were my favourite toy combination.

Still, I was simply wondering whether the wah on the ME-80 was an improvement on the piss poor ME-70 offering. A purely academic question :-)

[Dr Syntax Head]

Fair question man. I was just being annoying guitar gear guy again. Expense is the major factor though. My pedal collection for pretty much all of my guitar playing life up until last year consisted of a Dunlop wah and a beat up old DS1. That's all I had. But it was cool considering I was playing through a 72 Twin Reverb. I have a pretty sweet pedal board now but sometimes I feel that I have too much and go back to Cobain/Jack White style basics.

I dunno, nice to have the choice. I can't stop buying reverb pedals though. Getting a Strymon Blue sky next week. The shimmer function gives you all kind of ambient goodness

[Sydward Lartle]

What's the wah like on the ME-80?

Never used it. The expression pedal is multi-purpose, though, and can be used in conjunction with a variety of effects. It's a very solid, sturdy and doggedly 'hands-on' bit of kit all round. My advice?
1) Look up 'Boss ME-80' on YouTube and check out the scores of much better guitarists than me (i.e. just about all of them) putting the unit through its paces, or
2) Visit a shop that stocks them and ask to try it out. If they're reluctant to let you, tell them to go and eat a wooden bowl of dicks and take your custom elsewhere - to a different town if you have to. It's the only way these arrogant shitheads learn.

The arrival of a nationwide chain like PMT in Northampton has been an absolute godsend, because not only do they sell top notch stuff (instead of whatever shite the proprietor thinks looks 'cool' / can buy cheap from a wholesaler / has bought from some spotty kid who got it for Christmas and doesn't want it any more), they also put on a good show for browsers / lookie-loos / time-wasters, because if they don't, word will get through to head office fast enough and their jobs could be in danger.

I'm not saying all independent music shops are shit - far from it - but the ones in Northampton, fuck's sake, they acted like they were doing you a favour by taking your money, and were (most of them have gone down the pan now, and deservedly so) staffed by absolute knobheads who never quite made it in the 'local scene' and are really fucking bitter about it.

[HappyTree]

As you might imagine, the choice in music shops in Estonia is pretty poor. And especially when you don't live in the capital. I get my general gear from Thomann.de. Not only do they have a great selection, postage is free over a certain amount and their customer service is excellent. For example, I moaned vaguely about a slightly wobbly monitor stand and they immediately sent me a new pair for free.

The Brian May gear I have I got from all the original guys who made it for him, so I could be confident it would be good without having to see it for myself before buying. The guy who makes his treble boosters now and also the Deacy copy (Nigel Knight) even designed a bespoke hum eliminator[nb]To avoid mush in the sound from real valve distortion you need to use 3 separate amps for wet (L and R) and dry (centre) sounds. Which means splitting the signal. Which means ground loop hum. So you need a hum eliminator. It's all very involved and fiddly, but worth it if you want the authentic tone.[/nb] for me. And it wasn't that dear.

[Dusty Gozongas]

The expression pedal is multi-purpose, though, and can be used in conjunction with a variety of effects.

Ditto with the ME-70.  I'm more inclined to use the pedal set to "octave" (usually 'down')  or simply as a volume control.

I'll check out some youtube links though. God knows why I didn't before now...

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

I started out with one of these years ago. Was alright at the time and there's definitely a lot to be said for multi effects like the Boss ME-xx stuff. I upgraded to an ME-50 after the Zoom one and having all the effects but with a stompbox kind of setup for greater control over the individual effects was great. Only gripe was when you'd be thinking damn why can't you have harmonist AND phaser for example on at the same time, but that rarely happened for me at least.

Nowadays I've got a few individual stompboxes and a dunlop wah but I still use the ME-50 from time to time for a few things that I don't need often enough to justify buying a dedicated pedal for it, like tremolo and vibrato. Not saying anyone was really shitting on multi effects here, just chiming in to say if you're on a budget the Boss ones do the job.

[Sydward Lartle]

Does anyone else give their guitars names? My blue flower Tele is Micki, the red paisley Tele is Susanna and the sunburst Tele is Eponine. Soppy sod that I am.

[Rocket Surgery]

Does anyone else give their guitars names? My blue flower Tele is Micki, the red paisley Tele is Susanna and the sunburst Tele is Eponine. Soppy sod that I am.

Oh my God.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Oh my God.

I don't give them names because they are essentially pieces of wood but I do fall asleep cuddling them.

I give one piece of wood a name though and that name is THE PUSSY DESTROYER!

[Dr Syntax Head]

Going back on my comments about multi effects (Because I reserve the right to be a hypocrite. Nicky Wire. 1990 something) they are essentially budget Rack units. So unless you're Dave Grohl or any other stadium playing regular gigging guy they will more than serve your purpose. But I'd reccomend getting an eternal expression pedal to give you more control.

There is a school of thought that my punk/grunge/blues persona agrees with and that's the only two things you need are a tuner and a decent amp. That way does not shoegaze ambient soundscapes lie though

[Sydward Lartle]

Oh my God.

That's most people's reaction.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Nobody had a go at BB King when he called his guitar after some woman he knew though. And May calls his 'The Fireplace'.

Joking aside we do tend to give our guitars personalities because essentially they are an extension of our own ideas and passions. My guitars are really precious to me (I receive the right to be a hypocrite again. Wire. 1990 something)

[Dr Syntax Head]

I really love this. He knows his guitars but he has way tooo many the spoilt cunt


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

'It is my most valuable six stringed friend. But let's not get too emotional about it'.

White Les Paul. He'd cry his fucking eyes out if anything happened to it and he knows it. Too emotional CUH!